I stood in front of my mirror, looking into my big chocolate eyes, and the peculiar shade of my brown skin, some people say I'm brown skinned while others see dark skinned, but I really didn't care very much what they say. I sighed softly and started braiding my hair into cornrows. My big afro-textured hair was too much to handle at times and right now since the move I didn't have time to properly take care of it like I should.

The move was very problematic for me, but I made the decision and I stuck to it. I should be used to it by now. Since my mom and dad are in the Marines we've been moving since before I was born. England, France, China, Japan. I've been to more places in my 16 years than probably most people. When you've moved as much as I've had you never had time to make friends and fully establish yourself into school. So, one day I told my parents that I wasn't going to move anymore, and I was tired of it. We argued and fought but they finally relented and told me I could live with my Grandmother In La Push. La Push was a Native American Reservation near Forks, Washington. I've only met my Grandmother a few times, but she always gave me candy when I was little so to me, she was the best person ever.

"Miracle Nenet McCowell! I already called you three times already. You're going to be late for school!" My Grandmother Athena hollered.

"I'm coming, just a sec!" I called back.

"You said that four times already!" She declared.

"You know how hard it is to cornrow an afro." I countered.

I heard a twinkling laugh before she said, "Okay just hurry up. Your breakfast is getting cold."

I smiled a little, but quickly cornrows my hair. I grabbed my backpack off my still unmade bed and raced out into the kitchen.

My Grandmother Athena. For someone who 68 years old sure doesn't look it. Her copper-colored skin shone as the sunlight streaming from the window spilled over her like waterfall. Her midnight-colored hair was braided in one big braid in the back of her head and cascaded into her hips. She was tall for a woman. While I'm 5'3 my grandmother has an impressive height of 5'9, her statuesque figure was beautiful in more ways than one.

Once she saw me standing by the dining table she smiled and gracefully walked over to me and kissed me on the forehead.

"You're finally out of there. I thought I was going to have to drag you out of that bedroom. Come on, sit, sit. Before your food is a cold as ice."

I laid my backpack on the floor and slowly sat down on the old, wooden, rickety chair. The plate in front of me consisted of toast with strawberry jelly on it, and boiled eggs cut up and sprinkled with a little salt and pepper.

"I hope you enjoy it, sweetie. I haven't been to the market in a few days, and I was planning on going today." She announced.

Since there was no supermarket on La Push, Grandmother had to go into Forks, which was a 15-mile drive, and get groceries there

"No, no, It's okay. I haven't had a home cooked meal in a while, you know, since mom and dad are so busy." I clarified.

I ate the toast in silence, still hurt by my parents. I understand that their jobs are extremely demanding, but that doesn't take away the hurt of being alone for all those years. I hardly know them anymore.

Grandmother looked at me with sympathy, "Sweetie, I understand how you feel and trust me when I say that it's hard on your parents because they never spend time with you. Their jobs are so strenuous that they can't take care of a child."

She gently put a hand on my cheek and looked at me lovingly, but I couldn't stop this nagging feeling inside of me.

"If they knew their jobs were so demanding then why would they even have me?" I questioned.

She made a humming noise and smiled, "Do you want to know why they name you Miracle?"

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"Well because their jobs as Marines were so challenging and burdensome, they had actually decided not to have children, so your mother decided to get her tubes tied." She remarked.

I was shocked. I had always thought they just had me just because they could, or they weren't careful enough.

"Well, what happened?" I asked cautiously.

"Well, your mother had gone to the best doctor in the world to get her tubes tied. She took extreme measures, but somehow even with her tubes tied she had got pregnant. She had called me when she knew. I asked if she was sure that she was pregnant, if, she was positive. She said, 'momma, I just know' and then nine months later you were born."

I sat there and slowly finished my breakfast. Pondered over what she said to me. Usually when people are in those predicaments, they call it a mistake not a miracle. And If I was such a miracle then why they didn't take care of me like I was a miracle.

During my pondering, a knocked echoed on the green wooden door.

"Ohh, that must be them. They're a little late though." Grandmother said.

"What do you mean? Who is 'them'?"

"I asked my friends son to take you to school today." She walked to the door as I raced behind her.

"I don't need someone to walk me to school." I said exasperated.

"He's a nice boy. You'll like him." She winked.

"Bu-" I stopped in my tracks.

