A/N: Hey everyone! This chapter is going to be a little angsty. I thank you all for bearing with me up to this point; I've been setting the story up for the future, and I promise you that it's just getting good. ;)

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S, YOU GUYS! (:

This will be the last chapter of the 2011 year. I'm going back to school soon, so please don't hate me if the updates aren't as regular anymore. ): Expect on at least once a week. I won't be a COMPLETE flake, you know. :P

PLEASE REVIEW THIS CHAPTER. I had a bit of trouble writing this, because I completely rewrote the beginning of the chpater three of four times, since I didn't know how much to put in the chapter, how little, which POV to go with (now that I have Sera, I have to acknowledge her too...this chapter was originally going to start with Seth).

Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight Series or Smeyer, I just own the plot line of this story and Seraphina Marie, Allegra, and any other characters not mentioned in the Saga and are of my own creation.

Chapter Song: Bad Day, by Daniel Powter.

"It's hard to pretend you like someone you don't but even harder to pretend to not like someone when you really do.."

~Anonymous

Sera POV

I was seeing Seth today!

I felt that whenever I was seeing him, but nowadays, it was accompanied by that strange jittery, fluttering-in-your-stomach feeling.

I was seeing Seth today.

For the first time in my life, I actually cared about what I put on my back. I stood in a robe in my ridiculously huge closet that my mother insisted I have, but right now, I was grateful that I had at least a selection of clothes I wouldn't have normally worn. Especially hanging with Seth, because I always got dirty somehow whenever I was with him. I sincerely hoped that I didn't follow in that path today.

Ugh, I wish I had paid a little more attention to fashion! Flattering cuts and fabric prints were like foreign languages to me. I had always assumed that if it covered everything and was appropriate for seasonal weather, it was valid enough to wear outside. I had gotten used to Mom's scoffing whenever I walked out of the house in a plain shirt and the same old Converse, but she had long been past the "complaining stage." She was just lucky that I didn't wear the same clothes on a daily basis (besides my favorite pair of blue Converse).

I let out a snort of disgust and plopped myself down on the floor. It was hopeless. I was hopeless.

To my suprise, Nessie knocked softly and poked her head in.

"I thought I heard the sound of a hybrid vamp in desperation," she greeted, appraising where I was sitting, and came to sit down on the floor next to me.

Stupid hybrid hormones! I couldn't help my eyes fill with unwanted tears. I blinked them back as best I could, but a few escaped. I think only Nessie would understand how I felt, whereas my family would be fretting all over me like I was about to disintegrate. She put a comforting arm around my shoulders. "Just disparaging myself is all," I said feebily, leaning my head against her shoulder.

Was this a hybrid gathering? Allegra bounced inside the room as well, a usual bundle of energy. "Sera!" she screamed, launching herself at me and clasping her hands around my neck. Allie always made me feel better, so I couldn't help the bubble of laughter that escaped from me. "Hi, Allie."

Out of the whole family, Allegra followed me around the most if Embry wasn't there to entertain her. If I was in the house, more often than not she was following me around, watching what I was doing and trying to do the same thing.

I loved that little girl. She was so cute.

"Why are you sad?" she asked, sitting in my lap and peering at my face with a frown. I smiled and kissed her nose.

"It's the hormones," I told her, "Hybrids have it the worst from what I hear. We have to stick together," I told her, squeezing her tightly. Nessie dropped a kiss on my head.

"That we do, cousin. That we do," Renesmee said, shaking her head and giving me a sympathetic look.

We heard Embry come in through the front door then and scream, "ALLIE-CAT, I'M HERE!" Allegra squealed and jumped up, her bright green eyes reaching a new level of bright and green that only happened when her "Emmy" was around.

"EMMY!" she screamed back, and took off at full speed. Nessie and I laughed at her.

"I may be her mother, but Embry's her sun and moon," Nessie said, shaking her head.

I grinned, but the stupid hybrid hormones snuck back after thinking about how Seth was my sun and moon when I was little and suddenly, I was crying again. "Sweetie, why are you crying?" Nessie asked, holding me tighter.

"Because I can't dress myself!" I wailed, and looked up at Nessie's face hoplessly.

