"Okay, here are your things." Said Carlisle, placing all my favorite things in my room. He essentially had to rob my mother's house, but I wanted all my books and video games and all that, so he got them for me. He wanted me to feel at home here.

"Thank you." I said, grabbing my Seaside sweatshirt from one of the boxes. I gave it a sniff. The scent sure smelled like a human, and was very tempting. But there was no living source of it. The source was my shirt. Actually, I realized, the source had to be me. This is what I used to smell like when I was human.

What a change I've gone through. There was so much I didn't know about the world before. Last time I wore this sweatshirt, I didn't know anything of vampires. I thought the Cullens were just a weird family that had transferred from Seattle or something. My view of the world was just so different. I was so innocent. And I kind of missed it.

To think I'd never again enjoy a midday nap or wrap myself in blankets to keep warm. I'd never grow old or have children. I never would have expected my life to change in the ways that it did.

I put the sweatshirt on. It was one of my favorites. I was with my friends during summer break when I got it. We all drove down to Oregon and camped along the beautiful Oregon coast in a town called Seaside. Seaside had this ice cream shop that was just the best.

I'd probably never be able to enjoy ice cream again. It wouldn't hurt to eat it, but it couldn't be the same. It didn't even sound appealing anymore.

"Thank you, for everything." I said softly. He smiled at me, and put a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm glad I could help." He nodded and left the room.

I sat down in the sofa they had replaced the bed with, and rested my feet on the armrest. I turned on the TV they gave me, and turned on the news. They were playing tribute to that missing park ranger. The one I'd killed. They were searching for him, but he was presumed dead. They interviewed his family. He had a wife and three kids. His youngest was six. They all seemed so sad! And it was all my fault.

I felt an unbearable guilt, like my chest was full of rocks.

These kids lost their father. And it could have been prevented. It can never be undone. I wished I hadn't have burned the body. At least they could have gotten closure if they had found it. I couldn't imagine what they were going through, what I'd put them through.

I found that I'd planted my face deep into my hands when I heard a knock at my door. I looked up and tried to act normal. I didn't want these people to know what I'd done and not like me anymore. Because I needed their help to not do it again.

"Come in." I said, trying, and failing, to sound cheerful.

Edward walked in and softly closed the door behind him. He sat down next to me, giving me a strange look. "How are you?" he asked, sounding concerned. Almost like he knew something was off.

"I'm okay." I lied. "News is bumming me out is all."

He leaned into my ear, and in a comforting whisper, said "I know it was you. I can read minds."

Took me a minute to really process what he'd just said. I couldn't believe it. It had to be a practical joke, right?

"I'm not joking." He said aloud. "I can really read minds."

I felt my face slam into my hands again, and all I could say was that I was sorry. I apologized a few times, but it was pointless. I wanted to apologize to the ranger's family, but there was no way for me to do that.

"It's okay." He put his hand on my back. "Well, I mean, we've all made mistakes. But we're glad you're here. We're glad you are trying."

"I-I took their father away, I-I-" I stuttered. I felt so guilty. I didn't care if it was on purpose or on accident or anything. All that mattered is the result and that it was my fault.

"Look, Andy, I know how you feel." He began. And explained what he'd done. He'd killed people too, a lot more than I had. And told me that those kids will always miss their father, but they'd be alright. He reminded me that most of the vampires in the house had done something they'd regretted, but that they all learned to do better. Somehow, this all made me feel a little better.

Wow, to think this kid I thought was just a simple classmate had killed people. Was actually older than my grandmother. Could read minds. Wait, what?

I'd been so distracted by my guilt that I kind of missed that part. "Wait a second, you read minds?" I asked, shocked. "How is that possible?"

He half-smiled. "I can read everyone's mind. I don't mean to, it just happens. Except for Bella's. She's a shield."

"A what?"

"Okay, let's take a step back. Some vampires have unique powers. Alice can see the future, my daughter can-"

"Woah, what? You have a daughter? Just a few days ago, I thought you were a normal teenager like me…"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure Carlisle told you about the half vampire that lives here sometimes? That would be my daughter, Renesmee."

"Wow, that's just wild!" Carlisle never did explain how such a thing could happen. Vampire children. That must require some specific circumstances.

"Yeah, I was surprised it was possible too." He said.

