Chapter 3

BPOV

I saw the Cullen's as soon as we stepped into the terminal but Charlie was no where to be seen. Alice quickly walked over to Jasper.

"Please talk to Carlisle and Esme, Bella" Edward said quietly from behind me, pushing me forward gently. He had purposefully forced me to walk in front of him when we walked off the plane. I had been hoping to skip this little reunion. Not because I resented the Cullen's, I loved them like my family, but because it hurt worse then anything To be this close to them and to know that they would be leaving me again.

"I am not a monster Edward. I loved them like they were my family." I mumbled, unsure why I had used the past tense.

"I didn't mean to imply that you were." he said leading me to them. Watching the reunion of Esme and Edward was hard. She had almost lost him like I had like I did. Once Carlisle and Esme were done hugging him, Edward turned and walked the short distance to where Jasper and Alice were standing. The three of them began to talk quietly.

Esme wrapped me in her arms. Stroking her cold hand down the length of my hair. "Thank you for bringing him back to us." It felt like she held on to me forever, though it was only a few seconds.

I didn't answer her just looked down at my feet. She gently tipped my head up so she could look at my face. "Poor Bella, what have you done to yourself?"

"I'm fine, just tired."

"No your not." she said quietly glaring at Edward over my head. "Come with me and get cleaned up. We need to get going if we are going to make it back to Forks before midnight."

"Oh...um...Charlie is picking me up." I said quietly. Confused as to why for the second time today, the Cullen's thought they were going to Forks. "Aren't you going back to...um...?"

Smiling sadly she led me to the nearest first class lounge. "Well honey, we were planning to move back to Forks for a while. Alice and Edward wanted to graduate with you. Haven't you and Edward patched things up?"

"There is nothing to patch up. Things haven't changed for him." I said sadly. I was not going to parade my humiliation in front of his entire family. Quietly I took the bag she offered and walked into the shower area. God love first class.

Life always looks better after a shower.

The shower helped clear my head so I could think logically. Charlie wasn't in the terminal because without a boarding pass he couldn't get past security. The Cullen's had flown in from various parts of the US so they were able to meet the plane. This gave me a few blessed minutes to compose myself before I had to deal with Charlie's anger.

From what I gleaned from our conversation on the phone in Atlanta, Jake had decided that confession was good for the soul and had told Charlie about the motorcycles. Hopefully the four hour drive to SeaTac had calmed him down a little. Though I knew that I would never see the bike again. He had told me in surprising detail where the pieces of my bike could now be found, none of them retrievable. At least I hadn't been home when that bomb was dropped.

I saw Charlie almost immediately as we stepped outside of the security area. He didn't look as calm as I was hoping he would. As soon as he saw Edward his expression turned icy.

Quickly I looked at Edward. "What's he thinking?" I asked not really expecting him to tell me. It was the first time I had talked to him first since Atlanta.

Shocked that I had directed a comment directly to him, Edward stammered "Convent. He thinks he should send you to a convent. And he wants to kill me…dismemberment seems to be a reoccurring theme."

"Let's go Bella" Charlie said raising his voice so I could hear him.

"Great I wouldn't look good in a habit" I mumbled before turning away from the group. Hitching my bag on my shoulder I started to walk away.

"Good luck Bella" Alice said quietly reaching out to touch my arm as I walked past.

"See you around." I said hurrying towards Charlie. Usually Charlie and I aren't very demonstrative people, but today he pulled me into a hug like he hadn't seen me in years. Or forever since he hadn't even really hugged me when I moved up here.

"What are you doing, Bella?" Charlie asked quietly releasing me. I didn't answer him as we walked through the airport terminal, "why do you continue to get yourself messed up with them? Do you have no sense of self preservation?"

"Dad," I started unsure of what to say to him.

"No Bella, I am your father, and it's my job to tell you if I think you are making bad choices. So I am going to do something about it this time."

Well crap I thought to myself. Here I am 18 years old and he finally decides to act like a parent. "Dad what are you talking about?"

