Just A Small-Town Girl

Bella P.O.V

"You sure you got everything?" Asked the calm voice of my father. I picked up the heavy duffel bag off of my bed and handed it to him.

"Yeah that's the last of everything." I said calmly as I took one last look at my childhood room that was pretty barren. Pictures were gone, memories were stripped, and all that was left were the basics. My bed, my television. Everything else that I had to my name was packed away and being shipped off to Chicago. I followed my father down the steps of the cozy home that I'd lived in for forever. I said a mental goodbye knowing this was the last time that I'd ever really live here. Sure, I was my fathers' only child and I'd inherit the place. I would definitely be coming back for holidays and summers, but I would never live here again. In this house, in this town. I didn't know where I'd end up but I knew it wasn't back here. The thought made me kind of sad, but it was for the best.

I needed to leave.

It was best for both of us if I left. Charlie brought my bags to his Mercedes and I watched as he put everything into the trunk. As he was doing it, a black mustang pulled into my round driveway and Charlie and I made eye contact before I got up to walk over. Mike stepped out and I smiled and waved timidly. My dad looked at the two of us.

"I'm going to go get gas and then I'll be back to get you and we'll head out okay?" My dad, his head going between the two of us. I nodded my head at my father, he gave Mike a friendly clap on the shoulder before he got into the car and peeled out of the driveway to get gas he didn't need. He was just trying to give us time to talk, that much I knew. When he was gone, Mike looked at me with a big smile but it was still sad.

"You're all packed?" He asked. I nodded with a smile, his eyes were focused on something and I followed his gaze to the "GOODBYE" balloon that was on my porch from the party last night.

"Sorry I didn't come last night, I uh…. Jess and I were packing and everything." He said softly. I nodded.

"It's okay I know the struggle to pack everything last minute." I said quietly. It took everything in me not to cry right there. It was Not okay. I wanted him to show up so badly, I cried in Angela's arms for like two hours after everyone left. Mike was my best friend/ ex-boyfriend. We had been close ever since the 1st day of school in grade one. He was there for everything, my first pet, my first fail… when my mom left. Mike was one of the few people close to me who was there for it all. He was pretty popular… I was pretty under the radar as far as high school life went. He was the star football player and in a town like Forks Washington that meant something. People were taken aback when we started dating after Freshman year but it wasn't all that surprising given that we were always together. It was when we started dating though that problems arose. Mike was Mike Newton after all… of the Newtons and being one of the richest families in the county he had to have an exceptional life. With an exceptional partner and when he started getting serious with me his parents' kind of lost their shit. I wasn't white trash by any means, my father and I lived in a nice home, one of the nicer ones in this town. We were what you considered upper middle class, I guess. He didn't struggle to send me to college, we had two cars, a renovated home. I was blessed with everything I needed. To most people that would have been okay.

But not to a Newton.

With his father being some hot shot lawyer and his mother being some socialite originally from Seattle. Mike was from old money. He went to Forks High with me and all our friends but on weekends he did higher class things. Like Cotillion and went to Galas and all other kinds of high society things that I was never a part of because my father was a detective, not a businessman. His mother and father did everything they could to get us to separate and it finally worked when we broke up last year before summer. When we came back to school he was dating Jessica Stanley.

Jessica Stanley.

