Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight… and I never will

A/N: Hey, ok, so I think I'm going to actually have scheduled updates for this one… how does Sundays and Wednesdays sound? Ok so it's all human… and what I consider to be OOC Carlisle… he's not really just some of the stuff… personality's pretty much the same…All Bella's POV.. Special thanks to my Beta MissytheVampire.. Read. Enjoy. Review…

Losing My Mind

Chapter 1: Emmett

I sat in last period with Alice, watching the seconds on the clock go by. It was last period, the Friday before a long weekend and my brother, Emmett, was coming home. Then, the next week we had off of school for a series of professional development days for the teachers. Only a few weeks into my senior year in high school, and I already had senioritis. Though today I attributed it mostly just to the fact that my brother, who never came home from school-though it was only about nineteen miles from Long Beach where we lived- was coming home to visit.

The bell rang soon enough, releasing me from history class's boring and tight grip. I went with Alice to our lockers to get rid of our bags of our overly heavy history books. I leaned against the wall of lockers as I waited for Alice to be finished gathering her books so she could do the homework that I would be doing in study, first thing Monday morning the day we got back.

"Did Mrs. Wilson give us any English homework?" Alice asked, and I looked up at the rapidly deteriorating ceiling, racking my brain.

"No," I answered, "At least I don't think so, we can stop by her room if you want."

"No, I don't think there was any," said Alice as she shut her bottom locker, stood up and took a deep breath, "Oh, watch out."

It was too late. Edward, one of the most popular guys at our school, and consequently one of the biggest jerks on the face of the planet, was walking toward us. He had bronze hair that met the tips of his ear and a smug smile, which remained on his face at all times. He, in all honesty, was really cute, he was just a jerk, all the time, always so smug, with girls following him everywhere. He was a completely obnoxious guy that always thought he was just so cool.

"Hey, Bella," He said, leaning against the locker next to me and he smiled, "What're you doing this weekend?"

"My brother's coming home," I said simply and then followed Alice away from him and towards the front door and exit of the school.

Edward had already had a run in with my slightly over protective big brother. Emmett was, if you knew him at all, a teddy bear, or maybe that was just to me, but anyways, to the outside world, he was rather menacing. We walked out into the September sunshine, and Alice slipped her sunglasses down to cover her eyes.

"Do you have any sunscreen?" She asked and I shook my head and laughed a little as we walked over to our cars.

"Alice," I said restlessly, "The walk to our cars is not going to give you skin cancer."

"You don't know that," she countered with a little smile, which let me know that she knew she was being ridiculous, and I rolled my eyes.

"What are your plans this weekend?" I asked, "Can you come over tomorrow night or something?"

"Sorry," she said, "Dad's taking me and the whole family camping for the weekend. Maybe some time this week?"

"Yeah," I said absent mindedly as we crossed the street to the only little parking lot that the school allowed us to use.

We were halfway to our cars, which we had parked next to each other, just like any other day. The thing was, there was a black Jeep Cherokee idled nearby and we looked at each other questioningly. There was no way that one was one the students' cars and I ducked down a little to look into the windshield and try to see who it was.

"Bella!" Alice said, terrified as she brought me back up to standing position by my elbows, and I laughed at her as we got closer, "What's so funny?"

"It's Emmett," I said as I broke free from her and ran over to the side of the car that my brother was getting out of, "Emmett!"

"Hey, sis," He said as he hugged me tight for a few minutes before letting go, he had only been away for a few weeks, but I missed him like he had gone missing years ago.

"You're early," I said and he smiled.

"Yeah," He said, "I skipped my last class."

"Emmett!" I said, shocked.

"Oh, be quite," He said with smile, and he nodded over to the car, "Hop in."

"I have my own car," I said, and he just chuckled.

"I'll bring you back to get it later," said Emmett and he nodded to Alice as she caught up, "Hey, Alice, you wanna come?"

"Naw, I have to get home," she said with a smile, and she got into her car before I turned back to look at Emmett.

"Well, let's go," He said, and I laughed a little as I walked back around the car and hopped into the front seat next to him, and we closed our doors simultaneously, "Got your seat belt on?"

"Yes, dad," I teased him and he chuckled as he pressed the gas and drove us out towards the beach.

"So," He said as he parked his car near the boardwalk and we hopped out, "That Edward kid still bothering you?"

"Not really," I said as I shut my door and followed him down the boardwalk to our favorite ice cream stand, where he quickly ordered our favorites for us, and we headed over to the sea wall to eat them.

Clearly the beach was where most of the kids were headed after school, I recognized at least half the kids that were tossing Frisbees around on the beach, surfing, or in the shops from school. We sat in comfortable silence while we watched the people on the beach in front of us and ate our ice creams before they could melt. When I was finished, he took my wrapper from me and hopped up, jumped off the sea wall and went to throw both our wrappers in the trash. I watched him as he went, along with half the girls that were on the beach, most of them about my age, making me cringe. I cringed the worst when one of the snottiest girls in the senior class went and walked his way, in a string bikini that left little to the imagination. This was definitely one of the many downsides of having what just about everyone considered to be a cute brother. He smiled at her politely as she passed and came back to sit next to me.

"If you ever wear that skimpy of a bikini," He said, sighing in an annoyed manner, "I will personally kill you."

