"NO OFFENSE, BUT FOR YOUR AGE, YOU'RE PRETTY BORING."

Anna raised her head and looked at the boy with furrowed brows. "I'm not," she denied. "I'm responsible, that's different. I can't play with you while I'm working."

"No, you're just boring."

Rolling her eyes, Anna let out a long-suffering sigh. "Don't you have homework or something?"

Colin shrugged and continued to shuffle the cards in his hand. Anna looked at one of the many clocks in the store. It was half an hour before her shift was over.

Connie Black hadn't even interviewed her for the job. The woman had been delighted with her at first sight, saying that she didn't need to know too much, and if her brother Billy had recommended her, it was enough

And the job wasn't particularly difficult. Most of the clients were surfers who visited La Push and wanted to take home little souvenirs like keychains or snow globes with small imitations of the forest inside.

Perhaps the only difficult part was dealing with Colin, Connie's son, who showed up every day after school to, according to him, 'learn the trade', but in reality only distracted her, moved things around, and of course, insisted on taking her out on a date.

Though Anna had to admit that the first time had been funny.

"My God, no. Aren't you, like, eleven?"

The boy had almost puffed up his chest indignantly. "I'm twelve!"

Anna had smirked. "Oh my bad. That makes all the difference," she shook her head. "Sorry Colin. I can't date someone who still has a bedtime."

He scowled. "I'll have you know, I've been shaving for almost a month now."

She couldn't help but laugh. "You really know how to sell yourself."

"So... Can I take that as a yes?"

"Nope. But don't give up. I'm sure there's someone out there who would be impressed."

By the time her shift ended, Connie would show up at the store ready to close everything up. Sometimes Anna would go with them in their car to her bus stop, while other times she preferred to walk. It all depended on her mood.

Today in particular was one of those days where she needed to feel the cold January air on her face. As she walked, she pulled her scarf tighter around her neck and dug her hands deep into the pockets of her coat. The chill was biting, but she welcomed it.

Just as she approached the bus stop, she saw a familiar figure walking towards her.

"Anna!"

Her heart skipped a beat as she turned to see Jacob Black approaching her, looking as if he had stepped out of a movie. Or so it looked to her. She didn't understand it. How could it be legal to be so beautiful?

"Jacob!" she greeted, trying to keep her voice steady. "What are you doing here?"

A smile spread across his face, making his eyes crinkle at the corners.

She felt again like a little girl with a stupid crush.

"The bonfire, remember? I was going there with some friends," he explained. Anna remembered. It seemed that as she had predicted, Bella had turned him down. She said nothing about it. "Let me guess, you get off work? How's my lovely family treating you?"

She put a finger to her mouth, as if overthinking it. "Connie's a sweetheart. Colin a little devil, but he's okay."

"Do I take that as he tried to make a move on you?" he laughed. She was about to ask how he knew that, but the boy interrupted her with more laughter. "Just so you know, you're all he talks about. I think I heard him tell a couple of his friends that you're his girlfriend."

"That little...

"Hey Jake, who's this?"

A little too infatuated by Jacob's, the girl Swan hadn't even noticed the other two boys who had approached him. She internally felt embarrassed, hoping that none of them had caught her staring at the boy like a fool.

"Guys, this is Anna, Charlie Swan's niece and a family friend," Jacob introduced her. He then stood next to her and pointing to his friends added "Anna, these are Quil and Embry."

Quil and Embry. The names sounded familiar to her. She had probably heard them at some point in her life, though the two people in front of her were complete strangers.

"I'm Quil, Quil Ateara," the boy who had previously spoken introduced himself, extending his hand. Anna nodded, shaking it. He was the shortest of the two.

"Nice to meet you," she answered. Her gaze shifted to the other boy. He was tall, almost as tall as Jacob. He had long hair, parted in the middle and tied in a low ponytail. He was also smiling, but it was a shy smile that Anna could relate to, so she returned the gesture. "And I guess you must be Embry?" she extended her hand to him.

He took it in a squeeze. Unlike Quil who had taken her hand firmly, Embry had been gentler. "That's right, I'm Embry, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Embry."

She looked straight into his eyes. They were a pretty shade of brown. She thought there was something kind and pleasant about them.

"So Anna..." Quil took a few steps forward, a flirtatious smile dancing on her lips. She didn't miss the eye roll of both Jacob and Embry. "You live here? I never saw you. I didn't know Charlie had a niece."

