― ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝔽𝕠𝕦𝕣 ―

The forest of Astoria was possibly the greenest thing I had ever seen. Tall ancient evergreens stood brash amongst the other plant life, the trunks coated with lush moss. Birds chirped as I sat high in the tree laughing to myself.

I wasn't exactly sure how deep in the forest I was, but I trusted my senses enough to lead me back to Billie's when I was ready. Or rather until it was time to start getting ready for the Water Day ceremony. Thankfully, there would be food there. Kora, Lauren and I would get to eat after two days.

The last of the food ran out Thursday night, and Billie had not made it a high priority to give Kora money to go to the grocery store, and there was no way she would go grocery shopping herself.

My stomach growled at just the thought of food. Leaning back against the tree on the branch I was sitting on, my legs swing back and forth shivering slightly at the cool breeze brushing past my hair. Considering I had been climbing trees and running around the forest alike to a woodland child, I knew I would be in need of some serious scrubbing when I got back to Billie's.

My nose scrunched in disgust at the twig I pulled free of my hair; yep, a shower was most definitely needed. Swinging my right leg over the side of the branch, I looked down toward eight-foot drop it was to the ground. I huffed a heavy breath before leaping from the branch falling in a rather graceless way to the ground.

Landing harshly on my feet, I rolled across the ground before coming to a standstill a few feet away from the tree. Standing up abruptly, a wide grin split across my dirt covered face. Rubbing my hands on my jeans, I slowly began walking the direction I knew the house to be in.

My thoughts teetered toward whoever that strange disappearing man was earlier. How was he able to just vanish like that? Was he like me perhaps? Did he have voodoo abilities as well? This was a more than inexplicable occurrence. Not to mention his purple eyes! How was that at all possible?

Sure, my life had always been bizarre, but since I moved to Astoria it seemed things were taking a turn for even weirder, and I wasn't sure that I liked it. It was hard to believe that just eight days ago I was walking the New Orleans French Quarter with foster parents who were bible crazy.

Now look at me, a foster mom who was a drug addict, a foster sister who was a porn star, and another foster sister who was leaving in a matter of days. Oh yeah, don't forget the part where I was obsessed with the Cullen family.

My brain dipped into the improbable equation that was the Cullen's. They all had the same pale skin, beautiful features, and gold eyes as each other, everyone except Nessie, of course. The pull I felt toward Dr. Cullen was scary, I had never even spoken to the man and yet here I was daydreaming about him and his wife adopting me.

I tried not to grow attachments, so the fact that I was so fixated with them was eerie. There was a reason placing roots anywhere wasn't a good idea for me. I would either end up getting hurt by them giving me away like always, or they would get hurt like the Shay couple did all those years ago.

For a moment, I considered purposely stirring the usual bout of trouble that got me kicked from other foster homes just so Karen would pick me up and the Cullen's could simply be a happy memory. However, whenever I even considered the plot, a gut-wrenching feeling started in my lower abdomen warning me not to go through with it.

This was ridiculous!

Why was I so attached to the Cullen family! I have never had a conversation with any of them and I probably never would, the most I would get was a look or two.

My frustrating thoughts were randomly cut out by the sound of flapping wings. Looking up, my eyes lit up at the sight of the little black bird I had brought back to life yesterday flittering around my head.

"Well, hello." I stopped in my walking when it landed on my shoulder, admiring its black feathers. "How was your day today?" The black bird chirped carelessly as if telling me about its day.

After a few more seconds of chirping, the bird quieted looking to me as if awaiting an answer. Deciding that the bird was waiting for me to speak, I opened my mouth. "My day was fine, but I can't get the Cullen family out of my head. Is it possible to want a momma and daddy so bad that it drives you to look for it in strangers, birdie?" The bird tilted its small head at my words, a tired sigh escaping me at its reaction. "Yeah, that's what I thought. I've gone completely bonkers." I shook my head, planting my palm against my face.

The bird tweeted a few more times, before flying away from my shoulder and around my face. I laughed at its funny antics, confused as to what it was saying. Resting my back against a random tree, I watched the bird while pealing the leafy moss off the tree trunk. The sounds of the forest were peaceful, the salty river winds gently running whimsically, the woods were alive.