What I saw wasn't a boy. He was more like a man than anything else. He was amazingly tall, well over six feet. He had long black hair like Grandmother, but his hair framed his chiseled face nicely. His deep brown eyes reminded me of puppy dog eyes. His russet skin glowed under the sun. In La Push it was never sunny, but for some reason the sun shone brightly in the sky. He was extremely muscular cause his blue short sleeved shirt he was wearing looked like it was about to rip in half at any moment.

"Nene, don't you hear me?" Grandmother jolted me gently.

I jumped and blushed hotly. I hope my skin is dark enough to absurd the blushing.

"Sorry. What did you say?" I said quietly.

"This is Billy and Jacob Black. Billy's an old friend of mine." She announced.

I looked away from Jacob to find Billy Black. He was confined in a wheelchair, but he looks just like Jacob. Or Jacob looks just like Billy. Just an older version of it. Billy smiled and his leathery looking skin crinkled around his black eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Miracle. I've heard a lot about you." He lifted his hand to shake my hand.

I smiled and shook his hand happily. His hand felt warm. So warm that it felt like he had a fever, but he doesn't seem sick at all.

"It's nice to meet you too Billy. I'm sorry to say I haven't heard anything about you at all." I cringed a little.

He waved it off, "It's okay, dear. It means I can surprise you more often." His laughed rumbled deep in his belly

Surprisingly, I found myself laughing along with him. His laugh is contagious.

"And this is Jacob. He's in the same grade as you, Nene." Grandmother directed me to Jacob.

The way he was staring at me was weird. He was staring at me like I was the last drop of water in the desert or like he found his soulmate or something.

He smiled brightly and I was instantly hooked, "Hi. You can call me Jake if you want."

"Okay, um, Jake." I babbled.

"I know you guys probably don't remember, but whenever Miracle visited you and she used to play all the time. I remember you guys used to play in the mud together. You guys were so dirty we had to hose you two down in the backyard." Grandmother laughed heartily.

"Also, the one time when they brought in a whole bunch of frogs and grasshoppers in my house. It took use weeks to get them all out. I still find one or two hopping around sometimes." Billy laughed along with Grandmother.

A blush started painting itself on Jake's ears and spread to his neck. My eyes widened as I followed to column of blush travel down his neck.

"Umm, Miracle, I think we should go to school before we're late." Jake scratched the back of his neck.

"Yea okay then. Bye Grandma. Bye Billy." I kissed her on the cheek and moved around Billy's wheelchair to get out of the door. I was never a small girl. I was always wide around the hips and big in the thighs.

"See ya, dad." Jake called out as we left.

"Have a good day, you two." Billy called out.


We walked in silence for a while. Each of us thinking over various things and neither of us wanting to start a conversation or not knowing how to. So, I decided to look around as we walked to school. The reservation was pretty run down, houses leaning on the side with some houses in desperate need a repairments, but everyone around us was very cherry. Little kids playing ball and adults cleaning around their house. It almost feels like spring cleaning.

"I know it doesn't look like much, but everyone here is very friendly." Jake admitted.

"No, no, It's fine. It has that homey feeling to it. Where do you live?"

"Oh, you'll know when you'll see it. It's a small blue house." He chuckled.

I nodded and kept walking. Man, I have terrible people skills. As we walked the dirt path, I started think of what the people here are going to be like. From what I see on the reservation they seem very friendly, but you never know when it comes to teenagers. Since I'm starting as a junior with Jake, hopefully, I get some classes with him so I won't feel totally alone, but since I'll be staying here for two years, I might make friends. The thought of having friends make me feel giddy and terrified all at once. All my emotions tumbling together made me break out in a nervous sweat.

"Uh, Jake?" I hesitated.

"Yeah."

"Do you have any friends?" I questioned.

"Of course. You can say we're kind of like a group. It's me, Embry, Seth, Leah, and Quil." He said proudly.

"Wow, Mister popularity." I joked.

He barked a laugh," I wouldn't say popular, but we're really close. What about you? I'm sure you miss your friends back home."

I rolled my eyes, " What friends? I never had any since my family always moved so much."

"Oh. I'm sorry." He added.

"No, it's fine. I've learned to enjoy being a loner.''

He smiled," Well you're not going to be anymore."

We walked in silence for the rest of our walk. 3 minutes later, we finally came across the school. Quileute High. It looks pretty much like the rest of the reservation. Old, worn down, and shabby. The school was one story, but it was very long and wide. You could tell they try to make the school exciting for the students by the bright yellow peeling paint they put on and the bright white roof. At least they have all their windows intact. Dozens of kids ran or walked to the school, hugging and talking to their friends they probably seen yesterday.

