"Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try."

Trapped

Ten

A lot can happen in one month.

In a matter of one week, Bella and I had fallen into an easy routine.

I'd walk into school excitedly and find her standing by my locker. I'd gather my things and she would walk me to first period. I wouldn't see her again until lunch where we alternated tables. Some days, I'd pull up a chair and make her sit with me. Other days, she'd all but throw me over her shoulder and carry me over to her table. After lunch, we'd walk to English together where she'd still guard my desk until Victoria passed.

After English, I wouldn't see Bella again until after school when she'd find me by my locker. She'd give me a ride home and at first, I had to persuade her to come inside, but now, it's a given. Having Bella come home with me gave me an excuse to spend more time with her and learn more of her little habits. I also learned that Bella could cook.

She wandered into the kitchen after she'd finished her homework and I was studying my lines. After opening the fridge and staring into its vast emptiness, she walked back into the living room and frowned.

"Where's your food?" she asked, confused. I didn't blame her. It was hard to imagine four healthy teenagers surviving without food, especially if you've seen how Jasper and Emmett eat.

After a short conversation about Jasper and Emmet only knowing how to barbecue, Bella shook her head and had to sweet talk the script out of my hands long enough for us to go grocery shopping. When I asked how we would pay for the groceries, Bella told me that she had a part time job in Seattle on Saturday mornings, but she refused to tell me what she did.

That night, Bella made us dinner to last for a week. Since then, me and Rose had been helping her make us dinner every Monday night.

By the second week, Bella had finally warmed up entirely to my family and I'd warmed up to her friends. It turned out that they weren't racist at all and a few insensitive jerks told them to go back to their reservation, where they belonged. I fumed when I heard that Edward was one of them. In turn, Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie treated Bella as family while Seth, Jacob, Brandon and Jane accepted me into their close-knit group.

Sometime, during the second week, Bella convinced her friends to join my table and my family was nothing but friendly towards them. For that, I was grateful. I did, however, catch Maria trying to get a little too friendly with Brandon while Jasper was absorbed into a football conversation with Bella, Jacob and Emmett. I glared at her, but the airhead was oblivious.

Edward had eventually gotten tired of "sitting with the Indians", I heard him mutter, and tried to leave with Tanya, but she said she wasn't going anywhere. Jacob was a natural comedian and he kept us all entertained. Tanya told Edward that she wasn't going to give up a potential friendship just because Edward chose to be rude and ignorant. Edward huffed and walked away. He still sat with us at lunch, but he refused to speak to Jacob, Seth or Brandon.

The third week was when I starting noticing changes in Bella behavior. When Bella was at my house, her sunglasses were nowhere near her face. She'd take them off and drop them on the coffee table as we chatted and did our homework and sometimes, made out. She'd often let her hair down when it was just the two of us, also. The first time I saw her reach back and pull her hair free of its confinement, I gasped. I could tell by the length of her pony-tail that her hair was long, but seeing it fall over her shoulders and cascade down her back was completely different. She was even more beautiful with her hair down. To everybody else, these little actions might seem like nothing, but I knew they meant she trusted me.

Bella Swan was by no means an affectionate person. Besides the occasional fist bump, high five, arm around the shoulder or pat on the back, Bella made no form of physical contact with anyone except for me, and people noticed.

At first, the only times Bella touched me was when I linked my pinky with hers or when she was kissing me. I could tell by the way she moved around me that there were moments when she wanted to touch me, but she was unsure of something. What exactly she was uncertain of, I didn't find out until much later.

As the days passed, I realized that I no longer had to reach out for Bella, and that she was reaching for me. She was always reaching, trying to get closer to me and I could see in her eyes that the closer she was to me, the happier she was. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one that noticed, and that was when the whispers started. I didn't care, though, because nobody approached me about it or treated me differently. For now, it was just about me and Bella.

On Friday of the third week, I walked into the auditorium prepared to audition. I didn't want to be an understudy so I chose to audition for both Sandy and Rizzo.

Nervous beyond belief, I walked onto the stage with shifting eyes. When the spotlight shone directly onto me, I looked up to find Bella in the booth above the auditorium, giving me two thumbs up. I smiled and looked to my right to find a dark haired boy named Garrett standing next to me. Apparently, he was auditioning for Danny Zuko – I hoped he made it. He looked perfect for the part.

