AussieGirl: Thanks for Reviewing! And this is your update since you said please! :)
Psychovampirefreak: Thank you! I hope it stays great! Knowing me, I'll probably screw it up somehow.
Nijer: You're review legit made me smile a big goofy smile. I'm going to try an update every two days when I get better. I have the flu right now so I'm just updating when I'm not asleep.
Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape: Aw, thanks!
AussieGirl: Thanks! I'm updating randomly right now but I'm going to try and update every two days.
Jellybelly: Thanks! I just wrote it two days ago usually when I think up a character I immediately know everything about them and I have their entire life planned out but with Riley I'm not really sure where I'm going with her. I'll figure it out on the way I guess!
Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape: I hope that lol is a good thing. Lol
AussieGirl: Thank you so much!
Sndoles: Me too.
Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape: I hope that wow is a good thing.
AussieGirl: Thank you so much!
MooNOrchiD: Thank you! I'm looking forward to the continuation too!
Here's the thing we started out friends
It was cool but it was all pretend
Yeah yeah
Since U Been Gone
You dedicated you took the time
Wasn't long till I called you mine
Yeah Yeah
Since U Been Gone
And all you'd ever hear me say
Is how I pictured me with you
That's all you'd ever hear me say
But Since U Been Gone
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so moving on
Yeah, yeah
Thanks to you
Now I get
What I want
Since U Been Gone
I woke up bleary eyed and not taking in my surroundings. I turned over pulling the pillow in close to me.
How can I put it? You put me on
I even fell for that stupid love song
Yeah, yeah
Since U Been Gone
How come I'd never hear you say
I just wanna be with you
I guess you never felt that way
But Since U Been Gone
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so moving on
Yeah, yeah
Thanks to you
Now I get (I get) what I want
Since U Been Gone
I leaned over and my arm flailed and hit the alarm clock.
You had your chance you blew it
Out of sight, out of mind
Shut your mouth I just can't take it
Again and again and again and again
Since U Been Gone
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so moving on
Yeah, yeah
Thanks to you (thanks to you)
Now I get, I get what I want
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so moving on
Yeah, yeah
Thanks to you (thanks to you)
Now I get (I get)
You should know (you should know)
That I get, I get what I want
Since U Been Gone
Since U Been Gone
Since U Been Gone
The song continued to blare and that's when I remembered I didn't have an alarm clock. I sat up straight in the Queen Sized Bed that I slept in and last night's events came rushing back to me. I turned off the alarm clock on the bedside table.
I looked around the room and hugged the purple comforter around me. The room had light blue walls, dark wood floors, yellow curtains were pulled away from the big window that exposed the cloudy sky and rainy weather. There was a small walk in closet in the corner of the room holding empty hangers and a few articles of old clothing. A large study desk stood in the corner with gigantic computer. The room was lacking of any personal belongings. No posters, stuffed animals, precious artifacts.
I heard Charlie moving around downstairs and I slowly got up and looked at myself in the full-length mirror on the closet door. I had fallen asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I was wearing flannel sweats and a t-shirt. My make-up was smudged from not taking it off the night before.
I grabbed my back-pack off the floor and went into the bathroom. I changed into my blue jeans and put on a blue Aerosmith shirt with silver hoops and a grey jacket. I sniffed it. It still carried the scent of the fire and a thick husky scent that belonged to one of the guys. I inhaled it and hoped that I'd one day be able to go back to La Push.
I made the bed as a gesture to Charlie and headed downstairs to the kitchen. I found him with a few boxes of take-out. He smiled as I entered the room.
"I went to the diner to pick up some breakfast. I'm not much of a cook."
"But you're a big eater by the looks of it." I said looking at the boxes. He must have ordered half of what the diner served.
He shrugged sheepishly. "I didn't know what you liked."
"I like bagels." I smiled taking an onion bagel that was still warm and slathered it with cream cheese.
"Good." He smiled.
We ate in silence. I had a feeling Charlie wasn't much of a talker.
"So when are we leaving?" I asked shoving a fried egg in my mouth.
"As soon as you're ready."
"I'm ready now." I said fast. I finished my breakfast and put my plate on the sink.
