The cafeteria was both crowded and noisy when Jake led me into the line, piling his plate high with food. I only took an apple and a sprite. I wasn't a big fan of food. Then he pulled me over to meet the infamous Cullen clan. I picked out Rosalie and Emmett immediately—they were the only two I hadn't yet met. Emmett had his steroidally muscular arm around Rosalie's slim form. Next to them, Alice and Jasper sat. Alice waved at me. Then two empty seats, left for Jake and I, and then Bella and Edward. Jacob pulled my seat out for me, with the eyes of all six Cullens on us. Slightly disconcerting. Oh no. The rest of the cafeteria was staring too. Well, what else could I expect? The freak amnesia new girl was sitting with the freak Cullen-Hale-Blacks. Heather and Jason looked like they were going into shock. Emmett and Alice grinned and waved. Rosalie and Jasper both nodded, and Bella and Edward smiled exuberantly. Alice bounced in her chair before she spoke.

"D'you want to come shopping with me?" Everyone else groaned.

"Alice, we said we would invite her to her house, not terrorize her by dumping clothes on her." Jasper said, stroking her arm. Alice turned to me.

"Do you like to shop?" she demanded. I really wasn't sure what to say.

"Well, I don't know . . . I mean, my grandfather never took me shopping . . . I don't know."

"You can say no, Nessie," Edward said. "Alice's sort of a shopoholic."

"I am not!"

"How many times have you gone shopping in the past week?"

"Only three." Everyone at the table except Alice, Rosalie, and Jasper, loyally standing by his girlfriend, snorted in disgust.

"See, Ness. You don't have to go shopping with her. Do you want to come over the Cullen Mansion?" Jacob asked.

"Um, sure. I'll have to call my grandfather, but he'll probably let me. Can you give me a ride over, or I can have. . ."

"We've got four cars here today, of course we can."

"Wow, has anyone ever taught you about carpooling?" They laughed.

"Well, Rosalie and Emmett don't take both their cars everyday. And Bella never takes hers. We used to just take Edwards Volvo, but then Bella got added to the family, and Jake, so we go in pairs. Except Jake. He rides all alone," said Alice, smirking. "Of course, with Rosalie and Emmett, and Bella and Edward, sharing a car isn't completely about the environment."

Grandpa had gladly given permission for met o visit the Cullens, so I walked out with them to their spectacular array of cars. Jacob opened the passenger door of his Rabbit for me, but I heisted imagining how it would look—me riding with the only unpaired Cullen. I turned as someone called my name. Heather and Jason were running toward us. They stopped a little ways away, intimidated by the stares of six pairs of gold eyes and one pair of extremely hostile black ones. "Uh, could we talk to Nessie for a sec?" A low growl rumbled in Jacob's chest and Edward shot him a warning glance. I hadn't known them for half a day and they were already acting like they were my family. Or, in Jacob's case, a watchdog.

"Uh, sure," I said self-consciously. "I'll be right back, Jake." I thought I heard him whine as I walked away.

"Wow," said heather. "How did you get with the Cullens?" She didn't sound accusing, just extremely interested. I shrugged. I have no clue. Alice started talking to me, and then Jake was in my bio class, and Alice sent Edward and Bella to make sure I had met Jacob, and then I ate lunch with them . . . and now I'm going to their house."

"You realize that they've like practically never talked to anyone other than each other? Well, Bella and Jake occasionally, but mostly not. So why you?"

"Really, I don't know. They are pretty nice, though. Weird, but nice." I glanced back. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow—Jake looks like he's about to turn into the watchdog he's been acting like all day." Edward and Bella had crossed to him, leaning on the door of the Rabbit. They seemed relaxed but I could see Jake trembling, Edwards hand against his shoulder, Bella gripping his wrist. Jasper, sitting with Alice in the Porsche, had his eyes fixed on Jake.

"Hey, Ness," he said softly, as I came over.

"Hey Jake," I glanced up at him. He took me by the hand to help me into the car, and I let out a surprised, "oh!" Jake pulled back, coloring, embarrassed.

"Sorry," he whimpered. Bella and Edward grinned at each other over my head. I rubbed my hand; it was red from the heat of Jake's skin.

"Are you okay, Jake?" You feel really hot."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered huskily. "We should go." He didn't try to help me again as I got into the car. We drove in silence for a while.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He smiled nervously.

"I live with a doctor, Ness. Carlisle'd know if I was sick." He paused. "So have we scared you away yet?" he joked. I grinned back.

