Chapter One

Isabella POV

The first thing I noticed was the air. It was nothing like where I was coming from. I dropped my pink suitcase in front of the dingy porch and took in a deep breath. My deep brown hair cascaded all around my back as I turned to take in the view.

My father’s house, nestled in the middle of nowhere. 

I’d given my mother one school year. If I hated it here, I’d be gone. I didn’t care if her new boyfriend just got a new job coaching a football team up in Germany. They could leave me alone at home all year. I didn’t mind that.

It was better than reconnecting with a father I never knew. 

Nothing moved as I dragged my suitcase along with me inside. The door was partially open, so I pushed it all the way, letting myself in.

Urghh! It smelled like something died in here. 

And why the hell was it dark?

I caught a lamp gleaming on a surface, off. I had just thought about heading there when suddenly, something thumped hard against my forehead. 

“Ouch!” I yelped, pushing back immediately. My suitcase clattered to the floor since I wasn’t holding on to it, and someone groaned in the distance. 

“Shit!” Someone else muttered. The voice sounded too close, like whoever owned it was standing right in front of me. “Sorry. Erm… Who’s that?”

There was an edge of exhaustion in his tone, but also patience

I rubbed at the spot where he'd hit me on my forehead. "Can someone turn the damn lights on?"

“Oh! Right!” 

Fussing sounded in the dark, and then a flip. In another second, the room got flooded with white lights coming from the lamp I had spotted earlier. 

I found his face in the room. He looked around my age, his low-cut dark hair not exactly rhyming with the glint of the stud in one ear. But he was good-looking, maybe better than all the guys I'd seen up in Norway. 

“What are you…”

“Where is Jacob?” I cut in, already feeling so stupid for coming all the way here. “And why does it smell like something died in here?”

“Jacob is….” He started, then stopped abruptly. “How do you know Jacob? Are you new in town? I swear I haven’t seen you around here before.”

“And you know everyone?”

He shrugged, then scratched a spot behind his ear. “It’s a small town.”

Another groan sounded from the floor. “Isabella? Is that you?”

I had told myself that I was ready to see my father after he walked out on us seven years ago, that I was no longer upset and could bear the sight of him. But just hearing his voice made me realize that I was still mad.

That I was still sad I got to grow up without a father. 

“Yes,” I breathed, not bothering to push back the hardness in my tone. “It’s me, Jacob.”

“Shit! Your mother didn’t tell me you were getting in today.” Another ruffle erupted before a tall figure rose from the floor in the middle of the couches. Or more like tried to rise, because he staggered back to the ground almost immediately. 

Now, I could tell why it smelled like something died in here.

It was stale alcohol, and it was oozing from my father. 

The boy rushed to my father immediately. “I told you not to get up,” he chided. “Do you want me to get my mom?”

“No,” he groaned, trying to stand up again. “There won’t be any need for that.”

The boy didn't stop fussing with my father until he practically had to pry him away. "I'm fine, Marv. You should be with your friends. Don't you have a game tonight?"

“I do, but…”

“Go!”

The boy called Marv finally gave up, sighing. He walked back to me and shook his head. “Sorry you had to witness all of that… I … Jacob isn’t usually like this.”

“He isn’t?” I couldn’t help the bite in my tongue. Marv didn’t deserve it. Or maybe he did. “Because from what I remember, he’s only gotten worse. God! This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come.”

“He called you Isabella...Like his daughter, Isabella?”

I nodded. As everyone would soon find out, it was something I wasn’t very proud of. 

“Can I … urgh… talk to you outside?”

Nodding again, I abandoned my suitcase on the floor and followed Marv out to the porch. He seemed to have a habit of scratching the back of his ear. He leaned against the brick railing and then stood straight again. 

"Your father…. Jacob… I don't know what's going on. Since my mother said she wanted a break from their relationship, he started drinking his nights away. I've been trying to help him, but nothing I do is working. I was hoping…I know you just got here, but…"

“Exactly,” I breathed, already annoyed. But not at Marv. “I just got here, which seems to be the worst decision I have ever made. I’ll call my mom to come get me tomorrow. I don’t want to spend a minute more in this place with a drunk father who barely knows how I look.”

“Isabella….”

“Look, I can’t thank you for helping him, but you’re a good person. He doesn’t deserve your kindness. Be like your mother and walk out of here, okay?” 

“What if I convince you to stay back?”

I angled my head. “You really want to save him that much?”

“Maybe,” Marv shrugged. “I believe everyone deserves a second chance. Haven’t you been in a situation where you just fucked up, but it was fine at the end because someone was there for you”

I stared back at him blankly. This was different. 

“But I also do think you’ll love it here,” he continued. “Westside Eden could be a really fun place.”

“I….”

Something sounded in the distance suddenly, cutting me off. Something that sounded like a wild howl of a wolf. 

“Marv, what is…”

It only got louder, blocking out every other sound. I watched Marv's eyes grow from unbothered to worried. He looked around hastily, every inch of his body rigid. 

“Get inside, Isabella.”

“What?”

“Go in!”

“Marv, I…”

“Now, Isabella!”