Charlie followed my suit and as he shrugged on his jacket I took one more look around the house. I doubted my mother knew how lucky she had been. She had a loving father, a nice house and her own room. God, I loved sleeping in a room by myself. I had never done that before. It was always a luxury if I got my own bed. More often than not I shared a bed with a kicking six year-old.
Charlie must have seen my far-away expression because he put a hand on my shoulder and said, "You know you're always welcome here." He said.
Although I had no intention of coming back here anytime soon, I was really touched by what he said.
"Thank you." I said quietly. I swung my back-pack around my shoulders and climbed into the cruiser.
The ride to the Cullen's was slightly longer than the trip last night. We took the same road heading to La Push and then we took a sharp turn into the forest on a weaving road. The trees were getting thicker and there seemed to be no clear path.
"She lives in the woods?" I asked picturing a little hovel with no windows and a group of vampires huddled together.
"Only place big enough for their house."
I was going to ask what he meant but then we broke through the trees and into a huge clearing where a tall 5 story house stood. It had a white structure and glass walls with orange beams. A pond was on the side of the house and the water was as blue as the ocean. A white and silver garage stood near the house. So this is where my mother lived.
My stomach was in knots. Whenever I was relocated I felt nervous but every time I had an idea of what to expect. People who just wanted a babysitter, people who just wanted a government check, and others. Here I had no idea what to expect.
I followed Charlie up to the house and onto the porch. He rang the door-bell and I heard a really fancy chime echo throughout the house. The door swung open and my mother appeared smiling.
She looked nothing like her 16 year old self. Her long brown hair was now a shoulder length bob and it was wavy. Her pale complexion was now enhanced. Her brown eyes that we used to share were now a golden yellow that Paul told me was due to her drinking animal blood. Her white teeth shined with her smile and it was probably just my imagination but they looked a little sharper. She looked older too. Not old, old but like she was in her early thirties.
"Hi, Charlie!" She said in a voice that wasn't deep but wasn't quite high-pitched either. "I'm sorry I haven't talked to you lately, I've been so busy…" She chattered on and it was obvious she hadn't noticed me standing behind Charlie.
"So come on in, I think we have some cake in the kitchen if you wanted a slice. Rosalie has been trying out new recipes for Nessie and—"
It was then that she finally noticed me. Her smile drooped and her eyes held a confused look.
"Charlie who is this?" She asked a little accusingly. Like Charlie wasn't supposed to bring people here. Which he probably wasn't. It was clear that she didn't recognize me. But then again she hadn't seen me in 16 years.
"Bella," Charlie said in a firm voice. "This is your daughter, Riley."
Confusion passed over her face and then sudden realization. Her eyes grew wide, and her hands flew to her mouth. Her eyes looked a little watery and I got a feeling that vampires couldn't cry. Her face held a look of hope, a look I've been dying to see on my mother since I was in my first foster home. If this was anything like my dreams then she would wrap her arms around me tell me some story about not being able to care for me because she was a secret agent and didn't want my life threatened by enemy spies. Then we would move to a ranch in Calgary and I would ride horses and she would cook and my father and I would race across cornfields on black Stallions. Of course that was never going to happen.
"Hi." I gave a shy wave.
"I can't believe you're here." She said her voicing breaking with emotion. "How did you find me? I mean I'm so glad that you did, it's just the last time I saw you, you were just so tiny, and now, I mean you're so big,"
I laughed as tears sprung into my eyes which I tried to hide.
She lifted her hands and continued to babble, her voice filled with happiness and sadness. "I mean you're not big, big you're proportional big."
She gave a quick glance up at Charlie who was looking the other way as though to give us privacy.
"Are you okay? Are you good?" She impatiently brushed a strand of hair that fell into her eyes.
I smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine. You know proportional."
"You're beautiful. Really you are, I'm not just saying that because I'm your mom, really you're stunning. You look like your father, oh and you have my eyes. Well my old eyes, I mean—" She stuttered as she accidently let her vampire slip.
"It's okay Bells, she knows. I had Sam explain it to her." Charlie said. Her eyes snapped up to him looking concerned.
"You took her to La Push?" She said her voice cracking with worry.
"She's fine. The guys wouldn't hurt her." Charlie said. "They have the new ones, Dylan and Tom under control."
"It's not that, you just can't take her to La Push. It's violates the treaty." She said her voice rising.
"And how exactly does it violate the treaty?" Charlie asked his brows furrowing.
