Disclaimer: For the entire story... Everything, all of the werewolf legends, characters, etc. belong to Stephenie Meyer. I am not gaining any profit of this story.

To my (few) readers... enjoy. I only have the first chapter done currently. I might extend it if people are interested. :)

My world stopped on March 1. Everything I thought I knew no longer existed. I'd seen this all before, but the second she came laughing into the house a permanent shock ran through my veins. I thought I knew what it felt like to find your soul mate, but it was not even close. Nothing can compare to the day I feel in love with Hayley Antoinette Strong. -Seth

I taped my pencil against the desk while nervously waiting for class to start. I knew I shouldn't be nervous, after all it was my second semester in college, but I couldn't seem to calm my nerves. Though I normally ran late, I had showed up early to class to make a good impression on the first day. Also, as I had unfortunately learned last semester, teachers don't have assigned seating and getting no desk the first day means no desk all semester. Groan. A cute guy came in and sat down next to me, carelessly pulling out his books. I started to plan my conversation with him, introducing myself while casually flirting, but quickly I stopped myself. I swallowed hard, remembering why I had given up on guys in the first place. Will. His name still affected my wellbeing after over six months. Technically, seven months and a few days, but time didn't matter anymore. I glared down in disgust; I had been doing so well at controlling my feelings about that certain subject. I was too strong to let one little name ruin my afternoon.

I felt a tap on my shoulder that pulled me out of my reverie, and I quickly looked up.

"Sorry, I was wondering if this seat was taken?" said a worried looking girl with beautiful long brown hair. I wondered if she was worried about the class, or the fact that I must have had an ugly, hurt expression on my face when I looked at her.

"Ahh, no, go right ahead!" I hoped to soothe her troubled look by replying much too eagerly. Poor girl probably received an accidental glare from me.

"Thank you so much! Ugh I got lost trying to find this class, and I was afraid I was going to be late for my first college experience! That would have been so bad! Kim, by the way," she spewed, taking a deep breath after her long thanks.

"Hayley. This is your first semester at PC?" I smiled, holding back a laugh at her mix of nerves and excitement.

"Yep! I was always planning on starting in the Fall, but, well, things happen, you know?"

"Umm, yeah. So uh, where are you from?"

"Oh, La Push, not too far from here. It's actually a beautiful place, right on the coast." Her face lit up at the mention of her hometown, she obviously loved it there. "What part of Washington are you from?"

I'd heard that question many times since I started at PCC and knew there was much confusion to come. "Actually, I'm from Northern California." I slightly smiled at her confused face before continuing. "I know, people don't normally go to a community college out of state. But my dad is the president of the community college in my hometown, so he has some connections." How thankful I was for those precious connections, the ones that let me escape and start fresh.

"Why of all places would you come to Port Angeles? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love it here, but it's no LA"

"Well, my options were A. Stay home, B. Here C. Northern Wisconsin or D. Kansas. Staying home was completely out of the question, Wisconsin is far too cold, and Kansas just sounded miserable. That left me with option b, and I was happy to take it"

"You do realize it gets pretty cold here too. And on top of that, there is a constant rainfall. Seriously, it never seems to end. On the positive side, you never need to worry about droughts."

I smiled at her humor. "Oh, but I love the rain! I love the smell right after its poured and the drizzle in the morning. And the droplets that cover all the plants and flowers. It's just the cold I can't stand. I swear, no matter how many layers I put on, I still manage to be freezing! But the rain and the beauty of this place makes it almost worth it."

Kim laughed and started to respond but the Professor abruptly started writing on the board, and I scrambled to copy down the class guidelines.

After a boring first class, the professor let us out an hour early, as long as we promised to copy down a classmate's name, number, and email in case we missed a day of class. I turned to Kim, and we quickly exchanged our contact information. She gave me two numbers, her cell phone and her friend Emily's house, where she spent most of her time. She gave me both numbers, claiming she had little cell service in La Push, didn't have a house phone and rarely checked her email.

Kim definitely had friend potential. She reminded me of my best friend back on California. I missed them a lot but my decision had turned out well so far. I had made new friends at the coffee shop I worked at, gotten straight A's in my classes, and kept 'the rules' I promised I'd keep when I moved.

I came here to heal, to grow. To remember how strong I was, and realize how strong I can be. I spent too long being an victim of my pain. They tried to tell me I was running away from my hurt, stuffing it down and letting it haunt me. But they were exactly wrong. I came to Washington to separate myself from all the pain and let time heal my wounds.