I never planned on my parents getting divorced, never planned on moving to La Push, and I never planned on having my life turn upside down.
Of course, that didn't stop it from happening.
"Do I really have to leave?" I had asked my father, hesitating before stepping out of the car.
My father looked pained. "Yes. I'm sorry."
"Dad, please." I begged. But in the end, fate won out. And so I got on a plane, destination Port Angeles, Washington, and prepared for my life to fall to pieces.
"You're late."
Those were the first words spoken to me upon exiting the airport.
I looked at my brother whom I hadn't seen in over a year. He was bigger than I remembered. A lot bigger.
"I'm sorry." I said, immediately feeling the emptiness that follows rejection. Great, I thought. He already hates me. "I got off the plane and couldn't find the baggage claim, then my phone died and I forgot to pack my charger and then I went out the wrong exit." Running out of breath, I stopped trying to explain myself.
Suddenly, Quil grinned.
"What?" I asked warily.
"Gotcha." He said.
My mouth dropped. Gotcha was the game we played when we were kids. It was basically a way of justifying sibling rivalry and making it a game, the loser being the person who was the most freaked out or frightened. I couldn't believe he remembered it after all this time.
"Quil!" I yelled as he lifted me up in a hug. His skin was too hot to be normal, but I quickly shrugged it off. I finally got to see my big brother! "You giant-sized freak! You are such a jerk."
"I didn't realize how much I missed messing with you until just now." He said.
I chose to ignore the "messing with you" part.
"I missed you, too." I said, beaming.
He rolled his eyes at me-not nice-and returned my smile. "Lets go find your luggage, Pipsqueak."
He turned and we both headed toward baggage claim.
"You're rude." I said.
"You're short." He replied.
I paused.
"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Just putting that out there."
It was like nothing had changed.
I was surprised when instead of going straight home, Quil drove us to a small red house with a motorcycle in front of it.
"Um, Quil?" I said. "I know I haven't been here in a while, but I'm pretty sure this isn't Mom's house."
"It's Jake's." He said.
"Jake's." I repeated, not getting it.
Quil slipped out of the car. "Jacob Black."
"Jacob...our cousin Jacob?" I asked.
Quil knocked on the door.
"Second cousin." Quil said as the door opened.
"Dude." Was all Jacob said before he lifted me up in a hug that seemed almost too warm to be natural. Scratch that, it was too warm to be natural.
"Hi, Jacob." I managed to choke out. Man, these guys hugged tight.
"Hey, Penny." He said, dropping me to the ground.
I stumbled back trying to regain my footing.
I looked at Quil and Jacob as they stood next to each other. The resemblance was unsettling. Was that normal for second cousins?
We walked into the house through the kitchen to the living room. Billy was in his wheelchair, watching football.
"Dammit!" He yelled right before we stepped into the room.
"We losing?" Quil asked.
"Yeah." Billy said. "It's been a horrible season."
"Tell me about it." Jacob said.
They all nodded solemnly in agreement. This season most definitely was not good.
I coughed and waved. Billy's face lit up.
"Penelope!" He said, holding out his arms. "Come give me a hug!"
I did. It was equal parts awkward and comforting. People were actually happy to see me again. So far, so good.
"We're going to leave now." Jake said. "Can I get you anything before we go?"
Billy shook his head. "Charlie's going to pick me up later."
"Charlie Swan?" I asked. I didn't even think I remembered what he looked like.
Billy smiled. "He'll be happy you remember him."
"And what about..." I struggled to remember her name. "Bella?"
Quil and Jacob exchanged glances.
"She's busy." Jacob said, looking at his feet.
"You okay?" I said.
"I'm fine." He muttered. I looked at him oddly but he didn't meet my eyes.
Something didn't seem right.
When we finally got home, the sky was dark and all the lights to the lights in the house were off.
"Is mom asleep?" I asked. Shouldn't she have waited up to see her youngest child got home safely?
Quil shrugged. "Maybe. The door should be unlocked. Go inside while Jake and I get something out of the back."
Something about the way he spoke made me hesitate, but I quickly shrugged it off and reached for the front door.
I searched blindly for the light switch and when the lights finally flickered on, my mouth dropped.
"Surprise!" Everyone yelled.
"Oh my gosh." I managed to squeak before I was tackled into a hug from my mom.
A surprise party. They threw me a surprise party, I thought. At that moment, any doubts I had about being accepted back home vanished.
"Gotcha again!" I heard Quil and Jacob cracking up behind me.
Jacob grabbed my arm and where his hand touched my skin tingled with the warmth. He led me to a group of ridiculously tall, muscular, gorgeous guys...and one pretty girl.
"Penny, this is the Pa-a few of my friends." Jake said. "This is Sam, Brady, Collin, Leah, and Jared."
Each of Jacobs's friends nodded at their names. They all looked very alike...Brady and Collin a little bit younger than Jared. But Leah and Sam stuck out for two very different reasons. Leah because, obviously, she was a girl, and beautiful. Sam because he had a certain air of confidence... power. And he looked a few years older than the rest of them. They looked like they could be in college, but he was very much an adult.
Interesting company Jacob kept.
"Hi. Its...nice to meet you." I managed to say. I was happy that so many people were here to catch up with me and a few, like these people, to meet me, but at the same time I had no idea how to act.
"It's always nice to see a new face around here." Sam said, smiling warmly.
Quil chose that moment to chime in. "You'll get sick of her soon enough."
Leah shot him a glare and Jared snorted, then looked at Sam guiltily. Brady and Collin just looked like they were itching to do something more fun than meeting some stranger.
A beautiful woman squeezed into the group and stood beside Sam.
"And that's Emily." Jacob said. "Sam's girlfriend."
Sam coughed.
"I'm sorry, fiancé." Jacob corrected himself, rolling his eyes.
Emily smiled and brushed back her hair, revealing a scar that covered the length of half her face.
"It's great to have you back." She said. "Help yourself to the food."
"Emily is an amazing cook." Quil said. "She feeds us on a daily basis."
"Oh really." I said, laughing. "I guess she has to feed an army."
Emily laughed. "This isn't even the whole group. I don't know what these boys would do without me."
"Starve." Brady said gravely.
"It's a good thing we have her, then." Sam said quietly, wrapping his arm around her waist.
"Hey guys!" Someone yelled.
I turned and saw yet another tall, beefy guy walking toward us, followed by a slightly shorter tall, beefy guy.
"Paul and Seth." Quil said, nodding to each of the guys.
"Hey." Seth said, grinning. "You're the new girl. Penelope, right?"
"Everyone calls me Penny." I said.
"I guess now we know who got the looks in the family." Paul said. "Wonder what happened to Quil."
Quil punched Paul on the shoulder hard enough that it looked like it hurt, but Paul barely flinched.
"Touchy." Jared observed.
"Hey." A low voice murmured from behind me.
"And this is Embry." Collin said, finally deciding to speak.
I turned around and looked at Embry. He was just as tall as the rest of guys, just as muscular, but looked...different.
After a moment, I met his eyes.
And then I stopped breathing.