Penelope I stop at the clearing. Where is she, where is she? I think, bouncing on my heels so fast that if a human saw me, I'd be vibrating. I zoom to the side of the group. Aha, there! I see Edward tense up slightly. Hello Edward, can you hear me? Don't look at me, they'll see. I'm to your right. Or can you tell? I think, If you can hear me move your foot. yep, foot! Ok, I'm here to help you. Just... stay there. I race around to behind the volturi and climb a tree. I watch as words are exchanged then the volturi leave. I jump down, "Boy I thought they'd never go!" I say. Everyone stands on guard. "Hey, woah, no harm meant!" I jump back. "She's been there awhile now," Edward tells them. "So, so, so, can I finally meet her?" I say and spin bounce, "The half human Renesme, It's an honor!" I zip then bow at her feet. Jacob growls and Bella crouches, "Who are you?" she says. "Oh, where are my manners? I am Penelope," I say, giving everone a flouncy curtsy. "I almost didn't make it, but I did, so!" Carlisle walks up to me. "Come, we can talk at the house. Just follow us," he says. "I know where it is!" I chirp, then run, beating everone there. They arraive seconds after. "You can go ahead inside. We have to send our guests on their way," Carlisle tells me, "You can properly introduce yourself there." "Kay kay," I answer, then I lounge on the couch. I'm exited, so It's like the world is on fast forward. After awhile the Cullens (and Jacob, no longer a wolf,) join me. "You broke a window," says Jacob, smirking. "You hadn't had the courtecy to open the door for me gross dog," I chirp. "So, Penelope, could you maybe explain how you know every. Single. Thing about us?" Bella asks. She seems to be on edge. "I could see you. Like this," I lace my fingers through my short black hair, touching as much scalp as possible to help me concentrate, then close my eyes and think about the corner of the room. Soon, I see my self sitting on the couch. I grow clearer as I know the copy of me in the corner of the room is growing more realistic. "The only thing the other one can do is see, but it comes in handy because I can read peoples lips pretty well," I tell them, then run her into a wall, where she turns to dust and dissapears. I shake my head, back on the couch again. "You just never expected to find a person where you didn't smell one. Or read her thoughts in Edwards case. It's like having extra eyeballs wherever I want to think..," I zone out, then blink, "but I already know that so it's boring, let do something else! I want to meet Renesme!" "Wait, first tell us why you're here," Alice says. "I'm here because I want to join your coven. Your Cullen coven," I giggle. "Would you be able to avoid humans?" Bella asks quickly. I'm confused. "But don't you guys, like, talk to them and stuff? She was a human for the longest time and you most obviously didn't avoid her," I say, pointing at Bella and looking at Edward. I feel less chirpy. If I had to avoid talking to humans, what made this coven any different from the coven I'd just left? Sure, this one's bigger, but so what? I want to meet humans. "No, can you avoid killing them?" Carlisle corrects, smiling slightly. I'm still confused. This coven would be a whole lot bigger if they didn't finish off all the humans they drank from. "What?" I say. "We don't drink from humans, we drink from animals," Edward says. I gape. "Didn't you ever wonder wonder why our eyes were a different color while you were stalking us?" Emmet says. "No. But don't laugh at me, I was only just made in 1948," I cross my arms and make a pouty face. "Is that why you're so childish? I was starting to think that vampires could have ADHD," says Jacob. "No, I act like this because I was thirteen when I was turned, mutt," I say. Now It's their turn to gape. "You're an immortal child?" Rosalie says, shooting daggers with her eyes. "Not technically. I was changed just above the teenager line," I say. "But, do you act like one?" Bella says. "I don't know. What do they act like? As far as I can tell I'm the same as all the other vampires I've ever met. 'Cept they don't know how to have fun," I say, "I'm stating to think nobody knows how to have fun. C'mon, I don't wanna just sit here! We're vampires for goodness sakes! does nobody get that?" I say. "I, for one, don't get that," Jacob says. I frown. "Maybe I'm not talking to you, cur," I say. There's an awkward silence. "If you didn't know that we don't eat humans, why did you seek out us in particular?" Edward asks. "Well... to meet humans I guess. And Renesme. Renesme's a kid like me, for now at least. That's mostly it," I explain. Bella hugs Renesme close protectively. "I truly don't mean any harm. If you'd rather I leave, I will. It's just I thought you'd be different," I tell them. "We don't need any more trouble with the volturi," says Rosalie to Carlisle. "They should leave us alone for a while now." Alice says, "Besides, I like her." Now I'm annoyed. "Hello, in the room! Talk to me, not around me," I