"So…?" Liz asked sitting down next to me at our lunch table.

I decided to savor the next few moments before her perky friends arrived. I mean, I loved Liz and all, but she had a weird choice in friends. Her boyfriend, Lucas, was ok, but her friends Alicia and Natasha were a handful.

Then there was Natasha's boyfriend for this week, Mark, who had no spine whatsoever.

"So…what?" I asked.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "So…who are you taking to the final dance?"

"What? That's in 2 weeks, on the last day of school. Why would I be thinking about that? Why would anyone be thinking about that?"

"Because all the good dresses are going to go fast. You can come with Alicia, Tash, and I! We're hitting Anchorage this weekend."

"Ah, yes. The Paris of the Northwest. No."

"Why not?" she whined.

I laughed. "I don't go to dances. Either way, who would go with me? Half the people here barely even know I exist."

She thought for a moment. "You could take that hot retarded guy."

"I heard 'hot' and 'guy' in the same sentence," Natasha squealed as she ran over. "Tell me everything!"

Alicia and Mark followed behind her and sat down.

I had gotten to know Jacob a little better since he started helping me work on Liz's car. He was cool. Or, at least he was better than most guys I had gotten to know over the years.

As soon as Lucas arrived, Liz shut up about Jacob's butt. He gave her a peck on the cheek and she scooted over to make room for him.

Natasha realized Liz was done on that subject, so she turned to me.

"So, what's he like?"

I frowned. "How am I supposed to know? He's been here for 2 days. It's not like I know him that well, he's a friend of my cousins from Forks."

"Forks?" Lucas asked me.

"It's a little po'dunk town in Washington."

Natasha finally changed the subject. But, of course, the subject was the dance. The girls went on and on about Anchorage as I picked at my food.

When I was first turned, I tried to live off of human food. I was so hungry I had to flee town and hide in the forest. A wandering group of vampires found me huddled up against a tree and taught me to eat animals.

I slipped a few leaves of my salad into my mouth for show, but it all just tasted like cardboard.

Half the room fell silent and I could smell why. I turned around to see Jacob hop off his motorcycle and walk up the steps into the cafeteria.

"That's him!" Liz whispered to Natasha.

Yeah, if a guy came up to the building on a motorcycle, heads will turn. But, if that guy just so happens to be shirtless, it's a whole different thing.

"What are you doing?" I hissed as he came to our table. "It's 60 freakin' degrees out!"

He gave me a crooked smile and I lost my next words.

"Tanya wants you home," he said.

"Then why are you here, Jake?"

"Everyone's waiting for you," he murmured.

He stood up and walked away without me.

"Jacob!" I hissed. "Jake, get back here!"

"Come on!" he yelled across the cafeteria.

I sighed, picked up my messenger bag from where it hung on the back of the seat and followed him out, avoiding all the staring.

Even as I got onto his motorcycle, I felt their eyes on me through the glass. My car was still in the garage (I was saving up for a better motor) and Liz had given me a ride today in her brand-new car.

"Where are we going?" I asked, the wind smacking me in the face.

"The movies," he said calmly.

"Hmm…I could go back and take a French test, or go to the movies. I wonder what I'll choose."

We saw a cheesy zombie movie and I had a lot of fun. We laughed at all the fake violence and laughed especially hard when one squeamish guy lost his cookies on his date.

Afterwards, we went to a small café. We talked, and he had some dinner. He told me that he would help me with my new engine. We talked about cars, mainly, but I also learned about his friends, his sisters Rachel and Rebecca, and his dad.

It wasn't to late when we got home, but our family and friends had a fun time playing worried and angry family.

Between the "Why were you out so late?" and the "Come in here before the neighbors see", I had a pretty good time.

We all squished into the living room. Bella and Edward were huddled over Nessie, Alice sat on Jasper's lap, Rosalie and Emmett were whispering together.

"You ok?" Jacob asked, sitting down next to me.

"Yeah," I sighed. "I just miss it, you know?"

"I can't say I do."

"I miss having a family. I miss coming home and knowing that there are people there who love you. My—my parents died from yellow fever."

And at that moment, all the couples in the room leaned towards each other.

I was out the door at the last second. I sat out there as it snowed, just sitting in the cold. I couldn't feel anything. I was inhuman.

The door opened as he followed me out.

"What happened?" he asked innocently.

He came and sat down next to me. We waited out there for minutes before I spoke.

"I forgot." I whispered.

"Forgot what?" God, he was nosy. But, I knew deep down he was just being nice.

I was silent again.

I sucked in my breath. "I forgot what it was like…to be loved."

The silence fell over us like a blanket. All I heard was the soft falling of the snow, his shallow breathing, and the muffled voices from inside.

"It's lonely," I began. "Being immortal."

I laughed breathily. "Most humans would jump at the chance to live forever, but they just don't understand the consequences. You're a freak, an outcast. Everyone you love dies around you and you can never grow up."

He said, "And worst of all, you have to do it all over again."

I looked into his eyes.

"How—?" I asked, but he cut me off.

"I've had this talk from a few other leeches and I can tell you one thing. Yes, it is sad, but think about all the experiences you get to have. There's new opportunities around every corner."

I smiled, but it soon faded. "What if you've come to a dead end?"

He stood up and dusted off his jeans.

"Well, then," he said as offered me his hand. "We're just going to have to fix that, now won't we?"