It's so great to be getting reviews for this story, thank you all! You'll find specific thank yous at the bottom of this chapter - as will be custom for all my other stories from now on. I would like to note that I use Wikipedia references and authors names in this chapter. They're all mentioned because I love their stories and it's important to he thought process. I really hope you appreciate al the little quips I have in here as well.

I do not own Twilight or any of the other stories mentioned...but one day, maybe someone will write about mine and then BAM!

Enjoy :)

I told Charlie that I had a lot of homework to do and when he looked at me with a raised eyebrow I sighed and told him not to come into my room because I would be deaf to anything but my music and dancing around like a circus freak. I don't know whether or not it was insulting that he believed me, but he seemed to accept it and move on. I gave him leftovers from the night before to eat but decided not to eat anything myself. There was a basketball game on that he was excited about so my escape seemed mapped out for me.

Once in my room, I closed the door tightly and locked it - an invention that I had made myself using twine, nails, and a strap of leather. I took my iPod off the charger and found my headphones, shoving them into my ears. On random, it began with Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet. Turning it up as loud as it would go so that my ears felt like they were melting, I scanned my room and floor plan before I started dancing around. Not quite like a circus freak - when I danced I was usually more graceful - but I woudn't deny that when I was dancing I was trying tolook like a fool.

I concentrated heavily on the music and not the thoughts edging under each silence between songs. My dance moves were not so much graceful as hectic and chaotic and more than once I slammed my knees against my bed frame or ran into a wall. After one particular ram into the bed frame, I sat down because of how much it hurt and laid down to catch my breath, which didn't seem like a bad idea until I blinked my eyes and forgot how to open them again.

When I opened my eyes, I was in a familiar place. It felt like a dream world, but when you're dreaming you rarely know that you're right. I recognized the green light filtering through trees and realized I was deep within the forest again, like I had been earlier that day. I could smell the sea salt and hear the waves crashing against a shore nearby and thought that if I found the ocean, I would be able to find the sun. I was trying to follow the sound when I saw Jacob Black there. All too suddenly he was tugging on my hand, trying to pull me back into the dark forest behind me.

"Jacob? What's wrong?" I asked. He was so scared that it was radiating into my own skin and he yanked with all his resistance to try and get me to go back in the forest. I yanked against him, terrified by the idea of the dark.

"Run, Liv, you have to run!" He whispered, terrifying me by the urgency.

"Liv, this way!" I recognized Arie's voice calling out of the gloomy heart of the trees, but couldn't see her. I shouted her name, but she didn't respond. I looked back to Jacob as he pulled again. "Why?"

Jacob let go of my hand and yelped, suddenly shaking and falling to the dim forest floor. He twitched on the ground as I watched in horror, leaning down to go and help him. I shouted his name, but as soon as I did, he was gone. In his place was a large red wolf with black eyes. The wolf faced away from me then and pointed towards the shore, his hackles bristling as he growled lowly through his sharp teeth.

"Vivienne, don't look at the water. Run!" But I had already looked to the water and now I could not look away. Edward had stepped out from the trees and onto the shore, his skin faintly glowing, his eyes black and dangerous. He held up one hand and beckoned me to follow him but the wolf started growling, making me afraid to move.

I tried taking a step forward, toward Edward. He smiled then but his teeth were different, they were sharp and pointed and stained with something ferocious looking.

"Trust me," he purred. It was not as his voice normally sounded. It was somehow distorted to my ears, lower, more vicious. Nevertheless I took another step.

The wolf launched himself across the space between the vampire and myself, snarling and snapping as his fangs went for the jugular.

"No!" I screamed, wrenching upright and out of my bed. My iPod spilled out of my ears and clattered to the floor, making me grab my head and look around.

Raking my hands through my hair I noticed that I was fully dressed, my light still on, and my alarm clock blaring 8:47 AM. I groaned and fell back into my pillows, rolling over and trying to make myself comfortable: taking off my pants, toeing off my shoes that I had left on, then my socks. But there was no way that I could have gotten to sleep again.

My subconscious mind had brought the idea that I refused to believe right into the forefront of my mind. Now was the time to face them.

