A Difficult Love
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. All rights go to Stephanie Meyer.
Please Read and Review.
Chapter 1:
"In first place with the gold, Elizabeth Smith!" The announcer declared. I squeezed Ashley's hand with my heart beating like a jackhammer in my chest.
"You're going to medal Trin," Ashley said confidently.
"In second place with the silver, Trinity Allison!"
Ashley cheered loudly and I laughed excitedly. "Get up there," Ashley ordered pushing me forwards. I accepted the silver medal and took my place on the podium with a wide smile on my face.
The announcer continued with the rankings and when it was over my parents joined me as I stepped down.
I turned to my dad and the smile died on my face when I saw his expression. There was nothing but pure disappointment in his gaze. "You didn't get the gold," he said in a monotone voice.
"I-I did my best," I whispered.
"Your best wasn't good enough," Dad said flatly. My eyes dropped to the ground and he stalked off. Lacey, my ever supportive sister, sniffed disdainfully before following my dad out of the arena. An unreadable expression came onto my mom's face and she went after them leaving me to stare after the backs of my family in shock.
Ashley came up behind me with fury written across her face. "I can't believe that your dad doesn't understand that even making the National Team is something to be proud of."
"He's never proud of me," I said dejectedly gripping my board tighter.
"He should be," Wynter said walking up to us. "You, Trinity Jennifer Allison, made it onto the National Team and you ranked second. That's an honor that you earned."
"Since when did you get all sentimental?" I asked with a smirk.
Wynter rolled her eyes. "You know what? Screw all that crap I just said. Screw you too." I laughed feeling my mood lighten up just the tiniest bit. "My brother called and said that he was inviting us to his girlfriend's cousin's wedding," Wynter added. "It's tomorrow. You guys up for it?"
"Is it in La Push?" I asked.
"Yep," Wynter said popping her p.
"I dunno how my dad's going to react when I tell him that I'm going to be driving for four hours from Seattle to La Push," I said biting on my lower lip.
"Come on Trin," Ashley said. "It won't be that bad."
"Knowing my dad he'd probably give me the same reaction as he would if I told him I was taking drugs," I muttered.
"It's not a big thing," Wynter said. "Besides you have Sundays off right?"
"Yeah," I said slowly. "Fine," I sighed. "I'll see what I can do."
"Yay!" Ashley said jumping up and clapping her hands together excitedly. All I could do was hope to hell that Dad wouldn't start yelling at me.
Yelling would have been better than the look of utter loathing that Dad was feeding me. I bit my lip but kept my stance firm.
Dad glared at me before pinching the bridge of his nose, a clear indicator that he was pissed. "You should be training," he said in a monotone voice.
"I always have Sunday off," I said with my voice taking on a pleading tone.
"It can't hurt, Keith," Mom said quietly.
Dad muttered something under his breath before catching eye contact with me. "I was planning on moving to Forks," he said.
"Why?" I blurted.
"An old friend of mine, Charlie Swan, can get us a home there for half the rent we're paying now," Dad said. I felt a twinge of guilt tug in my heart. Dad had been relying on me to get a sponsor so that it would help with our current financial state. As a matter of fact he was still relying on me getting that sponsor.
"Fine," Dad muttered. "You can go to the wedding."
"Thank you," I breathed. He just grunted and moved off to grab a can of coke from the refrigerator.
I headed into my bedroom shutting the door quietly behind me before a wide grin took over my features and I collapsed on the bed in relief.
"This is so exciting!" Ashley squealed jumping up and down. I rolled my eyes and straightened the blue strapless dress I was wearing. Ashley eyed my shoes disapprovingly. "Are you serious Trinity? Sneakers?"
I grinned innocently. My chosen form of footwear was a pair of white sneakers. "You have to admit they are in style," I joked.
Wynter laughed. "Trust you to bend the rules Trin."
"You're the one to talk," I said pointedly.
"Good point," Wynter said ruefully. Wynter was wearing a strapless red cocktail dress with white flats and a pair of silver earrings. I had to admit the look was great with her shining blond hair and light blue eyes.
