"Can you believe it? Assholes, all of them," I grumbled.
I had just finished telling my best friend, Alice Brandon, about the response I'd gotten the day before. We were on our way to school, only a couple weeks left before we graduated. I sat back in the passenger seat of her hand-me-down car, cursing my long string of rotten luck.
"Bella, just come with me anyway. We'll figure something out. There are loans, and maybe my parents would be willing to chip in. You know they love you."
I shook my head. There was no way I would take any money from her parents. Sure, they were one of the wealthier families in our small town, but they were by no means rich. I doubted they had enough to fully support Alice's four years, let alone mine.
Alice and I had been best friends since birth; we were even born only hours apart. Our dream had always been to get out, get away from Forks, and live it up in the biggest city in the country. The fact that New York was over two thousand miles away was considered a bonus.
"I told you already, even if I could get loans on my own, they'd never cover everything." I didn't add that I hated the thought of being so in debt after graduation. "And I am absolutely not taking any money from your parents." I looked over at her to make sure she understood. "No way."
I'd been applying for every scholarship I was eligible for since I was a sophomore. Even with mostly excellent grades, and unfortunate family circumstances, I still was never awarded any of them.
I was the perpetual black cloud to Alice's sunshine.
We pulled into the parking lot and she turned toward me with a sigh. "So what do you want to do?"
I hated that she felt as anxious as I did. This was our dream together. She had been admitted to Columbia, and I was accepted into NYU.
I bit my lip, holding back the tears that wanted to surface from my exasperation and despair.
Everything would have been perfect if I'd gotten the EC scholarship. I would have only had to work part-time during school to cover my room and board. My fists clenched with anger that it was instead going to that dipshit, Mike Newton. He was headed to the University of Washington like every other parochial classmate of mine. The extra money would probably keep him well-stocked in beer and chips.
Moron.
Thinking about the mistake, and what it was costing me, diverted the target of my rage back to Mr. Edward Cullen. Mr. High and Mighty, whose employees seemed to think it was acceptable to toy with people's lives. They promised me everything and then took it away, and now didn't have the gumption to even discuss it with me.
"I have to get in contact with Mr. Cullen." That was the only option I had left.
"How are you going to do that?"
"I don't know. I doubt they'll just hand out his personal information, but I need it."
"You mean try to get his non-work email address or phone number?"
I nodded at her, feeling determined. "Exactly. I need to get both."
And then pester him until he listened to me.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
"What if it doesn't work? What if he won't do anything?"
"He has to, Alice." In my mind, he owed me. I just had to make him realize it.
"All right then. Operation Get Edward Cullen starts tonight."
I grinned at my best friend. She always knew exactly what to do to make me feel better. Yeah, it was going to be a long shot, but with Alice on my side, I felt like anything was possible. We walked together toward class, and I had never been more thankful that at least I had her in my life.
~~~*~~~NOP~~~*~~~
Alice and I went straight to her house after the last bell. Half of my inconsequential wardrobe already resided there, so stopping by my place was unnecessary.
"Is Phil still planning to end the lease once you graduate?"
I plopped down on Alice's bed and watched her turn on her hacker network. She was a genius with computers, and I was glad she could put her skills to good use in my endeavor to ferret out Mr. Cullen.
"Yep."
I swallowed back the nerves which always arose at the thought I was really going to be alone in a few short weeks. Actually, the truth was that I'd been alone for a long time, but it would be even more official when there was no longer a house to call mine.
I didn't have the traditional picket fence life most of my classmates had. My real father had been a police officer who was shot in the line of duty when I was five, and my mom had married Phil Dwyer when I was ten. On my twelfth birthday my mom was in a car accident, rushing to get home to me. She was critically injured, but hung on for several days. She knew she was going to die, and legally arranged for Phil to be appointed my guardian until I was eighteen. There was no other family to take me in.
Phil was a decent guy. We'd always pretty much gotten along, probably because he was gone most of the time. He was a truck driver, keeping him out on the road instead of at home. When he was around, we politely avoided each other. He had loved my mother more than anything, and I believed it was difficult for him to see me because I looked so much like her.
But he'd always kept his promise to her, and I'd never lacked for the essentials over the last six years. I had a roof over my head, food to eat, clothes to wear, and he would occasionally leave an envelope with some extra money in it for me.
On my eighteenth birthday, he and I had a difficult discussion. He'd told me he would keep renting the house until I graduated, but when the lease ended in June, he wasn't going to renew it. He apologized and was almost to the point of tears until I assured him it was okay. That I didn't want to be in Forks anymore either. I understood it was painful for him to return to this place and me, both of which were a constant reminder of my mother.
"Bella?" Alice asked softly, with hesitation in her voice. I looked over to find her watching me. "What happens if this doesn't work? What are you going to do?"
"It has to work." I wrung my sweaty hands and looked down at my lap. "And if it doesn't, then I'm going anyway. I'll just get a job instead of going to college. I'm going to New York no matter what."
"Well, you know you always have me, right?"
I looked back up and gave her a smile. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do for me, and I felt the same way about her. I didn't want to take advantage though. I knew she'd let me have her bed if I wanted it. She was going to be staying in a single housing unit, leaving two weeks after we graduated to be a part of some special summer orientation for promising incoming freshmen.
"I know. I'm still planning to leave when you do. It's all going to work out somehow, Alice."
She reached out and I met her halfway, grabbing onto her hand.
"Yes, it will. We're moving on to bigger and better things. The Big Apple will never be the same once we get there."
I grinned as she giggled. We finally released our hands and she turned back to her computer.
"Okay, now let's find this mysterious Mr. Cullen."
I pulled her beanbag chair next to her desk and watched as her fingers flew over the keys. My thoughts strayed to what I already knew about the man. His family was old money, and had only resided in this area for around ten years, during which time Mr. Cullen had graduated from my high school.
He'd gone on to UCLA, and got involved in the entertainment business. Using his own ingenuity and his family money, he renovated music television and spawned a lot of the success of cable networks. With the merger to Cullen-Whitlock, Inc., his company now rivaled media giants Disney, Sony and Viacom.
"Damn, he's hot!"
I straightened up and looked at the pictures, jolted out of my thoughts from Alice's exclamation.
He was definitely a good looking man. Tall, lean, sexy hair, and a face that would make the gods jealous. I tore my eyes away before I licked her screen.
"He'd be even better looking if he paid my tuition." I gave her a smirk and she laughed.
"Well, he's a step up from Riley." She elbowed me lightly and I scowled from her mention of my ex-boyfriend.
"Like you can talk! Hello, Eric!"
She groaned as I pushed her back. We had both had our share of embarrassing ex-boyfriends. I chalked it up to a learning experience.
"I think Mr. Right is just around the corner for both of us."
I rolled my eyes at her. She was such a romantic.
"The last thing I'm worried about right now is getting a man. I just want to get out of here and live a little." I tickled her side. "Now, are you getting anywhere or are you just ogling pictures?"
"Keep your pants on. I think I have his email. It's going to take me longer to get a cell number. That may be a few days."
I went back to watching her work her magic. By the time Alice's mom called us down for dinner, we had sent off the first email, where I repeated the same plea from my letter.
As I stuffed my face with spaghetti and meatballs, I wondered how long it would take to hear back from him.