" Mom, has dad sent anymore money for me?" i asked for the second time that week.

"Nothing in the mail or to my card honey.." she replied with just a touch of annoyance that i knew meant to stop asking her questions.

Nobody wanted Renee to fly off the hook, so when i looked up at Phil and he was shaking his head, i knew that meant she was probably having a bad day so i just grabbed my backpack and went to wait for the bus.

The bus smelled like an old gym, the kind you would imagine olympians trained inside because the smell of sweat clung to everything. The driver who kept peeking back at me finally spoke and said,

"Hows your mom?" Everybody knew my mom. She was the crazy lady that came to the school and yelled at the staff for calling the house phone. It didn't matter to her that i had been accepted in the Illustrious Leaders Program, we couldn't afford it anyway. With Phil still light years away from his "big break", every penny was pinched, even my tips from the Denny's down the street.

"She's fine, has her good days and bad days." i reluctantly answer after a lengthy silence from my own inner monologue.

"Well, that great honey, i'm praying for her"

"Yeah,sure", I said.

It was the same every day since last month when she came to school and showed her ass. The bad part is, I never even saw it, i just heard the rumors about her flailing and being escorted off the premises. Of course the rumors flew quickly and became more outlandish every day. Honestly i'm just praying for some other poor sucker to have a moment so my crisis can be averted.

"... .." snapped after i apparently did not respond to her first i looked up at her, i couldn't help but notice her freckles looked a little strange..almost like she drew them on, so after a short giggle in my head i finally focused on what she was saying,

"You're wanted in the office immediately!" She said in her sharp english accent. Why she came to phoenix was beyond me, I would never leave England if i ever made it.

As i entered the office i wondered if they ever cleaned the push board, i swear there were tattered flyers and posters from the 80's, or someone was trying to bring the mullet back. The secretary eyed me about to speak when Mr. Mayes walked out of his office to collect me.

"You can sit..", he gestured to the chair in front him.

was the guidance counselor they made me see after the ordeal with my mother. I was being teased about it, but after awhile i just stopped talking back so they just stopped the taunting. He had kind eyes and pictures of his 8 children up all over the place. The kind of pictures that make you wish your parents had a little more money growing up.

My thoughts we're all over the place when an envelope with my name in pretty cursive writing appeared on the desk in front of me.

"From Illustrious Lea.." I stopped him right there.

"Are you serious? Mr. Mayes i told you a long time ago that i couldn't afford to be in this program, college is already going to eat up majority of my savings.. I don't even have money for all my suppl.."

He interrupted, " Ms. Swan you've been awarded a scholarship!" he said as he smiled and waited for my eyes to come to a more normal size.

" A scholarship? From whom? For what? I didn't even apply for a scholarship."

"Okay, slow down, one question at a time. A scholarship for one incoming Freshman with excellent grades and attendance with an essay from a faculty member explaining why they think the child should receive it."

I stared at him blankly, i'm sure my disbelief was about to start coming down my face in the form of happy tears.

"I put your name in," he continued, "You won Bella, YOU WON! You're getting out of here, and best of all you won't have to go to community college! You can go to any school of your choice. Any of them Bella!"

I took a deep breath before i said, "But who..what does it cover?"

"The Cullen family. They sit on the board of the program and supply one student a year with the opportunity to go to any school they wish as long as they stay in the program. It covers everything Bella, even gives you an "allowance".

" , i don't know what to say, i don't know how to thank you!"

"Just get out of here Bella, go study and thrive, make a beautiful life for yourself!"