I sat up quickly and hopped out of bed, knowing that this would cause me to be exhausted as the day rolled on but gave me a surge of adrenaline for now. I knew what I had to do and I wouldn't enjoy it until I was sure of what it was I thought I knew. I made my bed to bide my time - something I never did it well. When I couldn't put it off any longer, I went to the desk and turned on the old computer with the ridiculous dial-up connection. It took so long that I got a bowl of cereal as I waited for it to connect.

When I was done, I turned to the computer growing more and more anxious. But not just scared-anxious. Excited -anxious. I may finally get answers - as whacked out and crazy as they seemed. And even if I was wrong, which was more likely than not, it may put me into the right direction.

I went to Google, the knowledge center of the world, and typed in the only lead I had:

Vampire.

A Wikipedia page was the first to pop up, along with some Gothy youtube clips, a 'vampire name' generator, disturbingly accurate pictures to my dream, and pages that looked downright phoney. Obviously I went with the most logical choice: Wikipedia.

** Vampiresare mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person. Although vampiric entities have been recorded in many cultures and in spite of speculation by literary historian Brian Frost that the "belief in vampires and bloodsucking demons is as old as man himself", and may go back to "prehistoric times",[7] the term vampire was not popularized until the early 18th century, after an influx of vampire superstition into Western Europe from areas where vampire legends were frequent...

I shook my head, that was not exactly what I wanted to hear about them. I went back and searched through the Google pages until I saw a website about all mythological creatures - with a specifically long section on vampires. I skimmed the words lightly, trying to take all of them in.

Reanimated corpse...

Sucks blood...

Impaled...burned...

Selling his soul...

Eternal life...

Rabies symptoms...

I was shivering, I could feel it. I scrolled down, looking at the 'vampire characteristics'.

Vampires have pale skin, from their inability to stand in light and lack of circulation and blood flow. Their apparent lack of souls cause them to be incapable of casting a reflection in mirrors and to grow fangs to drink the blood of the living. They are said to look like very normal human beings save their uncanny charm and attraction to help with their ability to gain the trust of men and women to feed. They have super sensitive senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound. Also, to be supernaturally strong and quick. Throughout history some have been able to fly, bend people's will, possess, and also shape shift into smaller, cannibalistic creatures such as bats, wolves, and crows.

Below that was a list of vampires throughout history, literature, and global recognition. The largest section, of course, was under Dracula's name and it gave me a crazy idea. I quickly popped the chair out from under me and scrambled to my bedside table, grabbing my phone and dialing.

"I seriously hope you're paying these long distance charges, hard-head." Arie's voice was instantly soothing, even with it's underlying taunt. She must have heard my sigh of relief cause she was instantly on my back. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I'm having a bit of an issue, I wonder if you could help me out..."

"What? Is it that Edmund again?"

"Edward." I corrected immediately. She took that as a confirmation.

"I swear to God, that kid is going to get his face punched in - beautiful or not - and don't even try to stop me if I get all the way down there and he's sweet talked you again, because Vivi you are so much better than that! Who does this jerk think he is playing around with your heart like that? Oh and don't tell me that's not what he's doing. I know you like the back of my hand and he is-" I winced, holding the phone away from me as she went on her angry rant. These usually lasted anywhere from five minutes to five days, but I decidedly cut her off early.

"No, no, no. Nothing about him being a...jerk." I winced. "It's help with a...uhm...project?"

"You know, you're the worst liar on the planet."

"I know." I sighed. "Want to help me or not?"

"Want to tell me what it's for?"

"Nope, not really."

"Are you..." She gasped. "Are you keeping secrets from me?"

"No, not secrets exactly." I sighed. "I just don't want to sound stupid?"

"You always sound stupid."

"Point proven." I laughed. "Now you know why I don't want to admit it. Now, you gunna help me or not?"

"Want to tell me what it's for?"

"I already told you no. And if you keep asking, I'll hang up."

"Alright, alright, can't blame a girl for trying. Well, what's up chickadee?" To describe the level of relief I felt even with her saying she would help me -so blindly - was impossible. I instantly felt relieved, calm, and like everything was going to be okay, whether my facts were right or not.

"I'm doing a project-" she snorted and I heard her repeat the word sarcastically, "-on Vampires."

"Oh, Vampires! My favourite!" I smiled wryly.

