A/N: Present day next chapter. Yay! I'm excited.

Disclaimer: Things I own: A bowl of ice cream. Some lame paintings. A Jeep Liberty. Things I don't own: Edward Cullen. Boo.


A Brief Recapitulation

Bella was never the same after Anthony left. She cried profusely for the first few months, and was just generally sad, but then suddenly, she just stopped. Her mother thought she was beginning to forget about him, but really, Bella had realized that Anthony wouldn't want her to be sad. She went through her life, still thinking of him always. She never really saw another man in her life until she met James her junior year. He had just transferred from a school in New York (his family, the Masens, had apparently lived in Forks before, and they were returning) and showed much interest in Bella. She figured this was because she never had showed any interest in him, because he snubbed all the girls that were interested in him.

He pursued her heavily, and in the end, she gave in to all the flowers and notes and candies he sent. They began dating, he was very serious from the start, and he seemed like her dream come true. She never was in love with him, she thought about Anthony too much for her to ever fall in love, but she kept telling herself that she would get over the strange fixation she held for a boy from her youth and fall in love. She passed through her junior and senior year still with James. He decided that they would go to the University of Washington together, and though Bella had dreams of attending UCLA, she figured she could go there for grad school, and decided to go to the University of Washington with James. She didn't realize that he wouldn't give her a choice, really, because she never discussed her doubts with him.

The summer after their senior year, James proposed. Bella was as happy as could be expected, and her mother was actually elated. Her father wasn't as happy, but he didn't talk much, so Bella never understood that his aversion was not towards losing his only daughter, as she assumed, but actually an aversion to James himself.

They decided they wouldn't get married soon, and left for college engaged. James rented an apartment near the university, and paid for everything. Bella didn't like this, but she figured that this was due to low self esteem, and convinced herself that she should be happy that he paid for everything. She convinced herself that she deserved it, and they lived primarily happily (the had a few fights during that time, one occasion being when James read her journal and demanded to know who Anthony was, and when Bella told him about Anthony Cullen, proceeded destroyed it, another being when James found out Bella had inherited her Uncle Phil's fortune after he'd died, and frequently hassled her about whether or not he would get any, and when she would spend it) until the summer after their sophomore year. It was then that Bella came home early from her job at a local bookstore, and found James having sex with a "friend" from his psychology class that she had met several times, Victoria. James saw her, and shouted at her to come back as she fled the apartment. He threw on his underwear and chased her downstairs. He even chased her car as she sped away.

She drove to her friend Angela's parents' house, in the suburbs of Seattle, and asked if Angela was home. She wasn't, Angela's mother saw how shaken up that Bella was, and invited her in. Against Bella's visceral feelings, she told Angela's mother exactly what had happened. Angela's mother was very sympathetic and told Bella that she could stay as long as she wanted. Angela's mother made her something to eat, and showed her to the guest room. Bella stayed there for a few days, never leaving, borrowing Angela's clothes. She went to work and was harassed there by James, who only quieted and departed when asked by the burly manager. This happened three times.

Bella was thinking of going back to the apartment to retrieve her clothing and anything else she might want, but she decided against it. She also went against her own previous wishes to not spend Phil's money. She and Angela went shopping. Bella bought two large suitcases, enough clothes to fill them, toiletries, and a few other things. She missed her collection of books and the things she had inherited from Charlie's mother, but she was too afraid to go back to the apartment. She felt like she hadn't really known James at all, and therefore had no idea what he was capable of.

A few days later she realized what exactly he was capable of. While eating dinner with Angela and her parents, she suddenly smelled smoke. She asked if anyone else smelled it, and Angela's dad said he thought it was coming from outside. They rushed out the front door and found, in the front yard, a blaze of Bella's belongings. James was nowhere in sight. Angela's father went inside to call the fire department, and Bella just watched her things burn. The fire department came and put out the fire. Nothing could be salvaged.

Over the next few days, the Weber family helped Bella decide what to do. Bella was afraid to go home to Forks, because James knew where she lived, but she knew it needed to be done. She thanked Angela's family profusely for their help, left a thousand dollars on the bedside table of their guest room, packed all her belongings in her car and left for Forks.

Her parents were surprised to see her, and angered by her story of what had happened in Seattle. Renee was hysterical and in tears, Charlie just decidedly loaded the bullets into his gun. Bella applied for a transfer from the University of Washington to UCLA, and was accepted. She spent the rest of the summer just reading and writing. On her last day in Forks, she went grocery shopping for her parents. At the grocery store, she encountered Jessica Stanley, or now, Jessica Newton. The gist of the conversation was that Jessica had married Mike, and Bella was no longer engaged to James and was transferring to UCLA. They exchanged phone numbers and parted ways.

Bella went home, put away the groceries and then put all her belongings in her car and left for UCLA.



A/N: Please review! I feel like I'm just writing for myself here.