"Riley!" I knocked on my brother's door.

Riley Biers was my older brother who was currently a freshman at Oregon University. He had come back to Forks to visit me and my mom for the weekend. He and I were close siblings since we supported and grew up together, but we sort of drifted away after our dad passed away about a year ago. Then Riley had graduated from high school and gone off to college and we didn't get the chance to talk much, which was why I was glad that he was back. I had missed him a lot and I'm sure my mom had felt those feelings too.

"Dude, come on. Wake up," I tried again when Riley didn't reply to my first call. "Mom made breakfast." I let a few seconds pass by, but I still didn't hear anything from him. I sighed and opened his bedroom door to barge in and wake him up. However, when I opened the door, the only thing I saw was Riley's untouched bed. His bed sheets were still the way they were when I set them up neatly yesterday. Where is he? I thought as I turned around to head downstairs. "Mom!" I yelled as I walked into the kitchen.

"What's the matter? Did you wake Riley up like I told you to?" My mom asked without taking her eyes off her phone.

"No. . ."

"No? Why?" My mom asked. Her eyes were still glued onto her phone's screen as she typed away. It was ironic because she spent more time on her phone than I did on mine and I was a teenager! But I guess it was understandable because it was for her job. Since she was a doctor at Fork's local hospital, my mom was always a very busy woman. She began taking extra shifts after my dad passed away and this made her busy life even busier. I was beginning to get worried because she was working too much; she looked so tired. "Is your brother being lazy again?" My mom finally looked up from her phone to face me. I guess she was finished with her email or whatever she was sending.

"No, actually that's not it," I began. "I don't think Riley came back home from the café last night."

"What?" My mom's face suddenly looked concerned. "He didn't even leave a message?"

"No, which is sort of unlike him. . . But let's not worry too much. He could've forgotten or something," I shrugged, trying to assure my mom that he was going to be okay.

"But like you said. It's not like Riley to not come home without telling us," my mom frowned.

"It'll be okay mom. Let me try calling him." I pulled out my phone from the pocket of my sweater and began dialing. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. "Your call has been forwarded to an automated voice message system-" I immediately hung up. "Ugh, he's not answering," I groaned while my mom let out a sigh. "But don't worry too much, Mom. I'll leave him a text."

TO: Riley

Riley! Where ARE you?! Mom is really worried about you and so am I.

Call me when you see this message, okay?!

"Where are you going, Cecelia?" my mom asked as I appeared downstairs a few hours later. I checked the time. It was almost 6pm.

"I'm going to drive over to the La Push Beach and take a walk with Maxi," I replied as I attached Maxi's red leash to his matching red collar. Right after I said the word "walk," Maxi, our small white furred pomeranian started jumping in excitement.

"Alright then sweetie. By the way, still no reply from Riley?"

I shook my head. "Nope. He hasn't replied yet. Let's hope that he'll be back by tonight. Then we'll find out where he was. Are you leaving right now?" I asked my mom, finally noticing that she was getting ready for work.

"Yeah. I have a night shift so I won't be home until around 3 in the morning," she answered.

"Oh, okay then," I nodded. "Don't work too hard," I said softly as I gave her a hug.

My mom smiled. "Don't worry about me, Celia. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay mom. See you later," I said as I picked Maxi up and placed him into my arms. "Let's go Maxi!" I patted his head as he let out a bark in response.

I shivered as November's harsh wind blew into my face. It almost felt like the wind was slicing my cheeks. That's how hard it was. Maxi and I continued walking down the long beach. Minutes later, I stopped for a moment and decided to lay down and relax. Yes, in the cold; I'm unusual you could say. Before laying down, I put my hood on to protect my hair from getting dirtied by the sand. As my back touched the soft ground, I let out a sigh in relief. Maxi decided to join me by pulling himself onto my stomach. He curled himself into a ball which made me smile because he was so cute. I closed my eyes for a few seconds letting the sound of the ocean's waves calm me now, leading me into a deep slumber.

I groaned as I stretched my body. I opened my eyes to see the dark sky. Where am I? I thought to myself, confused for a second. I slowly regained my consciousness and realized that I was still at the beach. I looked to the side to grab Maxi, but he wasn't there. "Oh no!" I began panicking. "Maxi!" I yelled as I frantically looked around the beach, but he was nowhere to be seen. My heart began racing as I became anxious. I stood up as I let my eyes roam around the area. Where could he have gone? "I hope he didn't go into the forest," I said to myself, but I had a feeling that the only place he could've gone was the big forest since it was right next to the beach. I didn't want to go in it because it was so dark, but I decided that I had to. I took a deep breath and entered it. "Maxi?" I called his name continuously over and over again. I sighed as I messed up my hair with my hand in frustration. I had been looking for Maxi for around half an hour, but he wasn't magically appearing out of nowhere like I was hoping for. "Ugh, I'm probably lost now too," I muttered as I looked around to see darkness everywhere.

"Hey, you," someone suddenly said, making me jump in surprise. "What are you doing in here?" the male voice said in an authoritative manner.

I quickly turned around to see a tall boy. He was really tall, let me tell you. I was amazed by his height. He had tanned skin and short dark brown hair that looked almost black. I noticed that he was wearing cut-off shorts and a short sleeved shirt as he approached me. Is he crazy? What is he wearing in this cold weather? I thought. At first, the guy's handsome face showed anger, but it suddenly disappeared. Now he looked surprised as he saw my face. Does he know me? I was confused as he gazed into my eyes intently. Without realizing, I began looking into his warm dark brown eyes and got lost in them. A few seconds later, I noticed that I hadn't answered his question yet and I was still staring at him. . . And the guy was still staring at me.

"Um, are you okay?" I asked, a little weirded out by his stare.

"Uh yeah," the guy replied as he stopped staring, trying to recompose himself.

