Chapter One

I hadn't even seen the house that my parents had decided they wanted to move in to. I don't care what it looks like, as long as it has all the necessary rooms and it is clean. That's all I really care about. What is a more pressing matter for me though; is whether there is a reasonably good dance studio around, and whether there is a skate park. I had made sure my mother had kept those two things in mind when choosing our latest house to live in.

I am definitely going to miss the city. I had lived in New York before moving here, and California before that. Forks, Washington, is a small town. I would call it a village. But apparently villages are even smaller! I can't even begin to imagine a place smaller than Forks.

I am joining Forks High, the only high school that exists in Forks. Before in Cali and in New York, I had gone to the best grammar schools, two years ago, I had to skip two grades of schooling and join one of the many classes, with students two years older than I was at the time. I am abnormally clever for my age. I learn things very easily. I'm not just talking about being your average geek, because I'm really not a geek, but I learn stuff as easy and naturally as breathing.

Most things I know, I wasn't taught. The two grades I skipped, I was never officially taught, but my parents had insisted on asking for me to skip the years, so to prove I could, the head had given me the papers that I would have had to have sat, and I did them just like that, without having learnt any of the stuff on them. The grade I am in now is still too easy, but I hate being the freak two grades above the normal. So, naturally, I refused to skip any more grades.

I can't begin to explain how weird it feels knowing that this morning I was in a New York grammar school and living in a huge city, to now living in this 'town'. I will be okay though, living here, I had chosen to live here. I know earlier I had said I hadn't chosen the house, but I had chosen the town. I had chosen to move here for one reason - and one reason only. My twin brother. It's a long story, but let's just say... He died about a year ago. He was literally all that kept me going over the past horrible, terrifying, outrageous year. That year, too, is a long story. But six months after that, part of my life was over; on our birthday, my brother goes and dies, well, in some ways anyway.

My parents had chosen the room that was to be mine. In a small town like this, you wouldn't expect such a large house. This house. My house. It exists on the edge of the town, and it was a relatively large house. My parents, although I don't like to mention it, are rather rich. So with the money comes the advantage of more privacy, not that I will get much here in Forks, I'm sure, and as much room as you need; and with the amount of things we own, we need a lot of space.

I'm not even sure what my parent's jobs are. I know that my mother stopped working a couple of years ago; she quit her job because she didn't like her boss, and never bothered getting a new job. My dad does something that involves him going to a lot of meetings and wearing suits. Their jobs have never interested me, and neither has the amount of money they earn. It sounds stupid doesn't it? The rich girl who doesn't want the money. Money is one thing that I really don't care about, and I care about everything. I am a very 'green' person. An animal lover. I don't eat animals. I care about people, like they are the most important thing in the word, and I have taken many trips in my summers to places in Africa to help build wells, and schools and hospitals, using my own money. Well when I say my own, I mean the money my parents gave me. I really dislike being rich, so I spend the money my parents earn on things that are actually important.

I dance, a lot. Dancing is the main thing that takes up my spare time. Dancing and skating. I do three types of skating: blades, BMX and board. No ice just ramps and concrete. If you're ever looking for me, that is where I'll be: a dance studio or the skate park. My spare time also used to consist of learning musical instruments, but like I said, I learn things too easily, and learning to play musical instruments soon bored me.

Since Aaron died, I haven't really played any of the instruments. I have a grand piano, keyboard, flute, violin, a large drum kit, and all types of guitars, a clarinet, a cello and a harp. I can play all of them perfectly. When I got bored of one, I just moved onto the next instrument I decided would be fun to learn. I only ever had lessons for the piano, and Aaron had taught me the guitar. One of the reasons I find learning so easy is because I can watch someone do something and then I can automatically do it too.

We have a room that is meant to be a bedroom specifically for my instruments. It is next door to my new bedroom, and is really big. I guess for all of those instruments, it would have to be, because on top of the instruments, there are amps, microphones, the cases, the cleaning products, the stools or chairs, and floor space to walk between the instruments. My bedroom and the instrument room run the length of the front of the house. Both rooms have little balconies, not that we really need them because it's forever raining here.

My room is now painted with one black wall that has multi-colour paint splattered all over it. The other three walls, are three different colours of the paint splatters; bright green, bright orange and –even though I hate the colour- bright pink. I have my double bed in one corner. My huge built in closet, which runs the full length of one wall and is now painted bright green, is opposite my bed. I have a desk against the bright pink wall, and that's about it in my newly acquired room.

Unpacking was simple for me. I don't own all those girly objects that you would expect to find in a room owned by someone like me. Everything pretty much lives in the closet. I had to unpack the instrument room too, which took all of about 10 minutes. After, I just did some painting – something I do a lot to calm me down when I'm starting to get annoyed – I'm apparently a good artist. Most of the stuff I do is to get my emotions out, and no one sees it.

I don't know how I'm going to last here in Forks, without going completely mad. There are so few shops that I could scream. My parents swore there was a good dance studio here, but by Sunday morning, I still hadn't found it. I had been at the skate park all weekend, as I had nothing else to do. I was walking around Forks on Saturday, and found that there was a gymnasium here. If my parents have confused gymnastics with dance, I might scream. Gymnastics is part of my past now, I don't want to go back to that yet. I have good reasons, believe me.

Okay, so I'm absolutely dreading tomorrow. Monday morning. A new school. I am going to be the freak from the city. That's if I'm not a big enough freak already. I have these gifts. I don't know how I have them, but they're real all right. I can get into peoples heads, hear their thoughts, look at their memories, that kind of thing. I don't like to though, because I think people's thoughts and memories are private. I would think that though, after everything I've been through in the past two years.

I can also jump places. Its like I can be in one place and as quick as blinking I can be in another place, as long as I know what that place looks like. I guess at least I know that the film "Jumper" was real and not just a story. I can 'sense' things too. It's kind of strange actually. I can sense exactly when it's going to rain, or when my phone is going to ring. I can sense what people are. You would be surprised how many 'humans' there are out there. People like me don't exist, but mythical creatures do. It sounds stupid, I know. I couldn't believe it at first either, but I met them, and I have no choice about believing it.