"It's funny how things work out" everyone seems to say that when unexpected things happen. I have always believed in it; no one knows what's around the corner but I also believe that our futures are planned out and that's why I let nature take its course…

I looked out my window and my expectations were met. The same old rainy and cold winter days of Pennsylvania. Even on my birthday the weather seemed to ignore my wishes.

Just as I was cursing the weather the door creaked open and my mother entered 'Happy Birthday sweetheart,' I smiled at my mother as she closed the door behind her, carrying a tray with chocolate toast and a glass of orange juice. 'Thanks mum.'

'No worries darling,' said my mum as tucked a lose strand of her dark brown hair behind her ear. 'Your father's just gone hunting, he'll be back soon. Why don't you get dressed and come downstairs?'

'Okay I'll be there,' I replied as I climbed out of bed and slipped into my bunny slippers. I walked across my room and looked at myself in the mirror. 'Eighteen,' I muttered to my reflection. Doesn't feel like it. Truth be told, I don't want to grow up.

After I got washed up and dressed, I ran downstairs, and as I walked into the kitchen, I was met by the warm smile of my mother and father, Bella and Edward Cullen.

My father stepped forward and hugged me tight, he whispered in my ear 'happy birthday Renesmee.'

'Thanks dad,' I whispered back.

'We have something for you sweetheart,' said my mum as she handed me a small box decorated neatly. I looked up at her and grinned 'you didn't have to, I'm eighteen,'

'Just because your growing up doesn't mean we stop being your parents Ren,' said my dad, smiling at me. I carefully opened the box and inside was a pink digital camera. I took it out of the box and scrutinized it.

It was absolutely gorgeous. 'Thank you so much, I love it!' I ran up to them and gave them a huge bear hug. 'We're glad you like it Ren,' said my dad.

'I got a camera for my eighteenth birthday too' said my mother smiling at me 'my dad gave it to me; I want you to treasure every moment of senior year Ren. Keep memories... We love you honey.'

"Love" apparently it can make a person do crazy things. I wouldn't know. I've never experienced it. However, my parents have. My mum was turned into a vampire by my father, as a desperate attempt to keep her alive. Why was she dying? She was giving birth to me.

My parents met in a small town called Forks. They were teenagers back then, my dad was a vampire and my mum was a human. They were madly in love, even though their love was forbidden. Vampires could never love a human, but my parents broke that rule. Together, they went through a lot of difficulties and battled other vampires called The Volturi. In the process, I was a result. My human mother was pregnant with a half immortal child. When she was giving birth to me, she almost died. She was too weak to give birth to a vampire baby. My dad's only choice was to make her a vampire too. My mother has told me this story countless times but I never get tired of hearing it. "True love conquers all". I am half human and half vampire... not many people can say that.

'Ren, there's some one who wants to see you!' I walked up to the door, and on the front porch, stood my best friend Claire, smiling at me with her long blonde hair blowing in the wind.

'Happy Birthday Ren!' she said as she hugged me. Claire has been my best friend ever since we moved to Pennsylvania. She is also the only other person that knows my secret. My parents thought that I should always have someone trustworthy enough to know my secret and Claire fits the description perfectly.

'So, what do you want to do today?' I asked.

'Are you kidding me? It's your Birthday party tonight and you have nothing to wear! Which is why I am taking you shopping,' said Claire as she grabbed my hand and pulled my out of the house.

We took the bus into town and we entered every store that looked reasonable. 'Claire, what time does the party start?' I asked as I pulled out a blue dress from one of the racks 'Don't worry, it's at six o'clock so you have no chance of being exposed,' she replied as she gave me one of her cheeky grins. That's one of the reasons why we moved to into Pennsylvania. It's gloomy and the sun hardly comes out. 'Thanks' I said as I placed the dress back where I found it.

'Hey Renesmee!' I turned around and found Brad Collins standing right behind me 'Hey Brad.'

'Happy Birthday, I got your invitation… maybe I could be your date?' there it was, another attempt to ask me out.

Brad Collins is the most popular senior in my school and every girl is dying for him to ask them out, but Brad seems to have his heart set on me even though I break his heart every single time.

'I'm sorry Brad, but I'm going to the party with Claire.'

'Oh…. Okay then, see you there.' He said running his hand through his brown hair in frustration.

