A/N: The second half of chapter one! Thank you for the reviews and alerts! Three on the first day? You guys are amazing! So I had to go ahead update. Anyways, you know what to do! :)

-2-

" Garrett," She heard her mother acknowledge him as she purposefully headed to the car trunk as a distraction, and grabbed her two of her bags. As she rounded back to the front, her eyes lifted up and she caught a quick glimpse of the man standing there before averting them to the floor and towards the house.

" Need a hand with those?" She stopped shortly, her back turned. Her mouth opened to reply that would most likely come out in a sneer, but closed it just as fast, and ignored him, heading inside the house. She head a sigh as she reached the porch, and her mother muttering something afterward.

The faint scent of cinammon and incense filled her nose as she entered the living room- almost to comfort her- but she was anything but comfortable right now. She observed the living room. The walls were a faded tan color just like the exterior of the house- covered in traditional Native American paintings and photographs.

She took it upon herself to stomp instead of walk like a normal person. Each stomp symbolized each level of anger she had built up- and she didn't mind expressing it to the stairs. They would even get a little dirty some. Hey, it was immature- but she felt he deserved it.

He deserved everything that was going to come his way.

After opening and closing three doors in little hallway- she concluded that her father's was on the far right, and the hall bathroom was across from it. She opened the door and observed the room that was obviously hers- and satisfied that it was at the end of the hallway- and far away from her father's. She dropped her bags as she entered and placed her hands on her hips.

The walls were a muddy dark brown, and seemed almost as if it were repainted. She picked up her bags and set them on the queen-sized bed, that also seemed new- nodding impressed that there was a small bathroom there as well.

But that hardly changed things. She barely had time to think about what she should do next before she heard the door shut. Before she could leave the room, he entered, slowly dropping another one of her bags at the door. She recognized as her red and brown tribal laptop carrier. The faint black markings of a Sharpie marker made her think of Miranda- who had a habit of marking her name on her stuff for fun. She would need to talk to her later.

" You left a bag behind,"

" I guess I did," She answered. She narrowed her eyes as she observed his tall statue. His skin was dark, and black hair that was starting to grey, long, laying flat across his shoulders in waves. Pretty much the same as he had left her; only now there were wrinkles under his eyes. He stared down at her- his face calm and expressionless, but deep inside, Alex knew he was nervous. He should be. She quickly stalked past him and down the stairs, and almost immediately she heard him following her.

" Where are you going?" She stopped and turned around. She couldn't help but notice the hurt in his eyes. But she shrugged it off, and her disconcern showed in her voice.

" Does it matter?"

He stared at her before walked to the coffee table in the middle of the living room and lifting a magazine, taking a thin paper from under it.

" At least take this," She snatched it from him and unfolded it, realizing it was a map of town. After taking one last look at him, she headed for the door, slamming it behind her.

Wishing she had bought herself some sunglasses from Arizona, she groaned, shielding her eyes, looking after the dirt road, then studied the map in her hands. It was worn out, like it had been kept for a while, and through the creases she made out a location that was sure to help her take her mind off of things.

She decided to go to First Beach.

First Beach she figured would be some place quiet and reserved. She hardly expected it to be packed with kids when she got there. But then again, she didn't know how many people lived on the reservation- not to mentio it was summer. It was probably the only beach around. Still, she pretty much had no place as to go that wasn't back to her father's house, so she chose to stay.

She stepped to the side as a little boy with a water gun ran past her she looked after him as another boy followed him, laughing, and they both tumbled into the sand. Couples and older people took their random places in the sand on their towels; some building sand castles with kids or playing near the shore of the ocean.

The sand soothed her toes as it squished in between, but she knew it would be a pain later on when it started to stick. She always hated that little after effect. Most of the people there seemed to be natives of the reservation too- with their dark skin and black hair. She spotted a game of volleyball at the far end, as well as Marco Polo in the water being played by teenagers who seemed to be around her age.

" Yeah!" Her heard snapped to the right towards the sky at the loud outcry and she froze their as she witnessed a boy falling from a cliff, plunging into the water. She found herself staring at that spot until he surfaced, and then she had breathed a sigh of relief. What did he think he was doing, jumping like that? It was enough to give her chills just thinking about it. She countinued to hear the shouts, and realized more than one boy was up there jumping into the water.

She spotted a small tent like concession stand nearby and found herself walking towards it. The faint aroma of food, hot dogs in particular seemed to make her stomach growl, and she silently thanked her mom for giving her money before they left; as a way of compensating, even though money wasn't going to cut it. She approached it and stood in front as he observed all of the delicious food you would usually find at a carnival, wondering what she should decide on.

She noted she could even rent a surf board there, looking at the surf board selection towards the back. Her eyes averted to the man behind the counter, when she heard a voice. She almost forgot why she had come there in the first place.

" Oh uh sorry. How much for the hot dog?" He was shirtless, she noted, practically ogling him. He was and tan, with short black hair that almost seemed as if it were spiked with gel. And he was pretty good looking too. He seemed to have smirked at her after she ordered.

