The rain poured hard over the windsheild of the SUV as it rolled down the dirt road into La Push reserve, Washington DC. Music pounded through the headphones as she watched the water drip down the glass of the window, curled up in a hoody, tight jeans and old runners, hair falling over her eyes as she faded in and out, sleep wearing heavy on the long drive from the airport. "Blake, Blake... come on honey, stay with me." a voice called out as she shifted in her seat, cramped and uncomfortable, but too tired to care for the time being. "Come on hun..." a prodding hand shook her shoulder as she began to wake up. Her mother was driving the vehicle through the small reserve town to see the extended family she never knew, the life she had left behind all those years ago.
"Mom... why are we even here?" She demanded as her mom sighed and shook her head, leaning against her hand as it rested on the window pane. "I mean... he didn't want any part of my life before, why now?" she asked truthfully... Blake had every right to know why she was being ripped from her own life and forced into someone else's.
"There are somethings that you don't understand about your father, but you'll learn in good time." her mother reasured with a smile as she simply nodded her head and sighed, looking back out the window. Her life had been perfect the way it was, and she didn't need her father to make her complete, so she couldn't understand why now, after so many years, he had finally taken in interest in her life. "He's been good over the years Blake, never questioned us, always made sure we were taken care of." her mother offered as she just turned to look at the older woman.
Her mother was beautiful, with long blond hair, and golden skin. She was the picture of youth, even in her mid thirties, and Blake for the life of her couldn't understand why her father would decide to end it between them. Her mother had always been pleasent and polite, she was beautiful, and she was the most passionate person that Blake knew. She would do anything for anyone... and had always put her first instead of herself.
"I don't want to stay here mom. Their all tan, and I'm pale, I stick out already enough, I don't want to be the freak here... why can't you and I just stay in Forks for a few weeks and I'll just come down on the weekends or something." she offered desperatly as her mother smiled and pulled up into a large driveway with only one other vehicle parked. The house was beautiful, and the scenery was pleasent, but that wasn't why she was here, and it wasn't enough to convince her to stay.
"Blake, your beautiful, and I have to go back, there are some things I have to take care of while your here with your father." she said as Blake cursed under her breath and sighed heavily. "Besides, I'll see you in a month and a half anyways, maybe it would be good to catch a quick break from training." her mother offered as she just shook her head.
"I don't need a break mom. I need my bike, I need my beach, and I need my own friends and family. Not these strangers." she argued as he mother just brought a hand up and held her daughter's chin, starring into her eyes as she begged her to understand.
"I'll see you soon." was all she said as Blake hugged her mom and opened the door, surprised to see that the rain had blown over, and just a heavy overcast hung in the air. Opening the large trunk doors, she lifted out her two heavy packed suitcases and her two dufflebags, containing everything she would need for the next month. "I love you Blake!" her mother called out as she backed the SUV out of the driveway and began up the street as she just watched her mother drive away, grumbling curses and inapropriate words as her rage against her mother grew stronger.
But Blake had to give her credit. It couldn't have been easy coming back to all of this, a place she once called home. And leaving her only daughter with her ex-husband couldn't have exactly been an easy choice either. Not to mention how good she had been with convincing Blake to get this far. But she couldn't care less about the distance, it was the simple fact, that her father had never taken an interest, and now he was... it was at the least appropriate timing, in the least appropriate place.
Here, without even meeting anyone, Blake felt like a stranger. What her mother saw as beauty, Blake saw as a down point. With curly blonde hair that licked at her shoulder blades, and a slim and tall 5'11 frame, she was tall and blonde, and at her home school, she had been labeled as the Swead Weed, seeing as most of the time, Swedish people were tall and blonde, and at the rake she was growing, she would be over six feet in the next few years. But here... something felt off. Where she attended school in her home town, her nickname would have been used in humour, as a joke, but here, it felt as if kids saw her, the nickname would be used as an insult, a name of the La Push freak.
She didn't have any self worth issues, she knew she was kind of pretty, but that had never meant anything to her. Blake found that more often then not, people couldn't take a pretty girl seriously. And the harder she tried to show them that she meant business, the more they would brush it off.
Blake had been a competative soccer player ever since she could remember. Futsal, outdoor, turf... everything. Her mother had put her through it all because that was what she wanted out of life. She wanted to play the game, and that's all there was too it. At sixteen she had been offered a scholarship to play for a university down south, and to say the least, her career in sports was her whole world right now, and she wouldn't change it for anything.
It was the peak of training season when she was called to come down here. And as much as she tried to resist the invitation, her mother had dissallowed the entire idea of getting out of it.