'Yeah I'll see you there,' I said, smiling at him. I watched him walk out of the store in despair.

'Oh my gosh! Brad is seriously OBSESSED with you!' said Claire emerging from behind one of the shelves. 'Poor Brad! You always break his heart, why doesn't he just move on?'

'I don't know,' I replied 'all I know is that we will never be together, I can't see myself standing next to him.'

'Wow! Then who do you see yourself standing next to?' asked Claire, giggling. I shrugged and pulled out a red, strapless dress. It was perfect. 'Ren that looks amazing! You have to get it!' said Claire grabbing it and placing it on the counter before I could even agree. I had objections, it was true, I knew I would look stunning in that dress.

'Did you hear about the new kid?' asked Claire, while drinking her diet cola. 'What new kid?' I asked.

'He's moved here recently. He's going to start school next week. Lisa told me he is seriously hot,' replied Claire grinning.

'How does Lisa know him?' I asked, suddenly interested.

'She doesn't know him, her dad does, he knows everyone in town, remember?'

'Yeah that's true.' Lisa's dad was a policeman and knows everything going on in our town.

'I can't wait to see him,' said Claire, as she smiled sheepishly.

'Where did he move from?'

'Lisa told me he moved from Forks.' I suddenly froze up 'Hey, isn't that where your parents came from?' asked Claire, finally catching up.

'Yeah, they did come from Forks…..my parents might know this guy. What's his name?'

'I think his name is Jacob Black… it would be so cool if your parents know him!' replied Claire throwing her empty coke can into the bin.

I walked into the house and was immediately met with the familiar smell of mum's casserole, my favourite. My parents don't eat human food but I do, after all, I am half human.

'Hey mum!'

'Hey honey, how was the shopping trip?'

'Tiring,' I sighed, placing my shopping bag on the counter.

'What did you get?' asked my mum, grabbing the bag and pulling out the dress. 'Wow, honey this looks gorgeous!'

'I know!' I replied. I looked up at the clock and panicked 'it's three o'clock already?'

'Yup. You better get dressed…. It's so sweet of Claire to organize this party for you.' I grabbed the dress and ran upstairs.

A while later, I slipped into the dress and looked at myself in the mirror. I was right and so was Claire. The dress looked amazing. I heard a soft knock at my door 'Come in,' I said turning around.

My dad opened the door and smiled at me. 'Ren, you look beautiful. You're no longer my cute little girl, you've grown up so fast,' he said with a sad smile. I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around him. 'I love you dad, thanks for a wonderful birthday.'

The door bell rang and my mum answered it. It was Claire, and she looked stunning. She was wearing a black dress and her hair was curled. That's something Claire and I have in common. We both like to keep things simple. I walked down the stairs and laughed 'are you trying to look better than me at my own party?'

Claire blushed and replied 'you know that's impossible.'

'You look exquisite Claire,' said my mum.

'Thanks Mrs. Cullen.' My dad took a couple of pictures with my new camera and we left for the party.

We arrived right on time and the guests started pouring in. Claire had ordered food for sixty five people. The house was decorated beautifully; gold banners and red roses everywhere. Claire had really taken a lot of trouble. I hugged her tight and thanked her.

As the party went on, people were going crazy, there were people all over the place, drunk and sleeping on the floor. Claire told me not to worry about a thing. She had it all under control; a cleaning service would clear up the mess in the morning.

'Renesmee, there you are! I have been looking for you everywhere' I turned around and found Brad staring at me. 'Oh, hey,' I replied, uninterested.

'You look hot tonight,' said Brad looking at me in a way that made me extremely uncomfortable.

'Umm...thanks…. Have you seen Joan? I thought I invited her,' I said, trying to change the subject.

'No, I haven't seen her,' said Brad taking a step closer to me.

'I'll go find her,' I replied, quickly turning around.

Just as I was about to walk away, Brad caught my arm and pulled me close to him 'why are you always running away from me Renesmee?' I could smell the alcohol on his breath. My heart started racing, where's Claire when you need her?

Just then there was a loud crash and Brad let go of my arm and spun around. Someone had thrown a glass at him and it narrowly missed his head and hit the wall.

'Who did that?' asked Brad in rage. No one answered, the crowd was quiet and there was a sense of fear and danger in the atmosphere.

