AUTHOR'S NOTE: Time without Internet = lots of new chapters. I thought about stringing it out, but over two weeks without anything? Couldn't let new chapters just sit. Enjoy!

Stephenie Meyer's the genius, I'm just in charge of original characters.

CHAPTER SONG: WHEN IT'S OVER - THREE DOORS DOWN

"You must be happy with yourself. You think you're so much better than me. Why do you love to see me fail so much? Cause on that day you crawl back on your knees, tell me who will save you? When there's no one else around and you can't turn to me. Tell me where will you be? When it's over, and all this pride you hold inside is gone. Tell me, where will you hide? When it's over, and everything you know is said and done. When it's over, where will you run? Do your memories haunt your dreams? Do they simply seem to have a mind of their own? Tell me what the emptiness brings. And everything you know is every thing but gone. Tell me who will save you when there's no one else around and you can't turn to me? Tell me, where will you be?"

Chapter Seven:

The Spencers had food and specified condiments at their fingertips. After making sure they were pleased and would be okay for a few minutes, I turned my sights onto the sudden arrival of my family.

The Cullens looked like something straight out of a greeting card as they smiled, laughed, and munched on their appetizers. Part of my brain still couldn't believe that this was my family. No matter what was thrown at them, no matter what changes they had to adapt to or obstacles to overcome, they were still a family. Nothing could tear them apart and I envied that in a way.

Forcing myself out of my thoughts, I lightly flicked Emmett's ear as I came up to the table. Once again, I had the feeling of eyes on me but ignored it as I smiled at my family. "You guys decide on dinner yet or did Carlisle go off on another tangent?"

Everyone laughed, minus Jasper and Miranda. It surprised me a little how sullen and ostracized they looked. They were seated at the end of the long table, the chairs in front of them empty in favor of ones closer to our parents. Hmm, odd.

I didn't have time to dwell on that though. In order to get me back for flicking his ears, Emmett started to rattle off the most disgusting meal I'd ever heard in my life but ended the whole thing with a loud curse when Rosalie reached over and pinched the inside of his thigh as hard as she could.

Winking at my beautiful, blonde sister, I pursed my lips together and raised an eyebrow at my burly brother. "So basically you want a steak cooked medium, with green beans and a loaded baked potato?"

Emmett gaped at me for a minute then leaned over to his dad, who sat right next to him. "Dad, make sure to tip this one good, okay? She's freakin' psychic!" He whispered, rather obnoxiously then leaned as far back in his chair as he could to pretend to check me out. Once again, I was overcome by temptation to inflict bodily harm. But one look at Rosalie's face told me that she wanted to do the same thing I did; flip Emmett right out of his chair.

Everyone laughed simultaniously and I couldn't help joining in. Shaking my head, I glanced over at the Spencers' and started to turn toward them when Mrs. Spencer looked up and around expectantly. As nice as this family was, I couldn't help but be irked by their needy attitudes.

"Actually look at the menu this time, okay?" I jokingly childed my family and stepped back. "I'll be right back over."

Esme noticed the other woman starting to get impatient and rolled her eyes. "Take your time, honey."

Winking at her, I flicked Emmett's ear again then walked back over to the other table. "Is everything okay?"

Mrs. Spencer's eyes widened a little at my sudden appearance and smiled a little. "I was just wondering where your manager is. This is the best cooked salmon I've ever tasted."

I smiled and breathed a little sigh of relief that all she wanted was to compliment the manager about her meal. "I'll send him right over."

"And," Damon drawled and I looked over at him in surprise. He hadn't talked much during the course of his family's meal and now he was looking at me with that cocky little grin that had haunted my dreams for the past few nights. "To compliment our waitress." He winked discreetly at me then turned his attention to his mother. "We can't forget to do that, Mom. She's been pretty attentive to us."

"That's right." Mrs. Spencer smiled dotingly at her son then looked up at me. "I don't think we've had such excellent service in a while either. And I know it must be difficult for you, juggling us with a larger party also needing your attention."

I glanced over at my family then shrugged with a small smile playing on my lips. "That's just my family. They understand my time restraints."

"Oh." Mrs. Spencer blinked in surprise and actually turned her head to look at the Cullens, who were all probably laughing at something Carlisle had said. Or, knowing my family, something Emmett had done. "I had no idea your guardians were the Cullen family."

