Tomboy101: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters mentioned in the books. If I did Bella would have been a very different person, I'd be very rich, and Jake would have ended up with someone a little more age-appropriate, not that I have anything against Nessie or anything, in fact I think the idea of her is pretty neat but their relationship is a little inappropriate in my opinion. I do, however, own all of the characters you do not recognize most of which, if not all, appear in this chapter. Happy reading!

P.S. yes, this is a completely different version of my original Nightingale story, but you'll get used to it, plus I think this version is better

Back when I was thirteen I used to live on an Indian Reservation called La Push in Washington near a small town called Forks, but then we moved to my dad's home village in Texas. My dad was a Cherokee tribe member so when my grandfather joined the Elder Counsel we had to move back so Dad could be head of the family. It wasn't our first move. We moved away from Texas when I was six so I could only remember some people. I remembered my cousin Clara Kohl who is about two years younger than me. That was who was riding in the car beside me right now, actually, as we drove from the Port Angeles Airport to Forks, Washington. My two twin brothers, Michael and Andrew, were in the third row of seats while my younger sister Melody rode shotgun with Mom driving our family Sequoia.

In all honesty I am thrilled that we are moving. I loved Texas but the Cherokee Elder Counsel scared me. You see, when I was fourteen I went through The Change and Shifted for the first time. Cherokee Spirit Warriors are werecats, they can change into large cats at will and I am one of them, the only girl in a century. It is because of this that we are moving. The Elder Counsel wants to take my brothers and I away from my mother and put us in a proper Cherokee household.

My dad died maybe six months after we moved to Texas along with my aunt and uncle, Clara's parents, in a car crash. Ever since then living amongst the tribe had been pretty weird. We hadn't had a voice in any major decision, plus my grandfather kept giving me strange looks, like he was expecting something from me. It wasn't until I first phased that I fully understood what was going on and what all the late-night fights between Mom and Grandfather were about.

"Hey Chris!" I looked around. Clara was smiling at me and pointing out the window at a house nestled amongst a lot of greenery. I smiled sadly. It was not our old house. Our old house was on the nearby reservation called La Push, but because Mom was a white woman we couldn't live there. So instead Mom had bought a house half-way between La Push and Forks, a Colonial-style, two-story, antebellum style home with a wrap-around porch, green painted shutters and white columns.

"We're here!" Mom said happily, pulling into the driveway. Everyone perked up and the boys actually cheered. We all piled out of the car screaming, yelling and trying to get to the house first. Oddly enough, Mom beat us all, even me with my superhuman cougar speed. "Your rooms have already been set up! The girls are upstairs, the boys are downstairs!" Mom called after us as we all rushed past her to different parts of the house.

Melody, Clara and I dashed up the large curving staircase. It didn't take me long to find my room. It was exactly the way it had been in Texas. The walls were sky blue, the ceiling was white and the floor was dark hardwood. Everything was already set up, or at least all the furniture was, there were still quite a few boxes piled up on the floor that I had to unpack. We had spent our last week in Texas in a hotel just so all our stuff could be moved in ahead of us. I jumped onto my bed, relishing in the feel of the memory foam mattress and luxurious comforter and sheets. God I love my bed.

After reveling in the familiar sensation of my own mattress after a week in an unfamiliar hotel bed I got up and walked over to one of the windows. My room was a corner room so there were windows—on of which was a window seat—on the two adjoining walls.

In my old La Push room one of my windows had always been my favorite: it had looked directly into my old best guy friend's bedroom. Jacob Black, how I missed that boy. Way back when, we had been inseparable, along with our two other best friends Embry Call and Quil Ateara, not to mention us always steeling Melody from her friends cause Embry had such a major crush on her. Seeing those boys had always been the highlight of my day. It had been a long time since we had seen each other though. Things had changed, more than I ever wanted to admit.

I leaned against the windowsill and sighed, looking out into the lush Washington forest. I wanted so badly to drive to La Push and see Jacob but I couldn't just go over there unannounced. I pushed myself away from the window and went next door to Melody's room. "Hey, Mels," I said knocking on the open door.

