"Puppy, you sweet jar of salted caramel frappawhatsitchino, get over here we have important things to discuss!"

Greg loved to do this. The more public the better, like some mortifying statement of conspiracy he would call Pup over. Today it was the benches outside where Pup, and the rest of the school, had taken to eating lunch while the weather was half way good. Pup sat with her tray and tried to make herself as small as possible. Shana was furiously swiping on her tablet, a deep furrow on her brow.

This was Pup's fifth day at Forks High School and her fourth day without her family. Right now the whirlwind that was her new best friends Greg and Shana were much welcomed.

"Sha is freaking over what to wear tonight." He said, nudging Shana.

"I am not, I don't care, it's not like that, it's super casual but none of my clothes fit me anymore and if Mum shops for me I'll look like something from the Disney Network." Seeing Shana in the sunlight today Pup noticed how freckly she was under her makeup, her red hair was piled on top of her head in a bun with carefully orchestrated strands pried loose. These last few days she had marvelled at how these two people had welcomed her into their lives. She was not like them at all, to be honest, the only thing that Greg and Shana had in common was the consumption of pop culture and a pining for good fashion, but Pup didn't know or care at all about either of those things and yet they had adopted her as their own.

"I forgot about the party tonight…." Before Pup could finish Shana had leaped on her.

"Shut up 'party'! Where are you from!? It isn't a 'party', please don't say that word – it's so lame. It's just people hanging out. You are coming to mine after school aren't you? We have to get ready together."

"I can get ready with you but I have to go home first, is that ok? Sorry, I can't shop with you?"

"That's alright, I have Greg for that"

This 'hang' was being hosted by a guy she shared a few classes with but didn't know yet whose name was Oscar. He wore stuff that people talked about a lot and was great with technology of all kinds and to Pup felt like he excelled at being a teenage boy. She also noticed that Shana looked at him a lot.

"You look great in everything, Shana, you could go and buy a roll of bin liners and have something good to wear"

"Aw, listen to the Brit with her bin liners, we call them trash bags here, but thanks, you big old lesbo, I'll save you a dance…"

"But first… we must away to the theatre." Greg interrupted with suitably dramatic voice.

Pup dreaded drama class. So far it was a combination of stomach-shredding humiliation and the frustrating subject matter of the play they were studying – Iphigenia in Aulis or 'Iphers' as the teacher Mr Fennon called it. If she wasn't being forced to do embarrassing facial expressions or noises or TRUST FALLS she was being subjected to a two thousand-year-old story about how thoughtless and bullish a father can be to a daughter. It made her wish that everyone's parent had the ability to imprint. Pup had noted that most people who did bad things blamed their parents so imprinting really would solve quite a few world problems.

Duncan picked Pup up after school and the grilling started straight away.

"OK, what do I do?"

"You're a consultant?"

"Of what?"

"No one ever asks"

"What does your mother do?"

"She's a bored Mum that makes stuff for her Etsy shop"

"What else?"

"I don't know, that I get my skin colour from my grandmother but, for some reason skipped my mother and I should play down how much I've travelled?"

"No. Well yes, but the most important thing is deflection. Don't get bogged down in coming up with a back story just change the subject"

"Thanks, Duncan"

"We might need to get used to the 'Dad' thing"

"Nah, it's like a To Kill a Mockingbird thing, isn't it?"

"Sure thing, Pup, you're the boss"

There it was again. That shadow that Pup knew so well in the vampire side of her family; that moment that she had observed so well in the Cullens. That hint of envy or maybe sadness, it was subtle and brief and always followed by momentary guilt but it was undeniable. Vampires could love; deeply and enduringly, but they could never reproduce. However long they lived they couldn't shake that deeply human need to create life with the person they loved the most. No one would ever resent Bella or Edward or Pup's Mum and Dad - Renesme and Jacob, after all, they had suffered so deeply for the privilege and it wasn't like any of this had been planned, but nonetheless that faint and brief shadow of envy was there.

By the time they got back Maude had set up skype for the list of check-in's Pup had to do with the rest of my family. The enormous fuss that was being made of this 'gathering' was starting to make Pup's head swim.

"I chat to all these people all day, tonight isn't going to be any different" Pup said to her parent's faces on the laptop screen.

"People are going to want to get to know you, Pup, you have to have your guard up… but not so up that you don't, you know, make any friends", Dad had never struggled to make friends, he had a kind of effortless charm that made even the people that hated him want to be his friend. He looked nervous for Pup though and it wasn't helping her churning stomach. Renesmee looked strange, Pup thought; far away, haunted even.

"You ok, Mum?" She smiled weakly and nodded.

"Your Mom just misses you, Pup, we all do. Have fun tonight, now go and get ready I know Alice is waiting to get photos of what you're wearing"

"Dear God, Dad, this isn't the Met Ball. I'll probably just go in this." There was an immediate beep on Pups phone and the text from Alice read 'OVER MY COLD DEAD BODY!'