Blake snapped out of her thoughts as the front door opened and a man stepped out, looking as if he were only in his late twenties and fit to the fullest, he approached her as she began to freeze. She had never really seen her father before, and as much as she tried to deny it, something inside felt as if it had been completed when he stepped up infront of her and smiled lightly. "Blake..." he said quietly as she nodded her head and just starred at him.
Grabbing two of her bags, he looked to her again before starting towards the house. "Come on inside, it's not the best day for weather out here." he said as she followed him silently up the white steps of the front and into the house. Looking around as she inwardly smiled. For a man that lived by himself, he was sure good at keeping the place clean. Taking her bags from her, he set them off to the side and welcomed her in, watching cautiously as she looked around and took in the surroundings.
"I was told that you liked to play sports." he said as Blake fought off the urge to roll her eyes and turned to look at him with an unreadable expression. It wasn't as if she didn't expect this, but she somehow wished he knew a little bit more about her then her name and that she enjoyed sports.
"Yeah..." she whispered slightly with a breath. "You could say that." she added as he left the living room and went into the kitchen.
"I also heard you liked pasta. So I hope your hungry." he smiled as she followed him into the kitchen to see two plates of spagetti on the table.
"Actually, I ate on the ride in." she said as he nodded his head and took a seat at the table, offereing one to Blake as she took it and sat down, running a hand through the top of her hair, as it had been pulled into a messy ponytail at the back of her head.
"So, tell me about yourself." he said as he ate a forkfull of pasta off his plate and watched her intently.
"We don't have to do this. I really don't care." she said as Embry paused and put his fork down, looking everywhere but her for the moment as he sighed and scratched his head nervously, something mum had told her he did quite a lot when he didn't know what to say, or how to word something.
"I know it's had to beleive, but I want to make up for the lost time. I'd like to get to know my daughter." he said as Blake sighed and shook her head slightly. If he had wanted to get to know her, then he would have paid more attention to her life, instead of avoiding it for seventeen years. "Remember, I helped bring you into this world, and I'd like to know more." he insisted as he began to eat again.
"I have an athletics scholarship to a university down south for after highschool." she said hesitantly as he nodded his head.
"That's good." he said. "But I'd hope you're keeping your options open." he said as she scoffed and looked at him with a disbeleiving expression.
"Soccer is all I've ever wanted since I was little. This is the oppertunity of a lifetime, and out of everyone, they picked me. This is my dream, and I intend to see it through. You would know..." if you would have been there for me she inwardly finished as Embry froze, looking his daughter in the eye as she stopped.
"I know... I haven't been the greatest father to you Blake." he said as she smirked and rolled her eyes. Resentment burning deep within. "But I'm willing to try to make it up for you." he said. As she sighed and stood from the table.
After moments of silence, she turned away and started towards the door. "I think I'm just going to go for a walk." she said as Embry stayed silent for a few more seconds, watching his daughter leave so quickly, watching her run from him again.
"Stay away from the woods." he called out as she grabbed a hold of her bag and closed the door behind her as she left.
The only thing on her mind being some of the last words he said before she left. I'll make it up to you. He had said, but what's to say it isn't all a lie? It isn't fake? He had seventeen years to make up for, and no one... not even superman could wind back the clock that far to make up for everything he missed. Her first game, her first trophy, her first day of school, or the daddy daughter dance. Her first awards ceremony, and her statewide tournaments.
He couldn't make up for those things, so why was she here in the first place?
Why had her life suddenly become something he was interested in?
Starting off down the road, Blake juggled the ball back and forth in her hands, itching to find some place to let out some energy, to escape for a little while and just be herself. Her gym bag bounced heavily off the side of her leg as she simply altered it on her shoulder.
With a sigh, she tried to set the illusion that she was back where she wanted to be, back in her own hometown. Where the green life around her wasn't frightening and uninviting, where the people didn't pass and stare, simply gave a small wave and carried on with their business.
Looking around, she realizted she must have been coming further into town, seeing as the stores began to increase, and the quiet rumble of the public was more potent and allerting. As the school came into view, Blake could only pray that they had something she could work with. A football field, a patch of green grass, a net if she was really lucky.
Walking along the sidewalk, she listened as the soles of her shoes his the cemente with every step until she got onto the grass of the fenced off field. She assumed she wasn't meant to be there, but what were they going to do about it? Tell her to leave? Fine, she would go find somewhere else, but until they came and forced her to leave, she would practice on their fields and chew up their grass.
