❝she was their autumn moon, brilliant and beautiful, guiding their way though the dark...❞
❝... and they were all of the stars in her night sky - glowing constellations,
forming a map that lead her
...
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LUKE'S TRUCK BARRELS DOWN THE HIGHWAY WITH THE WINDOWS ROLLED DOWN, THE SKY ABOVE AN ENDLESS, CLOUDLESS BLUE. From the passenger seat, Elizabeth Swan watches the dry desert landscape pass by with empty sapphire eyes. The blazing Phoenix sun warms her bare arms and shoulders, the tanned, freckled skin soaking in its last dose of vitamin D.
In the upper left-hand corner of the Pacific Northwest lies a quaint little town named Forks. Surrounded by trees and mountains with a short drive to the ocean, Forks has always been Eli's definition of paradise. She and her sister Isabella used to spend their summers exploring the forests of Forks and swimming in the ocean on the tiny Native reservation on the coast, La Push. These are some of her favorite memories. Izzy has always hated Forks, however, and when they were fourteen she complained about the wet and the rain and they've gone to California every summer instead.
After years and years of begging, pleading and many frustrated tears, their mother Renee has finally allowed Eli to move to Forks.
She should be over the moon. As it is, an unending void stretches taut inside of her, as cold and empty as the darkness between the stars.
"Elizabeth," Luke says, and she blinks. From his tone, it's obvious that he's been calling her name for a while. She briefly feels guilty for ignoring him, but the emotion is fleeting – just like every other emotion she's experienced in the past few weeks, it lingers for a moment or two and then slips away on the breeze like it was never there in the first place. "Please don't do this."
For six years, ever since his parents moved to Phoenix from Australia, Luke and Eli have been the very best of friends. Even when they started high school and he grew tall and gorgeous and landed the quarterback position on the varsity football team, he always made Eli a priority. He's been there for her through everything. How is she going to survive without his endless love and support?