What could I say about her besides she was a Newton's dream. She was blonde, tall, head cheerleader and her family was rich as hell. Her dad and Mike's dad golfed together while they plotted up ways to steal more land from our native people. They were a match made in heaven and always bumped into each other at those little events I was never privy to get into. Angela tells me that once his father and her father found out they both applied to NYU they had all but started planning their wedding. When we came back to school, I had hoped that maybe Mike would man up and tell his parents to fuck off …but nope. He came back hand in hand with Jessica instead. We didn't really talk much for obvious reasons, Angela was the only friend we really had in common and it was obvious whose side she was taking in this mess of a situation. So that's how the last year went… Angela and I applied to all kinds of schools, my plan was to go to Seattle U originally but my course of plans changed during senior year when I realized I wanted to get the hell out of this town. An urge I never really had until senior year, seeing Mike all over the place with Jessica. Homecoming King and Queen. It wasn't even that I wanted to leave and for it to be one of those "Loser becomes famous" kind of stories because that wasn't it. I wasn't fat, or socially awkward or bullied or even an outcast I was just shy and mousy and kept to myself. Mostly, because everyone knew me as the girl whose mother skipped town without her- another major sin in the nuclear family town of Forks Washington. I realised that there was only so far I could go in this town. I could stay near Seattle and be the girl I'd always been, the girl who'd never be good enough for Mike Newton… or her mother. Or I could go somewhere else…and be whoever I wanted. My father had a promotion and he was never home, it was time for me to go out and as cliché as this was… find myself. And I was doing it at the school where my parents met. Northwestern. In the city where my father is from.

"I just dropped by because Ang told me you were leaving today and… I'd hate myself if I never said bye." He said his voice drifting off.

"Yeah well… it was nice to see you before I left… I'll see you maybe around Thanksgiving?" I asked him hopefully.

"Uh no… I don't think so Jess and I might go off to visit her grandparents in Cape Cod."

"Oh okay well have fun Mike… I'll see you when I see you." I said softly. He came over to me and gave me a little hug. I buried my head in his shoulder and willed myself not to cry- I didn't. But I was oh so close. We pulled apart when my father pulled up, he was still holding my hands.

"You're going to kill it in Chicago. Don't forget the little people."

"I won't Mike… Be safe in New York." I said smiling as I picked up my jean jacket that I had laying on the step of my porch. I waved to him once more and then I hoped into my dads' car, he beeped twice as a way of saying goodbye to Mike as we drove off and it was like slow motion as Mike lifted his hand in goodbye, the sun hitting his face. I put my fingers against the window and gave him one last smile. All too soon, he was out of site and I was on my way to my new life. I turned my head from my home and kept my eyes on the road ahead of me. I tried not to cry as emotions wasn't really something Charlie and I were good at. It was always kind of silent between us. Not in a bad way or anything it was just… the way it was. After my mom left, I always say she kind of took a piece of Charlie with her. I knew it as hard for him after she left, he had never planned on raising me by himself. He made plans he had a life all planed out and she just… ruined it. It killed him. Everyone who knew him knew that. After Rene was gone we didn't speak about her much unless it was something I needed to know. We didn't talk about her, there were no photos of her, nothing. I made sure not to ask I made sure that I didn't make it any harder for Charlie to deal with her leaving. I did everything I could to make things easy for my father. He was never home, and I could've used that as an excuse to act out but I knew he was hurting nearly every day and it would've killed me to give him even more stress.

So, I was perfect.

I kept the house clean, I didn't act out I brought home good grades, I didn't lie to him about where I was going or who I was with. I made it easy for him to deal with her being gone by not really making my presence all too known. Of course, that reaped some benefits, in turn of all my honesty I didn't get an overly strict father who didn't let me do anything or go anywhere. Charlie was pretty cool. That I was grateful for, we were both pretty quiet people so we got along well.

"Okay we're here." He said parking in the airport parking lot, pulling me out of my thoughts. We checked my bags and all too soon we were standing in the airport and my flight number was being called. I had my Levi jacket in my hand, along with my purse that all my documents and my Ipad for the plane.

"That's me." I said quietly with a little smile.

"That's you." He said returning it with the same one. I went over to him and we gave each other an awkward little hug.

"Call me when you're settled in, if you get lost or need anything don't be afraid to call me. I know some guys over at the department in Chicago. They owe me a lot of favours so… don't hesitate." He said I just nodded laughing a little bit.