"Well I grew up in Seattle, mostly. But my mom recently took a job at Forks Hospital. So here I am... Again."

"So you're practically new here. Do you have someone to show you around?"

Before the girl could answer, Jacob grabbed his friend by the collar of his shirt, pulling him back. "Okay, that's enough."

"What? I didn't...!"

"I'm sure Anna remembers Forks well enough, thank you Quil." He then sent her an apologetic smile, though Anna found it rather amusing. "Well, it was good to see you. See you another day?"

She nodded in response, a small grin in her face "Yeah, sure," she said, raising her hand in a wave. "I still owe Billy a dinner."

Anna watched as the three boys walked away, their footsteps fading in the distance. Her mind still fixated on the sound of Jacob's laugh.

As she stood there, a sense of impulsivity overcame her. It was completely out of character for her, as she was usually reserved and cautious. But the thought of hearing Jacob laugh again, or being the cause of his laughter was too irresistible. So she took a deep breath and started walking in the direction they had gone

"Jacob!"

She had caught up to them, and at her shout, the three boys stopped in their tracks. Despite her burning cheeks, she smiled shyly.

"Is the invitation to the bonfire still on?"

⸻

"Want a drink?" Anna lifted her head following the direction of the voice. She observed the boy offering her refreshments and politely declined, pointing to the soda can already in her hand. She remembered seeing that boy's face in one of her classes, was it Matt? Mark? No, it was definitely Mark.

The boy shrugged and continued handing out refreshments to the rest of the crowd.

Despite her aversion to the beach and everything related to the sea, she internally admitted that it wasn't so bad. Perhaps it was because of the memerizing blue flames that danced before her eyes and the salty sea air mingled with the fragrance of burning wood, creating a unique and comforting scent. Or maybe because everyone around her seemed nice and kept to their own business.

Or maybe it was because she couldn't take her eyes off Jacob, her mind putting aside any bad memories.

"It wasn't like that!" Quil protested. Since the three boys had arrived they hadn't stopped telling her all sorts of anecdotes, which made her feel comfortable because she didn't like being the center of attention at all. And currently, they were going through the one in which Quil took her cousin to prom. "I had, like, too many options and I didn't want to upset anyone so I chose to go with her, okay?"

Anna couldn't help but chuckle at Quil's explanation. "So you took your cousin to prom just to avoid any drama? Did you at least get her a corsage?" she teased.

Quil rolled his eyes. "Of course I did. And I made sure to match it to her dress perfectly."

Embry raised his eyebrows playfully. "A true gentleman."

Jacob chimed in, "At least you didn't have to worry about any awkward moments at the end of the night. I mean, you could just give her a high five and call it a night."

The group erupted in laughter. Even Quil, who had tried to maintain his serious posture, couldn't hide the amusement on his face any longer.

Anna felt good. She couldn't recall laughing so freely and genuinely, at least not since she had arrived in Forks. By the time the bonfire ended, she promised the boys to meet again and was surprised to realize the truth of that promise. She wanted to see them again. Quil was funny just by breathing. Embry, though he didn't talk much, was sweet and friendly. And Jacob...

Well, Jacob was a totally different thing.

Anna wasn't sure if it was because the way Jake's smile made her smile too, or because his eyes were the most beautiful she had seen in a long time, but there was something about him that made her heart skip a beat and her gaze linger on him longer than necessary.

But she didn't want to dwell too much on it. She didn't want to jump any conclusions, not after just one night of hanging out with him and his friends. She reminded herself that she had only just moved to Forks, and she didn't know anyone well yet. Maybe it was just the excitement of making new friends and being included. Or perhaps the memories and idealizations of her innocent childhood were playing a tricks on her.

"There was another report of an animal attack today," her mother told her. She had arrived home from the hospital minutes after Anna from the bonfire, her face marked by dark circles of tiredness.

"At least do they know what kind of animal?"

"Mm... I think a bear."

⸻

It was saturday and Anna was at Megan Mallory's house, her project partner.

It wasn't something explicit, but a method had been established between both girls: Megan basically wrote down whatever Anna instructed her. And she liked it that way. She liked having control, especially when it came to her studies. And the good thing was that Megan didn't object to it.

"So, you lived in Forks as a kid?"

