DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.

I moaned as I heard my father's voice close to my right ear, "Come on, sleepy head. It's time to get up. Breakfast's going to be ready in a few minutes."

"It'z not tim yet!" I moaned in response.

My father laughed softly and said, "I guess that means you don't want to go to the beach today."

"I'm up!" I announced as I sat up quickly. He laughed as he straightened up. "What?"

"Nothing," my father said smiling. "I'll see you downstairs."

I watched my father, Carlisle, leave the room, making sure he closed my bedroom door. I sighed as I began to set clothes out for after breakfast. Hiro and I are going to the beach today…I wonder if Dad will actually take us to La Push? A small knock on the door told me that Alice was seeking entrance into my room.

"Don't come in!" I shouted. Plus…I really don't want any fashion tips today.

Alice whined, "Aw… Come on! It's only a little advice!"

"No! A little usually means a lot!" I answered quickly, setting out my wardrobe and slipping out of her room.

Alice had been waiting, "Why don't you want my advice?"

"Because I get it too often," I replied.

"Quit torturing her," Jasper said as he seemed to materialize behind Alice. "She's old enough now to have her own style."

Alice sighed and leaned against Jasper, "Yeah…I suppose."

I barely managed to hold back a gag as Jasper kissed Alice. But you used to this kind of thing since all of my adopted siblings are together. Jasper and Alice are together, so were Edward and Bella, along with Emmett and Rosalie. I knew my classmates all found this weird, but I ignored them. None of them liked me and the feeling was mutual on my end.

As I descended the stairs to the living room, I couldn't help wondering, Edward's usually up by now… A voice called my name from the bottom of the stairs and I thought, speak of the Devil!

Edward met me at the bottom of the stairs and playfully ruffled my hair, "And how's the brat doing this morning?"

I slapped his hand away, "Fine until I learned that you were awake!"

Carlisle said from his position at the dining room table, "Let's not start this early!" It was a normal routine for Edward and I to annoy each other.

"Sure," Edward said, giving my hair one, last, good ruffle before he headed upstairs. I, childishly, stuck my tongue out at his retreating back.

My mother, Esme, walked into the room carrying three plates. She set them down on the table and kissed my cheek. She said, "Good morning, sleepy head. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," I answered as I sat at the table, across from Carlisle. "Until Dad woke me up!" We all laughed as they all began to eat.

I looked from my father to my mother, taking notes, once again of the differences between us. My father's hair was blond while my mother's hair was a dark brown, almost black in color, while my hair was light brown. Both of them had light brown eyes and pale skin, while I had fair skin and green eyes.

I sighed as I thought of the explanation my father had given me for their skin color, "All of us have a rare disease that causes us to have pale skin, and that's also the reason we can't go out into the sunlight, otherwise we'd all get nasty blisters."

"But, why don't I have the same problem?"

"Um…well…it's because this disease is a…dominant trait, and you were blessed in getting recessive alleles."

I couldn't help sighing again sparking a question from my father, "Everything all right?"

"Yeah," I answered quickly, realizing that I'd sighed again. "I was just thinking."

My mother asked, "About what, dear?"

"Oh…Just things," I said trying to sound nonchalant.

Carlisle smiled and said, "Got a lot of things on your mind then?"

I forced a smile, "Yeah!"

"Well, maybe going to the beach will help," Carlisle said, as he stood up.

I asked hopefully, "Are we going to La Push?"

"Only if you want Uncle Jacob to take you," her father answered.

"How come you only take me to La Push on holidays?" I questioned. I had heard plenty of excuses, but she wanted to hear what today's was.

"I don't like bothering Aunt Nessie and Uncle Jacob, nor do I like you complaining about the fact that we don't go as often as you'd like."

I decided to stop pestering my dad, it took a lot to annoy him, and I was getting very close to doing just that. I guess I should consider it lucky that he decided to take Hiro and I today.

Carlisle walked into the kitchen with his dirty dishes, and Esme said to me, "Try not to aggravate your father today. He's under a lot of stress."

"Okay," I said, but I glanced towards the kitchen, what's got Dad so stressed out? Is it something I did…my grades are okay…so what's bothering him?

He walked back out of the kitchen, and said, "Go take a shower and come back down, ready to go to the beach."

I nodded, feeling happy at the thought of going to the beach, so what if it's not La Push? At least Dad's taking us and not Edward or Emmett. I shuddered at the thought of either of my overprotective brothers taking me to the beach.

Minutes later, I was dressed in her navy blue swimsuit, with black shorts on for the ride there.

Before stepping off the porch, Carlisle glanced at the sky and sighed, going back inside to grab a jacket.