"I'll be fine dad." I said really taking him in, my father was pretty good looking for his age- I guess. I had seen countless of the single moms flirting with him at the grocery store and stuff. He treated them like he didn't even notice at all. He worked out, and kept himself in shape. He just had that brooding thing about him that I guess women found sexy. Not that he'd been on a date in ages, he makes jokes that its because he has to keep an eye on me but we both know the truth. He just wasn't ready to move on.

But I was.

I didn't want too… but I had too…which was why I was leaving.

"Alright. Take care kid." He said. I turned to leave and then I stopped when he spoke again. "Isabella." He croaked out. I turned to look at him slowly, taken aback. He never really called me Isabella. My full name.

"Ya?" I said quietly and steadily.

"It's going to be okay." He said softly, and when he did against all my control, I shed some tears. He just smiled softly at me though, he nodded his head. "It will be." He assured me softly. "You're going to go off and drink, and party… not too much." He said and despite my sadness a little laugh escaped from my mouth. "And you're going to move on and one day you're going to wake up and it won't hurt anymore… and you won't realize it at first, but it'll happen and soon you won't remember how hurt you felt or how sad you were… you won't even remember being the person that wanted this so bad…. And then you'll fall in love again… and it'll be okay." He said in a tone that was all knowing. He was speaking like a man who had gone through this.

And he was.

"You promise?" I whispered as I cried not even pretending to be the mature girl that I always pretended to be. I knew that it was just a stupid little high school romance to a lot of people… maybe even to Charlie. But it hurt so much… all the time. He nodded, and I threw my arms around my father and cried a little.

"I promise." He whispered in my ear.

"I love you dad." I said quietly as I held him and cried a little bit.

"I love you too kid." He said as I pulled apart. He kissed my forehead and then I waved goodbye one more time, before I joined the line to get to my plane. He stood there until I was gone, and all too soon just like Mike a little earlier he was out of site and I had to turn my head to walk forward to the plane. Leaving that part of my life, behind.

Chicago was no match for Port Angeles, or even Forks. It was busy as hell and I did not match the pace of the people in this city in the slightest. I tried to look as together as possible but in reality, I was nervous as I got my suitcase and hailed a cab. I wasn't moving into the dorms as I was a person who tended to get claustrophobic and the idea of sharing a four by six dorm room with a stranger wasn't best for me, and since there was no way in hell I was participating in Greek life I decided on an off campus house. I wouldn't be living there alone I would be sharing it with other freshmen, but it was better as I would have my own bathroom and bedroom and the living room and kitchen would be shared. When we pulled up in front of the neighbourhood that they called "Wildcat Road" because this is where you went if you went to Northwestern and didn't want to live on res. It was nice, lots of townhouses and it was obvious college kids lived here because nearly every house was blasting music.

I can see that no one's wasting time.

I was lugging my bags up the steps of my house after paying and tipping my cab driver. I was fiddling with my keys, trying to find the right one and when I finally did I walked in and I wished I hadn't. I walked in to an insane party, there were shirtless guys, pizza boxes, barely dressed girls. My eyes widened at the mess. I had met my roommates- Lauren Mallory and Irene Conrad in a Northwestern forum looking for roommates. They seemed normal and quiet like me.

THIS WAS NOT NORMAL AND QUIET.

"Oh my God are you Bella!?" Screamed a blonde tan girl with huge busty tits you could see through her white tank top.

"Yeah." I said my eyes wandering around the house at the fucking mess. This posed an unforeseeable problem… would I have to deal with this all the time? I promised myself I would make my time here a positive experience and live a little. I even promised Angela I'd go to a kegger or two.

But this?

No this was fucking craziness.

"Omg it's me Lauren!" She squealed throwing her arms around me. I awkwardly patted her back and she pulled apart all happy, not caring at the fact that there were frat boys all around this damn apartment… breaking shit. I wanted to scream, but I just stared instead.

"I hope you don't mind we threw a party. Irene was here for summer school before we moved in so she got in with all the guys on Greek road… isn't that great! We have a way in to all the parties…. Thank God you're hot." She said I smiled a little at that trying my best not to look as stressed as I felt. Either way she didn't catch on, she just kept talking.

