One: New Beginning

Rebecca POV

My life was never perfect, but I would never admit that. Rebecca Hanson never admits that she has problems, she was tough and she had to stay strong for her family… I would die before I let my guard down and open up to someone, that was probably why I was so shit with boyfriends.

I looked around my room, my entire eighteen years of existence was packed away in boxes and ready to be moved to America. Yes, my sister and I were being sent to live my our estranged mother while my dad was in India for the next several months for a national distributor for his company (my dad founded a book publishing company in London and the next big step was going international… blah, blah, blah!)

I was okay with moving from rainy London to even rainier Forks in Washington (sort of…), but it was Lily I was worried about. Lily was a really bookish and sweet sixteen year old, but she was quite shy and wasn't great with big changes.

I walked into her room to check up on her, but found her reading a House of Night book at her desk and saw all her boxes were packed as well.

Lily was really pretty, but she would never admit it. Her hair was long and brown and her eyes were a bright blue, but she thought everyone just said those compliments to make her feel better. Although, it was difficult for people to see I was her older sister, what with my shoulder length blonde hair and hazel eyes, we looked like chalk and cheese and yet we were so similar it was shocking.

"You still reading those freaky vampire books?" I asked, sitting on her desk and smiling at her eye roll and look of annoyance. Little sisters were so easy to wind up.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Lily said, not taking her eyes off the page she was reading.

"No, but you know vampires don't exist, don't you?"

"Fantasy is better than reality and obviously I know vampires aren't real" Lily said sternly, then she turned to me and a look of worry crossed her face "do you think Mum wants us to move in with her?"

I sighed, trying to decide whether to say the truth or not. I could lie, but Lily knows when I'm chatting bullshit and I hated lying to my baby sis. The truth is, my mother hasn't really bothered with us since she moved to America and got engaged to Chief Swan, which means she now lives with him and his accident magnet daughter, Isabella. Mum did send the occasional birthday or Christmas card, but they all stated that she, Charlie and Bella were all happy and doing well (which really means: "I know I'm your parent, but I'm having such a lovely time with my new family"). long story short: I didn't want to be fake with my mum and act like I'm happy that she's bothered her arse to be a parent, but I had to do what was best for Lily and if that meant biting my tongue around my bitch of a mother, then so be it.

"I think it's going to be a big change for all of us, but it'll be okay." I said and gave a reassuring smile, but obviously Lily didn't believe me. Hell, I didn't believe me!

A cardboard box fell off the bed and the lid flew open, spilling it's content all over the floor and they all looked like letters.

I hurried to pick them up, but Lily looked at me in alarm.

"No!"

As I knelt down to pick up the papers, I reached for the first letter and read the handwriting on it. Jacob Black's handwriting.

I looked at the date, it was sent over a year ago and all the other letters were sent before that. I put the letters back into the box and placed it onto the bed, sitting next to it and looked at Lily's uncomfortable face with a sympathetic smile.

"Still no word from Jake?" I asked and Lily tried to look unfazed, but I could tell she was upset.

"No, not for a while now…" Lily said, sighing and looking at the box in disappointment as if she'd been expecting a new letter and it hadn't arrived "he's probably still totally in love with Bella."

Okay, this was another reason I officially hated my soon-to-be-step-sister. When we were kids, we used to go to La Push every summer holidays and that was how Jacob and Lily first met. They were play mates as toddlers and became closer as they got older, they've been pen pals ever since they leant to write and although Lily would never admit it, Jacob was her first crush. But last year, I noticed fewer and fewer letters arriving in the post and the ones that did arrive talked none stop about Bella Bloody Swan. Eventually the letters stopped and Lily seemed to have accepted the fact that they had, but she was still really hurt by it and this reminded me to make a little trip down to La Push when we got to Forks, Jacob needed to hear some fucking home truths and know what happens when you hurt my sister. Although, me kicking Jacob Black arse all the way to First Beach and drowning him in the sea would only piss make Lily angry at me, so maybe I should let her handle her issues with Jake.

"Maybe his letters just got lost in the mail." I suggested, but Lily's look of exasperation said just how much she thought that statement was a load of crap.

"Or maybe he just doesn't want to speak to me." Lily said, frowning at me as she grabbed her book and stood, shaking her head "just don't make excuses for him, okay? Jake and I were close, but he changed and obviously people do… I just thought he cared enough to be honest with me…"

Lily looked at me with tearful eyes and I stood up, pulling her into a hug. Jake was definitely going to get a serious arse kicking when I saw him.

Once our things were packed and ready in the car, I sat in the front passenger seat while Lily sat reading in the backseat. Dad slid into the driver's seat and gave me a small smile.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

As ready as I'll ever be.