Author Note: I've had a few people asking if Lissa would do anything to land herself in trouble. I did say that she was going to find a bit of trouble eventually, but I thought I'd ask you as readers, after having gotten to know Lissa a bit, what you think she might do to get in trouble. She's generally good, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter. Feel free to let me know via reviews, private messages, or on my tumblr page (the web address is on my profile).

She sat at a table in the cafeteria, listening to Amber chatter on about the boys on the JV football team and the massive amount of homework Mrs. Anderson had assigned in Algebra and anything else the bubbly teen could think of. Lissa had come to realize that sometimes Amber just liked to talk, and she really didn't need to contribute much to the conversation when Amber got in one of those moods – just the occasional 'mhmm' and 'I know what you mean.'

Glancing at the clock, she realized that she only had five more minutes of freedom until she had to endure another torturous hour at the hands of Mr. Jordan. If she could get away with reading or doing something else and completely tuning him out in the process, the class wouldn't be nearly so bad, she thought, but she couldn't drown him out with other thoughts and she couldn't manage to divert her attention to anything else without diverting his attention. It was annoying on the best of days, and on the worst day – well, those days she spent the hour wishing she was anywhere else.

Honestly, it wasn't as if she actually learned anything from the man. He didn't share any knowledge that she couldn't gleam from her textbook, and she'd already read the book cover to cover – twice.

"You're especially quiet today."

Lissa offered Amber an apologetic look. "I'm sorry."

"Is everything okay?"

"I'm just not feeling very well today," she lied. "I have a headache and it won't seem to go away."

Amber frowned. "I have some aspirin. Do you want some?"

The brunette shook her head. "No, thank you. I already took something before fourth period. I have to wait a while until I can take anything else." It amazed her that she could come up with a story so convincingly that Amber automatically believed her, but Lissa supposed that having a headache wasn't an uncommon thing for a teenager.

"Maybe you should go see the nurse."

Resting in the nurse's office for an hour instead of going to World Civilizations would have been paradise to Lissa, but she couldn't possibly visit the school nurse. Having the woman put a hand on her forehead or take her temperature would raise far too many questions and attract too much attention, and Lissa knew that attracting too much attention was a huge no-no.

Still, she didn't think she could sit through an hour of Mr. Jordan droning on in a monotone voice. Lissa couldn't actually go to the nurse, but Amber didn't need to know that. "You know, I think I will," she told her friend, standing up extra slow for good measure. "If I don't make it to World Civ, could you pick up any homework for me?"

Amber nodded enthusiastically. "Of course."

"Thanks, Amber. I'll see you later."

Lissa headed toward the main office, but as soon as she was out of Amber's sight she ducked into a bathroom. Selecting a stall in the middle, she closed and locked the door behind her. Her backpack went on the hook on the door, and Lissa unzipped the front compartment of the bag so she could retrieve her brand new Kindle 2. Carlisle had bought it for her, realizing how much she enjoyed reading, and Lissa loved the fact that this little device could hold up to 1500 books on it. Considering the speed at which vampires could read, she was grateful for something that could still provide her with hours of reading material in a compact form.

Taking a seat on the toilet seat, she pulled her legs up so that they were folded crisscross and turned on her Kindle 2, retrieving the latest book she'd been reading. She could easily pass an hour reading in here, and then she'd still be able to go to Spanish before the school day was over. Lissa felt a little guilty about skipping class, only because she had a feeling that the others would disapprove, but she quickly pushed those feelings aside. She deserved a break from Mr. Jordan's class, and after all, it was just one day.

Lissa held up a mixed print baby doll dress in shades of dark chocolate, pink, and purple in front of her. The dress had a square neckline and long three-quarters bell sleeves, and fell a few inches above her knees. She really liked it, but felt compelled anyway to ask, "What do you think?"

Alice looked up from a rack of clothes and smiled approvingly. "Absolutely adorable. We'll add it to the group."

Lissa didn't bother asking whether she should try on the dress first. She'd asked after the first outfit, but Alice had taken one look and had insisted it would fit perfectly. Apparently, Alice had a second gift of being able to tell whether or not something would fit well just by looking at it on a hanger. Lissa thought it crazy that Alice could know such a thing, but after receiving thumbs up on the first five outfits (and subsequently discovering Alice had been right after trying them on), Lissa had decided to take Alice's word for it. It occurred to her that Alice might be using her gift to sort through outfits, which certainly cut down the shopping time, and shopping with Alice was an Olympic event as it was.