"Here I'll show you to your room!" She said excitedly. I smiled at that, because any opportunity to not have to see this disaster of a place. It honestly was a nice townhouse, if it wasn't being ripped a part to shreds. I followed Lauren and her huge pornstar bouncy tits up the steps, she helped me with my luggage and brought me to a room at the end of the hall.

"Sorry you got here last, you get last dibs." She said. I laughed a little.

"I could care less, as long as I got my own bathroom." I said. She nodded happy that I was an easy roommate no doubt. We went into my room and I was genuinely happy with what I saw. It was smaller than my room back home of course but it wasn't a box that I knew they offered in dorms. There was a huge window, my own bathroom and a decent sized closet. This was perfect.

"Well this is it… I'll let you get settled! But come down to the party Eric Hinton is down there and he brought the keg!" She said excitedly a she all but ran downstairs. I closed the door and let out a breath.

"Ugh!" I said out loud at all the noise emitting from downstairs. I went to the desk that my father already had someone send over here and put up so I wouldn't have to haggle with it. I pulled out my laptaop throwing my purse on the bed. I hit the Facetime button and after three rings she picked up. I pointed to my serious face and she let out a laugh.

"There's no way you can hate Chicago already you landed there like an hour ago." Angela joked.

"I literally roomed with the Jessica Stanley's of Northwestern." I said to my beautiful tanned friend.

"What?" She said amused as took a bite of an Oreo cookie. Angela was leaving to LA tomorrow. While I was looking at schools in places like Chicago and Michigan -I wanted seasons- Angela was looking at schools in LA, Phoenix, Miami. -She wanted fun in the sun- So when she got into UCLA on a full ride it was basically fate for her. I would miss my best friend in the entire world, along with me though she was more than ready to get the fuck out of Forks Washington. Her parents were really conservative and would've loved it if she never even went to college and just married who they chose and moved down the street. Angela wasn't having it though, she was over her religious roots and was off to LA. Her mom nearly had a heart attack when she told her but, there was nothing anyone could do about it.

"There is a rager going down in my living room, there are frat boys all over the place and I think there's an orgy going on in the other room." I said with disgust.

"Ew." Was her great reply as she ate more Oreos. I just groaned at that and she laughed.

"I'm sure they're just blowing off steam before school starts don't freak out yet…. Just make your bed and get in it because you have your interview tomorrow." She reminded me.

"Right." I said mostly to myself nearly forgetting. I quickly said goodbye and got off after sulking at my misfortune, I did get ready for bed as I did have an interview tomorrow. I realized quickly that living in any city was expensive and though Charlie just got a raise and was willing to help I wasn't really about to mooch and make him destitute. I worked at the movie theatre back home in Forks and had to deal constantly with the scrutiny from the kids in my town back home when they came in. I refused to take a job like that again. I had sent me resume to just about every secretarial job in this damn city but there was one job in particular that I wanted. It was Hale Auction house. I was taking a degree in art history so getting a job at one of the most prestigious auction houses in Chicago was probably a really good move, even if it was just to be someone's drink girl. I was prepping for this interview for weeks and the fact that there as a frat party going on was not going to stop this for me.