I laughed a little and he smiled, as he hopped off the sea wall again, this time turning and helping me down.

"So is Rosalie coming over later?" I asked, wondering if his girlfriends' school had the same schedule.

"No," he said, "She had a class late today, so she said she was just going to stay up at her school. Now c'mon, I promised mom we'd be back by four so we could watch Jimmy while she goes to the store."

"Do you know what she's planning on for dinner?" I asked, usually when Emmett was home, he got to choose the menu.

"Burgers," He replied happily and I groaned, "Don't worry, I requested a chicken Caesar salad for you…"

"Thanks," I said as we hopped into his car and he sped back to the high school parking lot so I could get my car, and then I followed him home.

Emmett had a tendency to drive fast, slowing down only as we turned onto our street so mom wouldn't get mad at him for going too fast. I had always marveled how he never got pulled over for speeding, or wondered how he never wound up wrapped around a tree. Then again, he was a good driver, he just went at least twenty miles over the speed limit at all times.

"Good you two're home," Mom said as we hopped out of our cars and Jimmy ran, to the best of his ability, over to Emmett, who scooped him right up, "Your father will be home at six, but I should be home by then, just please, make sure he doesn't get into anything."

"Of course," said Emmett as he set our four year old little brother back down in the front yard, where he ran to his toy truck.

Emmett and I sat in the front yard, catching up and talking while we played with Jimmy and his extensive toy truck collection. Some of the older ones originally being Emmett's. Considering the fact that Jimmy was four and Emmett was now twenty two, with me at eighteen, not too far behind him, it was an easily the truth that Jimmy had been the surprise child. Not that mom or dad would ever admit to it.

"Ok," said Emmett, becoming bored after sitting there for less than twenty minutes, and he picked Jimmy up and brought him over to the driveway, and started to teach Jimmy how to dribble a nearby basketball.

Mom was right, she was home before dad, and she pulled into the driveway as Emmett sent Jimmy back over to me so he could help mom with the groceries. I bounced the basketball once with Jimmy on my hip before throwing it in the direction of the open garage door and following mom and Emmett inside. I set Jimmy down in the living room in front of the TV and headed out to the kitchen.

I walked in as Emmett was throwing a few of the empty grocery bags into another like a basketball, and I caught one over the 'net' and threw it back to him as mom finished putting the groceries away. Emmett threw it up in the air, and it hit me off the top of the head as Jimmy walked in. I laughed as I whipped it back at Emmett's face.

"No rough housing in the kitchen," Mom said as Emmett picked me up and threw me over his shoulder, "At least take it out to the living room, if not the trampoline out back, that's what we got it for."

A mischievous grin came across Emmett's face and he ruffled Jimmy's hair a little before carrying me, still over his shoulder, out back. He tore open the netting around the trampoline and started to jump, tossing me onto my feet as he did so. We bounced around for a while, stopping only when dad came out, holding Jimmy's hand as he did, to talk to us.

"Hey, dad," said Emmett as he followed me out from under the net and onto the grass.

"Hey," He said as I scooped Jimmy up, "You wanna help me on the grill?"

"Sure," said Emmett and he wiped a small bead of sweet that had begun to form from his forehead.

"Bella," Dad called over his shoulder as he led James away towards the patio, "Your mom could use some help in the kitchen."

"On my way," I said, setting Jimmy down and sending him over to follow them before heading inside.

Later, when we were finally sitting down at the glass patio table for dinner, Emmett sat between Jimmy and I, causing trouble on both sides. That was another perk of having Emmett home, he always had us all in stitches from laughing so hard. Well, at least he had Dad, Jimmy and I laughing, mom was less easily amused.

"You're going to make your brother choke on his dinner," She said, and we all looked over to Jimmy's food, which mom had insisted on cutting into a million tiny pieces, rather than the merely bite size ones that they didn't really have to be anymore.

"Sorry," was all Emmett said, we had all learned a long time ago it was better just to say sorry than argue with mom.

"So," said dad, always the man to change the subject, "Bells, what're your plans for this week?"

"Um," I said, trying to control my laughter from before, "Probably just sleeping in and having Alice over."

"I don't want you sleeping all week," He said, he was big on trying to get me outside and doing stuff.

"Well then maybe I'll hang out down by the beach," I said and he nodded.

"Hey, wait," said Emmett, "Don't you have school?"

"Not this week," I replied before forking a piece of lettuce and a few croutons off my plate and chewing.

"You should come up to school with me," He said before taking a large bite of his burger and swallowing.

"I don't think so, Emmett," said mom, she seemed a little shocked he had even suggested the idea, but I was kind of excited, it sounded like fun to spend a week with Emmett at school.

"Why not?" Emmett said, even more surprising, he was feeling brave enough to argue, "She's eighteen now, she's going to school next year, and why not let her get a taste of it while I'm around to make sure nothing bad happens to her? I won't be there next year to help her out."

It was true, I was planning on attending USC in the fall, and it was also true that Emmett was graduating this year. He had a valid point, and I looked to my mom, who looked to dad.

"I don't see any harm to it," said Dad as he reached over the table and wiped some ketchup off Jimmy's face.

"Charlie!"

"Renee…"

"Fine," said Mom, glaring at dad as though he was guilty of high treason as I grinned widely over at Emmett, who smiled back.

Yes.