12 years later...

I was sitting in my room when Charlie knocked on the door. "Bells, I'm going down to the res to watch the game. Want to come? Jacob will be there." He said, a feeble attempt to get me to go out.

Jacob Black was one of my best friends. We met pretty much as soon as he was born. We had one big thing in common. Neither of us had mothers. His mom, Ramona Black, had died shortly after he was born. Lately Jake had been preoccupied with the res kids.

"Yeah sure dad, just let me put on some pants." I say.

BUZZ. BUZZ. My phone goes off. I look at the ID and it says Emmett. I open the message to see something that worries me.

Hey B. Sneak out tonight. I need to talk to you. It's important. –E

I quickly reply-Okay. Meet me in the clearing. –B

Emmett is my best friend. Like a big brother to me. He was there after my mom died. He never complained about any of my crying or never wanting to sleep alone. He had just always been there.

Dad honked the horn in the car telling me to hurry up. I grabbed Emmett's' 'Grizzly Bear' sweatshirt and ran outside. The drive down to La Push was quiet. Charlie and I don't usually need conversation to be comfortable. The silence is comfortable enough.

When we pulled up to Billy's' little red shack of a house, Jacob looked out through the curtains. I smiled and waved. Jake smiled and disappeared, not for long though. Before I could even step out of the cruiser he had me in a bone crushing bear hug.

"Can't...breathe...Jake..." I choked out.

He laughed before putting me back on my feet. "Sorry Bells. I missed you!" he rumpled my hair. Even though Jacob was two years younger than me he towered over my 5'2" height and his muscles where HUGE!

"You know Jake, steroids are bad for you." I joked.

He smirked, "You know if you actually hung out with me you would know I have been working out."

"Your never home." I replied back.

"Oh yeah." He scratched the back of his head looking uncomfortable. " Wanna go down to first beach?"

"Sure."

Jacob and I were walking along the beach close to the waves. Our pants were rolled up and our shoes in the sand. The water was freezing today. Jacob and I were talking about simple things. I kept looking at his face. It looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't seem to find the right words.

I stopped walking. "Jacob what do you want to say?"

He turned and looked at me with a guilty expression. "That easy to see huh?"

I just waited. He began pacing in front of me. His face twisted up in thought.

"Bella…I've been thinking. We can't be friends anymore." He said still pacing.

I stared. He didn't want to be friends? What had I done?

"Jake…What do you mean? I'm sorry for whatever I did."

"Bella. Stop apologizing. It's just the way it has to be." He said finally stopping and looking at me. "Bella don't cry." His face looked like a totally different Jacob.

I hadn't even realized I was crying until he said something. "Jacob…I don't understand. Is this why you've been ignoring me? Did your new friends say you couldn't be my friend? What is it Jacob?" I was starting to get angry.

"No Bella. They didn't tell me to do anything. I don't want to be your friend anymore." He looked sad as he said this. "I have to go Bella. Be safe okay? And be careful who you trust." With that Jacob walked away. He didn't look back. He walked out of my life. I stood there staring after him until I saw him join a group of boys. His new friends, I thought to myself.

I walked listlessly back to Jacob's house. Charlie was standing at the door. "Oh there you are Bells. Let's head home." Then to Billy. " It was nice seeing you Billy. See you tomorrow. Going to be a fun fishing weekend."

Later that night…

It was five minutes until midnight. Charlie had gone to bed about two hours ago. I had taken a shower and gotten ready to go to the clearing. Losing Jacob was like losing a family member. It hurt to even think about. Sadly it seemed to be the only thing I could think about. I had pulled out my scrapbook to try and take my mind off things. It worked but then it made me miss my mom. Her loss still hurt but it was getting easier to talk about. I don't really like to though.

As I made way out of my window and down the flower gate and toward the clearing I kept thinking about what my lame brain therapists would always tell me when I told them I told my mom I hated her before she died.

"You were a child. No harm came to your mother because of what you said." Blah. Blah. Blah. Stupid doctors don't know anything!

By the time the annoying banter in my head was over I was in the clearing. Emmett was already there.

"Hey Em. What's so important?" I asked worried.

"Bella I got a letter today. It was about you." He said.

"Well what did it say?" he pulled out an envelope from his pants pocket and handed it to me. The only thing on the envelope was the word EMMETT CULLEN written in elegant cursive. I looked at Emmett to find him staring at me. "Open it." He said.

I opened the envelope and pulled out the piece of paper. I carefully unfolded the paper and read the letter silently to myself. I looked at Emmett and gasped.

"We have to get you out of Forks Bella."