Stephanie's Pov

"Time to get up." I heard a soft voice say. I wanted to tell them to leave me alone and let me sleep, but whoever it was that was waking me up was definitely not Alice or Emmett, so I slowly turned in my bed, and opened my eyes I saw a glint of light shining on my floor. I rubbed my eyes and opened them fully to see Esme sitting on the edge of my bed, smiling softly at me.

"Morning." I mumbled sleepily, slowly pushing myself up so I was sitting against the bedhead.

"Morning sweetheart, I didn't want to wake you yet, but our guests will be arriving in an hour and I thought it would be better that I wake you instead of Alice." She explained.

"Good idea, I probably would have killed Alice." I said, then I slowly realized I hadn't come to bed last night, yet that was where I was "Did someone put me in bed last night?" I asked.

"Carlisle did after you fell asleep watching the movie." Esme explained.

"Oh, thank you Carlisle." I said normally, because I knew he could hear me because of his vamp hearing. I looked past Esme and watched as he appeared in my doorway, smiling.

"You're welcome Stephanie, but a word of advice: I'd get dressed because Alice is going to come get you if you haven't started in about two minutes." He said, smiling in amusement. Carlisle and Esme were the only one's Alice couldn't make over at will, so they found it amusing when she did it to us.

"You don't need to tell me twice". I said, climbing out of bed as Esme got up.

I went over to my wardrobe and went in, shutting the door behind me. I went over to where my clothes sat and stripped out of my PJs, folding them up and placing them on the seat. I went over to one of my many draws and grabbed out a bra, putting it. I walked back over to my clothes and grabbed my jeans. I put my legs into them and pulled them up to my waist, zipping them up as I leant down and grabbed my top. I pulled it on and the buckled the belt up at the front, then went and pulled my boots on. I left my wardrobe and went quickly over to my jewelry box, pulling out a silver necklace, which had a silver heart locket that held a picture of my Mom and Dad. I clipped it around my neck, then I headed to the bathroom and was shocked to see the mess my hair was in, so after I went to the toilet I grabbed my brush, which had somehow been put back into the bathroom, and brushed my hair out. Once it was nice and smooth I tied half of it up, leaving the bottom half down. I put on some lips gloss, then deciding I looked fine, I headed downstairs so I could avoid that wrath of Alice, which is something you never want to see. As I came upon the kitchen I could smell the beautiful smell of pancakes and I suddenly felt very hungry.

"Finally, you're awake." Renesmee said. She looked beautiful in her long sleeved purple dress and black leggings, though that wasn't what she wore by choice. I knew in that moment that neither her or Bella had picked that outfit, because like me Renesmee was a jeans and top kind of girl.

"Like the look." I teased, smirking. She stuck her tongue out at me and all I could do was laugh at her, see Jacob trying to hide a laugh.

"Just you wait, one-day, Alice will get you too." She said, digging into her chocolate chip pancakes. I just smirked as I sat down, knowing that she was probably right, though I would fight back, because no one told me how to dress, ever.

"Here you go sweetheart." Esme said, coming in with a plate of pancakes and a cup of milk.

"Thank you, Esme." I said as she placed the food down. I admit that it was hard not to just grab the knife and fork and start eating then and there.

"You look beautiful this morning." She said as she sat beside me, like she had last night.

I blushed and focused on taking a bite of my sweet-smelling pancakes. The moment I ate it I was in heaven, and I have to say, for a vampire who can't eat, Esme was an excellent cook.

"Esme, how are you such a good cook?" I asked, while trying not to laugh at how fast Jacob was scoffing down his food.

"When you've been around as long as I have, you learn that kind of stuff; also, I had Bella teach me." She explained. I simply nodded and went back to my meal. While I was eating I could tell something was on Esme's mind, so when I finished I turned to face her.

"Esme, what is it?" I asked, taking her hand in mine. She looked up at me and smiled. I had never actually scene Esme look nervous, so I was kinda worried.

"We need you to stay upstairs while we explain to the others about you, is that okay?" She asked, like she was afraid I was going to crack it.

"Of course, it is. I know humans aren't exactly allowed to know about this world." I said, smiling. I understood that me being with them was a weird situation, I mean of course I did.

"Esme, she needs to get upstairs, they'll be here in two minutes." Alice said, suddenly appearing in the room.

"Come on Steph, I'll wait with you. They haven't seen the grown up me yet, so we'll give them a double surprise." Renesmee said, dancing around the table and grabbing my hand. She pulled me out of my seat and dragged me out of the room and up the stairs, with Jacob right behind us.

We went into my room and I went over, grabbed my TV remote and turned on the TV so we had something to do, though in the end I gave the remote to Jacob and Renesmee and I made my bed.

"So, what's the deal with the Denali's? I mean, I'm gonna feel like the odd one out the moment we go down there because I don't know them." I said.

