[AN: My second Twilight fic. Hope you like it. And for anyone who's mad about my last story and making Alice serious...trust me when I say...Love makes you do the wacky! Even act serious when you're usually not. But I will try and keep her in character. Okay? =]

I had known my little brother and I were leaving home. I had known for over a week now and it was still hard to accept.

My little brother Joshwe was having an easier time with it than me. He was fourteen and just going into the eighth grade. The school where we would go had grades from 7-12.

Joshwe and I had different looks all together. He had dirty blonde hair, I had dark brown hair. He had hazel eyes, I had dark brown eyes.

I guess the fact about daughters looking like their fathers, and sons looking like their mothers was true.

Joshwe had come with me to get some kind of keepsake from Phoenix. He was built for sports and being active. I really wasn't, but I guess I could be a good runner if I tried.

"…Ella, the only thing out here is cacti."

"It's cactus."

"It's cacti."

"It's cactus."

"Whatever, they all look the same to me, just different in size." Joshwe crossed his arms and looked across the desert plains.

We always had silly little tiffs like this. But he always let me win, he hated arguments. I guess because mom and dad argued all the time when they were at the end of their marriage.

"We'll get a cacti then." I walked up the small hill to stand behind him. He smiled as I used his term for the desert 'flower'.

"Alrighty!" He uncrossed his arms and marched forward goofily. I laughed with him and followed.

Joshwe and I were going to live with our dad, Charlie. I think that part of the tear between mom and him was our fault. We had both preferred the company of our mom more. But that's also because Charlie was kind of a loner. He just wanted us to stay home…and mom wasn't going to have that.

I was happy when we finally found a cactus that was small and would fit in the small pot I'd brought with me. It had a small pink flower sitting on top of it.

"Uh-oh." I looked up at Josh.

"What is it?"

He pointed to a large black cloud creeping closer. "Looks pretty bad…and we're miles from home." Joshwe stood and glanced around. "There are some trees there. Let's hide out and home we're lucky."

I followed Josh to the small thicket of trees. It was about the size of a small city block. They dotted the are, but this was the closest.

We ducked into the shade as the first roll of thunder echoed over the plains. We hid under a thick tree. Just in time too, rain pelted the ground around the trees large branches.

"…Now we wait?" Josh looked over at me.

I nodded. "We wait."

Half an hour later it was still pouring. It was now so dark everything seemed to be grey. Just different shades of grey. And I couldn't see beyond the thick curtain of rain feet before us.

"…Ella?"

"What is it?"

"Do you hear that?"

"All I can hear is the rain and you."

"Then just listen."

I looked over at Joshwe. He was crouched, peering around the tree. "Listen to what?"

"Shhh!" He looked back at me, finger over closed lips.

I sighed and listened. I really wasn't expecting to hear anything, but then I heard something snap. Joshwe thumped down beside me. "See? Something's out there." He was whispering frantically.

I could hear the footsteps now. They were heavy and getting closer. And I could tell there was more than one of…whatever was out there. I pulled Joshwe closer.

"…Ella…" I shushed him.

Why wasn't this storm gone yet! So much for lucky.

Something thudded down in front of us. Well to be more accurate…two something's.

The last thing I saw were two pairs of green eyes. Then everything went black.

Pain.

That was the first thing I registered. That I was in an incredible amount of pain. I cracked my eyes open and all I saw was white.

"…Am I dead?" I whispered.

A gasp and footsteps. I saw my mother's face. "Mom?"

She looked relieved. "Oh sweetie, thank god you're alright. They thought you wouldn't wake up for a while there."

I swallowed, it felt like my insides were covered in cotton. "Joshwe?"

She nodded her head to the side. "He was in pretty much the same shape. I looked at the bed beside me.

Never had I seen Joshwe look so small.

The side of him I could see looked bad enough. His eye was blackened, there were stitches in his cheek where large gashes had obviously ripped open the skin, his arm was strapped to his chest in a sling. I saw more stitches on his neck, sealing more large cuts.

"After the storm Phil called the police and we found you about an hour later. They said it looked like you were mauled and lucky to be alive."

Yeah…that's us…real lucky.

A week later we headed off to Charlie's. The doctor was surprised that Josh and I were healing so quickly.

Now…all we had were angry red scratches and some small bruises.

Charlie's place was only a two bedroom house. So that mean Joshwe and I had to share a room. We were used to it. Charlie was used to living alone, with only a guest bedroom. I didn't mind sharing with Joshwe, he was pretty mature for his age.

"So…you two got attacked last week…and now you're fine?" Charlie preferred to be quiet, but I could tell he was worried.

"Yeah it's totally weird. But no worries, we're all good." Joshwe flashed two thumbs up in the rearview mirror.

"You grew your hair out?" Charlie glanced back at him then back at the road.

"Uh…no, I cut it since the last time I saw you…like…ten times." Josh's hair was now just above his shoulders.

"Oh well…that's uh…nice."

The rest of the ride was spent in awkward silence.

Charlie showed us our room. It wasn't very big, but it was alright.

My half of the room was purple and his half was blue. Trust Charlie to think that genders had to have specific colors.

