It took me a few months to acclimate to living with the Cullens. It was obvious no one could know about them, we didn't even need to have a conversation about it. I knew I couldn't tell anyone about what they were. The same went with me. We also had to prepare my backstory for when I started showing up in public. It was a small town and word travels, so we had to get together what the humans were going to hear when they saw a new member hanging around the already abnormal family.

"We'll just give a modified version of the truth," Carlisle determined, "We adopted you after an accident that left you without a family. Our friends up north told us about you and we took you in right away."

It was short and sweet, and no one would look into it. We all agreed it was the best idea, "One more thing," Rosalie caught our attention, "Your eyes."

I huffed, I knew it was coming. Back in Alaska I barely saw anyone so there was no need to cover up, but if I did then it would simply be sunglasses. I knew I couldn't wear sunglasses everyday here, in Forks there was no need to since it was always cloudy and raining.

"I guess I could wear contacts out in public," I shrugged.

Alice jumped, "Oh! We could try and get her ones that look like ours!" She squealed, "It'll be cute!"

I was more annoyed because I remembered how uncomfortable contacts were. Before I started phasing I had to wear them all the time, my eyesight was terrible. It was amazing when I phased and my eyesight went perfect over night. I felt so happy throwing all my contacts down the toilet. Edward laughed at my thoughts.

"You'll get used to them," he promised, "And it's only while we're in school and in public. You won't have to wear them at home," he reminded me, "Anyway, we're going hunting tonight. Do you want to come?" I looked at him confused, I didn't need to hunt, "Yeah I know. But you can still come with us can't you? Or are you afraid your paws won't be able to keep up?"

I snorted, "You're on!"

~

We waited for twilight before we went hunting, we were already in a secluded area so it was highly unlikely we were going to be met with anyone but better to be safe than sorry. Especially considering we were adding a pretty big wolf into the mix. I wasn't a fan of eating raw meat so I was mostly catching and releasing. But running alongside Edward and the others was a lot of fun.

At one point Emmett was shouting, "C'mon Lassie! C'mon girl!" I would let out a wolf laugh as I ran after him.

At one point I had wandered slightly off and came across a stream, taking a whiff it smelled...clean? No, I didn't like that word cause it made the Cullens sound dirty. What I meant to say was it smelled uninhabited or untouched by vampires. Curiously I went to jump over the stream to the other side. But being tackled to the ground stopped me,

"What the hell?"

"You can't pass that stream," Edward told me.

"Why not? What's on the other side?"

The others quickly caught up with and I could see the worried looks on Esme and Carlisle's eyes, "Nothing. This is just the end of our territory," Edward answered before looking at Esme who was looking at me sadly.

"We should head back," Jasper suggested. The others agreed and started running back to the house.

I took a second to look back wondering what it was on the other side that they were trying to hide me from. I didn't want to assume the worst, they'd been nothing but good to me the few months I'd been with them. I shrugged off the thoughts and followed their scents back home.

~

When school started in September the word had already gone around town of the new adopted Cullen that would be starting. Everyone- and I mean everyone was looking at me. I could hear every whisper, every click of a camera phone as I passed by just going to the office to get my schedule. Carlisle was thankfully able to pull some strings so I had classes with some of my siblings.

The day wasn't too eventful, which I was glad because I didn't need to get more attention. I was getting a lot of curious looks from people in class and in the halls. The only class I was actually looking forward to was gym. Mostly because of how competitive I am and sports were always fun back home.

I wasn't expecting the school to have uniforms for gym, but there was, a t-shirt and a pair of shorts waiting in my gym locker. I made it in and out of the locker room without too many looks form the girls. When I got into the gym and I saw the soccer nets up I got really excited. I didn't have to stretch but I did anyway to keep appearances, I was in the middle of a butterfly stretch when some guy walked up to me.

"You're new here," he said, making it a statement more than a question. I nodded, "I'm Mike."

"Cate," I returned to my stretching.

"You're the new Cullen kid right?" He confirmed, once again I nodded, "Well nice to meet you, wanna be on my team for today?" He asked.

I stood up, "Sure," I stopped myself from smirking, these guys didn't know what they were getting themselves into.

The game was fun- for my team anyway. Not to brag, but the other people didn't stand a chance. I wasn't showing off too much, but sports were fun. So how could I not make sure my team won? It wasn't even much of a challenge. The people on my team watched me with awe as I ran with the ball to the other side of the court, dodging out of the way as others tried to intercept me before I kicked it as humanly as I could into the goal. Of course we won, and I got some impressed looks from the guys and some clearly jealous glares from the girls.

I didn't stick around when the teachers told us to get ready for the bell, I sped back into the locker room, changed and left before they'd even finished cleaning up the gym.

I wasn't expecting Edward to be waiting for me outside, "You're thoughts were really loud," he chuckled as we made our way to the lunch room.

"Well excuse me, I can't help that," I laughed.

"You should at least try to act human," he told me as we sat at a table by the window,

I snorted, "Please, I'm more human than you are."

"Okay, can't fight you on that one," he agreed as our siblings came to join us.

I stood up as the lunch lines opened, only to see no one join me, "None of you gonna get food?" I asked.

"Not exactly hungry, Cate," Emmett told me with a knowing voice.

I groaned, "But can someone come with me so I don't have to go alone?" I could feel some of the eyes on me as I looked at my family. Alice popped up and wrapped her arm around me, "At least SOMEONE is loyal," I stuck my tongue out as we went on a lunch line.

