Rosalie's POV

Valerie loaded my bags into her truck and slammed the lid shut. She smiled at me and gestured to the passenger side for me to get in.

It was about a 3 hour drive from Portland to Seattle, where I would be living now. My stomach twisted into all sorts of different shapes. I felt like I could vomit anytime.

"Well, we are all set." Valerie slid into the car and started it. The engine hummed to life and we backed out of the parking lot of her office building.

It had been a month since I had made the call to 911. The police came and arrested my father for abuse after I had explained to them. They couldn't do anything about my mother seeing as she did nothing. She fled. Left me alone. Probably moved somewhere nice.

I had lived in the house alone for about a month. It was august so I didn't have to worry about school. That would be starting up in a week. My stomach twisted even worse when I thought about being a senior in a new school. Valerie usually came by the house in the afternoons keeping me company and telling me about my new mother, Karen.

She sounded like a really nice lady. She had never had kids and had lost her husband five years ago. I figured we would get along just fine seeing as we both had nothing.

The drive went by fairly quickly. We chatted about silly things like clothes and hair. She told me more about Karen. I slept for a little bit. The trip was un-eventful and relaxing.

We soon pulled up to a little white house with a wraparound porch that must have been on three sides of the house. It had a nice garden area beside the walkway that led to the front door. It was a nice looking house. It seemed inviting.

I took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Valerie told me we could come and get the bags later. We made our way to the front door and knocked quietly. She smiled reassuringly at me and turned when the door opened.

Karen looked to be in her late forties. She had beautiful faded red hair which accented her kind brown eyes.

"Hello, you must be Valerie." She shook Valerie's hand with a warm smile.

She turned her eyes to me and looked at me in the eyes for a while. I knew exactly what she was thinking. She was thinking about my parents, about my past. She was seeing the pale pink scar on my right cheek.

"You must be Rosalie." She hugged me and flinched back from the physical contact. She pulled back and apologized. "You are such a beautiful girl. I had seen pictures and thought that, but in person you look even better."

My heart warmed slightly. No one had ever told me that.

"Thank you." I told her back.

"Well wont you come in?" She stepped back from the door and let us into the entry way.

The inside had the same cozy look to it as the outside. When you entered the staircase was in front of you. To the left there looked to be a formal sitting area with clean white couches and a coffee table in the middle. To the right there was a family room made for watching T.V. I could faintly hear it coming from that room.

"Well come on in to the kitchen and I can get you a drink." She led us past the family room into the kitchen. Again it was small but in a nice way.

"I have water bottles, and iced tea, and pop, orange juice..." Her voice trailed off waiting for us to pick something.

"I will have an orange juice if that's okay." Valerie announced.

Karen nodded and looked at me for my choice.

"Water is fine, thank you." I muttered.

"Alright." She got to work pulling things out of the fridge and grabbing glasses to pour them in. Soon she joined Valerie and I at the table, setting out choices in front of us.

"Well, all there is left to do is a little bit of paperwork and this is official." Valerie grinned along with Karen. I tried to smile, but this was all too awkward for me. My stomach was still twisting making me feel nauseous.

"So, Rosalie," Valerie addressed me. "Karen has made sure everything is all set for you. You will have your own room, and your own bathroom. She has told me you can have access to any of the food you would like. You can use the T.V and the computer. Basically treat it as if it were your own home."

Although I had everything I would need, I doubted it would ever really feel like home.

"Yes." Karen smiled and nodded. "Also, Valerie has told me about... about everything, so don't be afraid to talk to me about anything."

I chocked on some of my water, coughing loudly.

"Here have another sip." Valerie shoved the water bottle to my lips and tipped it back. I swallowed a large amount and the chocking sensation stopped, though my throat burned a little.

"I am truly sorry. I shouldn't have said that right away." Karen apologized and bit her lip.

"No, it wasn't that." I lied. "The water just went down the wrong way."

"Oh." I wasn't sure if she bought it or not.

It was silent for a few moments. It felt awkward.

Valerie cleared her throat. "I'll go get her bags." She rose to her feet and made her way to the door.

I was nervous being alone with Karen. I didn't know what to say. I guess I would have to get used to this.

"Would you like to see your room?"

"Sure." I nodded grateful that she had been the first one to speak.

Karen led me down the front hallway and up the staircase. She stopped right at the door at the top of the stairs and opened it lightly for me to enter.

The room was very pretty. The walls were a nice soft lavender colour, which looked good with the floors that were a light hardwood. The bedding was in the same lavender colour with white accents. Across the room there were two rather large windows with window benches in front of them. It still smelled like fresh paint in here, so I knew she had made an effort to make it look nice.

"What do you think?" She asked hopeful for my answer.

"It's very nice." I answered her.

"I'm glad you like it." She smiled at me once more and turned to leave to go back downstairs.

"K-Karen." I stopped her. She turned around.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

"You are very welcome." She then turned around again and went to go retrieve my bags.

I didn't know if she knew why I was thanking her. She probably thought it was because of the room. Though I was thankful for it, it wasn't the reason I stopped her. I thanked her for letting me in when everyone else was trying keeping me out.

Thank you very much for reading this, it means a lot to me. If you would like, you can review and tell me what you think.

I hope it was good :)