Tomboy101: and here's chapter 8! I'm so proud of myself for keeping with this story for so long! Of course, I couldn't have done it all by myself. Thank you to all my reviewers and to my wonderful beta, possum! Everyone waive to possum and check out her stories! Thanks again and God Bless!

I stumbled into my room right around 3 o'clock in the morning. I was completely exhausted, mentally and physically, to the point where I felt a little sick. I glanced at myself in the mirror above my dresser. My skin was ashen tinged with green and my eyeliner and eyeshadow were smudged. The fake eyelashes I had put on earlier in the evening were in the cup holder in my truck. Tiredly I took off my big silver earrings and set them on the dresser. Then off came my red club dress and black converse. They landed in a heap on the floor inside my closet. I would deal with putting everything up tomorrow. Right now I had to get some sleep.

I collapsed onto my wonderful bed and sighed with relief. Today had not gone well. At all. Everything had all been one headache after another: fight with Jake, then go clubbing to get over fight with Jake, then Jake shows up at club, fight with Jake round 2 and, for the grand finale, end the night with a vampire kill.

The only thing that had been remotely okay with today was that it was Friday which meant that when I woke up in twelve hours it would be Saturday. Saturdays were my favorite day of the week, unless there was a Friday the 13th but that didn't happen often. On Saturdays I could sleep in. Mom never tried to get any of us up before noon on Saturdays and we had breakfast for dinner. I snuggled deeper under my covers at the very thought. There was just something about having breakfast for dinner that made any breakfast food ten times more appetizing. I wondered what Mom would make. Pancakes? Waffles? Biscuits and gravy?

I hope it's biscuits and gravy, I thought sleepily, with bacon and fruit and…

Loud noises woke me up the next morning. My eyes sprang open and I sat up with a jolt. Familiar voices drifted up from the stairs from the foyer. I looked up at my shine-on-the-ceiling clock and growled. It was 8 in the morning! Who the fuck was up at 8 in the freaking morning and more importantly, who the fuck was waking me up at 8 in the freaking morning?!

I shoved my covers off and flung myself out of my nice warm bed. Cold wood met my bare feet as I stormed out of my room, across the hall and down the big staircase. I stopped halfway down and glared at the intruders. Embry Call and Quil Ateara grinned goofily up at me as did my own sister! At the sight of the two werewolves the scalding pit of anger suddenly turned to rage that surged up and out of my mouth. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?!" I roared, not caring that I was dressed in nothing but a black bra and black hiphugger underwear.

If the boys had had dog tails they would have tucked them up between their legs. "Morning, Chris," Quil offered in his sweetest voice.

My glare snapped to him. "Shut up!"

Melody shifted nervously, her brown eyes looking at me guiltily. I fixed my ice chips for eyes on her. Forget that it wasn't her or even Embry or Quil I was even really angry with. They were there, all of them together, and seeing Melody standing so close to Embry made me think of Jacob and all the hurt he caused me in the mere seven days we had been here. All I saw were werewolves encroaching on my territory. "If you had wanted to hang out with them," I hissed, my voice a deadly quiet, "then you should have gone to them. By bringing them here you have disrupted everyone else. Werewolves are not permitted on my territory unless given special, specific permission. Do I make myself clear?"

Melody dropped her gaze. Good, she knew who her leader was. I turned back to the wolves. Quil was looking between Melody and I in confusion. Embry was glaring at me. "Now wait just a minute! Who do you think you are talk to Melody like that?" he demanded.

I bared my teeth. If I had been thinking rationally I would have known he was right. Unfortunately, I had slept less than four hours so sleep deprivation combined with the ungodly hour of the morning resulted in an unreasonable werecat functioning mostly on instinct and not much else.

"Melody," a new voice said from off to my right, "why don't you take the boys out to the backyard for a while." Mom glided into the volatile atmosphere with all the serenity of a calm lake. Dressed as she was in her nightgown over comfy pajamas it was obvious that all our yelling had woke her up.

Melody nodded vigorously and proceeded to usher the boys through the doorway to my left. Embry continued to glare at me from over her head. I followed them with my eyes until they disappeared from sight. Good riddance. I turned to go back upstairs and bed.