Melody whipped around from where she had been looking, almost longingly, out of her own window. Now, there's probably something I should mention about Melody. She looks like a run-way model, no joke. Long silky black hair, around 5'9" or 10", big doe eyes. She's absolutely stunning, so when she looked at me with that surprised expression and the light shining from the window behind her it really hit me just how beautiful she really was, and trust me, we've used that beauty to get into places we probably shouldn't have. And it wasn't just her beauty that set Melody apart from the rest of our family. She would never become a werecat. She didn't have the eyes the color of newly polished copper like Michael, Andrew and I.

I smirked at her. "Looking for something?" I asked.

Melody's tan cheeks blushed. "N-no."

"Really? Cause I'm pretty sure Embry's house is in that direction." I ducked, laughing, when Melody threw one of the purple pillows from her bed at me.

"Shut up," she muttered, fixing me with a playful glare.

"What? I was only—"

"Being annoying? Yes, you're very good at that."

"Hey! That's not very nice," I whined.

"I don't have to be nice," Melody quipped, "I'm your sister."

I glared at her but said nothing, knowing I was beat. Melody was the witty sister after all. With a sigh I collapsed on her purple-sheeted bed. She mimicked me and together we stared up at her white painted ceiling.

We lay there for several minutes, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Personally, I was thinking about how different things were going to be now that we had moved away from Texas and, more importantly, the Elder Council. In a way I was almost glad we weren't living on the La Push Quileute Indian Reservation. After three years I had a healthy fear of Elder Councils that I did not plan on conquering anytime soon. But I was also a little sad. Unless I ran into my old friends on accident I didn't see myself finding them anytime soon. I really couldn't just walk up to the Black house on the Reservation and expect them to welcome me with open arms. It would be a major intrusion on their privacy, not to mention embarrassing if he didn't remember me.

I frowned up at the ceiling, trying to imagine what Jake might be like these days. Would he still be tall and lanky? Would he be built like the Spirit Warriors back in Texas, all wirey muscle and agility? Would his personality have changed? Did he still have that dry sense of humor and sarcasm that I loved? I tried to picture his face but all that came to mind was the pre-teen boyishness and goofy smile I had grown up with and adored. I shifted on the bed, the thought of Jake changing not sitting well with me for some reason.

"So what do you think?" Mel asked from beside me.

"About what?" I said lazily, still half lost in my meandering thoughts.

"Anything, everything. The house. Moving. Going to a new school with only two months left even though you already have your GED."

I smiled; leave it to Mel to be worrying about practical things. "I like the house," I said slowly. "It's very nice, lots of room so we aren't all piled up on top of each other which is good." Our Texas home had not been nearly as spacious. After Clara moved in Mom had given us girls the master bedroom and had taken Melody's and my old room, but it had still been cramped. "I'm not real worried about school," I continued. "It shouldn't be too hard since, as you said, there are only two months left. Plus, from what I hear, you're signed up for courses you've already taken because they don't have an AP program here. Not to mention the fact that you're absolutely gorgeous and will have all the guys fawning all over you in about two seconds flat."

Melody giggled and elbowed me playfully in the ribs. "Don't be silly," she said, "I'm not that pretty."

The sincerity of her protest made a bubble of affection grow in my chest. Melody was so sweet and innocent. She honestly didn't have a clue about how most people saw her. It was a trait that endeared her to everyone, even the girls who would usually hate someone so beautiful out of jealousy.

I heard a male voice shout my name from downstairs and I sat up with a groan, our sister bonding time done for the day. "I'd better go see what the twerp wants," I said as I stood.

I left Melody's room and made my toward the upstairs landing. I leaned against the railing and took a deep breath. It felt so good to be home. True, I hadn't been born in La Push, but I felt more comfortable here than any other place on earth. My father had felt the same. That was why he and Uncle Jim had moved up here. La Push and Forks was where Dad had met Mom, who had been a nurse at the small clinic in Forks, and Uncle Jim met Aunt Katy, a Quileute native. Not long after both couples married they moved back to Texas and one year later I was born.

"Hey Sissy?"

I jerked my head up. Michael, one of my little brothers, stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me with glowing eyes the color of a brand new penny. "Yea, Mikey?"

"Do you think we could go for a run?"

I smiled. Michael was the sweet twin, always polite, though in all honesty I thought both of them were hellions about half the time. "Sure, I don't see why not. Go get Andy and we'll go."

Michael ran back down the hall. I watched him go before going back to my room and changing into a pair of blue men's basketball shorts, a black sports bra and a black tank top, no shoes. Once properly clothed I made my way downstairs to the kitchen. Clara and Melody were sitting at the morning room table, lounging in two of the wooden chairs. "I'm going to take the boys for a run," I said as I opened the fridge.

