We arrived at The University of Washington. My mouth was agape as I took in my surroundings. Prior to applying, I'd discovered that the university had over five-hundred buildings, but looking them now sent my mind swirling; I didn't figure how big the campus actually was.

I barely remembered the three-and-a-half hour journey here as it passed in a haze. I was freaking out a bit too much. I remained in the back seat of the car, staring out of the window, although I couldn't recall one building or landmark we'd passed. I only just remembered boarding the Bainbridge Island ferry as I had to peel myself away from the comfort of the back seat. Bella came to me and tried to make conversation whilst I leaned against the railings. I gave her brief answers as my mind was too preoccupied. The only thing that caught my attention was her arm snake out to try and take my hand. I quickly folded my arms and clenched my fists making it look as though I was shielding myself from the cold. From the corner of my eye, I saw her smirk. She saw through me easily and she could see my worry. She just didn't realise how worried I was.

For the rest of the car journey, I occupied my previous position and stared out the window. I kept my hands clamped in between my knees so that they wouldn't give me away. I had learned to control my gift but it took an excessive amount of control to do so; every time my emotions ran high I couldn't stop the flow. I knew that as soon as Bella or Jake took my hand, my gift of showing my thoughts would betray me in an instant. Bella knew I was worried but if she saw everything that ran through my head she would bundle me back in the car and forcefully return me home, never allowing me to leave again. She wanted that to happen but I needed this experience and I wasn't returning until it was complete.

I knew how to look after myself and my mom had helped me figure things out. I was really grateful I had her. She'd become a vampire the moment I was born. She had to figure out how to be a mom and adapt to her new existence, especially when she discovered her gift. Even as a human, nobody with a mental ability could interject her mind. Now she was a vampire, she was able to expand this and create a shield over people, allowing their mind to be protected at the same time. Luckily, she'd had help with her gift. A vampire named Zafrina trained her and gave Bella the advantage of controlling her power. Zafrina belonged to coven of three: herself, Kachiri and Senna. Zafrina was able to create illusions, so Bella was able to protect herself from it. Zafrina used me as a training device, planting images in my head that made my heart race. I didn't mind; I admit it scared me but I knew it was necessary and the love my mother felt for me made her determined. At first, Bella had tried to shout that I was just seeing things before Zafrina shouted, "Use your power, Bella, not your voice!" She then blocked my hearing as well so I was unable to hear anything.

This training proceeded for two months. Within that time, Zafrina had used Charlie and Jacob as devices as well so that Bella could get the hang of protecting multiple people at once. Then distance was tested; Bella managed to protect me from a mile away. Kachiri then took over, training Bella how to fight properly; after all, she was still classed as a new-born. Kachiri had a lot of experience in that field and it showed. I had participated in the training and knew a few things, but after getting thrown into a tree, Jacob became too protective, so I just observed instead. In total, they'd stayed with us for three months; they even stayed to celebrate my first birthday with me. But after that time, both Kachiri and Senna wanted to return south because they could not fulfil what they had originally come here for. I, out of curiosity, asked what that was:

"We came to visit Carlisle and his family. A visit on our behalf was well overdue," Senna explained to me.

"Who's Carlisle?" I asked confused. Surely a coven of human drinking vampires would not want to visit a human?

"The leader of the coven your mother was going to join," she answered back. By the sound of her voice she thought that I knew exactly what she was talking about.

I felt the confussion appear on my face before watching the Amazonians mirror my look.

"She doesn't know," my mom called from afar. I turned to see her walking towards us. "And I would appreciate it if you kept our existence" - mine and hers - "and our friendship" - she indicated between her and the coven - "a secret from any other vampire you may come across." She gave a brief smile as if to mask the venom dripping from her voice.

"Bella, I apologize, I thought she would have known," Senna replied genuinely.

Bella dismissed it with a smile. "Don't worry, Senna, it's my fault, I should have mentioned something to her about them."

She sat on a rock in the forest close to where we trained and motioned for me to sit too. She smiled at me. "Carlisle is the leader of a coven that once lived in Forks; your father's family. Zafrina, Kachiri and Senna have known them a long time and came to Forks to visit them, not knowing that they had left. They came across my scent, thinking I would know where they'd gone. I, however, do not know."