"You are not staying in Forks. I can not let you continue with this self destructive behavior. I have already let it go on far too long. But I thought you were getting better, and then I find out from Jake that you bought a motorcycle. That all your recent ER visits were due to accidents on that motorcycle. You looked me in the face and lied to me, for months. So it is going to end here"

"Well I am not going to Florida, and you can't make me. I am 18 years old."

"I don't care how old you are, you are living in my house so as far as I am concerned, you are a child. But I am going to give you a choice your mom and Phil are spending the next three months at some training camp in Boston. Or you can go stay with your aunt and cousin in Walla Walla."

"Aunt Sam? The one with the 40 crazy cats? They hate me you know. They used to walk right in front of me so I would fall down the stairs."

"Bella, she had two cats like 9 years ago. And they are both dead now. I am really glad your mother never trusted you enough to get you a pet."

"oh ha ha." I muttered folding my arms angrily, "What about school? This is my senior year. I can't just drop out."

"Nice try. You and I both know that you don't need the credits to graduate. If you are concerned I can have you enrolled at the community college or there is always alternative school. The principle at forks said he would arrange whatever you wanted to do. Classes at the community college start in about a week."

This was true. The AP classes that I took in junior high actually counted for high school credits. Charlie and I had talked last summer about me skipping fall semester due to my injuries caused by James, but decided against it since I was supposed to have Alice and Edward to help me. Later Charlie refused to let me take early graduation saying the school was probably the only thing that got me out of bed every day.

"Well crap. How long do I have to stay there?"

"I don't know. Until you stop looking like you jumped off a cliff and drowned" He said not looking at me.

"What are you talking about dad? Jumping off a cliff. You are funny" I said laughing lamely. Watching him out of the corner of my eye. He didn't look like he was joking.

"Jake told me." he said stopping and turning to look at me. "What were you thinking? Did you think about the weather, the water currents? People die every year from jumping off that cliff. Did you even think about what I would do without you?"

"I am so sorry dad."

"No you don't get to apologize for this. What you did was stupid and reckless and you could have died. You are not getting off the hook that easily this time. I excused your behavior for the last six months hoping that you would get over him leaving in your own time. But obviously you haven't. So Boston or Walla Walla?"

"Fine," I said quietly knowing that this wasn't a battle to fight with him. He had put up with so much and if I chose Walla Walla I would at least be able to come home if and when I choose. Mom would keep me forever if she could. "I will go see Aunt Sam but I will be back for graduation and I am taking my truck."

"I have to tell you something." Charlie said stopping and turning toward me. "We had a bad storm the night you left and one of the trees in the front yard was hit by lightening. I am really sorry Bells, but it damaged your truck.."

"WHAT?" I screamed. Thankfully we were standing in the middle of the parking garage at this point so there weren't as many people to stare at me. "Dad! How long are the repairs going to take?"

"I'm not having it repaired. I sold it for parts to Mark Swenson."

"Why would you do that? I loved that truck. What am I going to do now?"

"It's not a reliable vehicle, Bella. It was fine for Forks and the occasional trip to Port Angeles, but you would never have been able to take it to college. As an early graduation present your mom, Phil, and I bought you another car. It's sitting in the drive way at the house."

"Well it's a good thing I don't have a puppy isn't it? You might have to tell me it got bit by a mountain lion."

"Stop being so dramatic. Let's go. You have some papers to sign at the school tomorrow then you can leave. Plus the new car will get you over the pass a lot faster than that truck would have.

So here is your really long chapter. Running start is an actual program that allows high school kids to take college level classes and earn high school credits. Alternative school is like a self study program for students who cant go to school anymore for some reason. I had a friend who did this.

i think i am mostly going to stick with bella's point of view for a while since this is her story and not really edwards. its his a little...and since i dont want to have to deal with Jake. i will take care of him before she leaves forks...i think it should be his fault that her truck got trashed...what do you think?