Bitten (Twilight Fanfic: Jessica Stanley + Rosalie Hale)

And Me Without My Breadcrumb Trail - Jessica's POV

The woods might have been lovely, dark, and deep, but the loud music and bright lights blaring out of the cabin made it hard for me to think of anything besides how ready I was to go home.

I frowned down at the red, plastic cup in my hand, into the watery yellowish depths of the lukewarm beer I had been trying to drink for the past twenty minutes.

No way did I have the energy to pretend to like this stuff.

Luckily, nobody else on the back deck seemed to care whether I was drinking.

If I were still in high school or even in college, someone nearby would probably have told me I was being lame, a walking party foul for not having any fun.

My nose wrinkled as I glanced around the large, wooden back deck full of kids.

A girl from my old high school smiled and waved hello from across the deck, and I did the same.

Neither of us came over to actually speak, which was fine by me.

I knew most of the people here, at least casually, and although the vibe at this party was pretty casual, I had started to feel a little claustrophobic inside the house. Going out onto the back deck had helped a little, but not enough.

The sounds of pounding steps and heavy breathing lumbered up behind me.

I managed to step out of the way just in time to avoid a collision with a girl and boy, both in their underwear, who were running toward the big, in-ground swimming pool a few yards away.

As they whipped by me, I caught a look at their smiling faces, but I didn't need to see their expressions to know they were happy. You could have felt the joy exploding off them like they were freaking radioactive.

SPLASH. The girl cannonballed into the pool.

CRASH. The boy did a belly-flop that made everyone flinch in sympathy.

A second later, the boy emerged and yelled, "I am a golden god!"

Cheers sprung up around me, and I felt a small smile slip onto my face. A few years ago, I would probably have been diving in right after them.

But now?

My smile faltered, and I turned away.

Seeping past the edges of the manicured yard, the lights from the house illuminated the treeline. Not far beyond that, the woods looked like a dark curtain.

I bristled. What was it with people and living in the woods? Personally, I had seen way too many horror movies to even think about living out here alone, thank you very much.

I sighed as the sounds of partying continued around me. The thrum of a bass guitar shook under my feet. Had the music always been so loud at these things?

Almost immediately, the thought made me feel old. But hold on. Was I allowed to feel old at 22?

It seemed weird and honestly kind of unfair. A few years ago, I would have killed for the kind of freedom I had now. Most of the old crew was back home in Forks — those of us who had left for college had landed back home shortly after graduation, hoping that our frantic job searches would lead to something real.

So far, no luck for me. Apparently being the valedictorian of a small, Washington high-school mattered about as much as being third-runner-up for Miss America. As for any of the work I had done during college, none of it had been enough to stand out in a sea of applications.

But hey, that was okay... I was back in Forks, right where I belonged.

"Yay," I muttered to myself, smirking.