The spirits of it at an all-time high, the wind whispered to me as if singing. And I listened to its gentle lullaby. Closing my eyes with the sound of the wind and the birdie tweeting, I sighed. Deciding to test my abilities, make an attempt at controlling the magic rather than it controlling me.

Upon my command, delicately the wind shifted in the opposite direction. Opening my eyes with a proud smile, I continued waving my hand about shifting the wind per my command. This was easier than I thought.

The sounds of the chirping were cut off by the curious noise of a deer call. In confusion, I turned my head gaping at the sight which met my eyes. Standing in all his glory was a huge Stag with winding antlers and glorious tawny-colored fur. It was standing just a few feet away, far closer than any other Deer would have ever even considered getting close to a person.

Softly, I brought out my hand taking carefully calculated steps forward as to not scare away the magnificent creature. Surprisingly, the Stag didn't so much as stutter, instead, it actually met me in the middle, nudging my small hand with his head.

"Aren't you a beauty?" I giggled, stroking the soft fur of the incredible animal.

The Stag made a noise of admiration, as it nuzzled closer to my hand. Apparently, this was also a new ability of mine. What would this even be considered? Animal-friendly? I almost snickered at the thought, continuing to stroke the gorgeous beast.

After spending a good fifteen minutes chatting it up with Birdie and stroking the Stag, I was forced to continue on my trek back to the house. It was already nearing the time to go, and I still had to take a shower. Racing through the forest, I made it back to Billie's in a few minutes time.

"Girl, where have you been! And, what the hell? Why do you have dirt all over you? Go get in the shower, you have twenty-five minutes to get ready." Billie's scolding tone was the first thing I heard when I entered the house, Kora in her room getting dressed and Lauren sitting at the table clad in her new dress she had bought earlier.

Nodding at Billie, I was quick to take a shower with much struggle. Scrubbing off all that grime was quite a bit of work, not to mention how bad it hurt washing through my hair. However, I managed to do it within fifteen minutes.

Jogging into Lauren and I's room, Lauren was already sitting on the bed with a smirk holding my outfit in her hands. I gave her a wide smile, dropping the huge towel that covered my body. For once, the clothes actually fit. It wasn't much, something that was barely considered semi-formal.

A black skirt with dark leggings and a nice white blouse. Nothing special. My favorite part of the outfit was the shoes, mainly because it was shoes that actually fit. They weren't too big or too small, they were just to correct size. Shiny black buckle shoes which made my worn pair of converse and boots look like trash in comparison.

As speedy as possible, Lauren helped me in pulling my thick hair back into two ponytails.

"You look great." Lauren smiled, her denim dress shifting as she spoke. "And guess what? The Cullen's will be there! Once they see how pretty you look they'll have to adopt you." My mouth flew open at her words, cheeks heating in embarrassment.

"Lauren..." I murmured shyly, shaking the hopeful thoughts from my head. "They're not going to adopt me." Lauren cackled at my words, placing her arm around my shoulder as she lead us out.

"Of course they will, just put on your best 'poor me, I'm an orphan' face and that will be sure to do the trick. Besides, you're little and adorable, people like the Cullen's won't be able to resist." I rolled my eyes at her, pouting.

"I'm not little or adorable." I sourly muttered, Lauren, pinching my cheeks in retaliation.

"Sure you are." The floorboards of the house creaked under our weight.

Once we got to the living room, we were met with the sight of Kora standing in tight short white dress and stilettos. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders with a slight wave, her makeup perfectly done. Sometimes, Kora made herself look so stunning that she could pass for a Cullen.

A few feet away from Kora stood Billie, and much to my utter shock her hair was a completely different color than it was twenty-five minutes ago. Unlike the dark black, it was now a platinum blonde that looked less natural than the dyed black hair. I suspected a wig had a lot to do with it.

Billie's face was caked with a makeup, herself currently struggling to put on a golden hooped earring without getting it stuck in her mass of wig. A black dress both tighter and shorter than Kora's adorned her body, her breast truly looking ready to pop out. Tall stilettos were on Billie's feet, myself perplexed as to how both females would be able to walk straight with such high heels.

I guess it was simply another one of mother nature's mysteries.

Billie cheered when she got the earring through her ear hole, spinning around to face all of us. "How does momma look?" Her voice was raspier than usual, a clear sign she had recently smoked through a cigar.

