Chapter 1: I Want To Come Home

Sweat dripped down my back as my dad drove into the familiar gates of Forks Elementary School. I clenched my fists, digging my nails into my palm, trying to stop myself from screaming at my dad to take me away from this hell. My breathing became laboured as I felt the car slow down and eventually roll to a stop.

"I'll pick you up at around four." My dad smiled, his eyes crinkling in the corners. I nodded my head, swallowing the bile that was rising in my throat. I clutched the door handle, praying that somehow I could stick to it, resulting in me having the day off.

"Bells, are you ok?" Dad asked. My dad was never one for showing his emotions, but I could plainly hear the hint of concern edging in his voice.

"I'm fine." I whispered back before bravely opening the door. I tumbled out of the door and slammed it shut.

"Happy birthday!" He called. I watched with a false smile and a wave as Dad drove his police cruiser away from the school and to work.

My body started trembling as I turned towards the school. I clutched my books closer to my body and pushed my glasses higher up my nose. My feet reluctantly started shuffling towards the school, treading in puddles along the way.

"Eww look! It's Smelly Belly!" Someone called. I kept my head down and carried on, willing the tears to go away. The bullying I received caused me to eat a lot, resulting in me gaining weight.

I don't know what I did wrong, but I knew that they picked on me because of my looks. I had greasy mouse brown hair with a greasy pig face and muddy brown eyes to go with it. I had big black glasses and crooked teeth which I really wanted to get sorted, but I couldn't have braces because they would make even more fun of me.

"Why does she even bother coming? Nobody wants her here." I heard a few of the girls giggling. I picked up my pace, trying to get into the school as fast as I could. People tried to trip me on my way but I narrowly avoided them.

Once I managed to get into the warm office, I immediately started checking over my shoulder. It was around about this time where they came and did something unpleasant to me.

They called themselves "The Cullens" but I had no idea why. Everybody wanted to be in their gang, but instead, followed them around and tried to do everything they asked.

Including bullying me.

The receptionist, Mrs. Johnson, glanced at me worriedly before I scrambled out into the busy corridor. As I shuffled down to my locker, students thought it was their duty to knock into my shoulders repeatedly whilst shouting, "Watch it Smelly!" or "Quick, I might catch a disease from her!"

I did my best to get to my locker and sighed in relief when I reached it. I placed my books in there but kept my Maths book as I had Maths first.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here." I immediately froze at the sound of that menacing voice. A lump rose in my throat, almost causing me to choke on tears that started filling up my eyes. Silence swept through the corridors as I heard eleven sets of footsteps getting louder and louder. A whining sound erupted in my throat as fat tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Bitch! When my brother talks to you, you look at him!" I closed my eyes and clenched them shut. I had been praying all night that they would leave me alone today. But it appeared that God hated me too. I felt my body shift as I released my death grip on my locker and turned to face them. I peeked my eyes open and the first thing I saw was them.

Edward Mason. He had bronze hair and piercing green eyes. He had pale clear skin; his body was toned and slightly muscular with pearly white teeth and was tall. He was the leader of "The Cullens" andwas wanted by all the girls. He always wore a scowl when he was around me. He was the worst out of the gang when it came to physical and verbal abuse.

Alice Brandon; Edward's sister. She was petite with short cropped black hair with softer green eyes, but was incredibly strong; I had leaned that the hard way. She and Rosalie always sought out to insult my looks in the worst possible ways. She also tried to "improve" my looks by beating me senseless.

Rosalie Hale. She was a blonde goddess with curves in all the right places and had beautiful crystal blue eyes. She was a mixture of Alice and Edward; if Edward wasn't in school, she would take charge and beat me for him. All the boys pined after her, but she only had eyes for her boyfriend.

Emmett McCartney; Edward's brother and Rosalie's boyfriend. He had muscles on muscles with black curly hair and grey eyes. Most of the time, he would hold me as the others punched and kicked me. He was the strongest out of the lot and had nearly killed me at one point.

