A/N At long last, the first chapter is completed! I am very sorry for the delay. I am also sorry that I can't guarantee a speedy update. The internship I've taken requires the majority of my time; if I'm lucky, I will be free on the weekends.

I hope you enjoy this first installment. I tried to emulate the same style as I did in the first chapter of A Different Kind of Love, but went ahead and cut to the chase after the intro. I'm very happy with the direction it's headed.

Well, enough chatter from me. As always, please review (or even recommend my stories to your friends!). :)

Sophomore year is often called the most boring year of high school. The novelty of being a freshman has worn off and attached itself to the new class of perky teenagers who look much younger than we did twelve short months ago; the juniors have no time to spare even a condescending glance as they rush from place to place and tackle their overzealous, AP-filled schedules; and the seniors are on top of the world as they make their final decisions about college and rule the school simply because they can.

And what are we sophomores left with? We're stuck in the in-between phase, a stage of transitions.

From the outside, I'm sure we looked perfectly normal. There were Jonathan and Garet, still dating and still wonderful friends; Annalee, Kirsten, and Craig, our new friends form the end of last year and bursting with energy and summer stories to tell; even Seth, who had longed to live on Elena's reservation full-time but wisely took Daddy's suggestion to take their relationship one step at a time. Jacob and I completed the circle.

How funny it was, that Jacob and I were the two entities that united our group and made us strong, and yet we were the least normal of us all.

Jacob, strong and fearless Alpha of the Quileute wolf pack. Jacob, already loved, lost, and loved again in a life short but full to the brim. Jacob, destined to live forever and unswervingly patient in his role on this earth.

Then there was me, Renesmee Carlie Cullen. I was the most unique of my group, though not the only one of my kind. No one aside from Jacob and Seth knew that on my birthday in two weeks, I would be turning a mere seven years old, full-grown but so young in earthly experience compared to the rest. It was due to my half-vampire nature that I had physically matured so quickly and that my mental facilities and intellect closely rivaled those of my fully supernatural family.

Then again, my earthly experience was likely vaster than that of any human in this cafeteria, even with my ten-year deficiency. In my brief lifetime, I had nearly lost my entire family first to a wolf pack and then to a centuries-old vampire royal coven, fallen in love with my best friend and supposedly natural enemy, witnessed a close friend turn into a vampire, and formed alliances with Native American tribes whose warriors could transform into various animals.

Need I continue?

Regardless of my perhaps unorthodox upbringing, however, I could still pass for the average American teenage girl. There were mornings that I dragged myself out of bed, donned my favorite sweat pants and a solid V-neck tee, and threw my massive curls into a messy ponytail, though my fashion choice would make Alice cringe. During my time of month I was crampy and bitchy and wouldn't calm down until I was nursing a cup of heated blood to ease my cravings. On good days, I had my flickers of doubt about my appearance or even my personality until Jacob gave me a reassuring hug and I was among my friends once more.

The only aspects of me that could ever tip anyone off would probably be my abnormally high body temperature, my tendency to speed through things, and my nearly superhumanly beautiful features. But I was normal compared to my family in terms of how the mortal world viewed me, so I was regarded as the friend and, thus, kept my family safe from exposure.

So it was that I happened to be sitting around a cafeteria table with my closest friends in the continental US, listening to stories from this summer.

"I've never been worked that hard in my entire life!" Craig half-groaned, half-enthused. "I mean, we were up every morning at six to be sure we had time for all our daily activities, which were so adventurous they were exhausting, and then most of the guys wanted to stay up late, too! It's a wonder I got any sleep!"

"Craig, you can't tell me you didn't enjoy yourself at all," Kirsten responded sarcastically.

"Oh, don't take me wrong, it was a blast," Craig assured us. "White water rafting is probably my favorite outdoor activity ever. But after the first week you lose most of your adrenaline, and it's a struggle to get out of bed in the morning." His voice dropped to a grumble. "So much for relaxing."

"All that I did this summer was relax," Annalee complained. "When I got to Kansas, it was too late for me to get a job, so I either lounged around the house, spent time with my grandparents, or hung out with my friends when they got off work. It was so boring!"

