01/17

I lie in this strange new bed, mulling over the events of the day. I had gone from the well-lit city of the sun, Phoenix, Arizona, and had crossed over under a gloomy cloud cover to where sheets of rain came pouring down around me.

If I'd had my say in things, I would have been on Long Island by now. Instead, I'm in Forks, Washington, the rainiest town on Earth, or in America at least, home to my stepfather, the father of my half-sister.

Charlie Swan is the Chief of the Police in Forks and is well beloved by the people, at least from what Bella tells me. I just sort of stay out of his way. He knows just as well as I do that

I'm not supposed to be here, but neither of us say anything because of Bella.

I love my half-sister, I really do, but she has flaws. She constantly thinks that she's the mature, responsible one, even over our mother, just because she's reminded her of a few things like certain groceries or chores every once in a while. Maybe in some circles, that would be considered responsibility and maturity. Not in the circles I often visit.

You see, on my father's side of the family, I have a lot of half-siblings. We all go to a summer camp in Long Island every summer. None of us have ever really visited our father, although he does try to make contact with all of us as much as possible. That's not why we're mature and responsible, though.

Imagine knowing that you are the only person who can see a threat that can hurt others. Imagine knowing that you attract these monsters and there's nothing you can do about it except try to stop them. Imagine knowing that you could die at any moment, and that you might never make it past sixteen.

Imagine having power beyond the ordinary. The ability to see things others can't in the present and the future. The ability to heal others with just a touch. The ability to control light itself. Having faster reflexes, being more alert than anyone else in your school, and better aim, too.

Imagine keeping all of this a secret from your sister and both of your step-fathers. That's my life in a nutshell. A daughter of Apollo, the Greek god of the sun, healing, music, prophecy, archery, and the arts overall.

Mom knew for a long time, being able to see what others couldn't. She'd hoped that Bella would be able to as well, but as far as we could both tell, she was oblivious to the world of the supernatural and we intended to keep it that way.

Bella's one of the two people I blame for my fate here. The other is Phil Dwyer, my second stepfather. A minor-league baseball player, going around from team to team, isn't all that good. Mom used to stay home with us in Phoenix, but she missed him. Bella decided to become a martyr and come up here.

It had been a nice Saturday. I'd finished my homework, and was feeling really good about the day and was thinking about practicing my SLAM poetry when Bella had walked in.

"Mara, I need to talk to you." She'd sat down on the chair to my desk.

I'd sat up, thinking it was something truly serious. "What's up?"

She'd sighed and looked up me with the eyes we shared. "You know I'm moving to Forks, right?"

I had eyed her, trying to gauge her seriousness. She had been complaining in the subtler ways about the town she hated so much.

"Yes, Bells, I'm not dead or anything." I'd looked down at my Rolling Stones magazine, deciding not to take the conversation too seriously.

"I want you to come with me."

I'd nearly fallen off the bed. "What? Bella, I'm moving in with my half-siblings in New York, I'm not going to Forks!"

"I'll be all alone, Mara! Besides, what would you really prefer, being with your half-brothers and sisters that are just results of a father that abandoned you and live with desperate women who will probably resent you because you're a result of his affair with another woman, or your sister who has watched over you since you were born and made sure that Renée was still responsible?"

I could see her confidence growing with every second, but crippling guilt and shame took over.

"Fine," I had muttered, standing up. "I'll go with you to Forks."

She'd hugged me and fawned over me, but now I'm here. Maybe if I were a little more human, I wouldn't mind it so much, but being a child of Apollo, I need the sunlight. I rise out of bed and fall asleep with my father's arc across the sky.

Charlie mostly left me alone, and focused on his daughter, trying to make up for years and years of lost time. Not that Bella cared, from what I saw. She just argued about the truck that he got for her for free.

I honestly don't understand why she complains so much.

When we got to Charlie's house, I unpacked with Bella in the little bedroom we would share for the next few years. I began to sing "Rhiannon" but she gave me a nasty glare, and I stopped reluctantly.

About five minutes later, she went to use and set up the only bathroom in the house, and I pulled off the sweatshirt over my tank top off and folded it hastily and tossed it into one of the drawers Bella had assigned me.

I pulled some items I didn't want Charlie or Bella to see out of my backpack, starting with a celestial bronze dagger with a sun carved onto the handle, the perfect weight for throwing or melee. I pushed it under my pillow, and then grabbed the bottle of nectar and my emergency Ziploc of ambrosia squares and golden darchmas, and shoved it under my sweatshirt in the drawer, and buried it under other clothes in a hurry. I slammed the drawer shut just as Bella re-entered the room.

I looked out the window to see a boy looking out of the window in the other house, surprised to see someone looking out this one. I gave a weak smile and started to flatten against the wall as quickly as possible when I saw a mischievous, good-hearted, lop-sided smirk on his face before he disappeared from the view. I slid down the blue wall, and Bella peered at me with an interested expression

"He was kinda cute," she said. "You should've talked to him, Mara."

"I can't," I told her. "Besides, it doesn't matter anyway. I don't need a guy."

"Of course you do!" She chirped, before going back to unpacking her clothes.

So yeah, now I'm here. I just want to stay long enough for Bella to graduate, and then I'm moving back to Long Island. It will be better there, with half-sibs and all of that.