"Well, the others have known them the longest. I don't really know as much about them as the others do, but here, I'll show you what I know." She said and once I was standing in front of her, she raised her hand and placed it against my cheek. I watched the images and conversations run through my mind and I found out everything Renesmee knew about the Denali's. Slowly I stepped away from her and took a deep breath, letting my eyes adjust.

"I am never going to get used to that." I laughed and she smiled at me.

"She's freaking, isn't she." Jake said from the couch, his gaze not leaving the football game that was on the TV. Renesmee turned on her heel and as I watched she walked over to Jacob, and with a quick hand she smacked him across the back of the head, causing him to lean forward and grab his head.

"That hurt!" He complained, turning to give Renesmee a questioning glare while he rubbed his head.

"You know exactly what that was for, now why don't you go back to watching your football." Renesmee said and I had to cover my mouth with my hand so I wouldn't laugh. Watching these two bicker was hilarious, but having Renesmee turn to glare at me wasn't. "What's so funny?" She questioned, her arms folded across her chest.

"Nothing, nothing at all. How about you guys just go back to questioning me about things?" I said, trying so hard to get Renesmee to stop glaring at me.

"Okay, can you do a handstand?" Renesmee asked. Huh, hadn't I said I had done gymnastics.

"Of course, I can. I can even walk with my hands." I said, smirking. I have to admit I love being a show off now that I live with vampires, basically because they are good at everything.

"Prove it." She said.

I smirked at her, then I went and stood over in the empty part of my room. I bent over, putting my head and hands on the ground, then put all my weight on my head and hands and put my legs into the air. I smiled over at Renesmee, then I lifted my head off the floor and started to move around the room with my hands. After a moment, I decided to be more of a show off, so I lifted my left hand up so I was only holding my body with my right one, which is dreadfully hard to do, mind you, especially since I was still recovering.

"Show off." Renesmee said, smiling.

I smiled back and was about to flip back onto my legs when suddenly my door flew open, scaring the hell out of me and making Jacob jump up off the couch. I was so freaked out about the sudden movements that I lost my balance and fell onto my ass while cursing because it hurt, but I let that pass and I put my hands behind me head, then with a quick movement I moved my legs up and flipped myself into a half crouch, though of course that caused me to hurt my stomach. I looked at Renesmee's and Jacob's shocked expressions as they stared at me, but I decided against asking them and turned to see Emmett standing behind me.

"Hey squirt, they're waiting for you." Emmett smirked, smiling down at me. God, if he kept this up I was going to kill him.

"Emmett, what the hell have I said about knocking." I yelled at him, my temper flaring worse than it would have if I hadn't been hurt.

"Why, were you doing something bad, please tell me you guys were…." Emmett started to say. I knew Emmett all too well and I could see Renesmee's face from beside me, so I knew I had to shut him up.

"SHUT UP EMMETT!" Renesmee and I yelled at the same time. Jacob started to laugh from behind us and even I found it funny that we had said it in sync like that.

"You don't even know what I was going to say." Emmett complained. I glared up at him, but then my gaze shifted to the metal bat I had sitting by my bookcase, so while he was staring at Renesmee I went over and grabbed it.

"I heard Dad growl, so I'm pretty sure I can guess it wasn't something good Uncle Emmett." Renesmee snapped at him.

I slowly walked up behind Emmett and with as much force I could produce. I swung the bat back, then I brought it forward and aimed for his head. The exact moment the bat hit his head an ear-splitting bang went through my room, causing me to wince and drop that bat on the ground so I could cover my ears. Emmett slowly turned to glare at me, but the moment he saw my face he must have rethought what he was going to say because he was suddenly gone, leaving us to burst into laughter.

"Finally." Jacob laughed.

"We better get downstairs." I smiled and they nodded.

We took to the stairs and walked down slowly, Renesmee and Jacob taking the lead. About half way down the stairs I heard a loud smack noise.

"What the hell was that for?" I heard Emmett demand.

"You know exactly what that was for." Edward growled. Okay, so whatever Emmett had been thinking before definitely wasn't good, which made me glad we had shut him up.

Just then we got to the living room and as we entered everyone fell silent. I admit, I kinda stayed hidden behind Jacob because even though I had no scent, I really didn't know how these guys were going to react to me. It was Carmen who broke away from the group first and I watched as she walked over to Renesmee and put her hands on Renesmee's shoulders.

"Renesmee, look how beautiful you've grown, just like your parents." Carmen said, smiling. I was definitely glad I knew who they were now, because I wasn't going to be confused.

"So, I'm beautiful now." Edward said from his place beside Bella. Hello, all vampires are beautiful, though some are beautifully scary.

"Like you haven't noticed." Bella scoffed and I watched as he shot her a cocky grin, causing her to just shake her head.