"Welcome to Quileute High." Jacob stretched his arms out as if reaching to the sky.

I opened my mouth to speak when there was a flash of green and in seconds Jake was on the ground with another guy. I jumped in shock. The blood in my veins pounding in my eardrums.

"Sup, Jake. How you been?" The guy said.

"Embry, you saw me yesterday. Get off me." Jake struggled in the dirt.

The boy, Embry, finally got off Jake. He was slender and almost as tall as Jake, but Embry hair was chin length while Jake's is near mid back. His black eyes were bright with mischief and a smile that was filled with glee.

"Are you okay?" I quickly helped Jake off the ground. Mumbling as he rose, he wiped the brown dust from his clothes, creating a whirlpool of dust around us.

"Fine, just fine." The tone of his voice sounded like he was angry, but there was a big smile on his face while he said it.

"Who are you?" Embry had a confused expression.

"I'm Miracle. I just moved here about a week ago." I answered.

"Oh, well that's cool. I'm Embry. What house did you move into?"

"Well, actually, I moved in with my Grandmother Athena. It's the one with the pink flowers on the door" I shrugged.

His mouth made an O shape and then he started opening and closing it making him look like a fish gasping for water.

"Your Miss Athena's Granddaughter!?" He looked at Jake with an expression I couldn't place

"Yes. She is." Jake's voice almost sounded like a growl.

Embry sheepishly lowered his head, "Once Miss Athena knew you were coming, she was ecstatic. She told practically everyone. I just thought that you were coming in another week or so."

"No, It's fine. I had got an earlier flight. I didn't want to be late for the first day of school." I responded.

Embry laughed. A straining sound that replicated a dying cat.

"Um, I got to go. I'll see you guys later." Then he ran off to the school.

My eyebrows furrowed. What was that all about and said exactly that to Jacob.

"Oh, it's just Embry being Embry." He smiled but it didn't reach his eye.

"Uh, Okay, then." I said unconvincingly.

"Come on, let's go before the bell rings and we're late, plus we have to go to the office to get your schedule." He grabbed my hand slowly and gently, as if I was a scared cat, and quickly led me to the school.

The inside of the school looked about the same as the outside. Old and rundown, but the teenagers here were so lively and loud. They filled the hallways quickly, talking about any and everything in the world.

"This way." Jake directed.

He led me left where a door was right next to a wide mirror showing a woman at a desk quickly typing on her computer. Jake opened the door for me as I quickly went into the spacious room to stand in front of the lady typing on the computer. She looked up and smiled warmly. Up close, I could see crow's feet around her eyes and her black hair in the beginning stages of graying. Off the back of my hand, I would say she's about late 50's, but it's hard to tell because even with the crow's feet and graying hair she still has an air of youthfulness to her.

"Ahh, you must be Athena's granddaughter." The woman said.

The shock only lasted a second, "Yes, I'm here for my schedule."

"Okay, just give me a minute and I'll be back. By the way, I'm Mrs. Stewarts." She got up and walked towards another small hallway in the back.

"Don't you have a schedule already?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I want to make sure you got yours." Jake said sheepishly.

I stared at him blankly before blushing again. Stupid, Stupid. Stop Blushing For God Sake!

"Wouldn't the bell ring soon?"

"Yeah but" He looked at his phone, "only for about a minute or two."

I rolled my eyes but remained silent for the time being and I waited for the secretary, Mrs. Stewarts, to give me my school schedule. It seems that this reservation is more closely knitted than I thought. I wouldn't be surprised if any of my teachers are old friends of my grandmothers.

"What're thinking about?" He leaned against the opaque, bland wall with his head almost touching the low ceiling.

"How everyone here must have psychic powers because everybody must know everything about me the second, I stepped on the reservation." I joked.

He chuckled, "Yea, a lot of people don't come here except for the tourist coming for the beach and the people that are here have been here for centuries. Family after family." He explained.

"Ohh, I hope I don't do nothing scandalous." I said sarcastically.

"You being here is kind of scandalous." He barked out a laugh.

The shrilling bell interrupted our laughing as it echoed three times to give clarity to the student that it's time to go to class.

"I, uh, guess you better get to class. You don't want to be late."

He frowned as he waged war with himself inside of his head. He confuses me. He only really had to walk me to school. He didn't have to stay with me because my grandma told him to. Any other guy would have run the second we got in the school. Why isn't he?

