AN: Hello! This is my first Twilight fic, as you may have noticed, and this whole story has been burning a hole in my brain since I read that cute little part of BD with Quil and Claire so I had to give them a great love story! :D Any way, there won't be much of the Cullens, there will be a good deal of Nessie though. I hope you all like the first chapter, there won't be any werewolves for the next two chapters I think, but the next chapter is half way done! Enjoy!

Chapter One

A Normal Day in the Life of Me

I had grown up all over the US. When I was a kid I was sure my mom travelled because she wanted too, I didn't think it was because she was running. I had spent many blissful years with my overprotective, smart, beautiful mother never thinking much about my father or any other family. She told me my dad died when I was five and that's when we went on the road. I spent over thirteen years in a rusty Silver Bullet and our red Ford F-250, not fully content with my life.

Whenever I would get sad my mom would just pack us up and move to a new state but I think even then I knew she was trying to out run my sadness. And through my childhood and most of my preteen life, it worked. I think it all started when I was fifteen. I was just starting to notice boys and how they looked at me and every time they did I felt that pit of emptiness grow a little bigger inside me. It was like I knew I was missing something that no one could give me.

"You okay Claire?" My mom, Hannah, asked frazzled.

"Sorry Mom, just zoned out for a little." I said looking over to my mother who was driving our truck and towing our house behind us to upstate California. I was home schooled by my mom and we were part of this club special for travelling families and they were having a dance for all the seniors, a sort of prom you could say.

"We'll be at the dance soon, are you excited?" Mom asked buzzing. I'm convinced she wanted to go to the dance more than I wanted to breathe.

"Natalie is excited enough for the both of us." I said looking down at my cell phone to see another text from my best friend, asking me to pick between gold and blue eye shadow for her silver dress. I texted back 'Blue' and went back to staring out my window. This whole dance made me feel exceptionally lonely.

Natalie, my best friend who travels with her dad who is a travel writer, has been dating her fathers assistant Joe for two years. Mostly behind her dad's back, but honestly, they are both so perfect for each other it's sickening. My mom has been trying to get me to date for years, but I never could. I never told my mom, but my first kiss with a tall nerdy boy named Jamie Fontaine I cried. Not because he was a bad kisser, or because I was violated, but because I knew no one would ever give me that little flutter in my gut Natalie always gets whenever she sees Joe.

"What's really wrong sweetie? Is it that Parkman boy again?" Mom asked frustrated. She always hated when she couldn't read me like an open book.

"No, Mom." I said rolling my eyes. That was almost five years ago.

"So what is it?" She asked desperately.

"Nothing," I murmured.

I heard Mom let out a long sigh and she took one hand off the steering wheel to hold mine tightly. "Where do you want to go after the dance?" She asked smiling, trying to pull me out of my sour mood.

I thought for a moment. "Alaska, I liked it up there." I said hoping my voice sounded like I did actually want to go that far north.

"Sounds perfect." She said happily.

I let her stew in her success before I asked what I really wanted. "Can we go through Washington?" I asked cautiously.

Originally, me and Mom lived in Washington, bouncing between my dad's home town Forks and my mom's home on the Makah reservation, when my dad died. She never liked going back and usually avoided it all together, but there was party two years ago in Seattle and I fell in love with the whole state. I've wanted to go back since but trying to get my mom to go willingly is hard.

"Do you want to go to Alaska, or Washington?" She asked sighing.

"Washington," I muttered.

Mom's lips tightened to stop her from scowling. Sometimes I think her aversion to the state is utterly ridiculous but it's still understandable.

"We don't have to go near La Push, or Forks, or Makah I just really want to stay there a while. I'm happy there." I said quickly, hoping she might listen to reason. "I miss all that green." I said frowning a little.

"That's what I hated most about leaving, nowhere is never as green as Washington." Mom said shaking her head. I could see it in her brown eyes, this was one of those times she hated that I was so much like her.

"Please?" I pled.

"Okay, we can stay for a week or two." She sighed with a hint of a smile.

I squealed and bounced over the middle consol and hugged my mother. "I love you, Mom!" I exclaimed happily.

"I love you too Claire." She said seriously, holding me as tight as she could and pressed a kiss to my head before releasing me. "We'll be at the hotel soon, you have everything you need?" She asked eager to change the subject to the sudo-prom.

"It's all in my bag." I grumbled, pulling my tattered leather backpack from the floor of the truck onto my lap.

"Good, I'll find a place to park this monstrosity." She said nodding back to our house.

It only took Mom fifteen minutes to get to the hotel. It was a fancy Hilton, swarming with the anti-social teens that are the offspring of odd and annoying people. Gosh. What a blast. I went to the front desk and checked in and went up to the room I'd be sharing with my mom and started to get ready.

I showered quickly and curled my short chocolate hair with hairpins to hold them in place until they dried, just like I wanted it. Then I put a little bit of make up on, just a hint of eye liner and gobs of mascara with a little tint of lip gloss on my lips. Once my face was on I put on my dress. It was a little black cocktail dress that had three-quarter length sleeves and had a scoop-neck line that dipped in the front and back to expose my collar bone and a little cleavage as well as my shoulder blades. The dress was slinky but modest, showing only my legs from knees down and the skin the scoop neck exposed.

It was the only dress I would wear out of the thousands Mom and Natalie had suggested. It wasn't conservative, but I didn't look like a tramp either, so everyone was happy. I critiqued myself in the full length mirror of the hotel bathroom as I took out the hair pins to let the curls bounce. The high clunky black heels I wore with the dress made me much taller than I was, almost five-foot-ten I think. I had a skinny body, but my hips curved out nicely and my waist looked like I had cinched it (I get that from my mom). My mom and I look a lot alike we have the same dark hair and golden skin, only I got my dad's dark hazel-green eyes. Basically I was her twin with dad's eyes. I took the dark blue clutch I borrowed from Natalie three months ago and slipped my cell phone, hotel key and little bottle of aspirin incase I run into the Belling twins. I should take some of my mom's Xanax for that.