"At least you weren't stuck at the mall every day," Garet reminded her.

"Yeah, but you got to see Jonathan during your breaks," Annalee countered. "And lucky Kirsten went on a cruise!"

"After which I proceeded to babysit my younger sister for the rest of the summer," Kirsten moaned. "And I didn't even get to spend time with Nessie like we promised!"

The scene froze for a moment as everyone's eyes focused on me, and I began to process what Kirsten had just said. Hadn't I made careful plans to invest in the lives of my human friends this summer? A recent memory resurfaced: Kirsten and I would have an overnight; I would make a surprise visit to the mall to see Garet and Jonathan. What had overshadowed those promises?

Oh yeah, I met a tribe of elk shape-shifters, witnessed their leader imprint on my best friend, began lengthy, exhaustive research on other supernaturals in northwestern America, and passed the remaining days in La Push with my extended family. Obviously my summer had had other plans.

All of these puzzle pieces fit perfectly together in the time that it took for Garet to comment, "Yeah, Nessie, we didn't see much of you this summer. Where were you?"

Jacob glanced at me worriedly but I was prepared to answer. "I ended up helping my grandfather with some of his research this summer and then spending the rest of my time with family and friends in Washington," I lied smoothly. Really my response wasn't that far from the truth. "The days all blurred together. It was easy to forget that I was supposed to be on vacation."

My answer seemed to pacify them; they didn't even ask Jacob or their new buddy Seth about their summers before moving on to a new, safe topic.

The words resounded in my ear but didn't fully register. I laid my palm on Jacob's hand and let my thoughts wander to more important things: our life after graduation, the upcoming convention with the new shape-shifters, the suspenseful wait for word from the Volturi….

Jacob opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Annalee's sudden squeal. "Nessie! You didn't tell me that your birthday was next weekend!"

I didn't even bother letting my mouth drop in shock. I abruptly swiveled in my chair to glare at my family a few tables over. Every vampire pointed accusatory fingers at Alice, who was delicately sitting cross-legged in her chair with a self-satisfied smile on her face. She looked every bit the angel pixie, and I hated her for it. Momma frowned apologetically; she would be forced to enjoy festivities for her own birthday party.

With deliberate, human slowness, I returned my attention to my friends, who seemed startled at my reaction. "Yes, my birthday is on Saturday," I said calmly.

Annalee tilted her head. "Well, you sure don't sound that excited about it," she pointed out.

"Why should I be excited?" I asked in confusion, my heart racing. I knew exactly what my birthday this year entailed: my physical development, which had remained constant but nearly undetectable – except for my growth spurt from A-cup to B last year – would finally end on my seventh birthday, when I reached full maturity. My family would surely host the Denalis and the Quileutes to celebrate this milestone, but my friends couldn't possibly know that. Even though I appeared to be about twenty at this point, they simply accepted that I looked more mature for my age; they couldn't know that I was practically an adult!

My girl friends stared at me like they had seen, well, a vampire. "Nessie…" Garet sighed dramatically, eyeing Kirsten and Annalee significantly before returning to me. "Next Saturday is your sweet sixteen."

Damn Alice to hell! I directed another evil look to her innocent face as I contemplated my conundrum. There was no stopping Alice when it came to a party, especially now that my friends were involved. At the very least she could have given me fair warning that my closest friends were planning to go all out for my fake birthday –

Another thought struck me, one that filled me with dread. "Wait, did Alice tell only you guys about my party?" I wanted to know.

The three of them glanced at each other before Kirsten bit her lip regretfully. "Um, I'm pretty sure she handed out invitations to most of the school at the beginning of the day…" she answered in a small voice.

Of course she did. Why would Alice restrict a sweet sixteen party just to my real friends and family? I bet that she invited the greater vampire community, too, all those nomads who came to our aid when I was a baby. And at a school with student population 245, a small number by immortal standards, Alice would insist that no one should be excluded.