The day I would refer to Billie as 'momma' is the day I die.

Lauren and I didn't reply to her, my eyes screaming from looking at the woman for too long. I think my eyes would start to bleed if I kept looking at Billie. Kora was the only one who was able to muster a phony smile that looks more like a cringe than anything.

"Good." Kora's voice held that of a lie, something that Billie was completely able to overlook.

Before any of us could say anything more, the front door slammed open and in walked a greasy man. His hair was a hickory brown shade that looked as if it had been lathered with a bottle-full of grease. He had to have been around Billie's age, and yet similar to Billie, his youth was covered by a drug-addicted appearance.

Worn jeans with a black shirt and dirty loafers covered his body. An Angels baseball cap spun backward on his head, and unsurprisingly in his mouth a half-smoked cigar.

"Hey baby," I watched in vivid disgust along with Lauren, Kora simply checking herself in the mirror ignoring the grossly matched couple. "Ya' miss me?" He had a redneck accent as Billie leaped forward placing a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

"Daren..." Billie purred, pulling away motioning to me. "This is my newest foster kid..." I was in disbelief when Billie turned to me awaiting my name.

She had forgotten my name!

Pushing back the irritation, I simply placed a forced smile on my lips. "Clara." I breathed out calmly despite the storm brewing inside.

"That's right, her name is Clara," Billie explained, Darren handing me an uninterested waved before turning his attention back to Billie.

Calming myself from the irritation before a real accident could occur, I thought of the Cullen family to keep me levelheaded. I would see them tonight, that would mean I got to see Dr. Cullen again, and his wife for the first time. I wondered what she looked like, she was no doubt as perfect as the rest of the family.

The perfect mother.

"Cool, we should be goin' now, sugar cakes..." I cringed at his nickname for Billie. "The ceremony started thirty minutes ago, and it's a twenty-minute drive."

Kora turned from the mirror with a smirk. "Great, fashionably late." Her hand was on her hip.

"Exactly what I was thinking, c'mon." We all followed Darren; Billie's booty call, out of the house.

In front of the house was a huge old green colored Ram truck. I was squashed in the middle of the backseat between Kora and Lauren, Darren driving and Billie sitting in the passenger. The ride was a long twenty-minutes of Kora texting her porn fans, Darren and Billie flirting, and Lauren murmuring about how she couldn't wait to be living with her aunt and uncle.

When we got there, the event was held in a large white tent just in front of the Astoria beach. Dozens upon dozen of cars lined the outside, parked in the dirt parking squares. Almost immediately my eyes wandered over to a familiar silver Volvo, white Cadillac, and black Mercedes parked next to each other in an area of the upper class looking vehicles.

Knowing these cars belonged to the Cullen's, I assumed they had parked next to Dr. Cullen's hospital co-workers. Darren quickly parked his truck haphazardly close to the entrance of the event.

"Remember kids," Billie started as we got walked to the entrance, my heart nearly falling out of my chest at seeing the Cullen's again. "This is dinner, so eat a lot." She was applying more lipstick, Darren disgustingly delivering a playful slap to her butt before placing his hand around her waist.

Lauren made a gagging noise, myself crinkling my nose in disturbance, and Kora only ignoring it.

"I am so getting laid tonight." Lauren and I both looked to Kora through furrowed brows at her tone.

Glancing up at the sound of chirping, I was met with the familiar little black bird singing songs of encouragement over our heads. Smiling at the fact, I breathed in a deep breath hoping that my new outfit was enough to impress the Cullen's in the slightest.

With that thought, we all entered the Water Day ceremony. Tables were around the entire area of the large tent, a band performing live music up on the stage and a few people dancing on the dance floor.

Buffet tables lined both sides of the tent, Lauren quickly taking the head in leading us all to a table sat close to one of the many Buffet tables. It was an impressive sight, to say the least, with an automatic machine in the corner notifying everyone how much money the Columbia River currently had in donations.

So far, Astoria was at thirty-five thousand dollars in complete donations.

A sharp nudge delivered to my left side had me regarding a smirking Lauren. With her head, she motioned toward the other side of the tent. Following her gaze curiously, my heart just about faltered at the sight of the Cullen family and Jacob sitting together at a large table.

