This is my first fanfiction story, so I would greatly appreciate any feedback readers may have for me! Thank you and I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, belong to the author of the Twilight series. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
They say change can be a good thing, but Jade Pitomac had her doubts about that in this particular situation. She stared out the backseat window of her parent's SUV drawing pictures in the slightly misty surface, as her face remained fixed in a cross between a pout and a grimace.
"It sure does rain here a lot. And I highly doubt I could ever get a tan living here. How am I supposed to get Vitamin D now huh?" She was none too happy about this move to La Push, and had no problem letting her rents know her feelings.
"Jade…trust me, you'll come to love it here. The scenery is amazing, you'll like your school, you already know a few people and you make lots more friends since you're so lovable," her mom said, smirking at her from the passenger seat.
"Yeahhh.. ok. I still don't have to like it though," Jade mumbled underneath her breath.
"Honey, once you start school and get into the groove of things you'll do fine. Plus we're getting you set up with a great club team for the off season, so you'll feel at home soon enough," her dad added.
"Who else do we know here anyways? All I know is Aunt Talet, Uncle Aiden, Regi and grandma Soli."
"We have more family here, you just haven't seen them in such a long time since we lived so far away. Travel gets expensive. But I've always kept in touch with everyone," her father continued.
"There's our people here. The Quileute tribe has always been a close one, and I'm so happy to be returning. I love the reservation, and know you will too. It's a part of you."
Jade sighed, and sat back in her seat, thinking about her father's words. Perhaps she would like it here, but it didn't change the fact that she'd miss her friends she'd known all her life. Uprooting before your senior year of high school kind of throws things out of whack, especially now that she'd most likely have to rework her future plans and pick a college closer to her parents.
"And honey, you'll love the house. I guarantee you'll be so excited once you see how great your new room is," added her mom.
"Well…I better!" she glanced over at her sleeping brother to her right, and wondered if she'd spoke to loud because he fidgeted slightly.
She really didn't want to wake Sosimo, because he'd start jabbering again. Sos had talked non-stop about all sorts of annoying subjects since they landed at the Seattle airport, but that's a ten year old boy for you.
"You will, don't worry," said her father.
"Dad, how much longer until we're there? I tried to map quest it with my phone, but of course there's no signal in Rainville."
Her dad chuckled. "We've got about 45 minutes."
Jade's father had been promoted in his job as a broker for a transportation company, and accepted a new position about 45 minutes from La Push. He grew up on the reservation with his parents, sister, and brother who were all full Quileute.
"Mateo, does Billy Black still live a couple houses down on our new street?" my mother asked.
"Yes, just he and Jacob. Rebecca got married and Rachel is away at college, but yep, he e still lives there."
"Ok, I was just wondering. He was such a nice man, as was Sara and his children."
She vaguely remembered the Blacks as a child, when her family came one summer to visit her paternal grandmother, Soli. She'd usually come to visit in Virginia , however that year Jade and her family stayed for three weeks in La Push.
She remember playing with Jacob Black, who was a year younger than her, and always had a giant grin on his face. Jade used to race Jacob to the tree line of the woods behind Grandma Soli's house, and she'd beat him a few times, which he adamantly denied.
"Yes, he is. It's such a shame about Sara. She was especially close to mom," said dad.
"I remember her! She was really nice, she always made baked goods for everyone whenever I played at their house," said Jade.
"Yep, that was Sara," said Jade's mother. "You know she had a hand in how your father and I met."
Her mother went on to recap the story of how she and Sara met and became friends at college, and how she had stayed at Sara's parents house during one of their school breaks. She met Mateo during the break, seeing how he lived a few houses down from Sara's parents, and on the current street of the Blacks and their new home.
"She certainly did, and I will forever be in debt to her for introducing me to my Talia," said Mateo.
Jade snickered, her parents were always so embarrassing and gushy.
She'd heard the story before, about how Sara had invited her father to dinner, where he fell head over heels for her mother after he first met her.
She thought it was sweet, and hoped that someday she'd find a love story of her own much like her parents.
She glanced at her mother, who smiled affectionately at her father. Her mother was a mixture of ethnicities, having come from a Native American and French father, and an African American and Mexican mother.
Jade inherited her mother's wavy, light brown hair with a hint of golden and reddish undertones, and her heart shaped face with a dimple on the left side. She also had her father's smile, defined nose and dark eyebrows, but somehow inherited her maternal grandmother's bluish-grey eyes, which contrasted nicely with her caramel skin.
"You guys are so sappy!" she exclaimed.
