From M3 to Y0U

Darkness After Dawn

Written by: Nicole R. Lozano

Edited by: Kaitlyn M. Ebel

Chapter 1: A New Home

Today is officially one of the worst days of my life. I have to move in with my disabled grandfather, Billy Black. Why should I have to move in with the lonely old guy? My mom left him when she was eighteen, so why should I have to go? I’ll only be there for four years, it still doesn’t make sense.

“Savanna, I’m sorry babe. But there’s a lot of trouble going on right now!” she could tell that I didn’t buy it.

“Huh, please honey, your grandpa doesn’t get to see you very often! And-” she hesitated, which meant I wasn’t going to like what she was about to say.

“And, your grandfather already applied you for Quileute Tribal School. I went there, if that helps!” she started to shake and gave me a hug.

Five minutes went by. “Ugh, I hate all this kind of ‘I’ll miss you’ and ‘I will never see you again’ stuff!” I thought.

I was going to see my mom again soon, maybe, I hope.

The second I got on the plane, I sat down and started to cry. Why hadn’t I begged? Why hadn’t I thrown a fit? Why, why, why?! I wanted to scream. I put my face in my hands, then my hands to my knees, and broke out into more tears, tears suited better for a funeral then a goodbye. It went on like that for about thirty minutes. Then, I went to the restroom to clean myself up and I looked horrible. My mascara was dripping, my eye-shadow was smeared, my life was gone.

When I arrived, Billy wheeled over to me and gave me a hug. “Hi Grandpa! How are you?” I tried to sound enthusiastic. I suddenly realized that the last time I’d seen him was for a wedding for a girl named Bella.

“I’m okay. How are you? I’ve got a surprise waiting at home.” That gave my blank expression something new. We were walking out to the car through the rain. I wasn’t sure if the rain was a good or a bad omen.

“I’m good, and I love surprises!” I said with enthusiasm and I really meant it. He just nodded and got in the passenger side.

“I’m driving? But I’m only fourteen! Hmmmm, maybe La Push isn’t so bad!”

Billy chuckled. “No, the law’s the same around here. But can you get that into the trunk?” I looked at him puzzled, but then I noticed that he was talking about his wheel-chair. I went to the passenger door, and opened my mouth to say something, but instead a scream came out.

He roared with laughter as I held the window for support, my hand over my heart as I tried to remember how to breathe. “Hey ‘Vanna. Are you okay?” I looked up and over the window seal with wide eyes. That just brought on another round of laughter.

That laugh brought me back to the night after Bella’s wedding. Jack? Jamie? Ah, Jacob! I remembered.

“Didn’t I tell you to never call me uncle? Uh, I’m only sixteen!” when he said that, Billy laughed. What was funny? “Shut up dad.” Billy stopped, noticing that he’d done something wrong. “I think you should get in the car, your soaked!” Billy said. I looked down.

Great, wet clothes. The day just gets better and better. I felt like an idiot.

Chapter 2: Hospital Party

We got home and the town looked deserted. I knew what my surprise was, a surprise party. “Wait, Jacob. You guys didn’t, did you?” Jacob simply nodded and I groaned. They both laughed at me.

We got to the house and I stomped to the door and waited there impatiently. Jacob looked at me a decided to go slower. “Come on! Couldn’t you go any faster? Uh!” I complained. “Wow, I complain a lot!” I noticed.

But once Jacob opened the door, I screamed. A happy scream, but it still hurt everyone’s ear. I looked at the somehow familiar faces. I’d seen almost all of them before, I just couldn’t remember. “Who are they?” I looked at Billy. Billy and Jacob looked at me in disbelief. Had my attitude changed that much?

A little later, an older guy came over to me. “Hello Savanna, I’m Charlie. Do you remember me?” I looked up and started to think. “Charlie, Charlie, Charlie?”

“Um didn’t you walk that Bella girl down the aisle? Oh, so you’re her dad, Chief Swan!” I guessed my whole way through that. “Whew, load off my shoulders!” I thought. I gave him a friendly hug and he left.

Through the entire party Charlie looked like he was in a daze. “Charlie are you okay?” I asked. He just stuck his head up and nodded. I waited until he was out of hearing and then whispered “Weirdo.” Then I felt bad. I looked around and was pulled into a room.

“What did you do to Charlie? He just left! It’s only been an hour and you’ve got people leaving!” Jacob was mad at me for Charlie leaving so early.

“Not my problem!” I thought, then said, “I don’t know! Charlie asked if I remembered him and I was all like ‘yeah, aren’t you Bella’s dad?’ That’s all! What? I wasn’t supposed to answer a stupid question?! Gees, I thought I was controlling!” That did it. Everyone in the house, maybe even everyone in the town came running into the small room.

