Disclaimer: Things I own: One fiancé, 3 cats and a laptop that I'm still paying on

What I don't own: Twilight (though I'd sell my soul for an hour with Jasper) or Dollhouse. They belong to Stephanie Meyer and Joss Whedon respectively. I wish I were that lucky.

Special thanks to my wonderful Beta, lada_8, without whom, my grammar and mistakes would be glaringly obvious.

Chapter 2 - Alone

I never made it to the other two booths, I just sat looking at the empty booth with a full cup of tea in front of me for a full five minutes. I knew my classmates were all looking at me funny, and I couldn't wait to get out of the building. I had enough on my mind with Jacob not answering my calls; Laurent - and perhaps Victoria - were somewhere out there; and the wolves that my father was hunting.

Once I was able to make myself move out of the chair, I quickly left the gym and made my escape to my truck. The papers that woman, Adelle, had given me, were wrinkled along the side as I tossed them into the passenger seat of the truck along with my book bag. At least, it was the end of the day, and I didn't have to go back to class until tomorrow.

The drive home felt both too long and too fast at the same time. Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about showing up at Newton's today. So after I called Jacob, I would be able to hide away for the rest of the night.

The strange part about arriving home a little early was that Charlie was already there.

"Dad?" I called out as I walked in the front door, not sure if I wanted to know the answer. Had the school already called to let him know that I'd left? They'd have to call half of the homes of both the Junior and Senior classes, and I'd been there for over half of it. Plus, Charlie would have had to come home from the station.

I found him at the kitchen table with a mug of coffee in front of him. "Hey Bells, Mac's wife took a bit of a fall when he got home from work this morning and he's going to need a few days to help her get better. She's almost as bad as you Bells," he grinned at me, "I'm covering for him for the next couple of nights. You think you'll be okay here on your own?"

Taking my seat across from him. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I've got some homework I need to do and I'll probably have an early night." He, at least, didn't call me on my lie; though he did give me a funny look. Maybe he saw the slight panic that hit when I realized that no one would be here with me, followed by the relief for the same reason. If Laurent or Victoria came, it would only be me that was at danger.

"You need anything, anything at all, just give me a call at the station."

I rolled my eyes.

"Dad, I'll be fine. It's not like this is the first time I've spent a night here alone. If I decide to go out, I'll give you a call. Does that make you feel better?"

It was funny, but it did seem to make him look a little better. "Just don't go out into the woods without someone with you Bells, we still haven't found those wolves yet," he said as he stood up, shrugging on his jacket.

"Come on, after Saturday, I don't want to go anywhere near the woods dad. Those things were huge," I shuddered. "I'm not feeling any great urge to go hiking again. Anyway, the weather is horrible. I'm sure tonight it's probably going to be a real downpour, not the lovely sprinkle we are all used to." I watched him put his belt and gun into place, then, pick his keys up off the end table.

He was looking at me funny, "Homework then bed right?"

Really, I was 18, not 5. "Unless I decide to go out with friends, and then I'll call. Okay?" That got the nod I was looking for, and I watched him walk out the front door.

Laying my head down on the table, I breathed a sigh of relief that I couldn't let go while Charlie was there. I was alone tonight, so I didn't have to worry about him being home if the vampires tried to come and get me. I only gave myself a few minutes to enjoy that brief respite before getting up to try calling Jacob. He may not be home from school yet, but I wanted to give it a shot because I may get Billy.

Grabbing the phone and dialing, I stood there and listened to it ring 8 times before hanging up. It wasn't going to be the last time I called today; they may actually not be home right now. Or maybe he'd call me. He'd promised he'd never let me down. Of course, ever since he'd made that promise, he wouldn't even talk to me.

Muttering to myself, "Maybe it's just me... people get close and then they forget about me. I'm not enough for them." God it hurt, my arms were clenched to my chest, the strap of my book bag hanging at my elbow as I made my way up to my room. I tried not to think of the reason that thought came to the forefront of my mind.

Dropping my bag off at my desk, I flopped backwards into the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Maybe I should look over that offer that woman gave me. A clean slate could mean anything, but if it meant not having to deal with everything here...

Rolling over, I reached out, grabbed the papers that were sticking out of the top of my bag and started to read. There wasn't a whole lot of information; just a description of the Rossum Building at Fremont College and the different labs they had there. It was strange, though, she'd said something about writing, but the information about the College all had to do with scientific data.

Flipping to the second page, there was a small portion about a writing division, but nothing specific that explained what exactly they were looking for. Most of their work seemed to be in research and development, not creative writing as I'd been lead to believe. Maybe it was something they were looking to branch into and that was why she brought it up?

The third, and last, paper seemed to hold the most information, about how the corporation was associated with 22 different Colleges and Universities worldwide. Their main office was in Italy, but the one I was being approached about was here in the States, in Los Angeles and the College was in Cerritos, about 25 minutes outside the city. There was even a very small paragraph at the bottom about the advanced placement school for High School Seniors to attend during their final year to have a better chance of getting a place in the specialized programs offered.

Maybe, if it had been something I had known about before my life changed last year, it would have been something I'd have worked towards. I had always been in the Advance Placement classes back in Phoenix. However, Forks didn't offer the same choice in classes. Of course, at the beginning of the school year, I wouldn't have even thought about leaving Forks. A dream I would have done anything for at the beginning of my Junior year, something I wouldn't have even looked at this year, and now something that was too late for me to even think about.

I sat up and shoved the papers back into my bag, not wanting to dwell on what might have been. It was too late now, anyway. I was staying here in this little town. I had to stay where he would be fresh in my mind, even if I wouldn't allow myself to think of his name.

Grabbing my bag, I headed back down to the kitchen to put dinner together and to try Jacob one more time today. If he didn't answer this time, I wouldn't call again tonight, but I would call after work tomorrow; until someone did answer.

Picking up the phone, I dialed Billy's number, hoping that someone would answer. I started to move around the small kitchen. I counted the rings in my head as I pulled out the hamburger from the bottom of the fridge and placed it on the counter.

"Where are you Jake," I sighed on the 10th ring and hung up the phone, no one was answering. It was going to be a really long night.

I had a couple of choices: I could stay in and just do exactly what I had done almost every night - nothing. Or I could call Angela and see if everyone was still going to the movies. However, I had no desire to watch another movie, not without Jake to make it funny again.

Looking over at my bag, the papers with the woman's phone number taunted me. I had one other choice of what I could do today: I could call Ms. DeWitt and find out what all this was about.

Making a split-second decision, I reached over, grabbed the papers and started to dial, pausing at the last number before punching it in. Worrying my lower lip while the phone rang, I almost expected her not to pick up.

On the third ring, I was reaching over to hang up, when a voice came over the line, "Hello Isabella."