Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Special Thanks to Twimarti for beta'ing and Kitty Vuitton for pre-reading!

0. . . oO•.o.Hello Beautiful.o.•Oo . . .0

CHAPTER 37

•~Bella Swan~•

"Fuck, I'm stuffed," Rose grunted, patting her flat stomach.

"Does that mean I can have that last piece of spicy scallop?" I hedged hopefully, knowing good and well if I ate another bite, I'd fucking pop.

Rose raised her brow, giving me an incredulous look. Of course she wasn't gonna fucking share. We both knew she'd make room for it, and with a slightly nauseated look on her face, she managed to chew and swallow the remaining pieces of sushi.

I simply rolled my eyes at the blatant display of gluttony.

"You know you would have done the same thing," she defended, her voice a mixture of discomfort and amusement.

I shrugged. Of course she was right, but I wasn't about to admit anything.

Once we'd paid our bill, Rose and I stepped out and headed toward the parking garage where she'd left her slick new BMW M6 convertible.

Rose had picked up the conversation, mentioning something about Riley dating Victoria James, a girl who used to push Riley down on the playground when we were in middle school just because she happened to be bigger than him. She'd been bigger than most kids our age, really.

I wasn't exactly sure what I thought about him moving on so quickly. Though I couldn't say I was angry or even jealous, I was just surprised about his choice. Victoria and I couldn't have been more different.

Suddenly, my internal musings were interrupted.

"Bella, isn't that your mom?" Rose asked, pointing a little way down the street. I frowned, not seeing anything at first. "Right there... with the umm... sex hair?"

That was when I spotted her. Before, my eyes had passed right over the woman who'd given birth to me, not used to seeing her in such an unkempt state.

My frown deepened even more when I realized the building she had just exited wasn't a spa or a health club – it was hotel – a very expensive hotel, and my step-father wasn't around to explain the freshly fucked look on her face.

A/N

Uh oh... sounds like Bella's spidey sense is tingling... Thoughts?

Until later...