I am a whore.

That is all.

I betrayed Jacob.

But I don't even like Jacob.

I do like Seth.

But Seth is too good for me.

And Jacob isn't even hot.

Except he is.

Damn it.

These thoughts kept running through my head as I walked out of school the next day. I day-dreamed my way through the day with fantasies of a world where Jacob didn't exist. Or maybe if I weren't a mutant freak, then maybe I could have a normal relationship. If only.

Here I was, a fifteen-year-old girl who just wants to have a "normal" life. As I am saying this, I am trying to decide whether I want to stay with the guy who basically has legal rights over me or yolo it out with his best friend.

I could just tell Seth no and stay loyal to Jacob, but come on, who wants to be with a guy who is still in love with another girl? But if I stay far away from Jacob, then I'll be causing him immense pain. Damn, being a hot person is hard.

Okay, I made up my mind. I am calling Seth to tell him that even though what he did was extremely romantic and it made me want to increase the population with him, I can't because I need to stay with Jacob. Good, Max. Make up your mind.

I pulled out my cell phone and scrolled through my contacts until my finger hovered over Seth's name. Do it, Max. I inhaled sharply and pressed "call".

The line dialed for a second until he picked up. "Hi Max."

"Hi," I greeted softly.

"Is something the matter?"

I forced a laugh. "W-why does something need to be the matter for me to call you?"

"That's true, but it's not like you to just call me up out of the blue. You've had my number for half a year now and you've never called me once."

"Okay, you're right. There's something important I need to tell you, but I don't think you want to hear it."

"Is this about what happened yesterday?"

"Yes."

He sighed. "You regret it, don't you?"

"Please try to understand," I pleaded. "I really like you, Seth. I'm serious, I do. But I can't do that to Jacob. I know that he and I aren't on the best of terms right now, but it's up to me to fix that. I shouldn't just leave him like this without giving it another try."

"Max, he's just going to hurt you. You do know this right?"

"I know."

"And you know I would never do that to you, right?"

"Yeah."

"Did you know that I can also bench more than he can?"

"Now I do."

"So you know all of this and you're still going to choose him over me?"

"Unfortunately. Seth, I am an awful human being. I don't know what I want and my life is a little too complicated for me to drag you into it. I don't want to be indecisive between you and Jacob because that's just a bitchy thing to do. I really don't want to hurt you."

"You're not doing a good job of that," he pointed out.

"I know. But know that in the future, you'll be thanking the stars that you dodged a bullet like me."

"That's going to be far in the future."

"I'm sorry."

"Okay." And then he hung up.

I stood there in silence, staring at the screen of my phone. "Damn it!" I yelled, making the people around me turn and stare. "Is there a problem?" They quickly went back to whatever business they were doing.

Sighing, I pocketed the device and walked on the sidewalk that would lead me to my house.

As I approached my house, I noticed an unfamiliar bright red motorcycle parked outside. Frowning, I proceeded to walk up the steps to my front door. My frown deepened when I saw that the door was unlocked. Mom was at work and Ella had drama club after school, so it should still be locked. It couldn't be a robber or kidnapper – first off, their ride was in clear view; secondly, who would rob something in our house?

Quietly, I pushed the door open, preparing my mental power for whoever popped out at me. However, when I entered the kitchen, it wasn't a robber awaiting me. It was Jacob.

"Jacob?" I asked in surprise.

He was sitting in one of the chairs at the dinner table with his back facing me. "Three months, sixteen days, three hours and forty-seven minutes." Jacob stood up, finally looking at me in the eye. "That's how long you've been missing. That's how long I've been looking for you."

"Jacob…"

"And now you turn up out of the blue with no explanation to me. Don't you think I ought to be one of the first people you tell? Don't you think I deserve to know before Bella or Seth?"

Slowly, I set my backpack down, almost as if I were afraid of setting off a bomb. "Jacob, I'm sorry –"

He held up his hand. "Do you know how worried I was? I thought you had died, Max. I couldn't find you anywhere. Any scent of you completely vanished. And you know what? Even though you're standing in front of me, I can't catch a whiff of your scent."

"I – I don't –"

His dark eyes narrowed at me. "What happened to you, Max?" My body froze up and I was stuck to the spot as he whispered, "What are you?"

"I…" My throat suddenly closed up, feeling dry. "I think you should sit down."

"I'll stand."

"No, really," I insisted. "Sit."

He kept the hard look on his face but did as I said, sitting back in the wooden chair. Taking in a deep but quiet breath, I walked over to the sink and grabbed a cup. I filled it up with water and sipped it. Then I went back to the table, dreading the moments to come.

"I'm not going to sugar-coat anything," I stated to him, setting the cup on a coaster on the table. "And I don't want you to interrupt me."

"That's fine," he replied. "Just get on with it."

"I'm not a normal human," I said. "I'm not like Edward, but I'm not quite like you."

"Then what are –"

I raised an eyebrow, not letting him finish his sentence. He muttered an apology and let me continue.

"Since I was a kid, I was kept in an experimental laboratory in Death Valley. It was called "the School." This lab takes human beings and fuses their genes with the genetic material of animals to alter them. Then, if the human survives, they'll start operating and experimenting more with them.

"I am two percent avian. When I was young, my father took me and gave me the genes of a bird. Then he did it to five other kids. Maybe even more – who knows? But either way, only five of us survived. Jeb, my father, took us to a remote home in the mountains where we grew up. That didn't last for long before we had to go back to the School.

