"Bella, two lattes, to go," Claire called to me. I looked up from the espresso machine and nodded.

It was Saturday and I managed to make it through my first early morning rush with no issues. The last few days went by very fast. Charlie and I had taken care of the bank account and Irina was given the direct deposit information so I was now officially an employee.

Work was going extremely well. I hadn't seen Irina since Wednesday. Once she had what she needed, she stopped coming around. Or maybe she was giving me my space. Although I doubted it was true, I did like the idea. It was nice to finally meet a vampire that respected my space. Still, I had low trust for vampires right now.

Claire continued to teach me. During the slow hours I would practice making drinks. The focus was to make them faster but still have them done correctly. It was a slow process which usually led to us drinking far more caffeine then we should, but overall it was going well.

I got the espresso machine going while I started to steam the milk for the lattes. Once they were finished, I handed the cups to Claire for the customers and started to clean up the mess.

"Well you made it through your first weekend rush," Claire said. "How was it?"

I grabbed my whiteboard. Not as bad as I thought.

"Well, that's good," Claire said. "It doesn't really get much worse than that. What time do you have to be at your barbeque?"

It seemed Irina had told Claire that I would have to leave a little early today. Claire was used to working alone so she wasn't bothered by it.

I have to leave at 2:45, I wrote. That would give me plenty of time to figure out where I was going. Charlie had sent the address, along with directions, but that didn't mean I wouldn't get lost.

Claire checked her watch. "You have about fifteen minutes," Claire told her. "You mind making me another macchiato? I'm doing a double today and could use the extra boost."

I nodded and got to work on making Claire's drink. I was actually pretty good at making macchiatos. I made them often enough, at least one or two a shift for Claire and one for me. It was the one drink I was most confident in making. I decided to make two macchiatos for Claire. A hot one for now, and an iced one to put in the staff fridge for when she needed it. I handed her the hot one when I finished and got to work on the second one. She assumed I was making it for myself and I would let her think that for now.

Now that I knew vampires ran this coffee shop, it was easy to see why they allowed us to have free coffee all the time. Irina and her family, most likely had far more money then they would ever need. It wasn't like they actually needed to have a shop. It was probably just a way to keep busy… like the others.

There's an iced macchiato in our fridge for you, I wrote. I tapped her shoulder and showed her the message.

"Thanks Bella," Claire said gratefully. "I may need it."

I studied her face. She did look exhausted. From our short conversations I knew she was doing online schooling to be a nurse. She worked at the coffee shop most days in order to pay for school and to take care of her four year old son. Her mother babysat so she could work long hours.

The eventual plan, at least Claire hoped, was to hire one more person after me. This would allow Claire to take more time off. I felt guilty after hearing that. The only reason Claire couldn't take more time off now was because I couldn't work alone. It wasn't that I couldn't do the job. It was the fact that I couldn't talk to the customers.

"Oh, you're going to be late," Claire exclaimed. I glanced at the time and saw it was already 2:53. I looked back at the espresso machine I hadn't gotten around to cleaning up. "Don't worry about that. Irina is going to come in a bit and help out. I'll clean it then."

I really didn't want to leave the mess for Claire to clean. It wasn't fair to add to the work she already had to do. But I was already running late and didn't have much of a choice. I grabbed my whiteboard, waved to her and ran out of the store.

I thought about Irina as I drove through the streets of Denali. She was definitely hiding something. Whether or not it was about me, I wasn't entirely sure. There was something about that phone call with Tanya that implied it did have to do with me.

The drive took twelve minutes, mostly because I missed a turn and had to drive an extra mile before I could safely turn around. I parked on the side of the street. There were so many cars I wasn't able to get into the driveway. But that was okay. This made it far easier to escape if I got bored or overwhelmed.

I turned off the truck and hopped out. I grabbed my whiteboard and checked my pockets, making sure the marker and eraser were still there. Once I had everything I made my way to the front door. Before I had a chance to knock the door swung open, revealing Charlie.