Surprisingly, she was biting her lip to keep from laughing. And she was trying really hard. We stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. "You sound like me when I was in the preteen phase, except I actually liked fashion," Nessie said through her laughs.

I was still laughing, and began wiping my tears. "I'm seeing Seth today..." I trailed off, furrowing my eyebrows, blushing and looking away.

"Ah," she said, nodding, "And I take it that you were so obstinant against fashion your entire life that suddenly you have no idea what to wear when it came down to it." She grinned at me knowingly.

I blushed harder. "Can you help me?" I wasn't normally one to ask for help, especially when it came to fashion, and Nessie realized this. She winked at me.

She chuckled and nudged me with her shoulder. "I would be honored to help my cousin."

Getting dressed with Nessie actually wasn't that bad. If it had been my mother, she would have thrown a pile of clothes at me and made me try them on for hours and hours. Nessie was different in that she explained what would look good and then helped me pick something out. She calmly explained which colors would look better on me, which ones would make my eyes stand out, which cuts would be best for my tiny frame. I had always been shorter and smaller than average.

Nessie put me in (and using my new vocabulary words) a ruffled blue cardigan, a floral print t-shirt with a brown braided belt, and a short denim skirt with black Converse. I asked her about the Converse, and she said that with my outfit, it would look cute. She pulled back the side of my hair with a flower clip and straightened my hair.

I looked in the mirror. I felt...girly. It wasn't a bad feeling; it was just unsettling to see myself in anything but a t-shirt and jeans.

My mother decided to walk into my closet at that moment with a stack of new clothes. Her jaw dropped, she gasped, and almost dropped the clothes. "Oh, Sera! What – how –"

My mom seemed like she was beyond herself. She had on a grin from ear to ear. Personally, I felt happy that I had made her so happy, but in all honesty, I still didn't like shopping and if she tried to get me to do this the next morning, I would most likely run away like I had done all my life. "Nessie helped me get dressed today," I said with a shrug.

"You look amazing, Sera! Really!" Mom exclaimed, dropping the stack completely, grabbed my hand, and spun me around. "I think this is the only outfit acceptable to wear Converse," she added with a wink.

I grinned broadly. The more I looked at myself in the mirror, the more I liked what I saw. Before, I had never given a second thought to what I looked like and could go days without looking at myself in the mirror. Sometimes, other people in my family would notice my physical changes well before I did. But now...I felt like a girl. I felt pretty.

I really noticed my eyes for the first time. They weren't a golden like my family's, or chocolate brown like Nessie's, or bright green like Allegra's, or even a deep brown like the wolves'. They were dark blue and bright, and from far away you could mistake them for black. But up close, they were an unmistakable sapphire blue. And they were all mine.

I realized that I liked my eyes. I didn't have very striking features – they were well-porportioned – but my eyes were wide, with eyelashes thicker than even Seth's or Uncle Edward's. How could I have never noticed any of this? I felt like for the past two years of my life, I had lived in a bubble that was narrowed to sports, my visions, learning new things, wondering when I was going to La Push next, and hanging out with Seth. Seven days ago when I really noticed Seth, and since then, my world had widened considerably.

Once I had noticed my eyes, I began noticing other details about myself that I had overlooked. My skin was very fair and creamy and smooth, with a slight flush. It wasn't like Nessie's flush, which made her look fiery all the time, accompanied with her wild bronze curls for good measure. Mine was more subtle, but I realized that my skin, compared to Nessie's, looked smoother and richer, probably since I didn't have the extreme flush. My nose was small and curved, my lips were more full than I had ever realized, my eyebrows dainty. My hands and feet were small, but I had already realized that, since I used to complain that I couldn't hold a football without two hands and I couldn't play a guitar properly without lots of practice, trying to make up for their size. My hair...well, there wasn't much to say. My hair was virtually untameable, and was always in a mess. But today, it was sleek and shiny. I felt myself smile.

I had a new hope. I wasn't ugly, was I?

Then I had a thought that crushed my hopes to nothing. When did Seth ever actually care what I looked like? He would probably overlook what I was wearing, call me "kiddo," and then find away to get me dirty. Why would anything change? Why would he see that I had actually tried?