"I know. Why do you think I had to call you? You are the expert."

"Okay...well, what do you want to know?" She sounded like she was getting herself comfortable, ready to give me a University style lecture on her own specialty. Little did she know that I, possibly, knew more than her.

"Everything." I could imagine her eyes narrowing as her voice grew suspicious as she began to question my motives.

"Why is this important? Really. You like gore movies but you're more of...a Shakespeare or a Jodi Piccolt fan. Why do you want to know about the good ol' Legends?"

"We agreed no more questions." I said harshly. "So. Start explaining."

"Alright, well, do you want to know like...Anne Rice vampires or vampire lore? Or are you into the new vampire genre? Those RPG games and the like? Cause I've heard that 'Vampire the Masquerade' game is fun and all that."

"Just in general. Start with the lore. You don't mind if I make notes and quote you, right?" I asked, which kind of strengthened my lie about it being for class. She hummed that she didn't mind and I took out a sheet of paper and pen.

"Alright. So. Vampire lore - technically legends of vampires started all throughout the world at different times. That's why a lot of people think they're real. I mean, they were real in Africa and Poland and China at the same time? No one would have spread that around. Anyway, no one really knows how they began being vampires - there are so many different ideas. A lot of people like going for the whole 'sold their soul to Satan for extra time' and then they turned into demons. Some people say that it was something to do with Jesus. Some say that it was like Maya - she slaughtered and drank the blood of a whole bunch of babies for immortality, but then she got the side effects of having to maintain the blood lust, you know? It's pretty cool. I think that's the earliest one. About Maya and Hellewise, they were witches. Maya turned Vamp."

I tried taking my notes as quickly as I could. The slaughtering of babies definitely made it there. I tried not to wince as I thought about whether or not that was what someone had to do to actually become one...then I just hoped that I was insane for even considering it all.

"What is a vampire?" I asked her.

"There are different types depending on the cultures. Throughout history most people thought that anything demonic that drank blood was a vampire, but there were other cultures who thought that any creatures known to steal any kind of life force - energy, blood, souls, spinal fluid, anything - were vamps too. They were said to be unable to be in holy places, touch wood or silver, be allergic to garlic, burst into ash in the sunlight, couldn't enter a home uninvited and have cool fangs so that they could kill someone easier. Some people thought they had cool powers like reading minds, mind control, illusions - just so that they could get their food easier."

"Were their ever people they couldn't control?"

"In history it was said a priest or man of God couldn't be, but if you go through literature...well, if you go through literature, nothing really counts."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, everyone went down their own roads with it. Bram Stoker was the first one to really write about them and he made Dracula really traditional, right? Pale skin, fangs, black hair, really creepy eyes, and basically limitless power. People like Anne Rice - the vampire queen of literature - kept her vampires traditional, but didn't make them all powerful. They had all their weaknesses and such. Bram Stoker made Dracula out to be a monster and sex addict, but Anne Rice said that the vampires who hunted the Dracula way and stuff had just lived so long in the dark they forgot what human emotion was...well, except for some of them."

"Do other people think that they can do stuff like that? Eat food? Be near garlic...walk in the daylight?"

"Oh yeah, tons of them! They want to romanticize them, right, and how can you make a high school student the main character if she doesn't find her man at school? L. J. Smith, Kelley Armstrong, Christopher Pike, they all wrote like that too. Trying to find ways around the shitty fall backs of being a vamp - especially the sunlight one. It's amazing the crap people will write to get around that one."

"But it's said that they can walk in the day?"

"Oh yeah. Tons of people have figured out ways and reasons." I bit my lip. That knowledge was actually the exact opposite of what I wanted to know. She continued over the phone.

"I mean, Blade is a daywalker. But that's because he's a half vampire - how God damn stupid is that?" Even I snorted rolling my eyes at the thought of it. A reanimated corpse bearing a child or giving semen that gave live chromosomes?

"That's really God damn stupid."

"Yup. Worst idea I'd ever heard - Blade was the only one to pull it off and that's cause he was a slayer. Like Buffy and Anita. Oh - and that chick from Night World, she was half and half."

"How many of these books do you read?"