“Jacob calm down!” one panicky voice said. Another one said “Don’t worry Jacob, calm down!” What was going on? All I heard was a roar, then the loud murmurs dissolving. The heat was rising, then everyone disappeared.

“Ow! That hurt! Where am I?” then I saw the white walls around me. And I was on an uncomfortable bed with railings. Oh no, I was in the hospital. “Oh the first day here and I’m already stuck in the hospital! Great!”

Then I noticed someone else in the room. “Um, sorry. Hello. I guess you al-read-y-” I stopped short. His face was mesmerizing, but that wasn’t the problem. I remembered him. “Um, I know you from somewhere.” Wow, now I really felt stupid. And I mumbled, “The wedding? That’s the only time I went in public. Was it Bella’s wedding?”

“Wait, are you Savanna Black?” boy was that a stupid question! My name was all over the room. It was on my medical report, my prescription on the counter, and Billy probably already told him. I just nodded, trying to not be rude. His face was shocked. Did I do something wrong?

“I’m sorry, I am Dr. Carlisle Cullen, what happened to you?” he said, putting his professional face back on.

“What? Oh, this? Let’s see, okay, well I said something to this guy named Charlie Swan and he got depressed and went home. Then my Uncle Jacob took me to a room to yell at me. Then like everyone came running into the room and it got really hot in there and I started feeling faint. It was weird!” I stopped talking after that cause I hate taking over the conversation.

“Okay then, I guess you’re done, but Billy and Jacob left. But Billy said that Ms. Clearwater wanted to talk to you, he’ll pick you up from her home at ten o’clock. I sighed. I had a lot on my mind.

“Um, well, Dr. Cullen,” he looked up, “Do you know a girl named Bella Swan or something like that?” Oh yeah, this is what you can call stupid!

He hesitated, “Yes, actually she’s my daughter-in-law. If I may ask, why do you want to know?”

“Oh, well I wanted to know why everyone acts strange whenever I mention her. I already know Jacob won’t tell me, and if I bring it up to Charlie, well he’ll get depressed again.”

He sighed and shook his head back and forth. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you’ll have to ask her yourself. She and Edward visit every month, but she visits Charlie every four. Charlie still hasn’t forgiven Edward for taking Bella away. The four month date is in six weeks.”

Chapter 3: Ms. Clearwater

I looked at Dr. Cullen with as much gratitude as I could muster into one expression and said “Thank you very much and I’m sorry if I caused you any trouble.” I hopped out of the room, or attempted to, but when I looked, there were two doors. I went for the one on the left, but it apparently wasn’t the right choice because the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the floor.

“No problem, but I think I should help you down to the lobby.” And we both laughed at my dizziness.

When we got down to the first floor, I saw Ms. Clearwater next to her son, Seth. Dr. Cullen handed her something, probably my medication.

She took me to her house. Her son was in the car asleep in the passenger seat. He looked like an angel.

I shook him when we got to their house. He helped me to the door, because I hadn’t fully recovered. He started to blush.

“Hey, why are you blushing?” I asked. As every second ticked by, his cheeks grew redder under his skin. I repeated my question. Why wasn’t he answering me? Was he thinking it was a rhetorical question? Cause I sure wasn’t!

“Oh, um, well I-” he was cut off by his mom calling our names and he breathed a sigh of relief.

When we got to the house, he put me on the coach, then got a phone and went to his room. He looked really jumpy, almost like he was nervous.

“Savanna, is it?” Ms. Clearwater asked as she sat down next to me. I nodded.

“Ok, so I’ve been talking to your mother, and we’ve both agreed that you’ve been showing signs of, well of your native maturity.” “No, no, no! Not the talk!”

“She said you’ve been having the usual signs such as mood swings, and breaking things when you get mad.” I sighed, even though she was right. “So that means that it’s up to Billy and me, we’re the only ‘real humans’, to lead you in the right direction.” she made sure to stretch out ‘real humans’.

“Okay, I’m not exactly sure about what you mean when you say ‘real human’.” I said.

“Well if you’d be quiet, I’d be able to explain. You’re, well -er, the tribe is part of the urban legends. You’ve heard of them haven’t you?” She said and I shrugged and folded my arms across my chest as an answer.

“That’s good. Now where do I start? Hmmmmm… did she ever tell you the one about the werewolves and the vampires?” I dropped my arms and nodded. I’d always loved the vampires! Hiding through the day and coming out at night was just my style. My mom highly disapproved.

“That makes it easier. Here’s the summary then. The werewolves are our protectors. They’re our life, our love, and our family.

On the other hand, the vampires are bloodsucking creatures. They have pale skin and golden eyes, or at least most of the time, because if they’re thirsty, their eyes grow dark.