They had reached the halfway point of the assignment and had agreed to finish it another day, but Megan's mother had insisted that she stay for dinner. She had been an old friend of her mother back in high school, so inviting her to dinner was the least she could do, or so she had said.

"That's right."

"Why did you leave?"

Anna pursed her lips. Although Megan was an easy person to be around, she had already noticed from some comments that she was someone extremely gossipy, so she thought carefully about her words.

"Well, at that time my mom had received a job offer in Seattle that she didn't want to turn down. And it was good for us after..."

"Your father's death?"

Anna was taken aback by the abrupt comment. She clenched her jaw, feeling the urge to get up and leave, but trying to keep her face neutral under the insistent gaze of the girl who still awaited her response.

"Yes, after my father's death."

"I know. I heard my mother talking about it. Sorry too."

"Thank..."

"I would love to start somewhere else," the girl interrupted. "My sister Lauren and I are always planning how to leave this town. It's just too boring." Then she laughed to herself. "At least it was interesting when the Cullens were here."

Upon hearing the name, Anna felt interested. She was still frustrated from not having found anything about them. So, trying not to sound desperate, she tried to get more out of Megan on the subject. It wasn't difficult, the girl's big, blue eyes lit up at the new possibility of sharing all her gossip information.

"Oh, they were beautiful!" she giggled. "Like the kind of beauty you see in Hollywood. But don't get your hopes up, they were all togheter."

"Wasn't dreaming about it... Wait, did you say they were all togheter?"

"Yeah. They're adopted, you know. So they were together. Rosalie and Emmett, Jasper and Alice."

"That's not creepy at all."

Megan ignored her comment. "And Edward was alone until Bella arrived and then, boom! New couple of the year."

Anna's curiosity was piqued. Trying to keep it casual, she continued. "Tell me more about them."

"Well, as you know her father was the head Doctor at the Hospital. I never saw him personally, but my mom says he was heartbreaking," she sighed with a dreamy expression. "I never met Mrs. Cullen either. They didn't come to town often and it was said that they always traveled... Oh!" she exclaimed, remembering something. "On sunny days, they went camping. Can you believe that? And to think my mother only sends me outside to get more vitamin D."

Anna chuckled at the last comment. "Well it sounds like they had a pretty amazing childhood."

"Of course, they were rich as hell!" She sounded excited as she talked about the topic. Anna wondered how many gossips the Cullens had endured during their time there. "It was a shame that they were so private. They always seemed to hate being here... Well, can you blame them?"

Anna smiled pretending to agree. After dinner, Megan's parents kindly drive her home. It was becoming a habit to travel in other people's cars, so she made a mental note to count her savings again and see if she could afford a used car.

And if anything needed to be fixed, Jacob could help her with it.

That made her smile.

The night wasn't easy. But she had grown used to it.

This time, her nightmares changed scenery. The beach, dangerous and dark as always, appeared in the distance. Looking around, Anna noticed that she was surrounded by the green vegetation of the forest.

As she trudged through the dense undergrowth, Anna suddenly stumbled upon a small clearing in the forest. In the center of it, she saw a camping area. Tents were set up and a small campfire burned in the middle. It looked like the campers had just left, as there were still utensils and a few pieces of uneaten food on the ground.

Anna felt a sense of unease wash over her, wondering where the campers had gone and why they had left everything behind.

She could feel the warmth emanating from the flames, and she realized just how cold she was. She sat down by the fire and hugged her knees to her chest.

For a moment she forgot about the terror that had been stalking her, lost in the comfort of the fire. But then, as she looked up, she saw a figure standing just beyond the firelight, watching her.

Tall and pale, as pale as a ghost. Its face was unrecognizable. It seemed to have no form or shape, as if it were made of mist or smoke. She couldn't make out any features on its face, but she could feel its eyes piercing through her, cold and unrelenting. Its presence was suffocating, and Anna felt as if she couldn't breathe.

She tried to run, but her legs felt heavy and uncooperative. She was paralyzed with fear, unable to move or even scream.

The figure drew even closer and Anna could make out a pair of glowing red eyes in the center of its featureless face. She couldn't look away from them, they held her in a trance.

The closer it got, the more she felt like it was draining the life out of her. Finally, as the figure loomed right in front of her, she let out a blood-curdling scream. Everything went black.

She woke up.