Chapter 1
(Amber's POV)
I glance across the room, across the swirling lights, moving bodies, and across Mike Newton's face. In the corner stand a group of towering boys. Ferocious, tall, dark, and handsome. They stand in unison, scowling and smiling at the same time. The entangled bodies give them space. The Quilutes. The werewolves. Quil, Embry, Paul, and Jacob aren't there. Probably with the girls they imprinted on; enjoying the wedding with the loves of their lives. My eyes land on one who looks about my age, sixteen. He looks a lot like Jacob, except for a more carefree look on his face. I wonder who he is, why I haven't seen him before. Surely Bella must have mentioned him, she tells me everything. That's how I know about werewolves in the first place; vampires too.
"So you wanna go?" a voice breaks into my thoughts.
I give a little smile,
"Hmm?"
My head turns back to Mike.
"That horror movie.
Want to go see it Friday?"
I give my small smile again.
"I'm sorry, I'm busy," I say.
"Oh, well – "
"One sec okay? I need to go say hi to someone."
I get up and walk towards the corner. Poor Mike. First Bella, then Jessica, now me. I shake my head a little. And I'm there. In werewolf territory. Where everyone else had the sense to stay away from. I walk right up to him, this boy that takes my breath away with his manly beauty. Of course, I'm not into him, I don't know him. But he's definitely good looking.
"Hey," I say, right across from him now, staring into his eyes.
They fall on me, "Hey," he replies.
"So what are you doing in the corner?" I ask, "Not enjoying the wedding?"
His eyebrow rises,
"What am I doing in the corner? What are you doing in
the corner?"
He looks at the boys around him, as if questioning
my sanity.
I cross my arms and
raise my eyebrow too, "What I'm not distant enough from the rest
of the world to be here?"
The boy crosses his arms too, "Distant
huh?"
For a moment it looks as though he's lost in his
thoughts.
"Yeah, that's what you could call it," I say, breaking him out of his reverie.
"Yeah, maybe."
No
fun, I need to get him into the conversation.
"What's your name?" I ask.
"Seth, Seth Clearwater," he answers, paying a bit more attention, "And yours?"
"Amber-Rose. You can call me Amber though, everyone does."
"That's a nice name."
"Thanks. So how do you know Bella and Edward?" I ask.
He lets out a laugh, and I instantly fall in love with it, "We've been through a lot together."
"Huh."
"How do you know them?"
"Bella's my best
friend."
Realization hits his face, "Ah. I've heard about
you. So," his voice lowers, "You know about Edward. What he is I
mean."
I nod.
"Wow, must be a shock for you."
"Neah, I think it's pretty cool. I love vampires," I lower my voice, "So knowing one is really amazing. And knowing they're real, is pretty unreal."
I decide to pretend I don't know about werewolves, "How'd you know what he was?"
He seems to take a minute to answer, "Well, like I said, we've been through a lot together. When you get that close to someone, you sort of find out their secrets, even their deepest ones."
A throat is cleared, and I snap out of the trance Seth's eyes and voice have put me in. Turning around, I see Alice.
"Hey Alice," I say, and give her a hug.
She gives me a hug back
but looks at me, "What are you doing?"
She knows I know about
werewolves.
"Just talking, getting to know new people. You know me," I say.
"Yes, I do."
She turns her attention
to Seth, "What about you Seth?"
"Don't look at me, she
just randomly came up to me."
"Besides, what's the big deal?" I ask.
"Nothing I suppose. I just worry about you," she says, giving me a, yes, worried look.
I realize my future must have been erased when I started talking to him.
"Well thanks Alice, but I'm okay."
"Yes, I see that.
Just be careful."
"I will."
"See you around."
"See you."
"And you Seth."
"Later."
I turn back to Seth.
"She really cares about you," he points out.
"Yeah, well we've been through a lot together too."
"I wonder why we've
never seen each other before, you being best friends with Bella and
all."
I look deeper into him. Maybe he is getting into me.
"Bella just told me everything a couple days ago. She said she hadn't wanted anything to happen to me, and that's why we haven't been able to hang out lately. She's told me everything that's happened. It made me really worried about her."
"Well, don't worry about her too much, she's got a horde of vampires watching over her," he tries to lighten the mood.
I smile a little, "Yeah. She should be pretty safe. Kind of an oxymoron, hanging out with vampires making her safe."
"Yup, pretty much. But once you enter the realm of the supernatural, nothing's like it was before."
"Yeah, I'm so happy I can be a part of it though. I mean, Bella fell in love with one of them. That's how she got into all of this. I'm just here by association. I'm kinda scared it'll all just go away, you know?"
"I'll never leave you," Seth whispers, and I pretend I don't hear it.
But wow, I did hear it. Could this really be happening? And so fast?
Louder, he says, "It is kind of unreal. Like maybe one day, you'll wake up and everything will be normal again. Like none of this ever existed."
"Yeah."
This time the clock interrupted us. It was midnight.
"I guess I should go now, party's over. I'm gonna go say bye to Bella," I say, internally shaking myself.
"Yeah, maybe I'll see you again?"
"Yeah, maybe. But just incase, want my number?"
"Yeah, sure."
He
pulls out his cell and I give him my number.
"Alright, I'll see you around," I say and start to walk away to find Bella.
"See you," he calls.
I find Bella with Edward in the backyard. Walking over to her I envelope her in a big hug.
"Congratulations," I say, holding onto her tight.
"Thanks Amber," she replies.
We look at each other, a few tears escaping from our eyes.
"Hey, I heard from Alice you were talking to Seth."
"Yeah, he's pretty cool."
"Maybe you'll fall in love too."
"Ha, not that soon Bella."
"Yeah, not right away, but still."
"Yeah yeah, have fun with your new hubby."
"Thanks, I'll see you in two weeks."
"See you, love you."
"Love you."
I turn to Edward.
"Do I really need to say to take care of her?"
"Of course not," he replies with that amazing smile of his.
"Congratulations," I say, and give him a quick hug.
"Thank you."
And I leave their house, thinking about my best friend and her life, our friendship, and the amazing boy I met today.