"Yup." I nodded and knelt down, locking my arms for support on the spare bit of table between Damon and his younger brother. "I don't really go around bragging about being a doctor's kid."

"I understand." Mrs. Spencer smiled at me then raised an eyebrow slightly. "They have so many kids, I don't know how the doctor's wife has handled them all. And you all look so close in age!"

In spite of myself, I turned my head to gaze at my family and found myself looking directly at Jasper. He looked up then and locked eyes with me. A weird jolt ran through me and I raised an eyebrow slightly when I fully gaged his expression. It wasn't that he was unhappy being with his family in public. His distress seemed to come from the blonde sitting next to him, commanding his full attention away from his siblings and parents. Shaking myself mentally, I forced myself to look away from Jasper and turned back to the Spencer family. "We're actually a motley crew. They were all adopted. It's just luck that some of us are the same ages."

Damon, for the first time that evening, didn't have a smile on his face as he stared down at me. "Sounds very confusing."

"You get used to it." I shrugged and rose back to my full height. "Is there anything else y'all need? I'll be sure to make sure the manager comes to talk to you as soon as he can."

"We don't need anything else at the moment." Mr. Spencer smiled briefly at me then returned to the plate of food in front of him. Nodding, I gave them all one more smile then went to grab my family's dinner orders.

It was taxing, getting them all to admit to what they wanted. But luckily I already had Emmett's order. He was usually the most playful of our bunch. I'd just gotten to Jasper when Esme interjected quietly. I held up a finger to the blonde male and eased down the table to kneel behind her chair.

"What's up?" I asked quietly.

A small frown was set on her features, directed at her quiet son, but disappeared once her eyes landed one me. "Go ahead and tack on whatever you want. Once you're through with your other table, we've already gotten Donald to agree to let you sit down and eat with us. Once you're done, you can cash us out then get ready to come home."

"Oh Esme." I whispered and straightened up to wrap my arms around her shoulders. Kissing her cheek, I quickly regained my composure and stood up fully. "I'll be okay. I'll just grab something once I get home."

"Nonsense." Carlisle added in, having heard exactly what his wife was talking to me about. "There's no point in us eating when you've already been given permission to eat with us. And you must be starving."

"Please." I sighed and hung my head, eyes closing for a second. "I just wanna make sure you guys get fed then go home. I've been here all day."

Esme seemed to understand what I was saying and nodded silently. I squeezed her shoulder lightly then moved to stand between Jasper and Miranda's chairs. The only members of the party that I didn't have food orders for. "What'll you have?"

Jasper looked up instantly at my brisk tone and frowned. "Can't even talk to me like you know me?"

The hand holding my pen dropped a little and I sighed mentally as I lowered my eyes to meet his. "Will you please just tell me what you want to eat, Jasper? I don't have all the time in the world here."

Miranda muttered something under her breath, something I couldn't hear. But Alice, who was sitting in the chair right next to the vacant one in front of Jasper did and frowned at her brother's girlfriend.

And this chick wondered why the Cullens hated her. Gee....

It took some effort, but I finally got everyone's orders and went over to the nearest welling station, which was just a computer screen and cabinet of condiments underneath, to put it all in. I'd just finished and turned to check on the Spencers when a very unexpected guest appeared in front of me.

"Damon." I breathed and looked up at him in shock. "I was just coming back over to your table."

"Figured I'd save you the trip." He smiled at me, practically imagining me naked and leaned a shoulder against the wooden divider set up around the cabinet.

Tired and completely fed up with frustrating men, I rolled my eyes and shoved my book into my apron. "Dude, stop trying to imagine me naked. You won't be happy with what's actually underneath my clothes."

"Is that a challenge?" His eyes, darker in the limited light, lit up and his smile stretched a little more across his lips. I wanted to smack him again but just stepped back instead.

"No." I replied evenly and looked him square in his shocking blue eyes. "It's not a challenge. It's not an invitation either. I don't play games and that's pretty much all you seem to thrive on. So let me clear the air for you, okay? I'm not interested in getting to know you better, I'm not interested in dating you. And I sure as hell ain't interested in your talents between the sheets. I'm still a virgin and I pretty much plan on dying that way."

Information overload, maybe. But I wanted to get my point across. Yeah, he was the new kid in town and I was grateful to him for taking that title from me. But everything about this guy screamed game. And I didn't have time or patience for those. I was still smarting from the mental whirlwind known as my courtship with Jasper and wasn't looking for another round any time soon. With anyone. I just wanted to be left alone so I could complete my senior year and get on with my life.

