Twenty-third day of school; same dull routine as always. She was situated at a table by herself, her untouched lunch in front of her. Eighteen minutes until she was forced to spend almost an hour being bored to tears by her World Civilizations teacher. She tried to pass the time by doodling or daydreaming, which typically for a vampire was a breeze, but Mr. Jordan's monotone lecturing made it impossible to completely ignore him.
So distracted by her thoughts, she didn't notice she was being approached until the person was several feet from her table. Lissa looked up and immediately recognized the blonde girl. She was in a couple of Lissa's classes, including the dreaded World Civilizations, but Lissa hadn't caught her name yet.
"Hi," the girl said with a small but friendly smile.
Lissa offered a small smile of her own. "Hi." She couldn't imagine why anyone would suddenly dare speak to her. Well, any female, that was. She'd been approached by several boys who had all been dismayed at her polite rejections. She wondered what the girl was thinking, and for once envied Edward's ability to hear everyone else's thoughts.
Furthering Lissa's shock, the girl sat across from her at the table. "I'm Amber. Amber Monroe. We have World Civilizations and Algebra together."
"I've seen you around," Lissa agreed with a nod. "It's nice to meet you, Amber. I'm Elizabeth Whitlock, but I prefer to be called Lissa."
Amber giggled. "I know who you are. Everyone in the school knows who you are. We don't get new faces here in Forks very often, so you can't really hide being new."
Lissa couldn't help but roll her eyes, just a little bit. "And yet, you're the first girl to actually speak to me. People here aren't exactly the most welcoming."
"Oh, they're just intimidated," Amber explained. "The guys are all fawning over you, and some of the girls here can be rather jealous, especially the popular ones. Then, there are those of us with older brothers and sisters who went to school with the Cullen and Hale kids. It's all gossip, I know, but you know how kids our age can be."
"Are you intimidated?"
"A little. You're drop dead gorgeous, like a supermodel or a movie star. There are some senior boys saying that you're prettier than Rosalie Hale, and she was considered the prettiest girl in school while she was here. At least, that's what my sister April told me. She's a senior, too."
"If you're intimidated, why are you talking to me?" Lissa was honestly curious, and hoped her question hadn't come off wrong.
Amber smiled. Lissa noticed that her smiles seemed to light up her whole face. It was hard not to smile around her. "You looked like you could use a friend. It's not your fault you were born with fantastic genes."
Lissa couldn't help herself. She laughed, and it didn't escape her notice that several students at nearby tables had stopped to stare at her. She wasn't sure what was so special about the fact that she'd laughed, but at least none of them seemed outright hostile as they watched her.
"So, tell me what you think of World Civilizations," Amber continued, changing the subject.
She sighed. "I love history," Lissa admitted, "but Mr. Jordan is…"
"Completely and utterly boring," Amber finished for her with a grin. "No one likes his class. Delaney Simms wants to major in history in college, and she can't stand that class. Have you noticed that half the class is on the verge of falling asleep every day?"
"One boy actually fell asleep yesterday," Lissa recalled. "Josh something…?"
Amber nodded. "Josh Braxton. He's on the JV football team. Has he asked you out yet? I heard from Kelly Kraemer that he's been bragging to all his little football buddies about how he was going to ask you to the movies this weekend."
"He hasn't said anything."
"Well don't be surprised if he does. Speaking of movies, I thought I'd go see 'Bride Wars' this Friday. It came out like a month ago, but I haven't had a chance to go see it yet. You wanna come?"
"Um… sure," she said, taken aback by the offer. "I'd have to check with Carlisle and Esme first to make sure it's okay."
"Just let me know. I'd better get going. I have a test sixth period and I need to cram in all the last minute studying I can. I'll see you in class!"
Lissa watched Amber dart out of the cafeteria with surprising speed for a human and smiled. Maybe school wouldn't be a complete bore after all.
"How was school today?"
Every day, the moment Lissa got home, Esme asked. Usually Lissa's answer was 'fine' or 'okay.' She wouldn't flat out lie to Esme, but she also wouldn't say 'horrible,' even if it had been a horrible day. It had become their routine, and that seemed to make Esme happy.