They were at their second store of the afternoon (they'd departed the first one with a full bag of clothing) and Alice had already insisted on three outfits. The dress Lissa had just held up was the fourth. "I thought we were only looking for an outfit for Friday night," Lissa said as she resumed her browsing, the dress hanging neatly over her arm.

"We'll need options to choose from. I can't decide which one will be best for Friday, so we shouldn't limit ourselves to just one or two choices."

Lissa smirked. "This is because I wore the same outfit twice last week, isn't it?" She knew she'd hit a nerve within Alice after wearing the same outfit more than once in the span of a week. To add insult to injury, Lissa had worn that outfit in public both times. Alice had been horrified, naturally, but Lissa happened to like that outfit, and Esme had washed it in-between those days, so Lissa didn't see the harm in it.

"You have enough clothes to last you two months without having to do laundry," Alice reminded her. "To have that many options and wear the same outfit twice in a week…" Alice shook her head dramatically. "It's something Bella would do. You're so much better than that, Lissa!"

Bella would have probably objected were she there, Lissa thought. "We're just going out for pizza, you know. I could wear a pair of jeans and a top and be fine."

"Not unless it's a really, really cute top," Alice retorted with a soft snort.

Seconds later, Lissa found a dress she was sure Alice would say 'no' to, but she held it up briefly regardless. "I really like this one. I'm going to go try it on."

Before Alice could get a proper look at the dress, Lissa strode toward the dressing rooms. Claiming a room, she closed the door and wasted no time changing into the dress. It fit perfectly, not too tight but not too loose. The dress was sapphire blue, with a flower lace overlay and lace three-quarter length sleeves, all in the same shade of blue. The neckline was curved except for an elegant notch in front. It really was a pretty dress, and Lissa could see herself wearing it with knee high boots or just a simple pair of ballet flats. The dress was perfect except for one minor glitch.

It was short.

If she bent over, Lissa knew anyone would be able to see things they ought not to, but that was just how the dress was designed. There was no way she'd make it past Jasper and Emmett in that dress, even if the rest of it was conservative, and even Carlisle would probably have something to say about her wearing it around Forks. It wasn't as if the other girls didn't wear little things, but she doubted it would be a good idea for the doctor's daughter to go around in skimpier clothes.

"Let me see," Alice demanded, tapping her foot impatiently outside the small changing room.

Lissa stepped out and was surprised when Alice nodded approvingly.

"That's really cute on you," Alice told her. "We'll get that one as well."

"It's so short though."

"That's nothing a good pair of tights and some knee-high boots can't fix. Trust me, it won't be an issue. Now, that skintight little dress I saw back on the hangers before you rushed back here, THAT I couldn't make work for school. Jasper would have a fit if he saw you leaving the house in it."

"It'd be fun to watch his eyes bug out a little…"

Alice shook her head. "You, my dear, garner entirely too much entertainment from riling my mate up."

"Isn't it my job as the 'little sister' to give him a hard time?"

"Yes, but be careful. You don't want to take things so far that you get yourself in trouble in the process."

"Of course not," agreed Lissa. "I'd never hear the end of it from him if I did!"

Wednesday had been tough, having to go back to class after such a nice break the day before. Mr. Jordan didn't say anything about Lissa's absence, which didn't really surprise her considering other students had been absent and he hadn't said anything about it then either. Thanks to Amber, Lissa had obtained the assignment for the night before, and had been able to complete it without anyone becoming the wiser.

Lissa had half expected Alice to say something, considering her uncanny ability to know what people were going to do before they actually did it, but Alice had said nothing. Either she didn't think it was a big deal or she didn't know. Maybe, since nothing bad had happened to Lissa in the process, it didn't appear on Alice's 'radar.' She wasn't entirely confident in that assumption, but Alice hadn't said anything to her or anyone else, so it was what she was going with.

Thursday rolled around, and once again Lissa found herself sitting through lunch, dreading fifth period. Tuesday had been so nice compared to Wednesday, but Lissa knew that she couldn't just skip World Civilizations every day. Someone was bound to notice if she did.

Still, the thought of an hour of peace and serenity in the girls' restrooms was enticing. Lissa wondered if she could pull off missing another day of class. She could always claim she had another headache if anyone asked.

She'd just stood when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Pulling out the device, she saw Alice's name on the screen and frowned. Alice must have seen it this time. Lissa quickly debated between answering Alice's call and just heading for the restrooms. If she answered, Alice would surely give her an earful about planning to skip class. There was simply no other reason for her to be calling in the middle of the school day. However, if she didn't answer, would Alice tell Jasper? Would she tell Carlisle and Esme?