A long time ago, your great-great-grandfather had a conflict with the vampires. They were about to fight when that doctor, Carlisle settled it and they formed a treaty.

Doctor Cullen is a VAMPIRE?! I wanted to scream, but I held my breath because I knew she’d get mad at me for interrupting again.

“Those filthy bloodsuckers aren’t aloud on our reservation. They cannot come near La Push because even though they say that they don’t drink human blood, we want to be careful. So please remember that you can’t go anywhere near the Cullen’s.” She explained.

“So is this for everyone in town?” I asked, truly curious.

“No, just werewolf descendents.”

“Does that mean that I’m a- a werewolf?”

“Yes, or at least we think so. You’re showing the same signs as Seth and Jacob. Jacob said that you can even trigger is anger spot.” She started to giggle. “Yup, Leah tried that once, but she was the one who got mad instead!”

I decided to change the subject. “I’m sorry, but can I get some pajamas? I’m kind of tired and I think Jacob and Billy forgot about me, it’s 11:10.”

“Oh I think you’re right. Seth,” she wasn’t talking to me anymore, “Seth, babe, can you get Savanna some of Leah’s old pajamas?”

“Mom, Jacob said sorry but he’ll be a little late, he’ll be here around one o’clock. And do you want me to get a blanket?” Seth didn’t come out of the hallway. I felt like I did something wrong. What did I do? I asked myself.

After Seth threw the blanket and pajamas at me, I fell asleep on the couch, thanks to my medication. When I woke up, I was in a different house. It wasn’t Ms. Clearwater’s place no more, but a whole new place.

“Hey, sorry about yesterday, I didn’t mean to do that. And then when I was about to pick you up, I had a call for an emergency meeting. Well anyway, I guess I’ll take you to school in an hour.” It took me a couple of seconds to realize what was going on.

“Oh that’s okay Jake. Thanks! Oh, can I call you Jake?” He nodded and let me get dressed.

I had three classes go by without talking to anyone. Though I knew someone at, Seth Clearwater. He said hi and bye like everyone else, but walked away whenever I got near and tried to make conversation. It was my last class, and it was about tutoring. I can’t be a tutor, I used to always be the one who was being tutored!

“Hi, are you, um…” She looked at a paper and blushed. “Oh, sorry, are you Savanna Black? Wait, you’re related to Jacob aren’t you?!”

“Yeah, I’m Savanna, and I’m his niece. What’s your name?

“I’m Alexis Ateara, Quil’s twin sister. You know Quil, don’t you? He’s one of Jacob’s best friends.” she said. I liked her, she was nice!

“Have you noticed that Seth is acting kind of strange?” So that’s not how he always acts! I thought. “It happened since you came. Quil and everyone else in the pack had an emergency meeting late last night. Quil said that Seth imprinted on- ” she was interrupted by a boy.

“What does imprint mean? Is it good or bad?”

“Well, imprinting is like love at first sight, but more. It’s like destiny has chosen your soul mate. But this is only for the werewolf and their partner. At least, that’s what Quil said. Ha, he imprinted on a two year old!” She saw my disgusted expression. “No, don’t worry! He’ll be like an older brother to her until she’s old enough to make her own decisions. Plus werewolves don’t age, well not until they can control their anger.” The Embry guy gave her a fierce glare and shook his head from side to side.

“So, who’s a werewolf?” I asked in a low voice, we were still in class.

“Sam, Jacob, Jared, Paul, Embry, Quil, Connor, Leah, Brady, and Seth, but I guess now I could add you to that list as well.” I counted eight, excluding me.

“So who’s imprinted and who is the oldest werewolf to the youngest?”

“Well, Sam imprinted on his fiancée, Emily. Jared imprinted on a girl in his class who had a crush on him, and Quil imprinted on Emily’s niece, the two year old. And as for oldest to youngest, okay, here I go, it’s Sam, Paul, Jared, Embry, Jacob, Quil, Leah, Seth, Collin, and Brady. Anything else?” she said slowly.

“Sure, so, every pack has to have a leader, who’s the leader” I asked.

“Okay, Sam is in command, but it’s supposed to be Jacob. Here, I’ll give you the correct order. Jacob, Sam, Quil, Seth, Leah, Jared, Paul, Brady, and Collin. But the current one is Sam, Jacob, Quil, Seth, Leah, Jared, Paul, Brady, and Collin.” the bell rang right after she finished, which ended our conversation.

Right as I was about to walk out of the classroom, Alexis came up to me and said “Hey, you could probably ask Jacob for this, but I just wanted to make sure you got it.” and she handed me her phone number.

The rest of the week went on like that. I talked to my new best friend, Alexis Ateara. Seth continued to ignore my presence, and Embry continued to care less about Alexis.

