I reeled back in surprise and broke the kiss.

"Excuse me?" I hissed in anger, but I could feel myself blushing wildly. His touch had caused my toes to tingle.

Jake looked at me with glassy eyes. "Oh, I didn't mean to do that."

"Then what exactly did you mean to do? Find out what I had for lunch?" I threw my hands into the air. "Next time just ask like a normal person."

"Shannon, hold on. I didn't mean to, really. I don't know what came over me." He reached a large, hot hand towards me, but I dodged it, spinning on my heel.

"If you do that again without my permission I'll pummel you." I threatened and raced towards my room. I could hear Jake calling out my name behind me but I ignored him and slid the lock on the door closed.

"Shannon!" He thumped a hand against the door. "Come on, let's talk about this."

"Like hell! You get the fuck away from my door!" I yanked the wet shirt over my head and began rifling through my laundry basket full of clean clothes, trying not to look at Kim's bed.

Voices soon joined Jakes' outside the locked door. Kim and Jared had heard the commotion and come to see what had happened.

"What the heck did you do, Jacob Black?"

"Nothing! Well, maybe…"

"Jake, you didn't."

"You dog!" Jared bellowed with laughter and muttered something I couldn't hear.

"Shannon, come on out. We'll talk about it, okay?" Kim called through the door.

"You're all psychos! I don't want to talk about it! Who talks through this stuff anyways? It was a mistake so just drop it and leave." I sat on my bed, hugging my knees.

"Shannon. Come out."

"Fuck off, Lurch." I growled under my breath and jumped off the bed when the doorknob started to wiggle. "I haven't had one minute to myself since I got here! I just want to be alone, please." I begged, trying not to sound too aggressive.

What were these weird feelings coursing through me? I could feel my heart beat my chest and my palms were sweating.

Damn Jacob Black! Damn him!

The insistent knocking ceased and I could hear footsteps shuffling away from the door.

"Shannon, I'm sorry." Jake's voice floated through the door sounding like a lost child's. "If there's anything I can do to make it up to you…"

"Just go." I mumbled, flipping over onto my side and tucking my chin into my chest. "I just need to decompress here for a little bit."

Life in California had been so simple, so easy. I had most of my time to myself, time to think. There had been nobody there to look after me or kiss me when I wasn't expecting it. I was usually the one who did the kissing and I would never have kissed someone like Jacob Black.

I pulled the sheets over myself and closed my eyes against the light. I needed a few days to adjust to this life.

The only thing that drove me from my warm cocoon of sheets and pillows was my bladder's urgent need to empty itself. I cursed and flung myself from the bed, still wearing the jeans and tee that I had fallen asleep in the night before.

"Cold, cold, cold." I chanted, dancing on the bathroom tiles as I undid my jeans and kicked them off my legs completely. "Why the freaking frick is Washington so cold."

The bathroom was eerily dark and quiet. Living in La Push there were no street lights or ambulances to stir the air at night. The only thing outside the bathroom may have been an owl on the hunt for his dinner.

I relieved myself then walked towards the mirror, completely intent on washing my hands and crawling back into bed.

"You're up?"

I shrieked and jumped around, clutching my chest. "Shit!" I whispered, panting. "Don't sneak up on a girl in the bathroom. How creepy can you get? Wait. Did you watch me pee? Cause if so this whole thing just got way weirder."

"Oh shut up, I just walked in. You woke me up with your singing about the cold floor." Kim leaned against the door jam, looking very comfortable and warm in her flannel pajama pants.

"I never did get around to getting some more weather-appropriate clothes."

"Well maybe we can take care of that tomorrow. Shopping?" She cleared her throat and crossed her arms across her chest, trying to look at ease.

I winced at the idea of shopping with my sister, but felt bad about my behavior before, and about how I had behaved since I arrived in La Push. "Ah yeah, sure, Kim. That sounds really nice."

"Really? Oh, okay." She drew away from the wall and uncrossed her arms. "That's great! We can head up to town, then. You'll want a bigger selection than what this place has to offer. We could even get dinner or see a movie."

