Chapter 1
Joanna's POV:
I woke up that morning with a huge headache. I always had one when I had lacked sleep the night before, and I should have known better. But how could I pass up the opportunity to go visit the Cullen family with my sister Bella? Okay, so she isn't my sister, but she is my best friend. Oh, how I would do anything to join their happy, loving family.
Jacob walked through the door of my apartment that morning, smiling his ear-to-ear grin—the grin that lit up his whole russet face. He was here to visit Mike Newton, my father— though I wasn't sure why. They never did get along. Anyone in Forks knew that. Mike and Jacob were both in love with Bella at one time. Now Jacob had my mother, and the love of his life, Renesmee (Nessie for short), and Mike had his high school sweetheart—Jessica Stanley, my mother.
"Morning," Jacob greeted me. Mike stepped out of the hall and into the room, the atmosphere in the room becoming tense. Mike glared at Jacob and Jake's smile widened. He seemed to enjoy my dad's anger. It amused him.
Jacob wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close for a side hug.
I sighed and looked over at Mike who was tense, fists clenched at his sides in fury. "What are you doing here?" he spit through his teeth, his jaw square.
"I can't come and visit Joanna?" he asked innocently, though his grin was mocking now.
Mike let out a loud humph and walked into the kitchen.
I waited until he rounded the corner until I met Jacob's eyes. "What is it, Jake?" Jacob always visited, but this time I wasn't sure what the reason was for.
"You heard me tell your father. I just came to visit you."
I waited for the real answer, my arms folded across my chest, blue eyes lit with curiosity. I had my dad's baby blue eyes and blonde hair, shoulder length that framed my heart shaped face. Though I wasn't as pale as him, I was pretty fare. Not albino white like Bella though. I snickered and continued to wait for an answer from Jake.
Jacob left out a hefty sigh and met my eyes again, after looking down at the ground for a long moment. "Leah's back in town."
My shoulders dropped. "Oh."
Leah Clearwater lived on the little Indian reservation of La Push. I had been visiting La Push a lot lately, accompanied by Embry, Quil, Jake, Jared, and his soul mate Kim—while Leah was away.
Jared had imprinted on Kim. It's a wolf thing.
Everything was quiet. I bit my lip anxiously and twisted my hair around one shaking finger. Then the realization hit me.
Leah was back.
Oh. Oh.
"Has she gotten over the whole 'Sam' thing yet?"
Ever since Sam had left Leah for his wife Emily she had never gotten past the feeling of betrayal, unimportance. So she ran away—staying in her wolf form for many weeks now. I had been worried, but also glad that she was gone for a while. She hadn't hidden her distaste for me. Maybe because I was the only human in on their secret of the secret mythical world that lived around us. I was treated like one of the wolves (of course, without all of the craziness of rough housing and consuming large quantities of food beyond the human diet). I had come across Jake one day on my way home from school. I could never repay him from the day that he saved me from that skidding car, coming at me at ninety miles an hour…
"I'm not sure. I've heard in her thoughts that she has, but I can't be positive. Things aren't completely fixed between them, but you can tell that she's better—now that she's had time to think about the whole situation and ponder things."
I nodded understandingly. The whole situation had really hurt Leah. I felt horrible for her. Leah was beautiful; I couldn't imagine why Sam had left her. With her short black hair that framed her russet face and her tough but delicate feminine features…I guess Sam never had a choice. He wanted to be with Leah, of course, but the universe had made his decision for him. He was to be with Emily, and she was to be with him.
"Don't worry. I think she'll behave better than before. That's another reason why I came down. It's been a week since you've been down to La Push and the guys miss you—you wanna come hang out on the rez with us? It's sorta like a party…but leaning closer to a small get together. We'll hang out in my garage and I'll provide the food, of course. Maybe head down to First Beach. What do you say?"
I thought about that for a moment. Of course, Mike wouldn't have anything to say about it. I was almost eighteen, practically an adult. I should be able to make my own decisions!
"Okay," I agreed. "It'll be nice to see everyone," I added quickly.
"Great. Some of the guys and I will come and pick you up tomorrow at seven. See you then."
"Bye, Jake." I walked him towards the door and he gave me a quick hug before heading out into the cold morning air. He had come shirtless. I knew the chill weather didn't affect him in the slightest.
I heard Mike let out an angry sigh. He had heard the whole thing and would be consulting my mom, Jessica, tonight. I couldn't wait for tomorrow night to just escape Forks and go hang out on the reservation. Now the discussion tonight was what I was worried about.
Mike's POV:
HOW COULD SHE BE GOING TO LA PUSH TO SPEND TIME WITH THAT JACOB KID? SHE COULD BE DOING BETTER THINGS WITH HER LIFE THEN HANGING AROUND HIM ALL THE TIME! I'D RATHER HER HANG OUT WITH CULLEN THEN THAT VOLATILE, IMMATURE, GOOD FOR NOTHING…
"Dad, you okay? Your face is reddening," Joanna asked urgently, interrupting my fuming as she came over to me.
I let out an exasperated breath and looked at her. "Of course I'm not okay. Why are you always hanging around him?"
"He's one of my best friends. Besides I haven't been down to La Push since I was seven years old! Seven! You won't even allow me to go down there. And besides, I'm not a little kid anymore, Dad! I miss Jake, Embry, Quil, Paul, Alan, Josh, Tyler, Emily…"
"Er…how many friends do you have down there in La Push? And isn't Jacob a little old for you? He's married, right?" I asked surprisingly as she continued to name various names I hadn't heard of.
"Yes, he is married. To Renesmee Cullen. And I have quite a few friends down there. And they all care about me. I just wish you wouldn't freak out every time I mentioned going down there and that you wouldn't deny any permission every time that I wanted to! Just because you have some kind of beef with Jacob, doesn't mean…"
I held my hand out and Joanna closed her mouth. "Joanna Gabriella Newton, do you honestly think that I am keeping you from going down there because I have some kind of problem with Jacob Black?"
She shook her head. "I don't think you do…I know. When will this stop? It's been twenty years for crying out loud! Get over it."
Even though the words she was speaking out loud were true I couldn't help but feel a little hurt. I could read the apology in her eyes, even though she meant what she said. When was I ever going to forgive Jacob for always spending time with Bella and never giving me the chance? I was married to Jessica now. I just had to accept the fact that she had wanted to spend her time with Jacob and Cullen and focus on the present.
I sighed and looked at Joanna who was watching me, waiting for my reaction to what she had just said, mouthing gaping open in shock at her own words.
"You're right, Jo. I'm overreacting. Go have fun in La Push tomorrow. Spend some time with the guys and girls down there and enjoy yourself. It's been a while, hasn't it?" I smiled and put my arm around her.
"Really?" she gasped, pulling away and looking at me.
I nodded sincerely. What was I doing? "Yes. Go and have a great time."
"Thank you so much!" she said happily as she ran out of the room and down the hall.
I sighed. Did I really just given her permission to spend time with Jacob Black in La Push?
Yes. Yes I did.