"Anyway, to uh, answer your question. . . I'm actually looking for my dog. I lost him," I told him.

"You lost your dog?" he asked, clearly confused.

I nodded sheepishly. "I brought him with me to the beach and I sort of feel asleep. He was gone when I woke up."

"I'll help you find him. I think he's somewhere over there," the guy said as he looked towards his left.

"Thank you! How do you know? Have you seen him?" I asked as my hope of finding Maxi grew.

"Uh, just a feeling. . ." the guy mumbled. "Come on."

I think we walked for only about three minutes, but it felt like twenty due to the huge size of the forest. I couldn't tell where we were going and it was getting dark. Then I realized that I hadn't thought things through. What if the guy I was following was some sort of serial killer?! My heart began pounding faster on its own and I had no control over it. The guy in front of me turned around, surprising me and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Y-yes. I mean, yes." I tried to sound confident.

"O-kay. . ." He turned back around and I let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Could he hear my heart beating? No, no that was impossible.

Before I could start doubting the guy's intentions, I heard familiar barking as the leaves behind me began to rustle. I turned around to see Maxi running towards me. "Oh my gosh, Maxi! Where were you?" I picked him up in happiness and pulled him close.

"See, I told you I would help you find him."

I smiled, my doubtful thoughts disappearing. "Thank you uh-"

"Jacob," he stretched his arm out as he introduced himself.

"It's nice to meet you Jacob. I'm Cecelia," I smiled as I shook his hand. When our hands touched, I felt a weird feeling run through my body, but it was weird in a good way. It was nice to feel his warm hand against my cold one. I was glad to see that Jacob didn't flinch from the low temperature of my hand. It was strange though. His hand was so warm, almost hot and it felt so comfortable that I didn't want to let go, but I did eventually. I mean, if I hadn't, I would have looked like a freak.

"Let me walk you out of here. I know my way around the forest pretty well."

"Okay, thanks." I nodded as I followed after him.

While walking through the forest with Jacob and Maxi (who was still in my arms), I discovered more about him. Jacob went to school on the La Push Reservation and his family was from the Quileute Tribe which was fascinating. Also, he was a junior like me and we were both 17 years old. To be honest, I was a little shocked when he told me this because I thought he was older since he was so muscular and looked mature and. . . Should I say manly? Yes, I'll stick with that description. Anyway, it was nice to meet someone new (and attractive) who was my age. I had drifted away from my school friends (except for two) after my dad passed away so it was nice to enjoy someone's company.

"So where are you from?" Jacob asked me.

"I'm from Forks," I replied. "Do you know anyone from Forks High?"

"Uh yeah, I do," Jacob answered, suddenly looking a little uncomfortable. "Do you know. . . Bella Swan? She's a senior and she's also one of my best friends."

"Yeah, I know her," I smiled. "We live in the same subdivision so I see her often."

"Oh, I used to go to her house a lot to hang out with her last year," Jacob said. "She's still with the Cullen, isn't she?" he asked. I could hear a hint of anger underneath his words.

"If you're talking about Edward. Yeah, I think so. Why?"

"It's just-I don't like how she's with Edward and his family all the time," Jacob said. "They don't have a good reputation where I come from you see. . ." his voice trailed off.

"Really?" I asked curiously. "Why is that?"

Jacob paused for a while before speaking again. "It's just something that has to do with my ancestors. It's nothing really."

"I'm sure it's something."

"But it's getting pretty late and it's a long story, so I'll tell you later. Maybe the next time I see you."

"Ah, I see. Next time, huh?" I grinned as we finally exited the forest.

"Yep, if that's okay with you," Jacob smiled. "I'd really like to see you again."

I returned him a smile, happy that he wanted to meet me again. "I'd like that too."

"Awesome," he said as he pulled out his phone. He handed it to me. "Can you type in your number?"

"You too," I said as I gave him my phone.

After we finished exchanging numbers, Jacob spoke. "The forest can be dangerous, especially when it's dark. So next time, don't walk in there by yourself, okay?" Jacob said as he looked at me. He suddenly looked very serious, which sort of scared me. Exactly how dangerous was this forest? I was going to ask him, but decided that it would be better if I didn't know.

I nodded. "Alright, I won't. Thanks for finding me in the forest tonight. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't seen me. I probably would've freaked out or something."

"No problem," Jacob responded.

"Well then. I'll talk to you later."

Jacob smiled. "Good night Cecelia."

"Good night," I said, happily. After we parted and went our separate ways, I realized that my heart was pounding rapidly against my chest due to my nervousness. I guess Jacob was making me feel this way. I continued smiling on my way home. Something between me and Jacob had clicked when we met today and I was excited to meet him again to find out what it was.

When I got home, I brought Maxi into the bathroom and washed his paws in the bathtub. Once that was done, I poured myself a glass of milk and went into my room. Riley still wasn't home. Seriously, where was he? I tried calling him again, but his phone went straight to voicemail so I turned on my computer and watched some funny videos on YouTube as I waited for my brother. Around 1am, I decided to stop waiting. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, changed into my pajamas, and laid down on my bed. I tried my best to fall asleep but I couldn't. Not in this situation. Beep. My phone suddenly alerted me that I had received a new text message. I sat back up and reached for my phone that was sitting on my nightstand. The message was from my mom.

Cecelia. I know that you might be asleep, but I'm taking a chance and sending this message.

Did Riley come home? If so, just ignore this text, but if he's not...Call me. I'm so worried.

Reading my mom's text message made me realize the possibility of what could have happened to Riley. There were two things that I had learned today. The first one was: I had developed a massive crush on Jacob even though we had only met today. The second one was: My brother, Riley Biers had gone missing. . . Today, I had gained one (a friend), but lost one (my brother).