"In that?" Clara asked.

I pulled my head out of the fridge. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" I asked, glancing down at my black tank top and blue men's basketball shorts

Clara looked me up and down but it was Melody who spoke. "Just remember to take your shirt off this time. Mom won't be happy if she has to take you shopping just because you forgot."

I rolled my eyes. "That was only once!"

"More like ten times," Clara muttered, just loud enough for me to hear.

"Hey! Don't gang up on me! That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair Your Highness," Melody teased.

I stuck out my tongue at her but before I could retort two six foot tall boys, both with dark skin, round faces, high cheekbones and silky smooth black hair wearing nothing but blue jean cutoffs came bouncing into the kitchen. "We're ready to go Chris!" they said in unison.

I smiled. Andrew and Michael were possibly the sweetest guys on the planet, not that they had any choice in the matter since they were raised by three females. They were such ladies magnets it was ridiculous. They were also identical. The only real way to tell them apart was by scent—Michael smelled like sage in summer, Andrew smelled like the crisp air of fall—and their personalities—Michael was the goody-goody, Andrew was the rebel and both were devil-spawn, though that might just be the big sister in me talking. "Alright boys," I laughed, "let's go."

We trooped out of the house through the back door and made our way to the tree line behind our house. Once we were in the safety of the trees I stripped off my shirt and left it hanging on a branch. I glanced over at Michael and Andrew and saw that they had already Changed. I took a minute to marvel at my brothers. Both were over five feet tall, their glowing copper eyes looking down at me. Michael was on my left, a great tawny mountain lion with a black tipped tail and a white underbelly and throat. Andrew stood off to my right, his fur the color of sand and his ears tipped black instead of his tail and his underbelly and throat an off-white color. They looked strong, healthy, but there was still a cub-like ganglyness to them, their paws didn't quite fit the rest of their bodies, like they were too big.

I smiled up at them, a burning tremor racking my body. My limbs caught fire, muscles contorting, bones popping out of their sockets, elongating then snapping back into place. The pain lasted for barely a minute before I stood on all fours. I shook out my fur the deep gold of wild honey. My claws extended, digging into the rich earth beneath my paws. I stretched out my limbs. It felt so good to be back in this shape. I had been unable to Shift for so long and it felt wonderful. I felt truly alive for the first time in months though it seemed more like years. My skin hummed; I was aware of everything in the forest. Not twenty yards north a mother deer had caught our scent and was now hurrying her fawn as fast as she could away from us. Behind me the floorboards of our house creaked as Melody moved around in her upstairs bedroom, undoubtedly unpacking whatever she hadn't gotten to already. I rolled my shoulders, the tight muscles stretching and then relaxing.

You done now?

I glanced sharply at Andrew. Patience is a virtue, I chided.

Yeah, yeah. Can we just go?

I mentally rolled my eyes at him but didn't reply, choosing instead to begin trotting north, heading deeper into the Washington forest. Michael and Andrew fell in behind me. A powerful feeling of belonging came across the mental link that connected me to my brothers. A sense of unity and oneness with my Pride engulfed me. Memories of running with my Pride Brothers flooded my senses. I was bounding across our ancestral land, hunting with the Pride. We were awe inspiring in our strength, terrible in our ferocity as we defended our land from invaders.

Quit with the melodrama! Michael whined.

This is what happens when you put a girl in charge, Andrew said with a shake of his head.

I whirled around and launched myself at Andrew, yowling playfully and batting at him with soft paws. We tumbled to the ground, rolling across the wet earth. Michael bounced after us, piling into our mock fight. We roughhoused for several minutes before I managed to wriggle my way out from underneath the dog pile my brothers had managed to bury me in. Geeze, y'all way a ton! You really need to lay off the sweets.

Michael hissed at me and sent me the image of him sticking out his tongue at me through our mental link. I am not fat!

I rolled my eyes but chose to ignore him. Well, chicos, I think we've had enough fun for today. We should probably head back.

We're not going hunting? Andrew asked; he sounded disappointed.

I shook my head. Not tonight, maybe tomorrow. Mom said she had something special planned for dinner.

Ooh, what kind of special? Michael sounded excited, like he normally did whenever anyone mentioned food.