"I'll be fine. Just go." I waved him away.

He deflated, "Okay, I'll see you later." He ducked under the door as he went to leave.

I frowned as I thought about his weird behavior. I only had to wait one more minute before Mrs. Stewarts came back and motioned me towards her desk.

"Sorry for wait, honey. Now you seem to move a lot, but your grades always seem to stay A's and the occasional B's and that's very good." I glowed at the praise, "So here is your schedule. I hope it's to your liking."

I skimmed over it. First semester. Algebra 2 first block. English 11 second block. Lunch. Ca/Us history third block. Quileute History fourth block?

"What's Quileute history." I questioned.

"Ohh, It's a class about Quileute. The tribe, how we got on the reservation, its culture, tradition, its myths and folklore and legends." She explained.

I perked up when she said myths, folklore, and legends, "So I really get to learn about the Quileute wolves."

She gave me a small, secret smile, "So you already know about them."

"Well, when I knew I was coming here I had looked up the myths and everything else online."

"Well, you'll learn more here than online." She still had that secret smile.

Jacob wasn't in my first block class. It was boring. The teacher, a little stout old man, droned on and on about something I already forgot, but knew that I needed to know. I was never good at Math, but I was never bad either, but I could use all the help I can get. My English class was okay. The teacher, the opposite of my Algebra teacher, was very lively and made English fun and interesting with the way she was teaching.

The bell rang for lunch and I have to say I was relieved. I could finally get a chance to relax. I followed the crowd of students through the old hallways to the spacious lunchroom. It was easily the largest room in the school. The lunchroom was colored in red, black, and white, which I assume was some sort of Quileute tribe culture. I stopped and looked at the long line of students waiting to get lunch and suddenly didn't feel like eating at all. I decided to look for Jake, but with so many people talking and walking around I really couldn't see.

"Hey Miracle." I jumped and looked up beside me to see Embry.

"Ohh, uh, hey Embry." I said cautiously. He acted weird around me earlier, but right now he seemed fine.

"If you're looking for Jacob, he usually sits all the way in the back. Here I'll show you." He pointed out a table over the endless row of metal tables and chairs.

" Thanks, Embry." I smiled a little.

We bobbed and weaved through the many people to find ourselves at the back of the loud room to find Jake laughing with a group of people.

"Hey, guess who I found!" Embry said excitedly.

Everyone turned to look at me, but I only looked at Jake. I wanted to see his reaction. His whole face brightened like a star on a dark night. His mouth spread into his infamous smile and his eyes lit up uncontrollably.

"Hey Mir. I was about to look for you." He got up and offered me his seat.

I sat down gingerly to find them all looking at me in awe, curiosity, and wonder.

"Mir?" I turned to Jake.

"Too soon?" He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, " It sounded better in my head."

I laughed out loud but didn't say anything on the matter.

He shrugged, " Anyways, I want you to meet my friends. This is Leah, Seth, and Quil. " He gestured to them as he called out their names.

Leah was very beautiful. She had big doe brown eyes, beautiful bone structure, straight nose, full lips, and copper skin, and instead of having long black hair that is so common here she had a short bob that fit her face perfectly.

Seth looks exactly like Leah only muscular, younger and in male version. He had the exact same facial features and bone structure.

Quil had a baby face with big brown eyes, black hair, and a cute smile that made me smile back, but he seemed so young. Maybe the same age as Seth. You can't really tell with people here. Jacob can easily pass for early to mid-twenties because of his tall statue and muscular body.

"Nice to meet you guys." I said plainly.

"Ahh, so you're the infamous Miracle. All Miss Athena can talk about." It would have been somewhat of a compliment, but the sour, sarcastic way Leah put it made it sound offensive.

I narrowed my eyes dangerously, " Well I can't really stop what she talks about, now can I?"

Leah opened her mouth to spew some other nonsense, but Quil had beat her to it.

"So how do you like it on the reservation." His open expression made me calm down a little.

" It's nice actually. A lot of happy people here and you can tell there's a certain...atmosphere." I ended.

Leah snorted and Embry raised an eyebrow, " What do you mean?" He pressed.

I shrugged, " Umm, a supernatural air to it. You know what I mean."

Everyone paused. Jacob eating fries, Leah in mid eye roll, and Embry, Seth, and Quil facing me. The air around our table turned into something more intensifying. It was as if I knew who shot Kennedy or that someone was going to shot up the school.

"Did I say something wrong?" I looked around at the shocked faces.

