Chapter 3

I started my walk to school after Charlie had left for work. I noticed there was a bus stop around the corner to Charlie's house so I made a mental note to find out from the school about bus passes. The school wasn't that far away from Charlie's house. It was only about a fifteen minute walk to the school.

The rain was holding off, something I was glad about. The last thing I wanted was to turn up to school on my first day looking like a drowned rat. Though, as I looked up at the sky it appeared that the first rains for the day weren't far off. The sky was darkening to a heavy dark cloud that blocked out any chance of the sun being able to shine through.

Popping my earphones in my ears for my iPod that I had brought with me from Phoenix, I zoned out and looked at my feet for the remaining time it took to walk to school. Once I got there I could see that a few students were there already. They were lingering around, and hanging out against their cars in groups or waiting for their friends to arrive.

Walking through the groups I started towards where I could see the administration building was. The few people that were around this early were casting me glances as I walked past them. After all, nothing new ever happened in the small sleepy town of Forks. So a new student starting in the middle of the semester was definitely something to talk about.

Pushing open the door, I stepped into the warm entry of the office in the building. Letting the door slip from my hand it closed softly behind me as I stepped up to the bench where an older woman was typing onto the computer in front of her. Her hair was a silvery shade of grey, cropped to just below her ears. Glasses hung around her neck from a beaded thread that was connected to each arm on her glasses.

She glanced up at me as I rested my hands on the bench in front of me.

"Are you alright there Dear?" She asked pausing from typing on the computer to address me.

"Uh, I'm Bella Swan. I'm starting at the school here today?" I stated, though it came out sounding more like a question.

"Oh! Of course, silly me! How could I forget?" She exclaimed standing up from the desk chair she was sitting on to go over to the other side of the office area.

I watched as she rifled through a draw in a cabinet and came back with a cardboard folder with a few sheets of papers in it. My name 'Isabella Swan' was written atop of the folder on the front.

"Alright, so this is all your paper work for you. Your father has already signed any admittance papers so these are just copies of the rules and regulations of Forks High, as well as a map of the school. Here is your timetable schedule, and a slip for your teachers to sign for today. You'll have to bring this slip back to me at the end of the day, and then after that you'll be on the roll call for each class," she explained handing me each bit of paper as she went through each one.

I swallowed nervously. "Uh, thanks for that," I said taking them all from her outstretched hand.

"Do you have any other questions Dear?" She asked sitting back down in the desk chair.

I nodded. "Yeah, how do I go about getting a bus pass?"

"Oh!" the lady once again got up from the chair and went over to a folder that was sitting on the bookcase to the right side of her.

"If you just fill out this form, and have your father sign it, then you should be able to have a pass by the end of the week. For the mean time I can give you one of the schools paper slips that you can show to the driver as you get on the bus." She said.

I internally sighed. I didn't think there was going to be any way that Charlie would sign the form for me. Besides that fact, I hated to have to ask him for anything at the moment. I had no idea how he was going to react to anything I did or say. Maybe I could forge his signature . . .

Instead of giving any sign to where my thoughts had gone I took the form from her outstretched hand and smiled at her. "Thanks you," I said.

"No worries, Dear. Enjoy your first day!" She farewelled me as I walked back out of the office and into the cold outside.

There was a lot more students hanging around now. There was only a couple of minutes before the first bell would ring for the day. Looking down at my information papers I looked up where my locker was located before glancing at the map to see which building it was.

Making my way into the building I made my way along the wall of lockers until I came across the number that I had been allocated. Looking down at the number combination that was written on the papers beside my locker number, I started spinning the lock to each number to open my locker. Hearing the click, I pulled open my locker and started to place my bag inside. Not having any of the textbooks yet, I just grabbed my small pencil case and a notebook out of my bag. Closing the door again and spinning the lock to make sure it was secure I started off towards my first class.

I was looking down at the map in my hands to find the correct room number when I felt someone come up from beside me.

"You're Isabella swan, right?" the boy greeted. I looked up to see an Asian boy that had a kind round face. His straight black hair hung around his face in loose strands that brushed just above his shoulders.

"Um, Yeah." I answered, feeling a bit awkward.

The boy smiled. "I'm Eric, the eyes and ears of this place. Is there anything you need? Tour guide? Lunch date? Shoulder to cry on?" He rambled on jokingly.

I laughed feeling slightly uncomfortable with the attention. "Uh, I'm more of the suffer in silence type." I answered.

Eric looked put out for a second before his wide smile returned. "I'm on the school newspaper committee. And your news, baby. Gonna make the front page."

I stopped walking. My mouth dropping open in shock. "W-what? I-m not . . . Please don't –" I stuttered.

Eric laughed. "Relax. No picture?" he asked trying to compromise.

"I'd rather not be featured at all," I pleaded.

Eric looked disappointed but nodded his head. "Ok, no feature."

I smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

"Well I best run, but I'll see you around, yeah?" Eric asked already starting to walk backwards.

I nodded. "Yeah."

Eric smiled and then turned around and walked off down the hall, leaving me to be able to walk into my next class.