I hated being a hybrid! I felt my eyes fill with unwelcome tears again. Darn, why do I always cry now? I thought to myself as I brushed my tears away with the back of my hand. My mom rushed forward to hug me.

"Honey, why are you crying?" she asked, running her small fingers through my hair. I shook my head. I couldn't help myself. I was a hybrid. My excuse was that my body acted on its own whenever it pleased.

"Aunt Alice, she's got so many new hormones right now it's not even funny. I was crying over everything when I was that age," Nessie explained, giving me a sympathetic smile.

I cried sometimes when I was younger, but it was nothing compared to this. Now that's all I wanted to do. Was that normal?

"Mom, I'm all right," I promised, although I wasn't completely sure myself. If it had been anyone but Seth and his smile today, I would have stayed inside. I pulled back and wiped my face some more.

"Why are you crying?" my mom patiently asked for the second time.

I groaned and then threw my head in my hands. I felt so pathetic that it made me want to cry again.

I started talking in a low voice. "Why would anything change for Seth? He never paid attention to what I was wearing. Why would he start now? Why would he c-care?" Saying it out loud made it feel more of an odd reason to explain why I was crying, but inside it made me feel like I was going to vomit.

Mom hugged me tightly. "I'm sure he'll notice, sweetie," she promised.

Was it possible to feel like crying out of despair and feeling hopeful at the same time? Stupid hybrid emotions.

To add onto that, I heard Seth walk in through the door, adding anxiety on top of everything else.

Nessie and my mom smiled at me encouragingly. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster right now with my feelings. There was no more cool and confident Sera anymore. It was crazy-and-ready-to-burst-into-tears Sera, and I was still getting used to her.

Trying to remind myself to stay hopeful, I walked out of my ridiculously huge closet and out of my room.

Before walking downstairs, I went into my grandfather's study where Grandpa Carlisle was seated, going through the latest medical journal. He looked up when he heard me walk in and smiled warmly.

"Hello, Seraphina," he said, opening his arms for a hug. I hugged him back tightly, inhaling his comforting scent.

"Are you okay?" he asked, pulling me back and evaluating me. I blushed.

Seth once told me that he could always tell what I was feeling by my eyes. That fact was well-used by my family members.

"Nervous," I whispered, not wanting Seth to even get a gist of what I was saying. I heard him downstairs, laughing with Embry and Allegra and oddly enough, Aunt Rose. She had never been the wolves' biggest fan, especially to Jacob. From growing up around them, I knew that they disliked each other, but they were mostly just antagonistic. I knew that they were secretly growing on each other.

He smiled at me. "Nervous for?"

I blushed even deeper. "I-I have a...crush," I whispered even softer, forcing the word out. It was still uncomfortable for me.

"I take it on Seth," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I nodded.

"It's stupid," I muttered, furrowing my eyebrows.

"It's natural," he said, "I wish I could remember my first crush, but since I was born in the 1600's and I'm over 400 years old, it seems a bit silly to remember it, especially when I have Esme now."

I giggled. "Esme was your first crush."

He laughed. "In a way, yes. She was the first one that meant something."

I giggled again and then looked down. "Seth means something," I said softly.

"He does," Grandpa said, kissing my head.

"He imprinted on me," I said, looking up into his golden eyes.

He smiled again. "That he did."

"We'll be best friends forever," I said, looking back down. I felt silly, thinking about the time in my life when I thought that best friends got married. I had assumed that when I had heard Edward explain that Bella was his best friend. I thought it would be so cool to marry Seth, except without all of the "icky kissing stuff," as Allegra and even I had once put it.

"What's on your mind?" Grandpa asked, putting a finger on my heavily furrowed eyebrows and smiling gently.

"Flashbacks," I muttered.

He nodded. "Flashbacks with Seth?"

I nodded and blushed. "I was just remembering when I was little, I asked Seth to marry me because I thought that's what best friends did. I was dumb. Best friends really don't get married." I put my hands in my pocket and looked down. I didn't want to marry Seth – that made me feel uncomfortable – I just thought he was my cute friend that I couldn't help but liking. And I knew that Aunt Bella and Uncle Edward fell in love before they became best friends or whatever. That didn't count.

"Sometimes they do," Grandpa said softly, suprising me.