"All of them." It seemed the simplest answer in the world and it actually made me smile. "I don't know how you can't like vampires - they're possibly the coolest thing on the planet. Except for maybe werewolves."

"You like the natural enemy of vampires?" I asked sceptically. I heard her smiling her words.

"You do know something! Good. And yes, they're awesome! Who wouldn't want to turn into a giant beast. Besides, they're always so hot...so long as it's not old fashioned literature. Then they have to eat the intestines of their victims - and that's not cool."

"Oh yeah. They're definitely sexy." I said sarcastically.

"Hey, don't insult what you don't understand. Become oriented with the land of mythological hotties before you judge them, got it?"

"Got it." I smiled, rolling onto my back so that my head hung upside down off the bed. I stared at the gray sky out my window with a sigh.

"Anything else?"

"Yeah." I muttered, now getting nervous. I swallowed the anxiety that was building at the bak of my throat. "What do they look like?"

"Vamps? Oh, they always are described differently. I mean, other than the Nosferatu they are always beautiful. That's the biggest one. They're usually pale with really nice teeth and pretty fingernails, but they supposedly look just like they did before they died - because they do die to become one - only prettier. Some say they have black eyes, some say they have like animal eyes? Or eyes that reflect like an animal, anyway. Or they're blood red. Or they change colour."

I shivered. Oh no. Of course. Because that's just what I needed to hear -the first thing I ever noticed about Edward Cullen. That he was pale, exceedingly beautiful, intoxicating, and of course that his eyes changed from black to golden on a whim.

"K. Cool." I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking on the phone. "How do you-you...y'know, become one?"

"Again, one of the most debated arguments of all time." She laughed. "Most people go with the fact that a vampire has to drain the victim and then feed them vampire blood. When that happens they'll still die a human death, but wake up later as a vampire. But then Harris adds that they have to be buried underground with their sire - that's their maker - before they turn. Smith thinks that they stay this half dead person that can still walk in the daylight but is slowly dying until they feed and then they are a vampire. Always different."

"So what you're saying is...in the end, no one knows anything?"

"Not a thing."

"Great." Because I did. I mean, I think I did. We talked for a little while longer, but after she called me out on being too distracted, I told her that I had a lot of things to think about for 'my conclusion' after everything she had told me and that now probably wasn't the best time to talk. I apologized for using her for her geeky knowledge and said my goodbyes - promising to call her later in the week, she preferred late at night for me because of our sleep patterns and the time difference.

I sat in my bed, watching the sun move across the sky, thinking much more quickly than the sun was taking to rise and set. I had a lot of things to mull over, thanks to what Arie had told me, and none of it seemed okay - nevertheless possible. I mean, the first hurdle was to decide if what Jacob said about the Cullen's could even be true.

Immediately my mind responded with a resounding negative. It was silly and morbid to entertain such ridiculous notions. But what, then? There was no rational explanation for everything that happened around Edward Cullen, the fact that he and I were both so miraculously alive. The skin, the speed, the strength, the eyes, and his beautiful, stubborn face.

But there was more. Things that I was registering slowly and that I would never have actually thought were signs - or symptoms? - until I talked to Arie. Like how they never ate, the disturbing grace that they moved with. And him, his voice. He was more articulate than me - something I had always taken pride with - and his cadences and phrases were like romance novels and early 19th century mystery novels I was so often sticking my nose into. He had skipped blood typing...coincidence? He had not refused my invitation to the beach until he found out where we were going. He said he was a villain. And he seemed to know what everyone around him was thinking...except for me. Was that why he was so frustrated? Those looks, that hatred...

Could the Cullens be vampires?

They were something, there was no doubt in my mind about that. Something outside the possibility of rational justification and it was all circling around this tiny town where nothing ever happened - but did it? Behind closed doors, under the shade of the trees? Whether it be the cold ones or something else supernatural, it was very clear they were super-human. Something more.

So then...maybe. That would be my answer for now.

Now the next question: what am I going to do if I'm right? If they are 'something more'. Well, I wasn't going to go and tell on them. That wasn't the kind of thing I did. Besides how would doing that benefit me? What did that knowledge of it do to benefit me? The answer was nothing. Nothing would benefit me unless I wanted a nice quick trip to a warm, padded cell.