The rest of the morning passed in a sort of a blur. It consisted of me making my way to each class and getting the slip the office lady had given me signed off by each teacher, and sitting as far back in the class as possible.

Finally it came around to my most hated class of all time.

Gym.

I tried my best to get sat on the side lines of the class. Stating how I didn't have any gym clothes but the teacher wasn't having any of my excuses. He gave me one of the schools spare gym uniforms and instructed me that if I wanted to avoid wearing them in the future I was to bring my own set of clothes to school.

I glared as I made my way back to the change rooms hearing two girls giggling as I past them in the hall.

After getting changed I made my way back out into the stadium to see that two nets had be set up in the middle of the court and that everyone had been split off into teams. I was put on the side with one of the girls who had giggled at me in the hallway. I promptly ignored her as I went to stand at the very back of the group.

The coach blew his whistle, and a ball was passed back and forward over the net in a game of volleyball. I avoided having to hit the ball as much as I can, and tried to stay out of my teammate's way.

But as I watched the ball sail once again over to our side of the net, I noticed it was coming straight for me. Out of instinct I raised my hand and punched the ball away before it could hit me in the face.

It sailed across the other side of the gym to where the other team were playing. It flew across the space and came to knock a boy on the back of the head.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed.

I raced over and immediately began to apologise. "I'm sorry! I told them not to let me play!"

I wrapped my arms around myself half expecting him to turn around in anger, and start yelling at me. But instead, he turned. His hand reaching up to rub the back of his head.

His eyes widened slightly as he looked at me. "Oh, don't worry about it. You're Isabella Swan, the new girl right?"

I grimaced. "It's just Bella."

He grinned. "Oh yeah, well hey, I'm Mike. Mike Newton." His clear blue eyes sparkled as he grinned at me.

He held out his hand and I hesitantly reached out and shook it. Suddenly, the girl that had laughed at me in the hallway and that was placed on my team came running up.

"She's got a great spike huh!" she laughed going up to stand beside Mike. "I'm Jessica by the way."

I nodded my head and mumbled a quiet 'hey' to her.

Jessica spoke again. "You're from Arizona right?"

I nodded my head, looking down to play with my fingers. I suddenly found my cuticles very interesting. "Yeah."

"Aren't people from Arizona meant to be like, really tanned?" She laughed.

I could feel my face flaming red. "Yeah, I guess, that's why they kicked me out."

Mike who picked up on the sudden awkward tension started laughing. "You're good," he laughed waggling his finger in front of him.

Jessica started laughing very loud and very exaggeratingly. "That's so funny!"

Hearing the coach blow his whistle again to signal the end of the game. The bell sounded overhead, indicating that it was now lunch time.

"Hey, do you want to sit with us?" Mike asked.

I caught Jessica's glare before she went off and linked her arms with the other girl that had laughed at me earlier.

"Uh, you sure?" I asked as I looked at where Jessica and the other girl had gone into the change rooms. It was very obvious that Jessica had a crush on Mike, and was feeling a bit territorial.

"Yeah, Yeah! Come on it will be great!" He said.

Lunch passed without much incidences. Jessica and the other girl who I later found out name was Lauren sat on the other side of the table to me, whispering between themselves. I met another girl, Angela who seemed a lot nicer than both Jessica and Lauren. She tried taking my photo for the school newspaper before Eric, who had joined the table intercepted her and said that they weren't going to do the feature.

Joining the table was another guy who had a buzz cut close to his head. Tyler, I found out his name was. The boys were very busy fawning over to me. Both to my discomfort and to Jessica's irritation.

By the time the bell for the end of the day rang, I was feeling exhausted. I took my slip that was signed by all my teachers to the office lady, and then headed to my locker to grab my bag. I headed to the supermarket and grabbed the shopping that I would need for Charlie and myself.

With the money he gave me, and with what we needed, there wasn't much left over for any extra expenses like shampoo and feminine products for myself. But luckily I still had plenty with me from when I came here.

I headed to the checkouts and paid for the shopping before grabbing the four bags that I had and started the walk home.

At least the store was closer to Charlie's house than what the school was, but by the time I got to the doorsteps of the house my arms and fingertips were screaming in protest.

Setting the bags down on the ground I shook out my hands before unlocking the door to take the shopping inside.

I put the shopping away and put the oven on to start heating before I took my school bag and coat up to my room.

I looked at the time and saw that it was already half past four. I didn't have too much time before Charlie said he would be coming home from work.

Hurriedly I went to the bathroom and washed my face and hands before I started peeling the potatoes and put them on the stove to begin boiling.

Browning the steaks in the fry pan I then put them in the oven to cook and set about cooking the rest of the dinner.

While the veggies were cooking and the meat was in the oven I went into the lounge room to see what there was to tidy up in there. There were a few beer cans sitting on the coffee table, so after picking them up and throwing them away, I went back into the room to fluff the cushions on the couches.

