I hope you guys are proud of me, I already have the next to chapter typed up and ready to update!

Here's Chapter 21!

Ness POV

It had been three months since I'd seen or talked to Jake. After I got over the initial shock that Jake had simply left I began feeling mad at him. If he wanted to leave and not say anything to me then I could ignore him. He'd call every day at first and ask whoever answered the phone to talk to me but I refused to, he'd call less and less as time went by. I decided the best thing was to forget about my life back in La Push and focus on the one I was starting here. No one but Jake called and it made me wonder if they had even been my friends to begin with, as for Jake I wanted nothing to do with him. Maybe it was because it was easier to pretend I didn't care about him than be upset over missing him. Things had really changed over the past three months; I had gotten used to living here in Colorado and going to school. In fact I had made a few friends that really made me feel human and I loved every minute of it. My little group of friends consisted of me, Anna, Austin, Zoey, Joey and Beth. I had first started talking to Anna since I realized she was in two of my classes and she had introduced me to the rest of her friends whom I ended up getting along with extremely well. The six of us liked a lot of the same stuff and we had classes together. I had been surprised when Anna had introduced me to Joey since I had promised myself that I would stay away from him but once I got a chance to talk to him I realized that he actually wasn't such a bad guy. For all I knew he hadn't tripped me on purpose, I didn't ask. In fact I didn't even mention that to anyone, it was something I wanted to forget. Besides once I gave him a chance Joey proved to be a good friend and an attractive one as well. I was really excited, there was a dance coming up at school. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to go but after talking to Anna and Zoey about it I decided I should go and I was hoping that Joey would ask me to go with him. We had been spending a lot of time together lately; we would stay after school to study all the time. Sometimes even if we didn't have to study. I was afraid of bringing him home to meet my family though because they were known to over react plus having a mind reading father didn't help at all.

"Ness?" I heard Anna ask as she sat down next to me in the cafeteria.

"Yeah Anna?" I said.

"You okay? You looked like you were spacing out."

"Oh. Yeah I'm fine, just thinking about the dance," I smiled. She returned the smile and squealed,"Ah! I knoww. I can't wait; we should go shopping for our dresses together. What do you think?"

"I think that sounds like a great idea. So, do you have a date?" I asked her. She nodded, "The guy, Frank, from my English class asked me."

"Is that the guy you have a crush on?" I asked.

She blushed lightly and nodded, "Yes. He's so cute."

Just then Beth, Zoey, Austin and Joey walked in and sat down with us.

"What were you guys talking about?" Austin asked.

"Just the dance," I said.

"That's right, the dance," Anna nodded.

"So, you've decided to go then?" Joey asked me.

"Yes. Zoe, Beth and Anna talked me into it," I chuckled.

Joey smiled at me, "That's good."

I nodded and started eating my lunch. It was nice to have a group of friends who knew nothing about vampires and werewolves, now I didn't have to sit alone during a sunny day when my family didn't come to school. Too soon lunch ended and we all headed back to our classes. It wasn't until the end of the day that the dance came up again; I was telling Beth that we were going to go shopping for our dresses and how I was thinking about a black and white dress. It was then that Joey walked towards us, like every other day. We would all meet up by our lockers before going our own way. It was now or never I thought, Joey either asks me now or he probably won't.

"So, guess what?" Zoey said as she walked over to us.

"What?" I asked.

"Austin asked me to go to the dance with him!" She smiled.

"He did? Aw, that's good!" I smiled back.

"Yes! I was so surprised, he caught me off guard."

"Beth, are you going with someone?" I asked her.

"Nopee I'm going by myself," she said and I let out a breath of air, at least I wouldn't be the only one.

"I got to get going, I'll see you guys later," Joey said out of nowhere. We all said goodbye to him and I watched as my last chance to have a date to the dance walked away. Beth could see my disappointment, "Don't worry Ness."

"I won't," I half smiled before heading outside. I headed over to see who was picking me up today and I was surprised to see it was Aunt Rosalie. I ran over and hugged her, "Aunt Rose! You're here," I smiled.

"Hey Ness," she grinned and hugged me back.

"I haven't seen you in so long," I said as I pulled back.

"I know, Emmett and I have been busy," she said.

We both got in the car. "So how long are you staying?" I asked, excited. I'd missed her more than I thought.

"We're not sure yet, maybe a month," she replied.

I nodded, "This is great! I can't wait to tell you about my friends and school and oh! There's this dance coming up," I rambled.

She laughed, "well let's start with you telling me about your friends." She turned the car on and started driving home.

"Well there Anna, Austin, Beth, Joey and Zoey," I said, "Anna is my best friend. Were so alike and we get along so well. She's the best. Then there's Beth and Zoey, we have a lot in common. Zoey loves art just as much as I do and she's so great, you should see her paintings. Now Beth is quieter than the other two but she's still really great, she's so smart and pretty and I love her fashion sense. Then there's Austin who is very laid back and funny, he's the funny one in the group. Then there's Joey, he's really cute and smart and nice."

"Wow," Aunt Rose laughed, "Looks like you made some good friends."

I nodded, "Yes. And they make me love going to school so much. I feel so normal and human when I'm with them, I love it," I smiled.

"So, about that dance?" She asked.