Right away, my eyes focused on the only Cullen whom I hadn't seen. Deep gingerbread colored curls fell down her back with the same beautiful features and pale skin as the rest of them. Her face was heart-shaped, her body small and slender, but more rounded than the other females of the Cullen clan.

She was sat next to Dr. Cullen, the both of them chatting in a friendly manner to whom I could see to be one of Dr. Cullen's co-workers. The Cullen siblings were speaking quietly with each other, myself only able to stare in awe of the gorgeous family, the pull in my chest becoming stronger by the day.

Lauren giggled from next to me, gripping my elbow.

"If y'all bitches don't hurry the fuck up, I am going to eat all of this food!" My eyes widened in horror, Lauren and I slowly turning to face Kora who was eagerly piling her plate, the hunger from not eating finally getting to her.

It wasn't only our attention Kora managed to grab, her vulgar language took the attention of about half the event's population. Diverting my gaze back to the Cullen's, everything seemed to freeze as my eyes connected to Mrs. Cullen's.

She was young, about as young as Dr. Cullen appeared to be. Warmth shone in her golden irises, the aura of love seeping through every inch of her body. Alike to how it felt with Dr. Cullen, a magnetic attraction pulled me toward Mrs. Cullen. Her entire being radiated that of a mother, a mother whose attention I was desperately seeking.

This was not possible by any standards.

I was looking at this woman as if she was my momma and I had never even spoken to her.

"Shut up!" Lauren screamed back at Kora, cutting off my contact with the wide-eyed Mrs. Cullen.

Dr. Cullen was surprisingly looking at me with a certain tenderness in his gaze, something which spun me off. Perhaps Lauren was right? Based on the way Dr. Cullen was studying me with that fondness, I suspected it had something to do with me apparently being 'little and adorable' as Lauren worded it.

My mood quickly shifted at that thought, and out of the corner of my eye, I swore I saw Jasper furrowing his brows at me. But a scowl quickly painted my lips as I pouted to the ground. I was not little or adorable!

"I'm not little and adorable." I crossly muttered, kicking the ground as I walked toward the buffet table, it took everything in me to break contact with the Cullen's.

Lauren who heard me laughed boisterously, skipping a few feet ahead grabbing two plates. "Yes, you are!" She sang back, myself taking the second plate from her.

I swallowed, a ravenous hunger bubbling in the depths of my stomach at all the food in the buffet. There was so much! Corn, chicken, broccoli, potatoes, everything! As fast as possible, I alike to Kora and Lauren started piling my plate sky-high. It didn't take long at all for my plate to be filled to the max, myself taking a seat between Lauren and Kora hoping to be a barrier so that no fights could break out between the two.

Bringing the fork, I indulged in the delicious food. Lauren groaned in pleasure as she ate through her corn, myself not even getting to enjoy the taste as I was so hungry that I simply had to just fill myself up to get rid of the aching hole in my stomach.

"Don't choke," Lauren warned as she watched how fast I was eating.

I; however, paid no mind, throwing caution to the wind. If I was to die, this would surely be the greatest way possible. Kora; who had started eating well before Lauren or me, was done first.

"I'm going to talk to Henry Davis." Is all Kora remarked as she pushed herself away from the table walking to another section of the tent.

Kora stopped by a red-haired male teen who looked about her age quickly engaging in a conversation with him. Well, more like flirting based on the way her hand was gently scraping down the front of his button-up shirt.

Not wanting a chance at vomiting up the mouthwatering food, I quickly looked away from them focusing back on finishing the food. Bringing down my fork, I jumped when it hit the glass plate and not food. Looking down, I sighed sadly when I discovered all the food to already be gone.

"Ooh, the Cupid Shuffle!" A small scream escaped me as Lauren eagerly pulled me from my chair before I could get up to grab seconds. "C'mon let's dance." As if reading my mind, she suddenly rolled her eyes. "We can get more food after this dance."

"To the right, to the right, to the right, to the right. To the left, to the left, to the left, to the left. Now kick, now kick, now kick, now kick. And walk it by yourself." The Cupid Shuffle played overhead, many people getting out of their seats in laughter to join the classic dance shuffle.

People got in lines, everyone following along with the lyrics of the song in a funky manner. Unable to stop myself, I was laughing along with Lauren the two of us holding a silent competition as to who could do the best Cupid Shuffle.

