Bella P.O.V
The next day James drove me down to the court where the stupid judge will have a private talk with me. The main thing that I hated out of this whole situation is that I have to continue with the sweet girl act, an act that I'm tired of.
As we walk down the hall toward Judge Mason's office, James says, "You better not ruin this, Isabella. Remember what I told you, do as I say and you'll get the money."
I roll my eyes. "Have I ever failed?" I cross my arms. Elizabeth may have been a shitty mother, but she sure was a good example of how to fool people. Soft and sweet cover on the outside, a cold bitch on the inside.
"Just go along with whatever he says," he warns. He walks up to the receptionist who is more concentrated on her phone other than what's going around her. "We have a meeting with Mr. Mason," he tells her.
She puts her phone down and grabs the phone. Her annoyed eyes look at James. "Name?" She asks, obviously bored. I can't blame her, being here all day would make me want to blow my own brains out.
"James Dawson and Isabella Bennett," he says. He gives me one more warning look before he turns to the receptionist who's now on the phone. She nods and tells us we can go in. "Let's go," he tells me.
Show time.
We walk down the small hall to his office. James opens the door, knocking a little calling his attention. "Mr. Mason, nice to see you." He shakes hands with the man that receives us at the door.
He's old, very old. Tall, white hair on the few hairs that are left on his head, some on his beard. His eyes are a very clear blue, his lips thin but perky. He gives me a small smile before offering me his hand. "Isabella, I'm Mr. Mason. I'm in charge of your case."
I shake his hand, giving him a small smile. "Please, call me Bella. James said you had to talk to me," I say, wrapping my arms around me.
He nods. "Yes, please, take a seat." He points to the brown couch on the other side of the office. I notice the big bookshelf he has here, very impressive. "I'm very sorry for your mother's death," he says, taking a seat in front of us.
I give him a sad smile. "It's fine. As much as I miss her, I can only think that she's no longer suffering."
He nods, sitting up. "Well, Bella, what I wanted to talk to you about is the foster home. I understand James already explained why."
I nod. "He did. You want to send me there until I'm eighteen, right?"
"Yes. As you know, you're not an adult until you're eighteen. The money your mother left is a fairly large amount, it's too much money for a sixteen year old," he explains. I sigh, looking at my hands. "It's only temporarily, Bella. Once you're eighteen you can have what your mother left you and continue living your life."
I bit my lip, nodding my head without looking at him. "I understand, Mr. Mason. I do, it's just... To much to take in. After everything that has happened-" I stop in the middle of the sentence, looking out his window to the beautiful view of Phoenix. "When will I be leaving?" I ask.
"In a couple of days. James will come over to Forks to check in on how you're settling in," Mr. Mason says, softly as if he was talking to a child.
My head snaps back looking at him. Did I hear him, right? Forks. As in Forks, Washington. "I'm sorry, but you have me in disadvantage. Did you say Forks? As in Forks, Washington."
He nods. "Yes."
"Isn't there somewhere more local?" I ask, sitting up. James places his hand on my arm. "I'm sorry, it's just... All my life has been here in Arizona. I can't picture me leaving."
"I'm sorry, Isabella," he says. "It's the only other home that has teenagers like you. Two of them are about to graduate. You'll be with others of your age, so you won't be alone."
I look at James and back at the judge. "So, there's no possibility of staying here? At least by myself," I insist. I can't leave Phoenix, not now.
"You can't be on your own, you're only sixteen," Mr. Mason replies. "I'm afraid this has to be done, Isabella, but it will be over soon. I promise. You won't be alone."
I sigh, defeated. There's no way to convince him, there's no way to back out. James goes over some details with him about the moving in and the whole process. He's going to visit me, at least two times each month to see how everything is going with the new family and me, write a report and give it to Mr. Mason. I still have to go to school, get a job - if I want - and stay out of trouble. Like that's gonna happen. At the end of the meeting James stands up, I follow suit. James shakes hands with Mr. Mason and walks out of the office, leaving me with him.
Mr. Mason grabs me by my shoulders, making me look at him. "I know this is hard for you, Bella, but you're a strong girl and you'll get through it." I nod at his words. "Now, how about a small smile?" He asks.
Unwillingly, I smile. "That's much like it. Good luck out there, I'll see you in two years."
"Thank you, Mr. Mason," I say. I walk out of the office where James waits for me next to the receptionist.
James knows what's going to happen next, he knows as soon as I walk out. Without giving me chance to reach him, he grabs me by my arm and drags me out of the office. He doesn't stop there, he doesn't give me the chance to even breathe as he continues to drag me out of the building. Once we're in the underground parking lot, I snap.
