Jacob Black

"It's good to have you back, Jake" dad said, averting his eyes and turning back to start dinner. I nodded in his direction feeling a tight pain in my chest. I tried to breathe slowly and deeply to dull the sting.

I was walking back to my room and allowed my thoughts to flow easily and smoothly into my consciousness. I reflected on my whereabouts for the past three month; I saw the coast of Alaska clearly. It was warmer than I had expected and the days were uncomfortably long, but large wolves were not uncommon. I didn't have to shift back if I didn't want to. It was a perfect place to grieve. I stayed close to the coast feeding on seals and any other wildlife I could find. It was a hell of a lot easier than walking around naked without money and threatening to phase at any minute. A few natives set out traps when they realized that their food supply was starting to diminish abnormally. I had thought more than I wanted the past month. I tried to envision a world where Bella and I could be together. All I would have had to do was kill Edward, steal her from the Cullen's, and manage not to have her not kill me. I sighed; I knew that killing Edward would be just as bad as killing Bella. If Bella had already, stopped her heart than there was nothing I could do to heal her. The conclusion I had come to was that Bella was lost to me. She would not come back, and I could no longer keep her in my life. She made her decision, her choice, and I would have to weather the damage that followed in her wake. I smiled at the thought of her happiness; I ignored simply who it was with. She was with the man she was willing to lose everything for. If I were in Edwards place I would know exactly how lucky I was. That thought had helped me through the past few weeks. The smell of human food broke my painful thoughts and made my mouth water. I sauntered into the kitchen, realizing that I had a lot of explaining to do to Billy.

"So, I've been away" I said lamely. Billy just stared at me with knowing eyes, and nodded. "Should I explain myself, or are you just going to watch me?"

"You don't have to explain yourself, I understand. She's run off with the Cullen's and you let her go." I shuddered at the thought of the chance at happiness that I had given up. The wound she'd left wasn't as fresh as it once was, but it still hurt. "I'm proud of you, you made the right decision."

"I didn't decide anything, she" I paused to feel the sting "chose her path and I'm going to follow mine." I shrugged and started to stuff my face. Food didn't hold the same meaning as it once had; now it was simply used as fuel. Billy continued to chatter about the various tribe members and their mini-dramas that I'd missed since I'd been away. I let him talk and tried to seem like I was listening until he felt that he had sufficiently 'filled me in'. I knew that Sam had tracked me a little while I was away, just to be sure that I was safe. He had to reassure Billy that I wouldn't do anything too stupid.

"I'm going to bed" I stalked off to my room, shut the door and fell fast asleep. I only dreamt once, it was a dream, or rather memory, that had haunted me since she left. I was still healing after the battle and Bella walked in smelling of the bloodsucker and looking more fragile than I felt. The image of her face (that would always be frozen in my mind) and the play of emotions that shifted from love, to worry, to fear. As soon as she started to open her mouth to explain what I knew would break my heart, the dream ended. I woke up to a bright day, a day of healing. My stomach rumbled and I knew I would need more fuel for the day ahead. If I was going to fully recover I would need to do the things that reminded me of her. If I could get that out of my system then maybe I would be able to slowly, but surely move on. It was going to hurt, but I needed to try.

Elizabeth Rains

"I can't believe I'm here." I muttered to myself. This was not what I had wanted. I would now being spending my senior year of high school in a town on some beach in Washington. La Push, what did that even mean? At least it was on the west coast, and on the beach. I had to continually remind myself of those two redeeming facts.

I walked along the beach thinking to myself and how my life had landed me in some obscure poor Indian Reservation. My parents Dr. William Rains and Dr. Katherine Rains were both professors at Portland State University. My father had his doctorate in anthropology and my mother in sociology. They met at a tenure celebration for my father. My mom was a new professor at PSU and thought it would be a good way to meet people. Within two months they were married, and in 8 more moths I was born. My father who happens to be half Native American has spent his career focused on the importance of Native American stories. He had collected thousands of different stories and compiled them into five books. My mother focused on the differences in family dynamics within Native American tribes. They had spent much of their (and my) lives visiting different tribes in the Northwest. We had always been insiders allowed to stand against a wall and watch, never participate. However, my father being half Quileute allowed him, and our small family to live on the reservation. Why we couldn't wait until I had finished high school, I would never understand.

I continued to walk remembering that I would have to drag my sorry self back because I had never needed a car living in downtown Portland. Thus, I in my 17 and ¾ years of life I had never learned to drive. What made me think that I would always live in a large city with good public transportation?

I looked around taking in the scenery; the forest to my right was a stark bright green compared to the dull gray sand beneath my feet. To my left was the blue green, rough, unbelievably cold Pacific Ocean. I sighed remembering that I would start school soon, and not a nice school like I had grown accustomed to in Portland. No, I would belong to the reservation high school. I had to control myself; it was so unjust that Native Americans did not obtain the same kind of funding as other schools. Why my school in the ritzier part of Portland was state of the art and this school was not I couldn't understand.

I didn't feel Native American, not like my father. He had worked his way up and out of this very same reservation. He couldn't wait to leave and start his life. He looked distinctly Native American with glossy black hair and cool brown eyes. His skin took on a pleasing shade of reddish-brown when he managed to pull himself away from his studies and students. My mother was typically English with her orange hair and blue eyes set against very pale skin, she contrasted beautifully with my father. Unfortunately, their features had mixed to create me; my hair had taken to a deep auburn color set against skin only slightly darker than my mother's. My features were more Caucasian like my mother but my eyes held the color and ancient wisdom that my father's heritage contained. The only thing I truly enjoyed about myself was my height. My father was very tall about 6'6'' and I had taken after him more than my mother, stopping at 5'11. I acknowledged that I was close to being six feet, but was still not too tall for a girl.