I tried to press her for more information, but she didn't divulge further. That was the first thing I learned about my father: he had another family somewhere. Once the proverbial floodgates had been opened, my desire to know more became a priority but no one was willing to share, not even Charlie. Any mention was shut down with nothing more than the look of distaste. I finally cornered Jake, asking why my mom didn't want me to know anything or want to talk to me about him. That's when I learned how Bella became nothing more than a breathing corpse... until I came along - a nice surprise. Jake said that if I hadn't come along, my mother would probably be in that same state now. Or dead. That was when I learned he'd broke my mother's heart. After that, I did not care anymore about finding him; not after what I'd been told.

Senna and Kachiri returned home after that, their presence disturbing the packs, but Zafrina sought permission to stay while longer. With the promise to not touch a human until she returned south, it was begrudgingly given. Little did I know that her desire to stay was for me. Zafrina was the one that helped me control my power, testing my ability to censor and filter what I shared. I wasn't perfect, but I hoped that with time it could be a skill I perfected.

At one point I became tired and used my gift to show my mom. We retreated to the house for something to eat and for some rest when Jake blurted, "How come Nessie's the only one who can get into your mind?"

Both Bella and I were shocked, we'd never thought about it before. I could see her worry that her only means of protection was flawed. "My shield has holes," she stated in a whisper.

Zafrina just shook her head. She was the only one who wasn't fazed by this new information. "It is more likely that she obtains a second power."

Bella still stared in shock. "Explain," she ordered.

"Think about it. Renesmee's gift is an interesting twist. Like she's doing the exact opposite of what her father does. He intrudes people minds; Nessie shares her mind. It could be the same with your gift too: you create a shield; she could penetrate shields."

It was a reasonable explanation, but a comment stopped me from worrying about it. Zafrina had said that my father intrudes minds, what could that mean? Intrude means invade; be there without permission. See something there that other people don't want to share. No one shares their secrets – could he see what secrets they keep? No, that sounded too exact to be a gift of our kind. If someone doesn't want to share something they think it instead. That's it!

"My father can see what people are thinking?" I asked, interrupting a conversation between my mom and Zafrina.

Bella forced a smile. "Yes, your father could read minds," she stated before turning back to Zafrina.

That was the final thing I'd learned about my father: not only was he a vampire, he was a mind-reading vampire.

I allowed my mind to wander as the three of us walked down the corridor to my new abode. I was carrying a blue folder and my rucksack. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings, letting Bella do all the talking - she was charming like that. I noticed we weren't being shown the way by a member of staff, a male student around the age that Bella looked was guiding us there. I smirked and held back laughter. He was smitten. It was strange having to pretend that Bella was my sister instead of my mom and that Charlie was my dad instead of my grandpa. It was weird, but I'd grown accustomed to it.

The dorm was plain and compact. I was staying on-site because I wanted the full experience. I could have opted for my own housing but this was easier. I wasn't sharing with anyone, that's one thing I don't think I could have managed. I didn't want to give myself away and my inhumane habits would do so. Because it was my first time blending into a full human environment full-time, I wanted to take as many precautions as I could.

The bed was tucked in the corner of the room, a side table to its left. A desk stood by itself against the right wall with a matching stool located underneath. Next to the door was a dresser and a small wardrobe. The walls were a plain, run down, white; the carpet was a dark shade of blue – it also had a noticeable bleach stain by the desk – and the furniture all matched. The wood however, looked cheap and worn out. We walked into the middle of the space and my mom didn't look impressed.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" She asked me, still observing the room. I sighed and walked over to the bed placing my rucksack and the box I was carrying on the mattress. I was thankful that the springs didn't squeak. She took that motion as my answer. "Well, I guess we'd better unpack you then."

With that, she placed the box she was carrying on the bed and busied herself opening it and placing its contents in suitable places. The box that she was emptying was filled with various niknaks I'd packed along with my books. I watched her as she sped around, placing everything in numerous places around the small room that was now mine. Suddenly, she stopped and looked at me, startling me in the process. "I'm not doing this on my own," she stated whilst smiling.