Jasper Whitlock; Rosalie's brother and Alice's boyfriend. He was lean with blonde wavy hair down to his chin with ocean blue eyes. Sometimes I thought he was nice, but would then proceed to beat me up. He was besotted with Alice, doing everything that she asked.

Their closest followers included Tanya Denali, Jessica Stanley, Lauren Mallory, Mike Newton, Tyler Crowley and Eric Yorkie. They wouldn't be as bad as "The Cullens" but would participate in making my life a living hell. They always got the school together to play tricks on me and to, basically, hate me.

Edward snapped his fingers in front of my face.

"Why are you ignoring me Smelly?" he sneered in my face. I wanted to do something, anything, to get them to leave me alone, but I felt rooted on the spot. Rosalie came up to me and slapped me hard on my left cheek. The force of the blow caused me to fall on to the linoleum floor, bashing my head against the lockers. Everyone burst into laugher and I started smelling the blood.

"Please, just leave me alone." I whimpered, holding my palm to my cheek. The laughter was cut off and morphed into gasps and whispers. I glanced up at them and saw their faces were red with anger.

"You know what Smelly? Why don't you do everyone a favour and just die. It's obvious that your father only looks after you because he takes pity on you. You're a worthless bitch that will up never dating anyone and you will grow old and lonely. Hell, I bet that's even a better version of the life you'll lead. If you dropped dead right now I would cheer and dance around your lifeless body and I'm sure everybody in the whole town would do the same." Edward's voice rang out through the corridor. Before I could respond, he pounced on me and started punching me on my face. Blood started gushing down my face and I could faintly hear the cheers of students egging him on. I tried to cover my face with my hands until another pair of meaty hands grabbed my wrists and pinned them behind my back. I felt feet kicking my bruised body and the sound of my clothes ripping.

"It's just like jelly." Alice cackled, poking my exposed stomach. Rosalie dug her nails into my flesh and I cried out.

"Shut up!" Jasper hissed. He swiftly took one of my wrists from Emmett and twisted it until I heard a crack. Pain exploded in my wrist and I screamed, earning a punch in my jaw from Edward. Thick, metallic liquid filled my mouth and I spat it out onto the floor. Mike Newton ripped my glasses of my face and broke them in half. He then dropped them on the floor and proceeded to stamp on them so the glass shattered.

All of a sudden, the school bell rang and the crowd immediately scattered to their classes. Only they remained behind.

"Tell anybody it was us and you're dead." Edward hissed, spitting on me, before strutting away to his next class with his posse following behind him.

My sobs echoed throughout the hallway. How was it that children of thirteen years old could be so cruel towards me? I hadn't done anything to them and it had been happening since the first day of kindergarten.

I whimpered and clutched my wrist to my chest. Using the last ounce of my strength, I hoisted my trembling body off the ground which was now covered in my blood. I steadily picked up my Maths book and broken glasses and limped outside by supporting myself on the lockers, hissing from the pain, and was greeted by the coolness of the rain. I fumbled in my pockets and sighed silently in relief as I saw that my new mobile phone was not broken.

Some thirteenth birthday. I thought bitterly in my head.

My lips trembled as more tears streamed down my cheeks, mixing with my blood. I shakily pressed the numbers that I thought I would never have to call and place the phone next to my ear.

"Hello?" the sweet voice answered.

"M-Mom?" I sobbed into the receiver. My parents had divorced and my mom went to live in Florida. As far as I knew, she was dating a baseball player called Phil.

"Bella, sweetie? What's wrong?" Her voice was panicked. I sniffed and wiped my sleeve against my nose. I couldn't do this anymore. I couldn't stay here and have my life beaten out of me.

"I want to move to Phoenix; I want to come home." I whispered brokenly into the phone.

It's a slow start but don't worry, it's going to get a whole lot better! :)