September 8th

The car lurched and my body jerked forward with the movement.

"I can't do this." I muttered in exasperation, staring at the old steering wheel of the faded red truck.

We were in the car park overlooking the beach in La Push, the tendrils of the sun poking over the horizon. We'd been practicing for what felt like hours. Avoiding the gaze of my passenger, I went to turn off the ignition. Seth stared at me.

"Ness, you're just doubting yourself! C'mon this was your idea in the first place." Seth spoke encouragingly.

I stared back at him, narrowing my eyes. Easy for you to say. I see the picture of the words in my head and for a split second he went rigid and his eyes glassy, but when I blinked it was gone. He rolled his eyes at me. Oops.

"Ness, I've been driving for 15 years. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing."

"And yet you still don't have a licence?" I countered back at him and he shrugs one shoulder, turning his eyes back on the road. He silently watched the waning sun, his fingers drumming on his knee. I sighed.

"Look, I just don't see why this is important. I mean, I don't really need to learn how to drive when I have you…" I trailed off and he snorted.

"What? So I'm your designated chauffeur now. Nice try sis. You're sixteen in a few days, surely you would be dying for some independence! I remember when I was sixteen and I couldn't wait to drive Charlie's truck." He was smiling at me now and I couldn't help but feel my cheeks burn. Why did he always think of me as his little sister! Ugh. I tried to play off the sting of his relation to me and looked back at the beach.

"Fine, but if I fail this driving test then you're still driving me around till I try it next time" I grumbled. Seth ignored my cynicism and bounced turning his body to the front.

"That's the spirit! Now remember what I told you before, double pump the clutch before you try to change gears." I shuddered at his enthusiasm and pushed my sleeves up. If I was going to suck at this, I was going to suck epically.

I put my foot down on the clutch and it creaked as I pushed it all the way in and revved the engine with my other foot. Narrowing my eyes at the dashboard I watched the needle climb until it got to the right amount and slowly released my foot off the clutch just like Seth taught me. With a groan the old truck rolled forward and didn't stop. Seth hooted and the surprise of me actually getting the car moving was replaced with fear of what to do next. Seth, sensing my shock instructed me what to do next.

"Okay now keep going, you're in first gear so remember, foot in and move the gear stick down." I looked over at him and grinned when the car kept moving but this time a bit faster. Seth was whooping with his head out the window. I began to feel the bubble of laughter escape me, his good mood was contagious. We kept going forward until we reached the end of the car park and I gently eased the clutch back in and placed my foot on the break. Seth sat back down grinning.

"What did I tell you Ness. I'm the perfect teacher" He said lacing his fingers together and pushing his arms in front of him with a sly grin. I rolled my eyes and softly punched his shoulder.

"Debateable." I sniffed back but my sarcasm didn't faze him. We practiced for another 10 minutes before I drove the car and parked it overlooking the beach. We sat in the car in silence watching the outline of a man and woman walking quietly along the beach. They stopped and turned to each other and began making out. I quickly averted my gaze and looked back at Seth about to talk about how disgusting PDAs were, when a howl echoed from the forest behind us. Seth stiffened and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Time to go. Seth turned to face me.

"I'm sorry Ness, but looks like our driving lesson is done for the day. Did you want me to drop you off at the border?" He was already midway out the car about to walk around to my side. The border he was referring to was the agreed border of Quiluette land and the Cullens. The sun was setting gloriously behind him and I squinted up at him.

"Nah, I can walk…" I trailed off but his expression turned dark. I sighed and scooted over to the passenger side and clicked my seatbelt on. Seth had already put the car into gear and we were moving.

"No way, you know how much trouble I was in the last time you decided to walk home" He said knowingly and I felt my cheeks warm. The memory of a few months ago when I'd left Seth's house and stumbled upon a newborn vampire in the clearing by myself at night. The newborn had caught my scent on the breeze and was ravenous with the thirst. Despite being half vampire, my blood was still human and apparently I was extra appealing to him that night. Luckily, before anything too bad happened two giant wolves burst out from the thicket of trees and ripped him to shreds. That was the first time I learned that werewolves were a thing and to top it all off, that it was Embry and Paul who were just as much my uncles as Jasper and Emmett. When I explained I was walking back from Seth's house, they were pissed. And so was dad when they rushed me to the border where my very very pissed off father was waiting for me. Oops. The ride home was extremely awkward for me when dad relived the fresh memory in my mind. Seth had also gotten yelled at by my dad and Uncle Sam, who I learned was the alpha of the pack for 1. Letting me walk home alone and 2. For missing patrols because he overslept his alarm from watching Buffy the vampire slayer with me till 2 am. It had only been recently that I had been removed from house arrest and placed on home detention, only allowed to visit the reservation for driving lessons with Seth. We talked on the phone everyday, mainly because I felt guilty and embarrassed for dad's overbearing nature and also because I was curious about the wolf thing. Seth told me stories about how his ancestors were descendants of wolves and how the pack formed because my family, the Cullens moved back to Forks 18 years ago. I was still yet to see Seth in his wolf form as he refused to "put me in danger again" which confused me. I had no reason to believe that what Embry and Paul were going to hurt me when they were in wolf form but I didn't push him, he looked extremely uncomfortable, as if he was being compelled not to say anything more. Weird. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out and sighed.

"Anne-marie is such an attention seeker" I said flicking through my newsfeed to see her latest post of herself with yet another bikini picture posed what seemed to be herself sunbaking on one of the cliffs which I recognised in La Push. Her trout lips pouting and her eyes looking nearly cross eyed as she back at me. Seth glanced over and laughed.

"Making senior year my bitch" He read the caption and his eyes lingered a bit too long on her huge fake boobs that she got for her 17th birthday in June. I quickly double tapped and flicked the photo away. Seth looked ahead again and I felt hot jealousy flash through me.

"I don't see anything wrong with what she posts" he trailed off as I glared at him.

"Don't be such a prude Ness!" he laughed and I humph and sit back in my seat, going through my text messages.

Where are you? It's nearly 7pm. read the most recent message from my dad. I quickly typed back that I was on my way with Seth when it buzzed again.

I know. Aunt Alice saw. Ugh. Having a family of vampires with powers was annoying. After 45 minutes of driving, the car rolled to a stop in front of our huge house. I looked up to see an Adonis looking boy with hair like mine in the window. His pitch black eyes staring straight back at me. Gulp. I turned to Seth and quickly threw my arms around him in a brief hug.

"Thanks for the driving lesson today Seth! Are you still coming to my birthday this Saturday?" I tried not to sound too hopeful and was rewarded with a little smile from him.

"Of course, Ness, Charlie and mom are making me come." I deflated a little but tried to keep my voice cheery. He's only coming because they're my grandparents and his parents.

"Okay! Well have a good shift and text me when you finish!" He ruffled my hair before I slammed the door of the truck and watched him chuff away in the old red truck. My brief happiness with him was cut short when I felt the air move next to me.

"You're late Renesmee." The voice behind me said and I turned around and looked up at my ageless father.

"Hey dad."