I'm aware that this story was received well and I thank everyone for the reviews. I'll post the next chapter on Monday 09/17/12. Thank you for liking it so much and reassuring me that continuing this story is a good idea. -Maria.

It was drizzling outside.

It didn't come as a surprise to Bella but she still sighed in defeat as she dressed for work. Washington had always been this way since she had moved to Forks and it had followed her onto Seattle where she lived now for college. The rain didn't bother her as much as it used to but she had to work tonight and her car was having trouble starting up. She had decided a week ago to just begin walking to work. She needed her truck for school and she didn't dare risk having it break down in downtown Seattle.

She knew she should take a bus to work rather than walk on the dangerous streets of Seattle at night but she was running late and she was only two blocks away from work. She waitressed at a club at night and worked part time in a coffee shop at school during the day.

As she walked to work in her skimpy outfit she thought about how much she had changed in two years. She had become more confident in her own skin after realizing that she could be her own person. Some days she would morn the death of her old self who clung hopelessly to a life that had been yanked from her hands. On her worst days she could find herself reminiscing instead of missing her former boyfriend who had been too fantastical to be real. Yes she believed they had existed but she doubted there had ever been real love there for any of them. They had left without so much as a goodbye and she had finally moved on.

Edward would have had a cow if he knew she was a waitress at an upscale club where her uniform consisted of mesh tights, tight black shorts and a black corset. She didn't mind though, it made her feel sexy and the looks of the gentlemen who went to party at the club reminded her that she was very much a beautiful young woman. It had taken her a while to get there especially with the parting words of her ex boyfriend still implanted onto the young mind of a self conscious teenager. But she would be 20 in a month and with the new change had come a change in character for her. But some things never changed.

Bella looked over her shoulder casually like she had taught herself long ago to do. There were plenty of people out, it was Friday and they didn't seem to mind the rain. Most people in Washington didn't and went out to celebrate the end of the week. The majority of the crowd outside didn't pay much attention to her but she still felt watched. She knew Victoria was still out there, probably bidding her time and hoping to catch Bella off guard. She couldn't help think that this was some sick game of hers that she was willing playing along too.

Charlie was safe with the werewolves guarding him day in and day out but Bella had no protection. When she had found out her best friend was a shape shifting werewolf it was as if a calm had come over her. She knew she could trust Jacob Black and the pack to look after Charlie while she was gone. She wasn't stupid enough to try to out run Victoria or fight her off so she tried to stay alive as long as possible. Recently however she had felt even more uncomfortable as if someone was following her everywhere she went.

Finally when she was about to turn around and just scream out to Victoria she heard her name and turned instead towards the back entrance of the club. Angel a female bartender was smoking a cigarette outside.

"Hey," Bella said a little flushed and shook her head when Angel offered her a cigarette. Bella had only smoked once and that was to impress her boss but immediately decided that being unemployed was better than having lung cancer.

"What'd you doing out here sugar?" Angel was an African American college transfer student from LSU and she fit the New Orleans stereotype to a T. "You seem a bit agitated sweetheart, don't let Anthony see you like that." Anthony was their boss and a bit of a perfectionist. Bella hadn't had a gray hair until she had met him but he had five other clubs in the vicinity so he was rarely there for too long.

"I'm going to go inside and change," Bella said even though all she needed to do was store her jacket in her locker. "I'll see you inside." Angel winked at Bella and went back to her cigarette. Bella liked Angel most days but she had had a rough week and was finding it harder every night to put on a happy face for her clients. She needed to get it together especially if Anthony was coming in.

It seemed that her rough week wasn't over. As soon as she had stored her jacket and gotten her pad to write down orders she ran into her first wall of the night. There were five VIP tables in the clubs and they were all on the second floor. Only the VIPs and waitresses were allowed up there and tonight a group of college girls had somehow managed to bypass the guards and it was Bella's responsibility to ask them to leave.

Normally someone else would handle the girls but the club was packed and she was the designated waitress to do the dirty deed as she had just arrived. Bella stepped up to the table of rowdy girls that were clearly too young to drink and opened her mouth to say something but her words were lost.

There sitting across from where Bella stood was Lauren Mallory who gave a shrill cry when she noticed Bella. Before Bella could react she was engulfed by Lauren who was shouting in her ear about how much she had missed her and how they must catch up. Bella could smell the alcohol and feel Lauren supporting most of her weight on Bella. She was plastered.

"Lauren, you and your friends have to leave. You'll be in big trouble if security finds out you've been drinking." Bella tried to reason with her but Lauren couldn't hear Bella over the DJ. Bella's only choice was to walk down to security and ask them to forcefully take the girls out. She felt a sick sort of pleasure at seeing Lauren and her friends leave. It had been a shock to see them of course but Bella had decided that any reminders of Forks were unwelcome. Despite being thrown out Lauren still managed to turn around and wave back at Bella.

"That was fun," Bella heard Angel say behind her at the bar, "were those your friends?"

"Not anymore," Bella said picking up an order and taking it to a table. She wasn't 21 yet so she wasn't allowed to pour the alcohol but she was old enough to take it to the tables.

