A New Dawn

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. No copyright infringement intended.

The rest is mine. I apologize in advance for any mistakes you may find, so feel free not to correct me in a review ;)

Enjoy!

Chapter Thirteen

"Now don't get carried away, Bells. You aren't leaving until fall," Charlie reminded me.

I didn't care though because nothing could kill my excitement. I was done with high school. If I didn't want to, I never had to see any of those assholes again. I idly thought about how I realized I wouldn't miss any of them...except for Angela, but she was coming to Dartmouth with me. We had already started making plans to make the trip up there together. Hopefully, she would be one of my roommates.

Then there was Jacob, of course. He wasn't happy about my leaving, but I figured it wasn't his life. I wanted to go to a great college, and I was going whether or not I had his approval. He called me almost every day now, and we hung out when we could. I enjoyed our conversations and the time we spent together, but I wondered why he still even bothered. Somehow I felt like he didn't believe me when I told him we were just friends and could never be anything more. I felt like he was wasting his time on me, and I wondered how pissed he would be when he realized I wasn't playing hard to get. I debated on whether this moving on to college would not only be a clean break from Forks but from Jake as well.

I had no intention of forgetting about Charlie. I would still visit...or preferably he could visit me.

"I know, but I'm still excited," I told him.

"Hmph," he grumbled from the kitchen table as he opened up his newspaper. He wasn't happy about my leaving either. I mean, he was my dad, and he was extremely proud that I was going to such a good college, but he was having a hard time accepting the fact that his little girl was growing up.

Even though I was only eighteen, I felt as though I was closing a chapter in my life. I think it was reasonable that most people felt that way. It was a big deal, after all. Now, I was by no means all grown up. I still had quite a bit to learn I'm sure, but I felt a small sense of accomplishment still.

"Billy and Jake are coming over for dinner," Charlie said suddenly.

"Oh," I replied lamely, not all that excited. I wasn't really looking forward to more of Jacob trying to convince me I had feelings for him when I truly didn't.

"Everything okay?" Charlie asked, glancing at me over the top of his paper.

I nodded. "Yeah..."

He clearly wasn't convinced. "Bella, did something happen between you two again?"

I shook my head, sighing. "No, not really."

He set his paper down on the table. "What does 'not really' mean?"

I blew out a long breath. This was going to be so awkward. It's times like these a girl really needed her mom most. "Dad, Jake wants...he wants to be more than friends."

I could see Charlie's Adam's apple bob in his throat as he realized this was probably a conversation he rather we didn't have as a mumbled an uncomfortable, "Oh."

"And I don't want to be more than friends," I continued even as we were both uncomfortable since I simply needed to get it off my chest.

"I see," he said slowly. "And does, uh, Jacob now this?"

I nodded immediately. I had never led him on or given his reason to think otherwise. "I think it's ruining our friendship."

Charlie sighed, rubbing a hand over the light stubble covering his face. "If you want, we can cancel dinner tonight. I'll just call and tell them you got sick or...something."

I shook my head. "Nah, that's okay. Angela was talking about going down to Port Angeles anyway. Would it be alright if I went?" I asked.

He thought for a moment. "Do you still have that pepper spray I gave you?"

"Yes," I laughed, nodding.

That seemed to ease him slightly. "Alright, but be home by ten-thirty, okay?"

I sighed internally with relief. A night out with a girlfriend could just what I needed right now.

"Bella, this is Bree. Bree, Bella."

Bree Tanner was a junior at Forks High. I took pity on her since she still had another year of that hell hole to go.

"Nice to meet you," she said, smiling genuinely at me.

"You, too," I replied, smiling back.

"So you guys ready to go shopping?" Angela asked.

I groaned since I hated clothes shopping. I was purely in this to avoid dinner with Jacob and because I heard there was a really good bookstore nearby.

"Relax, Bella," Angela laughed, rolling her eyes playfully. "We'll get to your nerdy bookstore," she joked, knowing she loved reading just as much as I did.

"A bookstore?" Bree asked curiously.

"Yeah, it's only one or two blocks from place we're going first," Angela said.

"Which is...?" I asked.

"This clothing store called Eclipse. I hear it has great deals," Angela replied.

"Interesting name," Bree commented.

"Let's go," I urged. The sooner we got done clothes shopping the sooner we could move on.

The store called Eclipse wasn't hard to find. Angela seemed to know the way pretty well, saying a friend had given her easy directions. From the street the store looked tiny, but once we got inside it seemed to stretch on for miles, but maybe that was just because I hated shopping if books or music weren't involved. The store was full or clearance racks and good sales just as Angela had promised. She and Bree dove in immediately in shopaholic's hog heaven.

I wandered aimlessly around the store, really no intention of trying on any clothes. I walked along a random aisle and a small glimmer caught my eye. I realized what had caught my eye was among a wall of jewelry. My eyes scanned for the glint I had seen to find a ring on a black felt mannequin hand. I slid the ring off with ease and inspected it to find it was absolutely beautiful. The silver band was very thin and delicate, and it fit on to my finger perfectly as I ignored the tiny paper tag hooked to its side. The solid white stone in the middle was beautiful as well. It was cradled nicely inside of a four-pronged silver setting that webbed over the face of the stone in delicate little wisps that gave the tiny yet beautiful ring some flair.