Jake gulped down his fries, " No, no, of course not."

I nodded unconvincingly.

"So, do you know." Quil had a certain brightness to his eyes.

"Know what?" I looked around in confusion.

Leah made a disgusting sound in the back of her throat, " Why don't you guys stop messing around with her." Her coppery arm snaked out and smacked Quil behind his head. The smack resounded loud and resolute. It even made me jump but Quil seems unfazed by it.

Something on Leah's arm caught my attention. She was wearing a sleeveless blue simple shirt and on her upper arm was a tattoo. It was a circle but inside of the circle was elaborate and intricate drawing creating a symbolic wolf at the top of the circle. Something nagged at my head. I turned to the side to see half of the tattoo on Jake's upper arm. I looked and saw the same tattoo's on Quil, Seth, and Embry.

"I really like your tattoos. Does it mean anything." I asked.

They stopped talking again and looked at one another for a while, but it was Jake who spoke.

"Uhh, yeah. It does actually." He paused.

"Are you going to tell me or is it a secret." I questioned.

"No, no, it's no secret. Umm...well...you see..." Jake stuttered.

"We're in a club!" Seth said excitedly.

"Oh my god." Leah sighed loudly.

I looked at Jake. His ears were red, but he was giving Seth the death glare which Seth laughed at.

"I didn't peg you for the clubby type." I bumped his shoulder playfully.

His ears and neck got even redder, " Well you know..."

"What's it called?" I asked.

"The wolf club." Embry chimed in.

My eyes widened in excitement, " Wow, you know the other night I heard some wolves in the forest. I was actually thinking about going and checking them out."

"For your sake, I hope you be careful. They're pretty ferocious." Leah's smile seemed feral.

"I don't think so." I said thoughtfully, "By the way they were howling they sounded like they were protecting something."

They all looked at me with awe. Even Leah looked surprised.

"You can tell all of that from their howling." Quil eyes were big as saucers.

"I mean I don't know if they were protecting something. It was more like a feeling. Like, the howling vibrated my bones, and it was like I knew if I go out there with the wolves, they wouldn't have hurt me." I said softly.

They all looked at me with a sort of a reverence. They seemed calm and cool all at once. Their emotions seem to mirror each other at the exact same time. I guess that's what happens when you've been around the same people your whole life and have a whole club too. I turned to Jake, shyly. He had a soft smile, and his eyes held a powerful emotion in them. Love? No, it couldn't be love. I barely know him. Compassion, friendship, happiness, maybe. I don't think I'll ever know for sure.

"Do you want my fries?" Jake scooted his tray towards me.

None of Jacobs friends were in my third block class. Ca/Us history was pretty interesting considering I've never really lived in Cali. So, I had more intensive details on the California Gold Rush. The Native American period. The European period, etc., with Mr. Cameron. Even though we did a lot of notes, he had a lot of cool pictures and scenarios with the pictures. I was always good at history because history was mostly just memorization and I have a very good memory.

After a while I started to get a lot of looks from the people in class. I've been getting them everywhere I go, so I really didn't mind. Some curious, while others were more like 'stay away from me' look. I didn't really care cause all of them are girls, and girls always feel offended by me because of the way I look. I was an African American/Native American girl. I'm 5'3 with brown eyes and medium to dark brown skin. I have kinky-coily hair in cornrows for the day; or week I'm not sure yet. I was never a skinny girl with my wide hips and thick thighs. My breasts were on the larger side, but I thought they were fine to me, so I was used to getting looks from girls and guys alike.

I jumped as the bell rang, jerking from my conscious thinking. I looked around as the room started to empty. I got up out of the desk and quickly walked out into the crowded hallway.

I sighed as I struggled and pushed my way through the hallways. I saw glimpsed and flashes of people's faces in various expression. Laughter, anger, confusion, boredom, anxious, etc. I'm pretty sure my face was a mixture of frustration trying to get through these hallways and anxious trying to get to my next class before the bell rang and a little bit of sadness because Jake wasn't in any of my classes at all but maybe he'll be in my last block.

I finally entered my fourth block class and looked around. The bell hasn't rung yet, so everyone was talking about any and everything. My eyes instantly went to the tallest people in the room. Jake, Embry, Quil, Seth, and Leah. They were by far the tallest people in the room. Jake, Embry, Quil, and Seth were well above 6 feet while Leah was at least 6. I sighed in relief. Finally, some people I know and can talk to.