"Bells," he greeted happily. "I'm glad you came. Come on in. How was the drive?"

Missed the turn and had to turn around. Otherwise, it wasn't too bad.

"Good, good," Charlie said. "Eric!"

The man, Eric I assumed, turned around. "Charlie," he said. He walked over to us. "This must be your daughter."

"Bella, this is Eric Hanover. Eric this is my daughter, Bella," Charlie introduced. "Eric was the one that helped set everything up for our move."

Nice to meet you.

If Eric was surprised by the whiteboard he didn't say anything. "Nice to meet you too Bella," Eric said with a grin. "Charlie talks about you a lot. It's nice to finally put a face to the name." I blushed. "You go to Denali High right?"

I nodded. I'm a senior.

"Great, have you thought about your future plans?" Eric asked curious. He led me and Charlie to the kitchen. He grabbed what looked to be a bottle of beer. He popped it open and handed it to me. It wasn't beer though. It was root beer. "Are you going to follow in your father's footsteps?"

I shook my head. I'm too clumsy to be a cop. I'd probably shoot myself on accident. I want to go to college and maybe be a writer.

"A writer," Eric exclaimed. I winced slightly at the volume. He reminded me of someone… someone I missed but didn't want to think about. He was just so happy all the time. "That's really something. There are some creative writing classes offered at the community college. You should take one and see if you like it."

I glanced at Charlie. He seemed pleased by the idea. Then again, anything that made it look like I was moving on was good in Charlie's eyes.

I'll think about it. Summer might be better for me, with my new job.

"Oh, that's right. Charlie mentioned you got a new job. Kava Café right?" he questioned. I nodded. "I go there a lot. It's the only decent coffee shop in town. Have you met the owners?"

I've met Irina. She's the only that did the paperwork. She mentioned her sisters but I haven't met them. And I don't want to, I silently added.

"What's with these sisters?" Charlie questioned, looking between me and Eric.

"It's nothing Charlie," Eric said. "They're…well they're highly attractive." And vampires, I added mentally. "Most of the men in town have noticed. Hell, even the women have noticed."

Charlie glanced at me. No doubt thinking about the similarities between the sisters and the others. It's almost like he expected me to fall apart again. It wasn't going to happen. I was already broken. It couldn't get worse.

"Well, come on Bella, lets introduce you to the other guys," Eric said. He grabbed fresh beers for him and Charlie before leading me outside.

It turned out the real party was outside. There were a dozen adults gathered around and drinking beers. There looked to be a few couples in the mix.

"Eric," one of the guys exclaimed. He was standing by the barbeque, flipping carne asada. "Bout time you got out here. What kind of host are you?"

"Oh, calm down Jimmy," Eric said rolling his eyes. "I was being the perfect host. Charlie's daughter arrived." He nodded toward me.

"First, I haven't gone by Jimmy since I was 12," Jimmy said. "Second," he turned to me. "Nice to meet you. I'm Jim, not Jimmy."

"This is Bella," Charlie introduced. "She's a senior at the high school. Bella, Jim is another guy that works at the station. Let's see, that's Jim's wife Beth, then there's Alison, she works at the station." Charlie pointed out each of the adults and introduced them. Two women worked with them, at least two of the ones that were at this party.

Nice to meet you all.

I could see some of them exchanging looks but no one said anything. I'm sure they were all warned ahead of time about my…situation. Especially since none of them actually looked surprised.

The barbeque was going surprisingly well after the initial awkwardness. Once introductions were in order people kind of branched off into their own little groups. Charlie was talking sports with Eric, Jim and Diego, one of the other guys that worked at the station.

Some of the women had gathered to talk to each other. I overheard a bit of a conversation about kids and decided it wasn't for me. I sat at the large patio table and played with the rim of my root beer.

I was used to being isolated during parties like this, not that I had gone to many. I wasn't a social person so I kept to myself. Charlie wasn't particularly social either but when it came to certain interests, like sports, it was easier for him to interact.