Another month passed before Seth finally talked to me. “Hi.” he said, I nodded. “Can I talk to you after class? I mean, it’s really important!”

“Sure, I guess.” I turned away and blushed. Then I spent about five minutes trying to figure out why I had blushed. I couldn’t like Seth, could I?

Class passed slowly while Seth sat across the table from me. I wondered what he wanted to tell me. Time stood still and I started to grow impatient and I could feel myself shaking. Seth looked at me with wide, scared eyes, and I looked back. Then he and everything else went black and I was gone.

“Are you okay?” An unfamiliar voice came and broke the darkness.

“What happened?” I asked once I could finally get my sleepy eyes open.

“I think you fainted, luckily strong little Seth here got you!” I saw him grin.

“Who are you?” and go away Seth! Or at least I would’ve said that, but he understood my expression and walked away.

“I’m Mrs. Vartin, the school nurse. Jacob said that you either have to stay here or go to his class, since he’s your guardian.

Yeah, like I really want to hang out with him! But I kept my opinions to myself and asked, “What if I call my grandpa’s old friend, Ms. Clearwater, Seth’s mom?”

“I’m sorry sweetie, but you can’t, she isn’t on your emergency card.

“Oh, then I guess I’ll stay with Jacob. Thanks for everything!” I sighed and left towards his classes.

It took me twenty minutes to find Jacob. He was hanging out with Quil and Embry, and he looked aggravated.

“Hey Jacob. Um, the office sent me to you, I kinda fainted.” I said once I was close enough for him to hear.

“Yeah I know. Seth called me on his cell. You really freaked him out. Why’d you faint?”

“Um, well Seth told me that he wanted to talk to me in private, and so I started to wonder. Then I remembered what Alexis said before Embry interrupted her.” I glanced at Embry. “She said something like, Quil said to her that Seth imprinted on someone, and so I was just wondering if maybe that’s what he wanted to tell me.” I stopped and only then noticed the look on Jacob’s face, it was the same as at my surprise party. I backed away.

“Stay away from Seth!” he growled under his breath, grinding his teeth slowly.

“Why should I?” I liked my teen instincts.

“Because I said so!”

“If I’m going to listen, I need a reason!” I screamed in his face.

“Why do you need a reason?” he said through clenched teeth.

“Why are you keeping these things from me? I have a right to know! I’m a werewolf just like you, or at least I’m going to be. Well, that’s what my mom, Billy, Ms. Clearwater, Alexis, and even you said!” I was shaking again, and so was Jacob, but he was somehow controlling it.

“I know what I said, but I’m still not telling you.” he growled.

“AHHHHH!” was all I remember saying. After that, I woke up screaming in agony in my room.

Chapter 4: Werewolf-ism

Please Savanna, forgive me! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to trigger it!” I knew what he meant, I was a werewolf, but that didn’t stop the pain.

I cried and sobbed as Jacob ran to the phone. He was loud enough for me to hear and I tried to make sure I didn’t miss anything he said.

“Sam, I don’t know what to do! Billy’s sick and I need help! Listen,” he held the phone closer to me so that Sam could hear my crying. “Okay thanks….five minutes? Okay thanks again.” I heard the relief in his voice before he hung up the phone and returned to me.

Sam and the gang were there sooner then they said. Everyone ran into the room, including Seth. With everyone in my small bedroom, it was scorching hot. The heat made me dizzy.

“Jacob?” he looked at me. “Can you tell me now or can he?”

“Seth come over here.” Seth shook his head at Jacob. Jacob grabbed his t-shirt. “Tell her Seth.”

“Seth tell her or I’m going to give you to vampire! You thought about it the whole time we were on our way over here.” Sam threaten him was the funniest thing ever. He didn’t seem like the mean type.

“Crap. Um Savanna,” then he stopped talking to me and suddenly turned around to face Jacob. “Ah, Jacob! Come on, this is embarrassing!” Seth tried to convince them to let him go. Jacob sighed and shook his head.

“Savanna,“ he said nervously, “You know about imprinting, right?” he asked.

“Yes Seth. Cut the crap and spit it out already!” I went a bit overboard with my attitude, but at that point, I could care less.

“Oh, sorry. Well I. I. I. I.” after about ten of his “I’s”, I growled. “Ugh, this is hard. Ok,” he paused for three grueling seconds, then nearly yelled, “Savanna, I imprinted on you!”

I sat all the way up on my bed and started fiddling with my fingers. “I guess I was right then.” I mumbled. Then I pulled my knees up and started crying onto them.

“Did I miss something?” Jacob asked after a couple of minutes, and I could tell that he wasn’t the only one confused about my reaction.

“I, I , I’m sorry Seth, but I don’t think that I feel the same way about you because I haven’t imprinted yet.” Jacob’s laugh interrupted me and I growled again. “Shut up Jacob! I still have hope. You haven’t imprinted yet either and it’s been five years!” I screamed.

