Chapter 1 – A New Life

"This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change."

Taylor Swift

BPOV

It was heavenly standing outside on my patio. It was a beautiful day – cold, but beautiful. The sky was a dark sapphire with huge white puffy clouds. I could get used to days like this.

I had recently moved to Reno, Nevada from Seattle, Washington. I had hated that city; it was too much for me. Reno, on the other hand, was aptly named "The Biggest Little City." It had a city feel with the small town aspect that appealed to me. I felt at home in a small town, since I had grown up in one. That was the tiniest town in the world: Forks, Washington.

Glancing around, I reveled in the quiet. I was used to being alone…used to the quiet. I have lived on my own for about nine years now. I enjoy having time to myself to read, write and think. I had never really given any thought to having a roommate, and I certainly never thought I would get far enough with any relationship to live with someone. Yes, I was better alone.

I'm sure that my moderate philophobic* behavior stemmed from losing my father a year ago. Being an only child, I bonded with him early on. My mother and I never got along well, but I quietly tolerated her rather than dealing with the less than a maternal woman.

My dad, Charlie Swan, was a wonderful man. He was uncomfortable with saying "I love you," but he showed me how he felt. I remember when he bought that old pickup truck, which I loved, and surprised me with it the day I got home from my sophomore year in high school. When it was cold, he put chains on my tires without my knowledge. Just to keep me safe. He taught me how to fish, spending countless days on his tiny fishing boat with me.

Renee, my mother, never spent much time with me. The best word for her was flakey. She had taken over a dozen different classes from the local junior college, trying to find her passion, as she put it. She was never able to hold a job for more than a year and was unemployed more often than she had a job anyway.

Breaking away from my reverie, I snuffed my cigarette out and walked inside my apartment. The ringing of my phone almost made me jump. I looked at my caller ID to discover it was my mother calling me.

Ignore.

I still couldn't face her. I heard the sound indicating a new voicemail. I would check it later. My mother was not the person that I wanted to talk to today.

Sighing, I walked toward my kitchen, setting my phone down on the table. I put my coffee cup in the sink and walked to my bedroom to get ready for work. I was picking out a pantsuit when I heard my phone ring again. Boy, she was relentless today.

Listening closer, I realized it was Alice's ringtone: "Soul Sister" by Train. It always cracked her up that I had selected that song as her ring tone. I ran into the kitchen picking up my phone.

"Hello?" I breathed into the phone.

"Jeez, B, what were you doing, running a marathon?" Alice said, laughing into the phone.

"Sorry, Ali, I was in my bedroom and had to run for the phone. What's up?" I said, sitting down at the table.

"Can you pick me up, B? My stupid POS car has a flat tire. I have neither the money nor the time to fix it." Alice sounded grumpy. I smirked at her formal wording in her last sentence. Classic Alice.

"Sure, sure. I'm almost ready to leave, so I'll pick you up in fifteen to twenty minutes. Cool?"

"Thanks, B! I owe you one!"

"No problem. See you then." I disconnected the call, setting my phone down again. I poured the rest of my coffee into my travel coffee cup before I went back to my bedroom to finish getting ready

In just a short ten minutes, I was out the door headed toward Alice's apartment. She didn't live that far away, so I was happy with myself that I would get there a little earlier than I had expected.

Just as I got in my car, my phone rang again. Goodness, I'm popular this morning, I thought looking at my phone again.

I sighed and answered the phone. "Hi, Jazz."

Jasper Cullen, my semi-boyfriend, sounded way too chipper this early in the morning. "Hey, Bells! What did you decide about tomorrow night?"

"Ugh, Jazz, do we have to? You know I hate parties," I said, sitting back in my seat. Jasper had been on my case for a week to have a New Year's Eve party at my apartment. He was quite relentless.

"Come on, Bells! It will be fun! My brother is coming; you can invite Alice. I'll bring the alcohol. We can try to hook Edward and Alice up, so that they can be as happy as we are!"

I shuddered at that thought. I doubted that Alice would go for Edward. I had never met him, but if he was anything like Jasper, Alice would hate the man. "Yeah, ok, fine," I agreed hesitantly. "Listen, Jazz, I have to go to work. I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah, I'll be there by six for dinner. Make something meaty, will you?" Jasper said, hanging up. I silently seethed for a moment. Jasper knew that I was a vegetarian, but for some reason he chose to ignore that whenever we had dinner.

Resigning myself to the stupid situation that I was in, I decided that I would pick up a steak for him on my way home from work. I put the car in drive and headed toward Alice, now running a little behind.