exclaim. "If you can learn to live like us, you can stay," Carlisle says. Right now, he's the only one I like. And maybe Alice. "Cool, where's my room?" I say jumping up and clapping super fast. "I'll show her to one of the guest rooms," Alice says. I follow her down a hallway. "Can I help you redecorate?" Alice asks me. "Absatutely!" I say, then ask, "Alice. Why am I the only one who's enthusiastic you think?" Alice thinks. "Everyone else doesn't try to like the little things anymore. You do," She says, "You didn't finish growing up like everyone else did, so.., so maybe you have something we don't." She explains. I think for a second. "Or maybe.., I'm the one missing something," I say, "anyway, my room?" She gestures to the door we've stopped beside. Alice opens the door and zips away after saying, "Enjoy!" chirpishly. Maybe everyone is just different, I think, maybe I just should get to know someone before I leave and go where the grass is greener. I step into the room and look around. "All to myself?" I wonder, running my hand along the top of a small stereo on a shelf. Another shelf holds several books, all shakspeare. I sit on a modern looking sofa. "Wow," I sigh spinning to lay down. The room is decorated simply, but elegantly, and is furnished with a couch, a stereo, a big fuzzy gold rug, a dresser with a lamp with gold fringe to match the rug, and a dark coffee colered pot with a fern-like plant sprouting out of it. "I wouldn't say wow, it needs a personal touch," Alice says. She and Jasper stand in the doorway. "Bella told us to guard your room because she thinks you'll go after Renesme, so I came back," she says, coming to sit beside me on the couch as I sit up. My face falls. "But me and Renesme are supposed to be best friends. I planned it out," I whine. Jasper seems confused for a split second, but then covers it up. Alice doesn't notice and speaks before he can. "I know, and trust me you will be friends! Later. C'mon, it's time to decorate your room!" she says, jumping up. "But aren't you supposed to keep me here?" I ask them. "No, we're supposed to guard you. And I will, just not here." Alice says. After going a multitude of different places, (we drove instead of running. Alice's choice, plus we needed to carry furniture.) and a lot of rearranging, I stand inside my dream bedroom. I had to hold my breath in the stores and just point at what I wanted, but Ithink it was worth it. There are more shelves filled with more things like a record player, as well as a better stereo and a small TV. I got lots new books in a cute little bookstore coffee shop/bookstore in Seattle. Mostly fiction, but I got a big dictionary and a thesaurus too. I love words. Big words. Strange words. Multitudes of words! I also got a big-boned cozy looking canopy bed even though I don't need one. "Why bother?" Alice asked me when I carried the box out of the store. "Because," I said as I put it in the back of the car, "beds are like really comfortable couches. And they're fun to coordinate." she shrugged. "Ok, but you're tying the matress to the roof," she said. Now I flop back onto the colorful bedspread. Alice mostly decorated the room (modern luxurious style)but I chose the bedclothes. The pillows and stuff are all rainbowy and I love it! I put into the record player an Elvis record that I got just because he's Elvis. When I listen to music I think about everything. Sometimes I try to remember what my life was like when I was still alive, but it's like a black and white photograph; dull and without movement. I do remember some of right after though. I loved it. All of it, believe it or not. I was glad not to be human anymore. I guess I enjoyed the newness of this world I'd been thrust into. Maybe it does seem a little less new now, like Alice said, but it's still so awesome! I especially loved the changing times. The clothes, the people, the music, the cities! That was a problem for me. I hated not being able to see the daytime city with people who weren't homeless or criminals. But now I'm here, I think, and maybe the Cullens will tell me how to talk to people. Like, exchange words. I get off the bed and put the record away, then I run downstairs. I can't really run 'cause I'm inside, and even half running knocked over a lamp. "Oops," I say looking at it. "That's alright," Carlisle tells me from where he's been standing reading a book, "I'll clean it up later." He closes the book and puts it on a shelf. "I'm afraid I don't know much about you Penelope," he says. "What's there to know," I say shrugging. "How about you start at the beginning?" he prompts. I sit down on the couch, "Well.., in 1948, before I was changed I was really exited to be finally a teenager. My mother said I could have makeup when I turned thirteen, so the age was sort of a right of passage. I had two older sisters and I wanted to be just like them. I was like most other girls, I guess. I had a crush on this guy named Hank in my class. I liked my music teacher and I learned tap from her