Today was different. Lissa smiled at Esme; it was a genuine smile that reached her eyes. "It was good."
Esme seemed ecstatic. "Tell me all about it!"
Lissa had just opened her mouth to speak when Alice danced into the room. Honestly, Lissa thought Alice's gracefulness put the rest of the coven to shame. Even for a vampire, she moved flawlessly. The expression on Alice's face at that moment told Lissa that the pixie of a vampire already knew what had happened. "Hi, Alice," she greeted her 'sister' in amusement.
Alice paused bouncing on the balls of her feet to wrap her arms around Lissa. "I'm so excited for you!"
Lissa laughed. "Thanks. You think I could actually tell Esme about it?"
"Of course!" Alice bounced back, giving Lissa some space.
With two sets of eyes watching her intently, Lissa felt like she was being put on the spot. "I, uh, met this girl today during lunch. Her name is Amber Monroe. She's in two of my classes."
"Her sister April was a freshman the year we graduated," Alice volunteered. "Blonde and peppy, but she seemed decent enough."
"Anyway, Amber seems nice," Lissa continued. "She asked if I wanted to go to the movies on Friday. I told her I had to ask you and Carlisle first."
"She'll be fine if she goes, Esme," Alice said before Esme could respond. "She's got amazing self-control, and I've seen it work out. If it'll make you feel better, Lissa and I can go hunting Friday afternoon just to ensure that her thirst is under control."
Esme smiled. "Of course you can go, Lissa. Carlisle and I had hoped you'd find someone to relate to at school, since the others have already graduated. We know it's hard to get close to humans, but if you have one or two you can chat with, at least, it makes blending in easier."
Lissa couldn't wrap her head around the excitement and relief she felt, now that she had Esme's approval. She hadn't thought she'd so interested in spending time with a human, but it felt nice to have a friend outside her new family, and she was reminded of how she'd felt when she was still a fourteen-year-old human, looking forward to spending time with her friends. "Thanks, Esme," she said at once. "I'll tell Amber tomorrow that I can go. And Alice, I think I'll go ahead and take you up on that offer to go hunting Friday. I'm glad you're so sure of my self-control, but I haven't really put it to the test outside of school and I'm still a little nervous."
"We won't go far," Alice assured her. "That way, we can make sure you look perfect for the movies."
Lissa rolled her eyes. "It's not a date, Alice."
"I know that, Lissa, but you're a Cullen now, and Cullens never go out in public looking anything less than divine. It's no use arguing with me about it either, because I've already seen that I'm going to win."
"I ought to ask Edward how often you see yourself getting your way," Lissa retorted with a soft snort.
Alice grinned. "Frequently, I have to admit."
"Find anything interesting?"
Lissa glanced up at Jasper from her computer screen. "I think I've hit a wall here."
Jasper pulled the ottoman from the oversized armchair over to the desk and sat beside Lissa. "Tell me about your wall."
She pointed to a person on her family tree on the screen. "This is Marie Fouraker. She's my granny's mom, my great-grandmother. I found out that she was born in Louisiana in 1912, and the 1920 census lists her parents as Stephen and Mary Fouraker. Stephen was born in 1874 and Mary in 1875."
"So, how are you at a brick wall?"
"I can't find Mary's last name. No one has her parents in their tree. It's not like I can search for a Mary without a last name. It's the most common name given to girls, or at least it was before I was born."
He studied the monitor. "She died in 1950 in Georgia?"
"There's a listing for a Mary Fouraker in the Georgia Death Index. I found this website called Find A Grave that has a Mary Fouraker who died in 1950 and is buried with her husband Stephen in Lowndes County."
"Which is where your mother's family lived," Jasper recalled. "Have you tried to obtain a copy of Mary's death certificate? With any luck it will give her maiden name."
"How would I do that?"
"Search for Georgia vital records online. There should be an agency we can contact."