I glanced at the sky, and sighed as well. There were clouds in the sky, but it was obvious that the clouds would soon be gone, or that there would only be a few left to hide the sun.

I said, somewhat reluctantly, "You don't have to take Hiro and I to the beach today if you don't want to."

Carlisle laughed as he stroked my left cheek, "You're so thoughtful, but I did promise that I would take you two today, and since I took the day off from work, I think I should take you."

I smiled up at him as he walked down the porch steps and to the garage with all the grace of a well trained gymnast. I wondered, for the umpteenth time, how I could be, in any way, related to him or to Esme, I was so different from them, it just made no sense to me. Carlisle stopped walking when he realized that I wasn't following and asked, "Are you all right? You're not getting sick are you?" Concern showed in his every word.

I walked towards him, reassuring him, "No, Dad, I'm…fine…" I trailed off as I met my father's gaze. They were blacker than the usual light brown. I asked, "Are you feeling okay, Dad?"

He looked at me questioning, "Yes, I'm fine…why?"

"You're eyes…they're black," I stated.

"Oh, right," Carlisle said laughing, "you know that's because of the little sunlight there is." He continued walking towards the garage to get his Mercedes.

I followed slowly, he can't even remember that he originally told me that his eyes turned black when he had been exposed to too much sunlight. Not when there was really no sunlight… Why is he lying?

Carlisle pulled out the black Mercedes and I slid into the back seat, worrying my father enough to the point of asking again, "Are you feeling okay?"

"Fine, just feeling a bit lazy since it's the last day of summer break," I said thinking of an excuse for not sitting in my usual spot next to him.

He nodded and said, "You'll be fine tomorrow. You're classmates are not wild animals or anything like that."

"You haven't met any of my classmates, except when they're in the hospital with their parents," I said as I rolled my eyes.

Carlisle looked at me through the rearview mirror, "Too true, but I'm sure they're not as bad as you're brothers."

"Yeah, true," I muttered, not! They make my brothers look like angels! I didn't' want to worry him with the bullies at school. Not to mention all the teasing I received about not being a "model" like the rest of my family.

I was relieved slightly when Carlisle pulled up in front of an everyday house, unlike the house I lived in. Her best friend Hiro darted out of the house wearing swim trunks and trying to put on a T-shirt. He tripped halfway to the car. Carlisle was about to get out of the car, when Hiro gave a thumbs up, before standing up and dashing to the car. He opened the door and smiled as he said, "Nice to see you again, Sara."

"Same here, Hiro," I replied gazing at him. Hiro's black hair hung over his eyes slightly, it always seemed to be just a smidge to long, but it fit Hiro's personality. Hiro was a happy go lucky kid, always happy, not to mention clumsy, but he never seemed to mind. He could be cowardly, but he usually tried his best to be brave…it didn't usually work, but at least he tried.

He asked excitedly, "What beach are you taking us to, Mr. Cullen? La Push?" He added hopefully.

Carlisle smiled, "Not La Push, just the small beach here in Forks. It will be nice and quiet so you two can enjoy yourselves."

Hiro whined, "Come on, Mr. Cullen, please take us to La Push? La Push has the best beach around and this is the last day of summer. Everybody at school has been there but us!"

Carlisle looked torn for a minute, but he said, "Sorry, Hiro, you're both still going to the beach in Forks. Simple as that."

"Man," Hiro moaned, "I really wanted to go to La Push."

I tried to cheer him up, "Hiro, come on, at least we're going to a beach."

"But it's La Push," Hiro insisted. "La Push is…well, La Push." Hiro said smiling.

"If you don't stop saying, La Push, I'm going to 'La Push' you into the water when we get to the beach," I stated, smiling.

Hiro laughed and said, "I won't say L.P. anymore, okay?"

"Yeah," I said, smiling at my friend.

Carlisle parked the Mercedes under the shade of a tree as he said, "We're hear."

Hiro looked baffled and said, "How did we get here so fast? It usually takes my parents fifteen minutes to get here!"

Carlisle looked nervous for a split second, but he laughed and said, "Maybe it just seems like it takes longer since you're not with your best friend."

"Maybe," Hiro said reluctantly looking at the digital clock.

Carlisle promptly opened his door and stepped out of the car. He said over his shoulder, "I might as well enjoy the day while I still can."

Hiro and I both opened our doors, and I glanced at the sky again. My father maybe had a few minutes to enjoy the rain free day before he would have to retreat to his car in the shade.

He said to them, "Go enjoy your day at the beach, I'll just read for awhile while you're swimming."

"Okay, Dad," I called over my shoulder as Hiro and I bolted towards the beach. We both leapt into the water with shouts of joy.

I heard the car door close, signaling that my father had decided that the sun would be out soon, and said to Hiro, "I think my Dad's hiding something from me…I think my whole family is."

