I sat on the swing in the backyard of my home. It was a rickety old thing, put up well over 12 years ago when I was 6-years-old. I gently swung back and forth, never taking my feet off the ground. It was a chilly evening with the sky above me a mix of blues and purples as night was slowly starting to wash in.

Max poked his head out the back door, his expression bright. "Dinner is ready!"

I smiled back at him, giving him a nod as I stood up from the swing not caring much if the old set decided to collapse then and there. I paused halfway across the lawn when the burning sensation of being watched made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. Turning, I stared hard into the darkness, my eyes drifting passed the treehouse and looking further passed and into the treeline that cut off the yard from the woods. When I saw nothing I decided to just shrug it off and go enjoy dinner with my family for the first time in weeks. If it's Edward doing his weird vampire stuff I can just yell at him later with Alice's help.

~~~ TIME SKIP ~~~

Edward and I sat in the school library, rather than sitting on the chairs we actually were sitting in a secluded section surrounded by bookshelves on the floor. We were laughing at a joke I made. I for some reason was talking about something that happened in class, perfectly mimicking the teacher's voice and the student's reply. I was attempting to keep it quiet as I did so, so that no one who was casually walking on the other side of the bookshelves could overhear. One of the best parts about having a boyfriend that can read minds is we know immediately if someone is listening in!

"It still amazes me that I can do that…" I mumbled softly, leaning my head back against the bookshelf behind me.

"You're unique, I think it's awesome." Edward commented, grinning at me with his breathtaking smile.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course I'm awesome." I flexed my hand, trying to get some blood flowing after feeling it going numb from being unused. "I haven't tried stronger voices… you know, like Mariah Carey. Or deep voices like that guy in P.E., just voices that could be within my range."

"We can test them out some time if you want," Edward offered, "At my house so no one accidentally finds out."

I already feel like someone has figured it out. I didn't need to say this out loud for Edward, he just looks at the window and frowns. I didn't bother questioning him as he pulled out a random book from the shelf beside him and gave it to me to look at.

I gave him a weird look before realizing it was the book I had been looking for, for a while now. "Thanks." I gave a grateful smile before cracking it open to read.

I tried to focus on my book instead of my boyfriend's intense gaze outside the window. After 10 minutes of the increasing intensity and only 15 minutes left of study hall, I closed the book with a slam and stared at him. "You're stressing me out, let's go check this book out and sit with Angela. She wants to talk about graduation plans anyway." She had been begging me to have this conversation for the last few days since graduation was coming up fast, only 3 weeks away now.

He looked at me before looking at the window once more before nodding and standing.

We got the book checked out before going over to Angela's table and sitting next to her. We were planning a huge graduation party. Angela apparently had some important news to share with me and wanted this to be talked about as soon as possible.

"We were given permission to throw the party in the gym here." Angela said, her whisper barely able to contain her excitement even with the tiny squeak in her voice.

I couldn't help but be excited as well, "That's so awesome!" I almost shouted as I looked over at the librarian who shot us a glare. I smiled a bit embarrassed and sent her a nod before turning back to my tablemates. "What are we going to wear?"

"I figured we would go in matching purple dresses." Angela giggled, I know she likes the color purple too but not as much as me. No matter what, I'm positive Angela would look stunning in whatever she puts on anyway.

"Where are we going to get matching purple dresses?" I smiled at her with a raised brow when I caught a certain someone in the reflection of her glasses. I turned to look at said "someone" and I could see the wheels turning in Edward's head. "Don't you dare." I pointed at him, raising a brow once more at him this time.

"What?" He asked, giving me this innocent expression.

"Don't get Alice involved. We don't have to actually match." I snorted at him. "She just said matching dresses as a joke, most likely we would both go with purple dresses anyway. We have two different body types and matching perfectly in dresses would look weird." Besides, it's an unspoken rule amongst girls to not wear the same dress as each other, something has to be different with either the color, cut, or design.

Angela nodded, smiling at the two of us with this fond look in her eyes.

"What?" I looked at her as I tried to decipher her expression.

