I pushed my legs farther, willing them to help me catch up to him. Instead, I tripped over a branch and went crashing to the ground.
I groaned and closed my eyes. Seth's footsteps faltered and then stopped. I could hear them crunch as he made his way back to me through the leaves littering the forest floor.
The crunch stopped right next to my head. I slowly opened my eyes and looked up into his dark, shadow covered eyes. His expression was part of him looked smug about me not catching up to him. Mostly he looked concerned.
Seth crouched down next to me. "Are you all right, Ashley?" he asked.
"Yeah," I breathed. 'It just knocked the breath out of me."
I smiled and started to get up. He stood up and then reached down to grab my hand. I took it and let him help pull me up.
After I was up I swiped some dirt off my knees. I waited until he wasn't paying attention and then I shoved him into a tree. Or I meant to. Instead all he did was stumble a little.
"And that's for leaving me behind!"
Earlier we were hanging out with his friends Jacob and Quil, and his sister Leah. Seth has always been my best friend. For as long as I could remember we've been hanging out.
Leah used to be fun. If I wasn't with Seth I was with his sister. But now she's always mad. At everyone. I tried to help her a few times but that just made it worse. Leah is very beautiful. She has perfect copper skin, glistening black hair, and long feathery eyelashes.
Jake was pretty tall and kind of gangly. He looked like an older version of Seth. His black hair was almost shoulder length. Seth was always following Jake around. He looks up to him.
Quil was short and very muscular . His hair was cropped short.
"I'm almost done with those bikes.' Jake was telling Quil.
Of coarse Jacob was talking about Bella and their motorcycles. That's all he ever talks about anymore is mechanics and Bella.
I've never met Bella. Not officially, anyway. She sounds like a nice girl. Months ago there was a search for her out in the woods near her house. Her boyfriend, Edward had left her out there in the middle of the woods after he had broken up with her. She was a mess when I seen her in Sam's arms, carrying her back to her house. From what I've heard she has long brown hair and big, beautiful, brown, almond-shaped eyes.
"Hey, where's Embry?" I asked hoping to change the topic to something I could understand a little more; I knew nothing about mechanics.
"He's till sick," Quil said thinking. "We-" He gestured to Jake and then back to him, "went to his house today to see if he was alright. It looked like no one was home."
Embry had been sick for almost a week now.
We hung out and talked for awhile until I mentioned Sam and his wedding.
Sam and Leah were high school sweethearts. They loved each other so much. Then one day Emily, Leah's cousin, came for a visit. It was love at first sight, maybe even stronger. Sam left Leah for Emily and now they're going to get married. It broke Leah's heart.
Leah growled and Jake stood up. "I'm gonna go work some more on the bikes. I'll see you guys later."
"Uh . . . Yeah I'll come help you with that," Quil said jumping to his feet.
"Can I come with you? I want to see how they're coming along." Of coarse Seth was going to leave me hear a lone with Leah.
"Sure," Jake said gesturing for him to come along.
They were out of there within seconds taking Jake's Volks Wagon Rabbit. I turned to Leah. "Sooo… What have you been up to lately?"
I got out of there as soon as I could. It was a close one. I could see the fury on Leah's face.
I walked down the length of the sandy beach fuming about Seth leaving me. It really was a beautiful day out but I was too bad to fully enjoy it. It was a bright sunny day. The waves sparkled as they crashed to the shore. The round, smooth stones buried in the sand were a rainbow of colors.
A normal day here in Forks, Washington is rainy and cast over. If it's not rain its some other form of precipitation. A sunny day is hard to come by.
I walked off the sand and onto a road. The road led all the way to Jake's so I walked along the side of it.
As I drew closer to the house I could hear laughter coming from the garage. I grimaced and walked towards the noise. They were talking more about mechanics.
When I opened the door, they all got quite. I glared at them. "Why did you guys leave me back there?' I demanded.
"You brought up Sam, you should be the one that had to stay with Leah." It was Quil talking.
"I didn't mean to bring him up! I wasn't thinking!" I fired back.
"Hmm… well-"
I cut him off before he could finish his retort. "C'mon Seth we should go. Harry said you had to be home before seven remember?"
Seth looked confused. "What time is it now?'
I looked down at my watch. "Oh Crap! We have five minutes to make a fifteen minute walk. Lets go!" I was just making up an excuse at first but now that I had seen the time we really had to go.
And with that Seth was maneuvering his way to the door, telling his friends bye as he opened the door to go. I waved everyone good bye then stepped out the door after him.
At first I couldn't see him and then I seen a flash of his black jacket disappear into the blackness of the woods.
It's our shortcut to his house but we weren't supposed to take it. One time we got lost and a small search party was sent out to find us. Since then we're not supposed to go that way. Not that that had ever stopped us before.
I dashed after him knowing I'd never be able to catch him.