"You're not wearing them to school," Dad said not even looking up from his newspaper, knowing exactly what adorned my usually slipper clad feet.

"These are my compensation for loony camp," I groaned in reply. It was still far too early to be awake.

"I don't care, you're mum will flip. You know they creep her out."

Mum only got creeped out because her granddad killed the woman who owned them. Sheesh, overreaction

"Don't care, once she stops dragging us around after her dreams then I'll think about taking them off." I looked down and modelled my shoes. Black authentic cowgirl boots with turquoise jewels studded into them, courtesy of a famous outlaw who terrorised Texas a century ago.

"How was your book?" Dad asked, ignoring my jibe. Noah and I weren't the only ones whose lives had been ripped from the roots to pursue Mum's fashion design profession, Dad had loyally followed, regardless of the destruction to his own career.

"It was good. Set in Washington," I added.

"Yeah, that's why you're mum got it. She thought if you read a story you liked about a place, you might be more inclined to want to live there."

"Bloody snake that woman!" I hissed "She thinks of it all,"

"It's why I married her," he said winking to me "Don't let her see you with those boots on," He said. I nodded and waited for him to drive me to school.

"Rach, you'll be late," he said, casually reading the paper.

"Yeah, especially if you don't hurry up and drive me,"

"You can walk,"

"I don't know where it is!" I protested angrily

"There's a map by the front door," he didn't even look up. Thanks dad.

On my way to school I thought about the people I had encountered. Billy the dude in the wheelchair, and Sam. God reality must be merging with fantasy, I swear there was a guy called Billy in a wheelchair in Twilight. Moving must have messed me up more than I thought. And Sam, the sexy stranger, was there a Sam in Twilight? God Rachel get a grip. I thought the story was good, the intensity of Bella and Edward was too much for me, but I got over it. In fact I got over it so much I had ordered the next one. Just to see what the hype was about. At least that's what I was telling myself.

I had been in my own little world, and barely noticed when I walked straight into the back of someone.

"Sh-" I started, stepping back in a daze "Sorry there," I said checking who I had bumped into. It was a guy who looked momentarily perplexed. He was like Sam, with copper skin and black hair, only it was a lot longer. And he wore clothes.

Dammit.

I looked around, all round me russet skinned beauties dragged their feet to school. Was I-? Was I at a Native American only school? Oh god, I was gonna have a heart attack if I had to spend day in day out with gorgeous people like this.

"Hey you're English!" he announced. I squirmed, I had dealt with this before.

"Yeah," I answered, screwing up my nose "Nottingham," I offered, though he just looked blankly at me.

"Are you new?" he asked, although it was infinitely obvious I was. No-one could come into a community like this unnoticed. I nodded simply.

"Well that's awesome!" his enthusiasm concerned me slightly, but I just smiled, reminding myself I should be used to the Americans by now.

By lunch I was regretting the shoes. How the hell this outlaw chick walked around in these all day was far beyond me. I had made some friends, the guy I had ran into was nice enough and embraced my barmy presence questionlessly into his group of friends. He was called Jack, then there was Neka, Liam, Hayley and Josie. They all seemed a bit too normal for me, I wasn't used to being surrounded by people who actually had normal families and lives. Even in Texas they were all crazy.

"You're boots are awesome," Josie said as I sat down, I grinned.

"Thanks," I said happily. See Dad, they were making me friends "My great granddad shot someone for them," Oh crap, take it back, Rewind. How was I going to recover from that? "Uhhh," I said, cogs spinning in my mind "She was a killer so it was like justified." dig deeper, Rachel, just keep going until you hit the entrance to the psycho ward. "Never mind," I mumbled, shifting in my seat so I was low.

"So you guys lived here all your lives?" I asked, trying hard to recover and act normal.

"Nah," Hailey said. "I moved here with my older sister when she got engaged a few years back."

"Wow," I said "That's awesome. I came here because my mum thought Seattle was the next hot spot for fashion," I rolled my eyes "Whose she engaged to?"

"A guy called Sam Uley. He walks around topless half the time." Hailey rolled her eyes. I froze as Josie teased her saying she 'loved it really'. Topless Sam? It must be the guy I met. But Uley? Why did that ring a bell?

"I met him the other day," I said matter-of-factly. "He tried to kill me with scorpions,"

"You're weird," Liam said.

"S'true," I muttered.

"You met Sam?" Hailey asked, scrutinizing me closely "What did you think?"

"Honestly?" I asked, they nodded. "He's a bit of a babe," I admitted, blushing. They grinned

"So you didn't think he was a freak?" Jack asked guardedly.

I shrugged "Hey, if he wants to walk around flashing skin then all we can do is admire. His friend Billy was cool too."

"Billy Black?" Neka asked. I shrugged. "Wheelchair?" I nodded. There was a glance around the table.

"Everything ok?" I asked, worried I had offended someone.

"Nah it's nothing,"

Later that day in English, a lesson that was far beyond me, I leant over to Josie whilst the teacher was yapping on about Shakespeare, or something.

"So what's the deal with the Billy hating?" I said, trying to be casual about it. "Did he try to run you over or something?" an image of Billy seven hundred times bigger, manically laughing and squishing helpless students under his giant wheels popped into my head. I had to fight the urge to laugh.

"Billy Black's son used to be our friend," she said "Then he went all weird and started following Sam. Same with Quil and Embry, two other guys we used to hang out with. Jacob doesn't talk to us anymore, none of them do,"

"Jacob?"

"Billy's son."

Jacob Black. Now I must've been dreaming. Jacob Black was undoubtedly in Twilight. I had to straighten this out.

"You know Twilight?" I asked Josie. She gave me a look.

"Yeah," she answered slowly "Like at night?"

It took me a moment to realise she was talking about actual twilight.

"No, the book,"

"Nope. Never heard of it, sorry,"

I stared for approximately three years. "Oh, okay," I replied. "So, like it's all real here. What about the Cullens?"

She bristled "Don't mention them in front of Hailey. Sam gets all funny about them. I think it rubbed off on her."

"Okay," I nodded, officially convinced I had stepped into a parallel universe. "Is there a library nearby?"

"There's one in Forks," she shrugged.

"How long will it take me to get there?"

"About half an hour?"

Once again I nodded. Things were getting weird.