{{Charlotte's POV}}

I must not have heard him right. She wasn't dead? Of course she was dead. How else would you explain her absence? I'm sure she would have came and been with us. Why hadn't she?

"She was the one you saw coming out of the trees," Seth said. "The other two are with her as well."

I didn't believe one word of this, no matter how serious they acted. My mother couldn't possibly be alive.

"She told us she would be coming to see you on your birthday. She thought it was time that you knew she was alive." They paused letting me absorb this.

I laughed. "You expect me to believe that my dead mother crashed my birthday party?" They both stared at me as if I had lost my mind. Maybe I was going insane. How would someone else react if they were told their mother, who they've grown up to know she was dead, was really alive?

"Obviously you don't believe us." My dad frowned. They thought I was in shock. I was the exact opposite of shocked.

I calmed down from my laughing fit. "How could she have been alive? You told me she was dead."

"And now I'm telling you she's not. She's been alive all this time. She lives around La Push."

"We went to her funeral! She was in the casket!"

"Well, she faked her own death. We thought it was for the best. I lied to protect you."

"To protect me? You've lied to me for years!" I jumped to my feet. Seth was still silent. "I've always asked about her and you lied. Why?" He opened his mouth. "No, protection is not an excuse. Just don't tell me. I'm sure you'll lie about that too." I crossed through the kitchen to the backdoor. I walked quickly to across the backyard making my way to the trees. I wanted to be alone.

"Wait! Charlotte, where are you going?" I heard the backdoor open then shut.

"Away from here!" I didn't want to be anywhere near here. I was too upset and confused.

"You can't just go off by yourself. You need to have someone who is able to protect you with you. She could come and take you away."

"I don't really care. I think it would be better with her than here." I was a few yards from my sanctuary.

"At least let Seth go with you."

I stopped. Seth did say something about my mother a few times. Was he trying to tell me that she was alive? I spun around. Seth stood a few feet from me.

"You knew too, didn't you?" He kept his eyes on the ground and nodded. "And you tried to tell me. How long have you known?" I whispered. He was silent. "Seth, how long?"

He looked up at me. "A while. Since the first time you found out I was a werewolf." That was so many weeks ago. He could have told me; even if Sam did order him not to he could have tried and talked to Sam about letting me know.

"Charlotte?"

I blinked.

"So you all keep secrets from me?" I whispered. I turned to Seth. "Including you." He nodded. His eyes stayed fixed on mine. "Why?"

"I'm sorry," he whispered and took a step towards me. "Let me explain."

"No Seth! I won't hear of it!" It came out harsher than I meant it to, but I was pissed.

"Charlotte, please listen to me."

I shook my head harshly and took another step back. My back hit a tree. "Seth, please." Tears were running fast down my cheeks. How could he have kept this from me? How could my father have kept this from me? All this time…I thought was mother was dead. But she was alive, living on the edge of La Push. Everyone knew this but me…. Why?

"Charlotte..." He reached out his arms for me.

I looked him directly in the eyes.

"Please, Seth. Leave me alone. I don't e-ever want to see you a-again." I dropped my eyes back down to the ground. When I looked back up, he was gone.

I sank to the ground and held myself. I was shaking uncontrollably with my sobs. I leaned my head in my knees.

"Charlotte…" I looked up to see my dad approaching me. "Charlotte, it's not his fault. You can't be mad at him."

"I can't be mad at him?" I screamed. "He lied to me! You lied to me!" He held up his hands and took a step back. "Everyone has. Everyone is just as guilty as he is…but it hurts me more knowing that he lied to me and didn't tell me." It felt like my heart was breaking into a million pieces. I had hurt Seth and in turn hurt myself.

"He didn't lie to you, I asked him not to tell you. Sam ordered him not to tell you."

"Like that's a big difference. This wasn't just some small detail; this was finding out my mother was alive! The main thing is that he didn't tell me. He knew and didn't tell me. None of you did…" I buried my face back into my arms.

"Charlotte, you have to understand that it was to protect you."

"Keeping me from my mother is not protecting me. I would have still liked to know that she was alive, that she was living only a few miles from me," I mumbled into my arms. I could have visited her when I was at Emily's house. She was so close and I didn't even know…

"But Charlotte─"

"No! I'm tired of this. I'm going to bed." I ran back inside and up the steps to my room and slammed my door shut. I through myself onto my bed and cried throughout the rest of the night.

•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•

Weeks passed. Seth frequently visited our house but, I never spoke to him. He tried constantly to explain everything to me, but I never let him. I could tell he was more depressed than I was. There were always dark circles under his eyes and he looked like he could fall over from a gentle breeze. I was in better condition but not by much. I couldn't sleep at night very well. I kept waking up ever ten minutes. I always imagined Seth snoring next to me or seeing him downstairs as I went to get breakfast, but he was never there. Jessi and Carla left the day after my birthday. They tried to get me to talk to them. They knew something was wrong between me and Seth, but I couldn't tell them the truth. I lied and said our relationship just ended. They didn't ask where I went while they were being dragged off either. I hardly ever said anything to my dad, only when I desperately needed to.

I sat outside on the swing that we had recently gotten in our backyard that faced the woods. I wrapped my arms around my knees, pulling them closer to me. I heard my dad come out the back door and he sat beside me.

"So are you ready for school?"

Ugh. School started tomorrow. No matter where you were high school was high school. Cheerleaders, geeks, jocks, dorks, preps, skaters, and the occasionally goths. Then there were the people─like me and a few others─that couldn't care less about what happened and what everyone had to say. We were the smart ones; the ones who wanted high school to be over and done with. I really didn't want to go. I already had so much to deal with. I wasn't looking forward to anything.

"I'll take the silence as a no."

It was mostly a no, and that I just didn't want to talk to him.

"You have to talk sometime. I know you're probably going insane. Can't we talk? It can be about anything."

"I'd rather sit quietly."

"Then I'll talk. You've been ignoring Seth. He's hurt and I know he feels terrible about what happened, but you have to forgive him and talk to him. Both of you are destroying yourself by being away from each other."

"I do forgive him. I forgave him weeks ago. I just never told him. I don't know what to say to him. I can barely be near him when he comes over. I'm just hurt." This was the most I had said to him in weeks.

"I'm sure things will work out with you two. It might be rocky and tough, but just give it time. Promise me you'll at least try."

I let out a loud sigh. "Fine, I'll try, but it won't be so soon in the near future."

"You better make it in the near future or I'll bring him here and not let you leave."

"Do whatever you think is best." I stood and went back inside. It was getting dark outside and I wanted to try to get some sleep tonight. I changed into pajamas and crawled into bed.