I do not own twilight, but I wish I did, for that would make me rich... Enjoy

The sky was overcast and the trees loomed around the isolated road like tall, immovable protectors. I absorbed all of the greenery with great interest, wondering how much sunlight moss needed to grow in such damp conditions. Large ferns, tiny evergreen trees and enough green shrubbery to make the ground look like a sea of leaves hid the dirt from sight. I stifled a tired yawn and glanced at the taxi driver in the seat ahead of me. He barely spoke a word the entire drive, and the only reason I knew he was alive was his consistent driving. I fiddled my thumbs nervously, trying not to shift around in the dirty back seat. My hand itched for the book in my purse but I knew my car sickness would prevent me from getting any reading done.

A painted wooden sign passed by and I suddenly grew nervous. La Push, I was almost to La Push. Being here wasn't exactly my idea, but it didn't really bother me either. In fact, I was a tiny bit excited up until now. When my mother first brought up the exchange program I thought it was the silliest idea I'd ever heard, but I was easily convinced. It's not like I had much keeping me in Wisconsin anyway, just my family. I didn't have many friends and I didn't really participate in extracurricular activities. Honestly I believed my mother was sending me here in the hopes that I will actually connect with people my age in a healthy and positive way. It was a bit silly, and very embarrassing, but I knew she meant well. It wasn't the fact that I'd have to make new acquaintances or learn a new school that had me worried, no, it was the call I received the day before I took a plane to Washington.

As I was triple-checking that I packed everything I'd need for a year away from home, we received a call from my host family. The felt horrible about it, of course, but it wasn't their fault. In a cruel twist of fate, the lovely elderly couple I'd been writing back and forth to had a horrible house fire that rendered them unable to house me. They would be fine, they were moving in with their eldest daughter, but that left me in a tricky situation. They had worked it all out before even calling, but I was worried. I was now to stay with a lovely young couple that are apparently pillars of the community. They promised I wasn't intruding and that the woman, Emily, was more than thrilled I would be staying.

What unsettled me, though, was the fact they didn't mention how her husband felt about this.

I was startled from my thoughts when the driver violently braked and I looked around to see that we were in the driveway of a lovely little home. The driver looked back at me with his barely-there mustache and his bland, dark eyes. I pushed my hand into my pocket and pulled out the required amount of money, including a tip, and handed it to him. He pressed a button and I heard the trunk pop, and I opened the door quickly and snagged my purse, rushing to get out of the disgusting cab. He watched me manhandle my bags from the trunk, not even offering to lift a finger, and pulled away the moment I had all of my bags on the yard and closed the trunk.

I took a deep breath of the crisp, natural air, and sighed. I steeled my nerves and straightened my spine, dragging my multitude of suitcases behind me. I lugged my way up the small stoop and freed one of my hands to ring the bell. I searched around the door for the little button but I couldn't find it, so I settled for knocking. I set one of the bags on my arm onto the ground to give myself a wider range of motion, and lifted my hand to knock. Just as I was about to, the door swung open and knocked me onto my butt. As if that wasn't enough, the door pushed my bag over and the contents spilled out, landing one of my precious books into a dirty mud puddle. My heart cracked when I noticed the cover, it was my favorite novel. I made the sound of a wounded animal and turned to look up at whoever opened the door.

He wasn't looking at me though, and he stepped around me and left the property. All I saw was his back, and how ridiculously tall he was. I sighed again and felt my lower lip pucker out in a pout. My poor, poor book. A noise in the doorway caught my attention and I looked up, spotting another guy standing in the doorway. At first he glanced at where the other man had left, but his gaze quickly turned to me. He seemed surprised to see me on the ground, my bags open and spilled around me. He quickly shook it off though and bent to help me pick my stuff up off the ground.

"You must be Lillian Greene," he said. I nodded and he quickly continued. "I'm sorry about Paul, he has a temper."

"That's alright," I replied, my voice barely louder than a whisper. I knelt at the edge of the stoop and pick up my book, gazing at it sadly as brown water dripped from its pages. I looked back to the man. "You must be Mr. Sam Uley?" I meant it as a statement but it came out more of a question.

He smiled, "You can call me Sam."

"I suppose you could call me Lilly then." He gathered up my bags and somehow managed them through the small door, I quickly followed with my sopping wet book. I glanced around the room and smiled, it was lovely and homey and had a lot of neutral colors. it seemed a bit messy, more so than simply lived in. I cleared my throat and tried to break the silence, "You have a lovely home."

