(A/N: This is my first story on here so...enjoy! XD

I do not own Twilight; I'm not Stephenie Meyer, etc.)

Claire's POV

"Alright," a deep voice bellowed from behind me, "I'm ready."

"Me too," I nodded and cued the coach to start the music. Counting off silently in my head, I flipped backwards onto my stunt partner's waiting hands and landed on a perfect cupie. He put me down for a few seconds, and then I was airborne again in a toe-touch basket toss. We continued stunting for a few minutes more, and then worked on the team cheers.

"Okay, everyone, practice is over. Hannah, don't forget to work on your scorpion. Good job, Claire," The coach dismissed us absentmindedly, not looking up from her clipboard, "Don't forget, we're going to Nationals in a few weeks. It might seem far off but it's not. Enjoy your weekend."

"Oh my gosh," Caitlin, the head cheerleader, squealed, "You were awesome out there. I have a feeling I'm looking at a future me!"

I grinned at her. "Thanks. We're so going to rock nationals!"

We all gave each other hugs, and then I grabbed my stuff and headed towards the door. "I've got to go, Cait, I don't need a ride today."

"Oh, by the way, there's going to be a big party at Aiden's house today," She said while taking out her tight ponytail, "You should come. I'll pick you up at 8."

"Sure, I'll text you later!"

I walked out of the girl's locker room, into the hallways, then out the main entrance of my high school. Quil was waiting there, jiggling his keys around in his hand anxiously. I approached the car and opened the trunk, stuffing my backpack and gym bag into it. Quil stopped me before I could get inside the car. "I was watching you today," He said.

I groaned. "Quil…"

"I just don't feel safe with you doing things like that!"

"It's just stunting. Besides, we all make sure we're safe before we do anything."

"You can't be sure when you're flying 6 feet in the air."

"Whatever. Anyways, there's a party up at Aiden's tonight."

"That senior guy's house?" Quil scoffed.

"He's not just a senior guy, he's my friend!"

"Claire, you're a freshman and he's a senior. In La Push High School that just means you can't be friends."

"Says you," I grumbled.

"What was that?"

I sighed heavily. "You can't always baby me, Quil! I mean sure, maybe stuff like that didn't happen when you were going to La Push High, but things are different now! I'm different!"

"Oh and how are you so different? You're popular and I wasn't? You're a cheerleader? You won't get special treatment just because of that."

"This is stupid!" I folded my arms. I had no patience for this.

We drove in silence for the next 10 minutes, until he pulled up onto a large wooden house on the edge of the reservation.

"I'm sorry, Claire, but you can't go to that party. It's just not safe," His tone had softened and he got out of the car. A few seconds later, I followed him and took my bags from his hand.

"Oh, I'm going to that party," I glared at him and stomped into the house.

* * *

"Um, Cait can we slow down a little? This feels kind of dangerous." I questioned nervously. The convertible was swaying from side to side, the wind blowing my long brown hair back. The force of the wind pushed me against the back of the seat, and I gripped the car seat tightly, though my newly manicured nails already felt like they'd been ripped off. I felt carsick, like I was about to throw up.

"Lighten up, Claire. We're not speeding and I only had, like, one sip," She hiccupped, slurring her words. Though she claimed she'd only had a sip of beer, I was pretty sure she'd had much more. I was starting to feel guilty for yelling at Quil. Maybe he had been right. I sure didn't feel safe now.

Quil was always there for me, ever since I was two. Even as a child, I had enjoyed the feeling of being in the air and one day Quil had taken me to the park. He had turned his attention to my sister for one minute, to look at the scrapes she had gotten from falling off the swings. In that one minute, I had climbed up on top of the monkey bars. I was just four then and waving my legs off the thin rails had been the most exciting thing I'd ever done. "Look, Quil!" I shouted, and yelped as I pushed myself of the bars. I clearly remembered that moment and if he hadn't caught me, I would've hurt my head badly against the pavement under the rusty iron bars. Quil then took me aside, hugged me, and said, "Don't you ever scare me like that again, you hear Claire?"

A sudden swerve had caught my attention. My throat erupted into a scream when I saw the big, bright yellow lights driving at about 80 miles per hour directly at me.

Quil's POV

Quil! Come on you have to get to Emily's right now! I heard a voice shout in my head.

Shut up, Brady, what's the big deal?

I don't know, but Sam says you have to get here as quick as possible.

I sighed and ran towards the house, just remembering to phase back before I left the woods of La Push. Walking to the house, I smelled a sickly sweet, faint smell. Impossible, I thought, the guys wouldn't need me to handle one little vampire.