Hiro asked, "Why couldn't you ask while you're dad was out here watching us?"

"Because he has ears like a hawk!" I said.

"Not as good as Edward's," Hiro stated.

"Too true," I admitted, "anyway, my dad is having problems remembering what he's told me about the sickness. Today he messed up with explaining why his eyes were…dilated." Hiro doesn't need to know that they change color…

"Maybe he forgot. Remember, he has all sorts of things to remember so he can be a great doctor," he said, treading water.

I insisted, "But this isn't the first thing he's messed up on. Just recently I asked him the same question about his skin disease and he gave two different answers, three if you count his original answer when I was younger."

Hiro said teasingly, "Maybe my vampire theory is right!"

I dunked him, holding him under the water for a few seconds, before I allowed him back up.

Hiro sputtered, "What?"

"You know I don't like you talking about my family that way," I stated, angrily.

He sighed, "Aw…come on! You know I'm only joking!"

I smiled, "Yeah, but you do realize that if they're vampires, then I'd be one too!"

"But your family would be the nice vampires," Hiro said, "You know, like the heroes in a book."

"Thank God my life isn't a novel," I said, "Otherwise, whoever was writing it would have to be crazy!"

Hiro laughed, "Yeah, I know what you mean!"

Several hours later, we swam back to the beach and walked to the car, Carlisle was asleep in the driver's seat, his book resting on his chest. I tapped on the window, and Carlisle awoke, looking slightly groggy, but he handed me my towel and then reached in the back for Hiro's handing it to him.

Once we were decently dry, we both hopped into the backseat of the Mercedes and Carlisle turned in his seat and said, "We're going to sit here for awhile until the sun sets, or some clouds cover the sun, is that all right with you two?"

"Sure," Hiro and I both said at the same time, bursting into laughter.

Carlisle smiled at both of us, before looking at the sky as clouds covered the sun. "Looks like we'll be leaving sooner than I planned…" He started the car and began the drive to Hiro's house.

I watched the clock closely, my eyes getting wider and wider as we arrived at Hiro's house in five minutes.

Hiro said, oblivious to the time that it took to get to his house, "Thanks, Mr. Cullen! See ya tomorrow, Sara!"

"See ya, Hiro," I said as I slipped into the front seat. I asked my dad, "Do you know what Mom's making for dinner tonight?"

Carlisle smiled, "I know, and I'm positive you'll like it."

"Pizza!" I said joyfully, keeping an eye on the speedometer.

Carlisle laughed, following my gaze, he questioned, "Do you think I'm going to speed when my daughter-in-law, your sister, Bella, is the daughter of Chief Swan? I think not."

I sulked, but said, "I didn't think you were going to speed, I was just curious about something."

"What?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

"It was nothing," I said staring out the window.

Carlisle said, "It must not be nothing if you wanted to know."

I sighed in defeat, "Okay, I thought we got to Hiro's house, from the beach, in five minutes…but I guess I just read the clock wrong."

He laughed with me, "I think you did read it wrong. It takes fifteen minutes to get from the beach to Hiro's house."

"Yeah, I must have read it wrong," I conceded. I knew that I had seen the clock right, I was just missing some pieces to a larger puzzle…the puzzle that was my family.

Carlisle quickly changed the subject, "Are you ready for school tomorrow?"

"No," I stated.

He laughed, "You'll be fine."

"Dad…school is torture!"

Carlisle laughed loudly, "I'm sure it's not that bad considering you get such good grades."

He glanced at me as I slid down slightly in the seat, sulking. "I know you don't like school, but it's best that you go."

"I could always be home schooled!" I suggested hopefully.

"I teach you about the Bible every Sunday, and you can barely handle that…What makes you think that you can handle everyday lessons on subjects you despise just as much?" He questioned.

I answered, defensively, "I don't despise your lessons over the Bible…I just don't see why they're necessary. We never go to church, and you never put my siblings through it."

Carlisle pointed out, "Your siblings were teenagers when Esme and I adopted them, we weren't going to force them to change their ways."

"Still," I grumbled.

He ruffled my hair, "You'll understand once you're a bit older." The car rolled into the drive, "Do you have any last minute assignments you need to get done?"

"No," I answered truthfully.

"Good," Carlisle said as he pulled the car into the garage.

I stared at the clock, it didn't take such a short time for Hiro's parents to reach our house, but then again, Carlisle knew the route better then they did.

Carlisle stepped out of the car and said, "I'm sure your mother is eagerly awaiting your arrival just to see your happiness at having pizza."

I leaned against his side as we walked up the porch and into the house, I could feel the coldness of his skin, even through his shirt, but I was used to this. All of my family had cold skin.