Ashley huffed and we burst out laughing. Out of the three of us Ashley was the most dressed up. She was wearing a coral halter neck dress that fell down nearly to her knees. A pair of strappy heels completed her outfit.
"Come on we better get to the reception," Wynter said. The three of us entered the wedding.
Eyes followed our every movement and I could tell that Wynter was slightly uncomfortable with the attention. Ashley on the other hand was enjoying it. Even though a slight blush was on her cheeks she made her way through the crowd with a confident stride.
"Just kill me now," Wynter muttered burying her face in her hands.
"Calm down," I mumbled. "It's not like everyone's watching us."
"Hey Sis!" Jay's voice boomed.
"Okay I take that back," I grumbled. Wynter groaned and was immediately swept up in a hug by her older brother.
"Put me down!" Wynter protested with a wheezing breath. Jay laughed and set Wynter down on her feet.
"Hey Trinity," Jay said. I quickly took a step back so that he wouldn't crush me in his strong grip. "Aw come on," Jay complained. "How about you Ashley? You want a hug from the man?"
Ashley rolled her eyes and shrieked as Jay picked her up and whirled her around. Once Ashley was set down Jay introduced us to his girlfriend. "This is Leah, Leah this is Wynter my baby sister, Ashley, and Trinity."
Leah smiled at us and I couldn't help but notice her natural beauty shining through. "It's nice to meet you," I said politely.
"Don't talk to me like I'm one of those old women," Leah said rolling her eyes. "Just say, 'Hey' or 'What's up?'"
I grinned. "What's up?"
Leah returned the smile. "Nothing much at the moment. Why don't I introduce you to the groom and bride?"
"Okay," Ashley agreed readily. Leah and Jay led us over to a table filled with overwhelming large guys. Being a snowboarder I was used to seeing muscular people but these guys were taking it to a whole new level.
"This is Sam and Emily," I noticed Leah wince slightly as she mentioned the married couple.
"And these are Jared and his fiancée Kim, Paul and his girlfriend Rachel, Embry, Quil, Jacob, Seth, Brady, and Collin," Jay finished.
"Hey," I said with a slight wave.
"Excuse me if I say so but aren't you young ladies looking just fine tonight?" Seth said wiggling his eyebrows. If looks could kill Seth would be a dead man by now. He grinned innocently.
"Jay told us that you three snowboard," Emily said.
"Do not let them be modest," Jay said. "Wynter over here is ranked third in Nationals on the half-pipe. Ashley is the best junior Boarder Cross racer in America and Trinity is ranked second on the slopes."
"Wow," Quil breathed.
"So you're telling me that we're looking at three celebrities?" Paul asked.
"No-" Wynter started.
"Yes," Jay interrupted firmly. "Come on sis. Anytime your face is shown on the big screen that means you're the it."
"The it?" I repeated raising an eyebrow.
Jay rolled his eyes. "The bomb, the awesome, you get my point."
"We're going to do a little dancing," Sam said. "Congratulations on your titles." With that he swept Emily away and the two whirled around the floor immediately becoming lost in their happiness.
"Anyone want to dance with me?" Ashley asked. Seth jumped up and a shy smile formed on Ashley's face as she took his hand and let him lead her away.
"How 'bout you sis?" Jay asked. "You up for a dance?"
Wynter eyed Jay before relenting and following him onto the floor. Leah and I sat down in the chairs and struck up a conversation about snowboarding.
As we were talking my eyes flickered up and met Embry's. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened like he was seeing me for the first time. For some reason a light blush touched my cheeks and I hear some low hoots from Paul and Jared.
"Do you want to dance?" he blurted.
"Uh, sure," I mumbled. A large grin spread across his face as he took my hand and led me onto the floor.
"What grade are you in?" Embry asked as we danced.
For a split second I couldn't remember anything. "I'm a senior," I said snapping myself back into attention.
"Same here," Embry said with a slight smile. "Where do you live?"
"My dad said that he was planning on moving us down to Forks," I said. For a split second I thought that I saw happiness shine in Embry's eyes but he neutralized himself before I could make sure. A laugh burst past my lips as he dipped me down.