It was like Jake knew I was here because he swirled around to look at me... and smile. I stood there stunned for a second before walking over to them.

"You're here! I was beginning to worry." Jake said.

Leah made a gagging noise but we both ignored her. "Why would you worry."

Jake blushed. "Well because I was hoping we have the same classes together."

My eyes widened as some of the people in the room stop to stare and Embry, Quil, and Seth started making kissing noises. Jake growled but the blush was still there, very prominent on his russet skin.

The bell rang and the teacher immediately shushed the class. " Okay, everyone take your seats. I will not tolerate disobedient."

I took my seat in the middle of the classroom while Jake, Embry, Quil, Seth, and Leah sat around me.

"I am Mister Sam Uley. You will not call me Sam or Man or Dogg. You will call me Mr. Uley and that is that. Do I make myself clear?" He glared at us.

There was a scatter of tiny voice saying ''Yes, Mr. Uley."

He nodded, " So as you know by now, or at least I hope you now, this is Quileute history. This is a class about anything Quileute. For example, your customs, traditions, and with some of Quileute mythology in it."

I leaned forward excitedly. This will be by far my favorite class.

"Since you kids have lived on the reservation your whole life you probably already know about all of this, but you also have to remember that you have to preserve your culture. There are not many of us left." Mr. Uley added.

He looked around the room until his eyes met mine.

"Mhm.'' He hummed, " I must be mistaken. Not all of you have lived on this reservation your whole lives."

Everyone in the class swirled to look at me. I frowned slightly at all the attention. Mr. Uley walked up to my desk.

"Your grandmother was hoping you had my class. She said she wanted you to have extensive lessons on the Quileute people which are thereby your people."

I nodded, blushing slightly and swallowing with a lump in my throat.

"She also told me that you have a love for mythology, folklore, and a lot of things like that. Am I right?" He continued.

I couldn't look at anybody. Not even Jake. I decided to look at my beat-up brown desk.

"Yes, sir" My voice wavered.

"Then I am almost positive that you looked all this stuff up. Am I also correct.''

"Yes, Mr. Uley."

He nodded and walked back to the front of the classroom. I breathed a sigh of relief. My whole body loosened.

"Then I'm sure you don't mind coming up in front of the class and telling us what you know." Mr. Uley said.

"What?!" I squeaked.

"Umm, Mr. Uley, I really don't think that's necessary." Jake announced.

Mr. Uley stared at Jake for a moment, " Mr. Black, I'm afraid I did not ask you. I asked Ms. McCowell. Miracle, come up here."

I frowned harder. My heart beating a mile a minute. I got up out of my desk and slowly walked to the front. While walking up to the front two girls were whispering in Quileute. I stopped and gasped a little and looked at them wide eyed.

"We're all waiting, Miracle." Mr. Uley demanded.

I quickly went to the front of the room with my head bowed a little so I'm staring at my hands.

Mr. Uley started pacing, " Miracle, do you know what Quileute means?"

"It means wolf, sir."

"And why does it mean that?" Mr. Uley pressed.

My brows furrowed," I don't know what you mean?"

"Why does Quileute mean wolf, Ms. McCowell?'

I wet my lips. " There was once a man, a hero, named Kwati, who could transform animals into humans. When he arrived on James Island, off the northwest coast he found two beautiful timber wolves that he changed into people to begin the Quileute tribe." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

I looked out to see some of the students nodding in approval. I looked at Jake to see him smiling brightly.

"You may sit down now, Miracle." He gestured to my sit, and I gratefully followed his instructions.

"To go off of what Ms. McCowell said..." Mr. Uley continued.

I zoned out for the rest of class even though I know I should be listening, but I didn't understand that stunt Mr. Uley did. Does he do that with all new students or was it just for me? And if it was just for me, what did it mean? Was he trying to tell me something? I'll have to ask Grandmother when I get home.

Before I knew it, the bell rang for the end of class, and everyone was packing up their stuff and leaving. I saw Jake and his friends waiting for me which I silently thanked in my mind. We walked out in the crowded hallways and with everyone bumping into me I was slowly falling behind them. I unconsciously reached my hand out and grabbed Jake's shirt. Jake paused and looked behind him in alarm when he saw me his expression changed into to something softer. He took my hand from his shirt and encased it in his warm, callused hand which made it easier to maneuver through the hallways. My mind felt like jelly as it tried to decipher what this mean. No, I can't go into this too fast. He just being a nice person, that's all. I can't expect every action he does to have a double meaning.

