Chapter 1

It's not often you get your heart's desire. Especially when you are a teenager who constantly causes problems for your parents. My step father said I am the reason he hates coming home after practice. He cannot spend enough time with mom because of me. I am constantly being suspended or detained at the police station for being a trouble maker.

Last night I went on campus after hours to paint Phoenix's night life. I guess going on the old roof with my supplies and setting up an easel was not the best option. But the scenery was magnificent. At first all I could do was look and observe and absorb its beauty. The many lights spreading across the city, the cars whizzing by, stoplights changing from green to yellow to red and people walking about on the sidewalks and going in and out of stores and shops. Even at 11 in the night the city was in full swing. Then I focused on the little coffee spot across from the school, right at the corner with the burgundy screens and colored night lights. It was closing and that's the scene I focused on. The beautiful blonde who wiped the tables and chairs then stacked them together and took them inside. Then she hosed off the sidewalk and watered the plants out front. I painted the lights in blue and green and red and how the colors spread across the little shop.

Then I was interrupted by security, taken to the station and Renee had to come get me. Honestly I hate when these things happen. I hate having to be in her presence when she bickers and curses at me. I hate that every time I take a trip to the station she has to be the one to get me out and that it creates even more of a distance between us. I hate that she never took the time out to understand me and my creativity and the work I do. I hate that she has never given me a chance to wholeheartedly be myself.

Which is why I am packing to go and spend the rest of my teen years with my dad in Washington. She is packing me up to go and live with Charlie. The one good thing about this arrangement is Charlie is not Renee. He might be more old- fashioned but I know for a fact he will try to make me happy.

The one thing I will miss is the broad expanse of Phoenix. Its night life. The brown earth and sunny skies. The heat and dry winds and sunglasses. Because where I am going is the complete opposite from Phoenix. Maybe that will be a good thing, maybe not. Either way, I will get some peace in my ears and new adventures to paint.

Tonight I will sleep as sound as a baby, dreaming about my good times here and preparing myself for my future in Washington with Charlie. Tonight I will just be Bella who loves to paint, who has great parents who love and support her, who is not an exception to parties, who is not unpopular.

I fell asleep with these thoughts in my mind and awoke to the rising sun that shone directly into my room.

Renee was the one who took me to the airport. I had a flight from there to Seattle and another from Seattle to Port Angeles. Mom never ushered any words of regret of letting me go to Charlie. She seemed peaceful and hopeful. I had one suitcase in back, my backpack with my laptop and other precious amenities and a parka. She gave me a sideways, awkward hug and a peck on my hair and wished me all the best in Forks, Washington with my Dad.

The flight to Seattle was fine. The one to Port Angeles was another matter. Dad picked me up from the airport in his police cruiser, hugged me tightly for a minute then grabbed my suitcase and loaded it in the car. Our trip to Forks was quiet. Dad is not a pushy kind of guy. He likes space and he loves to give space. He respects space a lot. Which was why the only conversation we had was that he had bought me a truck so I could travel around freely on my own.

"What kind of truck is it?" I had asked.

"A Chevy". He responded.

"Dad you shouldn't have. I could have gotten myself a car. I have savings you know."

"Yeah but It's kind of a welcome home present. So I don't mind."

This sounded funny coming from Charlie so I asked him, "How much did you pay for it?"

"Got it real cheap from a friend of mine."

"Dad, how cheap is real cheap?" I felt fearful even as I asked him this. Please don't say free, please don't say free.

"I paid the kid to fix it up. Made it run nice and smooth. Bought the parts and some wheels. He had a good treat working on it from when your mom first suggested she might be sending you to me."

"Oh". That was all I could manage. Now I had to find out from Dad that she had been planning to send me away for longer than three days. Shocker.

The rest of the journey was silent. I realized that Renee must have been tired of me for so long that this last incident (though it was a minor incident), was the breaking point for her. And I kind of felt bad about it. Why couldn't I be a good daughter who did not get in trouble and made several trips to the police station every year? To not think about this, I paid attention to what was happening outside of the window.

I watched the trees as we drove by them. Some tall and broad, others sprawling and some small and feeble. Everything was green. The green lined the roadway, it surrounded houses, and it covered the sky. Everything that was brown in Phoenix, was green here.

Little Forks is a town in the Olympic Peninsula. Constantly rainy, high precipitation, almost always cloudy, and cold. It had a small population of roughly 3300 people. The exact opposite of Phoenix.

Charlie pulled into the yard, and took my suitcase from the trunk. There, further up the driveway was my new truck. Not exactly new because the thing looked about four times my age and the red color was faded. It had huge, bulbous lights and a deep truck bed. The tires looked new so I believed some work was actually done on the old thing. But what surprised me was that I instantly liked it. It was not repulsive or ugly to me. It called my name with its unique look.