I jumped out of my bed and ran to the bathroom, slamming doors as I went. I think Jacob tried to open the bathroom door, but he just found it locked.

“Maybe we should call Alexis.” I knew it was Quil speaking.

“Why?” and that was my jerky uncle.

“Well she is sort of Savanna’s best friend. Alexis could talk to her and fix this mess.” Quil explained. Didn’t they understand that I could hear every word that they said? But I didn’t interrupt because I wanted Alexis to come.

“Okay, I guess, but hurry Quil! She’s supposed to be in bed right now.” Jacob said, then he knocked on the door, and said, “Please Savanna, come out. This is your last chance!” Haha, look at him trying to be stern! I smiled a mocking smile, even though no one could see me.

“Leave me alone!” my scream even hurt my own ears.

Twenty minutes passed, but I finally heard Alexis at the bathroom door. “Savanna, can you let me in?”

I quickly got up and unbarricaded myself. “Alexis!” I said quickly before I wrapped my arms around her waist and cried on her chest.

“Get away from the door, go watch TV or something! Just go!” she ordered the boys, and they obeyed.

When she talked to me again, it was in a motherly tone. “What happened to you? I mean, besides the whole turning into a werewolf thing.”

“I, I like, like him, but I don’t think it’s the same way. I have a crush that’s for sure, but I don’t think that I’ve imprinted.” I half sobbed, half wailed.

“You like him, I could tell from the beginning. But the imprinter will love the imprinted forever and ever, no matter what. But the imprinted doesn’t have to love the imprinter, but they almost always end up together.” she looked at me, patiently waiting while my watery hysterics turned to quiet sobs, which then to barely any tears. I cried myself dry, great! I thought.

“So do you understand now? You’ll either be with Seth, or he’ll wait for you forever.” I nodded. She smiled and gracefully jumped off of the counter she’d been sitting on and creaked the door open and called “Seth!”

“What? No!” I started to cry again. Apparently, I didn’t cry myself dry! I thought, a little too late. But instead I said “Alexis, I’m really not ready for this!” Then he came in.

“Seth, I gave her the imprint talk, but I’d suggest you get to it…now!” and then she happily skipped out the door.

I curled back into a ball on the toilet seat, my hands wrapped around my knees, my head laying on them. “Hi Seth.” I said shyly, wiping my tear-stained face on my pajama sleeve. “I’m sorry for freaking out earlier.”

“It’s okay, I understand.” he looked down at his feet.

“I want you to know that I like you a lot actually!” my tears began drying again.

“You do? Seriously!” this was a very positive mood swing.

“Yeah, I’m serious.” I giggled. He was such a goof!

“So then, would you like to go to, a um. Well, do you want to go on a date with me?” I noticed that he was sweating a little from nerves.

“Yes, yes! When, where, how?” I was excited too.

“Next Saturday, forest, walking. Or we can get someone form the pack to, well you know, take us.”

“It’s okay, we can walk. I don’t mind!” the pain of the embarrassment left and a new pain started kicking in, the werewolf pain.

“Ow!” I tried to get up, but I just fell to the floor.

“Savanna! Are you okay?” he helped me up, his hand on my waist and my arm around his shoulder.

“No, I’m in real pain, obviously!” I said in tearless sobs.

“I’m sorry, it was just a natural response.” We walked out of the bathroom and Jacob, Sam, and Alexis jumped at our embrace.

“Jacob, I don’t feel very good. It feels like someone’s stabbing me all over!” I complained.

“I know, it’ll go away in a couple of days.” He reassured me. He would have come into the room, if I hadn’t locked the door. I laid under my blankets.

It was just Seth and me, in my room, alone. “So, how are we going to tell Jacob, Billy, and your mom?” I asked

“They already know, but my mom knows the most.”

“Yah, like I said, how are we going to tell Jacob?” the sarcasm heavy in my voice.

“Well I guess like this- ”and he turned away from me and opened my door, then called “Jacob!”

Jacob jumped into my room before someone could close the door again. “No!” I said as I got up, but then I grabbed my ribs and fell again. “Ow! Why’d did you do that?”

Seth turned and looked at me, I could tell that he was about to say something, but Jacob interrupted him. “What’s wrong Savanna?”

Stupid! “I’m going on a date with Seth next Saturday.” I said, a little proud, but Jacob brought my good mood down, that jerk!

“No you’re not!” he argued.

“Yes I am!” apparently he still hadn’t figred out how stubborn I was.

“Who said?”

“I did!”

“No!” he growled. Well two could play at that game.

“Why not?!” I growled back.

“You’re too young!”

“It’s not like anything’s going to happen!”