'Nothing to worry about everyone, back to the party!' said Claire and turned up the music. She looked at me and signaled me to meet her in the kitchen. I quickly ran out of the room and followed her.

'Ren, what just happened in there?' she asked, I could see the worry in her face.

'I don't know' I replied, I touched her hand and said 'it's nothing to be worried about. I'm sure it was some drunken weirdo, trust me.'

'No,' said Claire snatching her hand away 'that was something alright...I was watching you Ren, I saw you struggling to get away from Brad but before I could do anything someone grabbed me and next thing I knew, there was a glass smashing against the wall.'

Claire looked seriously anxious and upset 'Claire it's late, we should end this party and get some sleep okay?' I was worried about Claire and I wanted her to rest and think this through. 'Fine,' she replied and walked out, leaving me standing alone in the kitchen.

The ride home was torture. All I could think about was what had happened when I was with Brad. Someone had seen me struggling and distracted Brad. It was as if somebody was protecting me. I hoped Claire would be okay; she seemed shaken and upset when I left her.

Being half vampire means that I don't get tired; I never feel the need to sleep. This also applies to my parents who are always awake. They feel that just because I am half immortal doesn't mean I shouldn't lead a normal human life, which means that I have a bedtime, I eat normal human food (I prefer hunting) and I drive a car like any other teen. (Even though I can probably run faster than a car.)

Being a Vampire means that we have "special powers" My dad can read minds, which can come in handy, I'd like to know what some people are thinking at the heat of the moment. My mother is able to block out any other vampires' powers, which is also important, but my power is something that I wouldn't classify as "special" I can make other people feel and see what I feel by one touch, I don't see the point of it, considering I could simply tell them how I feel myself. However, mum says that my power was extremely useful when I was a baby, less trouble for her I guess.

I turned down my driveway and parked the car. I closed the door and walked into the house. Dad was reading a classics book and mum was curled up next to him, watching a movie. 'Hey,' I said, in a tired voice, even though I wasn't tired at all.

My dad put down the book he was reading 'Hey honey, how was the party?' exactly the question I was dreading. My dad didn't even have to ask, he could just read my mind.

'What happened?' asked my mum, suddenly worried

'Same old teenage commotion,' I said, quickly running upstairs.

'Wait right there, young lady,' said dad, walking up to me and leading me back into the living room. 'You know very well, Renesmee, that there is no point in lying to me,' he said, sternly.

He was right; I sighed and told them everything. I recalled all the events of tonight and my parents were clearly worried. 'I guess it was just a misunderstanding, everyone was drunk and crazy,' I said, trying to reassure them.

'Honey, why don't you stay with us tonight?' asked my mum, as a concerned parent.

'Okay' I said and got myself comfortable on the couch next to dad.

While we were talking, my conversation with Claire popped in to my mind. 'Claire and I were talking today about a new kid in town.'

'Oh, that's nice,' said my mum.

'Yeah, he moved from forks,' I said, waiting to see their reaction. My parents looked at each other simultaneously and asked 'what's his name?'

'Jacob... Black,' I replied and my expectations were met. My parents clearly knew this guy. 'You know him?' I asked innocently.

'Yes, I do,' said my mum. 'My dad and Jacob Back's dad were best friends,' she said, glancing at my dad. It was as if they were hiding some huge secret from me.

'Maybe I should invite him over,' I said, interrogating them.

'No,' said my dad angrily.

'Why not?' I asked calmly.

'Because we said so,' replied my mum.

'What's the big deal? If you knew him, why are we going to pretend that we don't?'

'Renesmee, that's enough,' said my dad glaring at me.

'Go to bed,' said mum.

'Fine,' I ran up to my room and slammed the door before I went in.

I lingered at the bottom of the stairs waiting to hear my parents' conversation. I knew there was something they were hiding from me. 'Bella, what is he doing here?' I heard my dad whisper.

'I don't know Edward,' replied mum, sobbing 'all I know is that we can't let him get near Ren.'

'How are we going to stop him?' asked my dad.

'Lets see what happens tomorrow and decide,' said my mum kissing my dad lightly on the cheek.

I ran up to my room and climbed into bed. I couldn't believe this! Jacob Black must have done something extremely bad to make my parents hate him this much; still, there was no harm in finding out.