"Eventually, staying there got to be too much for me, so I, along with the other five of us, broke out. We went back a while later and set all of the other experiments free. Somehow, the School managed to track down a lot of them and started the process back up again. We were taken back numerous times and were on the run constantly. I guess the other five got pretty sick of that, so they forced me to leave them and to go live on my own. That's why I'm here now.

"But I was gone for this long period of time because one of the five tricked me into going back there. He was the only one I saw there. I don't know if they're all there, turned against me, or if it's just him. Either way, I got dragged back there and was operated on some more. My father was there too. After not seeing him for so long, I think I was just caught under his spell again. I didn't want to leave. Luckily, I was able to snap out of that and get away.

"So that's the rough story," I finished. "There's a bunch of little details, but frankly, I don't think you care. All you need to know is that I'm a freak. Oh, and there are these freaky Eraser and Fly Boy things out there that are these ugly wolf mutations that are out to get me."

"How… how is that possible?" he asked. "And how many…?"

"Crazy scientists will always find a way," I shrugged. By now, I was almost finished with my water. "And too many."

"I – I don't even know what to think."

I shrugged again. I mean, I wouldn't know how to respond if I weren't already a mutant. The cup was now empty, but I didn't want to leave Jacob sitting here by himself. Concentration on the cup, it started to shake a little. Jacob looked up, watching the cup, and then looking to me.

"Are you doing that?"

I nodded, lifting the cup in the air and sending it over to the sink where it landed quietly. Satisfied, I looked back at Jacob. "Any more questions?"

"You said you were two percent avian, right?"

"That would be correct." For emphasis, I took off my leather jacket, leaving me in just a tank top. I unfolded my wings and spread them out to their full span. Jacob's eyes widened as he took in the image in front of him. "You can touch them if you want. I mean, it's not like it's every day that you can touch wings."

His warm hands touched the edge of my wing, his fingertips brushing against it lightly. "This is…"

"Gross? Repulsive?" I suggested. He shook his head.

"Beautiful," he said.

I couldn't help but bark out a laugh. "This isn't beautiful. This is a curse. For the rest of my life, I'm going to have to live with these wings. And I'm always going to be running away from the School and the mutations they send. I'm never going to be free."

"Does anybody else know?"

"Bella and Edward know."

"You told them before you told me?"

A little bit guilty, I looked away. "I didn't want you to think I was a freak."

"You're not a freak. You're just different."

Jacob had to leave eventually, so he told me and went to the door. Before he left, I asked, "So that bike out there is yours?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I got a new one."

"I see. I like the color."

"Thanks," he said. He pressed a light, warm kiss to my bare shoulder and walked down the steps. After he strapped his helmet on securely, he waved and sped off.

Sighing for the nth time that day, I went back inside and closed the door behind me. There goes one more person who knows.

I thought I had finally scared Jacob off the day before, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case. When I walked out of the house to head to school, his red motorcycle was parked just outside the steps like it was yesterday.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in disbelief.

"He's obviously here to send you to school," Ella snorted from behind me.

"Yeah, what she said," Jacob replied. "Hop in." He held out his helmet to me.

"But I really should walk Ella. You know, to make sure that she gets to school okay."

She pushed me off the steps. If it weren't for the extreme agility and balance I gained from the School, I would have fallen flat on my face. And that would have been a sight at seven in the morning.

"Fine," I gave in, taking the helmet. "But you are to call me as soon as you get to school, you got it?" I said to Ella. She rolled her eyes but agreed.

I climbed on to the back of Jacob's motorcycle and linked my hands around his backpack. Ella waved, giving me a suggestive look as we drove off. I would have stuck my tongue out at her or something, but the tinted cover of the helmet wouldn't have let her see it anyways.

Jacob drove me to school without a word. I wondered what I should say to him. Should I even say anything? Should I let him talk first? Oh God, what should I do? He didn't say that he hated me yesterday. He didn't think I was a freak. We were fine.

But then again, he didn't know that I kissed Seth.

Does he need to know?

No.

…

Yes.

Crap.

We pulled into the parking lot of Forks High School and Jacob stopped the bike, parking and let me hop off. I took off Jacob's helmet and handed it back to him. When he took it from me, he caught my wrist and jerked me forward. My lips landed on his, making my eyes widen.

I squirmed, not comfortable with the eyes of my classmates staring at me. However, Jacob's grip was steel-strong, so I just gave in. As we kissed for a while, I realized something – this kiss wasn't like the way we used to kiss. It seemed like he just was seeking something – something that wasn't me.

Slowly, I pulled away, pushing his chest. "What?" he asked quietly, looking into my eyes. "What's the matter?"

"You know," I said, "I'm hot. Like, really hot. There are a lot of guys out there who want to get with me. But it doesn't feel like you're one of them."

He chuckled nervously. "I don't know what you mean. Max, I know you're hot. Trust me, I would love to rip your clothes off."

"Why thank you," I said tonelessly. "But I need to ask you something."

"What is it?"

I stared him straight in the eye. "Do you still have feelings for Bella?"

He looked flabbergasted. "Bella? She has made it perfectly clear that we are just friends."

I smiled at him sadly, biting the inside of my lip. "You didn't answer my question."

He opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it. I never got an answer. I gave him one last look and turned around, walking into school.