So it's been a while. I suck, I know.

I got a bit stuck...

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"2,4,6,8 who do we appreciate?" Maria sang as we walked towards the gym at the end of the day.

"Funny!" I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Let me know how it goes." She winked and disappeared out of the door and into the car-park.

I sighed and walked into the girl's locker room. I threw on my black leggings and a pale yellow over-sized "Fork Spartans" tee, which i had cut around the collar, so that it was now an off-the-shoulder number; I didn't want to be a lemming.

"You're one minute late!" Lena called as I hurried into the gymnasium.

I sighed. "Sorry."

"You're gonna be!" She frowned, folding her arms. "Two laps of the gym. Pronto."

I rolled my eyes, and started running, my feet not making a sound as they hit the shiny wooden floor. I looked at the squad stretching as I ran; wow Jacob really wasn't going to be able to hit on any of them. They were all platinum blonde. Oh, except for Lena, who was more golden.

"Woah!" Brooke gasped as I skidded to a stop after my two laps. "That was like two minutes or something."

I shrugged, smiling a little smugly.

Lena clapped her hands together. "So, I'm going to show you our new routine, and you copy." She looked at me. "Do you understand?" She spoke slowly.

I nodded, with a sarcastic smile.

"MUSIC!"

I laughed at the irony as Amy turned on Shakira's "She Wolf" remix.

"5,6,7,8!" The cheerleading squad set off, dancing away with spins, punching the air with their pompoms, and leaping about all over the place.

Lena did a cartwheel down the centre, before they lifted her and Amy for the finale.

To be fair, the routine was okay. It just didn't flow as well as it could have done.

"Is it too difficult?" Amy sneered at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Just hit the music."

She raised an eyebrow and followed my instructions.

And just like that, the dance was in my head, with a few flips added into it.

"I... er... I... uh." Lena stared at me in disbelief.

"It's easy." I shrugged.

"Er..." She looked around. "Well the game is this Friday.. and then there's a party at mine. Uh, see you there I guess."

"Aren't there any other rehearsals?"

She shook her head in disbelief. "I think you're sorted." She whipped her head around to face the rest of the squad. "Tomorrow, after school." Then she looked at Amy. "You're lifting. Rosie is taking your spot."

"WHAT?!" She shrieked, glaring at me. "But she's fat."

"Fat?" I scoffed, staring at her.

"You should think about running more laps." And with that, she took off, running out of the gym.

"You wanna come grab a smoothie?" Another girl, Kelly, asked me.

I shook my head. "Sorry, I've gotta head home."

I froze in the orange truck when I pulled up outside my house. A silver volvo was parked outside. And I could smell them.

The bronze-haired male watched me carefully as I walked up to the door, and when I turned around, his car was out of sight.

"Charlie, I'm home!" I called, only to then realise he was sitting, watching Bella in the living room.

She shifted, nervously. "Hey, Rose."

"Did you do what you needed to?" I asked, careful not to mention any suicide attempts or vampires in the conversation.

She nodded. "Yeah. Everything's fine."

"EVERYTHING IS NOT FINE!" Charlie snapped at Bella. "YOU RUN AWAY TO VISIT EDWARD WITHOUT TELLING ME! AFTER EVERYTHING HE'S DONE!"

I recognised the emotion in Charlie's eyes. He wasn't angry at my cousin. He was worried. And to be honest, I was worried she'd go back into her zombie-state too.

"Charlie, I had to! I'm sorry, it won't happen again!"

"Too right it won't!" He hissed. "You're having a curfew and that boy is never stepping through that door again!"

"Yes, dad." She replied, softly. "I'll go start on the dinner."

I automatically followed her once Charlie had slammed the frontdoor and left in his police cruiser. Maybe he was going to kill Edward or whatever the hell his name was.

"What happened?" I asked her, leaning against the counter.

"Er, I got there in time, but the crazy-ass vampires wanted to kill us anyway." She started chopping up some tomatoes. "They spared me."

"How come?"

"Lucky I guess." She shrugged, but I knew she was hiding something. Her eyes looked at my t-shirt. "Are you dating someone from the basketball team?"

"Um. No."

"You're a cheerleader! Oh my god, you're a cheerleader!" She gasped, pointing at me.

I raised an eyebrow. "Um.. yes."

"The only brunette cheerleader. The youngest cheerleader.." She leant back against the counter beside me. "The only werewolf cheerleader."

"I don't know.. I haven't exactly phased yet." I replied with a shrug.

"How's Jake?" Her eyes flickered with worry.

"I don't know." I sighed. "He's impossible to read at the best of times."