What was he saying? "What – "

"Sera!" Seth called from downstairs, "Are you ready to go?" I could practically envision his grin on his face, and I didn't need psychometry or my dreams to know it.

Grandpa smiled and kissed my cheek. "Have fun, sweetie. Don't think about it too much. He'll always be your best friend. You're still the same Seth and Sera."

Seth and Sera. Right.

I hugged him once tightly. "Bye, love you."

Grandpa smiled. "I love you too, Sera. Now don't keep that boy waiting," he added with a grin.

I giggled and flitted out the door. I tried to push all of my nerves aside as I walked down the stairs shyly.

Seth's back was turned to me, talking to Daddy. I cleared my throat. "Hi. Are we ready to go?" I said.

Seth turned around and his face brightened. "Sera – hey! Nice outfit. I was just talking to your dad about something. How do you feel about going to the go kart track today?" he said excitedly, wagging his eyebrows, pulling out two tickets.

I couldn't help it. Seth was Seth – he was warm, eager, and always happy. And he noticed my outfit, I thought a little smugly. Any nerves I had subsided, and I laughed. "Sounds awesome," I said. We grinned at each other for a minute before running across the room and hugging each other tightly. Grandpa was right. It was just Sera and Seth.

A very cute Seth, but still Sera and Seth.

So far, I was having a pretty amazing day. I felt silly for being so nervous before. I mean, even if my view had changed, Seth didn't. And I was happy just admiring him secretly.

We arrived at the go kart track in Boise, and like a gentleman, Seth ran to the passenger side door and opened it for me. I tried to not let him see my blush and stupid smile.

We walked inside the track, and I was greeted with sounds of the small motors zooming everywhere at high speeds. I began jumping up and down excitedly. How did he get Daddy to agree to this? I watched as a go kart sped by where we stood, and I was bursting with excitement, practically dying to jump in one.

"Seth, this is so cool!" I explained, tugging at his hand and looking up at him. He eyed the zooming cars nervously.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He looked down at me with pleading eyes. "Are...are you sure? I mean, we can back out at any time. We can...we can go to the movies or something!" He seemed enthralled with this better and safer idea.

I rolled my eyes and dropped my voice lower than what could be heard by human ears. "Half-vamp, remember? I could probably run as fast as these go karts. And my skin is impenterable – "

"So are you saying you're prepared for a crash?" His voice squeaked up two octaves and had his body turned towards the exit.

Seth just had to be protective. Even though it was practically impossible for me to get hurt and these speeds never bothered me. It didn't matter though. He had been this way all my life.

"C'mon, it'll be fine," I assured him. I grabbed his hand and started tugging with half-vamp strength. I swear, if I wasn't half-vamp, he wouldn't have gone anywhere near the tracks.

We were waiting in line, me still trying to convince him this was a good idea and stopping him about four times from trying to take me out of line to go do a "safer" activity.

We were finally at the front of the line, and I rolled my eyes at him – he was biting his nails down to the quick, his eyes glued to the go kart track and back onto me. I didn't blush this time when he gazed at me intently, because of the reason he was doing it. He was letting his imagination get the best of him, and was probably thinking this would be the last time he would ever see me. I pinched him to get him to stop being to nervous, and he let out a small yelp and muttered, "Ow."

We got to the front, and the girl taking our tickets immediately made me angry. Her jaw dropped a little bit when she saw Seth – my Seth – and I had to hold back a growl. My hands balled into fists.

"Why hello there," she purred, reaching across the podium, clearly exposing her breasts. Didn't she have any respect? I may have been physically ten and been alive for two years, but living in a family where every single person has a soul mate, I knew what she was doing – flirting. But didn't she have any respect? I was technically a child. She left a bad taste in my mouth.

Maybe it was venom. I wouldn't have been too sad if it had been that.

Seth handed her the tickets, and I saw with relief that he didn't even give her a second glance.

That girl, named Amber by her nametag, was giving him more than just two glances.

I felt a wave of despair wash through me when he smiled kindly at her. Why was he smiling at her? Why did she get a smile? What did she do to him to deserve that?

"You come here often?" she asked, batting her stupid eyelashes. Stupid. She was a stupid, incompetant, silly, moronic girl, and she was...ugh. She was stupid.