Once we got out of school, I breathed a sigh of relief as I finally could breathe easily without someone hitting into me. I looked around to find that we Jared, Leah, Embry, and Seth were nowhere in sight.

"I guess they had to go home early." I thought.

Jake was still holding my hand firmly in his and I didn't know what to do. Should I let go? I honestly didn't want to let go, but did he?

" So, how was your first day?" Jake looked down at me smiling.

"Umm, it was boring yet eventful.'' A small laugh escaped from my lips.

"Well usually most days it's just boring." He chuckled.

We fell into comfortable silence as we walked to my grandmother's house. In my opinion, the walk was too short as I could see my grandma's forest green house with the pink flowers on the door. The house was small, but it was decent size for two people. We climbed the 3 steps on the porch, and we stopped at the door facing each other.

"Thanks for staying with me today. You made my day a whole lot easier." I blushed a little.

"No problem.'' He blushed as well.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence when I said the first thing on my mind.

"Do you want to come in?"

Blush crept up on Jake's neck as he nodded, "Sure."

Suddenly I was feeling very nervous as if he never been in here before. I slowly opened the colored door.

"Grandmother I'm back."

"I'm in here, sweetie. I'm getting lunch ready"

Jacob and I made our way through the living room with its larger than life brown fur couches that seems to fit 10 people separately held there place on the back walls; brown wooden floor the stretched across the entire house that seems to never get warped or ruined in the 30 plus years since Grandma has lived here; a white antique table that beautifully sat in front of one of the large couches with a decorative ball in the middle; a large bookcase that held many books ranging from Quileute history to baby books that helped you poop; and another large cabinet that was always locked ever since I was little. In the few times I did visit I would ask her about the cabinet she would always tell me "Its adult stuff, nene" that usually made me stop asking. Grandmother never owned a television. She never saw a purpose for purposely watching hours of pointless people doing nothing. Her word not mine, but as a child I never minded. When I would come to visit, I often forgot that it wasn't here because grandma always kept me busy. If it wasn't gardening; it was walking along the beach; helping others; or playing with Jake.

The kitchen was a different story with white cabinets, tables, and countertop with Grandma Athena making sandwich, a lot of sandwiches from what I can count.

She turned her head to see us standing there," Hey Nene. Hey Jake. How was school. The rest of your friends didn't come? I made enough sandwiches for everybody."

Her lips turned into a frowned as Jake quickly went on, " Oh, they wanted to get a head start on their homework."

"I didn't know they give out that much homework on the first day." She shrugged her shoulders as she set the tray of many sandwiches on the table, " Would you like some, Jake?"

He nodded, "Thank you, miss Athena."

We all sat at the medium white size table which is pretty much one of the only items in Grandma's house that looks its age. With its creaky chairs and splintering wood and white paint peeling. Jake grabbed a whopping 5 sandwiches and starts ripping into it as if he hasn't eaten in years and all I can do is stare in amazement at how a teenager can eat that much in less that 15 minutes.

"So how was school? Did you like all your classes?"

"It was okay for the most part," I said grabbing a cucumber square," Do you know a Mr. Uley? He called me out in class."

Grandma Athena clapped her hands excitedly, "OOH! I was hoping you had Mr. Uley. He's a hard nut to crack, but you'll grow to like him."

"He singled me out, Grandma. In front of the whole class." Even to my ears I sound like a whiny 5-year-old.

"Honey, you're a very smart girl. I wanted him to know that and besides you do need a little help with public speaking."

I turned to Jake who had finished scarfing down 5 sandwiches and picked 2 more off the tray while I just finished my first cucumber square, but it wasn't just what happened with Mr. Uley that bothered me. It was those 2 girls in the front whispering in their native tongue. It wasn't the fact that they were speaking; it was the fact that I could UNDERSTAND them. I've never learned their language or at least not what I could remember anyways, but as I walked up to the front of the room and as they spoke those words in Quileute "This is so embarrassing. I feel sorry for her" I understood everything.

"Grandma?" I asked cautiously

"Mmmm?"

"Did you ever teach me the language?"

Jake finally stopped eating to look up and drink some water. I was wondering when he'll come up for air.

"Well, I tried to when you were younger, but your parents really didn't see a reason for it. Said it wasn't a worldly language you couldn't use it anywhere else."

I nodded that's something typically my parents would say. Considering the Marines moved us around a lot my parents rather I have learned more common language like Spanish, French, or some Asian language like Mandarin. Which is understandable, but Quileute doesn't sound anything like any Romance language like French or any Asian languages so it would be nearly impossible for me to mistake it for another language.