"How are you even doing that with your feet!" Lauren was cracking up, myself only smirking in victory as I truly shuffled my feet along with the tune.

"You need to dance with the beat." I circled my shoulders along with the bouncy tune, Lauren only shaking her head as she watched me add my own flippant moves to the dance.

However, her eyes traveled to something behind me going wide. Looking to her questionably, Lauren brought her ogle back to my face. With her finger, she motioned me to spin around. Doing as she said with furrowed eyebrows, I was surprised when I saw Renesmee Cullen standing before me looking gorgeous as ever. She was following in my moves, imitating what I was doing with my feet as she watched me with a bright grin.

Lauren was quick to tap my shoulder, whispering a small phrase in my ear.

"Make them love you, I'll go sit down." Her breath fanned across my ear lightly, Lauren taking special care in making sure Renesmee couldn't hear a word she had said.

I gaped as Lauren flashed me a thumbs up disappearing through the crowd going back to her place beside Billie and Darren who were heatedly making out. Shoving down my timid feelings, I delivered a shy smile to Renesmee who watched me with amusement clouding her gaze.

"Oh, you're just as cute as a button." My cheeks heated at her compliment, my mind desperately trying to come up with something to impress the youngest Cullen. "And quite good with the beat, I'm sure Jasper and Alice would love to dance with you." As if her words rang some sort of alarm, Jasper and Alice were instantly at her sides, all three of them doing the Cupid Shuffle along with everyone else.

The three Cullen's dancing seemed for more perfect and graceful than any other person on this dance floor. In fact, they look too radiant to even be doing the Cupid Shuffle. Upon looking to Jasper, a wave of comfort soon engulfed me calming my racing heart. Alice wore a wide smile, swaying her hips along with the song.

"Hi, Clara." Alice's high voice sounded like bells. I was more than shocked that these stunning people knew my name. "I'm Alice!" If I was shocked before, I was astonished when she placed her hands gently on my shoulders, the song changing from the Cupid Shuffle to something a little more upbeat.

The first thing I noticed was that her hands were eerily cold, almost as cold as marble, and yet in some peculiar way; comforting. Confusion ate at me as to why these beautiful people were speaking with me, there was no way Lauren was right earlier.

Finding my voice after a few seconds of Alice leading me to the music, Renesmee and Jasper dancing with each other directly next to us, I smiled bigger than I thought myself capable of. "Hi, Alice!" My voice held an embarrassing amount of enthusiasm, something which caused me to go into another round of blushing. "How was your day?" The question was quieter, my tone filled with embarrassment from my earlier outburst.

Renesmee giggled quietly, Jasper simply smiling softly. Alice looked ready to die from happiness much to my utter bewilderment.

"My day was great, and I must say, I quite like your outfit. We'll need to buy you more like that." I was confused by her last words, what did that mean? "Now, seeing as you're still hungry, I believe you should come to sit with my family and me to eat." Her words threw me for a loop, my mouth falling open alike to a fish.

Alice Cullen wanted me, some nine-year-old foster kid to come to sit with her amazing family? That couldn't be right.

"Wait, what? I think I misheard you." I tried to explain, Alice simply draping a comfortingly cold arm around my shoulder pulling me into her equally as cold body, Renesmee and Jasper leading the way.

"No, you didn't. Carlisle and Esme can't wait to meet you, neither can the rest of the family." Her open eagerness caused to me furrow my brows, myself putting together that Carlisle and Esme must have been Dr. and Mrs. Cullen.

Alice was able to push her way through the crowd of dancers, Renesmee and Jasper hot on our tail. Within seconds, I could barely believe where I was standing. Right in front of me were the Cullen's, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen sitting the closest to where I was standing.

They were even more beautiful up close!

"Hello," I murmured shyly as Alice forced me into the chair between Dr. and Mrs. Cullen.

I was thankful for my dark skin as it was easily hiding the blush coating my cheeks. The pull to all of the Cullen's was so strong at this moment that it was almost surreal.

Dr. and Mrs. Cullen were watching me with a gentle gaze, soft smiles adorning both their lips. "Hello, Clara." Esme cooed.