"Well, you are a little intimidating, but you seem nice." Jake beamed. Then and I looked t the speedometer and gasped. Jake began jabbering apologies and frenetic inquiries as to what he had done."

"Um, can you maybe get within twenty mph of the speed limit, please? And stop apologizing."

"Sorry." He grimaced when he realized that he had apologized again. "Living with the Cullens, well, you learn to go fast. He pressed the break and two blurs—one silver, the other yellow, whizzed by.

"Yeah, I guess I can see that."

"You weren't joking, were you, when you said "Cullen Mansion?" I asked in disbelief. The house before us looked like something out of Gone with the Wind—Huge columned in marble. Wow. He grinned. "Nice, isn't it?"

"Wow. How. . ." He laughed.

"Alice is good in economics. Sort of Carlisle's financial advisor, even if she is only a sophomore. Good thing, too, or we'd all be on the street, what with the amount of money she spends on clothes. Let's go in, Esme wants to meet you."

Esme was probably one of the nicest people I'd ever met. She had made plenty of food—most of which Jacob ate—and offered the leftovers several times to me, but didn't press me into eating it, for which I was grateful—I don't enjoy eating food. Then she showed me the rest of the house.

"This is Edward's room," she told me, after leading me, with Jake, Bella, and Edward walking like a bodyguard beside me, and the others trailing behind us, up an elaborate staircase. The room was covered on two walls with an extensive collection of CDs. The third wall had a dresser and desk crammed against it, and a king sized bed had been pushed against the glass back wall. Across the hall was Emmett's room, and I shrieked in surprise. A grizzly head was hung on the wall above his bed.

"How can you sleep with that thing above you," I laughed. Jasper had a collection of Civil War replicas (he knows everything about it, Alice told me, "and his hero is this obscure officer, Major Jasper Whitlock. He was the youngest major, and he went MIA while escorting women out of a city), Rosalie had make-up (was that how she got to look so beautiful?), and Bella had a picture of herself and Edward at a dance dominating one wall ("Our first dance. I had fallen through a hotel window not long before, and I still had my cast. He and didn't tell me what he was doing, and had Alice and Rosalie stuff me into a dress and make me up, and give me that deadly shoe. I was furious, but it was actually kind of fun."). Carlisle and Esme's room was filled with colorful fall flowers. Jacobs's room was the smallest, but he didn't seem to mind. The whole room was wolf themed—a wolf print blanket and photographs of a wolf pack on the dresser. I picked up the picture, studying it. I didn't have anything in the picture to compare them to, but the wolves looked huge. And their colors—one black, russet, tan, brown. Jake stood beside me, his hot, fast breath tickling my cheek. I glanced up at him. "This is a beautiful picture. I love wolves." Jake beamed.

"You do? Cool! This was taken right by the La Push Reservation."

"Where's that?" Was I supposed to know this?

"Where I used to live."

"Wait—you're Native American?"

"Oh, yeah. Quileute Tribe. One of our legends says we're related to wolves." He motioned to his room. "Hence the wolf décor."

The front door slammed downstairs and everyone except Alice jumped. Was I just being paranoid, or did Bella and Jake move protectively in front of me. Edward wrapped his arm around Bella's waist. "It's just Carlisle," he murmured. "C'mon, Nessie. I'll introduce you."

Wow. Carlisle looked like he was about twenty, and a very good-looking twenty, too. Guessing what I was thinking, Edward leaned down and whispered, "Some of the nurses have trouble concentrating when he's there. Carlisle, this is Nessie—Renesmee C-Swan. She just moved here." He moved swiftly forward and shook my hand warmly.

"It's good to meet you, Nessie." We started migrating downstairs, when I saw Jasper take Carlisle by the arm and pull him into a side room. Without thinking, I dropped to the back of the group and slowed down to listen.

"—almost four weeks. I need to hunt." Jasper.

"Tomorrow afternoon I can take you. I have to work tonight."

"Emmett?"

"He's going out with Rosalie." I thought I heard a low growl.

"Edward?"

"You saw how he was when he met Bella. What do you think he'll be like now?"

"Alice and Esme?"

"Too much risk. It's hunting season, and even together they couldn't hold you if—" Edward and Bella suddenly appeared at my side, with worried smiles on their faces. As they led me back downstairs, I heard Edward whispering to Bella something which I could barely make out, but sounded like "it's okay to drop hints for her. It'll make it easier."

What was that supposed to mean?