No idea, but we'd better get going if we don't want Mel and CJ to eat it all.

They wouldn't.

No, but I might! I leapt past them, running as fast as my legs could carry me towards home.

That's not fair!

Hey!

I laughed as I heard them crashing after me. Usually Andrew was the fastest with his more streamline build but I had managed a big enough lead that there was no way he could catch up, let alone Michael who was built more for fighting than running. I skidded to a stop where I had left my tank top, Changing back and grabbing it off the tree branch before making a mad dash for the house as I pulled the tank top over my head. Behind me I could hear Michael and Andrew's pounding feet, only four meaning they were human again. I flung myself through the door proclaiming triumphantly, "I win!"

Mom just looked up from the marble kitchen counter where she was making dinner. Melody and Clara weren't in the morning room.

I had forgotten that there were two three-hundred pound boys following me and when they came bursting through the door I ended up getting plowed.

We crashed to the tile floor, me on bottom, Andrew on top of me and Michael on top of him. The breath was knocked out of my lungs and tears sprang to my eyes and I could feel my face turning purple. I gasped, trying desperately to force my lungs full of that live-giving oxygen. When I finally did manage to breathe I voiced my first thought. "OW!" I yelled from under the pile of tan legs and arms I was buried in.

"Boys," Mom chided not even looking up to see her sons crushing the life out of her eldest daughter, "get off of your sister."

"Oops," Michael said with a guilty laugh, "sorry Sissy." Carefully he disentangled himself from the pile of bodies and then helped Andrew up, effectively freeing me from my captivity.

I breathed in deep, finally able to breathe properly now that their weight was off me. Together they bent down, grabbed me under my arms and hauled me to my feet. "Watch where you're going dummies!" I punched their shoulders to emphasize my displeasure at almost being a pancake.

"Sorry," they said in unison, gripping their shoulders and massaging them.

"Come on kids," Mom called, "dinner time!"

I perked up. Dinner time? I loved dinner time, well, technically I loved anytime I got fed, it was a werecat thing. I rushed to take my place at the dinner table, sitting down before Michael or Andrew even moved. My stomach growled as the scent of what Mom was setting on the table reached my nose. "You made manicotti?" I grinned hugely. Manicotti was one of my favorite meals. Mom set down a separate platter each of manicotti in front of me, Michael and Andrew and then a fourth on the end of the table where she, Melody and Clara would sit. I was salivating by the time Melody and Clara made it downstairs.

"What took you so long?" I griped as they took their seats.

They smiled identical evil smiles at me.

"Now that's just mean," I informed them. "You know I'm always starving after a run."

"You'll survive," Clara said with absolutely no pity in her pretty face.

I narrowed my eyes at her and was about to open my mouth to give her my opinion on their cruel plan to make me starve to death when Mom sat down. "That's enough girls, it's time to eat."

Then, in true white-woman fashion, Mom had us bow our heads to pray, thanking God for the food and all the blessings in our lives before allowing us to dig in. After I had eaten my fill, which was all of the manicotti Mom had made for me as well as my share of the leftovers of the plate she had made for herself, Melody and Clara, I asked to be excused before quickly making my way upstairs to my bedroom.

I had to weave my way between the last of the boxes I had yet to unpack, mostly books and clothes, to the dark blue-cushioned window seat that looked out to the trees surrounding our house. Settling myself on the plush cushions I pulled one of the boxes marked 'Books/DVDs' in my untidy scrawl. I used one abnormally long, sharp fingernail to cut through the red duck tape keeping the box closed. Inside were about twenty books and three times as many DVDs (every season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Bones and NCIS up until the current seasons, every Harry Potter movie and almost every Disney movie ever made, including all the classics). Humming tunelessly I began to sort and organize the last of my possessions, placing my books and DVDs in the shelves built into the window seat; my clothes got hung up in the closet or folded and placed in drawers.

By the time I was done everyone else in the house had already gone to bed. Not a creature was stirring, I thought with a smile, not even a mouse.

With the knowledge that my Pride was safe in their beds came a wave of exhaustion. I was barely able to pull on my baggy gray sweatpants and a red tank top before crawling into bed. I was asleep the moment my head hit the pillow, the last sound I heard was the howl of a wolf to its pack. Good hunting, wolf-brother, I thought blearily before sleep claimed me and carried me off to oblivion.