"Hi, Mrs. Cullen. Hi, Dr. Cullen." I could feel the gaze of the rest of the family on me, the doctor chuckling while shaking his head.

"Call us Carlisle and Esme." His voice was gentle and full of compassion. "Goodness, you're small, aren't you." I was unable to respond as Carlisle was quickly out of his seat piling food on a plate and handing it to me faster than I could comprehend.

I noticed that it had many things that I ate previously, including a few new choices that looked just as good. I was slightly surprised Carlisle knew the things I liked to eat, not that I was exactly in the position to be picky considering before this the last time I ate was Thursday.

Sitting back down on the other side of me, both Carlisle and Esme were watching me eagerly nodding toward my plate. I looked around unsurely seeing only Jacob and Renesmee were eating, but at this moment both seemed to be paying much more attention to me than their food.

Not wanting to be rude along with the fact that I was starving, I slowly picked up my fork trying not to shovel the meal in my mouth. I had to keep up at least a slightly decent appearance around these people, and eating like a cavewoman would do me no good.

Right away, I saw Edward smirk to himself before he leaned forward. Bella's hand was interconnected to his own as he spoke softly, gaining all of our attention. "We already ate earlier, please enjoy yourself." I smiled weakly at his words, wondering for the slightest second if I had spoken my concerns out loud.

However, despite his words, I made no move to change the nature in which I was eating. Appearances are key when sitting with perfect people such as them.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion when Edward suddenly choked a laugh leaning back against his chair. What was so funny? As if upset, Esme threw a warning glance in Edward's direction while Carlisle only shook his head. Edward seeing their looks quickly stopped laughing, a smirk lazily drawn on his face as Bella whispered something in his ear. It was barely a second later before Edward was whispering something back causing Bella to quietly laugh to herself, the rest of the family's looks turning to amusement. Even Esme and Carlisle cracked a small smile while they looked back at me.

"Honey, when was the last time you ate?" Carlisle words of concern rang out, myself looking at him shyly not wanting to answer.

Billie would kill me if she found out I was talking about how she didn't feed us. My eyes widened when Edward suddenly glared at the table, his emotions changing within the snap of a finger. I wondered what triggered the revamp.

Realizing it had been slightly too long of a pause, I bit my lip nervously flashing Esme and Carlisle a light look. The couple who were quickly reminding me of parents appeared unsettled at my lack of an answer.

"Um... this morning?" The lie was bad and my voice was quiet.

Even dogs would know I was lying at this point.

Unsurprisingly, Carlisle and Esme looked as if they didn't believe me. "Eat up." I was happy when Esme pushed the plate closer, everyone luckily dropping the subject.

"So, Clara. How are you liking Astoria?" Rosalie smiled, myself chewing through a piece of Broccoli quickly, so I could answer the question sooner.

"Cold." My short reply caused for the table to erupt in laughter. "I mean, it's nice. But I liked New Orleans better, or even California. It was warm there." I explained, my voice sounding childish to my own ears.

"Is that right?" Carlisle delicately asked with an amused smile, Esme giggling.

"So, where all have you been?" Bella inquired with a curious look in her gaze.

I tilted my head, taking one last bite of chicken before I decided that I was far too full to eat anymore. One more bite and I may just puke. "Uhhh, a lot of places..." I was thinking about the different states I had lived in. "Salem, Portland, Idaho, Los Angeles, Washington, Texas, Illinois, and I just came from New Orleans." Their gazes for once held no judgment as I explained how I bounced all over the map, instead seeming intrigued.

"We used to live in Washinton. Fork to be exact." Renesmee offhandedly smiled. "Jacob and our friends still live there." My curiosity spike at her words, why had they left Washington?

"So, you've lived in Oregon before, then?" Alice's question was innocent, and yet it caused to me flinch almost inconspicuously.

Keyword; almost. Around the Cullen family, it seemed everything I did was noticed, something which I definitely wasn't accustomed too. People usually ignored me.

I was surprised when Esme placed a cold but comfortingly-warm arm around my shoulder pulling me into her body in a motherly type of manner. Carlisle had slid his chair closer to mine, his hands playing with my curly hair which was tied back in pigtails. His hands were equally as cold as his wife's.

So, all the Cullen's were extremely cold, pale-skinned, and golden-eyed, interesting.

