DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.

As all good things go…summer ended…bringing with it the return of school and math, blah! Over the summer, though things had been strained between Hiro and Josh, they seemed to get over it; at least Hiro seemed to get over it. McKenna and I firmly believe that Josh was utterly clueless that Hiro was acting hostile towards him.

Josh and McKenna wouldn't start school until a week after Forks High School started…lucky! While they got to enjoy the last cloudy days of their summer vacation, Hiro and I would be locked in classrooms with teachers who are intent on making teenagers cry…

So, to say the least, my mind wasn't on Carlisle's lesson on Isaiah: 42, he read, "The Lord says, "Here is my servant, whom I strengthen—the one I have chosen, with whom I am," not pleased," his tone changed to irritation at the end, and I figured that I had been caught not paying attention.

"Sorry," I murmured, not exactly sorry. I didn't understand why I had to learn all of this when A) We didn't go to church, B) none of my siblings had ever had to go through this, and C) I, quite frankly, didn't care.

I must have had a tone in my voice, since he closed the Bible and said, "Tell me what's on your mind."

"Why do I have to learn this?" I demanded, the stress from the impending start of my Sophomore year getting to me. "None of the others have, so why should I?" I decided to add, as an afterthought, "We don't even go to church!"

Carlisle nodded in agreement with everything I said, my annoyance disappeared like a wisp of smoke. He said, "You're right on all of those points. However, I have reasons for all of them." I waited patiently for him to continue, "I can't force any of your siblings to learn from the Bible because they are, and were when I changed most of them, to already have their own opinions on religion. As for going to church, how odd would it seem if only you, Esme, and I walked into church without the others in tow?" All right, he had a point there. "As for why you have to learn it…I want you to at least understand that this is something that I believe in, that if ever, we were…"

"Don't say it!" I interrupted, not wanting to even picture my family gone in a fiery column.

"If ever…something were to happen," Carlisle reworded, "I want you to…I would like you to believe we're in a better place. Understand?"

"Yeah," I muttered. Just because I understood didn't mean I was thrilled with the idea.

Carlisle seemed a little put out by my lack of enthusiasm. He stood up, picking up the Bible, "I think we'll end our lesson for today."

"Dad…" He had that one that said he was upset. "It's not that I don't believe it's just…I don't see why I have to learn this EVERY week… Plus, school starts tomorrow…my mind's just not on the lesson."

He paused as he reached the door, "How about this then…you'll have a lesson every two weeks. Sound fair?"

"Sounds fair to me," I answered, smiling. Carlisle pushed open the door to his office, "And, Dad, thank you."

"You're welcome," Carlisle said, holding the door open for me, "now, I need to get a bit of work done…I brought a bit of it home today."

I stood up and walked towards the door, detouring to hug my father before I left his office, the door closing softly behind me.

Heading to my room, I walked over to my bookshelf and pulled out my Bible and started to read the passage that Carlisle had started reading.

Somehow, I had managed to fall asleep, reading more in the Bible than just the one passage. I assumed Carlisle had checked on me sometime during the night, which explained why I was under the covers. A gentle shake of my shoulder was enough to wake me up. I blinked groggily, and saw my mother's face, "Good morning, sweetheart." She kissed my forehead, "It's time to get up so you're ready for your first day of school."

"Can't I be home schooled?" I asked, rhetorically. Esme laughed softly as she left my room.

My bedroom door had barely closed when Alice danced in, her eyes full of determination, "You're going to be the best dressed girl today whether you like it or not!"

Why me? I wondered silently. This was just too cruel. It was bad enough I had school…

I came down the stairs for breakfast looking like a very large Barbie doll. My hair had been done in a French braid, my fingernails had been painted a light blue, I wore a navy blue dress, and navy blue heels that I had trouble walking in.

Emmett started to snort, trying to contain his laughter, but he failed miserably. I glared at him as did Rosalie and Bella. Edward was smart enough to keep playing the piano, the soft music calming me down a bit…or maybe that was Jasper, but I really didn't care what was responsible! I stomped into the dining room and slumped into my seat, crossing my arms over my chest like a little kid, but I didn't really care, I was ticked.