Her father chuckled, and her mother glanced back at her and smiled.
"Oooo, ooo! Turn this up!"Jade said suddenly.
"Nooo woman no cry! No, woman no cry," she sang. Her parents had a hand in her music taste as well and she listened to a little bit of everything. But reggae always made her feel good, especially Bob Marley's music.
"Uhhnnn…..are we there yet?" came a voice from her right. Sosimo blinked his eyes and slowly began to sit up in his seat.
"Ewww. You're so crusty! Wipe that drool off your face!" she said to her brother.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve and rolled his eyes at her.
"We'll be arriving in just a few minutes."
Jade was busy checking her email and reading the sports section of the local newspaper on her phone, when the car stopped in front of a quaint two-story white house.
"We're here kids! Come on, let's get the car unloaded," said Mateo.
Jade opened the door and hopped out the car, shoving her hands in her pockets as she walked slowly towards the house, and stilled in front of the door step.
"Well, what do you think? Your dad left most of the artistic direction to me," said Talia, as she wrapped her arm around Jade's shoulder.
"It's….it's nice, from the outside. Reminds me a lot of our old house, just a little bigger."
"Well, that's what I was going for when we had it built. Come on, let's go inside and check out the rest! Especially your room."
Jade headed back to the car and grabbed a few of her bags, and followed her mom into the house.
She entered the front door and looked to the left where she saw the dining room and a kitchen, and to the right where was the living room. A bathroom was directly in front of her down a small hallway, and to the side of stairs leading to the second floor. She looked around at the warm colors and décor, surprised about how homely it was, just like back in Virginia.
"Go see your room, it's up the stairs, first door on the left," said her mother.
Jade bounded up the stairs with her bags, and stood in front of the door. She let out a breath as she pushed the door open.
Apparently, her mother had been busy while she was up here. Her room was beautifully decorated in her favorite color with a turquoise and white bed set, and turquoise curtains. On the wall was a picture of "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt, her favorite painting, which her mother had also placed in a turquoise and silvery antique frame on the wall. All of her things, with the exception of the bags in her hands were arranged and put away. Her mother had even put her flute together and placed it near the music stand by her desk and chair, and her lucky volleyball was placed in her desk chair. She set her bags down, and turned towards the door, just as her mother came up the stairs and stood in the doorway.
"So, how do you like it?" her mother asked. "Jade, I know this move is hard for you, but I promise you honey, it'll get better. You'll come to like it here, I just know it."
"Mom…you did such a great job. I love my room. Thank you," she said as she hugged her mother.
"No problem sweetie! I just love doing stuff like this, and the best part is I got the decorations from thrift stores, Target, and Pier one, so I saved a bunch of money!" With that she turned and headed back down stairs.
Jade shook her head as she sat on the bed and stared out the window, which was nice and large-which she liked because that meant lots of light could shine into her room. She stood and walked to the window looking out at her view of the woods. She had to admit, it was beautiful here, and in Richmond, the air had been nowhere near as fresh.
She opened the window a crack, and walked back towards to the door to head downstairs when she stopped suddenly, a faint howl in the distance catching her attention. That has to be a wolf, she thought.
"Jade! Can you come help us get the rest of the stuff out of the car?" she heard her father call.
"Coming!" she said, shaking herself out of her momentary daze, and ran down the stairs.
Jade glanced at the clock as she changed out of her skirt and blouse, and put on her nightgown. 12:16 am. She was beyond tired, and guessed that she must have jet lag from the last few days of packing and traveling.
On the bright side, she was done packing and officially settled into her new room, house, and hopefully La Push. She plopped down on her bed, and slipped underneath the covers, folding her hands behind her head on the pillow.
Her mind began to race, thinking about the week to come. She was apprehensive about starting school at Forks High School, but she did hear that their volleyball team was pretty good as a plus. Jade had opted to attend school in Forks because of the sports, although the reservation school would have been fine academically, but she had to have volleyball and track and Forks offered more in that area.
As a leading outside hitter in Virginia she wanted to play volleyball in college, so choosing a school that offered a decent volleyball program was important to her. She'd played on club teams for years and had also ran track, really just for volleyball conditioning. Track and field was her backup plan because Jade always planned ahead.
"Their team better not suck," she said out loud to herself.
Jade was also serious about her grades, having never had below a 3.7 in high school. She liked being known as a "goody too shoes," and she liked being on a plan. Luckily, she had two days to rest and explore the area a bit before starting school on Monday. Her thoughts began to slow, as she felt a wave of sleep overtake her.