"You don't need to answer if you don't want too." Esme was rubbing her hands down my arms.

I was truly surprised. The Cullen's didn't necessarily come off as the touchy-feely sort to people outside their family, let alone someone who practically meant nothing to them. The fact that Carlisle and Esme were over here dotting upon me alike to parents would with their newborn child was both alarming, but nice. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was enjoyed the attention I was getting from them, the fact that they were acting as over-protective parents who wanted to give me the world was great.

"No, no, it's okay." I waved it off, deciding not to be rude and withhold information to these kind people. "I was actually born in Salem, then I was shipped off to Idaho and so forth. Eventually, a few years ago when I was six this couple in Portland adopted me. Things didn't work out with them, and they ended up being the last to adopt me as I was listed for a foster kid only after that. Apparently, I was too old to be adopted again." It wasn't really a lie making it much easier to believe.

I decided I didn't want to tell the Cullen's who were dotting upon me and giving me all this attention that felt almost like love the bumpy details that surrounded my past. They didn't need to know the components that built up with the Shay couple and the events that led to me never being able to be adopted again. I didn't want to scare off this attention too soon, I was just getting started in talking to them.

Edward once more furrowed his brows at me, and I truly did wonder if he somehow had the ability to know what I was thinking. But that was ridiculous, no one could know what someone else was thinking.

My lips pursed when Edward smirked, almost like someone said something funny. The impossible followed me my entire life, whose to say Edward couldn't read minds. His eyes went hard, his expression no longer giving anything away.

Okay...

"Aww, you're not too old to be adopted. Sometimes those social workers really are idiots." I giggled at Esme's irritated words, Carlisle throwing me a grin at the laugh I gave.

"Yeah, and mean sometimes. Well, I guess that's to be expected, I always cause Karen stress. She said she would have a heart attack with the amount of stress I cause her," I shuddered at the thought of being the cause of yet another person's untimely death. Out of the corner of my eye, Edward's face went from stoic to shock. Deciding to ignore this, I continued on. "That would be horrible. Poor Karen." I rambled now to myself, Carlisle hands added into the mixture of Esme's.

Both parties look disturbed at what I just told them, myself wondering why. Had I scared them away?

Edward's voice was the first to answer.

"Don't listen to Karen when she tells you that, she shouldn't be saying things like that to you," Edward explained, Bella nodding her head by his side.

"Yeah, perhaps I should have a talk with this social worker of yours." Carlisle murmured, my eyes widening in horror at the image.

With panic-stricken eyes, I turned to Carlisle. "No, no, no! Please don't do that Dr. Cullen, she told me she didn't want any calls for at least a year, or else! And, I'm not very keen on finding out what 'or else' means." Esme was hushing me softly, Carlisle watching my reaction with wide sad eyes.

"It's okay, I won't call her." All the Cullen's had a mixture of emotions playing across their faces, the popular one being sadness or anger.

"Thank you," I sighed with relief, that relief was soon washed away replaced with slight annoyance when Billie stumbled up with Darren.

Surprisingly, she took no note of the Cullen's, simply nodding her head toward the door. "C'mon, Clary..." I rolled my eyes when she flat out got my name wrong. "We need to go."

Lauren was standing behind them along with Kora, both of whom were watching our foster mother with disgust. "Okay." I breathed out sadly, not liking the fact that I would be leaving the Cullen's.

Who knew when the next time was that I would get to talk to them. With my luck, they would never even glance at me again.

"We can drive her home in a bit." Esme kindly offered, Billie only shaking her head.

"Nah, she needs to come home. I am not going to prison for losing a kid... again." She was already walking away, Lauren motioning me to follow with her head.

The Cullen's hadn't looked like they wanted me to go, but considering Billie was my legal guardian and Darren wasn't drunk, they had no choice.

"Bye, it was nice meeting you all." I felt lonely when I got up, Esme and Carlisle's soothing hands leaving me.

"We'll see you soon, Clara." Esme pointedly said with a reassuring smile causing my stomach to erupt with hope.

"Stay safe, sweetheart." Carlisle patted my hand gently looking as if he was about to hug me, but deciding against last minute.

Too bad, a hug would have been nice.

The rest of the Cullen's said their goodbyes as I left following after my foster family. That night, the grin from finally meeting my dream family never ceased.