Chapter One

It was a historically hot summer for Forks, Washington. The sun was high and blazing, I didn't feel the difference, of course, my temperature was running as high as ever, but I could tell the girl at the pump next to me was feeling it. Her dark brown hair was piled messily on top of her head and her large sunglasses were slipping down her nose. My eyes followed a bead of sweat slide from the nape of her neck and down her back. She rolled her shoulders back and tilted her head to the side impatiently. I couldn't take my eyes off her for some reason. She was small and every one of the tiny motions of agitation she made, as she waited in the heat for her tank to fill, amused me.

Feeling my gaze she turned her head and spotted me staring. I quickly turned away. The last thing I needed was a random girl to think I was attracted to her. I had decidedly sworn off women since Bella.

I winced slightly at the thought of her and completely turned my back to the girl who was surely eyeing me curiously by now. Why wouldn't she? I was a huge man, nearly seven feet tall and I probably seemed even larger in comparison to such a petite person like herself. I finished pumping my gas and went into the convenience store to pay.

While waiting in line behind a very old woman trying to pay in pennies, I heard the bell above the door chime and saw the girl enter. As she stepped in from the blinding sunlight outside she removed her oversized sunglasses. She turned her gaze on me and it was that moment that I felt it. The center of gravity seemed to shift and every one of my senses zoned in on her. Her eyes were an alarmingly vivid shade of green, as if they were carved out of the finest emeralds. It was as if her gaze was a thin gossamer string and it was holding me to earth.

"Um sir?" came an unsure voice from outside the personal universe I had created for me and the girl. I was brought down most unwillingly from the fantasy I had created in my mind about us. I shoved the money at the woman behind the counter and turned quickly without waiting for change.

I practically ran into my truck, nearly ripping off the door as I got in, slamming it shut behind me. I was breathing hard and shaking, but not angrily as if I would phase, but it was a different feeling. Excitement, uncertainty, surprise, incredulity. I was almost skeptical about the fact that I had imprinted. I thought all this time I had imprinted on Bella but she seemed like a silly crush compared to the girl I had just laid eyes on.

She exited the convenience store replacing her sunglasses on her face. Every detail of her presence registered in my thoughts. The way the white halter top hung elegantly from around her slender neck. The frayed edges of her shorts laying high on her slim thighs. Her brown flip flops clacking against her heels. My heart thumped dangerously hard against my rib cage as I realized she was walking towards me. I reached over and rolled down the window on the passenger side.

"Hi," she said dazzling me with a perfect smile. Her voice was bubbly and upbeat, it made me smile widely back at her.

"You forgot your change back there," she continued when I didn't respond. "So I thought I'd bring it to you... You know since you're parked next to me..." Her voice trailed off uncertainly. I realized how uncomfortable I must be making her, staring at her and smiling like a maniac.

"Uh, yeah thanks. I'm Jacob," I said quickly, offering my name for no apparent reason and reaching out and taking the change from her.

"I'm Sloane," she said back, her smile back in place. Even her name held magic for me. She smelled amazing, like violets and sunshine. Everything registered to me, like the small scar above her right eyebrow and how a curl escaped her messy bun, and hung limply at the nape of her neck. She was absolutely beautiful.

"Are you from around here?" I asked, desperate to keep the conversation going. I didn't come to Forks so much anymore since Bella left so she could have grown up here her whole life and I wouldn't know.

"No actually, I just moved here...my sister needed help with her new baby so I came to the rescue. Are you from here?"

"No I'm from La Push, it's the Indian reservation a while from here, down along the beach." I wanted to invite her down there, keep her there forever, but I thought that would be a little too intense for our first meeting. Right now I would be satisfied to see her beautiful eyes again.

"I love the beach," she said shyly tearing her gaze from mine. I wondered if the emotion in my eyes had stirred emotion inside her. I could only hope so.

I laughed lightly. "Well it's not exactly a tropical beach or anything. There's a little bit of sand but mostly it's rocks." Her face fell slightly and I added, "But it's still beautiful."

"Maybe I can see it sometime..." She said softly, her shyness increasing.

"I'd be happy to show you any time you wanted." I said instantly, my words throbbing with truth.

"I'd like that," she whispered. "I'd like that a lot."