Thankfully, Bella was back in two days. It was the first time I actually saw Charlie mad at her. He grounded her of course, pretty long overdue if you ask me. Also, spring break ended, so that meant it was time for me to head back to school.

"Hey, I checked your school schedule, you get out before Bella graduates." Charlie said before I drove to the airport.

Me: I have to go back to Chicago, but it's the end of the school year and we get out pretty early. I'll be back in Forks soon.

Leah: I had so much fun with you over Spring break, I'll miss you.

May came, of course, I was preparing to spend most of summer in Forks, and La Push. My first year of college was beginning to wrap up. I got a call from Bella a few hours after my final exam.

"Hey, Edward bought us round trip tickets to see Mom in Jacksonville for my birthday. The flight is this weekend, you can fly in from Chicago, want to come?" Bella asked me over the phone. I was packing to head back home.

"I haven't seen Mom in so long! Of course I want to go." I said.

Mom and Bella met me at the airport in Jacksonville. We talked on the phone every other day or so, but it has been at least a year since we saw each other in person. I ran toward her the second I caught a glimpse of her face.

"Oh my baby! I've missed you so much!" My mom said, squeezing me as I ran into her. Bella walked up behind me.

"I've missed you, too." I said as I squeezed her back before letting go. "Phil has a game in Athens, Georgia so we have the entire house and weekend to ourselves." Mom said when we were driving away from the airport.

"It's so nice that you got a house right on the beach." I said. The three of us were relaxing on lounge chairs in Mom's backyard. The sun was bright and the waves were crashing on the beach.

"I've been accepted into the University of Alaska." Bella said.

"Alaska? You know colleges in Florida are a lot sunnier. I'm just saying if you go to the University of Alaska, I'm never going to see you." Mom said. I turned my head towards Bella, I looked at my mom.

"Can't you feel the Vitamin D soaking in your pores." I said, half joking.

"Aren't you going to miss this?" Mom asked, smiling.

"Yeah, I am going to miss this." Bella said, her face fell. Bella's dramatic, but this still wasn't like her.

"Oh," Mom interjected before handing her a wrapped present. "Here." Bella began to tear at the purple purple to reveal a box. When Bella opened the box there was a folded quilt in it that was instantly recognizable.

"This is amazing." Bella said holding up. Mom used to take the two of us on these trips to random places around the country, and she would always buy a T-shirt from whatever touristy diner or odd attraction we went to.

"Ah, honey I'm glad you like it. I just figured you know, when you get older, have kids, we can add to it. Maybe we will go visit the world's largest ketchup bottle or something." Mom said as Bella and I identified each vacation and shirt.

"Thanks." Bella said as she leaned to give Mom a tight hug.

"Oh, I'm glad you like it. I just thought you should have a little piece of me up there in Alaska." Mom said as she hugged Bella back.

"Mom?" Bella asked, trying to say something.

"Yeah?" Mom asked.

"I miss you." Bella said. Oh yeah, something's up.

"Oh honey, I miss you too." Mom responded with.

Bella and I each had our own room and bathroom, which was something I forgot how much I missed. I was in my pajamas, Mom was watching something on TV downstairs and I was going to talk to Bella.

"Come in." Bella said after I knocked on her door.

"You're gonna miss the sun, Edward's a vampire from a time period when you got married in your teens. What's up?" I said, folding my arms, standing firmly in front of her bed. "Is he… asking something of you?"

"Lizzy don't freak out, but Edward proposed to me." Bella began, but I cut her off.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"I want him to change me into a vampire, and his family agreed so…" Bella was trying to explain, but I wasn't having any of it.

"Bella! Stop!" I exclaimed.

"Shhh, you only know because you hang out with the wolves." Bella said, waving her hands around.

"Why Bella?" I asked, calming down.

"Edward said he would turn me after graduation." Bella said.

"Oh my God, at this point I'm not even going to say anything. You can ruin the remainder of your existence if you want, but please just think this through." I said, putting my hands together.

"I know what I want, I mean what about you and Leah?" Bella asked. A blush creeped across my face as I stepped back. "You're pretty close with the werewolves."

"I'm going to bed." I said walking out of her room, stomping my feet.

The weekend was mostly iced tea, gossip, and sand. By Sunday we were on a plane and landing in Port Angeles with Charlie waiting for us. When I sat back on my bed I got a text on my phone.

Leah: Want to come to the rez this weekend?

Me: Yes

"Dad, I'm going to the reservation this weekend." I shouted to Dad as he was walking to the staircase.

"I'll come with you." I heard Bella's voice coming from her room.

"Thank goodness," I could hear Charlie's mutter echo from up the staircase. It was late, it was a very long flight across the country so I was more than ready to fall asleep. Bella has school tomorrow and she needs to sleep.

"Was it nice seeing your Mom?" Tala asked tomorrow at lunch.

"Definitely, but that plane ride was exhausting." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Why'd you go for just a weekend? That's a cross country plane ride!" Maria exclaimed. I saw Bella and Edward out of the corner of my eye.

"Believe it or not, Edward got us the plane tickets." I said, raising my eyebrows.

"Geez, they must be serious." Siobhan said, looking over my shoulder and eyeing Edward and Bella.

"You have no idea, it's sort of weird." I said.

"How are things going with Leah?" Maria asked, I choked on the water I just sipped on.

"What do you mean?" I asked, recovering from the water.

"Kim, she told me the two of you have been hanging out. Besides that party last year, she was all over you!" Maria said, smiling dreamily.

The school week dragged on, I was overjoyed when I woke up Saturday morning. I didn't remember how much Edward Cullen annoyed me until we had an unpleasant interaction Saturday morning.