Duncan brought a sandwich to his new ward and then hovered by the door watching Pup negotiate with Alice via text.

"You know if you want the real teenage human experience - you've got to have some secrets from your parents."

"More secrets? Besides, I am a teenage human." Duncan looked suddenly off balance like he had suddenly been shifted into a dangerous conversation by mistake.

"Just because the full extent of who you are hasn't shown itself yet doesn't mean you should settle for thinking you're all human." He stumbled out. Maude glided up behind him.

"Would it bother you if you were human… no super… anything?"

Pup stopped. This was the very question that had swum around in her head for years and years; the elephant in the room that no one ever talked about.

"I see that the more different you are the less you can be part of the human world but… I don't know… everyone I love is so … special"

Pup shrugged and sent a picture of what she was wearing to Alice. Before she knew it she was in the middle of a rather cool suffocating embrace from her new fake parents.

"Och, don't be daft, you're the most special girl I ever met, Pup, don't you forget it!" Duncan's deep Scottish voice demanded.

By the time they arrived at Oscar's house Pup had experienced an hour of hair and makeup at the hands of Shana. In fact, Pup had to fight for any say in how she looked tonight. After much debate, Alice had compromised on some denim shorts and an oversized cami that felt, to Pup, like she was wearing a large woman's undergarments. Shana had had three failed attempts at doing Pup's make up. In the end, she gave up completely on trying to find any foundation that matched her skin and settled on a deep lipstick and, what felt like seven thousand layers, of mascara. Pup felt deeply uncomfortable but Greg and Shana had made such a fuss about the overall look that she decided to just endure it for the evening.

She had expected a run of the mill, expensive looking house but Oscar's house was a little out of the way and humble. Most people were outback where there were string lights, candles and a bonfire. It felt a lot like the evenings she had spent with the Quileute, telling stories, except for the music and no adults.

Pup chewed nervously on the rim of a red plastic cup while she watched Greg and Shana dance wildly in the patio. She wasn't sure what she had expected but enjoying this evening was going to require a social bravery that Pup did not have. She could tell that people were talking about her from the looks she was getting from the clusters of people around the fire so Pup had secreted herself in a shadowy corner to observe and, hopefully, be forgotten so she could slip away early.

"Not into dancing?" Oscar sidled up to her with a bowl of, what looked like, Doritos and offered them to Pup. She shook her head.

"Thanks for having me", mumbled Pup and instantly regretted it. Oscar laughed.

"Alright Jane Austen, you're very welcome. Listen, you're kind of the talk of the night. No one really knows anything about you and then you turn up tonight looking like an Instagram girl… the suspense is too much, come and talk to us"

"I don't look…" she stumbled out but Oscar had already walked away, beckoning for her to follow.

She had only taken three steps towards the bonfire when it was like a grenade had gone off in her head. She stood stock still for a moment trying to work out what had just happened. A breeze had brought the smell of the fire, but there was something else as well, a smell so strong that it left a ringing in Pup's ears. What was it? It didn't really smell like anything she had smelt before but it was also so familiar. Maybe, green peppers? Cut Grass? Wet stone? Whatever it was it was immobilizing and left Pup gasping for breath.

"You ok, Pup?" Oscar looked at her and then grabbed her hand and dragged her to the logs people were sitting on round the fire. No one else was reacting to, what felt like a sledgehammer to the face to Pup, so she did everything she could to pretend nothing had happened but she looked around madly to find the source of that smell. She sat on a tree stump and looked around at the people Oscar was introducing her to. She wasn't listening to any of the names but they were all smiling at her.

"Someone told me you live in this mansion in the woods," Said someone from across the fire.

"Not a mansion, no but it is pretty remote" Pup's stomach felt strange like she was suddenly ravenous and her mouth felt chalky. She gulped down some more of her drink.

"Your folks outdoorsy?" Came another voice.

"You could say that" Pup knew she needed to get a grip or she would start replying to these questions in a way that would get her in trouble.

"Did I see a dead Christmas tree at the end of your garden, Oscar?"

"Ha, yeah, my folks are so lazy they still haven't chipped it"

"You could put it on the fire and it'd smell all Christmassy" Some people jumped up and started dragging the brown, crispy tree to the fire. Everyone agreed that the smell of Christmas was the best even if it was early June. Pup, breathed through her mouth and hoped that the burning pine would help her not to pass out from this strange smell that was like an IED inside her.

"Wow, I think I got about 10 needles stuck in the palms of my hands," This was it. Whoever had just plopped themselves down next to Pup had brought that smell with them. She took a handful of her long, black hair and covered her nose and mouth with it - a makeshift gas mask - stared at her Converse intently, frightened to look up. "Great, and now I have smoke in my eyes so I can't even see… could you help me out here?"