"Well there's this dance coming up this weekend and I was actually hoping Joey would ask me to go with him but he didn't," I frowned a little, "But anyway Zoey, Beth, Anna and I are going shopping for our dresses later today."

"That sounds like fun. Are you inviting Alice?" She asked.

I thought about it, "I don't know..."

"What if Alice and I go with you guys?" She asked.

I smiled, "Sure, that sounds great."

She nodded, "Emmett's inside waiting for you."

I grinned and ran out of the car and into the living room where I was sure I would find Uncle Emmett.

"Uncle Em!" I yelled and ran over to him.

"Ness!" He said and hugged me tightly.

"Need air!"

He let go, "Wow, you've grown up even more."

I grinned, "That's because I'm not a kid anymore."

"No, you're still a kid Ness," he chuckled and messed my hair up.

"That's no fair," I shook my head at him.

He shrugged and kept playing a game with Uncle Jasper. I smiled at that, I missed having him around.

Just then I remembered that I had to ask Aunt Alice if she wanted to go with us shopping for our dresses. Just then she appeared in front of me grinning, "Yes!" She jumped up and down, "Of course I'll go!"

I chuckled, "Well goood..."

"I know what places we can! How long do we have?" She asked.

"Just a few hours," I said.

"What if they spend the night over here so we have more time?"

"Noo. Just a few hours."

She pouted, "Come on Ness, we can go all out!"

I shook my head, "No. It'll just be a normal shopping trip. They'll be here in an hour!" I said and headed up to my room. I started working on some homework while I waited for my friends to show up. I smiled, my friends. I loved being able to say that. I'm sure Jake would be glad I'd made friends, if he cared anymore. Just then Aunt Rose walked in.

"So Ness, they tell me you haven't talked to Jake in a while," she said as she sat down on the bed.

I nodded, "I guess it's been a while."

"Can I ask why you haven't talked to him?"

"He doesn't care about being away from me. He's supposed to be my best friend but it doesn't feel like it anymore, he wasn't here when I needed him the most," I said

"I highly doubt that he doesn't care Ness. You know when you were still a baby I'd have to argue with him all the time just so I could hold you. He was and always will care."

I shrugged, "No he doesn't."

"When was the last time you talked him?" She asked.

I thought back, "About three months ago when he left."

She looked very serious, "And how many times has he called you since then?"

"I didn't keep count," I said.

"And I'm guessing that's because he called so much," she said. I saw Aunt Alice walk in, "That's right Rose, and he kept calling and calling. It really got annoying," Aunt Alice said.

"I think you need to talk to him," Aunt Rosalie said.

"I agree," Aunt Alice said.

I rolled my eyes and stomped my foot in frustration,"Yeah well it's my life and I have much better friends than Jacob Black now. He can leave me alone and live his stupid life without me. I don't need him."

Both Aunt Alice and Aunt Rosalie looked at each other but said nothing as I went into the bathroom to get ready to leave. I was walking out of bathroom when the doorbell rang.

"I got it!" I said and ran downstairs to open the door. Beth, Zoey and Anna were standing there.

"Hey guys," I smiled. "Hey Ness," they all said.

"Are you ready to go?" Anna asked. I nodded, "Alice and Rosalie are coming with, is that okay?" They nodded and we walked outside where Aunt Alice and Aunt Rose would meet us.

"Rosalie is in college right?" Beth asked. I nodded, "Yes."

"So she's just visiting then?" Zoey asked.

"Yupp. Both her and Alice are experts at finding amazing dresses," I said.

"Good," Anna said, "Were going to need them if we expect to find dresses this late."

Aunt Alice and Aunt Rose walked out of the house and we got into the cars and drove to some stores. As we got out I noticed that Austin and Joey were outside of the store waiting for us.

"What are they doing here?" I asked.

"Zoe asked Austin to come so they can coordinate outfits and where Austin goes, Joey goes," Beth answered with a chuckled.

"Right," I half smiled. Just great, I'd forgotten about not having a date to the dance until now. We went into the first store and started looking for dresses. I noticed that Aunt Alice and Aunt Rosalie were being extremely quiet but then I realized Aunt Alice already had a big pile of dresses for us to try on. We all laughed at that and started trying on the dresses. We tried on dress after dress but I couldn't find one that I really loved. Zoey and Anna couldn't either. Only Beth found a dress at the first store, she chose a simple cream dress that came down to her knees and fit her perfectly. We went to three other stores until we had all found a dress we wanted and Aunt Alice had helped us find the perfect shoes and accessories to match and we were set.

After shopping we decided to get something to eat, Aunt Rose and Aunt Alice excused themselves saying they wanted to go to another store by themselves. The rest of us picked a cute little diner and got something to eat. Anna was sitting on my left and Joey to my right. Beth, Zoey and Austin were sitting in front of me. We talked, laughed and ate. The feeling I got when I was with them was amazing; I was happy. It was a feeling I wanted to keep forever, it helped me forget the past and live for today. We were about to head back to where we'd promised to meet Aunt Alice and Aunt Rose when Joey grabbed my arm gently. "Can we talk?" He asked me.

"Sure, what's up?" I said.

"Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to be my date for the dance?" He said quickly, looking very nervous.

I smiled at him, "I'd love to."

He smiled in return, "Good."

If I hadn't already been excited about going to the dance then I would be now. I couldn't wait for the dance and I couldn't stop smiling the whole way home. Life had just gotten even better.