It seemed I had two options: one I could take his advice and avoid him. Stay away from him and pretend like I knew nothing, stay quiet as if it was nothing, and keep myself 'safe'. I would cancel our plans and go back to ignoring him and staying as far away from him as we both could do. I could tell him to leave me alone - and I would mean it this time...

No I wouldn't. I could barely even think it. It caused a sudden gurgle of agony and despair as I considered it, but my mind quickly rejected it - I knew that wasn't my path anyway.

Then, there was the more likely option. I could change nothing. Nothing would be different because even if he was something more sinister, he had yet to hurt me. I would just be a scrape of paint on Tyler's fender had he not saved the day so quickly. So quickly? I thought again. I bet those were sheer reflexes. But if it was his reflex to save lives, how bad could he be?

There was one thing I was sure of: the dark Edward in my dream was just a reflexion of what Jacob had told me, not of Edward himself. Even so, when I'd screamed out towards the werewolf, it wasn't for fear of the wolf as surprising as it was, but the man who was being attacked. Even as he called out with sharpened fangs, I feared for him.

Which brought a whole new question. Would I be this calm if it was anyone else other than Edward Cullen? There was something about this boy that I was totally infatuated with, intoxicated, enthralled. The severity of the feelings I had for Edward were more terrifying than the dream itself and no secret that I knew or thought I knew, could possibly change that. Because even as I thought of him, his voice, his hypnotic eyes, the magnetic force of his personality and how they could all be part of a hunters baiting, I still wanted nothing more than to take it. I wanted nothing more than to be with him right now.

I stayed in my room and worked on my paper, though it didn't go that well. Macbeth wasn't easy to write about when you had vampires on the brain - so I settled with writing more about the witches, at least that was in a similar category. And so my day was quiet, mildly productive; finishing my paper by eight and making a large dinner with the large catch dad came home with. I made a mental note to buy a new cookbook with lots of fish in Seattle next week, but that started the shivers and rivers of thoughts again.

I slept dreamlessly that night, exhausted from so much thought, concentration, and boredom. When I woke, it was to the second day of light I had seen since my arrival in Forks. I skipped over to the window, stunned to see that today there wasn't even a cloud in the sky. I was surprised when I opened the window - surprisingly it opened silently and without sticking, not having opened in how many years - and sucked in the relatively dry air. It was nearly warm and hardly windy, it was like a match to the fuel in my veins.

Charlie was finishing breakfast when I walked downstairs and he instantly picked up on my mood.

"Nice day out," he commented lightly, trying not to smile because of my grin.

"Gorgeous," I agreed.

He let the smile loose on me, his brown eyes crinkling around the edges. When Charlie smiled, it was easier to see why he and my mother had jumped too quickly into an earlier marriage. Most of the young romantic he'd been in those days had been gone before I had known him. So had his hair - same texture and close to the same colour as mine, but his had been curly and I had never been so lucky to have the ringlets he once had. But when he smiled, I could see a little of the man who had run away with Sarah Norberry when she was only a year older than I was.

I ate breakfast quickly and cheerily, got ready in three minutes and contemplated walking to school in this beautiful weather. The only reason I could think of not to was that I would be late - I should have gotten up an hour and a half earlier.

I did take an extra two or three minutes just to roll down the windows in the truck - I was sure my arms would regret it later. I was still one of the first to get to school and didn't delay in going towards a picnic table on the south side of the cafeteria. The benches were still a little damp from the rain that night, but I searched for a dry spot and sat down attentively on it. With my homework done, I decided it best that I take my backpack and shove it under my back as I laid on the top of the picnic table, sun tanning happily. I heard other people say my name and smiled and waved in the air, never knowing exactly where they were because I couldn't open my eyes.

"Hey Viv!" Mike called. I recognized his voice automatically and felt the picnic table move under his weight. He was sitting right close to my face and I had to concentrate very hard not to make a face at his closeness to me. He better not have any Snow White or Sleeping Beauty type thoughts...

"Hey Mike," I waved lightly towards where I felt him sit and he laughed.

"Hey," he said after a minute. "I never noticed before - your hair has red in it." he commented, I felt a light tug on my hair and decided now was the time to sit up. I was not comfortable with him touching my hair. I watched uneasily as he let it comb out in his fingers while I got up.