“You could run away!” he said through gritted teeth.

“Run away?” I echoed. “Where would I go? I can’t go to Seth’s or Charlie’s or Alexis’s! There’s no where I could run away to, so why are you worrying?” I said, a little confused.

“You can find a place to hide.” he growled more furiously.

“Fine then! I guess I can, and I think I will!” I knew that I wasn’t supposed to drive, but between the pain, and being furious, my mind wasn’t functioning the way it should. Plus my mom taught me how to drive on Maui, so I was pretty sure I wouldn’t get into an accident.

My plan was stupid. But I followed it through anyway. I jumped out of bed and took off with Jacob’s keys. Seth was calling my name, trying to get me to stop, but I didn’t. I kept driving and driving. And while I was driving, I thought of the perfect place to go, the Cullen’s house.

Finding their house was tough. Persuading the nurse was probably the hardest part. After that, I headed to the library to find directions to the house. Boy, Jacob’s rabbit does REALLY good on gas!

I reached the house and debated on what to say. It took me five minutes to work up the courage. I finally walked up to the door.

“Hello?” a small, skinny, cropped-haired girl answered the door.

“Hi, is Dr. Carlisle here?” I asked

“Yes he is, but you’re not supposed to be here, it’s past the treaty line.”

“The treaty line? Oh, I’m sorry! I had no idea!” I said, surprised.

“Well, now you do. Why do you need Carlisle anyway?” she asked in her musical voice, but I didn’t like it, or the way she smelt for that matter.”

“I just really need to talk to him.”

She turned away from me and closed the door. Did she just close the door in my face? But then I found out that she hadn’t, because it opened five seconds later.

“Oh, hello Savanna. What brings you here this afternoon?” he looked at my wardrobe and then checked his watch.

“I’m sorry to come to your home, but I need a place to stay and hide until after Bella’s visit is done. I wanted to know more about you guys and the pack. I wish Jacob wasn’t always such a jerk!” I rushed through my words.

“I can’t tell you, I’m sorry. And what happened to you? It’s three in the afternoon and you’re in your pajamas.”

“I had an incident at home and yelled at Jacob. I’m running away and-Ow!” My ribs were hurting again, but this time it was different. It wasn’t just my ribs that were hurting, it was everything; my legs, my arms, my heart. And I could feel my body temperature going up quickly, too quickly. But the worst thing of all was that everything was going hazy.

Carlisle was in front of me one second, then he was gone the next. I collapsed and heard, “No, we’ve got a young werewolf.” before I sank into unconsciousness.

I woke up with a cold, wet towel on my head. It felt good against my flaming hot skin. Tears were ripping from my eyes.

The room was kind of boring. A music case filled an entire wall, and another wall was a big mirror. The carpet was a deep gold and the walls were pitch black. The bed even matched with a wrought-iron rose pattern.

Someone came in, but I couldn’t see their face. My breathing was really loud and they hurried to my side. The person said something, but I couldn’t understand a word of it. I closed my eyes and tried to even my breathing until I could speak.

“Savanna, are you up?” the unfamiliar voice said, and I felt someone shaking me.

“Apparently yes, who are you?” I said with a little too much attitude, but hey, I was tired and wanted to sleep!

“I’m Bella.”

“Bella!” I jumped. My ribs hurt badly and tears streamed from my eyes. The wind was knocked out of my for a second. “I have a question for you.”

She looked at me for a long second, then said “Okay, but do you mind if Edward comes in? He wanted to listen to music. What’s wrong?”

“No I don’t mind at all. Is this his room?” she nodded and I groaned. “Oh, I feel like crap. I yelled at Jacob and ran away from home.”

“I’m sorry. Why’d you run away?” I noticed that she seemed to be struggling with something.

“Jacob said that I couldn’t date Seth. He imprinted on me. Do you know who Seth is and what I mean by imprint?” I asked, praying that I wouldn’t have to explain.

“Yah, do you mean Seth Clearwater?” I nodded. “Are you a …werewolf?”

“Yeah, I’m changing right now and it hurts really bad. Jacob is the meanest uncle in the history of mean uncles!” I heard two soft laughs and suddenly realized that Edward was in the room leaning against his stereo. When did he get in here?! I thought, shocked.

Then I understood that the other soft laugh had been Bella’s and studied her face. She looked exactly like Ms. Clearwater had said. She had pale skin and golden eyes. “Oh, and I almost forgot, Carlisle said that he was sorry.” she suddenly exclaimed.

“Why?” that confused me. Why would Carlisle want to apologize to me?

“He called Jacob. He’ll be here in a few minutes.” she said apologetically.

“Oh, that sucks. But before he comes I really need to ask you a question. Why does you’re name have such a bad reaction?”

“That’s a hard question. I don’t have an exact answer, but it might be because I was bitten.” she grimaced a little.