Later Jacob and his dad Billy Black showed up. I got a truck. Some work and it would be great. Joshwe wanted to ride in the bed of the truck.

I didn't get that much sleep. It felt like my blood was boiling. I looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table: 3:24

I lay on my back staring at the ceiling. I had tossed off my shirt a long time ago. But I still felt like I was burning up. "Joshie?"

"Yeah?" I knew he was awake. I had heard him tossing and turning when I wasn't.

"What do you feel like?"

I heard him huff. "Like I'm on fire." He mumbled.

"Me too." I slid out of bed and opened the window. The cool air felt amazing on my burning skin. I sighed. "…Back to bed."

I slept, but fitfully.

Even in my sleep it felt like something was in my blood. Making me burn from the inside out.

Joshwe and I didn't say anything on the road to school. The burning was gone now, but I still remembered the feeling.

It was painful, but not. It was like being shut in a small room with no windows when it was over 90 degrees outside. Like your skin could melt off, but not painfully. It's confusing.

The only classes I had with Joshwe were my study halls, lunch, and gym. We hopped out of the truck, someone commenting on it, but I ignored it and headed inside with Joshwe.

We met Erik, who seemed pretty nice. He offered to be out tour guide and I accepted.

Joshwe was always better at gym. He was athletic, I wasn't. So when he was able to play volleyball with the girls he hit the ball for me.

The last one he hit went off course and hit some guy in the back of the head. "Oh…man I'm sorry." Josh jogged over to get the ball. "Total accident, it won't happen again."

The guy picked up the volleyball and tossed it to him. "No big deal. Hey you're one of the new kids right?" Josh nodded. "Nice to meet cha. I'm Mike, you're Joshua?"

I smiled as Josh shook his head. "It's Joshwe. Josh with W-E at the end. Like Josh-way I guess. Anyway sorry about the thump on the head. Talk to ya later."

Mike nodded and seemed to notice me. He walked over with a goofy smile on his face. "Hey…I'm Mike."

Something told me he was the kind of guy that couldn't really take a hint so I smiled and nodded. "So I've heard."

"You're Isabella right?"

"Just Bella." I hated Isabella…it just…didn't seem right for me.

"Hey, her brother has a wicked spike right?" I looked over. There was a girl with blondish hair and a fake grin plastered on her face. The look on the girls face told me everything I needed to know about her: sheep.

"Oh I'm Jessica. You and your little brother are from Arizona, right?"

I nodded mutely.

"Aren't people from around there supposed to be like…really tan." That bitch. She was trying to sneak out jabs at me. I didn't like her already.

"I guess. But…maybe that's why they kicked me out." I mumbled and looked around for Josh.

Mike and Jessica laughed. "That's so funny." I heard Jessica mumble. I spotted Joshwe and went over to him.

"What was that about?" He glanced at me and he set the ball.

"Just meeting new people." I crossed my arms and sighed.

"Always a good thing." He turned and smiled at me.

"I don't think so, that Jessica girl seems like a real sheep." I made sure nobody was close enough to hear.

"The girl with the to big grin plastered on her face and the dumb laugh that tries to take credit for every good idea?" He smirked back at me as he hit the ball.

"You've met her?"

"I bumped into her on my way to math. And passed her on my way to a few other classes. Her name is Jessica right?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, total sheep."

I laughed lightly and stood back as Joshwe took my place in gym.

Lunch…it was the best and worst time of the first day. You could eat whatever you wanted…but it was where you sat that mattered I guess.

Lucky Mike came along and showed us. Although Jessica was there…so how lucky was that? Erik was there now too.

We met Angela a few minutes after.

Angela seemed nice…so why was she hanging around Jessica?

"You're not gunna run anything in the school papers about us are you?" Joshwe spoke up.

Angela looked at him. "Not if you're really uncomfortable with it."

"I kinda am. But…have you tried anything else for the front page? Like…the mysteries of Forks High?"

"There are no mysteries here." Angela smiled kindly at him. She was really nice.

Joshwe got a goofy look on his face and pointed at Angela. "Every school has a mystery….one. All you gotta do is dig around a little. I'll even help you if you wanna see if I'm right or not."

Angela chuckled. "You are so on."

"Alright. We start next Monday morning then?"

"You bet. Get here half an hour earlier. The school is open a while before hours to help students finish their work or get help. We can check out the library."

Joshwe nodded. "I know I'm right."

"We'll see." Angela smiled and looked over at me.

"So how's your day been so far?"

I thought of a good word. "It's been…interesting."

She smiled and chuckled. "I can imagine. Some people who just start out here have some really crazy stories to tell about their first days."

Joshwe crushed his milk carton in his hand. "Like what?"

I glanced around. Jessica had gone off somewhere, along with Erik and Mike. Well…Mike had chased one of his friends outside. Erik may have gone off to do something with the paper. Jessica had just vanished, though I didn't really care.

I sighed and looked around again. I saw two different groups of kids walking towards the lunchroom door. Both groups were all equally attractive.

"Who are they?" I asked quietly.

Angela looked over her shoulder. "Oh, those are the Cullen's. And the Leon's. They both transferred here sometime last year. The Cullen's from Alaska and the Leon's from China."