"It's good to see you Carmen." Renesmee said, hugging her tightly.

After about ten seconds, Renesmee pulled away and turned to look at me. In the next second she was in front of me, pulling me from where I was hiding behind Jacob to where Carmen was standing

"Guys, I'd like you all to meet my best friend Stephanie." She said loudly, though she didn't need to.

"It's nice to meet you." I said to Carmen. Thankfully, I wasn't shy of new people, and I knew these guys were okay.

"It is nice to meet you too." Carmen said and she leaned forward to kiss my cheeks. Okay, that was a little weird, but when I think about it, they aren't from my time. I watched as Tanya came closer and I held out my hand.

"Tanya right, it's nice to meet you." I smiled as she took my hand, though I could see she was shocked.

"How did you know who I was?" She asked.

"Renesmee showed me." I said simply, which of course made her understand. I watched as Kate came over and shook my hand and as Garrett did the same, and that's when I noticed Carlisle and Eleazar were talking in hushed voices.

"Carlisle, I don't understand." I heard Eleazar say and I noticed his eyes flick to me, then back to Carlisle.

"Neither do any of us." Carlisle said and just like Eleazar his eyes flicked to me.

In that moment, I knew who they were talking about me and I was getting annoyed because I didn't know why. I mean there was nothing weird or special about me, so why the secret conversation?

"It's okay Stephanie, we'll explain." Jasper said, coming up behind me and placing a hand on my shoulder. So, Jasper had felt my annoyance and was able to figure out why I was feeling that way.

"Explain what?" Renesmee asked, apparently confused about what Jasper was talking about, and I didn't blame her.

"Stephanie was feeling annoyed at Carlisle for talking about her, because she doesn't understand why." Jasper explained, coming around to stand at my side.

"How did you know we were talking about you?" Eleazar asked, walking forward to where the rest of us were standing, followed by Carlisle.

"I used that little thing called a brain." I said, sarcastically.

"I wasn't sure you had one." Emmett laughed, causing me to pinpoint him with my eyes and glare at him in annoyance.

"Emmett, unless you want me to hit you again, I'd be silent." I growled at him. He was now starting to get on my last nerve, with his smart-ass attitude.

"I like her, she's feisty." Garrett said from his spot.

"Try living with her." Emmett muttered really low, hoping I wouldn't hear it, but I did.

"I heard that." I snapped as him.

Renesmee suddenly handed me my bat, the one I had used on Emmett before, which made me wonder when she left. Anyway, I smiled at her then turned to face Emmett, but he was gone.

"Chicken." I said as I placed the bat against the couch, then I looked at Carlisle. "Now I would like to know what you guys were saying about me, after I do one thing." I said.

I walked over to the game cabinet and opened it. I opened cases and changed the games around. I changed the wireless controls so Emmett would have to fix it up. I pulled out Emmett's favorite game and placed it aside, then I changed the colored cords at the back and put them into the wrong points. I grabbed the game, the controllers and stood up, smiling.

"I'll be back in a sec, then you can explain." I said.

I walked out of the room and across the hall, into the kitchen and opened the cupboard, hiding it behind the plates. I then took off upstairs to my room and grabbed my laptop, MP3 and camera and took them into my wardrobe, hiding them in the secret compartment that only Alice and I knew about. I also placed my car keys in there as well.

As I left my room I made sure I had my phone in my pocket, because I knew Emmett would try to get his revenge, which made me run back and grab my art book. I could replace most of my things, but I couldn't redo my art, not like I had already done it. I ran down the stairs with my book in hand, and was met with my whole family (minus Emmett), and the Denali's, who were waiting patiently.

"What were you doing?" Renesmee asked as I sat on one of the couches beside her.

"Hiding the things that I don't want Emmett to steal when he finds out what I've done to his stuff." I said, placing my book on my lap.

"Why would a book be important?" Garret asked, with Kate on his lap. Most of my family was standing, since they were okay like that, though if anyone else saw them no one would think they were human, because honestly, they looked like statues.

"It's my art book, so I don't want it to be destroyed when Emmett comes for revenge." I said simply.

"I love art myself." Carmen said from beside Eleazar. "May I have a look at your work, if it's alright?" Carmen asked.

"Of course." I said. She came over and sat beside me gracefully. I handed her the book and she started to look at it, so I decided it was time to find out what I really wanted to know.

"Alright, now I'd like to know exactly what you can't understand about me." I said, looking straight at Carlisle.

"No human I have ever come across has had no scent." Carlisle said, his face thoughtful and wise. "Every human has one, whether it is weak or strong, and that's because it is meant to make your blood appeal to us. I have never heard of this in all my years, yet here you are." Carlisle said, waiting for my reaction.

"So, what does that mean?" I asked, confused as all hell.