"Only in the sun." I said curtly, trying to make it clear he was ruining my good mood.

"Great day, isn't it?"

"It's definitely my kind of day." I agreed.

"What did you do yesterday?" He asked, his tone was a bit too proprietary.

"I worked on my essay," no need to tell him I had finished it. I knew he'd want to copy. "Talked to my best friend back in Phoenix, hung out on the computer and stuff."

"Oh right, the essay!" He hit his forehead with the heel of his hand. "That's due Thursday, right?"

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's definitely Wednesday."

"Wednesday?" He groaned melodramatically. "That's not good...what are you writing yours on?"

"Shakespeare's use of the three witches as a metaphor for chaos, distruction, and death."

He looked at me like I had spoken in pig latin. "Did you have quotes?"

"Yup." He swallowed thickly.

"I guess I'll have to work on that tonight," he said, suddenly deflated. "I was going to ask if you wanted to go out." I clenched my teeth, quickly getting tired of this pattern.

"Oh."

"We could go to dinner or something...and I could work on it later." He beamed with high hopes and I took a deep breath, ready to cut the wick.

"Listen, Mike," I hope I didn't sound too rude. He was still a friend, even if it was an obnoxious one. "I'm going to be honest - that's a really bad idea."

His face blanked in confusion. "Why not?" My thoughts flickered over to Edward, and I wondered if that's where Mike's thoughts had travelled as well. I shook my head as if to tell him 'no, not him'.

"If you ever repeat this, I can assure you that I will feed your testicles to the nearest black bear and make you watch - Jessica would hate me and I like her too much to hurt her feelings."

He was bewildered, it obviously wasn't what he had considered. "Jessica?"

"Have you recently had a lobotomy? Yes. Jessica." I looked at him with astounded eyes - so he was blind. He honestly didn't notice? How is it possible he could pay attention to signals I wasn't giving him but miss the giant freight train that was Jessica's affection? I wanted to take his shoulders and shake him.

"Oh." Was all he said. I took the advantage of his confusion and rolled my eyes, announcing class would soon start. I was glad we walked in silence, he was very pensive the entire time and I hoped he wasn't thinking about me so much as Jessica. I hoped that I had lead him in the right direction and was happy when I saw that he didn't glance to me at all during English, but stared thoughtfully out the window for the entire hour.

When I saw Jess in Trig, she was bubbling with enthusiasm. She, Angela, and Lauren were going dress shopping in Port Angeles tonight for the dance this Saturday, and she wanted me to come even though I didn't need one. I was indecisive. It would be great to get out of town with some girlfriends - and I hated shopping unless it was for shoes and formal dresses - but Lauren would be there. And who knew what I could accomplish tonight on my thinking path...But that was definitely the wrong path to let my mind wander down. Of course I was happy about the sunlight. But that wasn't completely responsible for my mood - not even close.

So I gave her a maybe, saying that I would have to talk to Charlie. She seemed to accept the reasoning. I think it was just because she couldn't stop talking about the dance even through Spanish. When it ended, five minutes late, and we were on our way to lunch, I started to get lost in my own selfish thoughts - I was eager to see not just him, but all the Cullens. I wanted to compare them with the new suspicions that plagued my mind.

As I crossed into the cafeteria, I felt the first tingle of fear in my stomach. Would they be able to know what I was thinking? What if Edward could read my thoughts but since they were usually in French, he just couldn't understand what I was saying - save that random word or thought in English that I let slide in my brain? Or worse - would Edward be waiting to sit with me today?

As was my routine, I glanced first at the Cullens table and felt that shiver of panic again when I realized that it was empty. With dwindling hope, my eyes raked the cafeteria for him, hoping he was waiting for me. I was let down. The place was nearly filled beause of our late release from Spanish, but none of the Cullens were in school.

I trudged along behind Jessica - not able to pretend to listen anymore. I sat by Angela, instead of by Mike, and he didn't seem to mind. I hoped this was a good start. He even held the chair out for Jessica as she came to sit down - she looked like I would expect her to on Christmas.

Angela asked me a few questions about the Macbeth paper, which I answered as naturally while I could while I tried to pull myself out of my misery. Today was the day of Vitamin D, I should not let his absence get me down, but something was pulling at the corner of my mind - something I couldn't understand.

