Things started to get a little weird after my meeting with the Cullens. Every day in school from there on, they weren't there. Bella didn't think anything was really out of the ordinary, so I chose to ignore it, but I couldn't help but feel that it had something to do with me. Unfortunately, we had to move to the other table of Bella's friends in their absence.

"Hey, Demetria, I was wondering if you wanted to catch a movie with me on Friday night?" Mike asked. I sighed deeply and took another swig from my water bottle.

"Sorry, Mike. I actually have something planned that night with my dad seeing as I've only been here about a month and haven't spent much time with him. Maybe another night." I said. Before he could respond I stood and walked over to the garbage can to throw away my only half-eaten lunch. That guy annoyed me beyond belief; I only tolerated him because Bella was too nice to tell him off. Speak of the devil, there she was.

"Hey, what was that all about?" she asked. I just sighed.

"Just Mike being annoying again is all. This is the fourth time he's asked me on a date, you think he'd get the hint by now." I said with a sly smile. She just shrugged in response and we left the cafeteria. I wanted to ask her about the Cullens, but I was afraid she would get angry.

"Hey, do you want to leave? The rest of my day is pretty boring and there are a couple of really great people I want you to meet." Bella said with a smile. I looked at her skeptically but agreed, I didn't want to be there anymore either.

We walked outside and to my surprise the sun was coming out of the dark abyss.

"Wow, it's rare to see the sun out. It feels so nice! So…where are we going exactly?" I asked as I removed my sweater. She closed her side of the truck and started up the engine with a smile.

"You'll see."

We pulled up to a small house and a messy looking front yard. As we stepped out I got the overwhelming feeling of home.

"Where are we, Bells?" I asked. She took a deep breath and smiled again.

"Welcome to La Push, Demetria. You're about to meet the greatest people ever." She said. We approached the front door of the tiny house and she knocked twice. When the door opened it revealed an older man in a wheelchair. As he saw the two of us, his smile widened unbelievably large.

"Bella! It's great for you to stop by, it's been quite some time." He looked at me, "Demetria, I cannot even believe how much you've grown." He said. I was shocked he knew who I was, who was this man? Why did I feel I've met him before?

"It's great to see you too, Billy. Demetria moved back home for a while since mom's been traveling a lot. I figured we'd stop by so I could let you all know she's here." Bella said. Billy…Billy…BILLY! I remembered who he was!

"Oh my goodness, Billy! It's been ages! How have you been?" I yelled as I leaned down for a hug. He laughed heartily and returned the gesture. He ushered us into the house and asked if we wanted anything.

"I think we're okay, I actually was wondering where Jake is?" Bella asked. Billy pointed to the backyard suddenly taking on a much darker appearance. I vaguely remembered Jake, I knew he was Billy's son—why did Billy look so afraid?

We walked into the backyard and I saw three tall, tan boys transporting wood across the yard. As we came closer I also took notice that all three of these boys were unbelievably attractive. Bella glanced over at me and snickered as my face turned red again. One of the three boys turned around and smiled when he saw us. He ran over and pulled Bella into a hug, spinning her around.

"It's been too long, Bella." He said. I looked at his face and could tell just by the way he smiled that he was in love with her. I couldn't really read Bella's face, but I could tell there was some kind of feeling there as well. I'm sure Edward was not a fan of whoever this was.

"I know it's been a while, sorry, Jake. It's because someone's come back into town." She said as she gestured toward me. I stepped forward and smiled.

"Jacob Black. I vaguely remember you since it's been years since I last saw you…but I absolutely remember you were NOT this tall, nor this handsome." I said. He looked embarrassed but hugged me tight as well.

"I definitely remember you as well, Demetria—how could I forget the loveable twins I used to play with every summer, eh? I can say you've definitely grown up too." He said with a wink. Now it was my turn to blush. I saw the two other boys coming closer, and one of the two was…unlike anyone I'd ever seen.

"Ah, Demetria, this is Quil and Embry." I shook each of their hands respectively. Embry was staring at me like I was some kind of Martian and I immediately became uncomfortable. I noticed Jacob turn to him, as did Quil and they all just stared at each other. Embry then took off into the woods, Quil right on his heels.

"Can I ask what that was about?" I asked. Bella and Jacob were staring at each other and she looked just as confused as I was.

"I think we'd better go, we seem to have caught them at a bad time." Bella said to me without unlocking eyes with Jacob.

"Yeah, we're really busy at the moment." He pulled his gaze from her to me and smiled. "Sorry, Demetria. Come back sometime later this week and I'll take you to a real La Push bonfire, they're unreal."

"Yeah, sure…sounds like a plan." I said with my brow furrowed. Jacob ran into the woods quickly in the same direction as the other two and Bella started toward the truck. After we got in and she turned the key in the ignition she looked at me.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"I just…I think Embry likes you or something. They're weird about their feelings over here. Don't really know how to deal with romance too well, I guess." She said. I could tell she was lying, but I let it go for now. There was some mysterious hidden feature in her life she wasn't telling me about, but I would find out eventually.