She nodded with understanding. "I know, I just wish he were older."

Their almost-kiss flashed back onto my mind, and I shook it out of my head. It made my heart squeeze ever so slightly.

"Is he moving back to Forks?"

"Yes." She smiled slightly. "I can't live without him, Rose, and he can't live without me."

Yeah, 'cause he wants your blood. I had to swallow the vomit. "Okay."

"You'll like him. He's not like anyone else."

"Yeah, I bet."

"Hey, you're Rose right?" The perky little brunette pixie, who had been in my living room the other week, walked over to me with a grin on her face.

"Hi Alice." I replied in montone. I didn't really fancy being friends with vampires. Not now, not ever.

"Do you want to come sit with us?" She looked hopefully, nodding over to where Bella sat, waving at me.

"I'm only a sophomore." I said, hoping she'd drop it.

"And? Come on, it'll be fun!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the table before I could stop her.

Maria sat across the cafeteria with Jenny, giving me a confused look. I shrugged at her.

"You okay Rose?" Bella asked as I was shoved into the chair next to her.

"I think so. Am I being held hostage?"

"That's just Alice. She means well." Copper-haired vampire smiled at me, his white teeth glistening. "I'm Edward."

"I know." I replied with a forced smile, trying to make an effort for Bella.

"Hey mini Bella!" Someone said in my ear, making me shoot round to face them. A muscular guy with the hazel eyes and pale skin, smirked back at me, his hair so short his head was almost shaven.

"Emmett, don't scare her!" Alice scolded, glaring at him.

"Sorry." He apologised. "Bella knows what I'm like. You're Rose, right? Just like mine." He nodded at the pretty blonde who had sat herself beside Alice.

"Um, yeah." I replied, nervously.

"He's not that scary, don't worry." Bella whispered to me as he sat down opposite from me. "And that's Rosalie."

I smiled at the blonde, but she ignored me.

"Jasper, it's okay." Alice whispered, stroking the arm of the boy next to her. He had messy dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes, and he looked like someone had stabbed him.

"The smell." He hissed, under his breath, but I still heard him.

"She's a good one, though, she's Bella's cousin."

I frowned. Sure, they smelt too sugary for me, but at least I was swallowing my complaints with my pepperoni pizza.

I looked up and realised they were all staring at me. Fantastic. And had any other students realised the only people on the table eating were me and Bella?

Rosalie carved into a ripe red apple with her manicured nails, staring at its core. I shivered slightly.

"So, you're a cheerleader, right?" Alice asked me, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, as of Monday." I replied, forcing another smile.

"I've always wanted to be a cheerleader!"

"Surely that would be cheating?" Emmett smirked, staring at her.

Rosalie looked up. "We shouldn't be having this conversation."

"She knows, Rose." Edward replied, softly. "Laurent attacked her."

"Does she know she stinks like a dog?"

I glared at her. "Yes, I'm perfectly aware I smell like a wolf, thank you."

"She hasn't phased yet." Edward explained. "She's still waiting to."

I turned around and stared at him. "Look, I know you can read minds, but seriously, do you have to?!"

"I can't read yours." He said, looking confused. "You and Bella seem immune to it."

"Yeah, Rose, I just told him, that's all..." Bella trailed off, blushing as Edward wrapped his hand around hers. Ugh.

The bell rang and I jumped up. "Nice meeting you." Before hurrying away to class.

I slumped down in my desk, beside Maria, as my English teacher walked in, droning on about poetry.

"What was lunch?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A complete nightmare." I replied, simply.

"So, Bella's back with Cullen, huh?"

"Yes." I tried not to spit out the word.

"Huh..." She read my face. "You're annoyed about it?"

"Let's not talk about it." I turned my attention to the front of the class, wishing I could tell someone the truth. The Cullens were vampires.

I ran home. I was hot and I was annoyed. Edward was driving the truck, and no way in hell was I going to be with him more than I needed to.

I raced, cursing under my breath. If he fucked up, I was going to have a zombie, cliff-diving cousin again. Then I'd be back to being the rock in the household.

I stopped running and sniffed the air. I could smell one of them. Something whizzed past me. And again.

I looked around, my head following the red flame that seemed to be hurrying past me.

Then she stopped right in front of me and smiled, her bright red flying outwards, blowing in the wind.

Before I could do anything, shivers were shooting down my spine and my head ached. She watched with curiousity as I shook like a volcano ready to errupt.

Then she gasped as I exploded. Literally.

I seemed to be about ten times my usual size, and with a scream, the red-headed vampire was gone.