Back in Phoenix I wouldn't be caught dead driving in a truck like that. My mom had a small Toyota car and my step father owned a Dodge pick-up. Here, Charlie had the police cruiser. A couple years back he used to have a truck for himself but not anymore. He had sold it. Now I was the new owner of this faded red 1900's Chevy truck which I absolutely liked.

My drive to the Forks High School the next morning was a slow one. I drove carefully so as to not miss the school sign. But I realized, once I've found it, that even if I was driving faster I still could not have missed it. I parked in the parking lot with a sign that said student's parking, and went to the main building. The school had buildings like little brick houses with wide windows. I found my first class with the help of an inky haired, lanky boy with contact lenses. I sat beside a brown haired girl with big boobs and a sneer. Spanish was a drag, and Government after that was a drag too. Math was a big fat headache that I could not wait to escape. The teacher was a small bald man who made me introduced myself to the entire class and picked on me several times to answer questions. Of course the entire school must have heard by now that Chief Swan's daughter is a complete dunce.

At lunch I sat beside the girl who helped me out in Math. Her name was A something and she chatted along even though I hardly spoke two words. She was small, skinny, but very beautiful. Her hair was jet black and she wore it like a boy's. The back was shaved very low and the top in spiky arrays. Her skin was very pale and her lips very pink. She swore she didn't wear lip color. She introduced me to her group of friends at lunch. The bitchy girl I said beside in Spanish is Jessica and the inky haired boy is Michael. I also met Angela, and Ben and Jasper. Lunch for them is a grand affair. For me it was a drag. I ate a slice of pizza and two apples and had a bottle of water. They all wanted to know about Arizona and my past school and my boyfriend. My answers were not even satisfactory, which I think made Jessica hated me even more. Not that I cared.

I strolled into biology three minutes before the start of class. The slip of paper I had for the teacher to sign said his name was Mr. Varner. I took it to him, and he signed it and sent me to the only available seat in the class. The desks were long with black tops and wooden stools to sit on. Two persons to a desk, and my new desk was already occupied by a beautiful bronze haired boy.

As I looked at his eyes I realized he was looking at me with deadly eyes. As if he would tear me to pieces if I sat beside him. As if I had leprosy or something and I would contaminate him. I felt his hate from across the room.

Meekly, I took my seat beside him, fearful that he would just smash my head on the desk or puncture my lung with his pen. Class dragged on even longer than the others and the entire time he sat beside me stiff, and unwelcoming. I knew without a doubt he wanted to get away from me, as far as possible.

At the end of class Mr. Varner gave us homework and at the exact minute the sound went off signaling the end of class the dude was out of his seat and through the door so fast, it was hard to believe.

I drove home in a daze wondering how someone could hate another person so much without ever meeting the person. I felt sorry for him, even though I knew not who this beautiful bronze haired boy was.

For dinner I roasted potatoes and fried chicken with sweet chili sauce broccoli and carrots. Dad had a fest while I played with my food.

"How was your first day?"

"It was okay I guess. Nothing spectacular happened", except a beautiful boy hating me instantly and made it so very obvious.

"That's good then. I hope you managed just fine." Charlie took a mouthful of chicken then wiped his mouth with a piece of napkin.

"You know, there is an art club there, and the art classes aren't so bad I'm told. Maybe you could try them out."

This was unexpected. Dad never really spoke about my art before.

"Thanks. Maybe I will."

"You know, just to give you something to do until you find something more suitable to you."

I felt touched. Just a little. "I will. Thanks for getting me the IPad. I really wanted one but mom thought I could use my laptop for everything."

"No problem. I got it three months ago in Seattle on a special. You buy a thing they had on display and you got the IPad for less than half the price. The thing- Jacob knows what it is because he took it- but it only cost me $80 and then I paid like $250 for your thing."

"Quite the deal dad." I laughed because he seemed so serious discussing the prices. "Thanks a lot though. I really appreciate it."

"Sure. Don't mention it." He cleaned his plate except for the carrots. "Is there any food left?"

"Yeah. You want more?" He chuckled a little. "Yeah. If you don't mind. Best God-Damn chicken and potatoes I've had in a while."

I knew then that I would like living with Charlie. And at that same moment, as I shared him another serving, I promised to never get hauled to the station again for misconduct. I wanted to be good. I wanted him to see that I was trying.

That night I fell asleep with damp hair, in only my tank top and panties, dreaming of the-filled eyes and bronzed hair beauties.