"JAKE! STOP!" My friend Leah and I shouted from Jake's couch between giggles.
"Womanizer, womanizer!" Jake, my best friend, sang along to his stereo which was on full blast.

It was moments like these Friday nights that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. My friends mean everything to me.
Jake has been my best friend since the day I was born. He said even when my mom was pregnant, he'd always have to be near me, though at the time he thought he really needed to be by my mom.
Leah, on the other hand, took some time to warm up to me. She hated my kind. Well, half my kind at least. Originally, she couldn't tolerate vampires. But, after a while, she learned we weren't so different. And now she's my best girl friend.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Pizza's here!" Leah squealed, jumping up and racing to the door.

"More like pizzas," I said. "You damn werewolves eat too much."

"And you damn bloodsuckers eat nothing," Jake said, flashing me his bright white smile.

"Hey, half bloodsucker, remember?" I shot back.

"Yeah, yeah. You still eat like a bird." he muttered.

"Nessie! Jake! Stop your bickering!" Leah shouted from the kitchen where she was grabbing some napkins and sodas. "Dinner is served!" She walked in and dumped four large pizzas on the coffee table in front of us.

Dinner passed by quick enough. Leah and Jacob finished off most of the pizzas, whereas I was content to eat just one piece, though they kept trying to shove more down my throat.

A few minutes afterwards, the phone rang. Jake ran to go answer it, while Leah and I sprawled out across the couch.

"Ness!" Jake called from the kitchen. "It's for you!"

"Coming!" I yelled, and raced into the kitchen. "Hello?" I answered into the mouthpiece.

"Renesmee Cullen! Where are you?! You were supposed to be home a half an hour ago!" My mother's bell-like voice rang through the receiver.

I looked at the clock which read 9.

"Crap! Sorry mom! I lost track of time! I'm coming home right now, okay?" I tried to calm her down.

"Okay." She sighed. "Just, come back soon. Your father is not happy."

I slammed the phone back onto the hook and grabbed my raincoat.

"Time to go already?" Leah asked as I raced towards the front door.

"Yeah. My mom's freaking out." I threw on my shoes and tossed my hair over my shoulder.

"I better get going too." She said. "It's incredibly late. Jake, can you drive Nessie and me home."

"Way ahead of you!" Jake grinned, jingling his set of car keys in his hands. "Come on!"

The car ride was silent on the way to Leah's house, which was only a five minute drive. I'm not sure if we were too tired, or still in shock from Jake's Britney Spears routine.

"Don't forget," Leah called as she climbed out of the car. "Jake and I are coming over at 10 tomorrow to get ready for the wedding."

I groaned. My parents were getting married for the fourth time in the eight years of my life. "Yeah, I'll be ready."

"Why do I have to come?" Jake complained. "It's not like I'm a girl. All I need to do is shove on a suit, and I'll be fine."

"Because, you're one of us now." Leah said.

"One of you?"

"One of the girls!" She exclaimed, a huge grin crossing her face.

"Joy, joy." He muttered.

"Tell Seth I hope he feels better." I said.

"He'll be fine by tomorrow. It's just the 24 hour flu. Anyways, see you later!" And with a wave, she was gone.

Jake sped off down the road towards my house.

"You know, you're beginning to become like my dad with your driving habits." I mumbled.

"Eddie boy has taught me something? Wow. By the way, how are your driving lessons with him coming along?"

I shivered. Driving with my dad was... well... hell. Though I was technically eight, physically I was seventeen. The way I would stay frozen forever. And because of that, I was locked in a car with my father, whose philosophy is the more speed, the better. Unlike him, I was still half human, and I didn't have an internal radar device built into my mind.

Jake chuckled at my grimace. "Yeah, his driving used to scare your mom too. Well, when she was human"

I guess I should explain about how he knew my mom as a human and is still my age. You see, physically, Jake is sixteen, though he could pass off as seventeen by the looks of him. When he became a werewolf, he became immortal, frozen in his teenage state until he gives up being a werewolf, just like my vampire family, although they couldn't pick whether they wanted to be immortal or not. Same with Leah. She will always be twenty years old because she's a werewolf. My mom will always be eighteen. My dad will always be seventeen. And now that I'm full grown, I'll always be seventeen too. But it doesn't matter to me, as long as I have the people I care about most with me.

"Eww! Gross Jake!" I yelled, picking up a used tissue.

"Hey, it still has some life left in it!" He chuckled. "Save a tree!"

"Ugh!" I threw it out the window.

"Tree killer." He muttered.

"No way. In a million years, in that exact spot, there will be a tree, with your snot growing on it." I said.

He laughed. "Well, we'll be sure to come visit it in a million years, now won't we?"

I grinned. Then I noticed we were at my house.

"You know, time goes by so fast when I'm with you, and it has nothing to do with your driving. It's like I can never spend enough time with you, like for some reason, whenever we start talking, we have to go. And I know I can tell you everything. It's so easy being around you, and I don't know why." Wow, did I just say that out loud?