Alice wasn't one to tattle, Lissa decided, so she pressed the button on the screen to decline the call and headed for her sanctuary for the next hour.

She continued to push Alice's call to the back of her mind as fifth period passed and she headed to sixth period Spanish. She'd all but forgotten about the call when she walked out to the parking lot to meet Emmett, who typically picked her up, and instead saw Alice's car waiting for her. She supposed she could try to walk home, but somehow Lissa figured that would only make things worse.

With a sigh, Lissa opened the front passenger side door and slid in next to her favorite sister. "Hi, Alice," she said, risking a glance at the elder vampire. It was the first time she'd ever seen Alice anything other than happy, and she really didn't like the fact that Alice's displeasure was directed at her.

Alice didn't wait for Lissa to buckle up (because really, they didn't need to buckle up unless they were in the presence of humans) before pulling out of the parking lot. "What the hell, Lissa?" she demanded, glancing at the girl before returning her attention to the road.

"Listen, I'm sorry I didn't answer when you called…"

"You knew exactly why I was calling, too," Alice said knowingly. "Skipping the same class twice in one week? What is the matter with you?"

Lissa was too surprised to focus on the scolding. "Wait, you knew about Tuesday?"

Alice scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Of course I knew!"

"You didn't say anything…"

"We can all use a break now and then," explained the pixie. "I wasn't going to bug you about missing one class, especially since you didn't seem like the type to do it often. Imagine my surprise when I had a vision of you skipping World Civilizations again, and then you ignored my call. Tell me, Lissa, have you lost your mind?"

Lissa was beginning to discover that she didn't particularly enjoy being scolded by Alice. It seemed worse than the brief amount of scolding she'd received from Jasper, perhaps because Alice wasn't quite as parental as Jasper was. "I'm sorry," she said, feeling a bit guilty all of a sudden.

"Carlisle and Esme might not say much about you skipping a single class, but they'd have a lot to say about skipping more than once, especially in the span of a week."

For the first time, Lissa began to worry about the trouble she might have landed herself in. "Are you going to tell them?" she wondered aloud, chewing nervously on her bottom lip.

"I'm not a snitch," Alice said in a firm voice. "You didn't physically hurt yourself, and I haven't seen any serious ramifications for you or our family as a result of it, so I have no reason to mention it to Carlisle or Esme unless they catch wind of it and specifically ask. I won't lie."

Lissa felt a burst of relief. "Thank you."

"Edward will find out," warned Alice. "You know he can't help hearing what people are thinking, and it's a lot of work keeping him from hearing something in your thoughts. I can't say whether or not he'll say anything about it, because he won't be certain whether or not he'll say anything, but so long as Edward doesn't say anything, he'll be the only other one who knows. I can tell you that it won't end well if you skip this class again, so don't do it."

"I won't," Lissa promised. She studied Alice's face, trying to gauge her mood now that they'd come to an understanding. She couldn't quite tell. "Are you still mad?"

Alice tried to appear stern, but her expression relaxed as she sighed. "No. I really can't stay upset with you for long. I wasn't exactly mad, anyway. I was more frustrated over the fact that you'd do something stupid that could land you in trouble for no good reason. If you're going to put yourself in hot water, it should be over something that was worth the consequence."

They drove in silence for a few minutes as Lissa mulled over what Alice had said. No one had mentioned yet what the family consequences were when one broke a rule. Of course, the biggest rule was they maintain the secrecy of their existence from humans, which split into smaller rules such as not using their gifts (vampire or psychic) in front of the humans and not drawing unnecessary attention to themselves, but the Cullens had several other rules regarding behavior. Some of them were similar to rules, spoken or unspoken, among smaller covens. You had to respect the coven leader, which in the case of the Cullens extended to both Carlisle and Esme, but with them it was more the kind of respect a person would grant their parents rather than the respect expected of an alpha figure. The Cullen 'kids' weren't permitted to fight amongst themselves. Verbal disputes were understandable, so long as voices were kept at a respectable level and foul language was avoided, but it was forbidden for one to intentionally physically hurt another. Lissa was still a bit surprised that Carlisle or Esme hadn't been upset with her for psychically removing one of Emmett's fingers, since it flew in the face of that particular rule, but they'd insisted that self-defense was a different matter.

Lissa wondered if perhaps this might be a good time to ask Alice about those consequences.