01/18

I guess things went better than they could have. Today was my first day at Forks High School. I got up early to see the sunrise, and was disappointed to see the rain. It was one of those things where I just forgot for a moment, and I was just so hyped that I got upset.

I pulled my blond hair back into a ponytail, and pulled on another black tank top on, and a bright orange Camp Half-Blood hoodie and some blue jeans. I hid the knife in my waistband, and shoved my iPod and emergency Ziploc into my pocket, and bounded down the stairs, resisting the urge to sing once again.

Charlie was brewing coffee as I grabbed some Pop-Tarts, and put them in the toaster.

"Good morning," I said cheerily, slapping a bright smile on my face.

"'Morning." He nodded, and went back to reading files from the station. The silence set me on edge, so I began to hum "Here Comes the Sun," a favorite in the Apollo Cabin. Often there were battles every night for certain music to play, but that was a favorite we all shared.

"That's pretty. I didn't know you could sing, Marlene."

I looked up. "What- oh. Yeah, I guess."

Bella then strode in, and the Queen had arrived.

In Forks High, Bella ditched me at the first chance she had. I turned the corner to try to find my special reading class when I bumped right into the guy from next door.

"Hey, might wanna watch out there," he warned in a somewhat friendly tone. "Hey, you're one the Chief's daughters, right? Just moved in last night?"

"Um, stepdaughter," I corrected nervously. "I'm Mara Sunrider. What's your name?"

"Patton, Patton Hartley." His hand outstretched as a lop-sided easygoing grin emerged.

"Nice to meet you," I said. "Do you know where room 321 is?"

"Yeah, let me show you," he gestured for me to follow. "So, where are you from?"

"Phoenix, Arizona."

"Did you like it there?"

"I prefer sunshine," I admitted with a shrug. "I guess you could say I'm a child of the sun."

He grinned a little wider. "I can get behind that."

"Are you from around here?" I asked.

"Forks native, born and raised," he replied. "I can get the whole sun thing. Rain can get a bit overrated around here."

I found myself snickering.

"So, what year are you?"

"Sophomore. How about you?"

"Freshman, unfortunately."

"Cool. This must be all shades of terrifying."

"True. Patton, what classes are you taking?"

"English II, Algebra II, Chemistry, European History, P.E, and as dorky as it sounds, Creative Writing."

"You like poetry?" I was excited now.

"Yeah," he admitted as he looked down at his grimy sneakers. "Really dorky, isn't it?"

"Actually, I love SLAM," I confessed. "I love hearing and writing it. Maybe I'm taking it at the same time as you?"

"I have it in fourth period," he told me. "How about you?"

"Same. I guess that means we'll have the same lunch period, too."

"There you go. You know somebody now." We both laughed at that. "Well, see you then, Mara."

I turned to see my classroom, but when I looked back, he was already walking off into the crowd.

At lunch, I just followed Patton to where there was a group of two other guys and two girls were sitting at a table, just a bit away from the table where Bella was sitting.

"Hey guys," Patton said as he sat down. "This is Mara Sunrider, Chief Swan's stepdaughter."

"Hi," I murmured as I slowly sat down.

"These guys are Michael and Alex, and these lovely ladies are Jen and Liz." Patton gestured around the table.

"Welcome to our table," Liz, a dark-skinned girl said.

"Yeah, once you hang with us, you're stuck with us," Alex added.

Jen leaned in. "Sorry about unleashing these storms of teenage testosterone upon you. Be forewarned, they are easier to control than you think."

I gave off a nervous giggle.

"So, what year are you guys?" I asked.

"Sophomores!" They all chorused, raising water bottles.

We were starting to laugh and joke around when they came in. Pale-skinned teenagers that were eerily beautiful, almost uncanny. They made every hair raise on my skin, and I heard Patton make a little sound as he glared at the redhead.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"What?" He looked back at me. "Nothing. Those are the Cullens, the most arrogant, self-righteous, and most pretentious kids you'll ever meet. They're little rich kids who act like they know it all and are above us and have the right to do anything they want."

There was agreement around the table.

"And they all date each other," Jen added. "They may be foster kids, and I'm sorry that I sound judgmental here, but that's just creepy!"

"No arguments here," I said, putting my hands up. I looked back to see Bella and Redhead Cullen staring at each other intensely.

"Is that your sister he's staring down?" Michael asked. "I know she's pretty, but this new girl? What?"

"Oh dear God I feel sorry for you," Patton said quickly. "If he starts hanging around your house all the time. . . Edward Cullen is the worst out of them all. No one is good enough to be friends with him."

"Put me out of my misery now," I groaned as I banged my head against the table.

"Oh no, you're suffering with the rest of us," Liz teased.

The rest of the day was fine, but those are the important pieces, I guess. Well, that, and every guy in the school was drooling over Bella. She acts like she's such a hideous outcast, but she's the pretty one in the family with pale skin and wavy dark hair and her sweet clothes.

Not saying I'm ugly, but I just felt kinda plain next to an old-fashioned beauty like her. It wasn't all that great to see more boys just confirm it. Especially stupid Edward Cullen. I'm getting bad vibes off of that guy, but I don't know what. I guess I'm just going to have to wait.