~

It didn't take long for the attention to fade away. I mainly kept to my family, only having small conversations with that kid Mike during gym. I participated a little in class but not too much.

When the holidays came round it seemed like the family got more excited, "You guys are really festive," I noted one day while helping Carlisle and Esme decorate the tree.

"Usually we're very low-key, but since it's your first Christmas with us, we want to make it special," Carlisle smiled.

I aww'ed, "You don't have to go through all the trouble just because of me!" I reassured.

Alice bounced in as bubbly as always, "It's no trouble at all! It's so much fun! And you're going to love your present!" She told me knowingly. A few weeks prior it seemed I was getting a bit clearer in her "sight" she was very pleased about it because she would always get annoyed when she couldn't see something because of me.

"I don't know Alice," Edward strolled in shaking his head, "I think she might like my present better!" He challenged.

I went to speak but Jasper butted in, "I got ten bucks on Alice."

"Well I got ten on Edward!" Emmett quickly joined.

I chuckled, he should know better than to bet against Alice, "I'm sure I'm gonna love both of your gifts equally!" I told them putting my hands on either shoulder.

Alice giggled, her laugh reminded me of wind chimes, "Well I love my gift, so thank you!" She hugged me sweetly while I groaned.

"You peeked?!"

Rosalie chuckled, "No, she just cheated."

"I don't cheat! I can't help what I see!" She rebutted.

I had done hand-made gifts for everyone. I could've bought them all something but I felt something handmade would be more sentimental. It had taken a few months, I'd started working on them in October and barely made the deadline.

Since I was the only one who actually slept in the family, we all decided to stay up on Christmas Eve and open gifts at midnight. I was beaming as I watched my family open their gifts. I'd carved out a silhouette statue of two people embraced trying to make it look like Carlisle and Esme. I swear if vampires could cry, Esme would've been a mess. She hugged me so tightly and wouldn't let me go for the rest of the night.

I made Edward a carving of a mountain lion, not only is it his favorite to hunt, but I felt like he resembled it. Cunning, quick, intelligent. I copied the idea for Emmett, I made him a bear cub carving. I knew bears were his favorite but I refused to carve a big one because Emmett reminded me more of a cub than an actual bear. His size was intimidating but on the inside he's just like the cub. Rosalie got a rose carving, for obvious reasons. I made Jasper a little badge that looked like a sheriff badge but instead it said "Major Cullen".

He'd told me about his past, about Maria and how he'd turned. I knew it wasn't a time he liked to look back on but he looked so happy to see the little carving, I could feel his happiness which only added to mine. Alice's gift was a little more immersive. I made her an hourglass necklace, I had to get a little sand from the store but the lady behind the counter was more than happy to give me the little pinch I needed. On the hourglass I added a quote from Alice in Wonderland, "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get." Alice loved it.

I was so happy seeing everyone admiring their gifts I'd almost forgotten they hadn't given me mine yet, "You guys really didn't have to get me anything! Being here is gift enough," I told them.

"Hush! Nonsense!" Both Alice and Esme dismissed.

Edward covered my eyes and started walking with me, I could hear the others following us, I wondered where we were going until I smelled the familiar metal scent of the garage. I froze, they couldn't have-

"We did," he told me before taking his hands away and showing me the new mode of transportation that was all mine. The others all settled on fast cars while I was more drawn to two-wheelers so I almost passed out when I saw a blue and white Triumph Street Triple standing by itself in the corner of the garage.

"You got me a motorcycle?!" I gasped.

Emmett smirked proudly, "I picked it out."

"I helped find the right shades for the colors," Rosalie contributed.

"Then Carlisle and I paid for it," Edward finished. I slowly walked up to the bike, in awe of it. For the few months I'd been with them we all carpooled in Edward's Volvo, but looked like I was gonna start driving myself! Edward chuckled at my mental images of me driving up wearing a cool leather jacket.

Alice smiled before dragging me away, "Okay my turn!" She pulled me all the way into my bedroom and sat me inside. I looked around not sure what it was I was supposed to be looking for.

My eyes scanned the room, looking for anything that wasn't there before. Then I saw it and I froze. Above my bed, sat a dreamcatcher. But not just any dreamcatcher, that was the dreamcatcher that I'd had over my bed back in Alaska. I looked at Alice and Jasper, my eyes swimming.

"How-?"

They both smiled, "We got it last Tuesday," I remembered that day, the two of them told me they were going on a hunting trip which is why they weren't going to school. Looks like instead they went back to my land and got it from my old house.

A part of me wanted to ask about the territory, did the Denali coven bury my family? But I couldn't bring myself to ask. I hugged them and thanked them for the gift, it meant so much for me to have something else from home.

For months we were a normal family...as normal as can be anyway. A few more months of school went by, I wasn't getting as many whispers anymore but they were still there. It got pretty funny sitting at lunch with my siblings hearing some of the guys whisper to each other about how they're gonna ask me out. None of them ever did, but according to this girl Jessica in my biology class with Edward, I'm the most approachable Cullen out of my siblings.

I was almost done with the school year. We had about half a semester left then I'd be a senior. It felt great. When March came round there were more whisperings; someone new was coming to school. Apparently the sheriff's daughter was coming back to town. I heard that she'd lived in Phoenix with her mom, and rumors started spreading that her mom kicked her out. I rolled my eyes, these small-town kids loved to make anything and everything a huge deal.

I mean she was just a girl, it's not that big a deal. She's just like anyone else.