My alarm went off at seven o'clock. I wore my favourite green sweater and jeans. The table was quiet at breakfast. I quickly grabbed my bag and kissed my mum and dad goodbye.

I met Claire at the usual place and we walked off together. 'I cannot wait to see this guy' said Claire tying her hair up.

'Yeah me neither' I replied. Claire sensed the sarcasm in my voice and I had to surrender; I told her everything.

Claire was astonished by the time I finished my story. 'Wow, the sooner we meet this guy the better!' 'Yup.'

We got to school early, Claire and I walked up to the staircase and overheard a group of girls talking, 'He is so hot!' shrieked one of the girls. 'Yeah I know! Apparently he's going to join the swim team,' replied one of the girls with short red hair.

'No wonder! He is so muscular and…..big!' said another short black haired girl.

'This guy is definitely a ladies man,' said Claire looking back at the love struck teens.

'Yeah, all I want now is to actually see him,' I said walking up to my locker.

Just then there was a moment, a moment I just couldn't explain, like a thousand volts were shooting through me. I turned around and there he was, the most beautiful human being I had ever seen, smiling at me, with his gorgeous brown eyes, perfectly tanned skin, his muscular body and black hair cropped short. My insides melted the minute I saw him. This has never happened to me before so why is it happening now?

'Hey there, I'm Jacob Black,' those were the most beautiful words anybody had ever uttered to me.

'Hi, I- I'm Renesmee… but everyone calls me Ren,' I was perfectly aware of how stupid I sounded.

'I think this belongs to you,' he said, handing me a crumpled up note.

'Oh, thanks,' I opened the note, hoping to see a phone number scribbled on it, but it was just a scrap piece of paper I used when I was passing notes to Claire during English.

'You've got lovely handwriting,' said Jacob, running his bronze hand through his black hair.

'You opened it?' I asked, concerned. 'Yeah I wanted to see if it was important,' said Jacob 'meeting on Sunday at the mall sounds pretty important to me,' he said grinning at me. I had never seen anything so beautiful before in my life. He was like a dream to me.

'Catch you later then Renesmee,' he said, running off to catch up with his friends.

The day passed easily, all I could think about was Jacob Black and our conversation. He seemed perfectly nice, why did my parents want to keep me away from him so much? Claire was shocked when I told her what happened 'Ren, he is probably head over heels in love with you by now.'

'What are you talking about?' I asked.

'Oh please, Ren you know you're hot, this guy knows it too which is why he came over and talked to you.'

'Oh…. right,' I said, looking down at my feet. It was one of the perks of being half vampire…. extreme and unexplainable beauty.

I entered the house and saw my parents in deep conversation. 'Hey,' I said.

They immediately broke apart and my dad cleared his throat, 'Ren, how was school today?' I knew what the real question was; did you meet Jacob Black?

'It was good, I met Jacob Black,' I said looking straight at them.

'Did you?' asked my mum picking up a spoon from the kitchen counter 'What did he say?' she asked innocently. I recalled all of today's events, and they seemed to get frustrated with every word that I uttered.

'Ren I want you keeping your distance from this boy,' said my dad, strictly.

'Why? Why can't I see him? Why can't I talk to him? What's the big deal? Please just tell me!' I shrieked, tears were springing into my eyes.

'Ren he's... dangerous,' said my mum looking at my dad to help her out.

'He was arrested several times in Forks and we don't want him to corrupt you,' said my dad, taking my hand.

'See, was that so hard to tell me the first time?' I asked, hugging him tightly.

'I promise I won't see him anymore.' I meant it; I wanted nothing to do with a convict. It still troubled me why my parents didn't tell me this the first time. But I knew better than to argue with them. They're my parents; I'd just have to trust them. But the one thing that I couldn't get out of my head was the way my heart and mind reacted the minute I saw him; there was definitely a spark.

'Ren, wake up!' shrieked my mother.

'Oh crap!' I muttered to myself, I rolled out of bed and checked my alarm clock and just as I expected, it was broken. I quickly got dressed and ran downstairs. 'I am so late, Claire is going to kill me,' I said, as I reached for the toast.

'Don't worry honey, you're not that late' said my dad glancing at his watch. He was right I have had worse days. I grabbed my bag and ran out of the house; Claire was standing at the bus stop looking furious. 'Claire I am so sorry!' I said.