By the time I was called again to audition for Betty Rizzo, I'd fallen into an effortless groove. When I saw who was auditioning for Kenickie, I could literally feel Victoria's glare on my face. I ignored her and smiled brightly at my long time friend and ex-boyfriend.

"James" I grinned.

"That's Kenickie, to you, Rizzo" he smiled, running his fingers through his hair as only Kenickie could.

At the start of the fourth week, I dragged Bella down to the main office with me where the Grease casting list would be posted. She waited a safe distance away as I fought my way through the crowd. When I'd elbowed and shoved my way to the front, I quickly scanned down the list.

Grease Is the Word – Cast:

Sandy Olsson – Jane Alec

Danny Zuko – Garrett Viaggiatore

Kenickie – James il Seguace

Betty Rizzo – Alice McCarty

Frenchy – Victoria Diablo

I stopped reading after that, my excitement taking over. Suddenly I was being lifted into the air and spun around in strong arms. I squealed in happiness, but I knew those arms didn't belong to my Bella.

Victoria glared at me as James placed me back on my feet to give me one final hug. I turned to see Bella watching James carefully. She was no longer leaning against the wall and I could see that her hands, shoved deep into her pockets, were balled into fists. When he walked away, leaving me unscathed, I could see Bella visibly relax.

Getting the part I wanted was not the only good thing that happened during the fourth week. In this time, I realized that I had very strong feelings for Bella. I wanted to know everything about her, yes, but not because she was a challenge. I wanted to know everything about her because I wanted to be a part of her life.

I started asking Bella more questions, but I made sure that they were less personal. She answered those questions with the least difficulty. They were simple questions like "Do you like chocolate?" and they gradually escalated to questions like "Why did you move to Washington?" Her response was simply "To start over." I decided today that I was going to get her to talk about her past.

"So, tell me about the house you lived in, in Phoenix" I asked as we lounged on the couch. Bella's head was on a pillow in my lap and I was absentmindedly playing with her hair, pulling pieces of it up and twirling it around my finger to make it curl. I learned that she liked me playing with her hair just as much as she liked to play with mine. She told me once that she thought the length of my hair was adorable. She then pretended that she didn't say a thing.

I hated it when she did that but loved it at the same time.

"Um…which one?" she asked, bringing my palm to her lips and kissing it softly.

"How many houses did you live in?"

"Depends on how you count it" she mumbled. I was shocked. I'd only lived here in this ostentatiously sized house for my entire life and here she was probably living in her 6th.

"Well, how do you count it?" I asked.

She was quiet for a moment and I felt her body tensing. She was thinking about the past. I didn't expect her to answer any more questions after that. She usually stopped talking after she'd gone into a bad memory. I'd learned to just let it go and move on.

I started to reach for the remote when she stopped me. Shocked, I looked down at her to see her staring up at me with furrowed brows.

"It's okay" she said. "I trust you. Just…give me a second, okay?"

I nodded and waited patiently for her to start talking. I listened to her heavy breathing as she sorted through her dark past and stroked her hair calmly as she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she looked determined.

"Four" she said quietly. I didn't speak. I just waited for her to continue. She looked up at me and said again, "Four houses". I nodded, convinced that that was all I was going to get, but she shocked me again.

"The first one was a big, mansion that my mother designed and decorated. She was an architect" Bella explained. "I didn't live there for long. My father moved us to a smaller house when I was three years old. A house where he believed memories couldn't haunt him." Bella looked away from me when she said this. I continued stroking her hair, trying my best to comfort her.

"The third house…" she continued. "It was bigger than the second, and the fourth…the house I was in before I came here…that was the worst house. It was big and beautiful and full of games and toys and expensive furniture…but it was no home."

Bella didn't say anything after that and I didn't ask her any more questions. Instead, I leaned down to press a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Thank you" it meant, and her slight nod showed me she understood.

That was the most she'd ever told me about her past and it left me confused, but closer to Bella. I was glad that Bella trusted me enough to talk to me. She needed to talk to someone, and even though it was hard for her, she was trying.

It was progress.