Shit.. ROSE?!! Jacob's voice filled my head.

What the hell?! I panicked. I could read his mind again, but this time I wasn't touching him.

I looked down and my feet and gasped. My favourite jeans and favourite red ballet pumps lay in pieces in front of me. But I wasn't naked.

I tried to scream, but a howl came out instead, as I realised my feet and hands were now huge furry paws with sharp claws at the end of them.

I had phased. I was a wolf.

Rose, stay where you are, I'm on my way. Jacob said, his voice sounding worried.

How was he going to find me anyway? I looked around. Where was I?

I had a rustle of leaves and I pounced as a russet wolf came charging towards me.

I stared down into his dark eyes, holding him there on the ground.

Rose, it's just me! Jacob said, fidgeting.

I let out a wolfy laugh when I realised I was strong enough to hold him there. I know, Jake.

Please, get off me. His eyes softened and he whined like a puppy.

How old are you? Six? I said, climbing off of him.

Ha, funny. He went to tackle me, but I dove out of the way. Wow you're a fast learner.

Cheerleader, remember? I pushed him backwards and he yelped.

Ugh, why is a girl stronger than me? He put his puppy dog face on again.

Jacob? Rose? Sam's voice filled my head.

Yes. We replied at the same time.

Jacob, get Rose here now. He commanded. I'll find her some of Emily's clothes.

After you. Jake smiled crookedly.

I rolled my eyes and raced off in the direction of La Push.

When we reached Sam's house, he hurried outside, wearing just his jeans. I recognised Embry, Jared and Paul, from before, who were following him out, staring at me with wide eyes.

"I've never seen a tortoise-shell dog before." Paul smirked, staring at me.

I growled back and everyone laughed. Clearly, I must've had a mixture of white, black and russet fur.

"Rose, you need to phase back." Sam told me. "Do you think you can do that?"

Immediately the boys started wolf-whistling and high-fiving each other.

Jacob growled at them before turning to face me. Just try thinking human things. It helps me.

Sam threw me jeans and a cami, which i caught in my mouth. "You can go in the woods for some privacy."

"What's the use in having a girl in the pack if-"

"Do not finish that sentence, Embry." Sam glared.

I scampered into the woods, behind some bushes, so that no one could see me. I knew Jacob was a few feet away if I needed him, and I couldn't help feeling slightly perverted at the thought of him phasing back into a human.

Rose, come on, you can do this. His words comforted me.

I thought for a moment. What made me human anyway?

I thought of the vampires, and how I was different to them, but it only made me growl. I tried to think of Bella and Charlie. Of cheerleading. Why was nothing working?

Then I thought of my mother. As I laid there in our upside-down car. As she told me to take good care of myself. As she told me she loved me more than anything. As she took her last breath.

I suddenly shrunk. I looked down. I was human again, and I had tears in my eyes.

I put on the purple cami and the jeans, before whispering, "Jake, I'm back."

"Are you decent?" His voice sounded so close to me, and made my heart jump.

"Yes." I wiped away the tears that were filling my eyes and turned to face him. "I did it."

"I knew you could." His smile faded when his eyes met mine. "Are you crying?"

I looked down. "I thought of my mother, just before she died."

He wiped away an escaping tear and nodded. "Come on, I bet you need some food in you."

When we walked into Sam's house, the pack were devouring some pizza and muffins.

"You okay, Rose?" Sam asked me, his voice full of concern.

I nodded. "Yes, thanks Sam."

A beautiful woman walked over carrying another tray of pizza. "I made sure there was some left for you two." She smiled, a lop-sided smile; despite the huge scar down her face, she was still beautiful, and Sam looked at her with more love than I'd ever seen before.

"That's Sam's fiance, Emily." Jacob whispered to me.

I nodded and smiled at her. "Thank you."

"No problem. It'll be nice to have another girl around here. I'm Emily."

"Rose." I grabbed a slice of pizza and gasped as Jacob joined in the fight for food.

The boys seemed to have endless stomachs, gobbling up every little crumb.

"There's more in the kitchen if you want some." Emily whispered to me, laughing softly.

"It's like being at a zoo."

"You get used to it after a while." She smiled. "So I hear it's all Jacob's fault you're here."

"He saved me from being eaten by a vampire, and then by giving me some blood. He's like superman."

"Superman didn't have abs like this!" Jacob spoke, his mouth full.

"Your manors are gross." I shot back, stretching.

I looked around the room and realised Embry was staring at me, the topping falling off his pizza into Jared's mouth. It was quite comical to watch.

Emily also seemed to be watching, laughing softly. "Welcome to the family, Rose."