That night my mother came home with a terrified expression on her face, one that I hadn't seen on her in several weeks, one that normally meant bad news, and never anything good. She flung her bag on the couch, not bothering to take off her working clothes before starting to fix a strong pot of coffee.

"Mom, what's the matter?" I was hesitant before taking a seat at the dinning room table with her.

"Honey, now this doesn't mean we have to leave, but,"

"Did he find us?"

"No, Andy, listen. A detective came to the store today needing to know when was the last time we saw your father. Apparently, he has been missing since a few days after we did see him last, so about three months. He hasn't been into work, his new lady friend hasn't seen him either, it's like he just went off the radar."

"What does that mean mom?"

"I don't know honey, I really don't know."

"How did the detective find you?"

"Probably the same way he did all those times, police are just better at it than he was."

"Are you sure we don't have to leave?" I was praying for a no, I had just started to make friends and really wasn't ready to leave them yet.

"No Andy, we don't have to leave. Not yet anyways. I just want you to be careful."

"I know mom, I always am."

"Now, I really don't want to talk about this anymore. How was school today?"

I wasn't that easily distracted from a problem, but humored my mom and told her all about school and my classes. I even told her about my plans to hang out with Jacob and his friends, while she prepared dinner. I helped and put out the plates while she stayed over the oven.

"Mrs. Newton was telling me about her son and the dance that was coming up."

"Oh really?"

"Are you still planning on going Andy?"

"Well, I was thinking about it."

"I think it will be good for you, a good experience. The people in this town seem nice, and it really sounds like fun."

"I guess, I already bought the dress, so no turning back now."

"Has anyone asked you?"

"Well, I think so."

"You think so? Did they ask in a foreign language or something?"

"No mom. I meant, the guy I was telling you about before, Jake, he doesn't go to Forks High, but asked me anyways."

"Well, did you say yes?"

"I told him I didn't know him well enough, and that's why we're hanging out this week before hand."

"Oh honey. Well, I'm glad you're giving him a chance."

I smiled to myself, my back was to her, "me too mom, me too."

Dinner was uneventful. The dance seemed to be an open invitation for my mother to dive into tales of her high school dances. I paid attention as much as I could, but I had heard the stories at least a dozen times. Every time she heard about a dance, at whatever school I was attending, it seemed to be her mission in life to make me go. I never really told her why I didn't feel the need to attend, but we never stayed around long enough for either one of us to live to regret it.

I helped clear the table and soak the dishes, promising her that I would wash them as soon as I got out of the shower. I didn't bother turning on the light in my room as I grabbed my pajamas off my bed, and immediately regretted it. Before I could glance again, I could have sworn that I saw a large animal sitting beyond the trees, just watching. To make myself feel more at east I tried to reason that maybe it was just the lone wolf I had run into several nights before, but that was unlike normal wolf behavior.

After the dishes I still wasn't tired, so I decided to bore myself to sleep with French homework. True it was a beautiful language when spoken correctly, but I was terrible at it.

Eventually, much to my liking, I fell asleep with my face on my open book and my pen in my hand. I drifted into a dark dreamless sleep, something that was rare but appreciated when it came to how I liked to sleep.