Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight
A/N: -cough- splutter -choke- Wow! You guys are amazing! I had sixty+ emails in my inbox! And the reviews, you guys freaked lol. I explained this, it will all work out ;P ONWARD!
Chapter Six- Bella's POV (age sixteen)
'Cause you're wrong when it's right; it's black and it's white.
We fight, we break up. We kiss, we make up.
Some mindless song blasted through my alarm clock speakers. My fingers searched for the off button but, when they couldn't find it, settled for just yanking the plug out of the outlet.
Today was the first day of my summer vacation. I hated summer. I hated the sunny days, the hot beaches, the dry weather. Just as I had hated the rainy days, the cold beaches, and the cloudy weather of Forks when I was a child.
But it seemed wherever I was, I wouldn't be happy if Edward wasn't there along with me.
"Bella!" Renee called for me from the family room.
"I'm coming!" I called back, dragging myself out of bed.
As I trudged down the hall, I passed by a mirror.
My hair looked like a haystack. I remembered once, a few years ago, someone had told me I looked beautiful in the morning. I didn't want to be reminded of him, but it was harder to do so in the summer months.
Ignoring the hand rail, I jogged down the stairs. As I reached the bottom two steps, my foot caught and I fell to the floor, right at my mother's feet.
"Bella, honey, you need to watch your feet more," she laughed, pulling me up.
"Yeah, Charlie isn't around to catch me anymore," I muttered.
"What was that?"
"Oh, nothing," I covered, blushing harder.
She ignored it and continued on with her news.
"Phil and I are going out again tonight, so you'll be eating alone. That's not a problem, is it?" she asked, a hint of concern in her eyes.
"No, Mom, you have fun."
"Thanks, dear. I'm going to go shopping, I'll be home by lunch."
She was such a morning person! Who could go to the mall before twelve?
"Alright, I'll be here." I replied, wandering into the kitchen.
Well, this should be fun. Just me, sitting around at home, trying not to remind myself of… previous summers.
Three years later, I still wasn't over Edward. I just covered it up much better. Renee had always noticed everything, but after she started dating Phil she forgot about most things around her. I tired to comfort myself with the knowledge that Edward was now free to do whatever he wanted. I was sure he was living fine; he probably didn't even remember me.
That first summer without him, I felt as if my chest were ripping open. I had dragged my feet around in a zombie-like state. I only talked to people when directly addressed and I never left the house.
I had told Renee that I got into a fight with Edward. She didn't press matters.
When school rolled around, I started to act more alive. I met a girl, Angela, who was always good to me. I didn't let her in to my little shell, but she sort of understood, and still sat with me every day.
Yeah, it had been three whole years. My life wasn't really going anywhere for me. I didn't have a career plan, I wasn't good at anything. I didn't have many friends and I refused to date, but Renee had given up on trying getting me to socialize.
I still had my necklace; it was in a shoebox in my room along with some photographs and my CD copy of Bella's Lullaby. I didn't wear it anymore, the memories were too harsh for me, but I would never get rid of it. I couldn't.
I watched Renee's car pull out of the driveway and walked into the kitchen. I wasn't in the mood for cooking, so I poured myself some cereal and sat in the living room.
My English teacher had suggested I watched the original Romeo and Juliet, so I dug out Renee's old copy and shoved it into the VCR player.
I sat with my legs folded underneath me while I finished my cereal, then curled on my side to watch the rest.
I felt lonely, lying there by myself. There was a certain pair of arms I was craving, but I ignored it. This was one of my favourite stories and I didn't want to ruin it with my sobbing. I was concentrating so hard on watching the movie; I nearly jumped out of skin when the phone rang out.
"Hello?" I answered, my heart still racing from the scare.
"Bells? Hey, it's Angela."
"Hi, what's up?" I asked more friendly this time.
"You'll never guess!" she cried, sounding excited.
"Won't I? You can just tell me then."
"Ben finally asked me out!" she squealed.
She had been dropping hints around him for weeks now, but he was fairly oblivious.
"Wow, that's great. I'm happy for you." I pulled myself up onto the counter.
My hands went up to my collar and started to play with the fabric. It was a habit I had picked up after I stopped wearing my little plastic necklace.
We continued talking for a bit, but after she hung up I found myself disinterested in my movie.
I turned it off and climbed the stairs back up to my room. Another thing I didn't like about summer was the homework, or lack there of. I would usually immerse myself in work, but I had none at the moment.
I pulled out Wuthering Heights; my favourite book of all time. This was going to be a long day.
-- Sumer, Next Year (will be seventeen in september)--
As I sat in the kitchen, I heard the familiar sound of my mother's car pulling into the stone driveway. After a few minutes, I heard her keys jingling to unlock the door.
"Bella?" she called, stepping in through the door.
"In here," I called back, setting my plate in the sink and walking towards the front room.
She hurried over, her multiple bracelets clattering together. She had sparkles in her hair and over her collarbone. She was positively glowing.
"Oh, Phil's just told me the most exciting thing! He's going on tour, he's trying to get signed!" she exclaimed, pulling me into a hug.
Personally, I didn't really understand the excitement in Phil trying to get signed. That's all he ever did. The only difference now was that he was leaving Phoenix. Hold on…
"Mum?" I asked, pulling back.
She read the confusion on my face and her smile faded.
"Yes?"
"Are you going with him?"
She paused.
"Well, no, I guess I'm not."
"How long will he be gone for?"
"Until he gets signed."
"And how long might that be?"
She paused again. Her face crumpled.
"It could take months." She half whispered.
I pulled her upstairs and we sat down on her large bed.
She had a few tears running down her cheeks, streaming her makeup. She looked devastated. I knew what it was like to be away from the one you loved. I wouldn't let her be hurt like this. There was no way, I had to do something.
"You know, you can still go with him." I proposed, holding onto her shoulders to see her reaction.
A hint of hope flickered past her eyes, but she smothered it.
"No, no. I couldn't leave you all alone here all by yourself." She looked flustered.
"Renee, I'm almost seventeen. I'm a big girl."
"Don't you Renee me, I'm your mother. And there's no way I'm leaving you behind. I'll just have to wait for Phil." Her shoulders sagged at the last part and a few more tears helped to destroy a once perfect application of eyeliner.
"I can stay somewhere else," I tried to think. There must be somewhere I could go, somewhere that my mother would allow me to be.
"Oh, like where?" she looked skeptical, yet hopeful at the same time.
Suddenly, it came to me.
"Charlie," I breathed.
She couldn't stop me from staying with my father. She could be happy, she could go off with Phil. And when he got signed, if he ever did, I could come back. I would probably be done with school by then anyway.
"Oh!" she cried, "That's right, you can stay in Forks. What a wonderful idea!"
At least she'd be happy now…
A/N: I think I said that I would have fun writing this chapter. I was wrong. Soo wrong. If you didn't like it, that's ok 'cause I don't either. Sorry, its short. Next one will be up soon. Tired. Very tired. Good night.