Chapter Two: Get Out of Jail (Not Free) Card
Sarah's POV
"But seriously, why? Why, why, why, why?"
"Mom, you know why, why, why," I heaved a sigh and started again. "I told him that no, I did not want to have a shag in the back courtyard. He did not take this well and decided to grab my arm as I turned away, I asked him to remove his hand. Did he remove his hand? No. No he did not, so I kicked him," I glared back at the appalled face my mother pulled, willing her to see that I was in the right.
"You cannot call him a sexual predator, Sarah. Not only is it slander because he never actually touched you, apart from the grab of your arm, but it's gotten you kicked out of school for three days! When I took you to martial arts classes, I did not expect to come home with a violent daughter this close to being charged with assault and battery!" I felt a little guiltier as mom sat down on the couch, exhausted, and ran her hands over her face in the ultimate despairing motion.
But only a little.
I was still indisputably sure that I had taken the correct course of action, only with mom having had so little sleep, was not prepared to argue it with her. She always did so much for me, and I had just gotten suspended for three days, which meant me interrupting her already crappy sleep patterns.
Instead, I dropped my schoolbag to the floor with a muted thump and sat down next to her on the low-slung couch.
"I'm sorry for getting suspended. You wanna' go back to bed while I cook us some dinner?" I sighed, inwardly hoping she'd say yes so that I wouldn't have to endure her ill-placed reprimands any longer.
Deep chocolate brown eyes peered at me through slender and ringless fingers, "Yes. But do not think that this gets you off the hook. I'm just too exhausted to deal with this right now- double fatality MVA last night. Sarah, promise you'll never get into a car with someone who has been drinking, and I'll leave you alone for now."
I winced, know that having to pick up and tolerate a delinquent child like myself would only have added to the mental toll of dealing with two probably gruesome deaths in the level one trauma centre she worked at. "I promise, mom, don't worry."
And with that, she heaved herself upwards off the couch and trudged the weary steps to her bedroom. I busied myself with searching through the kitchen cupboards for something decent to make us for dinner, coming up with steak and salad, and got to work.
In the midst of freshly chopped vegetables and searing steak, I managed to text Emma and Kim- telling them not to come over after all, knowing that when mum was fully awake and functional, the wrath may be worse. Both were fine with it, and I promised to catch up with them at some point when mom wasn't at home waiting to take me for a further journey down Guilt Avenue.
…..
Three days.
Seventy-two hours.
Four thousand, three hundred and twenty minutes.
Boredom and guilt my only company in hell.
Mom nagged at every chance possible, thus me being happy to vacuum for the first ever time in my life- drowned out the sound of her guilt inducing comments. She set me some extra chores seeing as though I suddenly seemed to have so much spare time on my hands. I didn't mind though. I was happy to have something to do, even if it was cleaning the entire house from top to bottom. I never before realized how boring being home alone could be. I was itching to get back to the daily grind. Absolutely no more fighting for me.
Promise.
Driving Miss Daisy, AKA Kim, ground to a halt in my driveway, and I bounded down the creaky stairs of the veranda and wrenched open the car door.
I slipped in and gave Kim a quick hug.
"Hi," I grinned, strapping myself in quickly, and bracing myself for the onslaught.
"Sass, don't you even give me that. I've had to spend three whole days in just Emma's company! Don't you ever get suspended again- I mean, you do know it goes on your record right?" Kim gushed. She and Emma, although best friends for years, always managed to grate on each others nerves, Kim basically a goodie two shoes, and Emma being the profanity laden bad girl. I was the happy medium usually content to do well in school and ditch only occasionally.
As Kim regaled me on what precious little I had missed at the tiny tribal school we attended, I stared out the window, watching the overwhelming rush of green pass us, as the civilized merged into wildlife. Kim and I had always joked that we 'took the road less travelled by', always choosing to take the disused old highway that ran right along the edge of the forest. It was a tradition dating back as far as we could remember. When we used to have playdates as kids, Kim's older brother Michael would always drive us to and fro along this road, until eventually Kim got her license and started to chauffeur me around. He only started using it because we thought it was the most magical place in the entire world. Neither of us was ever allowed to venture further than a few supervised yards into the dense shrubbery, but the few moments we were there under the lush green canopy, we would dream up the greatest stories and act them out, pretending to be all sorts of magical creatures from deep within the woods.
Over the years, to discourage us from entering any further and getting ridiculously lost, the adults would tell us the spirits of the ancestor warriors lay deep within, stuck in a limbo world, neither able to move on, or come back because of their supernatural state. I bit back a bubble of laughter as I remembered those ludicrous stories told to us in a bid to keep us safe, when abruptly, a movement of a shadow caught my eye.
"Stop!" I screeched unexpectedly, and startled Kim into swerving the car slightly until she braked to a hasty halt on the side of our road.
