My updating schedule is bullshit you guys. And I apologize with as much as I can effin MANAGE.

You could PM Mickibelle. I tell her how much I feel like I SUCK for not updating. TRUE STORY.

But then, I watch an episode or two and inspiration hits. Please know guys, I put this story up a year and a half ago. I just went on a whim, and now I have to figure out exactly how to get to the point where I want to be, and that could take some time. I just hope y'all will understand c:

It would be too hard for me to give up on this story, so don't worry about that happening. Just….I just hope you guys enjoy the ride. Honestly, so far, you've been the best readers anyone can ask for. I'll give everything I have in me to try and update for you as much as possible for you during the summer. I see all these other authors who are so dedicated to what they do, and I'm actually disappointed in myself for letting life get to me and not making time for it. I'm a hypocrite, reading fanfictions and getting frustrated with authors who don't update, and I'm…exactly the same, if not worse.

So again, my DEEPEST apologies.

Please enjoy this chapter. I HONESTLY hope I'll hear from you guys again soon, and you from me. Your reviews light up my world, and I put them all into consideration :D

Happy reading, you guys. I'm working on trying to speed up to where VD is now, and this chapter is a big step in helping me get there c;

~Melissa

Rhiannon POV:

From the time I was a little girl, I had been trained by my father.

He wanted me to be safe – able to protect myself from more vampires, since that day that Bella had to stick up for me. When we were both so defenseless.

Well, I wasn't defenseless anymore.

Other girls played soccer. My father taught me archery.

Kids went to playgrounds – I went on hunting missions.

All the other children in school told me that their parents helped them with their homework. I would never turn mine in, since I was too busy "doing homework" on our fanged suspects.

And every morning – my father taught me the most important lesson of all.

To run.

None of the rest mattered if I couldn't get away, or if (God forbid) I didn't have a weapon.

Slowly but surely, I became so fast, I could outrun anybody.

It takes me three minutes to run a mile. Scientists don't even think it'll be possible to do that until human evolution over fifty years from now.

But I was just that good.

And that was only on training days. Today, my sister was in danger. I ran in a blur. I ran so fast…I almost scared myself.

Scared even the crow, I thought, in the midst of my jumbled brain.

I had never run like this before.

Every muscle in my body ached from the actions I was putting it through

Focus. Get to Bella. Get to anyone. Focus. Get to Bella. Get to anyone. Focus…

And so went my constant flow of thoughts until I reached the high school.

Riiiiing.

Crap. The bell ending lunch just haaaaad to ring, didn't it?

Like any other day, there was chaos in the hallway. Everything became a jumbles mess. I could feel my breathing pick up, my chest practically heaving as I started to panic. My father….I loved him, but he was a dangerous man when he wanted to be.

Focus. Get to Bella. Get to anyone…

I pushed my panic aside and focus my eyesight. And there she was – there they all were, walking calmly down the hallway, without a care in the world.

How I wished I could ever be so care free.

I pushed my way through more kids than my thoughts could register. And then, doing that weird vampire-speed thing that I still found creepy, Damon Salvatore showed up in front of them seconds before I got there, letting out a sarcastic "We have a teeny tiny problem."

I rolled my eyes and stepped in front of him.

"My dad's coming," I let out. This earned me confused looks from everyone and I sighed. "It's a big deal. He thinks Bella might be a vampire." While undeserved, I still gave Bella a glare. "According to my dad, she's supposed to be dead."

The questioning glances turned to Bella. She blushed. "So there was one incident when I jumped off a cliff. Are people never going to get over that?"

This made us gape at her more, and she quickly got even more defensive. "I'm alive aren't I? I wasn't trying to kill myself or anything. And that was all a misunderstanding. Jacob took a habit of telling everyone 'Charlie's at the funeral', but never decided to mention it was Harry Clearwater's." Annoyed by this Jacob character, she rolled her eyes before setting her eyes on me. "We'll just explain to him that I'm not a vampire. I'll do anything he needs to prove it."

I puffed out my lips into a frown. "It isn't that simple. My dad's way of thinking is: Stake first, ask questions later. And obviously the council's gone corrupt because he thought there were no vampires here."

"Why didn't you tell him once you found out?" Bonnie asked.

I shrugged. "I like it here. And I wasn't going to let him mess things up for me."

"Well, what do we do?" Elena asked.

I glanced at all of them. "He'll probably be here this time tomorrow. If I can stay close, I could be the only person to talk some sense into him." They nodded, agreeing, and Bella squealed. At my questioning glance, she said, "This time tomorrow is the TALENT SHOW! I was just asking if you could duet with me! And since it's been approved, and you need to be close by….Ah! Let's go pick a song!"

She was so…un-Bella-like. The Bella I knew wasn't so…cheerful. It was a bit creepy, to say the least. But then I glanced to the brown haired boy staring longingly her way.

Before leaving, I sent Jeremy a wink of approval, and in turn he blushed.

And then I reluctantly followed after my annoyingly happy sister with a smile.

Bella POV (Le next day) :

I knew I was getting on everyone's nerves.

But Jeremy just made me a happier person. He, himself, was so positive all the time. I found it a breath of fresh air after enduring months of Jacob's grumpy manner. He was like that moment when you find money in pants you haven't worn in months. He was that moment when you realize how blessed your life really was. Corny as it was, he was my sunshine, my only sunshine…

Well, not my only sunshine. Elena did seem kind of chipper.