"You're lucky you got here when you did, the guys just left," he laughed. I tilted my head in confusion but smiled politely. "If you'd have gotten here any sooner the place would have been much messier than it is now."

We fell into another silence as he led me through the small, two-storey house. The lived-in homey theme carried through the entire house, and it was open and bright with a lot of windows. You could see the forest surrounding the property from almost any point in the house, and all of the rooms seemed to be centered around the kitchen, so I don't think I could get lost. He lead me down a small hallway with about four doors, he pointed out the last two and said that those were to his and Emily's room, and their master bath. The other was an unfinished room and the one closest to the stairs was to be my room. Across from my room was a full bathroom, one he said wasn't used often as he and Emily had their own and the guests used the half bath downstairs, so I could basically claim it as my own.

After setting my plethora of stuff into my room he told me that I could get settled and that Emily would call me to supper in an hour or two. I flopped onto the soft double bed and looked around the room, this would be my home for the next year. It was nice, well furnished and roomy. My gaze quickly abandoned the ordinary room for the view though, and from the large bay window I had a perfect view of the back yard. I decided that it would be my reading spot, and I got myself up to start unpacking.

After finishing packing and having a wonderful meal with the Uleys, I decided a few things. For one, Emily's scar doesn't detract from how beautiful she is, both on the outside and the inside. Two, Sam is a very stern person who is more serious than not, but he looks at Emily like she is the sun, the moon, and the stars. Three, I could be happy here. The only thing that concerned me was the fact that they often have a gaggle of teenage boys that spend a good portion of their time here, and I would end up going to school with them. Sam told me they are nice, and that the incident with Paul shouldn't make me wary of the other guys, but I'm a naturally shy person, and all these people concerned me. Maybe I could get away with hiding in my room, reading, whenever they show up.

Turns out I couldn't.

The final days of summer vacation drifted by on a lazy breeze, and school started in less than a fortnight. Emily was the kindest woman I had ever met, and she taught me to cook during the day. Sam was nice enough, stern and straight-faced, but kind underneath. The 'boys' dropped in unannounced quite often, but so far I had managed to avoid them like the black plague. Unfortunately that couldn't last forever, and my luck had run dry.

Emily was busy in the kitchen, baking cookies and adding to the massive amount of food she had handy in case any of the boys dropped in and required nourishment. I walked into the kitchen and smiled, watching her dance around in a flurry of activity for a moment before I interrupted. I cleared my throat and she jumped, "Sorry Emily, do you need any help?"

She laughed, "Not right now Lily, but could you hang around for a minute, Sam will be coming home and then we can eat."

I shrugged my shoulders, "Sure,I'll just watch T.V. for a while." She smiled and waved me off, returning to her kitchen duties. I wandered to the living room, sitting myself on the couch and curled up at the end. I turned on the television, settling on an hour-long crime drama and quickly got lost in the plot. Before I knew it the house was invaded and the channel was changed. I spun to face the holder of the remote, recognizing the back that faced me. "Excuse me?" I tried, but he didn't respond. "Um, I was watching that." He glanced at me and grunted, a strange, noncommittal noise that basically shrugged off my presence. My blood boiled and I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything more, Sam interrupted.

"Lilly, so you finally decided to meet the guys." I shrugged, glancing back at the imposing and irritatingly rude child in front of the T.V. I carefully uncurled myself from my spot on the couch and stood, beckoning for Sam to lead the way. "Great! Now the pack-" he paused, glancing at me for a moment before continuing' "-isn't all here." He cleared his throat, "You've met Paul."

"Yes, he's a delight," I muttered under my breath, but he seemed to have heard it. By then we had entered the kitchen only to see poor Emily fending off three boys as she tried to finish out meals.

"This is Seth, Quill, and Embry," he pointed out each burly yet extremely attractive guy and they gave nods of hello in return, between stuffing their faces with some of Emily's cookies, of course. I lifted a hand in a weak wave, beating down the urge to blush and flee. "Guys, this is Lilly, she'll be going to school with you."

The one named Seth chewed quickly before speaking, "The recluse living here? Why are we only meeting her now?"

I hid a scowl, "I've had more important things to be doing with my time." My tone was a frozen wasteland and I tried to warm it with a smile, but it probably didn't turn out how I intended. Oh no, I started to backpeddle. "Well, nice meeting you, but uh, I have to -you know," I broke off, quickly scurrying to the only escape from the cramped kitchen. I swore I missed the archway when my face came into contact with a solid wall. Turns out it was a solid wall of muscle, and it hurt my nose. I rubbed it and glanced up, noting tall, dark, and mean above me.