"Whatever you want," I smiled back at her. Tomorrow was going to be an insanely long day.

Kim ducked her head and tuned to go back to bed. The clock on the end table that read 2:41 in red block letters was calling me back to unconsciousness as well.

"Hey Kimmy," I called softly, and gave her a tight-lipped smile. "Your poster-making secret is safe with me. Just don't ask for my help."

I served a double detention on Friday, one during my free period and one during my study hall. It had taken me all kinds of self-promises to smile up at Mrs. Marks, who was in charge of detentions. I had to explain twice that I was new and my sister was Kimberly, yes the one dating Jared, and how I really, really just needed a chance.

It was all almost enough to make a girl go crazy. I couldn't get Jacob Black out of my brain, either. I could see him grinning in my mind and I didn't like it. I didn't like it one bit.

Okay, maybe a little bit.

But I couldn't admit that I liked it. Not when I stood against everything that this town, this school, and all these people were. It was like being immersed in a heard of sheep who followed blindly and worshipped those who were more powerful.

I pulled myself up short and shook my head. More powerful? Where had that thought come from?

"Hey, crazy girl!" A voice called behind me, shaking me out of my funk.

"Gabe," I shot him a lopsided grin and fell in-step beside my one and only possible new friend in La Push. Jake had written himself out of that title last night in the kitchen.

"Looks like you've been thinking about important life issues." The red-headed boy commented, throwing an arm around my shoulders and squeezing me to his side. It was easy since he was only a few inches taller than me. "Care to share?"

"What do you know about this…gang of boys- err, men- that run La Push? Is it a family thing? Or like a Bloods and Cripps thing? Why does everyone seem so impressed? I mean, what do they even do?"

"Well that was sudden."

"What?"

He shrugged and I could feel his arm move across my neck. "I just thought we would have a little banter before we got onto the whole 'Sam Uley and Jacob Black run the world' issue."

"So this conversation was…?" I was reaching, trying to change his focus.

"Expected. Listen, those who do know what the Quileute boys are don't talk about it, and those who don't know can only speculate on what they are." He stopped and took a deep breath as he placed both of his hands on my shoulders, "There are legends that say they are giant wolves that change with the full moon and act as the protectors of the tribe." His face was serious but his eyes danced.

I eyed his red hair suspiciously. "Really? And what tribe do you belong to?"

"Well, not me obviously. You and you're people." He snorted and began to lead us down the hallway again.

"Well go figure this place to make up some hare-brained story like that to over for a bunch of obsessive control freaks."

"Those stories have been around longer than they have, Crazy."

"Crazy?" I popped one eyebrow and looked up at him from under his arm.

"I have to call you something. 'Shannon' is the wrong name for you. I can't imagine what your parents were thinking naming you that."

"I was named after I horse." I groaned.

"Excuse me?" He snorted.

"You head me, you toad." I punched him in the side and wiggled out from under his arm. "Some Australian race horse from the fifties, I guess. My mom was on a lot of drugs and my dad had just gotten into old race horses for some reason and that's how I ended up with the name."

His grin just kept spreading as I walked backwards away from him. I should never have told him.

"Where you going, Crazy Horse?" He called, unable to keep the laughter from his voice.

"To war!" I called back, grinning.

It was pretty damn close to the truth.

I picked at the skirt that I had on. It wasn't bad, exactly. It was just something I never would have chosen for myself.

"This is a little too much." I told Kim, my hands fisted on my hips. "Maybe if it was a different color, but this," I waved a hand over my body, "Isn't going to happen."

"Yellow is probably a little too much. Maybe the dark blue instead?" She swept away from the dressing room like a woman with a mission and I sagged against the door jamb, crossing my arms.

"So do you always come shopping, Lurchy-poo?" I asked.

He had the decency to look embarrassed. "Not always."

"Liar." I snorted and scowled as Kim returned toting a new skirt.