Taking in a deep breath, Blake looked around and to her right, luckily, she found a net with the netting still attached. They must have forgotten to remove it when school let out. With a faint smile and another peak around for onlookers, she approached the feild and set her bag down, dropping down beside it as she shifted on the wet grass. She hated sitting down on the cold wet grass, but she wasn't willing to risk falling over if she tried to put her shoes on standing up.
Tieing the laces tight and wiggling her toes as she stretched them out lightly, Blake dried her hands off on her damp pants and stood to her feet. She wasn't exactly dressed in the best clothing for a soccer practice. But she had come to La Push assuming it was cold and wet, to find out that it was indeed wet... but not so cold. So as hot as she was in her jeans, she would work against the set back and add it to her list of challenges.
Taking the ball out infront of the net, she dropped the object and watched with an intense focus as it bounced up and down on her feet, the ball hitting the grouve of her steady beat. Blake had become uncannily skilled at juggling the ball with her feet after years of practice, when her mother was in a meeting, or getting home late from work, when she was outside at recess, or when she was warming up for a game.
She had watched all the you-tube videos of different tricks like 'around the world', and catching the ball in certain areas of your body when letting them fall back into the beat, and when she had grown a certain respect and understanding of the trick, perfected it herself. It was a cycle, and it was a cycle that anyone could have done, had they managed to work on it as hard and long as she had.
Letting the ball fall to the ground, she rolled it ahead a few feet before winding up and blasting it at the net, feeling the satisfactory imprint it left on her soft leather shoes. She stood there for what felt like forever and just looked at the soccer net, remembering her favourite shoot outs... the glorious victories, the heartbreaking losses, all the times she wished she could have done things differently, but never had the chance to change them. All the times she thought she had done everything she could have, but now see the little changes that could have made a world of a difference.
With a sigh, she walked towards the net and dragged her ball out, walking back out to the same spot, and winding up to shoot again. This time, the shot felt even better, and the impact it had was enough to rattle the bars as she smiled. The force of her foot making contact with the ball had made the satisfactory sound all soccer players unconciously looked for in a good shot. The ear splitting pleasure of a good ball was enough to drive anyone insane.
Once again, she went to reclaim her ball and tried all over again as she smiled when her foot began to ache from the over exersion. Blake couldn't remember the last time she had shot the ball into the net as many times as she had, and she wouldn't aim to try it again if her foot was giving her this much trouble right now.
Changing back into her runners, she slipped her wet and sweaty equiptment into her gym bag and walked up the street to the small varietly store, stepping inside to see a group of rowedy teen boys goofing off near the movie section. Most likely trying to choose a movie to rent by the looks of it. With a smile, she headed towards the beverage cooler and looked up and down the shelves for a quick gatorade, or powerade. Knowing that neither was completely good for you, but relenquishing in the fact that she loved the fruit punch flavour.
With another quick look towards the loud group, she inwardly smiled at the memories of her friends back where she went to school. Every Friday they would go up to the local variety store and rent a new movie they hadn't seen and watch it together over some popcorn and coke. It was a tradition, and as she approached the register, she smiled at the young girl that was ready to serve her.
"How are you today?" she asked polietly as she rang Blake through, asking for the money then sorting out her change.
"Good thanks. And you?" she replied with a smile as the girl answered honestly.
"Just waiting to get out of here." she sighed with a grin as Blake chuckled and thanked her again.
"Aren't we all?" she said quietly to herself, headed for the door as she heard the group of boys approach from behind her and head towards the register, laughing and joking along the way as Blake only wished she would have the chance to see some of her friends over the summer and share great times like she used too.
Walking back to the house was almost as bad as walking to the field, only it felt like longer because of her tired feet. The only thing she wanted to do was go home and go to bed, perhaps watch a little TV before she got there. But if anything, she only wanted to relax.
Walking towards the house, Blake sighed as she noticed two more old pickups in the driveway and cursed under her breath. Hopefully, Embry wouldn't go out of his way to introduce her and she would be able to sneak past. So walking up the steps carefully, she opened the door and cringed naturally as it squeeled in responce. "Blake!" she heard his voice yelled out. "Blake is that you?" he asked as she sighed and rolled her eyes.
Well who the hell else could it be? she wanted to yell back, but remembered faintly that this hole town seem to know everything about everyone, just as all small communities do, so she figured it was best to keep her mouth shut.
"Yeah..." she called out weakly as she prayed he would just let her be.
"Come on in here, there's someone I want you to meet." he called out as she sighed and dropped her bags. Walking into the kitchen as she was greated by the most extrodinary eyes she had ever seen before.