I didn't see Jacob for a couple of weeks since we were both so busy with school. I talked to him a couple of times on the phone and we made plans to go "hiking" again this weekend. I smiled when I hung up that phone early Friday morning. I didn't have school today, some teacher conference thing, so it was a free day to catch up on homework or to fool around. I glanced out the kitchen window towards the woods.

Back in Phoenix, I had been part of my high school's track team and I had been pretty good too. I hadn't had the chance to go running since I got to Forks. It was always running. Today the sun was out with not a cloud in the sky. The ground looked about as dry as it would get so I ran back up the steps and found my sneakers in the back of my closet.

I changed into a light t-shirt and jogging pants and tied my sneakers into double knots. I ran down the steps and wrote Uncle Charlie a note on the kitchen table.

Dear Uncle Charlie,

I am going to go for a run on the trail behind the house. I'll be gone for awhile but I should be home by the time you get back from work. I love you.

Thia

I left the note in plain sight on the kitchen table before exiting out the back door. I stuffed my key in my pocket and jogged down the path into the forest.

I was surrounded by green but I liked it. It showed that these plants were actually alive where back in Phoenix everything was very dry and very dead-looking. Even though I had only lived in almost over a month, I felt so at peace. It was almost like I was meant to live here.

I had met a lot of interesting people here. The people at school, Jacob, Billy.

Jacob.

I knew I felt more for Jacob, it was just buried somewhere very deep inside of me. I couldn't reach it for some reason, even though I really wanted too. I wanted to be more than friends with Jacob. I had never felt this way about someone before. So what was stopping me?

What is Bella?

Maybe. Jacob had been in love with her and had helped her cope with her boyfriend Edward Cullen leaving her.

But I felt like Jacob and I had some special connection that he and Bella hadn't had. Something that no one could really describe or explain. It felt like we were soul mates. Star-crossed lovers, maybe.

I smiled as I jogged past a moss covered tree. Running had always helped me clear my thoughts and really think about what was bothering me. The trail was wet, mud was beginning to cover my sneakers but I didn't mind. I liked the squishy sound on wet leaves and mud beneath my feet. I hopped over logs with ease and climbed over boulders that blocked my way.

It felt like I had been out here only twenty minutes but time flies when you're running in the middle of the forest. I stopped by a semi-moss covered oak to catch my breath. I looked up and a thinning in the trees caught my eye. More sunlight was coming through the branches and I could hear the faint gurgling on a nearby stream. I walked through the low branches and gasped.

I stood at the edge of a clearing the size of a large circle. The clearing was full of wild flowers, white, purple, blue and soft yellow. A soft breeze rolled through the clearing, waving the grass and flowers back and worth as if they were waving hello to me.

I walked forward until I stood in the middle of the clearing. I lifted my arms above my head, soaking in the sunlight. I stood there for a moment, my eyes closed. Than I heard something growl.

Uh-oh . . . what's going to happen next? You have to read the next chapter to find out! Please review