"I think this will be fine." She murmured, holding it against me. "It's conservative enough for anything formal, but still fun."

I looked down at the fabric and could see nothing fun about it.

"It's good, lets head on out!" I spun to change back into my jeans but Kim caught me around the arm and hauled me back towards the racks of clothes.

"What are you going to wear on top? How about a little cardigan? Maybe silver," She murmured, toting me around the store by my arm.

It took an hour to find the stupid cardigan, and by the time we were checked out and Kim had handed over Scott's shiny silver credit card, I had racked up a bill right under three-hundred dollars. When I mentioned I had nowhere near that money Kim waved it away.

"It's fine; consider it all those birthday presents Scott never bought you."

"He sent money."

She ignored me and handed Jared the bags without even asking if he wanted to carry them. I glanced up to see his face, but it was disgustingly dopey as he took the bags from her, smiling.

"I'm going to kill myself." I told my shoes, jogging to catch up with the lovebirds as they made their way out of the store and towards the car.

Kim's car was something that had been bugging me all day. It wasn't something that my mother could afford on her salary, so it must have been a gift from Scott, or even one of his old cars. It was tan with a grey interior- barf- and sported the blue and white BMW logo on the hood. It was definitely too expensive to be a teenagers car.

"You want shotgun?" Jared asked after putting the bags in the trunk.

"Please, I know you can't fit it the back seat." I said, sliding in behind him.

"Successful trip, don't you think?" Kim was babbling happily. She never babbles unless Jared is within a three foot radius of her. It was amazing.

"Oh, very," I muttered sarcastically, but she didn't catch it.

"Now you have a few nice things to wear to school and on dates and such." She turned out of the parking lot at a whopping ten miles an hour and continued to drive at least five under the speed limit wherever we went.

"Not that I don't appreciate your driving Kim, but do you think we could at least go the speed limit? This black stretch of flat earth with lines down the middle is called a highway. We're getting passed by a minivan." I stared out the driver-side window and a little kid pressed his nose up against the window of the van and gave me the finger as they flew by. "Seriously, I don't think we're gonna make our dinner reservations at this pace."

"Driving too fast makes me nervous," Kim called behind her, not taking her eyes off the road. Jared had his hand on her shoulder and was rubbing it in gentle circles.

"Why don't you let me drive then? I've never driven a car like this before." I was a filthy liar.

Kim seemed to consider for a half a second before she pulled off to the side of the road. I had expected her to bicker awhile longer, but I assumed that she was just so relieved that she didn't have to drive it didn't matter.

"Be careful with it, its Scott's back-up car." She told me, belting herself into the back seat.

"Scotty has a back-up Beamer?" I tried not to sound too shocked.

"Well, yeah." Kim blinked at me from the rearview mirror.

"Of course he does." I pulled out onto the road without a blinker and quickly got reprehended for it. "So where is this restaurant?"

"About fifteen miles back towards town. I'll tell you when to exit." Jared reached for my shoulder and then jerked his hand back when he realized I wasn't Kim, "Habit." He murmured sheepishly.

"Don't let it happen again." I told him sternly and breezed up until the speedometer read 70, scanning the lanes ahead of me for my prey.

I knew what I was about to do was wrong in every way. I knew that there was no sense in doing it. I knew that after I did it I would never be allowed behind the wheel of this car ever again. But for the next fifteen miles none of that mattered and frankly, in the words of Casanova, I didn't give a damn.

"Hey Shan, don't you think we're going a little fast?" Kim called lightly.

I didn't say anything because I had finally found what I was looking for and stamped my pedal to the floor, giddy with the rush of speed that suddenly jolted under us as we flew down the road.

"Too fast! Too Fast!" Kim screamed, grabbing the handle over her head.

I could hear Jared roaring with laughter beside me and jumped past a car so I could get back in the right lane to come even with the van from earlier. The kid inside was playing with his gameboy, so I honked my horn and when he looked up I flipped him off then sped away.

It was the most liberated I had felt since coming to La Push.