"And where, exactly, do you think you're going young lady?"

I turned back around. Mom was frowning up at me, both hands on her hips. It was her classic you're-in-big-trouble stance. Too bad I was too tired and pissed off for that fact to click in my brain. "Bed," I said shortly.

"No you're not. You're going to stay right there until you explain to me precisely what you were thinking yelling at Melody, Embry and Quil like that for."

I stared at her. She couldn't be serious. By this time reason was starting to shove instinct out of the driver's seat so when I studied her carefully I recognized all the warning signs. Aw shit. Just by looking at her I could tell that I was so seriously grounded. Mom could tell I knew, too.

"Now you listen here, Christianna Tla-Da-Tsi Nightingale"—I flinched when she used my full name; she never uses my full name unless I'm in serious trouble—"I have given you a lot of freedom these past few months because you're seventeen and will be a legal adult soon and so must start learning how to think for yourself. What I have not given you is the right to yell at visitors or your siblings, decide who is and who isn't going to enter this house or to start fights for no apparent reason other than someone woke you up. This is a monarchy but you are not the queen. I am. Do you understand?"

I opened my mouth to argue back but there was a dangerous glint to Mom's usually warm brown eyes. My mouth snapped shut and I nodded at the floor. I hate being discipline by my mom.

"I said, do you understand?" Mom said again, louder this time.

"Yes ma'm."

Mom nodded. "Good. Now march yourself upstairs right now and get dressed. I expect you to be in the kitchen in eight minutes. Then, you will go apologize to Melody and those two boys. After that you are confined to your room until I say otherwise. The only times you are allowed to leave your room is to go to the bathroom, eat, school and work. No one is allowed into your room. Am I clear?"

"Yes ma'm."

Mom's face softened slightly. "You know I love you Chris," she said kindly.

"I love you too Momma."

She smiled at me. "Go on."

I turned and dashed up the stairs. I was dressed in shorts and the first t-shirt I could grab from the drawer in five minutes flat. I raced to the kitchen, taking the steps two at a time. Mom is serious about her deadlines. If we don't get whatever she wants us to do in the time limit she gives us we get assigned the household chore we hate the most. For me, that's laundry. Having to do laundry on top of being grounded was not something I was particularly interested in.

Mom was waiting for me in the kitchen, sitting at the table with a cup of steaming coffee in front of her, when I came in. I had made it in her eight minute time limit with 120 seconds to spare, a new personal best. Without looking up from her newspaper she pointed to the backdoor. I followed the silent order and stepped outside in search of my sister and friends.

This early in the morning there was a coolness to the air that made goosebumps rise on my skin. Fog lay thick and close to the ground and the only indication that the sun was even up was that I could see well enough not to need a flashlight. I didn't see Mel or Embry or Quil out in the backyard but I did hear voices coming from around the other side of the house. I walked across the blue-gray painted wrap-around porch and peeked around the corner.

Melody and Embry sat snuggled against each other on the swinging loveseat. Obviously they were an item now. Quil had found a wooden porch chair and had pulled it around to face them. They were talking in hushed voices but seemed to be very comfortable with each other. Guilt twisted my stomach all around. I really shouldn't have yelled at them like I had. Embry and Quil had been nothing but good to me ever since we came back and Melody was my sister.

I shuffled towards them, the dread and guilt swirling in my stomach making me feel like I had been doused in cold water. Quil was the first to see me. He raised an eyebrow at me expectantly. Melody looked worried but Embry narrowed his eyes at me and pulled her closer to him. Normally I would have made some sort of comment about his possessiveness but I didn't feel like being sarcastic right then.

I kept my eyes on my feet as I spoke. "Mel, Embry, Quil, I'm sorry for yelling at you. I shouldn't have said the things I did. Please forgive me."

I glanced up at them. Melody was smiling that sweet smile of hers that told me all was forgiven. Embry's eyes un-narrowed but he didn't relax his hold on Melody and Quil smiled. "Wow. Who got the big bad cat to behave? They deserve a medal."

Melody laughed. "You should see what else Mom can do," she joked. "You'd want to name a country after her."

I smiled. "So, we good?" I asked.