After a few minutes one of the wives, Beth, came and sat beside me. "Fun isn't it?" she questioned. I glanced at her. "These parties, the cops are always huddled together, talking about…whatever the topic is for the day. The women do the same on the other end. Me? I prefer to stay home and read a good book."

I perked up at that. I loved to read. Even with everything, my love for reading never faded, even if my preference for certain books did. What books? I tapped the table to get her attention.

"Any," she answered. "Right now, I'm rereading Frankenstein. Do you read a lot?"

Yes, mostly classics like Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice. My favorites were Romeo and Juliet and Wuthering Heights.

"Were?" Beth asked.

I looked down at my whiteboard, debating on if I should reply. That stupid tugging sensation was back. I rubbed my chest and grabbed my marker.

I had a bad breakup and since then I haven't been able to look at those books.

Beth nodded in understanding. "First love?"

Yes. I know it's stupid and an overreaction on my part. I just can't help but feel I lost everything when he left. I shouldn't feel this way… not after the things he said to me.

"Losing your first love is always the hardest," Beth said softly. "You have this life that you built in your mind and then it all goes tumbling down." She gently patted my hand and for a second, I felt anger. It vanished almost as quickly as it came. "It won't feel like this forever Bella. One day you'll meet the person you're meant to be with and that first love will be nothing but a memory. Just be patient."

Thanks. I think I needed to hear that.

"Now, I may have overheard your dad mention you want to be a writer," Beth said.

I have been thinking about it. I'm still mostly undecided.

"Well, I don't know if you've heard but I teach several English classes at the community college," Beth said. "If you're interested I can give you a copy of my syllabus and you're more than welcome to audit one of my classes."

The syllabus would be great. Eric mentioned a creative writing class. I was thinking of taking it over the summer once I graduate. I have a little too much catching up to do, to be able to do it now.

"Creative writing," Beth repeated with a grin. "Well you're in luck. I happen to teach that class as well." My eyes lit up at the thought. "I'll bring that syllabus as well. I do not know if it will be offered in the summer but it will be available in the spring."

"Ah," Alison said plopping down next to Beth. "I can't deal with this today."

"What's going on?" Beth asked. She glanced at Bella before turning her attention back to Alison.

Alison took a drink of her beer. "April did it again," Alison said shaking her head. "She invited that chick… gah I can't remember her name. The one she's been trying to date for over a year now but she's not even interested."

"Tanya," Beth supplied.

"Tanya, that's it," Alison said snapping her fingers.

I looked up at the mention of Tanya. Was this possibly the same Tanya? No, it couldn't be. It was a small town but it wasn't that small. Tanya wasn't that uncommon of a name. There was no way it was the same Tanya. Normal humans don't try to date vampires. Which said a lot about me when I thought about it.

"Anyway, she invited Tanya," Alison continued. "I'm not sure if she'll even show up but still… it's been a year. Why keep trying for someone that is clearly not interested in you."

I flinched. Beth seemed to notice my discomfort. "Come on Ali, let's go get some more drinks." Beth grabbed Alison's hand and dragged her away from the table.

I tapped my fingers on the table. Now that I was alone I wasn't sure what to do. The tugging sensation would not go away. In fact, it felt like it was getting stronger. It was as if I were tethered to something and that something was getting closer to me. It made no sense.

I grabbed my bottle of root beer and sighed when I realized it was empty. I sat it back on the table and contemplated getting up to go get another one.

It turned out I didn't need to decide. Someone tapped me on the shoulder with a fresh bottle. I assumed it was Charlie. My fingers brushed against his and I froze. Those fingers did not belong to Charlie. They were much too cold and hard like a statue.

I jerked my hand away causing the bottle to fall but it never hit the ground. I turned and saw a vampire. But it wasn't Irina, it was a different one, most likely her sister.

It took me a moment to realize the tugging sensation… the strange tether I felt. It all lead to this one vampire. "Hello Bella," the woman greeted. "I'm Tanya."