"The car won't start." Bella said as she fumbled with the key in the ignition. I gave a tiny shriek when Edward was suddenly leaning into the open driver's window, in a blink of an eye. He placed his hand on Bella's.

"Lizzy, Bella, the whole family is worried about both of you. Lizzy, you may have convinced Alice, but the wolves have no self control." Edward said, looking back and forth at Bella and me as my heart began to beat slower.

"Edward, you can't just break private property to control your girlfriend based on your own prejudices." I said, folding my arms.

"Yeah, we're going." Bella said, giving Edward a small glare.

"Fine, I'll fix the car." Edward said, and a few blurs of Edward's speed later, the car engine was beginning to roar. "Be very careful." He said. I rolled my eyes.

The drive to La Push was growing very familiar by this point. I waited anxiously until the small houses on the reservation were in view. Bella was driving past Jacob's house, then the Clearwaters' house, until she turned down the forest path and parked in front of Emily's house. Embry, Quil, Paul, and Jared immediately ran out to greet us. They were all shirtless, what else would I expect?

"I'm glad you're here, Bella. Maybe we can get a break from Jake's obsessive inner monologue." Embry began, laughing to himself.

"I wish Bella would call." Paul said, laughing along with Embry.

"I wish Bella wouldn't call." Jared laughed along while chewing on a chicken drumstick.

"Maybe I should call Bella." Embry interjected.

"Maybe I should call Bella and hang up." Quil said.

"Oh, but Leah's been even worse." Paul said, and the entire pack laughed.

"Where's Lizzy?" Quil mocked Leah's female voice.

"Is she safe?" Jared asked, fake pouting.

"I hope she's ok with the imprint thing!" Embry exclaimed. I saw Bella's face furrow in confusion. Jacob turned to her.

"Bella, come with me. I want to show you my new bike." Jacob said, walking away from Emily's house, gesturing for Bella to follow him.

"Nice job, Embry." Paul said, his voice deepening and rolling his eyes.

"Lizzy!" A voice rang out. A chill traveled down my spine, and my entire body rushed with adrenaline and dopamine. By the time I was staring at her, Leah had wrapped her arms around me, and was squeezing me tight.

I saw Seth, Emily, and Sam walking out of the house. Seth waved at me, Sam acknowledged me with a nod, and Emily's face lit up. Leah broke away from the hug, but I chose to hold onto her hand. I saw some smirks come from Embry and Paul.

"That explains all the excitement." Emily said, looking at me with a smile.

"Lizzy, there's an important tribal council meeting happening tonight, Jacob's taking Bella, and I want to take you. Maria will be there, too" Leah said, her gaze giving me butterflies. "Mr. Black wants you to hear the tribe's secret histories."

"Really? I'm truly honored." I said, squeezing her hand tightly.

"Lizzy!" Jared's voice called. He was lifting a soccer ball in his hand. "Are you two gonna quit grossing us out, or are you gonna play." Last time I played soccer was when I was reporting on gender inequality between the girls' and boys' soccer teams, and the girls let me kick the ball around.

"I'm down!" I exclaimed, raising my arms, letting go of Leah's hand. Leah rolled his eyes, as the pack cheered rowdily.

"Alright, so the teams are Paul, Embry, Lizzy, and Leah, you are Team Losers. While Sam, myself, Seth, and Emily can be Team Winners. Quil has offered to ref!" Jared called out as the nine of us circled around Quil with the ball.

"Oh come on, Jared!" Embry exclaimed, giving him a flick on his head.

"Yeah, who says you get Emily!" Paul whined, glaring at Jared.

"Emily went to state like twice in high school. She's insanely fast, and has great footwork." Leah whispered to me.

"You guys are too sweet!" Emily exclaimed as Sam planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Hey, I say fair." Sam said, half serious, half joking. Quil was beginning to walk towards the center of the field as the eight of us separated into our teams. Quil dropped the ball, and the soccer games began.

Hours passed, game after game. It was fun and exhausting. Emily was definitely great, she won every game for her team nearly single handedly. Paul, Embry, Leah, and I barely stood a chance. However, the hours grew shorter and it was late.

"Hey! We got to go help set up for the bonfire." Sam said as the sun was beginning to set. Leah nodded at Sam.

"He wants me to walk you to the Blacks' house." Leah said with a shrug as she turned around and began to walk away from the field. I followed her, the sky grew darker, and we were on the familiar path to Jacob's house.

"Am I dressed ok?" I asked, in my jeans and hoodie. It was dark, and Leah was leading me through the field outside of the Blacks' house, and towards a large bonfire, with twenty or so people sitting around it. I recognized the entire pack, Emily, Sue and Harry Clearwater, and Mr. Black.

"Definitely. Ok, Jacob is wIth Bella. Sue, Billy, and Quil's grandfather are the Tribal Elders. This is Embry's, my brother, Quil's, and my first time hearing the histories." Leah explained to me as we sat down around the bonfire. Seth waved at me and I waved back.

Then Seth stood up and jogged towards Jacob, who was walking with Bella. They had a brief conversation, Jacob put Seth in a headlock, rubbed his head, before Seth ran back. Leah put her right arm around my shoulders. I saw some of the pack members smirk. However, Mr. Black took everyone's attention.

"The Quileutes have been a small tribe since the beginning…" Mr. Black began to tell the secret histories of the Tribe. Leah looked at me and smiled.

The story of the cruelty of the evil vampires, and the courage of Taha Aki's third wife was interesting. I soaked in every second of the fascinating story. Thank goodness the Cullens only drank animal blood.

"Welcome to the pack." Leah whispered to me.