Several expressions crossed his features as he stood in front of me. Or rather, lounging. Finally, he seemed to decide on grim determination and straightened up as if preparing to leave. But it wasn't going to be as simple as that. He leaned into me and I refused to back down. Or shy away in the tiniest way. So I stood my ground, arms crossed over my chest with my eyes locked on his.

"I'll make you change your mind." He vowed solemnly, no hint of amusement or joke in his voice and features. He believed what he was saying. He actually thought he had a chance of getting into my pants.

Rolling my eyes was probably a bad judgement call, but I was too tired to keep fighting impulses."Your family's looking for you and mine is hungry. Can I get back to work now?"

"Of course." Damon answered and moved away from me. "You weren't being held here against your will, you know."

I rolled my eyes again and even huffed as I walked around him and disappeared into the kitchen. As badly as I wanted this night to just end, everyone seemed to be hell-bent on not giving me exactly what I wanted.

Once I was sure that Damon had returned to his family, I revisted their table and breathed a mental sigh of relief when I wasn't greeted by several stares of death. Not that I counted on Damon to be some kind of snitch, but I did expect him to have a mean streak that entailed him messing with my tip.

"Did the manager come talk to you?" I asked, pointly staring at everyone but Damon. I didn't need to look at him to know he was practically smirking at me. Silently daring me to say or do something out of the character I was presenting to his family.

"He sure did." Mrs. Spencer smiled up at me as I paused behind her chair. "Thank you for getting him over here so quickly."

"No problem." I smiled at her and leaned between her and the still-nameless Spencer to start clearing away tables.

"May I ask you a question?" Mr. Spencer asked suddenly, catching me off-guard enough that I nearly dropped the plates I'd just picked up.

"Sure." I blushed and tucked short hairs behind my ear, momentarily forgetting about the empty dishes that needed to be taken back into the kitchen.

"How old are you? I've been trying to figure it out all night and just cannot."

"Eighteen." I replied and grinned a little. "That's the youngest age they can employ servers here, since we sell alcohol. Why do you ask?"

"I've just been trying to guess." Mr. Spencer's grin was a little unnerving and reminded me a little too much of his son's. "Are you still a student?"

"Yes sir." I admitted with a small nod and moved around the table to collect more pieces of china. "I'm a senior at Forks High."

"What a coincidence." Mrs. Spencer smiled and even clapped! Clapped. Just because I was still in high school. "Our youngest boy here starts once the holidays are over. He'll be a senior as well."

"Really?" Now it all made sense. The boy now to my immediate right seemed painfully shy. So shy that his family was stepping in just to ensure he'd know someone walking into Forks High. "Well, the best advice I can give you is get ready for the most boring six months of your life."

I was joking, but apparently not carrying it out very well. Nameless lifted his eyes to mine in a bit of a panic, causing me to feel sorry for him even more. "Is it that bad?" He asked quietly, but in a pretty calm voice considering what his parents were trying to set up for him.

"It's not too bad." I allowed and gave him a reassuring grin. "But if you need help, you can always just look out for me. Or my brother, sister, and best friend. We kind of ban together at school. Our group could always use one more."

As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized that Alice would be very attracted to this kid. I hated that my sister, beautiful and crazy in the best of ways, had yet to catch someone's eye. Suddenly, I was in matchmaker mode all over again. I just hoped my luck held like it had when I was trying to get Edward and Bella together.

"Thanks." He replied, sounding genuinely honest as he smiled up at me.

"No problem." I winked at him then held my full arms up a little. "Just let me drop these off in the kitchen. Are y'all wanting desert tonight?"

"Heavens no." Mrs. Spencer sighed and lightly patted her still-taut belly. "I couldn't possibly eat another bite."

"Just the check, please?" Mr. Spencer answered after a adoring smile to his wife. Nodding, I quietly promised to be right back and darted into the kitchen. As I stood there, putting away the separate dishes, I tried to figure out a way to get the younger Spencer's name. If I told Alice about him, I knew she'd throttle me for not having his name on hand. I almost felt sorry for him in a way, snickering as I imagined Alice pulling out all the stops to impress him. Providing she found him attractive.

But seeing as how I couldn't stop staring at his dangerously attractive older brother, I wasn't entirely sure I had anything to worry about.