"You look beautiful tonight," Embry murmured.
"You don't look that bad yourself handsome," I said with my words coming out slightly breathless. Embry chuckled and pulled me back upright.
We danced together for a long time looking into each other's eyes. When the reception ended and Emily and Sam left for their honeymoon after a hearty chorus of cheers and whistles I saw Ashley sitting with Seth, a smile plastered on her face.
"Can I have your number?" Embry asked pulling out a phone from his pocket.
"Sure," I said typing it in. As I handed it to him I noticed the temperature of his skin for the first time. "Wow you're hot," I muttered.
"It's nice to hear you say that," Embry said wiggling his eyebrows. A furious blush touched my cheeks.
"I-I-meant-"
"It's cool," Embry said interrupting my embarrassing stammering. "It's a genetic condition."
"Oh," I mumbled still bright red.
"Hey Trin!" Wynter called walking over with Ashley at her side. "We better get going."
"Okay," I said. I turned back to Embry. "I'll um, see you around."
"See you," Embry murmured.
As we walked away and got into the car Ashley turned around to face me. "Details," she ordered.
I groaned. This was going to be a long drive.
Rolling over in my bed and glancing at the clock I buried my face in my pillow. How could it be morning already? Forcing myself to move I dragged myself out of bed and stumbled over to the closet.
My clothes were still a mess since I hadn't taken the time to clean them up after our move. Ashley and Wynter were still living in Seattle but we would still see each other for practices.
Pulling on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt I threw a hoodie on top before making my way into the bathroom. Dragging a comb through my honey blond hair I stared at my reflection for a long time studying my gray eyes. Shaking my head I brushed my teeth and washed my face before grabbing my backpack and heading into the kitchen.
"Morning Trinity," Mom said.
"Morning," I muttered. Lacey barely spared me a glance.
I picked up my lunch bag tossing it into my backpack before heading out the door. Swinging myself over onto my bike I revved the engine and tore off.
The feeling of the wind slapping at my face was exhilarating, painful and beautiful all at the same time. As I arrived at the school two bikes pulled up behind me and I turned to have my jaw drop.
"Embry?" I gasped.
"Trinity?" Embry breathed.
"What are you doing here?" We chorused. Quil took off his helmet rolling his eyes.
"Well Embry attends La Push High," he said.
"Thanks for that obvious piece of information," I grumbled.
"I thought that you were going to Forks High School," Embry said.
"No, my dad wanted me to ride for a longer distance to help train so he decided to enroll me here," I said with a slight shrug.
Embry's attention slid over to my bike. "I didn't know you ride," he said.
"It helps with my training," I said.
"Does everything in your life revolve around your training?" Embry asked.
"Yeah," I muttered with a hint of bitterness in my tone.
Embry sensed my mood and didn't push the topic. "You want me to show you to the office?"
"That would be nice," I mumbled. Quil gave us a wave before walking off to his first class. After I picked up my schedule Embry peered over my shoulder.
"We have 1st and 4th period together," he commented. "You want me to walk you?"
"Uh, sure," I mumbled. Once again a large grin took over Embry's face as he led me through the hallways. The English classroom was filled with students already and they looked over as we entered. I noticed a couple of guys eying me with slight interest. Embry seemed to tense as he noticed but I didn't really pay attention.
I handed the slip for the teacher to sign and he pointed me towards a seat in the back next to Embry.
"All right kids," Mr. Foster said. "This semester I'm requiring you to do a research paper with the partner of your choice. It will count for half of your grade so choose wisely."
An excited buzz started filling the classroom. "You want to be partners?" Embry asked.
A small smile touched my face. "Okay," I agreed. "What do you want to do our paper on?"
"Hmm," Embry started. "Why don't you decide? Ladies choice."
I giggled softly. "Why don't we do snowboarding? It's an easy topic and I know a lot about it."
"Especially seeing you're ranked second on the slopes," Embry added with a wink. "I remembered."
I rolled my eyes. "It's not a big deal," I muttered.
"On the contrary I think it is," Embry said with a smirk.
