Chapter 1

BPOV

"Bella can we throw the after prom party at your place next weekend?" One of my best friends, Rosalie Hale, asked as we walked towards the parking lot of Altom High School. We had been best friends, along with Alice Brandon, since I enrolled in the school in the middle of ninth grade. I had been a jumpy, scared, and shy fifteen year old with PTSD. Overcoming my past was proving to be more difficult than I had ever anticipated.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know, Rosie." I told her timidly as we came to a stop beside my old beat up truck that I had bought the day I got my license a few weeks after I had turned 16. I could have easily afforded something nicer or I could have drove one of the four cars sitting in the garage at home but I had bought a '63 Chevy step-side that used to be red but was now a faded orange color instead.

"You can't seclude yourself in that ginormous house forever, Bells." Rose said as I tossed my backpack into the cab of the truck. "You're going to have to let people in eventually."

I shrugged my shoulders. "There is so much speculation and so many rumors, Rosie, having a party there will only add fuel to the fire." I told her as a group of giggly girls walked past us while shooting curious glances in my direction. I tried my best to ignore them but I had been getting the same reactions since I had first enrolled here the middle of my freshman year, three years ago. People were curious as to why nobody ever saw my parents but all of my forms were always signed and turned in on time. I just allowed people to come to their own conclusions instead of telling them the truth that I was the only one left and my forms were signed by my legal guardian of four years. Nobody knew the truth except for a handful of people, Rosie and Ali were on that very short list of people.

"Most of them are stupid, Bella. You have nothing to hide, kill all of their rumors by inviting them into the house. Stop hiding from everybody." She begged me once again. She had been begging me to do the same thing for over a year now but I had always been hesitant because inviting people into that house would only cause more questions. Where are the people in these pictures? Is that guy her brother? Where are the parents? If she lives in a house like this why does she drive a truck like hers? Why are those doors locked upstairs?

I started shaking my head because the questions that people would ask if they were ever allowed into my house had the potential to slowly kill me from the painful memories they would bring back with a force to be reckoned with. I had missed five days of school when I had finally broken down and told Rosalie and Alice the truth for the first time. "It's too painful, Rosie. I just can't do it. Let's have it at Alice's house instead." I suggested as Alice bounced up to us in her cheerleading outfit. I knew we couldn't hold it at Rose's house, her parents were too stuck up to agree to throw the kind of party my classmates expected.

"What did I hear about Alice's house?" She chirped as she tossed her bag onto the hood of my truck.

I sighed and turned to face her. "After prom party at your house instead of mine." I told her but quickly got a negative shake of the head.

"No can do, sister, remember what happened last time we threw a party there?" She asked with a smile.

I smiled back at her. "How could I forget Ali? She turned an adorable four months old yesterday!" I told her, talking about her four month old daughter, Cassi, that was the result of her parents agreeing to a party after prom last year while they were out of town.

"Yep!" Alice chirped as she showed us pictures of Cassi with her 4 month old outfit on with a huge matching bow headband slid into her light brown curls that matched her daddy's perfectly.

"Will your parents watch her on prom night?" Rose asked after she oohed and ahhed over the pictures. "I know they've been giving you guys grief the past few weeks."

Alice rolled her eyes as she nodded. "I don't know what my dad's issue is here lately. Mom said she would watch Cassi so we could go to prom." She said with a smile thinking about her boyfriend of four years that had graduated last year. Alice's parents had been extremely upset when they found out that Alice and Jasper were pregnant and still in high school but had accepted it since they pretty much gave them no other choice. Alice and Jasper had been living in the apartment above the garage of her parent's house since she was five months pregnant and Jasper had gotten a job at a Construction company downtown just a few weeks after he graduated last May.

"Good, so now we just have to have a spot to have the party." Rose said eyeing me suggestively.

I started shaking my head no when Alice spoke up. "It's perfect, B, we are almost out of high school and the only people from this school that has been further than the gate at the end of your driveway is standing right here besides Jazz and Cassi." Alice said motioning between the three of us.

I sighed. "Fine, but I'm not doing any of the planning, setting up, or cleaning up. That is all on you two!" I told them with a toss-up of my hands.

"Yay!" They both cheered as they hugged me dancing us around in a tiny circle.

Once Alice released me she quickly scrambled up onto the hood of my truck. "Alice, what are you doing?" I hissed quietly because I had a feeling her popularity was about to come into play within the next few minutes.

She just smiled at me before winking and cupping her hands around her face. "AFTER PROM PARTY NEXT SATURDAY NIGHT AT BELLA'S HOUSE!" She screamed out to the top of her lungs which caused Rose to wrap her arms around me tugging me into a loose hug as I groaned into her shoulder.

"Remind me to kill her later." I mumbled into Rose's shoulder.

She patted me on the shoulder. "It will all be okay, B, we will just give her clean up duty when she is having to deal with Cassi and a hangover. You know that even though her parents will watch Cassi prom night they will call her as soon as she wakes up the next morning."

I sighed and nodded because every single time they have said they would watch her so Alice and Jazz could have some teenage moments, Alice's mom was either calling demanding Alice home or banging on the front door with Cassi and diaper bag in tow. "Sounds good to me." I told her as Alice hopped off of my truck.

"Okay guys, I gotta go pick up my baby!" She said as she kissed each of us on the cheek before bouncing across the parking lot to her little yellow Ford Focus that her parents had made her trade her Porsche in for when she had told them she was pregnant last year.

"Bye Ali!" We called after her before we each separated and headed in our own directions. I headed to the grocery store because I was running low at the house.