It was the middle of the night when I smelt it, that smokey musty smell that made my skin crawl. I immediately shot up out of bed and as I opened the door to my room a puff of tell-tale black smoke trailed into my room. My stomach was in knots and I was in a full fledge panic.

"Charlie!" I screamed before I went into a coughing fit. My fire safety knowledge from grade school came to mind so I dropped to the floor and then remembered you only do that when you're on fire, but it was easier to breath from down on the floor.

So I crawled to my father's room and saw the silhouette of his body lying on the bed.

I shook him once but there was no movement.

"Dad!" I let out a guttural scream.

Downstairs I heard the door bust open and people filtering in.

"Is anyone in here?!" A man's voice called.

I stood and kissed Charlie's cheek.

"Up here please help!" I coughed. I knew this was the end.

Three firemen raced up the stairs, one carrying me out of the house and the other two going to get Charlie.

The fire was coming from downstairs. As I was being rushed out I turned back and it was almost like slow motion as I watched the growing fire engulf the kitchen and living room.

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I stood outside in my holy old pajamas and wrapped my arms around myself. My eyes started tearing from the bright red and blue lights.

I waited and prayed for the firemen and Charlie to come out of that door telling me that they did cpr or something and everything would be okay. But they didn't.

The only thing that exited the house was Charlie's dead body being carried out by paramedics. They told me it was smoke inhalation and that they were very sorry.

I watched as the flames licked at the roof and turned the paneling black. I wondered what would happen.

I was numb and the pain of my father's death hadn't hit me… yet.

A lady came over and put her arm around me.

"You shouldn't have to be seeing this, dear" I noticed her. She was the doctors wife… Esme Cullen, the mother of the Cullen kids, I knew them from school they always kept themselves very isolated from everyone else.

She had dark caramel colored hair and dark green eyes, like pine trees, She really was beautiful.

I looked up at the kind Esme Cullen and my tears finally came. I don't know what came over me, but I clung to Esme and sobbed on her shoulder, feeling sorry about ruining whatever designer shirt she was wearing.

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She whispered something to Dr. Cullen before she lead me to the passenger seat of her car chatting about how I would stay in Alice's room .

Alice was always friendly to me. She, like Esme, was beautiful with a short black bob and gentle facial features. The way she flitted around the halls reminded me of some character from a fairy tale.

Esme was still talking about light, happy things, trying to keep my mind off of the night's events.

I couldn't blame her for trying, but she was doing a horrid job.

We pulled into the Cullen's garage and Esme lead me up the stairwell to a hallway of rooms in which most of the doors were closed and the faint sound of a classical piano was flowing through the walls.

We walked over to the far left mahogany door and before Esme even knocked the door shot open and Alice smiled at me before pulling me into a hug and whispering "I'm so sorry Bella."

Alice had a comforter already placed on the huge red bean bag chair that lay in the corner of her room.

Esme gave me one last hug before she left me with Alice.

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I didn't sleep that night. I just silently cried, I didn't want Alice to think I couldn't be left alone without falling apart- which was the truth. There was no way I was emotionally ready to be left without someone to comfort me.

But, I re-convinced myself of how independent I am and waited for an alarm clock to ring so I could get up and busy myself.

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"Bella?" Esme peered into the room. I sat up and rubbed my eyes before walking over to her.

"you don't have to go to school today.. I think you need some time to wind down… is that right?"

I nodded

"Do you want anything to eat sweetheart?" She put her hand on my forehead, checking for a temperature.

"No, thank you" I said hoarsely.

"We'll have Carlisle take a look at your lungs sooner than later… just to make sure." She seemed genuinely worried.

I wondered why she cared. She was probably just housing me for the next couple of days until my mother could find time to fly up here and tell me she can't take me to Jacksonville and that I'm an orphan.

My Mother and I were not on good terms at the moment, and haven't been since she walked out on Charlie and started fucking Phil. Phil, who had abused me every time I went to stay with my mother… physically and verbally, he was scared that she loved me more than him. And she didn't it actually turned out she did love him more than me.

"Alright well, I'll be here all day, holler if you need anything" She said with a warm smile. It was then I noticed there was no piano playing and Alice was not in the room anymore.

"did they all go to school?" I asked. There were five Cullen kids- Alice, Rosalie, Emmet, Jasper, and Edward.

Rosalie was supermodel pretty, pretty being an understatement, and she was with Emmett- a football playing tank of a muscle man who didn't look very personable, but neither did Rosalie. Then there was Jasper who had shaggy blond hair and adored Alice, you could see it in his eyes at all times. And Edward Cullen, with those jade eyes and bronze mess of hair, he was hard not to look at and the only one in the family who hadn't had a significant other.

Alice and Edward were twins, Emmett being their older brother of one year and the same age as Rosalie and Jasper, who were also twins. Alice, Edward and Emmet's mother Elizabeth died six years ago and Carlisle remarried Esme who divorced her husband of fifteen years and the father of Jasper and Rosalie.

Esme nodded and told me again that she was here for me, and closed the door.

I finally slept for however many hours and when I woke it was dark and Alice still wasn't in the room, I imagined she would sleep in jaspers room that night.

I cried for what seemed like forever and then fell back asleep.

My life went in that cycle for what seemed like months- cry, sleep, cry, sleep- but it was only two and a half days before Esme pulled me out of Alice's room and told me she had a surprise for me. She said it was Sunday, so I only missed a day of school, which I could care less about anyway.

I hadn't had a cigarette since the fire, the smell of the smoke brought back the memories of Charlie that I didn't want to think about.

She and Alice brought me to the door opposite the staircase and Alice put her hand over my eyes, she was giddy as could be and it was kind of freaking me out…

They opened the door to a lavender room with wispy whit designs on the walls and white furniture with a lavender bed spread.

Tears welled up in my eyes and I turned to hug Esme and Alice, but I couldn't help thinking why are they doing all this for me.

"Why are you doing all this for me?" I finally asked.

"We want you to stay with us, Bella." Esme smiled. Alice clapped and began giving me a tour of the room and telling me how we need to go shopping to reproduce my wardrobe that was lost in the fire.

"The only thing is, this room connects to Edward's because it used to be his piano room." She motioned to the door that I assumed was a closet. I was mortified.

He was probably so pissed at me… I took a room from him. I didn't want to start off badly in this house.

"But don't worry we just shoved it in his room!" Alice laughed. I put on a fake smile.

"Dinner will be ready in five" Esme said before leaving the room.

Dinner? With the Cullen family?