Carlisle glanced up from the newspaper and he said quietly, "You'll have to deal with it for today, I couldn't stop her."

"Why am I her personal doll?" I questioned.

Esme walked in just then, and she set my breakfast of a bacon and cheddar cheese omelet in front of me, "She didn't get to do a lot of…normal things when she was human, so let her enjoy herself."

"Why can't we just get her a mannequin and be done with it?" I questioned. I grinned evilly, "I know what I'm getting her for Christmas!"

Esme said, "Good luck convincing Alice that you and the mannequin are the same sort of fun."

She had me there, but I would not be brought down from my little realm of possibility that a mannequin might, MIGHT detour Alice from her obsession of dressing me up like a doll.

Carlisle set down the paper and glanced at the clock, "You need to move a bit faster, otherwise you'll be late."

"With how fast you drive?" I questioned, inhaling the last of my omelet.

He smiled, "I thought you didn't like it when I drove fast."

"It has its ups and downs," I said, going into the kitchen to rinse off my utensils. I could hear Carlisle's laughter as I rinsed them off.

Walking back into the dining room, he held open the door for me, "Go brush your teeth."

I nodded and darted through the door, taking the steps two at a time.

As Carlisle brought the car to a stop, I gazed at Forks High School…nothing was really different about it, being a Sophomore didn't miraculously make it look better or make it feel any safer. I sighed loudly.

Carlisle kissed my cheek and said, "Try to have a good day. You can always call McKenna and complain to her later, or you can complain to your mother and I."

"I know…and thanks, Dad," I said, smiling, kissing his cheek. I opened the car door and said, before I shut it, "Love you!"

That was enough to bring a smile to his face. This was a stark difference to the year before.

As he drove away, a voice calling my name caught my attention. I turned around, smiling, knowing it was Hiro, even before he managed to squeeze his way through the crowd between us, "Sara! Are you ready for our first day?"

I didn't answer him right away as we weaved our way towards the front doors, "No, not really, but do we have much of a choice?" Shoving the doors open, I was surprised at how relaxed I felt…maybe it was because I had been able to pick more of my electives this year than the last.

Sitting in Art II, my first class of the day (I had taken Art I the year before), it felt nice to know that I didn't have to learn about gesture drawing, or contour drawing, or anything to do with drawing! This year was all about paints from water to oil. Painting was a media I was really interested in, but it didn't surprise me when the teacher did the usual syllabus.

My second class of the day was P.E., Hiro happened to be in the same hour class as I was, but it was a rarity for the boys and girls' classes to be together. Another class that just went through the syllabus and rules… my third period class, Biology II did the same, as well as my fourth period class, Algebra II, another class I had with Hiro.

Mercifully, lunch finally came; Hiro and I grabbed our trays with hamburgers, French fries, baked beans, and strawberries to a table and sat down. Hiro said past a mouthful of burger, "All of my classes are boring! What about yours?"

"Most of them sound like they'll be boring, only Art II sounds really interesting at the moment," I answered, munching on my French fries.

"None of mine have sounded interesting yet," he whined. Hiro perked up a bit though, "I'm hoping Wood Working is interesting, on the course description it sounded interesting at least!"

I tried not to picture clumsy Hiro with a saw or sharp object of any sort, fearing for his life. I kept my opinion of him taking Wood Working to myself.

"Any of your remaining classes sound interesting?" Hiro asked.

I had to think about that for a bit. My remaining classes were: American Literature I, Chemistry, English II, and a Study Hall. "Study Hall sounded interesting," I finally answered.

Hiro nearly off over backwards out of his seat from my response, "Are you serious?"

I laughed, "Yes, none of my other one's sounded interesting, really."

Hiro sighed, "Only you would think of a response like that."

"Yep!" I grinned.

The rest of my classes sounded boring, just like I had figured. Even Study Hall sounded boring when the teacher described it! The only good thing was that Hiro was in my English II class.

