9

I hear their happy voices from my twin bed upstairs. Charlie didn't see changing it as I grew a necessity. Charlie doesn't see a lot of things I need as a necessity.

I wonder why I let him decide that for me. I mean, I know why. He hits me, it's true, but he's also my father and the idea of raising a hand back to him is too scary to fathom.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm making the right choice by being submissive. I'm not a little girl under his control. The only reason that I've stayed around after my mother's passing is because of my unreciprocated family loyalty. It's clear that he doesn't think the same and at this point in my life, I should be living for me.

That little glimpse of freedom I got today; being able to work, made me realize how much I'm missing and how much I've missed.

I won't say I was a wild child in my college days. I'm a quiet soul at heart. I didn't go out partying or making friends all the time, but that's just my personality. I did however have the freedom to do so, and now I've allowed that to be taken away.

I'm 24 and I want to be as happy and as carefree as Sue, whose laughter sends me another message from downstairs.

Sue laughs and Charlie's rough voice follows. I wonder how much longer she'll be here and how much longer I can stay awake. Charlie hates any mess to stay for too long and I know he expects me to come and clean up afterwards.

The phone rings and I hope it's for Charlie. Maybe they need him at the station or there's been a break-in. Something.

I hear Charlie chuckle into the phone and when he raises his voice to yell my name, my body freezes in shock. I don't want to get up.

I carefully climb out of my bed to mind the creaky floorboards beside it and tread lightly down the stairs.

Sue smiles at me as I enter the kitchen and Charlie…his eyes are full of questions.

I take the phone from him and he slaps a hard paw onto my shoulder before leaving the kitchen with Sue.

"H-hello," I stammer into the phone. I want to get off sooner rather than later.

"Hi, is this Isabella Swan?" a voice rings through and I immediately recognize it as my green-eyed customer.

"Just Bella," I say as my brain tries to figure out how he managed to get my number. He must've peaked through my file.

"Bella," he chuckles, "I apologize for making such a random call, but I wanted to check up on you. Make sure I didn't ruin your first day."

"Uh no, everything was fine," if anything, he sure did speed it up.

"I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me your next day in? You do owe me for the shoes," I can feel him smiling through the phone but I still panic.

"I'm sorry. I don't have the money to—"

"Bella," Charlie's stuck his head through the door, "Sue's getting ready to leave."

I give him a nod and subconsciously lean away. "I have to go. I'll see you at work," I whisper into the phone. I hang it up and move to head back up into my room. I don't even want to know what Charlie's thinking. I don't even want to care about it anymore.

Bella's thinking of making some life-changing moves!