About an hour after the Lauren incident the club really filled up and Bella found herself rushing from the VIP tables to the bar. She was a blur of dark hair and pale skin. She wasn't as tall as the patrons so she had a hard time balancing the trays of shots but practice had made perfect in her case. She knew what areas to dodge and how to hold the tray so that nothing spilled.

Anthony had been reluctant to keep her on but she was effective and hard working. He had been pretty blunt about the fact that Bella wasn't old enough to look sexy or tall enough to walk through the crowd or even perky enough to be sociable.

All this had wounded Bella's ego far more than it had wounded her feelings. She had made it her mission to change. Not because Anthony was right but because she felt she needed this change in her life as well.

She bought the highest pair of heels at the mall and walked around her apartment all day long even though she had ridiculous hours at the club and a full time student schedule. When she got her job at the coffee shop she decided she would practice her skills with the tray and got pretty good at serving hot drinks. A week after she had been employed at the club, Angel had taken her to the mall for a makeover.

Bella had refused to dye her hair but she didn't oppose the layers or highlights added.

Bella became a real aficionado of makeup and style which pleased Angel since she now had someone to go shopping with for club clothes. The most difficult part of her transformation had been the attitude adjustment. Angel was a really good influence on that part but she also had a potty mouth and Bella just didn't see the need for it, except on those few occasions when she would have to put her heel down and

have a little talk with the club patrons who thought that it was quite alright to feel her up.

When Bella brought down an empty tray of shot glasses down to the bar area she found that Anthony was helping Angel with the orders. Tonight was the busiest night so far and it wasn't even close to being over yet. Anthony looked up at Bella and smiled for the first time since he had hired her.

"Been watching you Swan," he said handing someone a fruity orange drink, "you're doing well out there, I've taught you good." He winked and Bella felt too happy to point out that she had made the changes, he had only pointed out the flaws.

Before she could get too caught up in the joy of a compliment, Angel handed her a tray and sent her off to deliver more orders. This was when she hit her second wall. The group she had delivered the tequila shots to were business men in suits who all wore wedding rings. One of them in particular saw her and ran his hand up her leg as she bent over to spread the shots around.

She jerked, took his hand and placed it on the table. Since he couldn't hear her over the music she just waved her finger back and forth and mouthed, no touching. He didn't understand and when she turned around to walk back to the bar he slapped her right on the ass cheek.

Bella turned around and soccer-punched the guy right in the jaw. His whole group gasped but didn't intervene. She bit her bottom lip when she noticed one of her knuckles bleeding. Just great she thought, what else could go wrong?

Someone behind her pushed past the crowd and she noticed it was security. Michael, the indoor guard was her friend from school and he asked her politely if she was okay. She nodded and he took the guy by the arm and escorted him out. Bella eyed the table dangerously and walked away. This wasn't the first time this had happened but it was the first time she had truly hurt herself punching a guy.

She walked into the employee office and searched for the first aid kit. Angel came in a few seconds later grinning from ear to ear.

"Where'd you learn to that Belly? she asked excited taking the clean wipes out of her hand and wiping the blood away, "I swear I even saw Anthony high five someone."

"So I'm not getting fired?" Bella asked. She had never punched a guy in front of her boss even though she knew it was okay to do if they got out of line.

"Are you kidding?" she said dabbing a bit of antiseptic cream on her cut, "how many's that?"

Bella looked behind her at a chart on the wall next to the lockers. She found her name and counted the tally's, "Six, well seven with this one."

"Nice..." Angel said nodding her head approvingly while she put a Band-Aid over Bella's knuckle. They had a thing at work where they wrote down how many guys crossed the line and got thrown out on their account. Since Bella was new she had a few tally's but Angel had a whole row on the paper.

"If we don't watch out you'll be leading the way," Angel winked and pulled Bella into a hug, "now, did he just like smack that ass or grab it?"

Bella laughed for what felt like the first time in years and pushed Angel aside with a knowing smirk. They got back to work and surprisingly Bella's walls had actually improved her mood. Things ran as smoothly as they could for the rest of the night. An hour before closing Bella hit her toughest wall yet and she knew that this one would follow her home.

She had covered all of her orders when one of the waitresses came up to her and told her that she had another table waiting for her. Bella sighed and looked at the clock on the wall. She was off in a few minutes anyway, she supposed she could do one last table. She took her pad and pen and walked pass the crowd on the dance floor, balancing on her high heels the best she could.

When she was close enough to see the person sitting at the table she gasped. She almost wished Lauren had returned or that the guy who had touched her had been sitting there but nope, life wasn't always that fair.

"Hello Bella." Jasper Cullen sat back and watched Bella panic, calm down and put on a mask that almost looked like a convincing happy waitress but Jasper could feel her emotions; they screamed danger, anger, happiness?

"Jasper..." her voice trembled but her mask was kept firmly in place, "what can I get you?"

"I think you know what I want," he said sitting up and leaning against his table. His eyes were red.

Please Review! I want to see if anyone is interested in me continuing this.