"I never would have taken you for a jock, Swan."

To be fair to Leah, I was standing in my driveway wearing clothes that likely would have better-served someone doing yoga with my hair in twin braids and my zip-up hoodie falling around my elbows so that the sleeves hid all of my scars.

"I'm a secret jock." I picked up a basketball and tossed it to her. The other girls weren't supposed to show up for another fifteen minutes and I was bored. "I spy on the cheerleaders and steal their secrets."

"What kind of secrets do cheerleaders have?" Leah spun the ball in her hands as she considered the hoop I'd raised in the driveway.

"They know all the best deodorants."

Leah looked suitably impressed for a second and then went back to a poker face. "You'll have to share that with Paul." She said, lazily shooting the ball and sinking it straight through the hoop.

I cackled. "Is that the real reason none of them wear shirts?"

"Gen, you know they're going to see that in my thoughts later, right?" She tossed me a ball and I caught it awkwardly, the hoodie catching at my arms.

"Oh, gawd, I'm going to die."

She grinned evilly.

The other girls arrived one by one, joining in a game of HORSE and then three on three as we waited for Liz to arrive. I was the recipient of an undeserved amount of trash talk. Leah was their new hero. Somehow she ended up the more flustered of the two of us.

The question came as we headed inside, collapsing in several piles around the living room table as my dad delivered the pizzas he'd just finished heating up.

"Where's your sister?"

I couldn't help but glance at Leah-she rolled her eyes. Apparently, Dick 'the dick' Cullen had been uncomfortable with Isabella spending a night in the same house as a werewolf and the solution had been for her to stay in her room 'working on homework'.

"She needs extra beauty sleep," I said instead.

"Genevieve." My dad's voice called from the kitchen.

My friends snickered and the night went on uneventfully, Leah and Cass hit it off with a lot of whispered dirty jokes about the movies and then both passed out first. Ana disappeared for thirty minutes and returned with one-third of a bowl of popcorn. Liz zoned into the Mummy so much that Cass' sudden snore made her scream out loud.

When the second movie ended, none of us bothered to get up. Everyone was curled up somewhere with eyes either closed or flickering. I had a mug of hot chocolate and was prank texting Paul with Liz' phone. My dad had gone to bed and the house was dark in a way that normally made me start trembling at imaginary threats but... I considered it. Was it the number of people around me or was it Leah? Either way, I felt fi-

Something scratched on the back door.

I leaped to my feet but Leah was already awake and grabbing my arm.

"It's just Sam." She whispered. Her eyes reflected the moonlight streaming through the window. "Hey, it's fine."

I swallowed hard and nodded. "I'm totally fine." I snapped.

She poked me with one finger and I stumbled back a full two feet.

"I'll see you."

"Wait!" I half-raised up, reaching out to stop her. She turned back and considered my serious face. "Leah, please..."

"What is it?" She grumbled when I trailed off.

"Whatever you do..."

"Gen?"

"Don't think about 'The Song that Never Ends."

She tilted her head quizzically so I started humming.

"Gen, what-"

"It just goes on and on my friend." I sang under my breath.

The scratching on the backdoor paused as Leah stared at me and I realized Sam had heard me too.

"Some people staaaaarted singing it, notknowingwhatitwas-"

"Swan, I f***ing hate you so much."

"Yeah, yeah, good night, already."

She stormed out.

As the back door closed, I heard her start humming.

I fell asleep with a very evil grin.

...

I sent my friends home the next morning and immediately went back to bed, undoing my hair and wincing as the strands resisted their new position in a raised messy bun. I woke up again just before lunch to some very confused texts from Jacob and three voicemails from Paul. Four voicemails, I discovered-there was one from Quil that turned out to be from Paul complaining that Sam and Quil had stolen his phone.

I tossed my phone onto my bed without replying to anyone, threw on jeans and a tee, and headed down for some coffee. Edward and Bella were waiting for me at the kitchen table. A cup was already under the coffee maker, waiting for me.

"Am I grounded?" I asked nonsensically, scooping up the mug and coming to sit across from them.

"What?" Bella asked.

"You look like disappointed parents."

Edward sighed and leaned forward, his eyes yellow as they glanced from the window and back to me. "We want to take a trip to Florida."

"Gross."

"Gen!" Bella said. She almost sounded like dad, actually.

My face pinched as that thought led to another-if she had her way, she would never be that age. I might, but she wouldn't. My twin, no longer my twin. Of all the times to have these thoughts and it's sipping coffee, tired from watching Space Jam, sore from being destroyed at basketball.

"Speaking of basketball," Edward said, looking just as sad and now trying to distract me. "You have a giant bruise on your cheek."

"Yeah, Ana elbowed me by accident. Why were you waiting to tell me about Florida?"

"I want you to come, too. Mom wants you to come."

Oh, right, Mom lives in Florida.

"Mom doesn't need to see me."

"Gen..."

"Genevieve." I felt petty. I felt tired. I felt too much. I felt Edward's eyes on me like he was saying 'be patient'. He knew I could hold my temper. I didn't really want to at the moment. "Really, Bella, what's the point?"

"Mom wants to see both of us."

"Sure. Then she can tell me."

"And you'll read it?"

"Probably."

"Shouldn't you introduce her to Jacob?" Edward cut in.

"F*** you," I said. Then my eyes shot open and I sat up straight. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I... I... I think I need some air."

Edward started to nod and then hesitated, tilting his head as though he were listening.

"Actually, why don't I leave you two for a bit. I'm sure you could use some one-on-one time."

"I one hundred percent believe that you have no ulterior motive," I replied.

There was a... pause.

The vampire stared at me, halfway out of his chair, looking... confused. He shook his head, almost like he felt dizzy.

Then he was gone and I heard the front door opening and clicking shut behind him.

I turned to my sister.

Bella smiled at me placatingly.

"Jacob will hate it," I muttered into my coffee. I had yet to take a real sip, instead slurping it just enough to burn my tongue and then placing the mug back onto the table. "Will Edward even let us sit in the same row on the plane?"

"Jasper and Alice will fly down too. Jasper can help us all stay calm."

"And Alice? Or is she there to reign in Jasper?"

"She's my friend," Bella explained simply. "And she cares about you, too."

"Yeah, they all love me. Everyone loves me. No one has ever thought about what my blood tastes like or-" I cut myself off, letting the words hang like I had something worse to say instead of simply finding my mind go blank. "I think I really do need some air."

"Ok."

I stood abruptly and walked to the front porch, only to see Jacob through the front window looking very annoyed. I opened the door and stepped out to see who he was arguing with, not surprised to see that it was Edward. The dick had sensed him coming, hadn't he? The two of them looked over at me as I closed the door behind me.

Then Jacob looked deliberately back at Cullen.

"I'm not going to lie to my girlfriend." He said flatly.

Then he walked over to me, took my hand, and led me away.

When I looked back, the vampire was already gone.