I shrugged. We spent the rest of the hour coming up with some ideas for the paper and when the bell rang Embry led me to my History class.
"See you at lunch," Embry said.
"See you," I murmured. Embry waved before walking off down the hallway. I stepped inside the classroom and handed the teacher my slip. She pointed me to a seat and I sat down setting my books on the table.
Mrs. Randall handed out worksheets and told us that we needed to work with a partner to complete the assignment.
"You want to work together?" someone asked.
I turned and saw a girl with warm brown eyes and long black hair smiling hesitantly at me. "Sure," I said.
"Great, I'm Nevaeh," she introduced herself.
"Trinity," I replied already taking a liking to her. We finished the worksheet with not that much problem and talked for the rest of the class.
"You don't look like you're from around here," Nevaeh said.
"I'm from Seattle," I said with a shrug. "My family decided to move here so that we could take a break from the city life." Even though I now considered Nevaeh a friend I didn't feel like telling her about our family's financial problems.
"Don't you have a sister?" Nevaeh asked curiously. "I mean I saw another new kid hanging around with the crowd that looks like you."
"That would be Lacey," I said.
"You don't like her," Nevaeh guessed.
"Let's just say that the two of us don't see eye to eye," I said.
"You know I'm surprised that you aren't like her," Nevaeh said.
"Why?" I asked raising an eyebrow.
"Well with your looks I would have thought that you wouldn't even talk to me," Nevaeh said.
I blinked. "My looks?"
"Oh please," Nevaeh groaned. "Don't tell me that you haven't noticed all the guys staring at you with drool leaking out of their mouths."
I quickly looked over at a couple of guys and saw the turn their heads immediately. Looking back at Nevaeh I saw a satisfied smirk on her face.
"I didn't notice until five seconds ago," I muttered. "But I'm not like that."
"I can tell," Nevaeh said. "Any other girl would be over there flaunting it in every one's face."
I chuckled wryly. The bell rang and I gathered up my books. Nevaeh walked with me to the lunchroom where we met up with Embry.
"Hey beautiful," Embry said in a joking tone but somehow I thought that he actually meant it.
"Hey handsome," I mocked.
As we entered the cafeteria Embry picked up his lunch piling his tray high with food. "You two want to sit with us?" he offered.
"Uh, sure," I said. And yet again a happy smile lit up Embry's face. Quil, Paul, Jared, Kim, Seth, Collin and Brady looked up as we approached.
"Well if it isn't the snowboard superstar," Quil greeted.
I rolled my eyes. Nevaeh looked at me in surprise. "You didn't tell me you snowboard," she accused.
"As I recall we were talking about guys and my looks," I said with another eye roll. I noticed Embry's hand shake slightly.
"Well a snowboarding career is way more interesting than guys," Nevaeh said. "Jeez, way to keep me out of the loop. Spill."
"It's nothing big," I said. "I just snowboard competitively."
Jared raised an eyebrow at me. "Why do you always sound so vague when you talk about snowboarding?"
I shrugged. "I don't know."
Just then Lacey sashayed over to me with a group of girls. "I wonder what dad would say if I told him that you were sitting with a group of guys," she purred.
"I wonder what would happen if you went home with a bruise on your adorable face," I mocked sweetly.
Lacey sniffed. "You wouldn't do that," she said but I heard a slight uncertainty in her voice. That gave me all the leverage I needed.
"You want to try me?" I asked smirking. I heard the guys snickering.
Lacey glared at me before stalking off. We burst out into laughter. The rest of the lunch period passed by in a blur and so did the school day.
"You want to work on that paper today?" Embry asked as we walked over to our bikes.
I pursed my lips thinking. "Well I have to train but it shouldn't be that bad. Dad lets me train on my own after school. As long as he sees that I'm making progress then he won't say anything."
"Where do you want to meet up?" Embry asked.
"There's a place where I can practice near my house," I said. Giving him the directions I saw him nod.
"I'll see you there in a half hour then," Embry said.
"Kay," I mumbled putting on my helmet and swinging myself onto my bike. As I drove towards the house I felt something inside of me that I had never felt in a long time. It was pure undulating happiness.