She shook her head with another, wider smile. "You guys are cute, you can read each other like a book, almost as though you could read each other's minds."

Edward and I exchanged amused looks. If only she knew.

"You're doing it again!" Angela giggled, pushing her glasses up and gazing at us with her sparkling brown eyes.

"Angie, please." I snorted, rolling my eyes. "There is no way anyone could read minds, you gotta be a superhero or something to be able to do that."

"Or a super villain." She wiggled her eyebrows at me, her nerdy side poking through.

I flushed bright red and smacked her arm. "Enough with that Ang, I was 13, god you have a crush on one super villain from a comic and it gets you labeled for life." I rolled my eyes at her.

Angela opened her mouth to reply but was immediately interrupted by the school bell, signalling that study hall was over.

"Well, I'll see you two at lunch." I stood up, tucking my book into my backpack. "See ya!"

I got two goodbyes in return as I left the library.

~Mini Timeskip~

I sat with my lunch tray at our new usual table with Eric, Angela, Bella and for some reason this time around, Edward.

"Soooo, you girls wanted to talk about something?" I sat down and eyed Bella and Angela.

"We need girl time!" Angela almost shouted, slamming a hand on the table top, wincing and shaking her hand afterwards. "Ow… anyway, it's been far too long and honestly, we need to spend more time together anyway."

I looked to Bella who nodded earnestly.

"Alright, well I was planning on taking Max to La Push beach, you could bring the twins and we can all go swimming this Saturday. It's supposed to be really nice out then." I smiled at them both. Mom had bought me a new wetsuit so I could enjoy the Washington waters without freezing.

Angela brightened up at the idea of swimming. "Yeah! The water will be freezing though, so we better have hot drinks ready."

"I will have thermos' full of hot chocolate at the ready." I laughed, already knowing that both girls love hot chocolate.

"Yummy~." Angela hummed, getting a sound of agreement from Bella. "Thanks, Jessica! You're the best"

"Of course! Now, let's talk about the theme of the graduation party and what dresses we're gonna wear!"

~Le Time Skip~

"Jessica, honey!" My mom called for me from downstairs. I pull out an earbud and look away from my math homework to listen to her. "Can you come down here for a minute, please? We need to talk about something serious!"

"Got it!" I rolled away from the book and off my bed, slipping on some slippers because the floor was cold today. I knew I wasn't in trouble, my grades are up-to-standards, I text and call them whenever I do something outside of school, and besides that when I'm in trouble they go straight to me. Whatever the topic is, that means it's something Max can hear as well.

When I reached down the stairs, mom and dad were on the couch. Dad was bouncing one of his legs, occasionally taking glances at any window that didn't require him to turn his body. Max was in the kitchen having a snack, looks like oreos to me.

"What's up?" I asked, sitting in the armchair and sinking into the seat and tucking my legs under me.

Dad stopped bouncing his leg. "We wanted to let you and Max know that we are installing security cameras around the property." He raises his hand when I start to open my mouth. "We think someone is lurking around the property, I found a few footprints that may just be a walker not realizing where they were, but given what happened with Max… we're not taking any chances."

"We wanted to ask for your permission to install a camera pointed outside of your bedroom window, Jessica," Mom said with a sheepish smile. "Your room has a good view of the yard and is elevated so we can see things farther."

"Oh um… sure." I'll need to warn Edward ahead of time about trying to sneak into my room. He's fast but I don't have any doubts that my dad would notice movement and slow the footage. My butt buzzed and I pulled out my phone to see I got a text from Alice.

'Just told Edward, he's gone to sulk in his room ;P'

I chuckled a little, putting away my phone and glanced back up at my parents. "Oh! I'm going to La Push beach this weekend with Angela, Bella, and the little bros." I had asked Max not long after coming home and he was pumped to get some fresh air.

"Remember to pack your wetsuit then." Mom reminded me, pulling out her wallet and handing me a twenty and a ten. "Emergency money. I'd appreciate it back if you do not spend it."

"Oh sure, thanks, mom." I pocket the money with a mental note to put it in my wallet when I go back upstairs.

"Now that this is settled, I'm calling Frank to see about getting cameras," Dad said, pulling out his own phone and walking away with it. "I want every inch of the property surveyed, including the living room, hallways, kitchen, and entrance to the backdoor."

My phone buzzed again.

'Edward is talking with Jasper as to how he can appropriately come to your house without your dad pulling a shotgun on him XD RIP date nights'

