Disclaimer: I own nothing it's all Stephanie Meyer
Chapter1 Beginnings
I've always led a rather un-extraordinary life. My name is Bella Swan, well Isabella but only my mom calls me that. I'm 27 years old and I live in a small town outside of Phoenix, Arizona whose name one would forget the moment I mentioned it. I am not a fan of Arizona it's too hot and you can only stare at sand so long before you began to go mad. I still live with my parents Renee and Charlie Swan I am their only child. Charlie is a police officer in Phoenix, but refuses to live there. Renee is a social worker who is always bringing her work home with her. We always had foster children staying with us at any given time. At the moment we have a teenage boy named Seth living with us along with his younger sisters Leah and Clair.
My father did not mind my mother's involvement with the children he only wished that she spent more time with us, me especially, but her response was always the same "Isabella does not need me like these poor motherless children besides she's a little adult, an old soul", and so with the help of Charlie I had more or less raised myself
When I was in Jr. high a boy tried to attack me, but I managed to kick him where it hurts and while he was down I kneeled on his chest, got in his face and said, "I won't say anything because I think everyone deserves a second chance but, Come near me again and I will kill you. If I hear that you so much as try to do this to another girl I will tell my dad even if it's just a whisper that you looked funny at a girl, trust me when I say that Charlie keeps his gun collection clean and ready for scumbags like you. You got that" He nodded and I walked away trying to seem calm but the farther I got the more I shook. By the time I got home I was shivering like I lived in Alaska, I jumped in the shower and scrubbed with soap and hot water until my skin was bright red. I sat in the shower crying so hard I was afraid someone would hear me.
The almost attack left me so shaken that I jumped anytime anyone touched me in the following weeks. Forget about boys coming near me, I would freak out. My parents never found out about it. The good news was that at the end of the year Tyler and his family moved. What had happened followed me all though high school, my wardrobe became less and less feminine and more and more, well not masculine just unisex, hoodies and jeans every day. Flirting with was never an option, so instead I learned guy talk and became great friends with them. Guys fully clothed I was ok with it was when things got 'personal' that I got nervous. On the upside I made all the girls jealous the down side was that if the boys found themselves a steady girlfriend gal pal Bella was cast aside.
I wasn't until after I graduated from high school that I made any girlfriends: Jessica Stanley, Angelia Webber and Charlotte Collins. We call ourselves the four musketeers we all got jobs at the largest sporting goods chain in America, Newton's Outfitters. The three of them were going to the University of Phoenix, but because we could not afford it I was stuck at a community college in town taking one or two classes a semester, but I did not mind for the first time in my life I had a social life and I loved it. I did have one guy friend named Mike Newton. Michael Newton Jr. was the oldest Newton Heir Newton Sr. had sent him to learn the ropes from the ground up in the Phoenix store and had fallen head over heels with the desert. He had asked daddy Newton if he could stay on until it was time for him to take over as CEO with plans of moving the headquarters to Phoenix when he took over. Currently it was in a small town in the Northwest Pacific a cold, wet, desolate place Mike described it with a scowl, sounded heavenly to me. We got on like two sides to the same coin we like the same kind of movies and music we had the same sense of humor. I knew he liked me, and I was crazy about him the only thing that kept me from pursuing a relationship was the thought of his junk near my junk made me want to throw up.
He had asked me out and I had accepted on the condition that it was only two friends hanging out and not a date. We kept it our secret not wanting anyone to speculate on our non relationship. It was about six months later that Jessica came to me and told me that she like Mike. She was wondering if I would have a problem if they dated I was honest with her told her that while we were nothing more than friends I did like him. "I can't speak for Mike, Jess I like him but you know me I have the commitment of a Kamikaze pilot on his twenty-third mission". She laughed and said "You sure Bells"
I reassured her and she went on her merry way to win the heart of Mike Newton, I guess he did not like me as much as I thought because before the year was out they were married, I was the maid of honor, and had a baby on the way; they had an amazing, beautiful little girl named Sara Lynn. I'm proud to say I'm her God mother. Soon after Charlotte met a military guy named Peter and about a month ago the eloped and she now lives with him in Florida. Last but not least Angelia got engaged with her long time boyfriend Eric. So for most part it was going to be just me again, I wanted a boyfriend for the first time in my life with all it entailed. Only problem was that at my age what red blooded American male was going to want to wait go slow with me, let me get used to the idea of being touched even in the most superficial way: hand holding hugging cuddling kissing. What I needed was someone who would play by the rules and take it slow. After much thought and prayer I had decided to go to an online dating site and look for a new best guy friend who would help me get used to the idea of being with someone and pretend to be my boyfriend.