after school. Sometimes I drew dresses that I had seen my aunts of mother wear for reference to what was pretty. I loved pretty clothes, and dark blue dresses with draping fronts were the ones I drew most. A month before I was changed I started to feel like I was followed and started getting really paranoid. I wouldn't stay outside for very long and started to think there were messages in the radio for me." "My mother got really worried, but she didn't have to worry for long. The vampire following me kidnapped me and took me to a little cabin in the middle of nowhere. She bit and ran, probably to find another hunt to keep from finishing me off. I only had time to try the doorknob before I felt like I was burning alive," I look off into the distance, "Then I was...me. Me now I mean. I remember breaking out of the cabin and just running. I absolutely loved it. And don't tell anyone else because they seem temperamental, but I even loved the...the killing. Maybe that was my thirst talking, but I did. That's probably why I just can't understand your choice. It's who we are Carlisle," I say. "I see," is all he says. I purse my lips, "anyway, soon after that I discovered my cool superpower!" I chirp. "Superpower huh?" Edward says as he, Bella, and Renesme walk in. "Renesme!" I say and bounce up to her, crushing the lamp even more than it already has been. "Carlisle, you may want to talk to Jasper," Edward tells him, and I wonder at the blank holes in his sentence. He's trying not to tell me something. I look back at Renesme. "Hi! I'm Penelope," I say. She looks up at her mom. Bella looks at me. There's a long awkward silence. "How about you go get to know Penelope?" Bella finally says, deciding that she's safe in my room in this house surrounded by vampires who are protective of her. "Yay!" I yelp, "come see my room!" I grab her hand and run down the hallway. "Wait, just wait a minute," I say when we arrive, then I run in to make sure everything is clean. "Ok, come in," I yell out to her after smoothing my blankets and picking a leaf off the floor that had fallen from the fern when we rearranged things. She walks in and gently sits on the bed. "So," I say. "So," she says "You're a vampire. why do you have a bed?" "It's comfy," I say, "I like to read with all the pillows propped up behind me. Do you wanna listen to music?" "Ok," she says. "Come pick a record, I have lots," I tell her, "I like records better than other things. Probably because it's my era." She smiles. I pick the Beatles. "How old are you?" she asks me after awhile. "Seventy three," I say after quick calculation. "No, how old were you?" She rephrases. "Oh," I laugh, "Thirteen. Not quite a teenager. What are the Cullens really like?" "Well...they're family to me, so I really can't say what they're like. They're just...them." "Mmm," I reply. Bella opens the door. "Come here Renesme," she says. They leave. I turn off the music, then start to follow them. I stop in the door smiling smugly, then turn around and sit on my bed. I spread my fingers across my scalp. I see the hallway. I creep, although I don't need to be quiet, to the stairs' landing from which I can see the living room. Everone's gathered in there except Renesme and Jacob, so I can assume she's with him. "...and I think we should keep them seperated until we know her bett..," I read on Edwards lips until he turns his head away. I purse my silent lips. No. Renesme is going to be my friend wether they want me to or not, I think matter-of-factly, They can't stop me. I can only see Edward, Alice, and Jasper's faces clearly. "According to Jasper we may never "know her better,"" Alice seems tense or agitated, then she doesn't. Edward stands up and Jasper supports her as her legs falter. "Oh," Alice says, then she looks right where I'm standing. She points and as everone turns to look I make myself fall sideways and disappear against the ground. I open my eyes and shake my head, back in my room. Someone knocks on my door. This is probably an uh oh moment, I think. I open it to Alice, who seems to be giving me the benefir of the doubt. "So, how's your room?" she asks. "Cool," I answer, not giving her anything unless she asks for it. "Was that you I saw on the stairs?" she asks after awhile. "Yes. You almost fell over. What did you see?" I say. "Nothing," she says quickly, then she stands and leaves. Nothing. Right, I think. I want to know more, so I go downstairs. No more spying for now. "Ok guys, what's up?" I say, stopping amongst them with my hands on my hips. They stare. "Why were you sneaking around?" Rosalie asks. I look to the floor. "I was seeing if you were saying nice things about me," I say. They don't look convinced. "Look, I'm sorry. I've never stayed in one place for very long, so it's unsettling for me to have to trust people. I was checking to see if I could really stay here. I don't really know you much," I say. Everyone except Alice and Edward relaxes. The vision kept them unsettled. Now I'm curious, what did they see?