Hey Readers, I'm sorry I havn't updated in such a long time, I've been really busy. To Make up for all the time i havn't updated I wrote a long chapter for you guys =] Please enjoy and review!

-Thought Thinker (AKA Linsey)

Chapter 10

Clumsy Claire

These weird experiences with Vivian were starting to give me the heebie geebies, but my mind was way too occupied with other crises so I didn't really have time to think about it.

Uncle Sam had me doing all kinds of chores like washing clothes, doing dishes, taking out the trash which was a VERY LONG walk, vacuuming, bathroom duty every Wednesday and weekends and keeping my room spotless. I was bound to keel over any minute. I had absolutely no idea why he was making me do all this but since he was providing me a place to live, I decided to just go with it instead of throw a fit.

I also had to worry about how school was going to be. It was currently summer in La Push and I was going to be a sophomore when I started. I had got held back in kindergarten so I was going to be a tad bit older than I should.

I was one hundred percent nervous and hoped that my temper and I wouldn't start any drama. Uncle Sam would kill me and ground me forever…I could already tell. I did hope, though, to make some good friends while at Black Forest High. Since I hadn't been in school since about third grade, I didn't have any friends…at all.

While trudging along to take the garbage out, I heard a howl in the distance. Pulling up the garbage bag so it wouldn't drag on the ground, I ran to the bin. After stuffing the bag inside, I listened for another howl.

I got lucky when another one came and I ran in the direction of the sound. I was only running toward the sound because I wanted to see at least ONE animal. There were absolutely none by Uncle Sam and Aunt Emily's house.

The ground was wet and started soaking my sneakers. Branches caught in my hair and thorns were scraping my knees. After living in the wild for so long, I didn't notice any of this…I was kind of like Jane from Tarzan, haha. Clouds were darkening the sky and very faint rumbling sounds came into hearing range.

"Darn it!" I shouted to myself, "C'mon howl just one more time, please?"

I got nervous after I heard the animal howl one more time because it sounded closer than I would've liked it to have been.

"Claire!" I heard a guys voice shout, "What are you doing out here? It's about to rain and you'll get sick if you get cold."

Quill stepped out of some trees and I instantly relaxed. "Oh gosh Quill, you scared me half to death! I thought you were some random stranger guy that was going to abduct me!" I said.

"Claire, what if I was? What would you have done?" Quill asked in a raised voice. His eyebrows were knit together and he looked seriously worried. "You know what never mind, I hate yelling at you. So why are you running around the forest all by yourself?"

"Oh!" I exclaimed, "I heard a wolf howling and I wanted to check it out."

"Did you see the wolf?" Quill asked kind of nervously.

"Ummmm…no I don't think I did. I might've once but that was probably just a rock."

He seemed satisfied with my answer and relaxed. A smile spread across his face as he said, "You've grown up so much since the last time I saw you. You were only like four."

I studied Quill a little bit. He had deep brown eyes and his hair was more dark brown than black. Quill also didn't have the short, cropped hair like all the other boys, it was thicker and feathery. What really stunned me was his body, it was perfect. He was shirtless so he was much easier to gawk at. His abs, his arms, his face…Claire! Stop daydreaming! He's going to think you're weird if you keep staring at him, I shouted to myself in my head.

I was right, Quill was looking at me funny. "…would you want to go?" he was asking.

I felt really stupid as I asked, "What?"

"Um, we're having a bonfire on Friday night and I was just wondering if you would want to go. It's at the beach, down by the water."

"Sure, why not…who's gonna be there? And what day is it today exactly?" I asked.

"Well," Quill sighed as he leaned against a tree, "There will be Jacob, me, Embry, Collin, Brady, Seth, Leah and a guy you haven't met yet. His name is TJ. He's a new mem-…never mind. And today is Monday."

"Ok, now I have just one more question." I asked, "Can you help me find my way home?"

****Tuesday****

Aunt Emily and I were sitting on the couch in the living room. She was sewing something small together while I was engrossed in The Amazing World of Gumball. Thunder boomed outside and lightening lit up the windows. Lord forbid the power go out and I get deprived of my T.V…

"Crap!" I shouted as the lights abruptly went out and the T.V. screen went dark.

Aunt Emily started laughing while I sat on the floor with my legs crossed, right in front of the T.V., willing it to come back on.

"Please, please, please! I'll dust your screen or get you a new remote!"

