I walked into the kitchen, rubbing sleep from my eyes. Last night had been completely quiet; no wolves whatsoever. I'd slept like a rock.

"Morning, Nani." said Emily, already making breakfast. "Some of your things arrived last night." she said, gesturing to a few medium-sized packages on the table.

I opened the first one and found it was my laptop. "Rock on." I muttered, setting it to the side as I opened the others. There were a couple of my favorite books, and there was a CD that I didn't recognize with a note attached. In my dad's chicken-scratch handwriting that I had, unfortunately, inherited, it said, Nani, your mom said something about you liking this band, so I thought I'd pick up their new album for you. I hope you're having a good time, or at least doing okay, in La Push. Call me if you need anything. Remember, I grew up there, and so did Em, so you can ask either of us about anything. Love, Dad.

I gave the CD another look and slipped the note into my pajama pocket. "I'll clear the stuff out later." I said, heading over to the counter. "Where's Sam?"

"He's asleep. He was out late last night, so try to be quiet." she told me, putting some bacon and eggs on a plate. "Breakfast."

I took my meal to the table and ate, reading the newspaper. The forecast for the day had rain in it, to no surprise of myself. I smiled wryly and chewed my bacon. So much rain around here. It was a wonder the place wasn't totally flooded by now.

"Leah's coming over today." Emily said out of nowhere.

"Who's Leah?" I asked.

"Seth's older sister. She said she wanted to come over with Embry and Jared today." she explained. "Which should be soon."

"Why hasn't she come over before?" I asked.

"She's been busy." she said. "But the others have mentioned you, so she wants to see what you're like. There aren't any girls she's able to see as regularly as the guys."

My first thought was that this Leah girl might be pretty cool. I mean, she was part of the Quileute tribe, like me, and she hung out with guys a lot, like I did back in Hawaii. I mean, you can't live on a ranch and not make friends with the ranch hands. Those were some pretty awesome guys.

About a half hour later, Jared, Embry, and a girl around my age walked into the house. Sam had woken up by then, and we were both on the couch watching Iron Man. "Hey, guys." he called without turning.

"Sam!" Jared exclaimed, leaping into his lap excitedly.

"We've missed you so much!" said Embry, squeezing next to him.

"Get off." said Sam, shoving Jared to the ground.

"Morons." Leah and I said at the same time, but both with amused tones. We looked at each other. I grinned. Her smile was slower to approach, but I didn't mind. "The name's Nani." I said. "You must be Leah."

"I would hope so." she said, sitting next to me on the couch. "How's it goin'?"

"Wet." I said, glancing outside at the rain.

She snorted. "No kidding. Must be completely different from Hawaii."

I nodded, suddenly feeling homesick. "There's just too much green here." I said.

"What? Didn't you have woods back in the homeland?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Not really. I mean, I'm sure there were some, but it was mostly grassy planes and sand. Some palm trees. But, I mean, as close as we were to the water, it still wasn't so wet."

"We don't even notice anymore." she said. "We were all born knowing it rained a lot."

I snorted. "A lot? Try perpetually. This downpour hasn't let up since I got here."

"It should stop by tomorrow." she said. "At least, I hope. There's a party supposed to happen down on the beach tomorrow night."

"For who?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Nobody in particular. The teens on the rez like to get together for bonfires every now and then. It's a good time, especially on warm days, which we don't get too many of."

"Am I invited?"

"Are you on the reservation?"

"Point taken."

"How long are you staying here, anyway?" she asked.

"I don't know." I said. "I don't even know why I was sent here. My parents wouldn't tell me."

"Seriously?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "That sucks. Did you ask them?"

I shook my head. "No. It seemed too important. If I needed to know, they would have told me. Mom keeps asking if I want to go back, though, like it's actually an option."

"I think you should stay longer."

"I didn't say I was leaving."

"Good. We need more girls around here." she said matter-of-factly, flopping against the back of the couch. "Wanna watch a movie?"

"Lilo and Stitch." I said.

"You just like that movie 'cause you're Hawaiian."

"You're racist." I joked. I liked Leah. She seemed like a cool person, albeit tough. I'd made faster friends with her than anyone else so far, which boded well. I only wondered how long it would take for her to lie to me, too.

Suddenly, the front door banged open and Seth came running in, totally breathless. "Sam!" he cried, panting. "Sam, you gotta get to Jake's!"

"What's going on?" Sam asked, looking more serious than I'd ever seen.

"It's Paul!" he said. "Something's happening, I don't know – You gotta come!"

"Stay here." he told me. "Jared, Embry, come on. Leah, make sure Nani and Emily stay inside, alright?"

"What's going on?" I asked as the guys ran from the house.

"Dunno." she said, tensed. Her eyes were locked on the window, and her entire body was on full alert. "Probably not a big deal, though."

Lie number one.