I gripped Jacob's hand tightly, attempting to control my anger. We will be discussing a few things with Alice this afternoon.

Jake nodded vigorously, and then faked a sneeze to explain his sudden motion.

Garet reached across the table to squeeze my arm. "Don't worry about it, Nessie," she said reassuringly. "People show up at these parties for the food and the music. They won't bother you. Actually," she amended, "with your luck, you'll be the talk of the town for the most exciting party of the year and everyone will want to be your friend."

"That's what I'm afraid of," I mumbled. This would be the perfect opportunity for exposure: the entire Westhope High School student body mixed with bloodthirsty vampires, wolf and elk shape-shifters, and the coveted vampire hybrid. Did Alice really expect that our gathering would go unnoticed? The Volturi would love this.

Jacob growled softly beside me, and Seth instinctively stiffened at the threat of danger. At least these two, my protectors, agreed with me. And with Elena and her herd included, Seth would place her safety above all else, making the situation increasingly difficult.

Daddy frowned and began murmuring to the inhabitants of the outcast table. That's right, Daddy, talk some sense into our family! I cheered sarcastically. Honestly, for immortals with unparalleled mental faculties, my relatives could be so stupid.

Daddy spared me one long, please-just-shut-up glance before continuing his conversation with the family.

"I agree with Garet," Annalee ventured in the silence. "It's just a party, and everyone will have forgotten about it by New Year's."

"Not if Alice has anything to say about it," I countered, but my spirits brightened somewhat. Unless a messenger went directly to the Volturi, it took news quite some time to travel in the vampire world. New events simply weren't the focus with basic needs like blood and companionship so prevalent. By the time my party reached anyone important, it would be long over and, hopefully, no blood would have been shed.

Still, Jacob was visibly tense, and after a short, nearly unnoticeable exchange, Alpha and Beta excused themselves from the table to converse with my parents.

The moment they were supposedly out of earshot, Annalee leaned forward eagerly. "So what's the scoop on this Seth guy?" she whispered, smiling brightly. Across the cafeteria, my family grinned in amusement.

My mouth twisted in an entertained but pitying smile. "Don't even bother," I told her. "He's practically engaged to my friend Elena."

"Who's Elena?" Kirsten asked. "Does she go to Westhope?"

"No, actually, she lives on the Arikara reservation not too far from here," I answered. I hurried to add, "You'll meet her at my party."

The distraction didn't work as I hoped. "Is Seth Arikara?" Annalee wondered.

I shook my head, grateful at least that they hadn't posed further questions about Elena. "He's Quileute, like Jacob. They come from the same group of friends."

"So why didn't we meet him before?" Garet asked.

"He just moved here," I said irritably. Why was every detail of Seth's life so important to these girls? They didn't know him, hadn't grown up in La Push with him.

I was startled at my protective instinct. Seth always had been like an older brother to me, I supposed.

The lunch bell rang then, and we all stood to throw away our trays. "Maybe we can come by sometime this week to help with planning for your birthday," Annalee suggested, returning to the topic that was the lesser of two evils.

I nodded amiably enough. "I'm sure Alice would be happy to put you to work," I said. "Good luck offering any opinions, though. Once she has her mind set, she's a bit of a stickler for details."

My friends laughed. "Oh, Nessie, you have the greatest family," Kirsten giggled.

I pondered that as Seth and Jacob rejoined us and my family followed behind, ever-watchful. I truly did have the best family I could ever ask for, even if I didn't agree with their decisions sometimes. No one could doubt their genuine love and care for me. My mother was a testament to that; she could easily have killed me since I was killing her, but she had loved the unknown enough to destroy her mortal body and let me live. It was her sacrifice that completed the Cullen family, my family.

Who knew that such fantastic love could exist? My parents and I shared a bond that nothing could replace; I had wonderful aunts and uncles that supported my every pursuit and desired the best for me; I was surrounded by vampire and werewolf communities that had accepted a misfit as one of their own; my best friend and constant companion loved me more than life itself, and a bright future with him was delightfully inevitable.

I intertwined my hand with Jacob's and smiled.