I went downstairs to see my favorite – waffles. Immediately, I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. Elena hardly made toast. I doubted she would jump to waffles simply on a whim.

"Hey, Bella! Great day, isn't it?" She smiled. Yup. Waaaay too happy.

"Who are you and what do you want?" I said.

She giggled, and I almost laughed at her next attempt to butter me up.

"Aww, Bella…I just thought that your amazing voice would need as much love as possible," she giggled.

Oh, lord…"…And you know, maybe if you wanted to share what song you're doing or what outfit you're wearing during your performance or something…"

I cut her off then. "You're not finding anything out until everyone else does."

I patted her head affectionately as I walked by, throwing my head back and laughing at the shocked pout on her face.

The rest of the day followed much in the same way before the talent show, though they only bugged me, because I'm sure they were still pretty spooked by Rhiannon.

Have you ever tried to keep a secret from a group of annoyingly persistent vampires, some humans, a werewolf, and a witch? It's hard business.

"Can you please just tell us what song you're doing?" Caroline pleaded.

I rolled my eyes for what felt like the billionth time. "For the last time, Caroline. No."

She pouted her lower lip and I had to bite back a smile from how much she reminded me of a small child.

"You're going to find out what the song is in about…half an hour," I stated, after looking at the clock.

"But that's too long!" she wailed.

I simply sighed, finally deciding that tuning her out would be the best process.

I nudged Rhiannon, who had fallen asleep on the cafeteria table. "C'mon lazy head, we have to leave early for the show."

I thought I heard her grumble something along the lines of, "annoyingly happy sister", but I chose to ignore it.

"Are you ready?" I beamed at Rhiannon, but quickly realized she was on the verge of a heart attack.

"How are people going to deal when my father comes in and starts creating chaos? Bella, I can't do this. We shouldn't have come to school…"

I shook my head in disapproval. "I've been weak and defenseless for too long. I would never let you keep me holed up. Even despite what anyone thinks, I am stubborn, you know."

This, luckily, got her confused and her mind drifted from her father and our performance. "Then why did you try out?"

"I wanted to, silly. Do you really think my backbone's so small I can't even deal with Elena?"

We shared a laugh, because as tough as Elena may seem, we knew she wasn't the most strong-willed person on the planet either.

"See?" I smiled. "All you have to do is not think about it. He might not even get here during our performance."

She grinned too, and did a few last minute adjustments. "You're on in 2 minutes, girls!" we heard someone shout.

We basked in the pre-performance jitters in silence before our two minutes were up.

"Let's do this, Swan," she winked at me before stepping into the crowd and starting off our performance

(A/N: I spent a lot of time thinking, and I even looked up all the songs that had come out on VD. To make everything more authentic, in a way, I used this song, which was on the list ;))

Do you remember the nights
We'd stay up just laughing
Smiling for hours
At anything
Remember the nights
We drove around crazy in love

This was where I came in to sing the chorus with her.

When the lights go out
We'll be safe and sound
We'll take control of the world
Like it's all we have to hold on to
And we'll be a dream

Do you remember the nights
We made our way dreaming
Hoping of being
Someone big
We were so young then
We were too crazy
In love

When the lights go out
We'll be safe and sound
We'll take control of the world
Like it's all we have to hold on to
And we'll be a dream

Whoa whoa
Whoa whoa
Whoa whoa

When the lights go out
We'll be safe and sound
We'll take control of the world
Like it's all we have to hold on to
And we'll be

When the lights go out
We'll be safe and sound We'll take control of the world
Like it's all we have to hold on to
And we'll be a dream

Rhiannon POV:

The applause might've seemed deafening to anyone else, but I was just consumed by the relief in my mind. Dad isn't here yet.

Grinning, Bella and I were guided out of two double doors to open air. "Just go around to the front entrance of the auditorium," a sweet old lady told us.

Bella shrugged and started walking, not bothering to wait for me as I took off my heels.

"You know, I was nervous that your dad might show up, but everything seems to have gone just fine! I don't know why we were so worried! In fact, apart from the awesomeness in the situation that your dad hasn't shown up, we did amazing up there! Frickin amazing!" I stayed quiet, but I knew she could picture my eye roll perfectly.

I was almost caught up with her when I saw it. Way off in the distance, one very large gun was pointing in Bella's direction.

"No!"

I launched myself in front of her just as the stake was shot. Drenched in what must have been vervain, I felt the stake penetrate my stomach with so much force; I knew I wouldn't hold out for long.

"Rhi!" Bella screamed, obviously terrified.

I started losing spots in my vision, and the last thing I could think of was:

Yes, I had always been trained by my father. I knew without a shadow of the doubt that I could be a complete badass.

But how do you beat the person who taught you everything you know?

There you have it! I know it's been a while, but, like I said, this story goes along with what my head thinks up, and for once I've been trying to brainstorm.

BECAUSE I WANT TO CATCH UP WITH SEASON 3! :D

And I definitely plan on doing so! So review! Like I said in my other story, reviews get me off my lazy ass:p

Sadly accurate, but hey…there are some things you just can't help:p

But they do mean a lot, especially since (though I shouldn't, as I've been reminded), I have doubts about this story.

So tell me if I'm doing things right. Or wrong…I take constructive criticism well :)

Seen you soon, loves! ^-^

~Melissa :D

*Just please don't threaten me or virtually throw something at my head* *cringes!*

C;