Quil and Melody smiled back at me. Embry relaxed. "Yeah, we're good," he said. "Just don't yell anymore. You're voice hurts my ears."

"And you're smell hurts my nose but you don't see me complaining," I shot back.

"So what have you two got planned for today?" Quil asked, leaning back to lounge comfortably in his chair.

"Nothin'," Melody said. "Why? You got somethin' in mind?"

"Whatever it is count me out," I sighed. "Count me out for anything y'all've got planned for the rest of the week too. I'm grounded."

Melody shook her head but didn't offer any sympathy. Embry and Quil on the other hand stared at me. "You're grounded?" Embry asked, his tone somewhere between shock and awe.

"But you're a Shifter," Quil protested.

I shrugged. Being grounded wasn't that big of a deal and I was a little surprised they thought it was. "I'm confined to my room until Mom says otherwise." I turned and headed back inside. "I'll see y'all later."

I spent the rest of the day in complete and utter boredom. I ended up going back to bed and sleeping most of the morning away after I took a shower. Around noon Mom brought me three packets of chicken flavored ramen all mixed up together to make one gigantic bowl. It was pretty good but didn't fill me up completely.

After lunch I flopped back onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling. Normally I could have easily found one-hundred and one things for me to do to keep myself occupied but I didn't really feel like doing any of them. I could have watched a movie or re-watched Buffy, Bones, Angel, or NCIS but none of those options really interested me. I had a bookshelf overstuffed with books but none of them called to me.

I looked down at my stomach. My belly button ring, a silver bar with a blue rhinestone on the end, was currently in. I studied the piercing. I had gotten it roughly two years ago, right in the middle of when all the werecat Pride Leader stuff had started. At the time I had gotten it I had wanted to do something wild and crazy and a little irresponsible. I guess getting my belly button pierced was my way of pushing back against all of the pressure I was suddenly dealing with. It hadn't really hurt but maybe that was just me. The guy who had done it hadn't even asked for ID to make sure I was of legal age to get it (the place had been some seedy tattoo parlor in Austin). Mom hadn't been real happy when she found out. She had ordered me to take it out but, in typical rebellious teen fashion, I had refused. To this day it was a point of contention between us.

Now, looking at the blue rhinestone glinting in the artificial light, I considered taking it out and letting the piercing close. I really had no use for it anymore but I didn't want Mom to think she had won. More oh my silly teen logic.

I relaxed back onto the bed and resumed staring at the ceiling. It was white. No cracks or stains or anything, just white. I brought my hands up and held them above my hand. The dark tan of my skin contrasted with the whiteness of the ceiling. I stared at them. My fingers were neither long and elegant nor short and stubby, they were just fingers. I wore no rings. I used to wear rings but after I Shifted I discovered that when I turned into a cougar my rings would just disappear. My piercings were always still there when I changed back, as were any necklaces or bracelets I was wearing, the rings, however, simply vanished. It really didn't make all that much sense to me. I wonder what I'm going to do when I get married, I mused. Though really, the likelihood of that ever happening was becoming smaller and smaller.

I plopped my hands back down onto the mattress. Dear Lord what the hell was I going to do for the rest of the day? AGGGHHHH!

I lay there for what felt like hours before I suddenly got this weird burst of energy. I jumped up and skipped to my desk over in the corner of my room and sat myself forcefully in my cushioned, rolling office chair. I spun it to face my desk and flipped open my blue Acer PC laptop, typed in the password when the screen came up, waited for all the applications to load and then logged onto Skype. Usually I don't get on Skype a lot and I rarely put my status on any messenger-type program as anything other than "invisible" but this time I switched it to available and within minutes I was video chatting with Sasha Johansson, a powerful witch I had known growing up in Texas whose family had been friends with my tribe for over one hundred years. That probably explained the strange burst of energy and sudden desire to Skype. Sasha likes compulsion spells.

Sasha was the big sister I never had and my best friend so I quickly filled her in on everything that had happened, starting with meeting up with the Cullens and ending with the whole Bonding/Jake fiasco. We chatted for nearly three hours until she had to go at around 5. Talking to her made me feel both better and a little worse. Better because I felt like I could handle the situation in which I had found myself; worse, because I felt guiltier about yelling at Melody who really didn't deserve it.