Once everything had been unpacked, the room looked a lot homelier. I turned and looked at Bella and Jake stood by the door. If my mom could cry she would be doing so. I could tell by her face. Jake was too manly to show his reluctance and upset at letting me go. I tried to smile back but it felt more like a grimace and a traitor tear fell down my cheek. Jake bounded up to me, took me in his arms and raised me off the floor. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face between his shoulder and neck and cried a little. He pulled me tighter to his chest. As I calmed down, I inhaled his scent to scorch it in my memory. He let me down and I saw the rim of his eyes gleaming red. I reached up to stroke his cheek but as I touched it, he leaned down and grazed my cheek softly with his lips. The warmth of his lips remained on my cheek even as he left. I smiled at him before he walked out the door. I was left with Bella who looked at me with a smile on her face. She approached me slowly before I jumped into her embrace. I pressed my head against her chest and cried. I felt her comfortingly stroke my hair and kiss my forehead.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Mom," I said, even though my voice was muffled.

"As I'll miss you, baby," she replied.

She held me for a while longer before repeating the movement of pulling away and stroking the tear from my cheek as she had done in my bedroom earlier. I felt her kiss my forehead again before turning around and retrieving another unopened box.

"This is just something from me," indicating towards the box in her hand. "It contains all our duplicate DVDs and some of our favourites. I thought we could plan to watch them at the same time together so it feels as though we're in the same place and connected some days." I felt a smile form on my face as she continued, "Now, in this box you'll also find a parcel... from me… it's important. But," she looked at me sternly, "I don't want you to open it now, or when I leave because you're simply curious. Open it when you feel like opening it for no other reason than you have the time to read through it properly and have a clear mind so that you can understand all perspectives. Okay?" She looked at me insistently. I nodded in reply before taking the box out of her hand and placing it on the bed. "It could be a day from now, a week from now or even a month from now. I know you'll open it when the time's right and you'll know when that time comes."

She finally smiled and pulled me into another tight hug before turning and leaving out of the door, closing it behind her. Another single tear fell down my face as I realised I wasn't going to see them for weeks and that I was now acting independently. I wiped away the stray tears and told myself that there was no use in crying: this was what I wanted.

I ventured to the small box that lay on my bed, unopened. I was curious as to what my mom had said about a package inside. Seeing my mother's face as she spoke about it made me wonder what was so important. This thought alone piqued my curiosity.

I opened the box and found a bulky, yellow envelope, the size of a sheet of paper. On the front, my name was scrawled across the centre in my mom's small script. I gently lifted the parcel out of the box, treating it like an ancient artefact and looked at it more closely; grazing my hand over the dented lettering. The weight of it wasn't what I expected; it was light compared to what I thought it would be. Then again, I wasn't sure what I expected. What secret are you holding?

I flicked my eyes at the door, double-checking that I was in fact alone, before sitting down on the bed and ignoring the rest of the box.

I turned the package over as carefully as I had taken it out of its box; my eyes searching for an opening. The top corner had been left slightly loose. I slid my finger under ready to rip the opening when I noticed small black letters close to the top corner. Placing my hands either side of the package I looked closer. It was my mom's writing again:

Please, not when you're merely curious x

I sighed. I had to listen to her. She had explained that curiosity shouldn't be the reason I opened it. The time wasn't right and I knew that. She trusted me and I trusted what she'd said.

I stood up and went to place the parcel in the drawer that contained my scrapbooks and music books. Instead of placing it on top of the rest, I placed it at the bottom of the pile. Having it there made me think that when I next came across it, it would be the right time, just as my mother had said.

Walking back to the box I went to search through the DVDs that had been packed. I was glad to see the chick flicks we loved watching together were there: Dirty Dancing, Titanic, Pretty Woman... Mixed in were some musicals, comedies and some others including the adaptations of our favourite classic novels.

I smiled at the thought my mom had put into this gift. There were fifteen DVD's in total, all strewn across the bed. Not having a home in the small room yet, I figured they'd be safer back in the box that could live under the bed for now. But as I went to lift the box to put the DVD's back, it was heavier than a normal cardboard box should be. Looking inside I saw another smaller, rectangular box instead. Reaching in, I pulled the box out and looked at it confused. On the box was a note in the same handwriting I'd seen earlier. The note read:

Just something that you need, love Mom

I bit my lip, not knowing what to expect. Opening the box, my mouth fell open in shock. Inside was a brand-new laptop. I hadn't expected it and I hadn't asked for it either. It was a complete surprise to me. I felt tears sting my eyes as they produced.

She was the best friend I could ask for, and the only parent I needed.