I felt worried though, and I quickened my pace, closing the distance between Emily's house and myself in just a few seconds. The sight before my eyes shocked me. The guys were all gathered around a small, limp body lying on a small, cushioned platform, but a little distance back. Carlisle Cullen, the head of the vampires, was kneeling closest to the body, moving at an inhumanly fast pace, attaching various tubes and such to the body's arms and legs. I could hardly recognize the face of the body because it was so scarred, but when I looked closer, I realized with a shock that it was Claire.

I took a step back. Her face was badly scratched, with a huge scar on her forehead. Her nose seemed extremely crooked and misplaced. Even though she was unconscious, her body was contorted into a painful figure.

A few silent minutes passed by before I finally cleared my throat. "What's going on?" My voice was hoarse and cracked.

"She was in a car accident," Dr. Cullen dismissed my question, still checking on the tubes that were now branching off of Claire's body.

"Is she going to be okay?" Emily spoke, the usual softness in her voice now missing. She had asked the question we'd all been waiting to be asked, but were too afraid to do it ourselves.

"Well…I'm afraid she can't hang on for much longer. Her heart is weakening as we speak."

"No…no," Emily sobbed, her tears erupting from behind her eyelids. She'd been a mother to Claire ever since her biological parents died when she was six. She muffled her sobs with Sam's chest and he ran his hands through her hair. His face was contorted into a strange expression that looked like he was in crucial pain. Over the 8 years she'd spent with him and Emily, they had all grown close, like a family and Sam was as more attached to the girl than any of us had ever been; even me. "Please," Emily choked, "There has to be something. Anything…"

"There's only one thing I can do to save her at this point, but I'm afraid it would be against the treaty we agreed to…"

We all knew what he meant, even Emily. "Sam, please…she's just so young and…" Her voice broke off at the end.

"I believe I should discuss this with the pack," Sam spoke with authority, even though I knew he felt like breaking down in tears. I could tell we all did.

We walked into the kitchen slowly. The room was usually filled with so much liveliness and meaningless chatter, but today it felt dead.

"What should we do?" Jacob said. I had hardly noticed he was even there. He spent all his time with the Cullen family these days, looking over Renesmee.

"Let's have a vote," Sam cleared his throat and took the lead, his job as an Alpha, "All in favor of…changing Claire into a…well, you know."

Slowly, one by one they all raised their hands. Then, I realized my own was the only one not in the air.

"Quil, I know you love her, we all do and we know how much she means to you, but I think we can all agree that she deserves to live her life," Sam reasoned.

I paused for a minute, thinking of the subject. "What if it's not the same for us? What if she changes and she's not the one for me anymore?" I pushed back the tears that were threatening to pour over my cheeks. Guys don't cry, I told myself.

"Look, she's going to change, but the thing that you have between you and her, that's never going to disappear," Jake patted me on the back sympathetically.

I reluctantly raised my hand and felt like I was in kindergarten again, taking a guess at an answer I wasn't sure about, but this was different. In life, you don't get to 'try again'.

The pack returned through the door. I stayed planted firmly in my seat for a few minutes, then got up and followed them in.

"We've all made our decision," Sam started, "Dr. Cullen…if you will."

He gestured awkwardly towards Claire's neck. Carlisle nodded back seriously and approached the limp body. I hardly noticed the violent tremors erupting up and down my spine. Jake approached me and patted me on the back. "Calm down," He whispered. I tried to push the anger away as the doctor moved closer to her gray skin. Carlisle opened his mouth wide and sunk his sharp teeth into her neck. Claire twitched, her mouth dropping into a gaping hole, screeching in pain. My anger took control and I lunged forward to the trembling figure on the couch, only to be held back by Seth, Jared, Paul, and Jacob.

"Let me go!" I howled, "Let me…"

Embry tackled me from the back, clapping his hands over my mouth. They all dragged me out the door and into the forest. "Go, Quil. Come back when you can control yourself," I was too furious to identify the voice. They all shoved me into the woods, just a few short moments before I felt my body erupt into a large, chocolate brown furred wolf. I ran into the forest, the sticks cracking under my paws. I howled furiously, fighting the person inside me who wanted to run back into the house. I don't know how long I ran, or when I finally decided to stop, but surprisingly, I ended up back at Emily's yard. I entered unable to keep myself away from Claire anymore.

She looked different, and I knew I should've expected it, but I didn't. I sighed and reminded myself that she'd never be the same again.