I push him away from me. "What the fuck, James! Why didn't you tell me that idiot was sending me to another fucking state?" I shout.
He rolls his eyes. "Well, it was good while it lasted." He grabs me by my shoulders but I push him off. "Alright, see how you're acting now? Well, that's not the way you want to visit a judge if you want to kill them. It was better of you didn't know, okay?"
I growl. "But couldn't the idiot pick somewhere less boring? Cloudy? Depressing?" I snap. I walk over to his car, I lean over it. "This just keep getting better and better. Not only I don't have my money but I'm moving from one shitty town to another piece of shit town."
He opens the car, sighing. "Bella, stop being a brat. Remember, you well know how to make fun out of a bad situation." He opens his door and looks at me. "Get in the car, I have something to show you."
I sigh, getting in the car, slamming the door behind me. I ignore the dirty look he gives me, his car is like his most loving possession even when to me it looks like a piece of junk. He reaches to the back seat and drops a blue, thick folder on my lap.
I narrow my eyes at him. "What's this?" I ask, annoyed.
"Open it," he says.
I sigh, opening the folder. The first page has a picture of a blonde man, probably around his thirties. Blue eyes, squared jaw, the bottom lip is thicker than the upper one. Kind of handsome. I skip to the next page. There's a woman with caramel hair, black eyes. She has a very motherly look. I continue to skip pages and all I see is pictures. There's in total two teenagers there. A pixie looking girl and a guy that looks like he plays football.
"What's this?" I ask him, again.
"That's the family you're going to live with," he says as he drives down the street. "The man and the women are Carlisle and Esme Cullen, they never could have kids so they adopted the girl, Alice. Carlisle is a very well known doctor, the town of Forks loves him. He graduated college at the age of twenty five, married at twenty three. His wife is a house wife. You know, the kind of wife that entertains herself with the garden and books and cooking. The girl is in highschool, you're age it's my guess."
I smirk. "Someone's done their research," I say, reading Carlisle's file. I frown. "The judge said they were foster kids, why are they all Cullen?" I ask.
"They were foster kids, they just decided to adopt them after a while," he explains.
They better not try that with me. There's no way in hell I'll be their child. I continue reading Carlisle's file. It was pretty interesting file, he's a very smart man. "He's from England?"
He nods. "They moved here when he was only a baby." He makes a turn to the freeway. "Him and his wife always loved children but they were happy with Alice. Of course, Alice was lonely so they applied to be foster parents. That's when the other two came along."
I roll my eyes at him. "There's only one," I say.
"There's one on the back," he says. I turn the page to the body builder looking guy. "His name is Emmett, parents gave him away. Teenagers who couldn't afford a baby. The Cullen's adopted him, he's now going to graduate highschool along with the other one."
I turn the page to the last one that I didn't see. I'm surprised with what I find. A handsome, very, very handsome man, well a teenager but very handsome. He has bronze, messy hair. Piercing perfect green eyes, long eyelashes. High cheek bones, squared jaw and pink, full, kissable lips. I barely notice how I start biting my lip. The little thing I do when I see something I like.
"Cute, huh?" James takes me out of my admiration.
"Who is he?" I ask him without taking my eyes off him. My index finger slowly begins to trace the picture. I start to imagine how would those lips feel or maybe his touch.
"That's Edward Cullen, the last addition to this family. Parents died when he was ten, he went from home to home until he got to the Cullen's. Esme loved him so they adopted him," he says. "He's a simple boy. Quiet, bookworm, musician and the nerd of the class. His friends are only his siblings and another kid from school. He's never had a girlfriend."
I smirk. "Well, will you look at that," I say, looking at his picture. "A friendless, handsome young man that has never fallen in love." The perfect setting.
James chuckles. "What's that little grin on your face?"
I look at him. "What little grin?" I act like I don't know what he's talking about.
"Just letting you know, that family has a lot of money. Doctor plus what they're going to get paid to take care of you," he says, shaking his head.
"Do they now?" I smile, looking at the picture of Edward. This is going to be really, really fun.
"What are you planning, Bella?" He asks, but he doesn't seem concerned. He seems amused, he knows how I am and how I like to have fun.
"What? That family is taking in their home a stranger. A sixteen year old orphan girl from Arizona," I say, looking out the window. "They have no idea what's about to come to them."
Perhaps this moving thing won't be that bad after all. James was right, I do know how to make fun out of a bad situation.
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~Joan0324