"I feel the same about you Ness. We've got a friendship stronger than anything in the world. But... well... there is something more there. Nobody in this world will ever love you more than I do. But... it's more than---"

"Renesmee Cullen! Where have you been?! We've been worried!" My father's voice interrupted Jake.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Relax Eddie! She's just been at my house with Leah and I! We lost track of time. I drove faster than you to get her home."

My father studied my face for a moment before he spoke. "Fine. But if you ever call me Eddie again, I sure as hell will break your jaw... mutt."

Jacob held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. Fair enough. But in a million years, you will have a tree in your front yard, with my snot growing on it. Think of it as a present from the mutt." We held back laughter, as my father immediately understood our little joke.

"Ugh," He said, obviously revolted. "Nessie, go wash your hands."

I stifled a giggle and ran inside. Dad stayed behind to say something to Jake, but because of my human senses, I couldn't make out what he was saying.

"I'm home!" I shouted from the bottom of the stairs. In a moment, my entire family surrounded me.

"Hey sweetie!" My Aunt Alice said, pulling me into a hug. "How'd it go?"

"Great!" I said. "We had a lot of fun."

"I'm so excited for the wedding tomorrow!" Aunt Rosalie blurted out. "We're decorating the house tonight! It'll be beautiful, even better than their first wedding!"

"Awesome!" I smiled. "Leah and Jake are coming over tomorrow morning to get ready with me, is that okay?"

"The male pup's coming?" Uncle Emmett chuckled. "What have you two done to him? He's becoming more feminine by the second!"

"Shut up Emmett!" My mother scolded, elbowing him in the rib. "Of course it's fine."

"Well, I'm going to go get ready for bed." I excused myself. "Goodnight everyone!"

"Wait, Renesmee." My father called as I was halfway up the stairs.

Uh oh, I thought to myself. He only uses my full name when I'm in trouble. What did I do now?

I reluctantly turned around and saw Jacob and my father standing next to each other in the doorway. My mother looked at him with a nervous expression on her face. My father simply nodded.

"Y-yeah?" I asked.

"Your mother, Jacob, and I would like to speak with you." He spoke each word carefully, enunciating each syllable.

"Ok, shoot." I tried to force a smile, though I knew something was up.

"Alone." He turned to look at the six other vampires crowding the hallway.

A look of knowledge spread across Grandpa Carlisle's face. "Edward, are you sure you want to tell her now? It may be best to wait until---"

"We've kept this from her for too long." My father interupted him. "She has a right to know."

"Know what?" I asked, feeling like I was missing something. What weren't they telling me?

"Edward, I think Jacob should be the one to tell her. But right now is simply not the time." My mother said.

"Alright. Fine. We won't be the ones to tell her. But she better be told soon." My dad shot Jacob a death stare.

"She will. I-I promise." Jake stared down at the ground.

"Enough drama for tonight!" Grandma Esme interrupted. "Come on, the girl must be tired. Let her rest."

I walked slowly up the stairs and into my room, making sure to lock the door. What do I need to know? I thought to myself. Is something wrong? Are we in danger? Is the pack turning against us? That couldn't happen. We're friends with the pack.

I went through a list of things in my head. From the Volturi to imaginary monsters, I couldn't see anything that was wrong. This evening had gone just like every other Friday night. I went over, had pizza with Leah and Jake. But the rest of the pack wasn't there. Maybe they were mad at us. Or mad at me.

"Nessie," My father's voice was at the door. "Open up."

Quietly, I walked over and unlocked the door. He was in the rocking chair in the corner of my room immediately. Damn vampire abilities. Yeah Dad, I'm talking about you. He fought back a smile on that one.

"Nessie, we're not in danger. Everything's fine." He reassured me.

"Then what's wrong?" I asked. "What did you want to tell me?"

He stared blankly out the window. "That's for Jacob to tell you. The rest of us aren't getting involved."

"You're so INFURIATING sometimes Dad!" I screamed. "It's not fair! You can read my thoughts, but I can't read yours! You have to tell me these things!"

"I'm sorry sweetie. This is one of those things that the rest of us can't get involved in. It's not up to us when to tell you, it's up to Jake."

"Just... go. Please. If you're not going to help me, I really don't need you here." I gestured towards the door.

"I-I'm sorry." He sighed. Then he walked out of the door, shutting it behind himself.

"UGH!" I screamed. "NOBODY TELLS ME A DAMN THING IN THIS HOUSE!" I threw a pillow at my door.

What had Jake been trying to say earlier? "I feel the same about you Ness. We've got a friendship stronger than anything in the world. But... well... there is something more there. Nobody in this world will ever love you more than I do. But... it's more than---"

More than what?! I screamed in my head. Why did Dad have to interrupt?!

Why couldn't I read minds? Why was I cursed with the stupidest gift out of all of us Cullens?! All I could do was press my hand to someone's head, and they could read my thoughts.

I buried my face under the covers, and tried very hard to not think. After a half an hour, I drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

Author's Note: I know, I know. It sucks. But I promise you it will get better. Constructive critism is most definitely welcome, just keep the language clean kiddies. I already have part of the second chapter written out, and I hope to finish it by tomorrow evening. Thanks guys :D

--Lauren