School's begun, and Beth's got her study on. Also, um, the fact that there's a Jessica...reread the first book – it mentions one of the girls living on the rez is also called Jessica, so please don't make some stupid remarks about how she goes to Forks High. Jessica Stanley goes there, this Jessica doesn't.

School got easier, of course. I did still hang out with Embry and his friends some of the time, but I also started making friends with some of the girls. There was a girl called Jessica in my year who happened to be my lab partner in Chemistry, so we got talking and when I wasn't with the boys, I would usually hang out with her. It was good to have someone to talk girl talk with. The boys were fun, but there were a tonne of things I couldn't talk about to them. It also meant I knew a lot more people, since I got to know some of Jessica's friends.

As for them...well, I'd figured that I'd like Embry the most when I first started hanging out with the boys, but as I got to know them better, I started feeling that I liked Jacob just a tiny bit more than the other two. They were cool and everything, but Jacob had this positivity to him that was a real draw for me. Even his smile was sunny, certainly more so than the weather, most of the time. It helped that he was in the same Math and Spanish class as me. I was good at Math, but he wasn't so much, so I offered to help. On the other hand, I was way behind on Spanish, so Jacob helped me with that. Sometimes we'd do our homework together after school.

Sometimes Quil hung around, too. He didn't have the same homework as us because he was in a different set for both classes, but I didn't mind helping him with Math if he asked, since he wasn't great, either. Embry was actually better than me at Math and in a different set, as well as way too far ahead at Spanish, so we couldn't help each other. Even when we weren't doing homework together, we still hung out after school. Jacob was actually working on building his own vehicle, so all of us (or sometimes just me) often hung out in his garage after we'd done our homework, talking car stuff. I didn't know much about cars, but I was learning.

I sometimes went out with Jess on weekends, or sometimes it was us and her group. It was mostly drizzly, so we didn't go many places, especially since we were too young to drive. I was working on Mom to drive us into Port Angeles at some point and pick us up so we could go shopping together. Usually we just hung out at each other's houses, or went to a cafe.

The near-constant drizzle didn't stop me going for runs. I just had to pick the right moments for when the rain was lightest, and then shower the second I got back home. On weekends I usually went evenings, and on school days I got up early and went during the sunrise, since I'd have to shower anyway. It was nice living in the beach area. On weekends I sometimes went as far as First Beach. I didn't want to run track or anything because I'd rather play by my own rules, but it kept me fit enough to do well in Gym class.

"You should go to some of the other beaches sometimes." Jessica told me on a more sunny week in October. "First Beach is where all the tourists go. If you want some peace, you should try Third Beach. It takes a while to get there, but it's worth it."

"If it's still sunny on the weekend, we could always go there." I suggested. "You know, if we still can't get to Port Angeles."

"I guess that could be OK." Jess shrugged, "I mean, I've been there like a million times, but you haven't, and it does have some pretty views if that's what you like."

"If you don't want to go, don't." I said quickly. "I can go on my own."

"Nah, I'll come." Jessica said. "Everyone else seems to be busy all the time, and it's better than doing nothing."

As it was, I loved Third Beach, with its foresty trail and craggy formations rising straight out of the water less than a kilometre from the shore, without the masses of driftwood that marred First Beach. It was quiet, but it made a change of scenery. Jess acted as if she'd seen it all before, but I got the feeling she liked the atmosphere more than she was letting on. It was too cold to swim or even paddle – it wasn't raining, but it was overcast – but I didn't even care. I could've stared out at the view for ever.

For the first few months, time flew by. Even Christmas was fast – eventually Jessica and I did go to Port Angeles at the start of December, but it was mostly Christmas shopping. We even had to split up and buy for each other before Jessica's mom picked us up, but at least I found everything – I even found an exhaust pipe for Jacob's vehicle building – I knew he didn't have one yet (not that he could drive until he turned sixteen next October – although his dad, who was in a wheelchair, apparently let him drive if they had to leave the rez).

In January, when I was on my way over to the Blacks' as usual, with our usual homework arrangement, I noticed something was gone.

"What happened to that giant truck you had?" I asked Jacob.

Jacob grinned. "My dad's friends with the police Chief – well, I get to call him Charlie. They've known each other since, like, high school. Anyway, Charlie's daughter is moving over here in a few days. I think she's been living with her mom since her parents split up, but point is, she'll be living here for the rest of high school. I don't think she'll remember me, but my sisters knew her."

I frowned. "You have sisters? How did I not know this?"

"They moved away as soon as they finished high school." Jacob explained. "After we lost Mom, they kind of felt they needed a change of scenery. I miss Mom too, but I feel tied to this place. And there's my dad – and I guess school is a tiny part of it." He added the last part with his sunny smile.

I nodded. "So, back to what you were saying. You said you don't think Charlie's daughter will remember you. So did you meet?"

"Yeah," Jacob nodded, "Briefly. It's been a few years. If I remember right, her name's Isabella, and she's a couple of years older than us. I'll probably end up having to hang out with her some of the time. My dad's always up there to watch sports games with Charlie."

"As long as I'm the only girl who gets to tutor you in math," I teased, "You can hang out with anyone. Who knows, maybe Isabella will be that special girl you've been waiting for." I should explain here that I wasn't interested in dating anyone for the moment. Even though I liked the boys a lot, they were just good friend material, not boyfriend. Of course a boyfriend would have to be good friend material, but they'd also have to be hot. And affectionate. Way affectionate.

If I'd actually known the monumentous effect Chief Swan's daughter was going to have on my guy friends – or at least, one of them – maybe I wouldn't have been so jokey about it. Maybe I would've said "Stay away from that girl", or maybe just "I don't know – she's a bit strange". But as it was, I was feeling pretty secure in my spot as Jacob's best girl friend (not girlfriend). I didn't dream that the next new girl was going to crash this new life, and leave a crater.

But all I did after that was notice the sky darkening, and say "Well, I better go. Mom wants me home after dark. See you tomorrow!"

Okay, so Bella's not going to really do anything like that until next year, when she starts hanging out with Jacob constantly. But I thought I might as well get her in the story. Also, notice that Jacob refers to her as Isabella? That's because EVERYONE did before she corrected them. Personally, I have no idea why she shortens her name to Bella. I mean, Isabella's a beautiful name, even though it's a bit long. But why not shorten it to Izzy or Issy? I know Bella actually means "beautiful", but I think the other ways to shorten Isabella, at least, in my opinion, are much prettier. She's the only Isabella (or Isabel) I ever knew who does not call themselves Izzy, Izzie, or Izabelle (there were three of them at a daycare center I worked at – Isabel, Izabelle and Isabella – all of them except Izabelle got called Izzy).

On a side note, I looked up pictures of Third Beach, so the craggy formations and the trail Beth describes are taken straight from the photos I saw.