So apparently it's a tradition for me to never to do an author's note on the first chapter...I always forget! But anyways, welcome to the story. And if you've gotten this far, thank you and you're beautiful. I honestly have no idea where this story is going to go or anything like that. But we shall see! If you can, review. Thank you!

Jared stood there, staring at me for a good minute or two, until the guy that had introduced himself to me earlier came to the door.

"Kim!" he said, smiling, "Jared, this is Kim. I met her earlier, she's your neighbor. Jared?" He noticed that Jared wasn't saying anything. He waved his hand in front of Jared's face and then stopped. "Oh, shit," he said, "Jared. Come on. Inside, now." Jared looked at him, and then back at me. "Now, Jared," Paul said impatiently. Paul walked back inside of the house and Jared followed. Weird shit, I thought. I decided to go into the house anyways, and at least try to make some friends. Jared's apartment was the same size as mine, but his was packed with people. A lot of the guys looked…similar to Paul and Jared, with their tan, muscled skin and their cropped black hair. Another thing: there were almost no girls there. People were staring at me, trying to figure out who the strange girl was. They made me feel so awkward that I was turning to leave when Paul walked up to me.

"Hey, Kim," he said, hugging me.

"Paul," I said, "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much," Paul said, beating around the bush.

"Paul. What happened with Jared?" I asked impatiently.

"N-nothing," Paul said, "He was just feeling under the weather."

"Whatever," I replied, "It didn't seem that way. But it's been a long day…I'm going to head home. Have a great night." With that, I turned around and walked away. Yes, that probably seemed a little bit rude, but I couldn't take those guys anymore. I walked back to my house, locked my door and went into my bedroom. Since I was still too jittery from the party, I decided to curl up in bed with a book. I decided to read the last Harry Potter book, since it was one of my favorite books…even though I'm 19. But hey, we all have our guilty pleasures. I fell asleep an hour later, dreaming of the forest, wizards, and the ocean.

I woke up the next morning feeling rejuvenated. I already liked being on my own; compared to being with my parents, this was a walk in the park. Since I was an only child, my parents always projected their feelings and problems towards me. So if it isn't obvious enough already, my childhood wasn't pleasant. I knew that I needed to leave, and I needed to be far away from them. I didn't steal money from them or anything; I saved up my money and got everything done on my own. Aunt Kenna helped me find a place, but everything monetary related came from me. I didn't leave a lot behind in Monterey; I had one good friend, Rae, but she moved to Southern California for school and decided to stay down there for good. She supported my decision to move out, even though it meant that we would probably not see each other again.

I was woken out of my reverie by my cell phone, which currently blasted the ringtone "I Love It". Okay, so I might not be the most preppy girl around, but I do appreciate some of the more popular music. I answered my phone, which said that Rae was calling me.

"Rae!" I yelled.

"Kim, girl!" she replied

"How are you?"

"I'm doing great, actually," she said, "I met someone…" I shrieked.

"WHO?!"

"His name is Todd," she replied, "He lives in the same apartment complex as me, and we met the other night!"

"Rae, I'm so happy for you!" I exclaimed.

"Thank you! So…how is La Push?" She asked.

"It's awesome so far," I replied, "I mean, it's raining, but it's green and beautiful."

"Yeah?" she asked, "Have you met any people yet?"

"I met a few guys last night," I said.

"Ooooh, details!" Rae squealed.

"Well this guy that lives next to me was having some sort of party, and his friend Paul came over and introduced himself and invited me to the party. And then I met the guy that lives there, Jared. Except, when I introduced myself to him, he went into this trance or something…he just like stared at me and couldn't say anything."

"That's weird," Rae replied, "But maybe he was too impressed by your hotness!" I rolled my eyes. We talked for a few more minutes, until Todd showed up at Rae's house. I said goodbye to her, and hung up the phone. I decided to run to the store while it was still early, so that I would have time to make myself something good for dinner. I knew that there were a few towns near La Push, ones that probably had big name grocery stores, but I decided to just go to the La Push general store and see what they had there. I googled directions on my phone and set off in my car, arriving at the store within ten minutes. I sighed when I saw how small the store was, but then scolded myself for getting my hopes up; honestly, in a town this small, I should not have been surprised. Walking in, I noticed that this was the kind of store that locals visited to just hang out. Grocery store-wise, there wasn't a lot. Dry stuff, mostly. Considering that I liked to make everything fresh and from scratch, I was disappointed. One of the ladies noticed my unhappy expression and walked over to me.