As Hiro and I left the school at the end of the day, the sun was shining brightly, much to Hiro's disappointment.

He whined, "I really wanted to ride in the Turbo!"

I sighed. Sometimes Hiro could be very childish. I teased him, "Do you want me to walk you home?"

"Huh?" Hiro glanced at me like I was nuts.

"You know," I said slyly, "because of those dogs!"

Hiro grinned, "Nah, they haven't been around recently."

"Good," I said, smiling. "Then I'm heading home."

"See ya tomorrow," Hiro said waving, heading towards the road. I decided to take a different route, cutting through the forest that bordered half of our school.

As I walked, I started to get jumpy. The forest was quiet…too quiet. No birds sang…there wasn't even the usual rustle of leaves, hinting at squirrels and other small mammals movements. I picked up my pace, starting to jog. I desperately wanted to get out of the woods now. A sound off to my right caused me to jump, midstride. Once I had recovered, I took off at a sprint, desperate to reach a road, or anything that showed there was civilization. Something was in this forest. Something that wasn't supposed to be there, something that was a predator…

I didn't stop running, though my pace slowed, I didn't stop till I reached the safety of our porch. I staggered into the house, sweat dripping off me in small streams, at least that's how it felt. My breath came out of my body in ragged wheezes. I had eight vampires instantly crowding me.

"What happened?" My mother asked, worriedly. Her cold hand was welcome against my hot cheek.

Carlisle said, "Let her catch her breath first." My attention went straight to him since he had a water bottle in his hand. I gratefully took it and sipped at it, not wanting a stomach ache from drinking it too quickly.

After a few minutes I recovered enough to say, "Woods near school…something in there…not usually there…"

Carlisle nodded, and Jasper and Emmett maneuvered easily around me and out the door towards my school.

Rosalie walked forward and scooped me up, cradling me against her chest, before she sat on the couch, stroking my hair, which was plastered to my forehead, pushing my dripping bangs away from my eyes. I pressed my head against her chest, enjoying the coldness of her skin.

Emmett and Jasper didn't take long in getting back. Emmett said, "Bad news…"

"There was a vampire following her," Jasper finished. There was a sharp intake of breath from all of my family. Jasper continued speaking, "From the way its scent followed her trail, it was waiting for her to fall over by either tripping over something in the forest, or from exhaustion. It didn't follow her when she reached the road, veering off instead."

Emmett concluded, "It's not a scent either of us were familiar with."

Bella left the room then; Edward called after her, "What are you doing?"

"Calling Jacob!" Bella shouted, worry evident in her voice.

I asked, "Why Jacob?"

Alice answered, "Jacob and his pack can follow you, or take you and Hiro home when we can't. A vampire in the area that I didn't know about…" She trailed off, obviously upset.

Carlisle tried to sooth her, "Alice, you can't expect…"

"I should see things like this!" Alice snapped angrily.

Bella walked back in from the kitchen then, "Alice, Jacob just told me Seth was following a vampire's scent…that's probably why you didn't see anything."

"Dumb mutts," Alice grumbled.

Rosalie nodded in agreement, "They're always in the way."

"Now hold on," Bella started to say.

Carlisle quickly interceded before the argument could get ugly, "The wolves have helped us in the past and we can work with them again with this new threat. All right?" Everyone nodded. "Good." Carlisle looked at me, "You need to get more fluids in your system." He picked me up out of Rosalie's arms and carried me into the dining room.

I complained as he set me down in his usual spot, "I could have walked."

"You need to regain your strength," Carlisle stated heading into the kitchen and emerging a moment later with a bottle of Gatorade.

Once he had set it down on the table he said, "Why don't you calm yourself by calling McKenna? I'm sure she'd love to talk to you."

I had a feeling it was a way to distract me from not eavesdropping as they discussed what to do about this new threat.

As I dialed McKenna's number I had no idea that the discussion we had that evening would be the last I would hear from her for a while…