Ch 1. Who Is He?

I was running towards him, fingers outstretched. He seemed so real, and he was standing right there! I reached up to his face, and…

"BEEPBEEPBEEPBEE-!" I slammed my hand down onto the source, irritation rumbling in my mind. I heard it crack and mentally cursed myself. 'Dammit. There goes my alarm clock. I'll have Emmett fix it later.' Ugh. That had been the best dream that I've had so far, and my stupid alarm HAD to wake me up when it was getting good!

"Nessie!"

Yep, Mom was already here. I stretched and stared at the moon and star design on my ceiling. Grandma Esme had redone one of the guest rooms for me so that I can sleep at the big house whenever I want. And actually, I spend most of my time at the big house, because Mom and Dad are going through their mid-life crisis's, which apparently require copious amounts of late night sex. So, I moved in here. Then, a wonderful thought creeped into my mind; it's the last day of school! I jumped out of bed and walked to my closet, humming my new favorite song, "Where Have You Been?" by Manchester Orchestra. I didn't want to wear anything THAT nice since it was the last day of high school, but decided to make a nice last impression and scraped together an outfit. I grabbed my backpack and cell phone, and raced down the stairs. Everyone was there (minus Grandpa Carlisle; he LOVES to take the night shift, and the no sleep thing helps), getting ready to go out. Hmm, they never go out…this is a nice change of pace.

Aunt Alice swept her eyes over me, nodding. "Well, I would have chosen your purple tank, but otherwise, I approve." I rolled my eyes playfully. Even though I have a pretty good sense of fashion, Aunt Alice feels the intense need to approve my clothing choices.

Dad stood up swiftly from his place next to Mom at the piano and walked over. "You ready?"

I snatched a water bottle from the fridge and nodded. "Yup."

We ran out to the garage and slid into the Volvo. Its engine started up with a purr and the forest around us blurred as we raced down the driveway. The town was stirring; just the shop owners and joggers were up and moving. The ride was really quiet. We talked about the weather, and what we might do over the summer, but that was mostly it.

He pulled up to the school quickly and I spotted one person who I wanted to see.

"Bye Daddy!" I kissed him swiftly on the cheek and hopped out of the car, running towards her. I caught her from behind and squeezed her in a huge hug. "Hi Manders!"

She laughed. "Hi Nessers."

Amanda Uley is my absolute best friend in the entire world; she's practically my sister. I convinced her to go the Forks High School instead of the high school on the rez after we finished 8th grade. Her parents, Emily and Sam, are like my foster parents, because I spend most days of the week at her house.

"Hello? Nessie! You somewhere in there?" I snapped back to Earth and saw Amanda standing in front of me, looking amused. "Thinking about Dream Boy?"

I blushed so deeply that even Mom would have been proud. "Maybe…so?"

Amanda laughed. "Do you even know if he exists or not?"

I shrugged, but my shoulders slumped. "No. So, how's Seth?" Amanda and Seth have been going out for about 2 months now.

A roar coming from down the road interrupted our conversation. "Speak of the devil, and devil shall appear…" Amanda whispered in my ear. Of course, the La Push wolf gang. Seth was in it, from his being a werewolf and all. They slowed to a stop in front of the school, impatient with all the early morning traffic. On boy in the back caught my eye. He looked incredibly familiar…HOLY CRAP! That boy was Dream Boy! I stared at him, and he did a double take at me. He didn't watch where he was going, so he ran into Seth. Seth turned around and bared his teeth, growling. I giggled and ran out of the starting rain towards Amanda.

"So, who was that guy who ran into Seth?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh. THAT'S Jacob Black. He's Billy Black's son." Jacob…so, I finally had a name for the face.

"Why haven't I ever seen him around before?"

Amanda clicked open her locker and started pulling out books. "He just finished up his last year at Washington State. He's moved back to La Push till he can get a job, which isn't happening fast enough for Billy, or ME. He's always moping about how LONELY he is, and how he wants a GIRLFRIEND. What a whiner."

A girlfriend? Well, I could fill that void! All I'll have to do is hone in on my flirt skills and do some smooth talking! The late bell snapped me out of my thoughts, and I joined Amanda in a mad dash for 1st period, earning the death glare from a few passing administrators.

All through English, I couldn't stop thinking about Dream Boy. I just had to figure out a way to meet him!

"Ms. Cullen!"

I came back to Earth (I seemed to be doing that a lot lately) and saw Mr. Howard standing by the whiteboard, looking really annoyed. "Now, that you've decided to join us again, would you care to explain your answer to question four?" Monica Stanley snickered, and I shot her a dirty look before launching into my speech. Daydreaming can't last forever, unfortunately…

The final bell (which sounds frighteningly familiar to my now smashed alarm clock, just more nasal) rang out, freeing us from Trigonometry. Amanda and I grabbed our stuff and dashed (human dashing!) out to the parking lot. The downpour had turned into light mist, and it felt good after the hot, stuffy classroom.

"Wanna spend the night at my place? It's lasagna night…" She added this, knowing that it would only make me want to go to La Push more; like I even needed convincing.

"Okay. Let me call Mom first." I whipped out my cell phone and dialed Mom's number. She picked up even before the first ring was over. "Hi Renesmee. Yes, you can sleep over at Amanda's." Alice. Of course, she would have seen me calling to ask.

"Thanks Mom. I'll be home tomorrow. Love you!" I clicked the phone shut and nodded to Amanda. We were the last ones in the lot by now, so we set off in a full sprint towards La Push. Nobody (not even Billy or Old Quil Atera) is sure whether the werewolf gene was passed down through Sam to Amanda. But, she is as strong and as fast as the others.

We reached the borderline quickly and slowed to a walk through the village. "Well…it happened." Amanda sighed dramatically, tempting me to ask her.

I looked over at her curiously. "What happened?"

"Seth imprinted on me…DON'T FREAK OUT!"

My mouth hung open in shock. "How can you tell?"

She smiled towards the jagged cliffs beyond the village. "I asked Mom about it when I had my suspicions. She told me about her and Dad, and what happened with them. He'll look at you really seriously, almost like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time, never want to leave your side, and basically acts like a lovesick boy."

I gagged. "A lovesick BOY? That sounds horrifying!"

Amanda laughed. "Aww, it's not SO bad! And that's probably how Dream Boy is going to act when he meets you; if he even exists!" I stopped her. If I wanted to meet Jacob, I had to tell her. It was now or never.

"Jacob is Dream Boy" I said in a flat voice. She blinked and took off in a full sprint up the road. "Amanda! Where are you going?"

She yelled over her shoulder. "Jacob's house!" She wouldn't. I ran after her and jumped on her back, knocking her to the ground.

"Amanda Lauren Uley, if you mention ANYTHING to Jacob about my dreams, so help me, I'll…I'll…I'll tell Seth about our EIGHTH GRADE SPRING BREAK."

Her eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."

I folded my arms across my chest. "There's no telling what I would and wouldn't do when it comes to love." A wicked smile spread across Amanda's face.

"Fine. I won't say anything to Jake. But, you should know, whenever Mom makes lasagna, the ENTIRE PACK comes over."