Unbuckling my belt as quick as I could with quivering fingers, I tugged the door open and sprang out, my eyes scanning for any further movement.
"Sarah! What the hell is your-"
I was focused, my eyes seeking out for the same shadow we had passed not a minute prior. I got about five yards when my eyes saw it. If I had blinked at the wrong time, I would've missed it, just a seemingly unobtrusive dark shadow on the border of the forest, also darkened from the dense foliage, but it was there and my breath stalled.
A pair of golden eyes were staring straight at mine.
….
"SARAH!"
The riveting golden eyes swivelled, searching out the source of the noise, and then so quick I almost missed it, they were gone. Out of sight for my puny human eyes.
My heart skipped a beat as a hand grabbed my forearm from behind.
"Sass, do you have any idea how dangerous that was? I could've ploughed straight into a tree! What the hell?" Kim was shaken and irate, but seemingly hadn't been as entranced as I had by the eyes that had been bearing into mine.
"Kim, you cannot seriously tell me you didn't see that shadow just beyond the trees there-" I started in disbelief.
"See? SEE?" Kim practically screeched, "I'm supposed to be driving- I'm not looking at the forest or the pretty trees or the cute woodland creatures, I'm looking at the freaking road Sass! Get in the car," Kim slightly yelled exasperatedly.
I sighed, glancing once more into the same spot where those golden eyes had been, then looked back at Kim, slightly shaking and heading back to the driver's side. Slowly, with several looks over my shoulder, I trudged back to the car.
"God, I'm sorry Kim, I just thought I saw some huge shadow in the woods. Promise I won't do that to you again," I relayed, sincere apology lacing my words.
Kim sighed a shaken breath, "Sure. Next time you wanna go sightseeing in the forest though, let me know in advance," She smiled, in spite of her slightly shaken state, "It was probably a bear or something- isn't it hunting season? I know we don't get them very often, but you never know… I'll ask dad."
"Sure," I replied, not convinced. The shadow had been way too enormous for a bear shape, but I was basing this fact off only what I saw- no hard evidence, so I let it go.
But the golden eyes remained in the back of my mind for the rest of the trip to school.
Paul's POV
God, this life was monotonous.
At least the freedom of four paws could lead to great distances and speeds.
Pushing myself a little further than before, four paws pounded silently, trampling small bushes and shrubs as I made the second round of the area this shift.
La Push was a tiny reservation, not leaving all that much land to cover when we were on patrols, however, whilst the Cullen's were still living on the other side of Forks, we couldn't take any chances. Not like they were leaving anytime soon, thanks to Jake and his…'imprint'- Renesmee.
I still had my reservations about Jake's imprint- I had yet to experience it first hand myself, so I was still able to doubt the purest form of love, but it was slowly fading as Nessie spent more and more time around us as we felt more comfortable with her. I still couldn't get used to the fact that she fed partly off animal blood, but the love was there, nobody cold deny that.
About a mile from my left flank, the sound of a car hitting the gravel of the old highway was picked up by my oversensitive ears, and I naturally made the sharp turn to speed towards it. People rarely used that stretch of road anymore, as the new one was built heading straight through the middle of town was much more efficient and more regularly maintained. The scenic route was only used by the occasional local, and wayward tourist, the disrepair of the road making it slightly dangerous if unknown.
Out of my periphery, now almost at the edge of the forest, I saw the bright red hatchback driving steadily down the road. Knowing that I had seen it around town before, I slowed to a more natural run.
As I slowed, the car passed me, and I noted with slight alarm that there was a human faced towards me, staring through the tinted glass, and although I couldn't make out facial features, knew by the straightening posture and sudden hand gesture that it had seen me.
Aw, shit. Sam's gonna throttle me.
I pulled up to a halt, narrowly missing an old oak, and tried to make myself as inconspicuous as possible as I noted that car had screeched to a stop.
A figure alighted from the car and started to jog straight for me. Panicking slightly, I tried to move my clumsy paws backwards in an attempt to keep myself hidden, but my heart started when I trod on an unseen twig, cracking immediately underneath me.
I forced out a silent breath, and became a statue.
It was a girl, that much I could tell, and she was getting closer. My breathing quickened- this was so not okay- Sam might actually rip my throat out.
She peered into the woods, seemingly missing my shadow, until abruptly, her gaze swiveled directly onto mine. She was gorgeous- long, mahogany brown hair, flowing freely in the wind coming off the coast, her blue-grey eyes squinted adorably, as if willing me to come to her, her mouth slightly askew as her pursed lips tried to make sense of what she was seeing.
My heart had stopped, and all that kept me from falling to the ground in shock, was my mind willing me not to scare the beauty. There was another human in the background, another girl of the same age and stature, who suddenly screeched something, but regaining control of my senses and knowing I couldn't be caught like this, I hastily turned on two paws and fled.
Only realizing as I heard the car restart, and I was a good five miles away, that I was depressed at the thought of not knowing her name.