Updated: July 13, 2010

Prologue

Bella's feet pound heavily against the black and slippery pavement. Fog surrounds her as the cold wet air fuses with her skin. The air is hazy but she moves through it like a fox, her eyes darting as each car passes. Running away from reality is a lot easier than one would think.

Her pulse quickens as she wipes the sweat from her forehead, continuing to push forward. "I won't stop. I won't fail. I will continue moving until it hurts and even then I will keep urging myself farther," she says aloud. Her hair feels damp as it swings back and forth in a long ponytail that hangs down her back. Looking up at the sky, her face is hit softly by raindrops. A cold breeze comes over her and the rain begins to pour.

She says aloud, "How did I get here? Why can't I stop running away?"

Leaning her back against a telephone pole, she slides down against it until she's sitting on the sidewalk cross-legged. The sky darkens and the breeze increases. She stares blankly at the cars passing by, and the occupants who stare back at a dazed cross-legged girl. Slowly she begins to stand, trying to regain her balance. She tries to regain her composure so she can run again.

But it's too hard. She's too weak and slides down against the pole once again. There's a voice screaming in her head telling her to go back home but she?s too stubborn to listen. "Face reality," it says. She looks around her at the scattered pieces of crushed glass, splinters of wood, and a piece of a broken car mirror. She chooses the mirror and stares into it longingly looking for some sense of hope. A tall shadow-like figure appears in the mirror and begins to move closer. It's a boy and his piercing dark brown eyes meet hers in the mirror. She slowly turns around shivering and shaking.

"Bella...are you all right?" Tyler, her good friend asks.

"What are you doing here?" Bella practically yells.

"I just want to see if you're all right. I passed by in a car earlier and you looked like you might want someone to look out for you." he replies caringly. It's an extremely kind gesture that any normal person would appreciate. However, she is nothing close to average. She is far more complicated than that, which is exactly why she pushes him away.

"I really wish everyone would just leave me alone already!" she says this time yelling. He shrugs, shakes his head, and walks away offering her his jacket before he leaves. She waves it away along with the rest of the world and hugs her knees into her chest. Squeezing her eyes shut she hugs her knees even harder until the cold starts to burn. No matter how much she doesn't want them to; her eyes start to become glossy. A single tear streams down her face warming her cheek but tearing her sarcastic attitude to shreds. The tear glides over her lip and the salty taste seeps into her mouth. Sometimes the inevitable happens and the strongest girl loses it. Sometimes, the socialite wants nothing to do with people. Sometimes she cracks.

Walking Disaster

When Bella got into the city, she realized running away wouldn't do her any good. The only way to get out of this problem was to face it. So she took the next train back to New Jersey and decided to face her fears. Bella walks out of the train station and goes home to shower, something she's dying to do. Still in that dumb party dress, she looks trashy in it now. Really? Everyone else thought you were trashy when you were wearing it then.

She slides out of it and jumps into the shower trying to rid herself of everything happening around her. She turns the hot water off and twists her wet hair in her hands, letting water drip from it. She dries off in a monogrammed towel and wipes the excess makeup away from underneath her eyes. Looking in the mirror, she sees what a mess she's become. Bella tries to ignore it and instead texts Matt to meet her for coffee before school the next morning.

Matt sits in The Beanery waiting for Bella to meet him. If everything was up to him, he and Bella would run away from all this drama together. But he barely belonged in this group and he knew she probably wouldn't go for that idea anyway. He slowly sips his coffee and leans back in the red leather armchair. Matt checks his watch and begins to wonder if Bella is even going to show up. He's never been one to wait around for people.

Bella swings the door of The Beanery open and looks around for Matt. He's sitting across the room flipping through the sports section and sipping his coffee. Bella looks at her reflection one more time in the glass window and then prepares herself for whatever will come next.

"Hey." Bella says sitting across from Matt. He looks tired and his hair is a mess. However, with that green sparkle in his eyes he still looks amazing.

"Hey." he replies. He looks her up and down and even though she showered just a few hours before, she still looks like a mess. Part of him wants to hold her. Another part of him wants to push her away until she figures out her issues. This whole situation has only been making things harder for him.

"Thanks for meeting me." Bella says. She looks so uncertain but means every word she just said.

"You know something Bella? All of this drama has done me no good. It sucks going to a new school, especially when Peter, my only friend there hates me. No one else knows me yet beyond my name, but all they do is talk about you and me. This humiliation only weakens Peter's and my friendship and I honestly don't know what to do anymore." Matt says. He immediately regrets what he said when he sees Bella?s reaction.

"Humiliation? That's what you call this? I'm sorry I kissed you. You know what? I don't deserve this. The only reason I came home was because of what you said to me. Now, listening to what you're saying here, I wish I never got off that train. I don't know what I was expecting you to say when I met you here but this definitely wasn't it. With all the other drama that's going to erupt once I get to school, I had hoped you would be the one to understand me. I've never been so wrong." Bella says fuming.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that." Matt says.

"Why is it that you're always apologizing to me? Is it that hard to be nice the first time?" Bella says picking up her bag, and swinging it over her shoulder. She fixes her uniform skirt before heading off to school.

It's a rainy Tuesday and despite how much Bella loves rain, today she is just not in the mood. She walks out of The Beanery without bothering to say goodbye to Matt. He makes her so frustrated all the time. Even though she knows what she did was wrong, he of all people had no right to criticize her for it.

She continues the short walk to school and keeps her head low to avoid any unnecessary encounters. Sorry to break it to you Bella, but everyone recognizes you wherever you go. One can only hide for so long.

Michelle gossips with Bridgette and Francesca at her locker awaiting Bella's arrival. Matt told them earlier that this is the day she is planning on coming back, but what kind of state she's in, is what they're waiting to see. Bella walks through the heavy metal doors that lead to junior hallway and absorbs every judging stare. She walks straight through everyone in her perfectly rolled skirt, the words "stupid girl" radiating off her.

Bella opens her locker and takes out the books she needs, trying to avoid the whispering around her. She checks her hair in the mirror and sees Michelle in the reflection. She's staring in Bella's direction but isn't about to move towards her and say hello. Bella realizes she's going to have to show her face sooner or later and walks over towards her group.

"Hey guys." Bella says, hoping for at least a response. Instead, the three girls stare at her blankly then continue their own conversation with each other, ignoring her. Bella isn't really sure what to do with herself at this point and stares at her shoes, biting her lip. She repeats her greeting hoping they just didn't hear her the first time. Immediately, she realizes what she had wished for was not the case. They were all ignoring her. Michelle takes this opportunity to break the silence.

"You don't know the first thing about cracking." Bella says fighting back tears.

"I know enough to realize that that?s exactly what you're about to do." Michelle says then turns away, Francesca and Bridgette following her.

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