Another week went by before the Cullens returned. I walked into first period Biology and was greeted by Jasper lounging in the seat next to me. My breath caught in my mouth and I hesitated before fully entering the room. I walked in and sat down without even acknowledging his presence at first…I thought he successfully switched out.

"Hello, Demetria." His luscious southern accent greeted my ears and sent my mind spiraling. I turned to him with a slight blush which was quickly contained—how was I getting so good at that?

"Good morning, Assj…Jasper." Whew, caught myself on that one, "it's been a while." I said while nonchalantly turning back toward the desk and organizing some papers.

"Yes, it has. I apologize for my absence; I hope we didn't have too many partner assignments you were unable to complete. I had some family business which was imperative to attend to." He said with a slight smile. I shrugged in response. "I believe we got off on the wrong foot, Demetria. Allow me to give you my sincerest apologies, I'm not so good at meeting new people." He said. I turned and looked directly into his eyes, which were…orange? My brow furrowed and he quickly broke eye contact.

"It's fine, I know what you mean. I'm a Swan, awkward is my middle name. The only difference between Bella and I is that I like wearing dresses and I'm a little more quirky around people I'm comfortable with. She's pretty reserved." I said without thinking. I don't normally spill information like that out, so why was I doing it now? He smiled.

"Yes, I've noticed. She's very important to my brother; therefore she's important to me as well. I hope it becomes the same for you." He said. Was that flirting? Was he flirting? He couldn't be flirting, not with me anyway, he was with Alice! As if he sensed my flustered emotion, he immediately changed the subject. "I look forward to seeing you at lunch." He said as the bell rang. I just stared blankly as his form retreated out the door.

"Hello, earth to Demetria! What's the matter, you've been out of it all period." Bella said as she scanned through her textbook to find the Shakespeare passage we had to read.

"I've just been thinking about this morning in Biology. If I'm not mistaken, it's like Jasper was actually flirting with me. He went from completely resenting me to flirting with me within the span of like a week and a half. I don't get it." I said in a daze. She just shrugged in response because Ms. Herzogg was staring at us for talking.

"I guess we'll see if something happens at lunch today." She said with a sly smile.

We walked into the cafeteria doors and a wave of excitement rushed over me. It was brought up even more when I saw Jasper staring at me from across the room. My anxiety rose so much that I had to hold onto Bella's shirt for support.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I don't know, it's like I have no control over my emotions or something, I think I'm having an anxiety attack!" I yelled out. Before I could even react Edward was handing me a bottle of water.

"Drink this, you'll feel better." He said. He went back to the table and exchanged a few words with Jasper and I immediately felt better.

"That was really weird, I never get anxiety that bad." I said. Bella just shook her head and began to fill her tray; I did the same. We walked over to the table and after everyone settled down, I noticed Jasper was still staring directly at me. Refusing to make eye contact with him, I turned to Edward:

"Hey, Edward, where's Alice? She didn't come back to school with the rest of you?" I asked. He smirked and replied,

"She decided to take a trip over to Ireland. She's been really stressed out with school and events taking place at home. A vacation sounded more than appetizing." He said. I nodded in response and peeled my banana. As I went to take a bite I looked around the rest of the table and was immediately confused at how I hadn't noticed it before.

"I can't believe I haven't noticed this before, but why don't any of you eat?" I asked. They all tensed up and Emmett answered,

"Our schedules aren't very demanding. We have time to eat other than here, and by choice we don't exactly like the menu here." He said. They all laughed at that and I just shrugged. I looked up and locked eyes with Jasper again and it seemed like we stayed in that position for eternity.

"Hello, earth to Demetria! God, I'm so tired of doing that to you every day, you idiot." Bella said as she snapped her fingers in front of my face.

"Sorry, I kind of just…zoned out or something. What's up?" I asked.

"The bell rang; it's time to go to class…but we're leaving. Edward's going to walk with us." She said. She grabbed his hand and we were off.

"Jasper seems to have taken a liking to you." Edward said. He looked as if he were grimacing at this fact…why would that be?

"I mean, I guess. We talked for the first time this morning, really. We're friends." I said. He quickly glanced at me from the corner of his eye.

"He and Alice broke up whilst we were away." He said. I gasped out of shock. "She was the one who did it—she said they weren't meant to be." His face looked pained. Did he suffer so much from the loss of this couple? I knew I didn't, though I hoped Jasper wasn't in pain.

"So you think he LIKES me? No, Edward. It's impossible and definitely not the case." I said. He closed his eyes and kissed Bella on the forehead before departing.

"What's wrong with Edward?" I asked. She turned to me before opening the door to the truck.

"He's afraid of what's about to happen." She said before getting in and closing the door. She stared at me through the window and her eyes slowly lifted to something behind me. I turned around and saw Jasper standing there. He stared me down and then beckoned me to follow him into the woods. I turned around to face Bella and she started up the truck and pulled away, leaving me to deal with my fate.

Alone.