Sorry I was late on this one guys.

& thanks so much for all the love in reviews

once a again a much needed shout out to my kick ass beta Cydryna Marie


Chapter 5

BPOV

I rolled out of bed to the sound of rain pattering on the roof. Nothing new there. I grabbed my clothes from my old pine dresser near the window and padded barefoot to the bathroom at the top of the stairs. Out in the hallway I noticed Charlie's door was still closed, indicating that he was still asleep.

I closed the door silently behind me and flicked the light above the sink on. I stared in the mirror, noticing the dark circles that have seemed to make my face their permanent home. Typically, I had clear, pale skin but since the reoccurring nightmares had begun I had purplish bruises under both of my chocolate brown eyes. I dabbed a little concealer under each eye and smooth it in until it wasn't noticeable. My long brown hair curled naturally around my face with only the help of a headband to keep it looking nice. I brushed my teeth and slipped my headband in before changing into dark jeans and lacy white camisole with a navy blue v-neck sweater over it.

I gathered my pajamas and flicked the light off before silently making my way back to my room. I grabbed my schoolbooks off of my desk and headed downstairs to get some breakfast.

In the kitchen I managed to find a box of cereal that wasn't stale and scarfed down a bowl before heading out the door.

It had managed to stop raining in Forks if only for a few minutes. I hurried into my rusty Chevy pickup before the sky could open up again, and made my way to Forks High.

Once I was in the parking lot, I spotted Angela waiting for me under the overhanging outside of the cafeteria. I threw my hood on, grabbed my book bag off the front seat, and made my over to my best friend.

"Hey Ang," I tried to manage a smile but a yawn interrupted the plan.

"Didn't sleep well?" Angela eyed me as we started to walk to our first class together.

"Eh I've had better nights."

"It wasn't Charlie again was it?" She had stopped walking so that she get a good look at my face, making lying to her futile.

"No it wasn't" I pushed past her, still making my way to the English building, where our first class was held. Angela was the only other person in Forks that knew about my situation with Charlie. While both Jake and Angela knew about what happened to my mom, I had only confided in Angela about Charlie. If Jake figured out what I had gone through, he would probably try and stop Charlie himself. The last thing I needed was more fighting. "It was just the nightmare."

Angela nodded. It was the only response she gave as we made our way to our seats toward the back of class.

We were studying The Awakening in class today. The bell rang and Mr. Ferguson began to lecture about the strength of Edna Pontellier and how that strength led to loneliness. I attempted to pay attention for the first few minutes of class but ended up staring out of the window as the rain continued to fall for the remainder of the hour. Occasionally I would look over at Angela and see her eyes quickly shift back to the front of the classroom, because she'd been looking at me. I suppressed a sigh. I knew Angela was only trying to look out for me but her constant worrying about me was starting to get annoying. I had managed this far on my own, I didn't need her.

This time I did sigh out loud. I saw Angela glance at me and then quickly look away. I knew my last thought was a lie. If Angela hadn't been there for me I don't think I could have made through my mom's death let alone the after effect it had on Charlie. She was a great friend and I should be thanking her for everything, not getting annoyed at her attempt to help.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the hour. The rest of the day went by in a meaningless blur. The only part of the day that stood out was lunch. Typically that's the time when me and Ang get to see Jake, since we have no other classes together. Today he was nowhere to be found.

Ang and I sat at our usual table in the corner farthest from the entrance. This had been our table since the first day of school freshman year. Jake and I had been friends from before, when things were normal. His father Billy used to go fishing with Charlie. We were sitting, eating our lunch, when Angela walked over and asked to sit with us. We had said yes, and from that day on we had become inseparable. That is until today.

Maybe Jake was sick and didn't make to class? That didn't make sense, he would have sent me a text letting me know, just like he always had, before now. I checked my phone making sure I didn't miss his text, only to see that I hadn't. After lunch, Angela and I went our separate ways, neither one of having the same class in the afternoon.

I didn't pay attention in my last classes, my mind was too involved in what had happened to Jake. This wasn't normal behavior for him. I was honestly a little bit worry. It was ridiculous to be worried, nothing bad ever happened in Forks.

I said a quick bye to Angela in the parking lot after classes before I headed home.

When I had pulled up to the curb in front of house Charlie's car was gone. With his new job as a stock guy at the Thriftway, he was home early. Once I was home, I worked on trying to gather enough food to make an edible meal for me and Charlie for when he got home.

By the time he walked in the front door, I had two pieces of barbecued chicken in the oven, my homework done, and the housed picked up. I was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for the meal to be ready when I heard him walk in.

"Hey Bella," he shouted while taking off his coat in the hallway. This was the worst part of the day for me, the awkward interaction between a teenage daughter and her drug addicted and alcoholic father. It lasted only for an hour at most, as we ate dinner. Then he would claim he was tired from work or a sleepless night, or some other lie and retire to his room. Not that this was in any way a normal routine for a person, it was nice because I wasn't constantly forced to act as if everything was ok between us.

Once the meal was done we ate in silence, as is routine. I cleared the dishes from the table once we were finished and stood at the sink waiting to see what excuse he would come up with tonight. Tonight though, his response shocked me.

"Ummm," he cleared his throat as if expecting to face him while he talked. I didn't move. "I'm going to watch TV. Do you want to join me?"

I dropped the plate I was washing into the soapy water, sending water into the air. I turned slowly toward him. Maybe I had heard him wrong, or he was joking but I when I looked at him, he was staring sheepishly at his feet. He looked up after a moment when I didn't answer.

"So how about it Bells?"

"Um I have homework," It was a flat out lie but I hoped he wouldn't notice.

"Oh ok," I think he was too embarrassed by the fact that I shot him down to pick up on the lie. "I understand. School is important."

I turned back to the sink without a word. After a few minutes of awkward silence, I heard his chair scrape across the linoleum floor as he made his way back to his room.

I finished the dishes and went up to my room closing and locking the door behind me. I had no idea what would happen now that I refused Charlie's offer. He didn't look angry, just sad and embarrassed but I wasn't welcoming him into my room if he decided later that he was angry after all.

Since I had finished my homework already, I went over to the small pile of books I had on my desk and attempted to get lost in the romance of Romeo & Juliet. It was a failed attempt, every creak the house made as it settled in for the night had me on edge. I was afraid that it would be Charlie seeking his revenge.

After an hour of jumping at every noise, I relaxed a little. With Charlie out of my mind I had more time to worry about why Jacob wasn't at school, and why he hadn't let me know. I sent him a text once classes ended to see what was up but never got a response back, which wasn't like him. I eventually put my book away and attempted to sleep. I found that sleep came easy tonight after last night's nightmare.

I fell asleep to the noise of the wind outside my window, hoping that Jacob would be at school tomorrow, so that I could put these silly fears to rest.

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