~~~TIME SKIP~~~

Walking around the back instead of using the back door, I lugged the heavy trash bag over to the large can and tossed it over. Scuffling noises and a grunt was heard behind me, causing my spine to go ramrod straight. I turned around and glared into the shadows.

"Who's there?!" I shouted, I saw brief movement before Edward stepped forward, his arm still in the shadows. Seriously? Is this his idea of a prank or something?!

I opened my mouth to yell at him for being a creep before he wrenched his arm forward and pulled a man out of the shadows.

My heart dropped to the pits of my stomach as I gazed at the familiar man's face. Oh hell no!

"Get rid of him!" I squeaked, feeling my body tremble with genuine fear. "Edward, please!"

"I can't do that Jess. He's a vital member." Edward said, and I cursed. He glared down at the man with annoyance. "I'll take him to my house, for now you should go to bed, it's late."

'Stupid Demetri, stupid way to spell a name, gonna call him Dementri from now on.' I grumbled to myself, and from Edward's snort I can tell he heard that. A faint image in my head appeared, text from someone that typed too fast ranting about name spelling, throwing insult after insult at this particular vampire alone. Huh… that explains a lot.

Demetri wisely kept his mouth shut, watching me closely and glaring, his bright red eyes sent more trembles of fear down my spine.

Deciding to ignore the fear in favor of sticking my tongue out at him. He can't do anything to me. If his masters sent him to watch me then that means they are interested in me. While extremely bad news for my humanity, it also meant that he can't kill me.

"Hurry back with good news then." I said seriously, I'll leave my bedroom window unlocked, the camera's are being installed sometime next week. I added silently for him. He nodded to me in response and was gone the next second.

"How long does it take to take out the trash!" My brother Max shouted at me from behind.

"Oh hush short-stack." I rolled my eyes, ruffling his hair even though he was only about 2 inches shorter than me now.

"I'm almost as tall as you! Stop calling me short!" He glared up at me, his bright green eyes reassuring me of his humanity.

"I'll call you short even if you're 6 feet tall!" I shouted back at him. "Just try me, midget."

"AGH! You're so aggravating!" He grumbled.

"I know I am!" I smiled sweetly. "What do you want for your birthday?" I asked as an added note. His 12th birthday was coming up fast, only 2 weeks away now.

He paused mid insult and closed his mouth with a click. "A telescope."

I raised a brow and he raised one back.

"Alright, I'll take up extra shifts at work then." I smiled ruffling his hair. "Telescopes are expensive after all."

His eyes widened. "Wait, you mean it?!" He called after me as I walked around him.

"Of course, I'm your big sister!" I smiled at him. "I want you to be happy with what I get you!"

I think I should make this clear. I do not in any way, want you guys to keep your thoughts to yourselves on this story. The previous guest review, although I know it was not meant as an attack of any sort, it still hit some sore spots. From now on I will not be deleting reviews unless I know for a fact that they are attacking this story. Constructive criticism from here on out will be wholeheartedly accepted. I know I have a horrible habit of taking a lot of things personally, but it was never my intention to make you feel as though you have to keep your opinions to yourself. You are allowed to share if you want, I'll just take more into consideration as I know you meant no harm.

I do in fact have a Beta-reader. She also goes in and edits my chapters for me.

Due to this being a self insert, any criticism towards the main character does in fact feel like criticism towards myself. I'm writing this in a way so that Jessica reacts the way I would have in a situation like that. I do have a habit of acting impulsively and it's not a feature that I am proud of but it is who I am.

Thank you guys for all of your reviews and support! Just 9 more chapters to go before this story is officially complete.

I'm glad that for the most part the character development is enjoyable to all of you.