I wasn't surprised that people were staring. They had a way of doing that in La Push whenever something new and shiny made an appearance.

The amount of attention we got just by driving through the town made me turn scarlet. One of my many downfalls, I'd turn beet red if someone even glanced in my direction. The staring was the most annoying part. I mean wasn't it rude? Wasn't it common courtesy to keep your eyes AWAY from other people? Granted I could barely look someone in the eye when they spoke to me, so what did I know about socialization anymore?

I rolled my eyes and sank further into the passenger seat, Mom chuckling quietly to herself as if something was funny.

"What?" I asked quietly, trying to hold back my own smile. She looked a lot like Ya-Ya when she grinned, not that I'd tell her that. She'd probably strangle me. Oh, right. I forgot. Ya-Ya is Mom's sister, the one I'm getting shipped off to live with. If you asked Mom, it was "productive relocation that would better us all in the long run." I called it she didn't want me, and therefore I was being handed over to the nearest relative. The truth was, we were both wrong. Mom was getting a new job in New York, which was not only halfway across the nation, it was also more than a 20 hour drive away from my Dad, which was out of the question for the custody deal.

Part of me wanted to wring her skinny little neck. I mean, if she'd really wanted to, she could've turned the job down. She could've stayed with me and Aldin, my 3 year old brother who was currently snoozing away in the back seat, his thick black hair sticking to his forehead the way it always did. It wasn't like I would never see her again, but I couldn't help but feel that some sort of abandonment was lodging itself in the middle of my chest, and that in some sort of sense she felt relieved to get rid of us-as if she was finally getting her long distraught, worn-out dream of being able to escape back to a time where she had no kids, no responsibilities.

Whatever. La Push is stupid.

"Who knows, maybe you'll find some new friends around here." Mom suggested, watching a group of teenagers bob across the road. I rolled my eyes again.

"I liked my old friends."

"I'm not surprised, it took you years to make them." Mom grumbled. She never was very fond of my shy demeanor. It wasn't that I didn't like people, I actually loved people, it was just that you never knew how they were going to treat you. I mean after all, here was my mother, the woman who gave birth to me, and she was hauling me off to some old, decrepit town so that she could go re-live her college dream fantasy. If she couldn't be reliable, who could? It was a shame how quickly people were able to trust strangers. Didn't anybody ever learn?

"I'm sorry," Mom murmured after some time, guilt coating her tone. "That was mean. I shouldn't have said it."

"You were right, so there's really no reason to draw it out." I snapped, keeping my eyes on the trees. Mom was quiet again.

"Sweetie I just think you need to learn how to be a little more…open."

"Right."

"Hale-"

"I don't want to talk about it."

And with that, the conversation was over. Aldin stirred in the backseat, his yawn filling the car.

"Morning kiddo." I smiled, turning in my seat to face him. He grinned at me, a perfect set of square, white teeth flashing as he did so.

"Here we are." Mom grinned, her face warming up although she never really was fond of this place. I winked at Aldin, who giggled lightly.

The house was beautiful, that much I couldn't lie about. It was dark brown, and two stories, with white lights strung along the porch. The windowpanes were cherry-wood auburn with black knobs, like back in the renaissance times. The front door was wide, with long stain-glassed windows stretching from top to middle.

I pulled myself out of the car gingerly, my dark curls shifting against my shoulders. For once, I was grateful for the unruly mop-it was keeping me warm. YaYa practically exploded from the house, Adam laughing as he strolled out of the house behind her.

"Jeez, Ya. Don't give the poor child a heart attack." He scolded as my aunt crushed me in a hug. She pulled away from me, her black, straight, strands framing her oval face, her black eyes glinting in the grey sky light.

"Welcome home," She murmured, studying me as if she was deciding something. "You'll fit right in around here."

Fit right in? First off, I wasn't even full Native American. My MOM was Quileute, and my Dad was black, making me some sort of weird AfricaNativeAmerican love child. Second, my features looked nothing like that of a Quileute. My face was heart shaped, with a small but full-lipped mouth. My nose was somewhat wide, but I'd luckily taken after my Mom when it came to the almond-shaped eyes. They were large, and dark, with thick lashes.

"Thanks." I murmured, grabbing a few of my bags and heading towards the door.

Adam pulled all three of them out of my hand with ease, as if they weighed the same amount as an empty cardboard box. I raised an eyebrow at him. The guy was huge. At least "6'4", with short black hair and the shoulders of a line-backer. He looked like he could take on an army tank and win, although his massive body didn't go along with his chubby cheeks and large baby eyes at all. I had to stifle a giggle just looking at him.

I looked over my shoulder at Mom and YaYa. We'd only been here for five minutes and they were already arguing about something, although the words were hard to make out.

"-doesn't belong here and you know it-"

"This is the safest place-"

"You expect her to get caught up in these God forsaken fairytales just because you-"

"Ignore them," Adam murmured, watching them warily. "You'll be okay here, I promise." I watched as Yaya crossed her arms and glared at Mom's black Lancer as it pulled away from the driveway. Mom shot me a fearful look before driving off.

I nodded, although I was still confused. Why had everyone made it sound like I was worried that I was in some sort of trouble or something? This was just a job fluke, a quick hand off of kids, right? So why was everyone except me afraid for my safety?

"Welcome home, babydoll." Adam smiled before walking into the house. I looked up at the silver sky and chewed on my bottom lip.

"Welcome home."