“What do you mean by ‘bitten’?” I asked innocently, even though I was pretty sure I knew what she meant.

“To become a vampire, you have to be bitten. The transformation takes about three days. And me being bitten broke the treaty.”

“Oh, so are you-” Carlisle came in with Jacob. “Sorry, I have to go.”

Jacob glared at Edward, then looked at Bella and shook his head. I leaned against Jacob for support. “Bye Bella, Edward. Thank you Carlisle!” I called as Jacob put his hand on my shoulder and guided me out.

I gave him his car keys and we left. There was an awkward silence for at least twenty minutes. “I’m sorry I yelled at you like that. You’re a teenager and also a werewolf, it’s a bad combination.” Jacob surprised me by apologizing first. I laughed, then hugged my ribs. “Don’t worry, the pain will be gone in a few hours.”

“I’m sorry too. I mean for running away. But can I please date Seth? I really like him and I guess I’ve already imprinted, I mean, since I was imprinted on.” I tried to persuade him.

He sighed heavily. “I guess you’re right. I just lost it back there. Plus, it doesn’t help that we both over-reacted.”

“Thank you.” I looked at him and smiled, then I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

I woke up in my room and got out of bed slowly, all the pain was gone.

Jacob was at my night stand, his head lying by my light, asleep. I quietly got up and went to the cabinet full of blankets. Jacob was hot so I only put a light blanket on top of him.

He jumped and looked around. “Oh, hey Jacob. Sorry to wake you. Where’d everyone go?”

“Sorry, I fell asleep. Everyone left because it was late. What’s wrong?”

“I just wanted to talk to Seth.” I looked down and blushed. “What time is it?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” He looked down at his watch. “It’s five o’clock.”

“I guess I’ll get ready then, but first I need a shower.” this whole weekend went by fast. A three day transformation into a werewolf can take a lot out of a girl!

It would take all of my patience to stay still until I saw Seth again. I got out of the shower, which felt perfect, and got my school uniform on.

Jacob took forever, so I ate two bowls of cereal. It was now seven and school opened in forty-five minutes, and started in an hour.

“Jacob, can we leave in ten minutes?” I called down the hall.

“Why?” he called back from the bathroom. And I thought girls were supposed to take long in the bathroom! I thought.

“Well if we leave in ten minutes, we’ll be there be there in thirty, with five minute to spare.”

“Okay…” he didn’t want to ask any further.

As Jacob had promised, we left in ten minutes. I was ready to jump out of the car and start walking because it was going so slow. If I turned into a wolf, I could definitely beat him. The only problem with that was that I didn’t know how to turn into a werewolf.

“Took you long enough.” I growled at Jacob when we reached the school. The school doors were open and I ran in to see if Seth was there yet. He wasn’t.

“Hi-yah!” Alexis called at me, and I jumped, startled. “When you left, Seth got all depressed and Jacob was in shock for a while.”

“I’m sorry. Hey, why is everyone’s uniforms different colors?” I asked, suddenly noticing everything for the first time.

“Oh, it’s by year. Senior is black, Junior is blue, Sophomore is purple, and freshman is red. As you can see, guys have white open shirts with black pants and a tie with their year color shirts underneath. And girls wear the stupid white blouses, a black tie and the year color skirts. But if we want pants, we have to wear a skirt over it. It’s kinda crappy but, well no, it’s just plain crappy.” She finished with her long explanation and looked over my shoulder. “Hey Savanna, Seth’s here.”

I turned around and jogged to him. He looked at me and smiled. “How do you feel?” he asked.

“Great. Did you get shorter?” I asked, suddenly realizing that I was almost eye-level with him.

“No that’s part of it. Growth spurt, 108 degree temperature, you know, the usual.

Alexis joined us while we walked to class. Seth’s class was only a few down. My favorite part of school was that we had five out of six classes together. English, geometry, history, gym, and science. The bad part was that we had different first periods, but at least I got to end the day with him.

“Bye Seth.” Alexis and I said at the same time. We giggled and walked into boring Spanish. I sat next to her and she gave me a note.

Wat Happened @ The Cullen’s?

What did she mean by that?

Nothing

Sumthing happened

No, not really.

so something did happen!

I just met Bella.

Ohh…Her

Now that made me curious. Why do people act so differently towards Bella, she seemed nice enough to me.

What’s ‘oh her’ supposed to mean?!

SHE LIKED MY BF…

Who, Embry?

No, Jacob

Jacob! When? How? How did I not kno?!

When did Jacob and Alexis come to be? And how did I not know?!

You got time?

Duh, yes!

‘k. Jacob imprinted on me lyk, 6 months ago. But I didn’t believe in any of that crap, cuz it was still a legend. Then quil explained it to me wen u arrived. I finally understood it all, so wen u transformed, I told him. that’s it.