Her hand made a little squeezing motion to show her frustration. "It—it just does!"
"Wow, okay can we stop this family feud?" I asked stepping between them.
Bella looked shocked and then she nodded. "Of course, I'm sorry. Come in, Riley."
She opened the door and Charlie and I walked in. If the house looked big on the outside, it was nothing compared to the inside. The door led directly into a large sitting room with long white couches, loveseats and armchairs. One a raised platform was a Grand Piano. On the wall was a 72 inch wall mount with a high-tech gaming system. The large glass wall showed the amazing view of the pond.
Bella sat down on the couch and motioned for me to sit next to her. I plopped down next to her and Charlie sat in the armchair across from us.
"So you're here." She smiled staring as though determined to take in every detail.
"Yeah, I am."
"Where did you come from? Well, obviously I know where you came from but where do you live?"
"Portland, um, I came here because I need you to sign something for me." I reached into my backpack and pulled out my folder.
She looked confused, "Sign?"
"Yes," I said placing the papers in front of her and grabbing a pen. "I can't get emancipated without this."
"What? Emancipated from what? The people who adopted you?" She asked reading the papers.
"From the foster-care system. She was never adopted." Charlie said speaking for the first time since we entered the house.
"What? But, but they said they'd have no problem getting you adopted. They said that there was this waiting list—"
"I'm not sure if they told you, but I have a rare blood disease, and there were a lot of surgeries and a baby on the operating table isn't really a good selling point to perspective parents."
She shook her head. "They didn't—I didn't—I mean I didn't know."
"Yeah, well I've been in foster-care since. No big deal, it's just I need this signed to get emancipated." I said pushing the papers toward her.
"Um, okay, yeah." She scribbled a fast signature and gave me the documents back.
"Thanks," I smiled putting it in my back-pack.
"That's it? You're okay? Do you need anything?" She asked laying her hand on top of mine. Despite the fact that her skin was as cold as ice and as hard as marble a sudden feeling of warmth spread through me.
"No, I'm fine. I just need to get these to social services then my hearing is the day after tomorrow." I said standing up. She looked up at me and stood. I noticed that I was a few inches taller than her.
"So now you're going to Portland?"
"Yeah, actually the bus is leaving soon so if someone can give me a ride to the station."
"I can drive you back to Portland. You don't have to take the bus." Bella offered.
I shook my head. "No it's cool. Really, I'll be fine. Charlie ordered half the diner for breakfast so I have some food in my pack for lunch and dinner."
"Okay, then do you need anything else? Anything? Money? A place to stay?" She looked so lost. Like she had no idea what to do.
"I'm fine. Don't take offense to this, but I've been taking care of myself since I was born. I don't need anything."
An expression of hurt flashed across her face. "I never meant for this to happen," Bella said shaking her head. "They told me everything would be fine. They said they would have no problem getting you adopted." She touched my shoulder.
"Well, I guess they lied." I turned to Charlie. "So, that ride?"
He stood up and nodded. "Sure."
"Riley, if there's ever anything you need," Bella started but I cut her off with a hug. She froze for a second and I wondered how stupid I was for hugging a vampire but then she gave me a tight hug back. A little too tight, she didn't know her own strength.
"Good-bye then." I smiled and turned to leave with Charlie when we heard voices floating through the house.
A man with bronze hair, yellow eyes and pale skin walked in with a girl who looked 12 years old, and had the same bronze hair, and pale skin except she had brown eyes. My brown eyes. I supposed this was my sister. They were laughing but stopped abruptly when they saw me.
"Grandpa!" The girl said waving to Charlie who waved back.
"Chief Swan." The man nodded looking at Charlie. Then he turned to me. "And you are?"
"No one, important." I told him. His eyebrows furrowed.
"We were just leaving." Charlie said. He put an arm around my shoulders and led me out of the house and back to Portland.
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Author's Note: Hey! So I created this story two days ago and already I got a lot of feedback! I'm really happy about this! I know I said you'd find out who's Riley's father in this chapter but I lied. If you're good at reading foreshadowing then you might be able to figure it out in this chapter. You'll for sure find out next chapter which will be in Bella's P.O.V. I know my chapters seem short but this chapter was over 2,000 words all of my own writing except the song. That's Kelly Clarkson! Love her!