"Claire!" I heard my mom call out as she entered the hotel room.

"Bathroom!" I yelled back, smoothing out my dress a few more times.

The bathroom door opened slowly to show my mom looking hopeful as she peeked in. Once she saw all of me she perked up completely. "Oh, you look so beautiful. Let me take a picture of you." She said pulling me out of the bathroom and made me pose in front of the window.

I posed in ridiculous ways to please my mother as well as a few pretty and flattering ways to save for MySpace. After about forty or so shots I stopped and looked at my mother seriously. "Happy?" I asked holding my arms out and spinning around to make sure I was up to her standards.

Mom took three more pictures and smiled happily. "Yes, please try to have fun, you never seem to have any."

"I have fun planning our trips, and doing your work for you." I said trying not to sound pathetic. If I told her the truth that I had fun reading and hanging out with my mom it would sound ten times more pathetic.

A knock at the door saved me from any more of the conversation. Mom rushed to the door and opened it to show Natalie and Joe. Natalie is a tall, lithe red-head with big brown eyes and perfect ivory skin, and her tiny silver dress was just perfect for her body and attitude. Joe was taller than Natalie in the highest heels she could ever find, I think he was like six-foot-four or something, with a lean build. His lifestyle wasn't very athletic so the muscle he had was impressive as it is. He was in a nice suit with a shiny gray tie to match with Natalie.

"Claire you look gorgeous! Joe, tell her how good she looks." Natalie demanded, awestruck.

"Your gonna break necks, Girlie." Joe said with a grin. I blushed. I'm ashamed to admit it, but every time a cute guy, Joe, the hot Hispanic guy from Wendy's or even younger guys compliment me, my cheeks light up like Rudolph's nose on Christmas.

"Alright, you three, don't do anything I wouldn't do. But if you do, please make sure it doesn't end up on YouTube." Mom chided teasingly. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes Mom," I said tiringly.

"Yes Mom," Natalie said grinning.

"I'll try to contain them Ms. Joyner." Joe said with feign seriousness.

"Bye kids," Mom laughed as she pushed us out of the hotel room.

"Gosh, she was in a rush to get rid of us." Natalie noted, swinging her silver purse over her shoulder as we walked to the elevator.

"I think she's meeting Dean while I'm out." I grumbled, banging the down button for the elevator viciously.

"I wonder when you get to meet him." Natalie said dreamily. She had this fantasy that Dean was the perfect gentleman that he will someday be the father I never had. Fat chance…

The elevator doors opened and we all piled in, closing the doors quickly and ordering the elevator to the first floor. "I don't really care, he's just my mom's booty-call." I said simply, shrugging slightly.

"Wow, that's harsh." Natalie said shaking her head.

"Are we gonna party or what?" I demanded, frustratedly as the elevator doors opened rushing out of the cramped space. The only thing that could make me eager for this stupid thing is the conversation Natalie was sucking me into.

"Claire Brianna Joyner, are you trying to avoid the question?" Natalie asked almost angrily.

"Yes," I answered simply.

"Well, in that case, party!" Natalie hooted and strode confidently into the ball room on Joe's arm with a self-assured grin.

I followed begrudgingly before Natalie pulled me kicking and screaming. The last thing I want is all the attention that would garner.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The party wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. They didn't let the parents drink in the main ballroom, so they all had to leave to get their drunk on. My mom checked on me when I didn't come back to the room after an hour of the dance. She was pleased that I was having fun and left me alone for the rest of the night. Around midnight Joe basically had to carry an exhausted Natalie back to their room. I only got a feeble goodnight from her as she fell asleep in her boyfriend's arms.

"I'll walk you to your room." Joe offered without hesitation.

"That's okay, you should get her in bed." I said pointing to Natalie as she snored obnoxiously.

"I'd get my ass kicked if I didn't." He said nodding to the sleeping beauty in his arms.

"True," I agreed. Natalie was almost as protective as my own mother.

Joe walked me to the elevators and back to my room and would have opened the door for me if he had a hand free. His mother raised him to be a gentleman and he was a dying breed. He made sure I was all the way in my room before he went back to the elevators to take Natalie to the next floor down, where her room was.

Mom wasn't in the room, but there was a note on the bathroom door that said she was out and would be back before sunrise. I wasn't sure if that was a joke or not. I stripped and jumped in the tub in the bathroom. I haven't had a bath in months, and were only gonna be here for one more day, I want as much soaking time as possible.

I spent almost an hour in the tub and didn't even move until I felt the skin on my toes start to prune. I washed my hair and washed off the makeup then drained the tub and bundled up in my fluffy purple robe in the bed closest to the window.

I hated to admit it, but I loved the few days of the year I spent outside of our house. My mom is a little over protective and a little paranoid so she tried her hardest to keep me under her thumb. I love her, I really do, but she is a pain sometimes. I'll probably be stuck in the trailer for the next six or seven months. Natalie is heading to Russia with her dad next week so it's just Mom and me for a while.

I don't care though. I get to go back to Washington. The one place I have felt at home since before I can remember. I'll suck up my ridiculous mother and anything the world can throw at me just to feel at home again. Even if it's only for a handful of days. Because there is nothing better in the world than knowing I'm where I should be, even if it's just a feeling in my gut that I'm where I should be.

AN: I don't mind 'ghost-reading' but I love reviews! :D