Oh, that’s good.

Yah, Jacob told me to tell u that u’ll need a ride home. He’s taking me to a movie.

Dang, okay. But you need to tell me everything 2maro.

Haha, ok.

That was the end of the note. Now I had to focus on finding a ride home. Who should I ask? Seth! He was only one class away, I could wait.

Mr. Launar’s Spanish class went on for what seemed like forever. I looked at the clock way too often. Time hates me. I thought.

Finally I saw Seth. Yay! It was second period now.

“Hey Seth. Oh wait, where’d Alexis go?” I looked around.

“Hi Savanna. Alexis went to the office because she wanted at least one class with Jacob.” he rolled his eyes.

“Huh, okay. But speaking of Jacob, I was wondering if I could get a ride home with you today. Jacob cancelled so that he could take Alexis on a date.

“Sure! Why would I decline you? But for payment, we do homework at your house.”

I giggled then blushed and said “Sure.”

“Then it’s a date¾ a study date, I mean¾ ” he got lost in his own words.

“Oh shut up!” I nudged him and then hugged his arm. “So where are we going on Saturday?”

“Um, to the La Push Park.”

“Okay, the park it is. Are we having a picnic?”

“If you want to!” he sounded sort of excited, just like how I felt.

I changed the subject. “Do you want to sit by me?” He looked confused so I explained. “In English. Do you want to sit next to me in English? No one sits there.”

“Oh yeah, sure! I’d love to.” Then he walked by me and sat at the empty chair to my right. “What?” he asked. Oh my God! How long had I been starring at him? I asked myself.

“Oh, sorry. It’s nothing.”

Classes went by too fast. English felt like five minutes instead of sixty. Before I knew it, it was time to go home.

“Is it okay if we walk?” Does that mean¾ no! How could I be so silly.

“Doesn’t you’re mom pick you up?” I asked.

“Um, no. I walk to and from school everyday.” he said nervously, maybe he was thinking that I wouldn’t want to walk.

“Wow, okay, lets go. Do you wanna transform?”

“Hmmm…no, you can’t. You don’t know how yet. Don’t worry, it’s only about five miles.

“Yeah, five miles.” Woo hoo! a voice said in my head. I hate the life I love.

It had already started to rain within the first five minutes of the walk. Yes, white blouses in such an open space. Luckily I was wearing a red tang-top underneath my now see-through shirt.

Seth was, well Seth was hot. His golden hair stood out through the darker wet strands of hair.

“Are you okay?” the question caught me off guard. “We can stop.”

“What time is it?” I asked, trying to avoid his question.

“Its about 3:45.”

“Crap, I’m slow!”

“No you’re not. You’re perfect, beautiful, and smart.” he said sheepishly.

“Thanks.” it felt a little awkward.

Thirty more minutes went by and we finally reached my house. I went straight to my room and locked the door. Seth waited in the front room while I changed into basketball shorts and a tang-top.

When I came out, Seth had everything set. I looked at his wardrobe. He’d taken off the white t-shirt and just wore his red undershirt.

“Do you want to change into some of Jacob’s clothes? Something dry?” I offered.

“Nah. I’m good. Come on, you need to help me with some of my homework.” he said.

“Okay.” I looked at my paper and was happy to see that it was review from eighth grade. The quadratic formula.

“What the heck is the quadratic formula?” I could tell that he was seriously confused, so I sang him the quadratic formula song. I couldn’t even finish it because he had me giggling so hard. Seth just kept starring at me with this bewildered expression.

“I told you that you were smart!” he said, then winked at me.

We finished our homework quickly and I found a good movie for us to watch.

He had an arm on top of the back of the coach, so I took a chance and leaned into him. His reaction shocked me. He pulled his arm off of the coach and wrapped it around my waist. I took advantage and cuddled closer. This time, time liked me and went slow. The silence was perfect.

“So, I was thinking.” I looked up at him. “Instead of going to the park, lets go to first beach.

He thought it through for a second then said, “Sure, what’d we be doing?”

“Playing in the water and just walking around.” I said simply.

“Okay¾ ” The front door slammed and we both jumped about a foot in the air. I jumped away from Seth. “Oh Jacob, are you okay? What happened?”

Jacob had his head in his hands and was shaking it from side to side. “I think I took it too far. Seth, please call Quil.” I could barely make out what he was saying because his words were so muffled by his hands. Took what too far?! Had he hurt Alexis? I wanted to scream.

“Okay, but what’s¾ ” Seth tried to ask him something, but I cut him off.

“What’s wrong with Alexis? Did, did you accidentally change?” I tried to scream, but it came out in a whisper because I had suddenly become inexplicably scared.