"Carlisle and Esme favor more human consequences," Alice stated, breaking the silence. She'd known what Lissa was going to ask, of course, and had decided it would make the conversation easier on the younger vampire if she saved her from the embarrassment she was feeling over asking in the first place. "I know that other covens get violent, but the Cullen response to rule-breaking is much more civilized."

"How so?"

"Well, it really depends on what you've done and whether or not they've had to talk to you about it before. We've been grounded before, as kids these days would call it. When Carlisle or Esme grounds you, you lose all electronic and social privileges for a specific amount of time. They won't make you stay in your room or deprive you of an opportunity to feed, but you won't be able to use the computer, television, radio, music players, or anything else 'fun.' You also won't be allowed to go anywhere other than school, if you're attending at the time, or hunting.

"You know I love to shop, and I have a lot of leeway when it comes to purchases, but Carlisle has still set a limit on what I can buy in any given day, week, or month. It's a ridiculous amount by human standards, but there have been several times that I've surpassed that limit. Most of those times, Carlisle would take away my credit cards for a specified amount of time. I'm sure you can understand how that could be torture for me!"

Lissa did understand. "You said most of those times? What did he do the other times?"

Alice pressed her lips together. "Ah, well, twice I made the mistake of arguing with Carlisle over losing my beloved credit cards. I'm not saying I respectfully disagreed, which wouldn't have been an issue because Carlise and Esme have no problem with that – I was flat out rude, talking back and even shouting a few times. I still lost my credit cards those times, but Carlisle added an extra consequence for my behavior."

"What was the consequence?"

The pixie smiled ruefully. "I had a hard time sitting for a few hours."

It didn't take Lissa long to work out what Alice meant. Her mouth formed a small 'o.' "Oh…"

"How did your grandparents discipline you growing up?"

"Sometimes I was grounded," explained Lissa. "I don't really remember Papa laying a finger on me, so to speak, but Grammy had a wooden spoon that made a rather large impression."

"So it isn't exactly a foreign concept to you."

"No, but you're all so much older than I was when I was turned…" Lissa trailed off, not quite sure how to articulate her surprise over older teens receiving what she thought of as a child's punishment – one she hadn't received for over a year before her transformation.

"You have to understand, Lissa, that with the exception of Bella, we were all born in the early 1900s or before. Carlisle was born in the 17th century, Esme the 19th century, and the rest of us before 1920. When we were growing up, it wasn't unusual for a teenager or young adult to be subjected to corporal punishment at the hands of a parent."

"Didn't they also use straps and switches and such back then?" Lissa asked. She'd read enough novels and books from times past to have an idea. "Such objects wouldn't hurt against our skin."

Alice actually chuckled. "Carlisle doesn't need anything other than his hand, trust me. I'll be honest with you, though. As much as we dislike being spanked, for numerous reasons, we actually prefer it to being grounded. Sure, it hurts, but once it's over, it's over, and we're able to do activities we enjoy. It's more torturous being grounded because then we're restricted from fun for an extended period of time. When you don't sleep, it makes the time pass more slowly that it would for a human."

It made sense. Lissa wasn't sure how she felt about the possibility of being in that much trouble with her adoptive parents, but it certainly sounded preferable to being dismembered or attacked by another coven member.

As she mulled over what Alice had shared, though, another thought came to mind. "Emmett didn't get in trouble over what happened Monday night, did he?"

"Of course he did. He purposely antagonized and threatened you. That kind of behavior isn't acceptable to Carlisle."

"But I ripped off his finger. Surely the pain of that was punishment enough…"

"Carlisle didn't see it that way, but that's up to Emmett to discuss what happened if he wants to. Carlisle will never discuss our punishments, whatever they are, with anyone other than Esme without our consent. Often, if we're going to be spanked, he'll get the others out of the house so that we have some semblance of privacy. Doesn't always happen, but he tries."

"Emmett couldn't have been grounded," reasoned Lissa. "He was able to watch movies that night after Jasper and I returned, and you said that electronic privileges are revoked during groundings."

Alice shrugged her shoulders. "Like I said, it's up to Emmett whether or not he wants to discuss it."

Lissa shook her head in confusion. "How is Emmett not mad at me? I hurt him and he got in trouble."

"He knows why Carlisle and Esme weren't pleased with him, and he doesn't blame you. If he hadn't provoked you and made you feel threatened, you wouldn't have felt the need to protect yourself. Stop worrying about it. Your date with Josh Braxton is tomorrow night and we need to decide what you're going to wear so that you'll look absolutely perfect!"

Honestly, Lissa mused, it was as if Alice was more excited about this date than she was!