I felt my eyebrows furrow, a habit that happened whenever I felt a lot of emotion, and I crossed my arms tightly, glaring at the girl.

I felt possession slice through me. Seth Clearwater was mine. I was his imprint, whatever that entailed, I was his best friend, I was his priority –

"I'm Amber," she said, reaching across the podium with her stupid breasts and then shaking his hand with her stupid hand.

I never hated someone's hand so much in my life. She was touching him.

How many bites did it take to cause dismemberment?

Stop it, Sera, I told myself, willing myself to calm down. She was just a stupid girl, with a stupid name. I mean, Amber? That was a color. Why don't I just name myself Purple and get it over with?

Seth smiled again, which caused me to frown. "Seth Clearwater," he said, shaking back.

"Is that Native American?" she asked stupidly. No, it's French, I thought sarcastically, What else would it be?

He grinned. "Yeah. I'm from the Quileute rez in Washington."

Well, geez Seth. Why don't you tell the girl your entire life story? You forgot to mention the part about how you're a dang werewolf. I felt really...jealous. As jealous as I had been towards Hayden.

"Um, Seth?" I spit out.

He blinked and looked down at me. "Yes?"

"When are we going to have our turn?" I asked, lacing my fingers through his possessively.

"Aw, is she your sister?" that stupid Amber girl asked, grinning at me. Would it be wrong of me to punch her teeth in?

I felt my nails dig into my skin my fist was so tight. I didn't think someone could be this annoying until now.

"No, I'm not his sister," I spit out, glaring at her.

"Babysitter?" she guessed, still smiling.

I hissed, but she didn't hear with her stupid human hearing. Seth looked down at me, shocked.

"Um, how much longer?" he asked awkwardly, squeezing my hand.

She looked down at the timer. "Actually, now. I guess I was too caught up talking," she said apologetically, even though she didn't look sorry for anything.

Seth grinned. "It's all right," he said. All right? All right? Nothing about her or this situation was all right! She would not be talking to Seth right now if she had done her stupid job. Maybe she should get fired.

She was about to open the gate, but then she appraised me with her boring brown eyes. They weren't chocolate brown like Nessie's – they were muddy brown, like her stupid personality.

"Are you tall enough?" she asked, rubbing salt on my wounds.

I crossed my arms and glared at her. "Yes," I growled.

Seth raised his eyebrow at me. As if she was trying to belittle me to the point of tears, she pulled out this stupid staaff with measurements on it, and made me stand next to it. I almost snapped the thing in half.

I couldn't describe anything about this situation as anything but stupid.

"Okay, you're about forty-two-and-a-half inches. You're tall enough."

"Awesome," I growled, stalking away towards Seth. She waved bye at Seth, but then caught my glare, and turned away with a confused look on her face.

I was almost to my go kart when Seth grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. "Hey Sera, are you okay – "

"I'm perfect," I spat, tugging my shoulder free and walking to my go kart. He stood there with an incredulous expression on his face.

The guy that was instructing me on the basics of driving slipped on my helmet as I slipped inside. I barely heard him; it wasn't too difficult. Go karts were almost too easy.

As soon as he stopped talking, I pushed my foot on the gas pedal. Right, gas. Left, brake. Easy.

I snickered when I saw Seth's jaw drop and he ran a little bit onto the track after me, until the same guy that taught me how to "ride" go karts stopped him and shook his head.

I turned my eyes back to the road. With my vampire clarity I saw every little detail of the track as it sped by me. I looped in figure 8's around the track twice before Seth caught up to me. I laughed when I saw him. His legs were sticking out awkwardly because of how tall he was, but he seemed to manage. I saw him shake his head at me.

I trilled a laugh and cut him off on the track, making him slow down considerably as I raced ahead. I heard him snort.

We rode for about ten more minutes until they announced it was time for us to get off. Drifting like a professional on the final turn, I pulled up into the parking area, where the guy was looking at me with awe. I got a special satisfaction from the stupid Amber girl who had her jaw dropped and was staring at me.

"Do you drive professionally?" the guy asked, pulling off my helmet. I shook out my hair.

"No, this is my first time," I told him.