Without looking up Pup turned and grabbed the hands of the person to her side, inspecting them for pine needles. They were fair, freckly and male and as she peered closely at them she was hit again. It was like a strong wind rolling off the ocean in Rio but also like that first day of the year when the trees begin to bud.

"Oh god." Pup made a dash for it. That smell made her whole body vibrate and it felt dangerous like she might hurt someone. She had never felt like that before. What is this? Pup thought. Is this thirst, or anger? Why does it feel like a sickness and an emotion?

When she looked up again she found she was gripping onto the side of the drinks table. Pup stuffed a fistful of Doritos into her mouth and washed it down with lemonade from the bottle.

"Wooh, Babe, haha what the..? Pour it into a glass at least. If you'd stop stuffing your face like a pig for a second I want to introduce you to my cousin, Finley."

Pup whirled round and there was Shana standing next to a tall, freckly boy with messy hair – and that smell.

"I'd shake your hand but… you know… ow." He showed her the palms with pinpricks in them.

"Sorry, I just…"

"You don't need to explain… well, except that it looked a bit like you ran away from me because I smelled like five-day old garbage juice"

"Rude!" Shana said laughing, "But it is a well-known fact that boys are all stinky. Pup, Finley is joining us at school as of next week. I promised to introduce him to some people so his first day would be so scary." And with that Shana skipped off, wailing something about this 'being her jam'. Pup couldn't take her eyes off him, it was like the world swirled around them but he stayed in focus.

"D'you get them out?"

"huh?"

"The needles?"

"Oh, yeah, I think so" He stepped closer to her and showed her his hands. It felt to Pup like she was toe to toe with a cliff edge. She breathed through her mouth, but it hardly helped, it was like she could taste it on her tongue. Taking his hands was like curling her toes over that cliff edge but she did and, this time, it brought a surge of warmth that spread through her body.

"There might be dirt in them." She bit her lip. Could he tell? Did he know? Pup didn't know whether to run away or plunge her fist into his chest and rip his heart out while it was still pumping.

"We should clean it up." She looked up, the light from the fire danced across his face, he was smiling. That smile felt like blood in the water to a shark. How, though? Pup wasn't a vampire, or a werewolf or… anything, she couldn't even do ten push ups! What danger could she possibly be to anyone? She told herself she was being ridiculous and they walked into the house.

He washed his hands in the sink or the bathroom while Pup raided the cabinets for antiseptic.

"Shana tells me you're new as well?" Pup nodded. "Well, from one noob to another, what do I need to know?"

"Can't complain, so far… but, it's only been one week" She dowsed some cotton with antiseptic and started dabbing, bits of loose cotton got caught on his palms. "I think… I think I making a mess of this. Sorry"

"That's alright, not only does it sting like hell but I think you might be making me cotton ball mittens!" He chuckled and Pup felt some of his breath on her face. It was too much. Couldn't he sense she was standing on the cliff edge and any breeze would send her tumbling down the precipice? She stepped back, swaying under the weight of the sickness this boy had inflicted on her. Her face felt hot and her lips numb, she reached out to lean on the basin but she had misjudged and she fell.

Black.

The next thing she knew she was looking at Greg, Shana and Finley's worried faces.

"Puppy, what happened?" Greg handed her a cup of lukewarm water.

"Oh no, I'm so embarrassed" Pup sat up in the bed of what she had to assume was Iscars bedroom. Her head throbbed.

"Wooh, you hit your head on the way down, careful." Finley put his hand on her arm, encouraging her to relax. Pup snatched it away – fearful anymore contact from this harbinger of head bombs might send her into total meltdown. "Sorry." Hurt soaked through his face. Pup noticed his eyes were pale blue, not far from her grey but large and soft and, now, sad.

"I'll drive you home." Shana wasn't stupid, she could see there was something going on and no doubt she wanted the low down on the way home. "Your phone suddenly went nuts by the way. Like twenty missed calls. You might want to check it."

Before Pup could look at her phone there was a commotion coming from the front of the house. Duncan burst into the room.

"What the… What happened!" In a dangerously fast movement Duncan scooped Pup from the bed and started carrying her out.

A moment later and they were driving away in his Jeep.

"Are you drunk?"

"No."

"Drugs?"

"NO!"

"Can you cover that cut, I'm finding it a bit … distracting" Duncan was white-knuckling the steering wheel.

"Sorry, Duncan, there really wasn't any need for any of this I just fainted or something."

"Well, whatever happened, Alice saw something pretty big and she called for an... Evacuation."

Pup had no idea what that meant. She had no idea what prophecy Alice had had but she had to find out what happen to her tonight. Whatever it was, she knew something had changed inside her, irrevocably.