" Two bucks," She reached into her pocket, pulling out a crumpled fifty and some ones, and handed him two ones. She watched him use the tongs to grab a hot dog from the minature grill and place it on a white bun. He squirted ketchup and mustard, and added diced onions as well before wrapping it in foil and handing it to her. He smiled as she grabbed it. It felt warm in her hands.

" Thanks,"

" No problem," He replied. She smiled again, then left; getting this weird feeling in her stomach. Butterflies is what it was. He had to be her age if not a little older; and he was definitely her type. She decided as she opened the wrapping to her hot dog, it was better to leave than stay and stalk him all day. The reservation seemed small; she would probably see him again.

She strolled across the beach by her self, after eating the hot dog that was surprisingly the best hot dog she had ever eaten,( could have been the hunger talking) and enjoyed her surroundings for what they were. It was pretty lively, and everywhere you looked there were people laughing and having fun.

She knew from now on this place would be her go to, until summer was over; which would mean pretty much everyday. She was so busy enjoying herself that she couldn't register when she was bumped to the side, and knocked to the ground. She whipped her head at the source and immediately narrowed her eyes, as she was cut off guard.

A girl stood above her, her arm outstretched. Alex took it hesitantly and began dusting herself off as the sand creased into her shorts.

" Shit I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were there,"

" It's okay," Alex answered, sighing as she got the last of the sand grains off of her clothes. The girl looked to the left on the far end of the beach, at what seemed like a boy, and narrowed her eyes.

" Nice going asshole!" She bent down and picked up a frisbee that laid face down a few inches by her feet and shook the sand off. It was then that the boy jogged his way towards them, and stopped, looking at the girl with an amused expression. He was tan and shirtless too, Alex noted. His hair was cropped short, and a little on the long side, but he seemed cute.

Not as cute as the other guy though, Alex reminded herself.

" The name's Embry, Leah. Remember?" The he turned to Alex, curious. " Who's this?"

" Gee I don't know, the girl you made me bump into," Leah replied, turning to Alex.

" Oh uh, I'm Alex,"

" You don't look too familiar," Embry commented. " How would I? There has to be at least a thousand other residents here," Alex pointed out.

" It would seem so, but this community only has about two hundred. It just seems crowded because the beach is where everyone on the rez comes to lounge. We know every face here," Leah said.

" I'm staying with my Dad for the summer," Alex confessed with a sigh. Embry arched a brow. " You don't seem too excited about that,"

" Oh really? It doesn't show?"

" That bad huh?"

" You could say that,"

" Well if it makes you feel any better, you're welcome to hang at the First Beach anytime,"

" Because it is a public beach, right?" Embry laughed. " You're too funny. Hey we're having a bonfire later, you should stay and check it out," Alex nodded.

" I'll consider it," Embry smiled.

"Great,"

Leah arched a brow at him with her arms folded.

" You're not trying to hit on her are you?" She seemed to be joking but Alex could tell there was a hint of jealousy and suspicion in her eyes. He smirked, then laughed, leaning down to kiss her cheek.

" Course not. Hey, I'll see you two later. Gonna go cliff dive with guys," And with that, Alex was left with Leah, and she watched as Embry jogged over to the cliffs on the other side of the beach. She glanced at Leah who seemed to be smiling after him as she shook her head, and she blinked when Alex spoke.

" That's your boyfriend huh?"

" You could say that. Sometimes it's still hard for me believe," Alex looked at her questionably. " Why?" Appearance didn't seem to slim Leah's chances. She was a pretty girl and had a nice personality from what Alex observed. She would be perfect for any guy. Slim figure, high cheekbones and authentic deep brown eyes. Alex was almost jealous.

Leah ran a hand through her shoulder length black hair and lowered herself to the ground. Alex sat next to her, her arms wrapping around her knees as she folded her legs.

" I've never really had luck when it came to guys and falling in love. I was always that girl that had friends with boyfriends; the third wheel. Hell I even had guy friends who were with someone, and it made me sort of jealous. I mean, the only relationship I had turned into a complete nightmare; and ever since I asked myself, why couldn't I be one of those happy couples. Holding hands and cuddling by the fire or on the beach. I really wanted that," She added with a chuckle.

Alex could relate. Though boyfriends weren't really normal for her either, she knew what it was like to feel empty in that category. The times she did have boyfriends, the relationship wouldn't last a month; usually because the guy turned out to be a complete jerk, or because he wanted something more from her. It was those experiences that made her happy they weren't the guys she chose to bring home to her parents.

Or her mom, she should say.

" Embry had been one of my friends for a while. We knew each other through our friends and my little brother through high school. I had never really considered him my type then, just as a guy friend I could talk to. I didn't think he thought much of me either. And then it just..happened," She paused, with an almost shaky breath, and she grinned.

" Truthfully, it was the happiest day of my life,"

"That sounds pretty amazing," Alex answered truthfully, and hugged her knees tighter to her chest. Her long black hair fell over her shoulders as she looked towards the sand.

" What about you?" She sighed. " I guess I can agree with you when I say I haven't had much luck in that department. The guys that seem to want me these days are complete assholes,"

"Well if it makes you feel any better, the best things come when you least expect them," Leah said.

" It doesn't; but I guess you're right," Leah laughed.

" I know, I felt that way at first too,"