"Are you serious? You're a natural!" he exclaimed, "How old are you?"

I hated when people asked me these questions. Internally, I panicked. "E-eleven," I stammered. I decided to go up a year to make it more believeable. Kinda.

"Do you want to join our go kart racing team – "

"Racing? Uh, no thanks," Seth said nervously, climbing out of his car and walking over to me. I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks, but no thanks. My bodyguard won't let me," I said snarkily, shaking my head at Seth. He grinned.

"Sorry, hon. Not happening." He smiled at me, which made it a little better.

I snorted. "Fine. Sorry, thanks anyways though," I said to the guy, who was staring at Seth like he was trying to size him up.

He looked back down at me. "What's the name again?"

"Janie," I said, shaking his hand. I used a fake name so if we ever saw each other again, and although it seemed unlikely, I could use a different name.

Hmmm. I haven't used psychometry in awhile. I realized that I had never used psychometry outside of the pack and my family. Would it be different for people I wasn't related to? Would it not be as strong? It's not like Grandpa would have me test it on some random stranger, and my opportunities to get out of the house were slim anyways. I decided to try it out.

Focusing my energy, I got the usual sharp burst of electricity that happened when I touched someone.

My eyes slid out of focus, feeling waves of the vision creeping over me. It was almost like drifting clouds; they came and they went. The world around me faded away, and instead, it was replaced with a world with dream-like, airy, and wispy qualities since nothing in the future was set in stone. Like it was happening in front of me, I saw a vision – this guy, named Will, was in love with Amber. They were going to get married on a spring afternoon where she would already be three months pregnant, and they were going to have four children named Lucy, Carson, Joseph, and Tanner.

Well, glad to know that Amber, although stupid, was capable of settling down.

I yanked my hand back. It passed by in less than a second, and it felt like a static shock. The natural reaction was to pull away.

"You okay? Did I shock you?" Will asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I mumbled, but grinned at him.

He looked a little confused, but smiled back. I grabbed Seth's hand, and shooting a quick glare at Amber, I stalked away with him.

"Can you explain to me what's going on?" he asked desperately, looking dangerously close to a puppy.

"About?"

"Well, first, what about you and that one chick? You looked like you were about to murder her."

I barked a laugh. "Close enough. I just didn't like her."

Seth raised his eyebrow but didn't press it, thankfully. "And what about the whole psychometry thing with that guy?"

"Just his future," I shrugged. I was still feeling hurt from earlier with Seth and Amber. I started walking away towards the snack bar where a couple people were standing in line, and Seth trailed after me.

"Do I get to know?" he pressed.

I shrugged. "He marries someone. No one important." Well, wasn't that the truth.

Seth nodded. The man in front of me turned around with his large soda. I was too small, so he didn't see me, and he bumped into me.

And of course, spilled the entire drink on my front.

The clothes that I had actually worked for.

Stupid.

I stood, paralyzed, trying to will myself to wake up from this horrible nightmare. First Amber, now this.

"Are you kidding me, dude?" Seth growled, taking a step towards the man.

"Accident," he said weakly.

It finally hit me that I would not be waking up from this nightmare. I looked down at myself – yeah, it was worse than I realized.

Keep calm, Sera, I said, feeling the close burn of tears.

"I didn't see the little tyke there – "

And that was the last straw.

"Little tyke?" I screeched, "How old exactly do you think I am?"

The man looked flabbergasted. "I – uh – I thought you looked about eight – "

I glared at him. "I'm eleven!" I yelled.

He scoffed at me, like he didn't take me seriously. The nerve! "Let's just calm down now."

I couldn't help it. Tears overflowed. But then again, when did I ever help it? It was too much for me – this stupid man didn't know that I was probably three times smarter than he was and was half-vampire, but still called me tyke. Because I was just a stupid girl.

A stupid girl with a soaking wet and sticky shirt.

He took a step back. "There's a gift shop over there...I'll buy you a new shirt," he said nervously.

"Yes you will," Seth said, glaring at him too. He put a hand on my shoulder.

I never thought I'd see the day where Seth actually frightened something since Seth was about as harmless as a fluffy bunny, but I guess that day was today.

