After Dawn Broke

Chapter One: Normality

I woke up on that particular Thursday morning extremely fatigued. I hoped none of my classes would be showing any educational videos today. Sleep deprivation and uninteresting documentaries were never a good mix. I wished for nothing more than to close my puffy red eyes and continue sleeping.

Ever since I became an avid reader in fourth grade- my class even voted me as the biggest bookworm that year— I acquired a habit of staying up late to read, and this night it had been the first book, called Beautiful Creatures, in a new series I recently discovered named the Caster Chronicles. I have discovered that many books are truly worth only receiving four hours of sleep at night. I was at the point where I couldn't bear to put the book down and stop reading. Any book is nearly impossible to put down as soon as the climax is approached. Beautiful Creatures was really getting to me, as most books do, and I was really hoping I could get the movie as soon as it came out on DVD. It had already came out in theaters on Valentines Day, but I hadn't had a chance to see it yet. Which wasn't such a bad thing; I preferred to read the book before I see its movie.

I was a spoiled child, so it wouldn't have surprised me if I got it as soon as it came out. My family had more money than we could ever know what to do with; it accumulated over the years...

When I turned over to lay on my side, I realized something wasn't normal about the empty space that was the right half of my full-sized bed— something was lying in the spot next to me. There was an unusual disruptment in the bright green sheets. I rubbed my sleepy eyes and took another look. It was my ten-year-old sister, Elizabeth Renèe Black.

She was named after my great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth Masen— Grandpa Edward's mother— and my great-great-grandmother, Renèe Swan Dwyer— Grandma Bella's mother.

My sister, Elizabeth, was and always has been my best friend. We moved often with our family. They couldn't stay in one place for too long because neither vampires nor shape-shifters change over time. It isn't easy to make friends when you're moving often.

I was never really sure why Elizabeth got in my bed, but I guessed she had gotten scared being alone in her messy room, as she often did. I was a very deep sleeper, so I wasn't too surprised that she was able to climb up my creaky white ladder without waking me. I had a loft bed— a bunk bed with a desk underneath instead of another bed.

"Taylor, are you out of bed yet?!" my mom, Renesmee, called out from her room across the hall. She was my version of a wake up call.

"I'm stretching!" I sighed and stretched while exaggerating a sleepy yawn, something I did almost every morning, so she'd know I was getting up. Not that I'd need to- my bed was noisy enough to tell her I was moving.

I turned over once again and started to poke Elizabeth in her side. "Lizzy, wake up!" I almost felt guilty for waking her up because she looked so peaceful, lying there next to me. It was peculiar to see her this way. She was usually bouncing off the walls.

The poking was no use. She rolled over and started to snore loudly, which I was nearly certain she got from our dad, Jacob. He was such a loud snorer that sometimes I could even hear him from across the hall.

"Ugh... whatever," I sighed as I carefully crawled over Lizzy so I could climb down my latter. She angrily mumbled a little in her sleep, and I told her to be quiet. It wasn't my fault that she was laying in front of my only way down.

After I safely climbed down my ladder step by step, I brushed my teeth and dressed myself in my plaid-skirted school uniform as quickly as possible. I had to go quickly because I still had half a chapter to read of "The Outsiders" before English second period. Not to mention I had to memorize the countries and bodies of water of East Asia for a map quiz first period. My assignments were always like that. Either majority of the teachers decide to give you homework at same time, or they all decide to not give homework. I was really starting to regret not finishing my work last night.