That Saturday, I somehow found myself standing in front of my house in a swimsuit under my black jeans and hoodie. I tucked a towel under my arm and waited for the Cullens to pick me up and head over to La Push. 

The sun tried to push past the clouds, but it wasn't quite there. It was colder than I wanted for the beach, but still manageable.

I was actually looking forward to the beach. It had been so long. And it would be a nice getaway from my parents.

A few minutes later, Edward's midsize Volvo pulled up. They only took one car. How were we all going to fit in that? It wasn't all that big of an SUV. I assumed one of the others would have taken their car as well. Or I thought at least Jasper and Alice would ride on his motorcycle. They rode on it together to school when it wasn't raining.

I watched them all climb out of the Volvo. They looked like clowns at the circus. Each of them wore shorts, colorful t-shirts, and sunglasses. They definitely looked ready for the beach.

"I'm so glad you agreed!" Alice waved to me.

"We'll see how that goes." I muttered under my breath as I waved back to her.

I walked over to Edward's car and then looked at my truck.

"So, did someone want to ride in my truck and Edward follow me to La Push?"

They all looked at me, confused.

"We're all riding together, silly." Alice giggled.

"Okay? Where do I sit?" I looked through the back passenger side window to see what I was working with.

"You get shotgun." Edward smiled at me.

"Oh. Cool." I shrugged as I opened the front passenger side door and slid into the seat.

I turned around and watched Jasper and Emmett sit in the back seat. Then Alice and Rosalie sat on their partners' laps.

"Ah. Of course." I chuckled.

It was a very scenic, short drive from Forks to La Push. Along the road was the dense green forest. When I was a child, my parents would take me there often. Back when they were happy. 

Billy and his son Jacob would often go there, too. Jacob and I swam and played together. He was a sweet kid. I didn't see him much anymore with him going to the Reservation school. In the last few months, I was happy to see he made some better friends.

The beach itself didn't have much sand. Instead, it was made of stones that varied in shades of greys, greens, and blues. There were also dozens of large pieces of driftwood scattered along the shore. 

Unfortunately, I saw a group of students sitting on the circle of logs surrounding a fire pit. It was Jessica's group. I hesitated to leave the car when the group looked our way. One of them recognized me right away.

"Hey!" Angela spotted me, and a huge smile greeted me. She walked up to the Volvo as we grabbed our things.

"Hey, Angela." I smiled back.

"Wow, I didn't think I would see you here again."

Angela gave me an apologetic smile.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't all that voluntary." I looked over at Alice.

Alice bounced on her feet. "We needed her to give us a tour!"

"You guys can hang out with us if you'd like." Angela pointed to the rest of her friends behind her.

"Sorry, but I think you know why that's not a good idea." I said with a low voice.

Angela frowned. "I hope you guys have fun here anyway."

I watched her walk back to the fire pit. Jessica and Victoria were side-eyeing us and whispering to each other. Mike, Eric, and Tyler seemed to ignore us after a minute.

"Let's set up over there."

I pointed to some logs that were further away from their group. That spot was closer to the tide pools anyway. That was what I was looking forward to the most.

As we walked past Jessica and Victoria, I could hear them talking. They didn't seem to try very hard to conceal their words.

"I can't believe she's out of her dungeon." Victoria said.

"I can't believe she's hanging out with Edward." Jessica rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

It was known to everyone that right after the Cullens moved into Forks, Jessica jumped on Edward. She was still upset over Mike being with Victoria and thought Edward was the next best thing. 

Jessica was one of the best-looking girls in school, until Rosalie, anyway. Her personality was another thing. When Edward rejected her, the other guys wondered what his problem was.

Once I got a glimpse of the tide pools, I felt relaxed. They were very nostalgic. A smile crept on my face. All I could hear now was the waves crashing against the small rocks along the beach and seagulls flying overhead. It was nice being here again.

"Oh wow! These are so cool!" Alice ran over to one of the tide pools.

I followed her and looked down at the clear pool of water. Two starfish laid out on a rock next to vibrant-colored anemones. A few tiny crabs hiding under shells scurried through the water.

