"This is going to be annoying," I said under my breath. My family and I were leaving the airport and heading for the new house when it started raining. It rained a lot back in Texas since we lived near the coast, but it was humid. The rain here was turning into snow before it touched the ground. We never got much snow back home- think every 10 years- which made it kind of exciting if, by some miracle, it did snow that year. In elementary school, we had a snow day, which was really just a machine that crushed ice and then threw it into the air. As a child, it was magical!

Even though it wasn't really snowing, it was still cold and wet, which was kind of gross. I wasn't one to get sick often, but maybe that was just because I was never in weather like that. I checked my phone and the weather page said it was going to be icky for at least the rest of the week. Ugh. I liked seeing the sun, thank you very much.

"Ma, I think I need to get more cold weather-type clothes. I doubt these threadbare jeans are going to insulate whatsoever."

My mom just nodded her head and went on reading her celebrity gossip magazines. She was the prissy type and at times she could be very ditzy. I liked to think of her as my little sister. My dad was just a jerk who cared about work, money, and being in control. Most of the time he wasn't home, which was good because we fought a lot and it upset my mom. I would rather not fight with her. If I had to choose between them, I would choose her since we just had little stupid arguments and then went back to normal, whereas with my dad we just wouldn't stop fighting.

"How much further is it?" Finn asked.

"It should be around an hour or so away," my dad answered, looking at his big orange key map book.

We didn't really believe in GPS. I, personally, enjoyed mapping out adventures and I was good at it. Plus, my friend back home depended on his so much and it got really annoying when the stupid thing would make us go in circles and add on so much time. Very frustrating.

"When can we go shopping for stuff? I need big jackets, scarfs, hats- maybe even one of those Russian trapper hats! I probably should get hiking boots, too. And maybe even-"

I was cut off from my dad, "Tilly, can you just shut up 'til we get there?"

"Whatever. I'm just trying to plan ahead and figure out what I'm going to do since we had to pack up everything and haul shit up here in such a hurry for your stupid job," I snapped at him.

"Tilly! Watch your mouth!" My mom whipped around and yelled at me, pointing her finger in my face. When she turned back around I flipped her off. Finn just laughed and then punched my arm. I frogged him back and when he groaned in pain I laughed at him.

My brother and I had an odd relationship. It was a love/hate relationship, but we still were kind of friends. It got better as we got older- plus, I grew up and got taller and wider than him, so that helped. He definitely got my mom's body- short and skinny- while I got my dad's body- tallish and wide. The only small things I had were my hands, feet, legs, and eyes. I got my brown eyes from my dad too, but I had a weird squiggly line of green in the middle. My hair changed frequently, but at that moment it was red, wavy, and long. It was probably the most exciting thing about me. Which is sad. I had very pasty skin, and that was definitely odd in Texas. Actually, I was quite the oddball back home. Compared to the masses of over-processed blondes, orange skin, and Coach purses, I was a weird, pale redhead with a backpack. But in time, I would be a fair 40 year old that looked 30, while they will look like 90 year old leather bags! Hah! Can't wait.

I took a nap since we had a bunch of time until we got to La Push. By the time I woke up, my mom said we were a few minutes away, so we got everything together. I looked out the window and I saw nothing but trees. It was beautiful, but I felt like we weren't near civilization. I mean, where was everyone? I was used to seeing chemical plants with bright lights and trains that you can hear in the mornings. Here, it was tree, after tree, after tree. I did catch a small convenience store between trees and an auto shop. Not much, but at least it was something. I was afraid we had just gone from a small town to an even smaller town! Great.

When we pulled into the driveway, I was happy to see it was a nice-looking two-story house. Basically a tall cabin/house. It was surrounded by the woods, which kind of freaked me out, but it was oddly enough safe-looking. I was glad I had Charly, the family dog, who I loved so much. Charly was a big mutt who would only bark if the door bell rang, or if he saw someone tall. He loved kids and all the people we bring over, but tall men? Nuh-uh. I tried to keep him away from tall men, but hey, I couldn't help it that all those men flocked when I was near! Yeah right! I was pretty sure that my paleness drove them off, actually!

I shoved the car door and ran for the house. I had to find myself a room and if I let Finn pick first, I could end up with a tiny closet of a room! So I ripped open the front door and went hunting for the perfect room. It was on the second floor, and super spacious. The room had two windows and a walk-in closet that was bigger than my other one. I was so excited to get all my stuff in there and prepare for the new future!