That night, I sat at my desk, reading. I heard Bella's bedroom door open and close quietly, then her feet padding down the stairs. I knew dad was asleep and smiled. My sister was never the type to sneak out. That was my job. I got up and looked out the window.

     She was trying to crank her truck but the engine rolled over. She sat in there for a few minutes,  then got out and stormed inside. Where was she trying to go?

/////////     

The next morning was my first day at Forks High School. I chose a red multi colored pullover cropped sweater, a denim jacket, light blue denim high waisted shorts, and pink Vans. I pulled my hair into a loose ponytail and positioned a pink print bow on the top of the hairband.

     I put my notebooks in my silver Victoria's Secret backpack and jogged downstairs. Dad sat at the table, sipping coffee and reading the newspaper.

    "Where's Bella?" He looked up and smiled.

     "Edward already picked her up for school. You can take her truck." He tossed me a pair of keys. But it wasn't working last night when she tried to sneak out... I shrugged and went outside, hopped in, threw my bag in the passenger seat, and turned the key. The engine roared to life and I groaned. God, it's loud!

     I drove into the parking lot, music blaring, turning heads as per usual. I parked close to the entrance and grabbed my bag, getting out and leaning against the bed. I pulled a cigarette from my pocket and lit it, which earned stares from other students. The cigarette was snatched from my mouth and I looked up.

     "Hey! Mind your own business!" I looked up at Bella putting the cigarette out against the tailgate and she looked down at me, her hands on her hips.

     "Noreen..." She warned.

     "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. What's up?" I looked behind her to see Edward and some other people I guessed were his siblings. A short girl about my height with a pixie haircut and a big smile. A guy a little taller than her with hair the same color as Edward's but longer.

     A girl with long blonde hair and red lips a few inches taller than me and a big bear-like guy with short black hair and a smile. They were all dressed nicely. Charlie told me about them; they were all adopted. Rosalie and Jasper—the blonde and the one with longer hair—were Hale's, full siblings. Edward, Alice, and Emmett—the short girl and the big guy—were Cullen's.

     "Noreen, these are Edward's siblings. Alice and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett." Bella said unenthusiastically. I smiled my widest smile—I used to get made fun of because kids said my teeth fit Mr. Ed status—and shook their hands. They were cold. Rosalie was kind of put off and rude.

     She didn't say anything and barely smiled, but I could tell we would be friends. Emmett seemed like the big brother type and Alice was warm and happy. Jasper was neutral.

     I didn't have any classes with them; Rose and Jasper were juniors and the rest were seniors. I'm a sophomore. I was mostly alone until lunch when Bella dragged me to her table with her friends. Edward was there though and Alice and Jasper. I sat by Bella.

      "Noreen, these are my friends. Jessica, Mike, Angela, and Eric." Mike was kind of tall, football player type with brown hair and brown eyes. His smile was warm but he looked at me weird. Jessica didn't like my sister at all. I could see it. And she kept glancing between me and Mike.

     She had long wavy honey colored hair and her smile was fake. Eric was Asian with flippy black hair and he smiled a lot. Angela was the nicest. She had long dark hair, glasses, and a nice smile like Eric.

     "Hey, guys. How's it hangin'?" I smiled and bit into my Burger.

     "A little to the left," Mike joked. I almost choked on my food and chuckled. I was quiet as Jessica talked about her valedictorian speech. Alice said she was going to host a graduation party. Apparently no one had ever been to the Cullen house because everyone was silent and shocked.

     Alice sat back suddenly with a worried, glazed over look on her face. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at Bella. Bella started talking about something random and Jasper put his hand on Alice's shoulder. Weird, much?

/////////    

When the school day was done, I followed Edward and Bella to the police station. We waited outside and dad was inside talking to a sad looking couple.

     "What's wrong?" I asked quietly.

     "Their son went missing a while back. He's a local guy from Forks." Edward whispered something to Bella and I rolled my eyes. The parents left and dad came out. I hugged him.

     "How was your first day, sweetheart?" He asked.

"Good. But I refuse to drive that loud truck." We all laughed.

     "By the way, Bella, you should use those airline tickets my parents got you for your birthday to visit your mom before they expire. Maybe this weekend." I looked back and forth between the three people standing there. Airline tickets? To see mom? Wow. His parents must be rich. Dad agreed reluctantly to Edward flying with her, but he couldn't really do anything.

/////////    

That weekend, after Bella and Edward left, I was alone with dad. We didn't do much besides catch baseball on TV, which I enjoyed. I was girly, but baseball had always been the thing my dad and I had in common. We yelled at the television, then a knock came at the door. I got up to answer it.

     "Hey, Noreen!" Seth said excitedly.

     "Hey, Seth. What's up, big boy?" I ruffled his hair and smiled.

     "Billy told me to come see if you and your dad wanted to come over. He's frying fish." He taunted. Billy and Harry's fish fry was my favorite thing, next to baseball butts. Dad agreed and I ran upstairs to find something to wear.

     Fish fries were like crawfish boils in Jacksonville—messy. I grabbed a pair of black Nike sweatpants, a black Rihanna T-shirt, and black boots. I went back downstairs and Seth stared at me, smiling and blushing.

     "Um, Seth, how did you get here? You can't drive," Dad said suspiciously.

     "Mom let us take her car. Leah is outside. Let's go." He looked kind of worried, but dad and I followed him out to the tan car and got in the backseat.

      "Hey, Lee Lee." I reached forward and squeezed her shoulder. God, that girl had been through a lot of shit. Her boyfriend, love of her life that boy was, left her for her cousin. Then her dad died. Rachel filled me in on the Sam thing. She smiled weakly and backed up.

     It was a quiet trip to Billy's house. I wasn't really nervous about being back there though. I had Leah, Seth, and Rachel. I hadn't met their friends, besides Embry and Quil.

     We pulled up in front of the small red house—it actually wasn't raining and muddy today—and Seth led us inside. I was a little self-conscious when I walked in with Leah because there were eight people in the room. I recognized Embry and Quil right away and they got up, hugging me. Dad went into the kitchen, leaving me at their mercy. Leah stood by me.

     "Guys, this is Rachel Noreen Swan. Bella's sister. Call her Noreen." Everyone looked at me weird. Again, Jacob wasn't here.

     "You look kind of like Bella, but you're not Bella," one guy said. He seemed to be the oldest.

     "Thank God," said one of the tall buff guys sitting next to Rachel. I turned to him, narrowing my eyes. Rachel elbowed his ribs.

      "She's the one named after me " Rachel piped up, looking around. I smiled and took the seat next to her.

     "Hi, Noreen. I'm Emily and this is Sam." Oh, shit. Emily Young and Sam Uley! Leah's cousin and ex-boyfriend. The ones Rachel told me about. Emily was really pretty, even with the scars along her face. Okay, I couldn't hate her. She was too sweet. Maybe there was more to the story...

     "This is Paul. And Jared Cameron. I think Jake will be here soon." Rachel gesturing to the guy next to her, then to another tall guy.

     Just then, the front door opened and a tall, muscular Jacob stood in the doorway smiling at everyone. His hair was wet with sweat and he was shirtless. Oh my. He had some weird tattoo on his shoulder and I couldn't make it out.

     "Jacob Black," I said unbelieving. He looked at me and his face fell. His eyes were blank and wide and everyone in the room held their breath. It was weird. Then he smiled and took a stepped forward.

      "Noreen."