The next morning I had all but jumped out of the bed to get ready. I showered and did my hair in loose waves, I got the outfit that I went all the way to Port Angeles to buy. It was a tight blazer that looked prep but professional and with a white button down shirt underneath I looked really young professional. I wore black skinny jeans and pumps-I hated heels- but hey this was my new life. I did light makeup and put on a black headband to go with the whole prep thing and as I put the finishing touches on my lip gloss I gave myself a once over. I looked like one of those girls whose father owned a hedge fund or some shit like that. I was going for preppy, yet young classy and cute. Which was opposite of my Forks High jeans and T-shirt. I was trying to do a complete turn around. I had always wanted to experiment with my style after watching one too many seasons of Gossip Girl with Angela, but in Forks there just wasn't really anywhere I was going so clothes would go to waste. Maybe if I was miss Jessica Stanley and got to go to all kinds of stupid rich events I could… I wouldn't even let my mind finish that thought. I picked up the oxblood purse that I bought because it went perfectly with this outfit, I snapped the diamond tennis bracelet my father bought me for graduation and after calling for my Uber, I was on my way. I left my bedroom and as I went downstairs to the foyer to wait for my car, I raised my eye brow at the state of the living room. There were sleeping guys all over the floor and all over the couches, people passed out at the bottom of the steps. I walked over many passed out bodies as I went to the door.

This was a fucking nightmare.

"Bella?" Someone said from behind me, I was faced with a girl I hadn't met before and since she knew my name I assumed this was Irene. Irene had black hair and grey eyes… she was gorgeous.

"Hey." I whispered not wanting to wake up any of the drunkies. She looked me up and down.

"You look so cute where are you going?" She asked nicely.

"Thanks… uh I'm going to a job interview." I said nicely she gasped.

"And we threw a party, fuck I'm so sorry." She said sincerely. I smiled a genuine smile and shrugged my shoulders.

"I didn't lose any sleep…don't worry about it. Uh you guys have fun." I said nicely. She smiled and waved in goodbye. I left through the front door and hopped into my awaiting Uber. I needed to learn the bus routes out here as plans for a car weren't really in my personal budget right now. I greeted the driver politely and tried to calm my nerves. When he pulled up in front of a nice office building twenty minutes later, I got out and took a deep breath before I went to the front of the reception desk.

"Hi." Said a friendly looking girl as she typed her on computer. She was blonde hair blue eyed and there was something sleek and professional about her. There was a row of girls behind the tall desk also that was in front of a security looking situation.

"Hi uh I'm looking for Rosalie Hale's office?" I said nicely, she looked up gave me a once over and she smiled.

"Isabella Swan?" She said still typing.

"Or Bella." I said nicely. She just handed me a white pass key with some type of gold crest on it. I didn't know what the crest meant. The girl went back to typing but still spoke friendly and professionally.

"Pass through the body scanners and go all the way up the top floor. The receptionist up there will get you all set okay Bella?" She said again in that friendly tone, but still not looking at me. I smiled in thanks.

"Thank you." I said as I walked away.

"No worries, good luck." She said nicely to my back and I felt a little relieved that so far in Chicago everyone had been nice. I mean I obviously was bumping into not so nice-looking people and I didn't expect everyone to be gung ho happy, but I was appreciative of the fact that I was having good experiences with people so far. I did as I was instructed and when I got to the top floor of Hale auction house I was stunned at how swanky and nice this place was. Pretty looking professional young adults everywhere. I thanked the high heavens I didn't stick out like a sore thumb and decided to pull out all the stops for this interview.

"Bella right?" Someone said from behind me. I turned to look at a blonde girl wearing an earpiece and a clipboard.

"Yes, hi." I said reaching to shake her hand which she politely took.

"Carmen told me you were here… right on time.. Rosalie will like that." She said walking at a quick pace to the end of the fancy looking hall. This whole set up reminded me of something out of Devil Wears Prada… or Suits or something. She guided me to the end of the hall where there was an office with floor to ceiling glass windows, and plush furniture. I walked in and the lady I learned whose name was Jane had me sit at the opposite of a grand wooden desk that looked like a piece of artwork itself. It was beautiful, I admired it.

"It's 18th century pine." Said a voice from behind me. I shot up to be faced with a pretty blonde woman who was so got damn beautiful I almost fell out of my heels. She made me look like Darth Vader beside sunshine Barbie. She was tall… not too tall but taller than me. She had long blonde hair that was down in soft waves and wore a pencil skirt and a silk white top. She also had on glasses that said Givenchy. She looked like something out of a magazine.