I checked the tiny tag hanging off the side, and I immediately came back down to reality. I pulled the ring off my finger hastily as if it had burned me. As beautiful as it was there was no way I could spend that much on a ring. It felt wasteful, and it just didn't feel right splurging like that. As much as I hated to I set the ring back down on the shelf with a frown. Of course the one thing I liked in this store was the only thing not on sale.

I sighed, feeling depressed as I forced myself to walk away. I searched for Angela and Bree to find them lingering near the dressing rooms.

"Oh, there you are, Bella. What do you think?" Angela asked, twirling for me so I could get the full effect of the dress she was trying on.

I nodded. "It looks very nice on you," I replied truthfully.

"It really does," Bree agreed.

Angela glanced in the mirror again, her eyes lighting up. "I guess it's a winner then," as she practically skipped back inside the stall she'd been changing in.

I waited patiently for her to come out while Bree showed me a couple of shirts she planned to buy.

"You guys I think I'm going to head over to the bookstore early," I told them.

"What? You haven't even tried anything on for us yet," Angela pouted.

"I don't really care much for clothes shopping," I shrugged.

Angela rolled her eyes but smiled. "Are you sure? It's getting dark out."

"Yeah, we should walk with you," Bree said.

I shook my head. "I'll be fine. You guys have fun."

"Um, okay. You want us to meet you there in like," she paused to consult her watch, "half an hour?"

"Actually, I'm getting a little hungry. Maybe we could meet some place to eat?" I asked.

"I think there's a restaurant close by. I saw it while we were walking here, and it smelled pretty good from the outside," Bree offered. "It was called New Moon, I think."

I nodded. "I know where it is."

"Great. We'll meet up there then?" Angela asked.

"Sounds good to me," I smiled.

"Okay, we'll see you there," Angela promised and I left them to it.

...

It didn't take me long to get to the bookstore, and it looked exactly like I had expected. It was a small, modest little place with a dream-catcher and a small sign on the door that read 'open'. It was dimly lit, providing it with a cozy atmosphere. Two comfy brown sofas and a couple of recliners sat in the middle of the store surrounded by walls and shelves of books.

I scoured the shelves, becoming completely lost in the books. They had everything here from Shakespeare to Mark Twain to Emily Dickinson to Robert Frost. Anything you could want. This was my hog heaven.

I had completely lost track of time, and when I finally purchased a couple of books and walked outside I noticed it had gotten considerably dark. I checked my watch to find it was already nine o'clock. I tried not to think about the fact that I was a young girl walking by herself in a lonely street. I had to remind myself that the restaurant wasn't far and as long as I hurried I could get there in a matter of minutes.

I was hurrying when I heard a whistle from behind me, almost causing me to jump ten feet in the air. My heart immediately skipped a beat and then thumped wildly against my ribcage in panic. Maybe I was being paranoid. Maybe it was just the cop's daughter in me talking.

"Hey sweetie!" a male voice whistled, and since I was the only other person on the street at the moment I knew he was talking to me. If I was lucky, the guy was just drunk and harmless.

But then again luck never was on my side...

I walked faster, and my heart began beating like a hummingbird's wings inside my chest, faster and faster until I felt like it might explode in there.

"Baby, where you goin'?" another voice shouted after me.

I could hear their voices get louder and footsteps quickening as they got closer, trying to catch up with me. I didn't dare look back. I picked up my pace, almost at a jog now as I simultaneously tried to rummage through my bag for the pepper spray I knew I had. All I could hear was Charlie's voice in my head, reminding me to use it.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt a firm grip lock onto my elbow.

Fuck, where is that damn pepper spray?

"Get your pretty little ass over here," the guy slurred as he tried to pull me closer. He was a short, pudgy guy with short brown hair.

I wrenched my arm out of his hand roughly. "Leave me alone," I growled at them, surprised at the strength my voice seemed to hold.

"Aww, she's scared," a third one laughed as he tried to reach out and stroke my hair, and I flinched back from his hand.

They reeked of cigarettes and beer. They were young guys, probably college students.

Fight or flight.

"She's a pretty little thing. You shouldn't be out here all by yourself little girl," the repulsive, pudgy guy smirked, stepping closer to me.

They were closing in. Closing in like sharks, circling me, and I had nowhere to go. I felt a small amount of relief as my fingers brushed against the cool surface of the pepper spray. I gripped it firmly to make sure I didn't lose it again, and yanked it out of my purse. I aimed it at the guy closest to me. I didn't hesitate as I sprayed the bastard in his eyes.

He cried out repeatedly and stumbled back, his hands immediately rushing up to rub his burning eyes. His friends were momentarily stunned, and I took full advantage as I took off as fast as I could.

"Get that little bitch!" the man who I had just blinded cried out furiously.

They came after me once more, their feet pounding on the pavement behind me. I gripped the pepper spray tightly, prepared to use it again, when all of the sudden I was blinded by headlights. The silver Volvo came out of nowhere and came to a screeching halt right in front of me. I stopped in my tracks, wide-eyed, as did the men chasing me.

The driver's door swung open and a tall figure stepped out, slamming the car door shut loudly.

I couldn't see because of the headlights shining in my eyes, but as the figure drew closer an unmistakable mass of unruly bronze hair was revealed and my heart skipped a beat. Could it really be who my mind jumped to? I thought surely I was seeing things until he spoke, and then I knew for sure I was seeing reality.

"Bella," he said lowly, dangerously. "Get in the car."

I hesitated.

"Now," he growled and I scurried to the passenger side, not bothering to look back.

Thanks for reading!

-Angie