"So you're definitely not just some teenager I guess. You're a dad and stuff."

"Well, she's kind of fully grown. I mean, she was born 13 years ago, but she grew up faster than humans do. She's an adult."

"Wow." Was all I could say. I'd taken in a lot of information in the past few days. My whole world was completely different than how I thought it was. "So, does she do anything like go to school?"

"She's going to college in Seattle. She's extremely intelligent."

"You sound proud of her." I felt myself smile, and he smiled back.

"I am extremely proud. And amazed."

"It's kind of an amazing situation, sounds like."

He just nodded.

"Well anyway," he started. "Some vampires have unique abilities."

"That's pretty cool, I'll admit. I mean, at first I was pretty freaked out by everything. Like, really freaked out. I did not like it. But you're making this world of vampires sound...not so terrible."

"I'm glad I'm helping." He chuckled.

We hung out for a little while and watched the news. I silently wondered if I had a unique ability.

Then a thought occurred to me. If I had superhuman speed and strength now, I bet I was fantastic at dancing. Dancing was one of my favorite things to do. But there wasn't enough room in this room to dance. Oh, and I'd need my playlist. Which was lost with my phone, probably. I mean, I'm supposed to be playing dead anyway, so even if I could access it, it would look strange if I did. I'd have to start from scratch.

Edward ran out of the room and came back with a macbook. He knew what I was thinking. Pretty convenient. "Thanks." I muttered as I logged into the guest account. He left me to it.

I immediately started making a playlist in Apple Music, which luckily he had a subscription for. I started it with one of my favorite artists to dance to, Kinde Rey. Her music always had a very good beat. Then I collected music from some of my other favorite artists, and some 80's Pop hits, and so on. I just kept looking around for more and more music, until I had a playlist of 200 songs.

I always had fun finding new music. Dancing was kind of a passion of mine. I kind of wanted to go pro, but my father had always disapproved of it. Not of dancing itself, dancing was a healthy past time. But he thought it should be just that, a past time. A hobby. Nothing more. It wouldn't make a stable job.

He wasn't in my life much, my parents had divorced when I was 3, when he fell for some Austrian woman. He got married to her a month after the divorce, and moved to Boston. I'd never met his new wife, and didn't even know if they had kids together. He refused to tell me anything about his life with her, saying it wasn't my business, and not to visit.

Sure, with him being so distant, you'd think his opinion wouldn't matter to me. But he was the one who was planning to pay for my education. He always sent me expensive birthday gifts, and gave my mother money for my school supplies. He was pushing me to be a success. And, maybe if I was a success, he'd want to be in my life more. We used to be close, until he moved, and I really missed that. That woman, I believe her name was Vikki, ruined everything. I'd maybe seen my father five times since the divorce.

It took me a moment to realize that none of it mattered now, since I was essentially dead to the world. I could do whatever I wanted with my life, since I wouldn't be speaking to anyone I knew again anyway. It was empowering to know that my father would never know what I do, but also sad. Maybe I was even a little disappointed that I no longer had the chance to impress or disappoint him. I would never have the chance to make him proud. I could only hope he would miss me, maybe even regret not being around.

Even with this bittersweet realization, I still felt the pressure he'd put on me. I still wanted to do what would have made him proud. I still wanted to be someone worthy of being his daughter. But also, I wanted to be myself. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do now. Maybe I'd just go to high school a hundred times, like the rest of the 'kids' in this family. I suppose I had forever to decide who I was going to be. It was kind of amazing to be free of the pressure put on teens to know what they wanted to do with their lives.

For now, all I knew was it was that dancing was the hobby I was most passionate about. I was never going to stop dancing, and now I had the strength and endurance to do dances I couldn't before. Who cares if I was going to make this my job someday or not? I was still processing what was happening now, I didn't need to worry about my future.

"Edward," I said, walking down the stairs with his macbook. "Have you got a speaker I can use?"

He smiled at me, and handed me a nice quality bluetooth speaker, which looked like it was made for outdoor use.

"It's Emmett's, so return it to him when you are done."

"Thank you." I said, and went outside. It was dry outside, it appeared that the sun may even come out. There was a lot of space on the property that I could use for dancing. It couldn't be more perfect. I was going to have the dance of my life.