It didn't hit me even when the disappointment did thanks to the lack of him in Biology. I didn't pay attention for the rest of the class and realized that suddenly, nothing in it made as much sense. Mr. Banner was speaking in English to me, which was like someone speaking in Latin to someone else - you know it's the origin of words you were taught, but you can't make the sentences work.

I realized it in Gym as I was learning how to serve in badminton. It was the word that had been scratching the corner of my brain until I wasn't thinking about it - I really needed my focus for sports - and then it hit me.

Daywalkers.

Daywalkers need days to walk in daylight. Daylight being sun. Sunlight was really what let us know when it was day time, wasn't it? And now, surprisingly, they were gone?

I was in such shock that I accidentally hit the birdie right into the back of someone's head. I tried to say my apologies, but I was just taken off the team for a bit...I didn't mind.

The plans to go to Port Angeles were cancelled as soon as I had gotten home. I tried to be glad that Mike had asked Jessica out to dinner - thank God he was catching on - but now I was left without distractions until tomorrow night, where I said I would go because Lauren, apparently, was on her way to Port Angeles that night anyway.

I spent a full half hour on homework and when that was completed, checked my email. There were tons of them from my mother and Katie, one from Shawn that had more numbers than letters, and one from Jenn talking about her latest crazy night. An e-card came from Arie that was about her hopes of my lost virginity with a special side note - Edward is a pansy. No women for you unless it's me.

It worked to cheer me up, yet again.

I decided to kill an hour by reading some of my own non-school related books. I placed a quilt on the damp grass, smiling as I grabbed a book and faced the shadowy trees, making sure that I was facing the sun. I crossed my feet in the air, reading Tess of the D'Ubervilles for the third time. I knew it was a twelfth year reading novel, but I had been reading it for too long and found it hard to put down once I started. I was always disgusted by the manipulative love triangle between the three leads: Tess, Angel, and Alec. It was clear that Angel was the right choice for her, but he was just as cruel after hearing about her 'relationship' with Alec. And Alec was so manipulative, all he wanted to do was mantle her - it was an upsettingly wonderful story.

I pulled my hair up, making sure it was out of my face as I crossed and uncrossed my ankles in the air. Every now and then I looked up to see the sparkle that nearly blinded me and smiled at the sun, wondering how it could almost twinkle in my peripheral. I focused on the heat touching my cheeks and eyelids, my cheekbones, my skin...

And then I was waking up, it was the sound of Charlie's cruiser turning onto the driveway that alerted me. I realized the light was gone behind the trees and I had fallen asleep with Tess of the D'Ubervilles in my hand. I looked around in a daze, trying to get up and being so dizzy that I nearly keeled back over - I was still half asleep but had the feeling that I wasn't alone...oh yes, Charlie, I thought tiredly.

"Je suis fatigué," I groaned. "Je ne rêve même pas!"

I called his name but I could hear his door slamming in front of the house. I jumped up shakily groaning out some more French as I leaned down to grab the quilt. I stifled a yawn as I went into the house. He was hanging up his gun belt and stepping out of his boots.

"Hey Dad, dinner isn't ready yet - I fell asleep outside." I stifled another yawn.

"Don't worry about it." He smirked, thinking my exhaustion was somehow amusing. "I wanted to catch the score on the game, anyway."

During dinner, he had tried to make conversation with me.

"You got darker in just one day," he noted. "You really are part Quileute. You're darker than your Mom." I wasn't. Not at all, but I nodded and stuffed my face more, trying to ignore the awkwardness that followed all of our conversations.

I watched TV with Charlie after dinner, for something to do. There wasn't anything on I wanted to watch, but he knew I didn't like baseball, so he turned it to some mindless sitcom that neither of us enjoyed. He seemed happy though, that we were doing something together. I had to remember to do something simple as this more often if he liked it so much. And it felt good, despite my slum of the day, to make him feel happy.

"Dad," I started during a commercial. "Jess and Angela are going to look at dresses for the dance tomorrow night in Port Angeles, and they wanted me to help them choose...do you mind if I go with them?"

"Jessica Stanley?" he asked.

