Chapter 2
Back to the present… I'm 17 and still putting up with Charlie's beatings..
I got out of bed seeing the clock, knowing I had to get ready for school. Charlie already left for work. And I checked out my damage. Bruises on every single part of my body except my neck and face. One long scar down each arm from Charlie with a knife. Not that bad. Except the bruises hurt a little and the cuts stung. Then I put my feet on the feet on the floor and screamed in pain, ending where I covered my mouth. Being lucky, Charlie had already left.
I looked at my left ankle and it was a deep purple and blue, I know a break when I see it. I had to figure out what I could do. One thing was I had to walk to school. I had an idea. I remembered when my friend Angela broke her leg the doctor gave her crutches and let her keep them later. I thought maybe I could call her and tell her I hurt my foot and I could borrow them for a week or more for school. Then at home I could hide them and try to force the pain out of my system. I started dialing her number.
"Hello?" She answered. "Hey Angela." I greeted her. "Oh, hey Bella! How are you?" she asked. I laughed. "Um… fine." I responded. She noticed how I hesitated. "Bella, what's wrong? Are you ok?" she asked worried. "Well.. Its just I hurt my ankle and I was wondering if I could use your crutches for a while." I said. "Of course, Bella. But shouldn't you go to the doctors and get your ankle checked out." She said. "Um…. My father looked at it and just said it was fine but I should try to keep off of it." I lied. "Ok.. Bella. I'll put the crutches in my car and meet you in the school's parking lot." She said. I smiled. "Thanks Angela. Bye." Then we hung up and I went to take a shower.
I made sure all my bruises and scars were covered by my shirt and headed downstairs. Then I remembered I didn't have any way to get to school but walk. Oh God! I limped down most of my rode in pain. I knew I was going to be late to school which meant two things. 1. Angela wouldn't have time to give me the crutches. And 2. Charlie would give me a hard beating tonight. I started to speed up which brought tears streaming down my face, so I started to slow down.
Then I sliver Volvo pulled up next to me and rolled down the windows. His face was beautiful, god like. "Hello. I'm Edward Cullen. I just moved into forks. Would you like a ride?" He asked politely in a sweet velvety voice. I started at him for a moment and then got into the car. "I'm Bella. Bella Swan." I told him. He smiled a smile that made my heart skip a beat.
He was beautiful. He had short messy bronze hair, gold eyes, and pale skin. I noticed that while I was looking him over, he was looking me over. I looked down and blushed. "What happened to your ankle?" He asked. "I..I..Um..I fell down the stairs." I lied. "Didn't you get it checked?" He asked. I didn't like all the questions he was asking me. "My father knew it wasn't sprained or anything, but he said I should stay off it so I am using my friends crutches for a little while." I lied again. "Your father is a doctor?" He asked. "No. He is the chief of police. He just looked at it himself and said I was fine." I said. "I don't know, Bella. That looks pretty serious. My father is a doctor. He could check it out if you want. And then we could hangout." He said. I thought about it and decided I would go I could tell Charlie I am going to the school for an extra credit project and go over to Edward's and come home when he is sleeping. I smiled. "Ok." I said. Edward wrote down the address and then started talking about his family.
"Carsile and Esme are my adopted parents. All of us were adopted by them. Carsile works as a doctor and Esme is a stay-at-home mom. Alice and Rosalie are my sisters. And Emmett and Jasper are my brothers. Alice can't have coffee because she is always too hyper anyway and she is a shop-a-holic." I laughed at that. "Rosalie is a snob sometimes but is going out with Emmett. Jasper and Alice are also together. Jasper always can make people feel better when they are down. And Emmett is very funny and has a lot of energy." He said. I laughed. "What about you?" I asked him. "Me? I'm not dating anyone and I am 16 years old. My family and me moved from Alaska because my father got a new job offering here." He finished. How could anyone so beautiful still be single? We got to the school and Angela was waiting for me. He helped me out of his car. "Bye Bella, see you tonight." he said. "Ok.. Bye Edward." I responded.
Angela gave me her crutches and I told her thanks. The day went by pretty fast, thinking about tonight. At lunch, the Cullen family came over and sat with me, so I guess Edward told them about me. He introduced us all. We talked a lot and I realized everything Edward had said about them was true.
After lunch, we all started walking out. My last class I had with Emmett. We were walking down and my crutches caught something and I was about to fall but then I cold pair of hands reached out and grabbed me around my waist. I yelped. I had a lot of bruises around that area. Emmett looked worried. "Bella, are you ok?" I nodded. On the verge of tears.
Soon I was home. I made Charlie's dinner then he came home. I was glad. He was in a good mood. "Um…Charlie?" I asked feeling nervous. "What, Bella?" He asked. Phew! I was going to be able too go out. He didn't pronounce my whole name. I think I am in luck tonight. "Can I go to the school and work on an extra credit project?" I asked trying not to smile. He just nodded. YES! I ran up into my room and jumped around and got changed to go to Edward's. When I got outside of the house there was Edward's Volvo sitting in the driveway. He opened the door for me as I got in. He smiled at me and we drove to his house.
On the way down Edward started up a conversation. "So Bella? I told you about my family. What about yours?" He asked. UGH! Of course he decided to ask me that. "Um… I have lived here for all of my life with my father. My mother died when I was 9." I responded. I hated calling Charlie "father." Edward looked sad. "I am sorry about your mother, Bella. But if you don't mind me asking how did it happen?" He asked. I didn't say anything for a moment. I was about to answer when he interrupted me.
"You don't have to tell me. I understand." he said. "No. I want to tell you." I responded. He nodded. "When I was 8 I came down with a disease. I had it pretty bad. I had been in the hospital for a year. When I was 9, one day my mother was ill. She had caught my disease. On her, it seemed to work faster and she couldn't soon eat or move. One night my father and I went home and an hour later we received a phone call that she died." I finished. I didn't notice I was crying and Edward stopped the car too pull me into a hug. He told me everything was going to be all right. "Are you alright?" He asked concerned. I nodded and he started the car.