Finally, at 6, Mom came to get me for breakfast-for-dinner night. Turns out she did make biscuits and gravy, a lot of biscuits and gravy. I was so happy. She also made scrambled eggs, a fruit salad, had a pitcher of orange juice out, and some pancakes.

Conversation was practically nonexistent at the table. I think my siblings and cousin had all heard about me being punished and decided that poking the temporarily subdued werecat was not a good idea. Michael and Andrew ate quickly then excused themselves to hang out with some friends they had made amongst the wolves (and Andy complained about having to go to the bonfire, ha!). Melody and Clara also left to go hang out with the wolves when Quil showed up in his clunker of a van leaving Mom and I alone in the house.

I helped Mom clean up the kitchen and put away the dishes—there were no leftovers tonight. When everything was all cleaned up I went back upstairs and sat down in front of my lap top where I proceeded to watch movies until midnight. At midnight I went to sleep.

On Monday morning I was thrilled to get out of the house. Sunday had been a repeat of Saturday afternoon, completely boring. I was so happy to go somewhere and see something other than the inside of my room I almost cried and I definitely broke about thirteen different traffic laws just to get to school faster.

"Land!" Michael cried dramatically as he tumbled out of the back of the truck.

I rolled my eyes and shut off the engine. Melody, who had rode shotgun, smiled at me weakly but there seemed to be a slight green tinge to her skin. Clara had had the misfortune of sitting in between Michael and Andrew in the backseat (she lost rock-paper-scissors first to Mel for shotgun and then to both boys for a window seat) so she had to scoot across the backseat to get out. I waited patiently for her to shut her door before I locked my truck up. We all grabbed our backpacks out of the pickup bed where we had stored them because with five people, two of whom were 6 foot tall boys, there was just no other place to put them.

I slung my backpack over my shoulder and turned, only to come face-to-face with a worried looking Edward. My bronze-eyed vampire of a cousin rarely looks anything other than calm. To see him worried sent alarm bells off in my head. "Eddy, what's wrong?"

Edward shifted nervously and glanced over to Melody and Clara who were talking happily with Alice. Andrew and Michael were a little farther off chatting up Emmett and Jasper but they leaned towards us showing they were definitely listening. Turning back to me he whispered, "Alice had a vision."

My eyebrows shot up. "What kind of vision?" I asked suspiciously.

"You know all those disappearances in Seattle?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

"Well, there have been a lot of disappearances in Seattle for a while. We think it's the work of a new coven—a coven of newborns."

"Newborns?" A shiver of fear went up my spine at the word. I had never had the pleasure of meeting a newborn but I'd heard all about them from Jasper. They were wicked fast, unbelievably strong, and completely wild with bloodlust.

Edward nodded. "They're taking over Seattle but Alice thinks they're being led by Victoria."

"Victoria?" I asked for clarification.

"Right, you weren't here for that. We met Victoria a few months ago. Her mate James wanted to hunt Bella. We killed him and now Alice thinks she's looking for revenge and is planning to use a newborn army to get it."

"An army?" I squeaked. I swallowed, a little embarrassed at having squeaked. "Is she a redhead?" I asked in an attempt to distract from my squeak.

"Yeah," he said slowly giving me a confused look.

I nodded. "That makes sense. Only a redhead would have such big anger management issues."

Edward looked torn between laughing and rolling his eyes.

"So what's the plan?" I asked.

"I'm not letting anything happen to Bella," Edward growled. His eyes flickered, sanity and an almost insatiable desire to kill warring inside him.

"Ed!" I hissed, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him without trying to draw too much attention to ourselves.

It took a moment but his eyes eventually refocused. "Sorry," he said, looking away. He blinked a few times then looked back at me. "We're meeting after school to talk about what we should do," he continued. "In the meantime I'm going to try and convince Bella to go visit her mother this weekend."

I nodded. "Good plan." More seriously I added, "You know the boys and I are here to help."

He gave me a small smile. "Thanks Chris. It means a lot that you guys are here."

"Hey, what is family for, right?" I clapped him on the back. "Now come on, there are teachers waiting to torture us for another seven hours."