Sarah and I had been staying with the Cullens for… a while now. I had stopped watching the weather channel after I noticed the days. My mother's birthday passed and that made me cry. Mom and I were never close, she was more of a stage mom; which may have been what drove away my father. But that didn't mean I couldn't miss her. Sarah had been hunting that day, thankfully. But I had stopped counting days then. I wasn't even completely sure what season it was anymore. It always rained here. I thought the clouds were depressing.

I thought I could hide my sadness from Sarah, I needed some kind of interaction with other people. Of course Sarah noticed. She always did. "You've been in a funk" she said to me one day, "go hang out with some of your canine friends." Sarah and I could always joke about the mythical-ness of our lives. It unnerved Bella… which of course only made it more fun for us.

I jumped out the window, I had seen the rest of them do it with Sarah when Nessie was at the house. Sarah's control was good. Not Bella good. I was hoping jumping from a second-story window would feel fun. It was nothing special. The feeling of mud on my feet was no longer refreshing. It felt as though the earth were trying to suck me into it. I phased at the edge of the woods and immediately heard Quil and Paul.

"Ugh! Why can't I ever have my own thoughts!" I cried in my head.

"It could be worse." Quil piped up.

"Yeah, you could have gotten stuck with Leah or Brady or something." Paul joked.

"Psh, what's worse than getting stuck with two happily imprinted people?" I whined.

"What's got you all depressed, Sunshine?" Quil asked as we phased and met some of the other guys on the beach.

"I don't know. I miss my family, I miss seeing lots of people every day. I miss my old life, I guess. Oh yeah, I hate rain." I said, sounding ridiculously sad.

"Sounds like you need a pick me up." Seth chirped.

"Like what?" I sighed

"You should meet Billy." Jacob said.

"Your dad?" I asked, confused but still happy for something to be curious about.

"No, his orthodontist. Yes his dad." Leah brushed me off. She was still working on the bitterness thing. Oddly enough, me joining the pack hadn't helped her. It may have even upset her more.

"What if I hurt him or something?" I asked, sounding worried.

"Please, my old man's had worse than you! Plus, you're like, a third the size of the rest of us." Jacob said.

"Have you even had a growth spurt yet?" Paul asked.

"Not recently. But I'm the tallest girl in my family on both sides. I'm like Shaquile'O'Neil in my family." I said.

"You must have a short family." Brady laughed.

"No kidding, if my mom was half an inch shorter, she'd get money from the government." I was laughing too. But then I remembered laughing about the same thing with my mom and I went quiet again. Everyone seemed to notice my sudden change in mood.

"It'll be okay kid." Jacob patted my shoulder and comforted me.

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I walked up to the old- looking house. I was being jostled between Paul and Quil as we walked through the door. They thought it was funny. My opinion was a bit different but it was better to laugh about it than get all anger and claws.

I was nervous and excited to meet, not only someone new, but the man who I had seen in Jacob's head for so long. I felt like this man was part of my family too. I saw the old dude (nickname potential?) laughing at a soccer game. He was adorable in an awkward/embarrassing dad kind of way. He turned when he heard us come through the door. Well, maybe he had to turn. I mean, there were like ten of us in there and we weren't really average size.

Anywho, he turned. He started to say something but stopped when he saw me. "Uh, Hi. I'm Billy." He introduced himself, sounding a little startled, and wheeling over so that he could shake my hand. As soon as he touched my hand he got that stupid look on his face. Crap. "Do you have a fever?" He asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"Oh C'MON!" I shouted. And yeah, I started shaking. You would have too. "I am NOT that FREAKING white!"

Leah and Quil got up and shoved me out the back door before I could do any serious damage. I just turned around, plopped my butt down on the grass, and closed my eyes, trying to ignore the two poop wads behind me. But I could still hear the laughter coming from inside.

"Yeah, she uh… gets a little upset about the whole color thing." I heard Seth say. Followed by a few chuckles. I had to start the calming-myself thing all over again.

"How did she even change? She's so weak looking and so…" Here it comes.

"She's listening." Leah yelled to the people in the house. Yeah you better bet I'm listening.

"Lexi's close friend was attacked by a vampire. In front of her." Jacob said. The complete sadness in his voice only helped bring back the flood of memories. I phased before I had the chance to realize what I was doing. I just started running. I'd come back. Eventually. I guess I'd have to find some clothes first.

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I really wanted to get back to school. I was going to get seriously stupid just sitting around all day.

"Sarah?" I said.

"Yup?" She answered, not looking away from her game of chess on the computer screen.

"You ever want to go back to school?" I asked.

"Ha ha, why would I want to go there?" Wow, this conversation had lots of questions.

"I don't know: Learning. Interaction with people that aren't some kind of mythical creatures. And don't you feel like you're going to get stupid?"

"I have a photographic memory. I'm not going to "get stupid" just because I'm not listening to some lame teacher all day." She retorted.

"Sarah, we all have photographic memory. Not everyone has the film." Psh, take that. See, I can retort right back.

"The year's almost over, but if you really want to go back then just do it. What's stopping you?"

"I don't know, for a start: I can't write with a pencil without snapping it in half."

"Use a pen." She said distractedly.

"That could get messy." Just then Alice danced in. Even if she can't see me (unless I'm touching Sarah, which is weird.) she still has incredible timing.

"Would you like me to help you practice?" Alice chirped.

"Um, I'd like you to stop listening to our conversations even more." I said. And then heard laughter echo through the house. Ugh, is anything private anymore?

"No!" I heard Edward shout from down the hall.

A/N: Poor Lexi! I know, it's depressing. This too shall pass, my wonderful readers. If you have any suggestions they would be VERY much appreciated. So review!

Paz,

Lacey =)