"It's beautiful." I said about the desk.

"Thank you." She said curtly as she sat across from me in her desk.

"Isabella but I heard you like Bella." She said conversationally as she took off her reading glasses to reveal striking blue eyes. Word travelled fast in this building.

"Everything here is very fast paced." She said as if reading my thoughts. I nodded eager to learn and show her I could do it. "We get some the worlds most fanciest jewels and arts since before I was even born… the company was my grandfathers' " She said sharing that tidbit of information I nodded. "I take my job very seriously." She said sternly.

"Okay." I answered quietly.

"To be honest I'm not going to ask you any typical work questions because everyone lies out their ass on those things." She said as she pulled out a piece of paper from a file. Despite my better judgement I laughed a little bit.

I liked her.

"I really do like your resume you have sufficient experience as a secretary but my only thing is your age. A lot of things happen in this office that honestly you need to be mature for. Foreigners are assholes, sometimes my husband recommends his associates who are assholes and it seems like the IRS is constantly on my door wondering why I make so much money- Which is a product of hard work but I guess it's a concept they are inept to." She said as she skimmed through my resume though not really reading it.

"I can handle it…. I can… I'm immune to that kind of stuff to be honest." I said truthfully, she quirked her eyebrow at me.

"Good, because I'm not and I need someone to calm me the fuck down before I kill someone." She said easily. I smiled albeit a bit taken aback at how serious she was. "Do you have a boyfriend?" She asked.

"No."

"Good, you're eighteen and college frat boys are a waste of time… more time for you to be available to me." She said flicking some blond hair over her shoulder. "Car?" She asked. My heart sank.

"No." I said.

"You need one do you have a license?" She asked. I nodded begging God she did not ask me to go out and buy a damn car for this job.

"I can provide you a company car it won't be anything extravagant if you do get the job." She said again nothing but business. I just nodded.

"How about your family? How are they?" She asked me. I was a tad confused but didn't show it, I didn't really understand how my family would matter for an art job but I just answered anyways with a light shrug.

"Uh just my father and I… and he works a lot so it's … really always just been me." I answered she nodded and didn't show any emotion as she looked over my resume. I got the hint that she really liked my last answer but again, she wasn't going to let me in on that fact. Maybe she was just extremely demanding and didn't want someone who always needed to go visit relatives or something… I guess I could understand that.

"No siblings? No close cousins?" She asked. I shook my head.

"I wish… it would've been nice to have a big family but… just me and Charlie. It's been that way since I was five." I answered my voice drifting off. Rosalie finally put my resume down.

"Okay well to be honest I like you… I liked you before I met you because of the sheer fact that you're in a degree that actually has something to do with this business and you're young and broke… which means you'll work hard and appreciate your job." She said I gave a little shrug with a sheepish look. She didn't tell one single lie.

"True." I said sheepishly. She folded her polished hands together. "I'm going to hire you but I will warn you I am not nice, I am not friendly when I have to deal with incompetence, but I am also not a dragon lady… I need you as much as you need me. I have some… personal family issues that are going to take me away from this place for days sometimes weeks at a time and genuinely I don't trust half the bitches out there with my company. They're great girls and trustworthy in their perspective jobs but they won't bode well with more responsibility. They have boyfriends, families, kids-

"Lives." I interrupted her softly. She nodded.

"I need someone young and willing to learn I also need someone loyal… if you can't look the other way with certain things that's fine don't take the job… but you're going to have to. You'll never get in trouble but you will have to keep your mouth shut." She said truthfully. I figured she was talking about cooking the books or something and to be honest if I wasn't doing it, I didn't care. Maybe that was bad but… I mean, rich people did shit like that all the time. My father taught me that half the time it wasn't even worth making a big deal over. I nodded.

"I'm willing to do it." I said truthfully, Rosalie extended her hand out to me with a smile.

"Welcome to Hale Auction house Bella." She said and thus, my life in Chicago began.