"Lacking, isn't it?" She asked.

"Yeah…I like to make my food from scratch…I'm not much of a "from the box" person," I answered.

"Me, either," she replied, "I usually get my meat from the grocery store in Forks, and get my vegetables from one of the locals…speaking of locals, I don't think I've met you?"

"Oh, I'm Kim," I replied, "I actually just moved here yesterday. My Aunt Kenna Connweller lives here…she helped me find a place."

"Oh, I know Kenna!" she replied, "We used to be in a book club together. Anyways, if you're interested, my sister-in-law has a garden…I can send you over there to get some fresh vegetables if you want."

"That'd be great!" I replied, "But won't it be weird if I just show up there?"

"No, of course not," she said, "In La Push, we're like a family. Plus I'll call her and give her a heads up. By the way, I'm Lacey." She gave me directions to her sister-in-law Rachel's house. I bought an Arizona Iced Tea for the road and left, following Lacey's directions. I pulled up to Rachel's house a few minutes later (it was amazing how close everything was!) and as I parked my car I saw a woman walk out of the house. She had long black hair and russet colored skin. She was tall and slender, and walked gracefully. As I got out of the car, I heard her say, "You must be Kim!"

"I am," I replied, smiling, "And you must be Rachel?"

"I must be," she said, "So you want some fresh vegetables?"

"Yeah," I replied, "I went by the store and was a little…disappointed by their selection. I like my veggies."

"So do I," she replied, "A lot of people around here do, too. But everyone got tired of driving to Forks for mediocre vegetables, so a few of us decided to start growing our own. I have a pretty big garden, since I feed a lot of the neighbors. But I always have some to spare."

"That's great," I said, "I would love some fresh veggies in my house."

"Then take what you want," Rachel said, "Follow me, the garden's in the back." We walked around the house to the backyard, which had a very large vegetable garden. I could see almost every summer vegetable known to man. "Do you have anything to put the veggies in?" Rachel asked me.

"Yeah, I have some bags in my car, let me go grab them." I went to go grab the bags, and when I came back I saw Rachel hugging some guy.

"Oh, Kim, this is my husband, Paul!" The guy turned around, and sure enough, it was Paul from the party.

"Kim?" he said, surprised.

"Yeah…hey..?" I said, unsure. Rachel looked at us.

"Wait, you two know each other?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I met her at Jared's party last night," He explained.

"WAIT. THAT'S HER?!" Rachel yelled.

"Rachel!" Paul admonished. She looked surprised, her eyes wide.

"I'm so confused," I replied, "I'm just here to get vegetables."

"This is weird," Rachel whispered. Paul nodded.

"Can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?" I asked, borderline hysterically.

"Nothing," Paul stammered, "I just told Rachel about the new girl."

"No, no," I argued, "There is something else going on."

"I-I just know your Aunt Kenna," Rachel said, "She's friends with my dad. I'm just surprised that you showed up here, of all places." Personally, I didn't believe her. But I decided to drop the subject so that I could get my vegetables and get away from these crazy people.

"Oh, alright," I said, smiling, "I thought that something weird was going on for a second. But hey, I told my aunt that I'd have lunch with her today…so is it alright if I get the vegetables real quick?"

"Of course," Rachel said, somewhat shocked; she probably didn't think that I would actually believe her, "Pick whatever you want." I filled two grocery bags with vegetables, taking a variety of different types. I could hear Rachel and Paul whispering behind me, but I decided to just fake ignorance. When I had finished, I said goodbye to Paul and Rachel and left for my apartment. When I got home, I noticed that Jared wasn't hope. For some reason, I was a little sad. But then I thought, Why do I care? I got inside and put away the vegetables, trying to figure out some sort of organizational system for the refrigerator. Right as I finished, I heard a knock at the door. When I opened it, I saw Jared standing there.

"Jared?" I asked, confused, "What are you doing here?"