'You should be! Lucky you can run faster than the bus,' said Claire, grabbing my hand and pushing me towards the bus. During the bus ride I told Claire all about Jacob Black's notorious history, and she was amazed.

'Wow, bad boy huh? I can deal with that!' said Claire cheekily.

'Claire I am serious!' I shrieked and just then I burst into laughter.

Once again, school was just the same; Boring lessons and teachers making an attempt to grab our attention. It's not like I need to be in school, never needing to sleep means I have loads of free time, to get by the time, I throw myself into school work. My parents don't mind me staying up for that reason, especially when I achieve A's for every exam that I sit.

Just as I was about to grab my lunch from my locker, someone tapped me on the back. I felt the same reaction as yesterday, like a thousand volts were shooting through my body. Before I even turned around I knew who it was; Jacob Black. 'Hey Renesmee.'

I couldn't help myself from smiling at the sound of his voice 'Hey Jacob. I have to go and meet Claire at the lunch hall,' I said, shutting my locker.

'You mind if I sit with you guys?' He asked. Oh crap. This guy was dangerous, it's like I have no control over myself every time I'm talking to him 'Sure.'

Claire frowned at me when he sat down between us. 'Hi, Jacob,' said Claire biting into her ham sandwich.

'Hey Claire' replied Jacob, smiling at her. 'So are you guys actually going to the mall on Sunday?'

'Yeah' I replied, glancing at Claire. 'How come you're going on Sunday? Saturday is better, that way you have more time to recover from all the shopping,' he said, grinning. His smile was dazzling; there was no way I could stay away from this guy.

'We're not planning to shop till we drop. We just want to get something to wear for Lisa's party,' said Claire, sipping her orange juice.

'Oh, you guys are going for that? I was invited too,' replied Jacob.

'Really? When did she invite you?' I asked, surprised. Lisa was very popular and she only invited people that she felt were worthy of her company; she hardly even knew Jacob.

'The day I started here,' said Jacob, munching a cookie. Lisa was definitely trying to get closer to Jacob, who wasn't?

'Can I ask you something Renesmee?'

'Sure' I replied.

'I was wondering if you'd like to be my date for the party?' said Jacob glaring at me with his gorgeous brown eyes. My heart skipped a beat, literally.

I have to say "NO" I kept telling myself but I couldn't. This guy was hypnotizing me; I had to give into my heart eventually. 'Yes that would be awesome,' I said, blushing at smiling at him.

'Great, I've been itching to ask you ever since I got the invitation,' he said, grinning at me as his cheeks flushed.

'Good for you,' said Claire, feeling at bit left out. I just realized that Jacob and I were having our own private conversation, blanking Claire. Just then the bell rang and Claire reminded us that we had Physics.

The rest of the day went by easily but the ride home was agonizing. Claire kept reminding me about my promise to my parents and how Jacob Black was a bad influence. I pretended to care, seeing that it was the only way to shut her up. 'Claire I'm sorry,' I said, reaching for her hand.

'Don't apologize to me,' she said softly 'you have to tell your parents.' My face fell at this suggestion. My parents would freak if they found out I even talked to him. 'My parents don't have to know about this,' I said, drawing my hand back.

'Ren, you told your parents that you would stay away from him and now you're practically dating him,' shrieked Claire. She was right and there was no point in me hiding it from my dad either, but I had to try.

Dad didn't like using his power against anyone, especially on me; he only did it when he felt that something was wrong. All I had to do was act totally normal. 'Don't worry I'll handle my parents,' I replied, soothingly.

I walked into the house and called out 'Hey I'm home!' but there was no answer.

I walked up to the fridge and found a note and my dad's beautiful handwriting scribbled on it "Renesmee, we'll be back soon, gone out hunting. Love you."

Great, my parents were out of the house, buying me more time to practice acting normal. I grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl and flipped the TV channels looking for something appropriate finally I put the remote down and settled for "Dracula, the movie," It's fun to see what humans think of us. How they think we're freaks that melt in the sunlight and that garlic will keep us away.

While I was watching the door rattled and opened. 'Ren, we're home,' yelled my mum.

'Hey mum, I'm in the living room,' My parents walked in and sat down.