" Well how do you say, 'This is so embarrassing. I feel sorry for her' in Quileute." I asked

" That's an odd phrase, honey." Grandma Athena crinkled her nose.

I shrugged my shoulders, "It was the first thing I thought of."

She looked confused but spoke it in Quileute anyways. I t sounded exactly like those girls said so I know I'm not going crazy. They really said it and I really understood it I furrowed my brows in confusion. The only logical explanation I can think of is that I somehow picked up some phrases when I was little and stayed in the cervices of my brain until now. I remember vaguely that my mother did speak Quileute sometimes when she called Grandma from The Airfield so that could be possible, but even so I couldn't tell Grandma. Not yet. She would be asking the same question I'm asking and quite frankly, I don't even believe the half-baked excuse I made.

Late afternoon came. I decided to get started on the meager homework they gave us. Jake left hours ago after eating 10 sandwiches to go check on Billy to see if he needed anything. He had given me a quick hug that made me blush when my body met his nearly rock-solid abs and told me 'Not to worry about Mr. Uley.' I haven't really gotten over what he did in class, but I didn't want to worry myself to the point of an acne breakout and an anxiety attack.

I sighed and begun my algebra II homework. Relations and functions and logarithms. Hooray. As if this couldn't be any more boring, but I reluctantly trudged ahead with the first question of the 2 paged worksheet. Time seemed to move in a pile a jello and race down a speedway at the same as I became more invested in the homework. Math was never my strong suit so I always had to try harder; put more effort into it which usually land me a high B at most. I frowned as a memory slwoy surfaced. Very few times when mother had time for me she would help me with my math homework and from what I could tell she was a math whiz. Not even needing a calculator to solve the hardest problems, but she always took her time when she was helping making sure I was understanding the problem and understanding why I got the answer no matter if it's wrong or right. Mom was always soo patient in everything she did. Even when I would cry of frustration when I kept getting the answers wrong, she would wipe my tears and tell me to keep trying until I got it right.

I was so imbued in my homework and my thoughts that I didn't hear Grandma calling me.

" Nene, I was calling you. It's almost 8 o'clock and it's time for supper. I'd figure we'd have soup with tepary beans and bread"

" Ohh, sorry. I was busy with homework."

Her long braid swished behind her as she went to stand behind me at my desk her polished forehead crinkled as she looked at the paper.

"Logarithms? I can't say I know anything about this. Back in my day I didn't learn any of this stuff."

"Mom is really good at this stuff."

"And that is why she's an Application Specialist."

I laughed at little, but it was cut off by a long yawn. Not realizing how tired I was.

"You know, you don't have to eat you can just go straight to bed. I'm pretty sure this day wore you out."

"I'll eat a little bit." I muttered getting up from my seat.

I shuffled through my doorway into the kitchen with grandma in tow. We sat and grandma spooned some soup in my bowl and bread on the side. Grandma always makes good food, and this soup was to exception as I eagerly spooned the soup into my hungry stomach. Me and Grandma made polite conversion. I asked how her day to the supermarket went. She went to tell me the sales of the day and some friends she met in the store. I'll have to remember next time to go with her cause I never seen any other parts of Forks, Washington, but the other thing I really want to see is the wolves I heard last night. I remember what Leah had said at lunch about how they're ferocious, but I knew in my heart that they wouldn't hurt me. I silently promised myself that I will go see the wolves. I just have to work up the courage and stop being scared. I was less worried about the wolves and more worried about how my grandma would feel if I walked out at night without her permission.


HEY GUYS SO THIS IS MY FIRST FANFICTION IN YEARS. YES YEARS.. SO I WOULD BE GRATEFUL IF YOU READ AND REVIEW. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICSM IS EXTREMELY WELCOMED. I GOT THE IDEA OF THIS STORY FROM WATCHING TWILIGHT AND WANTING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT QUILUETE AND THEIR HISTORY BECAUSE TWILIGHT NEVER REALLY GOT INTO IT. NOW THIS FIRST CHAPTER IS LONG BECAUSE I DIDN'T REALIZE IT WHEN I WAS RIGHT LOL BUT COMMENT IF THIS IS A GOOD LENGTH OR YOU WANT A LONG CHAPTER OR SHORTER ONES .

BUT ANYWAYS I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY THE STORY LOVE YAAAAA