Isabella Marie Swan, from the day she was born Charlie and Renee couldn't keep their hands off of her. She was a chubby baby, and aren't they the cutest? Her cheeks were puffy and her thighs were chunky. She was a walking roly-poly but the time she was two.
And when she was four her parents noticed the excessive hunger that rested within their daughter. Renee began feeding Bella fruits and vegetables instead of the cookies and snacks Bella threw tantrums for. A few years flew by; the same diet ensued for a seven year old Bella. The second grade wasn't easy for her when she was the only student with a packed lunch of salads and cheese sticks. That's when the torment began for Bella.
Then in fifth grade she noticed all of her friends from the years before were excluding her in dodge ball games for gym, art projects for class and recess fun. Now in the sixth grade she had asked one of the pretty girls who was in kiddie cheerleading why she didn't want to hang out with her this summer like they used to.
Jessica Stanley stuck her tongue out at Bella and said she was gross before running off with her friends. Bella stood there on the blacktop outdoors and watched her first best friend trail off towards the boys playing hoops on the other end of the court. To her right was a bench and there sat a young girl with peach colored glasses and red-brown hair. Bella recognized her from combined gym classes on field day this year, Angela. Nibbling on her lip Bella decided to sniffle her tears away and sit beside the only other lonely girl outside.
"I don't think you're gross." A quiet voice said. Bella turned towards Angela, noticing how small and mousy she was, buried in big heavy clothes. For a moment Bella wondered why she hid her pretty face and small body in such big clothes. "I think you're pretty."
Bella blushes bright red, no one other than her parents and grandparents had ever called her pretty. She remembered going to see her Grandma Swan up in Seattle last winter for Christmas. It had been a couple years since they've gone and once Grandma Swan seen Bella she hugged her tight and pinched her cheeks, "so beautiful!"
"Thanks. I like you're glasses," Bella said lamely. They were quiet for a moment, the other children screaming at each other with laughter. To their left were the Scavo Twins, Preston and Parker, arguing over a ball. In front of them were four younger girls playing jump-rope and hopscotch. Bella's eyes lingered with hope to join them but she thought better of it when she knew her stomach would likely pop out and jiggle. "Why do you think Jessica doesn't like me anymore? We used to be best friends in kindergarten."
"Jessica is stupid and all she cares about is her toys that her parents buy her."
"I think it's cause I'm fat." Bella said bluntly.
Angela gasped lightly and faced Bella straight on. "You are not!"
Bella wanted to argue that she was, just look at her arms and thighs and stomach, but Angela seemed to not be one you'd win against. Bella quickly learned that Angela was a good friend and she was smart, too. That summer before middle school Bella and Angela became friends so tightly knit that Renee and Patty had to sometimes separate them for a few days when they were together for weeks on end.
When Bella was eight Charlie took a weekend off call to build a treehouse for his little girl, who happened to be a little tomboy. He remembered taking her fishing for the first time when she was three years old. She caught her first fish that day, too and almost tumbled out of the boat trying to reel it in before Charlie noticed she needed help. As he built the treehouse in the backyard of his home he still chuckled about that day. His sweet girl was growing up right in front of his eyes, he feared what would happen when she brought a boy into her life; little did Charlie knew that day would come sooner than later.
In the middle of a hot July night Angela came over to stay over in the treehouse for the twelfth night in a row. After going home for dinner and a boring hour of chit-chat with her parents she hustled on her purple bike back down two blocks to the Swan home. Bella was already waiting in the treehouse, blanket spread out for both her and Angela to lie on under the stars. When she begged Charlie to build her a treehouse she wanted the see the sky as she slept, the stars being her only light in the darkness. As she described this to Charlie he chuckled, "very poetic," and ruffled her head as he left for the hardware store.
"Oof!" Angela puffed as she climbed the ladder and landed on her stomach beside Bella. The girls laughed and caught up from the missing time when Angela left five hours ago to check in at home. Since the girls became so close and needed to spend nearly all twenty-four hours in the day together it was a rule that a least a couple times a week they'd need to come home for a bit before returning to wonderland. An hour had passed, nearing midnight as the girls became sleepy.
"What do you think of boys, Ang?" Bella whispered to the stars.
"They're weird, why?"
"I don't know, I mean, don't you think of being in love? The happiness that it brings; the smiles so hard it hurts happiness. All of that, I want it." Bella sighed.
Angela was quiet for a moment, thinking. "Boys don't always bring happiness, Bella. Boys are trouble and they can get you into bad things. Make you do things you don't want to." The sound in Angela's voice didn't sound as her own, it was as though she was quoting someone-her mother?
"What are you talking about?"
Angela glanced sideways at her friend. "Rex isn't my dad, Bella, he's my stepdad but I call him my dad because my real one walked out on me and my mom. He got my mom pregnant and bailed when she told him. When she met Rex and fell in love he raised me as his own, the twins on the other hand are all his." She ended in a light laugh.
"But don't you see, Ang? Your mom still found her happiness! I've seen her and your da-Rex; they're so lovey dovey it almost makes you want to puke. It's not like watching my parents kiss because they do that but I don't see the love that floats between your parents-it's beautiful." Bella sighs. "I just want to feel loved, ya know?"
"But you are, Bella! Your parents love you and I consider you my sister, so I love you." She reaches and pats Bella hand gently.
Another sigh comes from Bella as she decides to roll on her side, away from Angela. It's a long quiet minute before Bella speaks again, ending the conversation for the night.
"Not like that Angela. I want love." She says with emphasis. All the strength she has in her voice puts emotion behind the word and slowly Angela begins to understand just the extent of her closest friends insecurity and loneliness.
Authors Note: Thank you for reading. I'll be updating as often as I can. Please review.