The man practically ran to the gift shop, and Seth and I followed. I didn't really care what he bought me; it would be a stupid t-shirt, and I would look like nothing more than I ever did before.

The man handed me a generic red shirt with an apology, and nodding at him, I walked into the dressing room. Looking at myself in the mirror, I pulled off my floral shirt and cardigan, dropping it to the floor, and sliding on the t-shirt. My eyes were red from crying, so I wiped away my tears and evaluated myself in the mirror. It was a plain red t-shirt, about 2 sizes too big, covering almost all of my skirt. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't my outfit that I had planned out. The only outfit I had ever really cared about, and it was ruined with sticky soda somewhere at my feet.

And the tears started again.

I pulled myself together, telling myself I was being ridiculous. I knew I was being stupid. I couldn't think of a single person that cried as much as I did, and it only started about a week ago. I heard Seth knock on the door. "Sweetie? Are you dressed? Can I come in?" he asked nervously. Sighing, I opened the door.

He almost fell in face first, but then qucikly regained his posture. "Sera..." he said. He looked like he wanted to say something to me but then trailed off when he saw my face. He quickly sat on the stool and pulled me in for a hug. At that moment, he wasn't my cute friend Seth, or Seth-that-I-had-a-crush-on, he was my Seth. My best friend.

He pulled me back. "Did him spilling soda on you get you upset?" he asked.

I shrugged and looked down. I couldn't explain to him that it had been that particular outift that he had ruined was what upset me without explaining to him what I felt.

"Hybrid emotions?" he guessed, smiling a little, brushing a strand of hair away from my face.

I snorted. "Always."

"C'mon kiddo – "

I realized at that moment just how much I hated him calling me "kiddo." It made me feel small. Like I would perpetually be the little sister. "Please don't call me that," I whispered.

Seth looked flabbergasted. "What – 'kiddo'?"

I nodded, looking down at my now-stained Converse. My cheeks burned with embarrassment.

Seth appraised me for a few more minutes before relenting with a sigh. "Okay, I won't call you 'kiddo.'"

I nodded again, furrowing my eyebrows. "I don't know Seth...can we just go home?"

Seth sighed. "Whatever you want." I moved so he could get up, but he didn't walk out the door. I got the feeling that he was staring at me and wouldn't move until I looked up. I did so, and he was staring at me with a mixture of confusion, sadness, and a little hurt. My eyes welled up at the last part since I was the one who caused that. I felt sick to my stomach. "I love you, Seraphina," he said, kissing the top of my head. My face didn't flush this time. "Love you too, Seth," I told him, hugging him tightly and then releasing him.

Seth and I walked out to the car in silence. I could feel him casting long sideways glances at me, and I could practically feel the question in his eyes. I had acted so weird today, cried so much, behaved so differently that I didn't even feel like Seraphina Marie Cullen-Whitlock anymore. I felt like a crybaby.

After a silent ride home, I jumped out of the car and beelined into the house, not even looking back at Seth, although I could feel him right behind me.

The energy in the house was completely different though.

All I felt was excitement and wonder, and all I heard was everyone talking ecstatically at one time. For a brief minute I was curious, but I could feel the tears coming again, so without saying hello to anyone, I darted up to my room, closed the door, and cried myself to sleep.

Seth POV

I watched my imprint dart up the stairs with worry.

Her emotions have been practically punching me in the gut since the moment we got in line with that lady taking our tickets. What was her name again? Ashley? Anna? I vaguely remember her name starting with an A, but if I had previously cared to commit her name to memory, it was washed away by Seraphina, who looked dangerously close to lunging at A-girl. I could feel that she was angry, clouded by possession.

After that, she had been angry, and I could feel her despair as well. I could have been blind and seen that Sera was close to crying after that, and when that dipshit dumped his sode all over my poor little girl, something inside her broke, and she started crying.

I don't think I had ever seen Sera cry so much. She had never been much of a crier because she said that it didn't do much, but now...it was like an endless river.

I heard a gut-wrenching sob distinctly thorugh all of the excited talk downstairs. I had an overwhelming desire to go upstairs and hug her, but my intuition said that she needed her alone time.

Instead, I walked to where the action was, dragging my feet.

Until I hit a wall.