Looking at the time I saw it was now quarter to six. Hurriedly I went back into the kitchen and pulled the steaks out the oven. Using a knife I cut a little bit away from the edge of the steak to see that it looked cooked through. Pulling the plates out from the cupboard I started to dish up the dinner just as I heard Charlie's cruiser pull up in the driveway. I rushed to sit his dinner on the table where he sat along with a fresh beer from out of the fridge. I raced back into the kitchen as I took my time to serve up my meal as I heard him come through the door.

"Isabella? You here?" He called out.

"Y-Yeah, in the kitchen dad," I answered coming out with my own plate to the table.

"What's for dinner?" he asked coming over to sit where I had placed his food.

"Steak."

"Is it well done? I like my steaks well done. None of that red shit in the middle." He said. His hand coming up to rub at his moustache before picking up his cutlery and started eating.

"I believe it is." I answered hesitantly.

We ate our food in silence. Other than the piece of toast I managed to eat at breakfast and a few bites here and there at school, I hadn't really eaten. So I was starving.

I was nearly finished with my dinner when Charlie suddenly spat out a mouth full of food and took a deep drink from his beer. I looked up surprised. "W-What's wrong?"

"The damn cow is still bleeding!" He shouted standing up from his chair and moving it roughly out of his way.

I was frozen in place. "B-But I thought it was cooked!" I stuttered feeling my hands beginning to shake.

Charlie snatched up his steak and thrust it in front of my face. "Does that look cooked to you, you incompetent imbecile?!"

Looking I saw that there was about a centimetre of red right in the middle of the steak. I swallowed heavily. "I-I'm sorry Dad, I-I thought it was done."

Charlie gripped my chair, yanking it out from the table making me almost fall off my chair in the process. "Get up!"

Stumbling to my feet I stood, standing on the other side of the chair to Charlie, I took a few hesitant steps back.

"I only asked this one thing of you, and yet, you were unable to do it! All I asked is that you cook my meals for me! You serve this –" He reached over and picked up the piece of steak from his plate, before throwing it back down on the table. "This inedible piece of shit!"

My hands started to shake at my sides, so I clenched them into fists in an effort to get them to stop shaking as fear coursed through my body. "But I thought it was cooked dad," I repeated softly.

Charlie flung the chair I was sitting on to the side as he strode forward. Automatically I took a step back, but I was to slow to avoid the closed fist that connected with my stomach. Bending over, the air rushed out of me. Dropping to one knee, I tried to drag in a breath as I looked up just as Charlie sent a side kick sailing into my upper arm.

Crying out, I flung out my right arm to help break my fall as I fell. Feeling it twist from the way I landed, I crumbled. Falling onto my back as my head connected with the floor.

"You never learn do you?!" Charlie spat, his spit flying from his mouth as he yelled.

"I'm sorry!" I sobbed, feeling the tears flood my eyes as I struggled to breathe.

"Get out of my sight!" He hissed.

Scampering to my feet, I staggered as I stood up. Wrapping an arm around my mid-section I moved as fast as I could to the stairs, using the hand rail to help pull myself up to my room.

Entering my room, I turned around and closed the door, falling against it as the pain flowing through my body started to register to my brain.

Gasping, I broke down in tears as I tried to hold myself together as I wrapped my arms around myself and brought my legs up towards my chest. Wrapping my arms, which throbbed painfully, around my knees I continued to cry.

It seemed like I was stuck in a nightmare. I was hoping yesterday that Charlie was just in a mood. But I was slowly realising that Charlie had some severe anger and mental issues. Issues that he seemed to have no problem taking out on me.

Looking down at my injuries, I noticed two bruises blossoming on my pale skin. One just under my ribs. The other on my left bicep where his foot had connected with my arm. My other arm felt like it was sprained from the way it took my weight to break my fall. As I took stock of my injuries I was realising that though he was an angry person, Charlie wasn't stupid.

The places that he hit were out of sight, or easily covered up with clothes. As more tears slipped down my cheeks I thought about telling someone. But who? Other than Jacob who I had met for only about half an hour I didn't really know anyone else in town.

I also felt like I couldn't go to the police. Not with Charlie being the chief. He would know in an instance that I had told someone how he hurts me.

Who would believe that the good Samaritan, the chief of police, would be abusing his daughter?

Ok guys, large chapter this one was! almost split this one up into 2 separate ones, but then they would have been too short for my liking. Thanks to those couple of people that reviewed the last chapter! The mean so much to me, and inspire me to help update the next chapter quicker. Do you think I could get 5 reviews on this one? I believe in you guys!

So quick note – I know you guys want the Cullen's to come in and save Bella. And you know they will *insert winky face* but I want to take time, and develop this story. So they won't move to town, find out about Charlie abusing Bella, and save her straight away. Otherwise it takes the joy away from the story!

But in saying that, the Cullen's will show up in the next chapter. There will also be a little bit of a time jump but not of much, just to help the story move along a bit.

Did you notice I used the dialogue from the movie of Bella's first day of school? Trying to add a bit of authenticity to the story as I go. *winky face*.

Would love to hear all your thoughts!

Until next time.

~ Sarah xoxo