Lissa opened a new tab on the browser and typed in 'Georgia vital records.' Within seconds she was on the state website. There was a form for her to fill out to request a certificate and an address to mail it to. She needed the person's name, when and where they died, and…
"There's a fee," Lissa told him with a disappointed sigh. "I can't get it after all."
Jasper's confusion was transparent. "I thought Carlisle gave you a credit card."
"He did, but I can't use it for this."
"Didn't Edward already go over this with you? Of course you can."
"I'm sure Carlisle would find the expense frivolous."
"Hardly. Buying so many clothes that you only end up wearing an outfit once is frivolous."
Alice's indignant tone rang clear from below. "I heard that, Jasper Whitlock."
He laughed out loud, and Lissa followed suit, finding his laughter contagious. "I intended for you to hear it," he replied, knowing she'd hear that, too. "Anyway, Lissa, my point is that there's nothing wrong with using the card to purchase the certificate. It doesn't look like you can order the record online, so print out the form, fill it out, and we'll send it off to Georgia."
It didn't seem she'd be able to convince Jasper otherwise, so Lissa nodded her head in agreement.
"So what else do you know about Stephen and Mary?"
"Well, I have the names of their other children – my great-grandmother Marie's brothers and sister. I don't know much about them, other than that Stephen, Mary, and the boys were all born in Texas. Only Marie and her sister Adelia were born in Louisiana."
"You should look into Marie's siblings. You might learn more about Stephen and Mary that way."
"Okay. I guess I'll start with Adelia."
"Good luck in your search. I'll be reading in my study. If you need anything, let me know, and make sure you fill out that death record form for Georgia."
Jasper left Lissa to her research, and with a new goal in mind, the younger immortal dove right in.
Forty-five minutes later, she knew that Adelia Ann Fouraker, born in 1909, had married Grayson Brown and as of 1940 they'd had three children – all daughters. Adelia had died in 1987. She couldn't determine who the daughters had married or what had become of them.
Thirty minutes after that, she knew that youngest brother James Berkley Fouraker, 1905 – 1965, had married a woman named Catherine (maiden name unknown) and had two children, daughter Beverly and son Luke. No further information could be found.
That left two other sons of Stephen and Mary – Aaron and Stephen. Aaron W. Fouraker (she couldn't find his full middle name anywhere) had lived from 1900 to 1998, and had fathered eight children. Lissa spent a good two hours attempting to track down those children, but it got her nowhere.
Stephen H. Fouraker proved to be a brick wall at first. Lissa had found him on the 1910 and 1920 censuses, both times living with his parents, but she couldn't find him on any census record after that. There was a listing for an S.H. Fouraker on Find A Grave, in the same cemetery as Stephen and Mary, but she couldn't be sure it was him. The memorial gave his death year as 1929. Going back to the Georgia Death Index, Lissa did a search and found a Stephen Fouraker who had died in Lowndes County in 1929. Was it enough to prove that this Stephen Fouraker was the Stephen H. Fouraker from her tree? She couldn't be sure.
Opening up yet another tab on the browser, Lissa did a quick search of 'Georgia death certificates' on a whim. Once again, she found the listing for Georgia vital records, but there were also two listings for the Georgia Archives. One link provided Georgia death certificates from 1919 through 1927, which was of no use to her at the moment. The other provided non-indexed death certificates from the state of Georgia from 1928 through 1930. Lissa could feel the excitement growing inside her. Clicking on the link, she read the detailed instructions on how to find the certificate she was looking for.
The first step was to search the index for the certificate number. Thanks to the index she'd perused on Ancestry's website, she already had the certificate number. After that, it was a matter of searching for that certificate number in the desired year.
It took a few minutes, but finally, a small image of a death certificate appeared on her screen. Lissa clicked on the image to make it larger and began to read.
Stephen Henry Fouraker had been born in 1902 (the month and day weren't really important at that point) and had died in early 1929 from tuberculosis. Hmm. That alone was interesting; knowing the reason a particular ancestor had died. He'd been single at the time of his death, too. Scanning down the certificate, she found parents. Father's name: Stephen Fouraker. Father's birthplace: Texas. So far, so good. When she read the mother's name, however, she gasped.
"No way…"