I didn't even see what happened. One minute, I had been walking to the living room where everyone was. Next minute, I was flat on my back, staring at the ceiling.

"NICE!" Emmett boomed, slapping someone's hand that I couldn't see.

Rubbing my forehead, I pulled myself into a sitting position, a look of confusion on my face. "Can anyone explain to me why I ran into an invisible wall?" I would have cared more, but I had a strong pull at the pit of my stomach that kinda made me want to puke.

Embry's face was lit up so brightly I thought he should have Christmas lights hung from him. "I always knew my little girl was special," he said proudly, kissing Allegra's cheek. She looked flushed with excitement.

"Huh?" I muttered intelligently.

He frowned. "Nice enthusiasm, Clearwater. Where's your usual jackass grin?"

I looked down at my feet. "I had a bad day. Now what's going on?" I asked, eyeing Jasper, and changing the subject.

Embry's chest puffed out. "Allegra has a gift," he said.

"She can...make force fields?" I asked. I felt a little slow.

Embry scoffed, but Carlisle talked over him before he could say something sarcastic and mildly insulting. "More like a physical shield," Carlisle explained, "Force field describes a warping of energy. She doesn't necessarily do that...it's like it's her own shield. Not the surrounding energy."

I felt myself smile despite my crappy mood. "So now we have a physical shield, a mental shield, two fortunetellers, an empath, and a mind reader," I said, "Now we're really protected against the Volturi." I was hopeful of this. Allegra's power was highly useful.

Too bad her power couldn't go back in time and and completely rewrite today.

"My thoughts exactly," Emmett said, sprawled out on the living room couch with Rosalie sitting on top of him.

The room then continued talking excitedly among itself, while Japser approached me. "Come outside?" he asked quietly.

I got up from the floor and followed him out to the porch. He turned around, his face worried. "What happened to Sera?" he asked.

I sighed. "She got angry at this girl working the ticket counter at the go kart track. And then some guy spilled soda all over her shirt. It's been a bad day," I explained, sitting heavily on one of the benches.

He paused and then sat down next to me. "Did anything else happen?"

"I called her 'kiddo.' She told me not to call her that anymore." I rubbed my temple. That was really weird. I had called her kiddo all her life. Why was she acting this way?

"She's growing up," he explained, leaning back into the chair.

"She is," I agreed, leaning back too.

I thought long and hard about the fact that she was growing up. I mean, of course it was visible to the naked eye – anyone could see it. She was two years old and physically ten, which in itself was crazy. She was smarter than any other person I had ever met, including her genius aunts and uncles. She moved like a ballerina, had enough intelligence to take over the world, and grew fast enough to make science question everything it's ever known. She was almost too good to be real.

But she was Sera. Sera, the girl who hated shopping, loved baseball and the Giants more than life itself, couldn't go a day without playing some kind of sport, failed miserably at videogames, whose heart and soul was connected to music, cared for others so deeply, loved with a passion, was so vibrant and beautiful.

Of course I thought Sera was beautiful, but not in the creepy way. Sera, from the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew that she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, and I would give my life for her with a smile on my face. I had imprinted on her. I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that we were soul mates and things would start changing sooner than I would probably realize, but for now, she was Sera, my best friend, my imprint. My whole life revolved around her existance.

I didn't know if things had changed for her yet or not. But I think she knew that deep down, I would always be her best friend, through think and thin and then some.

Sitting on the front porch, I watched the sunset, a good way to end a stupid day.

I came to two conclusions at that moment as I heard Sera slip into a soft snore.

One, Sera and I were best friends, and I didn't – couldn't – see her in that light yet. It was impossible for me to even imagine her as anything else but my perpetual best friend. I couldn't even imagine what she would look like in a year's time.

Two, I knew that Sera was a live wire. But she was also kind, generous, loving, and downright beautiful. I knew I would be in trouble when she got older. *

A/N: -hides behind couch-

Don't hate Seth for not realizing her feelings! She's TEN, mind you. That'd be a little creepy if he realized them now. And like Sera said, him liking her back made her uncomfortable. She was happy to just have a secret crush on the kid.

HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEARS, EVERYONE. (:

Love you until 12.21.12 when we all are supposed to die,

Chels.