I looked to my left and could see that Renesmee didn't understand where this was coming from either, or what it meant.

"We don't know, and that's what worries us so much. Stephanie, whatever gift you have, I've never seen it before, but what concerns me more is that Edward can't read your mind." Carlisle explained, looking extremely worried, though I actually liked it that Edward couldn't read my mind.

"He can't?" Tanya asked, looking at me. I just nodded and she looked at Carlisle. "Could that mean she's a shield?" She asked. I had been thinking the same thing when they had told me about Bella, but I was nothing like her.

"No." Edward said, drawing everyone's gaze to him. "I'm not too sure about this because I've only met one other shield besides Bella, but Stephanie's mind is different to what Bella's is. That could mean she's a different kind of shield, but I think she's something else. Stephanie seems to be able to open or block her mind at will." Edward explained.

"I'm sitting right here." I grumbled in annoyance. Edward shot an apologetic smile at me and I gave up being mad at him because it was just too difficult.

"Well we can check if she's invincible." Kate said. She climbed off of Garrett's lap and walked over to me. "Would you like to try?" She asked, holding out her hand. I knew all about Kate's gift and what it could do, so I admit I was a bit worried about what she was asking.

"Kate, she's human, your gift can seriously hurt her." Esme said, a worried look on her face, though I could see by looking into her eyes that she was angry with Kate for even bringing that option up.

"She can say no if she's afraid to do it." Kate said, smiling. In that moment something snapped inside and I knew my answer.

"I'll do it." I said, standing up. I knew Kate had just been baiting me, but it was time I stopped letting people tell me what to do.

"Stephanie, think about this; if you are not protected from her this will cause you unbearable pain." Carlisle said, his voice thick with concern and worry, but above all else, disbelief that I was actually going to do this.

"You want to know what I am, well, let's find out." I said, taking a step closer to Kate.

"Even if it doesn't hurt you, that won't prove what you are." Carlisle said. I admit I wasn't happy with him for referring to me that way.

"Maybe I'm an alien from Mars." I said, causing Garrett to laugh.

"You have spunk, I'll give you that." Garrett said, smiling at me.

"I didn't mean it that way." Carlisle said.

"I know what you meant." I said, feeling bad for snapping at him. I turned to look at Kate and watched as she smiled.

"You ready?" She asked, wiggling her fingers with her palm in front of me.

"As ready as I'm gonna be." I said in a little bit of a shaky voice.

I felt everyone shift where they were as they waited to see what happened to me. I admit I was scared about what was going to happen, but I very slowly placed my hand into Kate's. I saw the electricity come off her arm and felt a small pain shot through my hand, causing me to wince in pain.

"Kate stop, you're hurting her." Esme said, moving forward to rip my grip from Kate's.

"No wait." I said slowly, tightening my grip on Kate's hand.

The sharp pain that had been there receded quickly and I realized Kate's gift wasn't hurting me anymore. I knew that her gift was kinda like a taser and that she could drop vampires with a single touch, so I wondered why I wasn't dropping, even though there was pain before. Kate pulled her hand away, easily breaking my hold and stepped back. Suddenly Carlisle was in front of me, though I didn't look up at him because I was staring at my hand. What was going on?

"Stephanie, are you okay?" Carlisle asked and I could hear the concern in his voice. Very slowly, he took my hand in his and looked at it, I'm guessing to see if there was any mark.

"Stephanie?" He asked again and this time I shook myself out of my thoughts and looked up at him.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a bit confused." I said, forcing a smile onto my face.

"Are you still in pain?" Carlisle asked, giving me that look which meant I had to tell him the truth, whether I wanted to or not.

"I'm fine, honest. It only hurt for a second then the pain was gone." I said, hoping he actually believed me, because I was being honest.

"Impossible. Eleazar, would you join me in my office?" Carlisle asked. I watched as Eleazar nodded and without one word he and Carlisle left the lounge and headed across the hall.

"Well that was sudden." Tanya said.

"Whatever, I give up trying to figure you vampires out." I said, shaking my head and plopping back down onto the couch. About a moment later my art book was suddenly placed on my lap and I turned to look at Carmen.

"They are beautiful, especially the winter wonderland," Carmen said, smiling at me.

"Thank you" I smiled. When Carmen said the winter wonderland I suddenly realized that now that I was better I really wanted to go ice skating, something I hadn't done in ages

"Um, if you guys don't mind, I think I'm going to go to my room." I said, standing up off of the couch.

"It's perfectly okay dear, go right ahead." Esme said, smiling softly at me.

I knew she was as confused about me as Carlisle was, though she hadn't run off to research it. I smiled at everyone, then I walked out of the room, heading for the stairs. I walked up to my room and shut my door behind me. I walked over to my desk and opened up one of my draws, pulling out my phone book.