He growled out a harsh, "Watch it" before I got a chance to sneak around him and practically run to my room and slam the door.

I flopped down onto my bed and cursed myself. God, I'm such an idiot! What do I mean, 'I have better things to do" I have nothing to do! I made Sam and Emily look bad too, all their kindness and generosity and how do I repay them? By insulting their friends. Well, the one named Paul deserves it, he's a douche, but maybe they didn't mean to insult me by calling me a recluse. Is that what friendly teasing is? I'll have to go to school with these people and I've already ruined our first meeting. I turned over and let out a groan of despair into my pillow.

Soft voices filtered from the kitchen and I inched closer the the air ventilation. I knew it was rude but after living here for a few weeks, you learn that from a specific room, the air vents carry the sounds from certain other rooms. Mine happens to eavesdrop on the kitchen.

"Look what you boys have done!" I heard Emily scold. "She finally got the courage to say hello and you call her a-" there was a pause. "What did you call her?" Something was mumbled but I'm pretty sure I knew what was said. "A recluse! That girl probably took that to heart, you buffoons!"

"Emily don't you think-" Sam tried but Emily cut him off.

"Yes I do think! I think that girl decided to avoid all of the pack now because of this! Her stay in La Push is going to be miserable now!" I could practically see Emily waving around a wooden spoon as she treated those huge guys like children. It brought a smile to my face, but her words, while in defence of me, made me kind of sad. She was right, I was planning on avoiding all of them now, was that really too terrible and idea?

But that wasn't the reason my mother sent me here. She wanted me to meet new people, make actual friends. I couldn't do that if I insult someone then flee. I stood from my bed and smoothed my hair, flinging the door open and stomping down the stairs. I squared my shoulders and strut into the kitchen with as much courage and determination as I could muster. I took a deep breath and clenched my jaw for a second before words tumbled out of my mouth like verbal vomit. "I'm so sorry, I really don't have anything better to do its just I was super nervous and feeling a bit pissy and then I felt a bit insulted and acted like a cornered animal, and I really didn't mean it I'm sure you are all nice people but I wouldn't know that because I haven't actually talked to you but I guess I should be quiet now." I was staring at the floor and my fists clenched at my sides. I added a soft, "I'm sorry."

There was silence. I swear you could hear a pin drop in here. My hands started to sweat a little and I risked an upward glance. Emily was smiling and Sam's lips quirked in an upward motion. The boys seemed a bit surprised and the mean one wasn't really even looking at me. I wanted to flee again but I settled for rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly. Oh, this was supposed to be much smoother, they probably think I'm weird. I messed up worse than before.

"Um, you're welcome?" Seth said, mirroring my actions. He smiled awkwardly at me and nudged the others. The muttered, "No problem" and "Its cool".

My head shot up to them and I beamed. Clasping my hands in front of me as relief filled me. "Wonderful! Oh good, I was so worried I ruined everything." Someone snorted and I immediately knew it was Paul, the ass. I resisted the urge to give him a dirty look and instead looked to Emily. "Did you still need my help?"

She stared at me for a moment. "Oh! Yes, of course dear. Just the dough, like before." I nodded and hurried over to the counter, taking some flower and sprinkling it onto the countertop. I got busy helping and the boys all went into the living room. We worked in a comfortable silence before Emily spoke up. "That was brave of you Lily," she commented softly. I blushed a little and shuffled on my feet.

"Well, I'm here to make friends, might as well start now."

"Don't mind Paul, sweetie, he's just a big grouch."

I stifled a disbelieving laugh, "Grouchy may not be the word I'd use. But really it wouldn't have mattered if my poor book hadn't suffered his 'grouchiness'." I was still angry about that, it was my favorite book, and I might never find another like it. Honestly the only reason I had it was because my grandmother gave it to me, and I have no clue where she got it from. I tried buying another version, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Not even Ebay or Amazon had it, and that's what surprised me the most.

"What happened to forgive and forget, don't they teach that anymore?" Emily laughed, poking me with the rolling pin.

I rolled my eyes at her, "That was my favorite book, and an heirloom, and its very rare! I've looked everywhere for another one, and that -that brute!- had to ruin it! Ugh." I flailed my arms and glared out the window. I wanted to rave about it to her, knowing she would let me, but I was aware that he-who-shall-not-be-named could walk in at any moment.

Emily just laughed, and that was how my peaceful days of avoidance were shattered.

Please please please review! It gives me warm fuzzy feelings and ideas!