The rest walked up and leaned over the other pools. They were all in awe. I wondered if they had ever been to a beach like this before. Then I remembered hearing their family moved from Alaska. I smiled at the thought that I could be the person who showed them their first beach.

We continued to walk along the beach and hiked through the trees nearby. I tried my best not to fall over all some branches and puddles.

The waves picked up. Emmett and Jasper got eager to try out their new surfboards. Rosalie told me they bought them at Mike's parent's shop right after they asked me to come with them. Neither had ever surfed before but were so excited to try. Edward didn't seem to have an interest in it. Again, he seemed like the odd one out. A little like me, in a way.

The rest of us sat on the logs and watched Emmett and Jasper try and fail at surfing. They seemed to be still enjoying themselves. I could hear laughing coming from Jessica's group. Mike, Tyler, and Jessica grabbed their surfboards and went into the water next. The three of them had been surfing for years. They were all pretty good at it, if I were honest.

After riding a couple of waves, Mike and Tyler guided their boards to Emmett and Jasper and started to show them some tips. Jessica came up to the shore and surprisingly walked up to us.

"Hey, Edward. Why aren't you out there with them? I can show you how to surf." Jessica grinned at Edward after she side-eyed me.

"I'm not interested." Edward said bluntly.

Jessica maintained her smile. "Okay. Well, let me know if you change your mind." She quickly turned around and stormed back to Angela, Victoria, and Eric.

I stifled a laugh.

"God, I can't stand her. What a cow." Rosalie said bluntly. It almost made it seem that she and Edward were actually related.

I didn't hold my laughter in anymore. I've never heard someone insult Jessica like that. They all looked at me, laughing with amusement.

"Hey! Your laugh is adorable." Alice giggled.

I felt tears about to come out of the corners of my eyes. I couldn't remember the last time I laughed that hard. They joined me in laughing.

A while later, Emmett and Jasper finally rode their first wave successfully. We all applauded them as they walked onto the beach. They each bowed with their boards in hand. The other group was packing up to leave. When I saw they were out of sight, I relaxed more.

I looked out into the ocean and watched the waves roll in. Emmett and Jasper made surfing look like fun. When I was younger, I always wanted to try it. But thanks to my old friends, I was too afraid to ever come to the beach. 

One of the reasons I agreed to come with the Cullens was that I didn't think anything bad would happen with them. They were surprisingly nice to me.

A boost of unexpected energy jolted through me. I surprised myself when I jumped up from the log and looked at Emmett.

"Can you show me what they showed you?" I asked.

They were all a little confused.

"You don't know how to surf either?" Emmett asked.

"No, I never learned." I frowned.

"I'm surprised since you've lived here all your life." Edward said.

"I stopped coming here years ago." I looked down at my feet.

"Why would you stop? It's so pretty here." Alice frowned, too.

I looked at them all and saw them wondering what was wrong with me. How could I not come outside and have fun like everyone else?

"I didn't feel like it anymore. But that looked like fun." I smiled at them

Jasper smiled back. "We can show you. But remember, we're still new to this too."

"You two know more than I do now." I chuckled.

They agreed. I finally took off my jeans and hoodie. It was the first time I had worn a swimsuit in front of anyone in a long time.

"Oh my god!" Alice gasped as she looked down at my legs.

"What? What?" I was confused at what she saw. Was there a crab by my feet or something? I looked down at the sand and didn't see anything.

Rosalie nudged Alice and coughed.

Alice smiled again, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Oh, I just love your suit!"

I blushed. "Oh, thanks."

I turned to follow Emmett and Jasper into the water. First, they showed me how to sit on the board and paddle around. The next thing was to stand on it. I fell off five times before I could stand for more than a minute. 

We saw another wave roll towards us. They had me stay on Emmett's board with him while Jasper was on his. Emmett wasn't sure if it would work with both of us on the board, but I told him I'd feel more comfortable riding on with someone at first.

The wave came, and it was rough. Emmett tried to keep the board balanced, but it was bigger than we thought. We both flipped over under the wave. I sank into the water. 

When I tried to swim back up, another wave crashed down. It pushed my back into some rocks at the bottom. I felt my whole body jolt with pain. I closed my eyes and then felt something grab me.