Along my walk I came to a set of cliffs, judging by the setting sun I knew that I would need to head back soon. The stories of wolves in the woods had me a little spooked. I heard a motorcycle off in the distance, and then with incredible speed it passed me in a dark blur. The bike and tall figure walked slowly to the edge of the cliffs. I was still about sixty feet from the dark figure when he jumped. I felt my breath catch in my throat, and then I screamed.

"Oh, my god! Oh, my god!" I continued to yell to myself. My shaky hands struggled to find my cell phone within my purse. The stupid thing was turned off. I continued to run toward the edge of the cliff to look down. I managed to dial 911 when someone from behind me grabbed my cell. I turned around fiercely trying to decide if I should grab my mace or not. I turned to see a beautiful man towering over me; he was well over six feet, probably closer to seven feet tall. He had a similar shade of reddish-brown skin that my father had. He had to be a native of La Push. I then focused in on his face, it was strangely beautiful. I felt incredibly plain and young all of the sudden. Then I looked directly into the eyes and I saw a youthfulness I hadn't been expecting.

"I-uh did you see who jumped?" I asked stupidly, I really should have said 'give me that!' The dark man nodded then let a slow and strange grin spread across his face. His eyes seemed sad.

"That was me." He said dully. His voice was low and soft but carried a direct air about it. He tossed me the phone, and I quickly shoved it in my purse.

"Well, you good sir," I was starting to be more of myself now "scared me half to death! And don't think that I appreciate you grabbing my cell." I was feeling a little too warm; this was surprising because the wind had started to pick up considerably.

"Who, exactly, were you going to call?" he said in a mocking tone, almost as if he owned this place. "I'm fine, see."

"Umm, well, I-I don't know." I said looking down trying to hide some of my embarrassment. I had heard of people cliff diving before, but I always imagined that they would do that somewhere sane. Like Hawaii, Australia or even the Caribbean; places that had water temperature above 40 degrees. I looked back at the stranger and he was eyeing me with a pained expression. I didn't think I looked that bad; I always thought that the beach had a beautifying effect. Then his expression turned more to fear, but there was something else there I couldn't put my finger on it. We just stood there watching each other, if it had been with any other person this would have felt strange. But it didn't, it felt right almost like two puzzle pieces locking into place.

"No." he said quietly to himself. I stood there awkwardly and put my around myself instinctively; I didn't want to brake his gaze. I couldn't imagine how this guy could be standing there with the wind blowing, half dressed while being soaked. Then he backed away still staring at me with a mixed look. He hopped on his bike and drove off too quickly. The spell had been broken, and I was feeling the full weight of my embarrassment.

"What? No welcome to La Push?" I said to myself, the motorcyclist looked back at me as if he heard what I'd said. "That's right buddy just keep driving."

I walked myself back to our new tiny house and prepared mentally for it to be empty. My parents liked to dive into their work; they wouldn't eat unless I brought meals to their respected offices. Much to my surprise I found them both in the kitchen with a visitor. The man was in a wheel chair but he had a spark in his eyes and seemed lively he reminded me of my grandfather.

"Good you're here," my dad seemed a little too interested in my sudden entrance. "I want to introduce you to Billy Black."

"Hello." I said and walked to sit down in the too small kitchen. The man eyed me carefully and looked pleased.

"It's nice to meet you Elizabeth, your parents have said a great deal about you." He still eyed me carefully but with appreciation.

"Oh, did they? I'm surprised that they didn't talk more about their work." I knew I shouldn't push it, but they had been the ones to move me. I could feel both my parents look at each other uncomfortably. "Whatever. Are you staying for dinner?"

"Oh, no. I'd hate to put you out like that especially since you've just moved in. I should really get back home. I just wanted to welcome your family, well, welcome back your father." He smiled an exaggerated and shook my fathers hand and left.

"Well, he seemed nice." I ignored the hostile looks from my parents and set out to make dinner.

"Elizabeth Rains! You should really watch yourself! Do you know who that man was?" My mother yelled she seemed a bit nervous.

"I think he said his name was Billy Black." Now I was being a smartass, and frankly I didn't care.

"Yes, he is a very important tribe elder." She exaggerated the word elder as if I were too dense to understand. I shrugged and continued to make Fettuccini Alfredo.

"Liz biz, we need that man to accept us if we are ever going to blend in here. You know that that is essential to both of our studies." I could feel my face turning red. The only reason I had agreed to move was to help them further their work before I went off to college. I had spent my whole life in universities as an observer and too soon I was to be a student. I knew that they didn't want to leave me when they only had a year left.

"I'm sorry." I sighed. Dinner went by more smoothly and we discussed Billy Black. Dad said that he was really kind and seemed that he would welcome us to La Push almost like he had never left.

"Billy seemed a little too grateful that I was back. I don't understand why, I was no older than Liz when I left. But, have you seen those boys yet?" My dad asked my mom with a look of shock. "They're huge!"

"You're not so small yourself, dear" my mom teased.

"I met one of them, today actually." Both my parents looked up in surprise. "He was really tall, but he didn't seem like a boy to me." I shrugged. I knew what was going to follow, they would ask too many questions, I would try to answer in a professional tone as to further their work, and they would both head off to their offices…

"That's nice honey." My mom said in a nonchalant tone. I had a difficult time hiding my surprise. I guess I was wrong. They both continued eating their meal, then went to work. It had always been difficult living with two work obsessed people studying the social sciences and society. They were great observers, but not easily understood by people outside universities. I hoped that I would not turn out as another observer stuck to the wall only asking clarifying questions while carrying a clip board.

I cleaned up the dished, sent a few e-mails off to my friends, and then checked my school supplies. Tomorrow would be the first day of my senior year.