"Yeah, and Angela Weber. Nice girls, don't worry." He looked confused.

"But you're not going to the dance, are you?"

"No, Dad, but I am helping them find dresses - you know, giving them constructive criticism." I blushed lightly. "You know how I am with dresses."

"So you will buy one." He laughed loudly. I pouted.

"No. I will refrain, however, I might go..."

"If you try it on, you know you'll buy it."

"Then I won't try them on! Jeeze, why is this so difficult? Must the teasing continue?" He tried to stop laughing, so he just nodded.

"Well, okay." He became stern quickly. "It's a school night, though."

"We'll leave right after school, so we get back early. Will you be okay without your personal gourmet chef?" I teased, an eyebrow raised.

"Livi, I fed myself for seventeen years before you got here." he reminded me. I was secretly amazed that our conversation had lasted so long, I decided that I should probably end it soon, before he realized as well and it became awkward.

"No clue how you made it." I stated. "Well, I'll leave some things for cold-cut sandwiches in the fridge, okay? Right on top. Some good stuff." He grunted his approval and I felt proud of myself, not feeling guilty when I decided to retire early for bed.

I could not hide my disappointment from myself when I woke up and saw the sun through my window again. I dared to dress in a short sleeve shirt today, it was a dark blue fancier top. I decided to try dressing up to drive away the depression of the sunlight - it used to work in Phoenix, but something told me it wouldn't hold when I got to school. I did feel prettier, even if I had some bags under my eyes which made them look all the more dark. I took the time to make sure my hair was perfectly parted and completely straight. I even paired my nice black leather jacket with it, something I hadn't dared to drag out. It would draw some extra attention, but it made me feel confident and pretty, without the help of Edward Cullen's charm.

Out of one more cling to desperation, I circled the parking lot looking for the shiny silver Volvo, but it was nowhere in sight. The last of my hope depleted, I grabbed a spot and cursed as I ran to class, nearly late and breathless.

Jessica made it clear that the Port Angeles scheme was back on for that night and made sure to walk everywhere with me that day. Apparently my newfound fashion sense was getting the right kind of attention for her to stick around - I was both flattered and annoyed by it. I decided that I would go to Port Angeles just for the chance to escape this suffocating, little town with Angela and Jess - not Lauren. Sadly, she had other obligations and had gotten her dress the night before. I tried to sound empathetic when I was told.

I vowed to myself that I would be in a good mood tonight and not ruin Angela's or Jessica's enjoyment in the dress hunting, I even told them that I would help them out since I was a pro shopper, with a specialty in formal wear. Not that I liked shopping for anything else. I thought that maybe if I found a dress I would even buy it, dance or no. And if I just happened to find a nice outfit for Seattle, so be it.

After school, Jessica followed me home in her old, white Mercury so that I could ditch my books and my truck. I quickly brushed through my hair and threw myself a small smile in the mirror, trying to make myself seem less robotic. I was out for a night with the girls, even if I wanted him to be: this was no place for Edward Cullen. Not in body, or mind.

With that thought implanted, it was easy to feel a slight lift of excitement as I contemplated the idea of once again ditching Forks. I left a note for Charlie on the table, explaining again where to find dinner, switched my scruffy wallet from my school bag to a purse I had barely used since the move, and ran out to join Jessica. We went to Angela's house next and she was waiting for us outside on her porch, an excitement on her face that I hadn't seen before. It helped my excitement increase and my relief doubled exponentially as we actually drove out of the town limits.

** = This was copied exact from Wikipedia and I do not take credit for it's knowledge.

So, what did you think? Hopefully you caught some of my little jokes or references to other novels and hopefully you're really starting to notice the differences between Vivienne and Bella. Whom I hate. I mean...I love Twilight!

As for my wonderful reviewers:

Angel of the Night Watchers: who is a constant reviewer and one of my most loyal readers. You are so awesome and you have no idea how happy it makes me to read your comments every time I update. Honestly, you really keep me going.

Ra'iira The Fiend: I totally agree with you. I'm a Bella-Basher, I won't deny which is precisely why I'm making this story. Just to remind people that she has no personality even by comparison. Hopefully I'm doing it justice. Thank you for your review :)

Please Review, guys!

-Egypt