I was very unsuccessful. Finally I just gave up and scooted back to the couch. I thought of how this house should have a fireplace to provide light on late afternoons like these, which made me think of the bonfire on Friday.

"Aunt Emily? Can I go to a bonfire with Quill on Friday?"

Aunt Emily's eyebrows knit together and she stopped putting fabric in a basket at her feet. "Did he invite you?"

I kinda laughed, "Haha yes Aunt Emily, I'm not inviting myself."

"Wow…that's surprising…usually the boys don't invite people to their bonfires." Aunt Emily said quietly, but then a smirk spread across her face from what I could see in the dark and she muttered, "Oh yes I forgot…"

"Wholy Crap!" I shouted, "What's with all the secrets and never minds? It's driving me crazy!"

Aunt Emily sighed and after a few moments, stood up. She walked over to the kitchen and quickly punched numbers in her cell phone. She was lucky to have a signal.

"Quill? I think it's time." She muttered.

"Time for what?" I asked curiously. There was a pit growing in my stomach and I could tell this was not going to be good.

There was a long pause on the phone, but then a muffled voice said a few quick words. Aunt Emily pulled the phone away from her ear, noticing that Quill had hung up on her. She sighed and punched one number into the phone, probably speed dial.

"Hi Sam," She paused to hear Uncle Sam's greeting, "I think it's time we told her. I mean she'll be staying here for a long time and we can trust her." Aunt Emily softly spoke into the phone. I could barely hear her, so I crept off the couch to get a tad bit closer.

"Ok…ok…sure… bring all the boys with you…be safe, I love you." She said as she closed her phone.

I quickly tried to get back to the couch and look like a "little angel" but I tripped over something, ran into a side table and flipped over the back of the couch on the way there.

Aunt Emily stood in the doorway to the kitchen, listening to me be a clutz.

"I'm ok!"I yelled, knowing Aunt Emily had watched me. "So what's going on?" I went to subconsciously touch my wood necklace, but it wasn't there.

"Oh no!" I exclaimed as I dropped to the floor and started feeling around for my necklace.

"What's wrong Clai-"

"MY NECKLACE IS GONE!" I interrupted her.

"Sweetheart, you'll never find it in the dark, you'll have to wait for the lights to turn back on." Aunt Emily said sympathetically.

"No I have to find it! The charm is about the size of a quarter and is shaped like a heart…it has the initials C.A. on it…I've gotta find a light!" I shot up off the ground and ran to the stairs. I knew I was probably going to fall atleast twice on the way up but I had to find that necklace…I've had it ever since before I can remember… ever since before I was pushed off the roof of my old house when I was nine and lost my memory.

I tore down the hallway to my room where I had a flashlight. Just as I was about to go through the doorway to my room I ran right smack into my door and fell to the ground. The hallway started spinning and my head started to throb. Before I knew it, I was out cold.

****Hours Later****

"Claire?" "Is she ok?" "What happened?" "When did you find her?" "Did she hit her head?" "Yea it looks swollen." "Aw crap I hope she's not having a concussion!" "She is such a clutz." "Who is she?" "That's Claire dumb ass!"

Ten blurry faces were leaned over me and all of them were talking.

"Number one, I'm not ok. Number two, I ran into my door. Number three, yes I hit my head. Number four, if you thought for a second I was having a concussion you shoulda called 911! Number five, I am not that big of a clutz. Number seven, Yea I'm Claire and number eight…watch your language Collin!" I muttered.

"Claire's alive!" Brady shouted.

"And looking stunning this evening!" Brady sarcastically added. My hand flew up and connected with his forehead, making a loud slapping sound.

"Ow!" He exclaimed. "Feist much?"

"Shut up." I moaned turning over on the couch. My forehead instantly started stinging. The excruciating pain caused me to fall off the couch, but just as I was expecting to feel the cold, hard, unforgiving ground I was back on the couch.

I looked around me in shock, "What just happened? I should be lying on the ground squirming in pain right about now."

Aunt Emily and Uncle Sam Came rushing into the room.

"Oh goodness Claire, you're awake! You gave us all a horrible scare! What happened?" my Aunt Emily gushed as she examined my forehead.

"I just ran into my door," I explained through clenched teeth, trying not to scream. "Nothing out of the ordinary…What I would really like to know is what the heck is going on around here!"

Everyone looked at each other, then looked at Quill.

"Quill…?" I asked.