Chapter 1: Leaving
Bella pov
It was Sunday morning in Phoenix. I was looking at myself in the mirror. I was really small for my age. I was eleven, but looked like I was seven or eight. Luckily no one could see how skinny I was beneath my multiple layers of clothing. My mother, Renee, never wanted anything other than vegetables at the house. And she never let me have much of that either. My wavy chestnut brown hair reached my waist. I was really pale. Unhealthily so. And my dark, chocolate brown eyes stared lifelessly back at me. I flinched when Renee started yelling.
"Come here you useless waste of space! I'm driving you to the airport, I'm not looking after you a single day more" Renee yelled at me, coming into my room and pulling me by my hair out the door. It's not like she ever looked after me anyway. I was the one cooking, balancing the checkbooks and doing all the household chores. Probably the only reason she kept me in the first place, and maybe so I can be her personal punching bag, too. Now that she has Phil, she won't need me anymore. He'll make sure all the meals are cooked and the bills are payed.
"Go in the car and be quiet" she hissed at me and let go of my hair. I tried to hurry up, knowing it'll hurt if I didn't. But I stumbled over thin air and tried to steady myself on the car, already knowing that was a mistake, but I couldn't help my reflexes. Stupid, clumsy me. "Don't touch my car you stupid child" and with that, she kicked me into my ribs and into the car. Tears started to build in my eyes but I held them back. I didn't want her to see how much she hurt me and how much influence she had on me. This was nothing new.
My stomach and back were a mass of bruises in all colors and shapes, from her kicking and punching me. My tiny arms showed bruises in the shape of her handprints of when she held me down so she could use her belt on my back. My whole upper body hurt, but I was good at hiding it, too afraid of what would happen if someone noticed. Not that I had any friends, and she was smart enough to not hit or kick me in my face where everyone could see.
The drive to the airport was silent. And I started wondering. What if Charlie, my biological father, is like her, what if he'll hate me, too. There was no reason why he would like me. He never even wanted to see me before. No one ever liked me. I didn't even know what he looked like. And now I'm moving in with him. I just hoped he wouldn't be as violent as Renee and let me live in peace.
"Get out of the car and be quiet" Renee said when we arrived at the airport. I learned early on to be quiet, to only talk when I was asked a direct question. She got my tiny suitcase and pushed it into my hand. Then, she took my other arm tightly, making me whimper, but I didn't let it show on my face. She dragged me behind her, holding my arm too tightly. When we arrived at the terminal she talked to the lady who would be responsible for me, as I was too young to take a flight alone. Then she turned to face me, pushing even more on my arm "You'll behave and be polite to this nice lady. Your dad will get you at the airport in Seattle". Finally she let my stinging arm go and left.
"Hi, Bella, I'm Amanda, lets' get you settled" the lady said. She seemed nice at least. Amanda held her hand out for me to hold , which I took hesitantly and led me down the halls and into the plane. I took a seat. "If you need something, I'll be over there" she pointed towards the front of the plane, gave me a smile and then left. I closed my eyes and hoped that it would all be alright.