Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight related.

Thanks to anyone who took the time to review or add me to story alert, etc.


As soon as I was in Quil's truck and he was pulling out of my driveway, I wanted to jump out and run back to my bed. He wasn't moving very fast, and there was grass.

"So you must have made an impression on Embry." Quil grinned, knocking me from my thoughts.

"Yeah, I guess so." I replied.

"I like Myra!" Claire exclaimed from in between the two of us.

"Thanks Claire." I replied with a smile.

"I know you like her, Claire Bear."

The look of adoration on his face was a little weird. Did Claire's own mother look at her with this much love? I doubted it. Either he was a really passionate guy or a potential pedophile; I doubted he was a pedophile though.

We spent the rest of the drive entertaining Claire with car games. When we passed the sign that read: Welcome to Lap Push, I felt my palms start to sweat. How embarrassing could today be? How much laughter could a group of guys get out of an awkward seventeen year old girl? Plenty.

"Are you alright?" Quil asked as he pulled the truck into a driveway.

"I'm fine." I lied.

He raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't say anything else. Once the truck was in park I opened the door and jumped down to the ground. I waited for Quil to get Claire out of her seat and followed him up to the front door of the yellow house.

"We're going to eat some lunch here at Sam and Emily's before we head down to the beach." Quil stated.

The beach? It was April and still pretty cold outside! I didn't say anything though; I just kept my mouth shut and followed him into the house. I looked around once we were inside; it was a pretty cozy looking place. Very homey, but it seemed very small with the group of large men sitting in the living room. My eyes found Embry immediately and I wasn't surprised to see him looking at me.

His smile lit up the whole room, and he wasted no time making his way over to me. Before I could blink, he was standing right before me. I had to strain my neck just to look up at him, and I blushed when our gazes met.

"I'm glad you came." He smiled. "Guys, this is Myra."

Great, he was going to introduce me to the whole group while I was still blushing like an idiot.

"That's Jared, his fiancé Kim, Paul, Jacob, Seth, Sam, and that's Emily."

I smiled and waved at the whole group of them. This whole situation was extremely awkward for me, and I knew they could all tell; except maybe Embry. Emily smiled at me, and I noticed the scars that marred her face. Normally I probably would've stared, but Emily's brilliant smile was too distracting.

"Do you girls want to help me some in the kitchen?" She asked.

I automatically agreed and followed Emily into the kitchen along with Kim. I thought Claire would follow too, but Quil had picked her up and sat down with her trapped on his lap.

"So we've heard a lot about you." Emily grinned.

"I just met Embry last night." I stated.

The two of them exchanged a secret look. Obviously I was missing something important. But neither of them acted like they were going to tell me. I looked down at my hands nervously, not knowing what else to say.

"You shouldn't be nervous around us Myra, we're not that intimidating." Emily smiled. "The guys are, but they're just a bunch of puppy dogs."

Kim laughed and I felt myself smile. After another five minutes I was talking freely with the two of them, and once the huge meal was placed on the table I hardly felt nervous at all.

"Better grab a plate now, the guys are like a bunch of animals." Emily stated.

Yet again Kim laughed and the three of us started to fill our plates. Once the guys started to eat, I knew exactly what Emily had meant. She certainly had not been lying, that was for sure. In about ten minutes all the food was gone except for what was left on us girls' plates. Once we were done eating we made quick work of cleaning up and then we all headed down to the beach.

Embry was at my side in an instant after I got out of Emily's car. I smiled up at him and let him lead me down to the beach. Seth, Jacob, and Paul had already stripped off their shirts and were running into the water when we arrived and I stared in horror.

"Are they crazy? It's freezing!"

Embry chuckled, "They'll be fine."

This must have been some macho male ritual they did, because none of the guys I knew would go into that water of their own free will. I shook my head at their antics and sat down on one of the logs. Embry sat down next to me so close that his thigh was right up against mine. The heat radiating from his thigh made me shiver. He noticed and let out a little chuckle.

We sat in silence for a while. I watched as Quil and Claire constructed a sand castle and then proceeded to destroy it. I laughed when Claire threw her shovel at him and he skillfully dodged it.

"So I asked you here for a reason." He stated.

"Yeah?" I questioned as I felt my heart start to accelerate.

"Would you like to go out with me next Friday night?" He asked.

If it wasn't so damn cold I would have thought I was dreaming. No one besides Adam had ever asked me out before. I had the tendency to intimidate guys at school; I guess being smart and having opinions freaked guys out.

"Okay." I replied.

Wow, I felt like a loser. A guy just asked me out and all I can say is: 'okay'! What is wrong with me? Did I miss an important day in junior high where they teach girls how to deal with guys? I glanced up at Embry too see if he was laughing at me, instead he was grinning like an idiot.

"Is seven okay?"

"Yeah."

Oh great, how was I going to tell my Dad this?

***

An interrogation. That was the best word for what my parents had made me agree to. The only way I was allowed to go on this date was if Embry came into the house and had a chat with my parents. This was my first 'real' date besides that joke of a prom date last year, so I was a little worried about how my parents would interact with him. I had already checked to make sure the photo albums were put away before I went upstairs to get ready.

I really had no idea what to wear, so I spent the whole time in the shower going through different options. I finally decided on my best pair of jeans and a blue sweater. My hair was the hard part as usual; I decided my best route was to put a whole bunch of product in it to keep it from getting frizzy and let it dry by itself.

I was coming down the stairs when the doorbell rang, so I sprinted to the door before my Dad could reach it. Embry was standing there in a nice button down shirt and a smile on his face. I returned his smile and let him inside.

"I'm going to apologize in advance for anything they say." I whispered as I led him into the living room where my parents were sitting.

"It can't be that bad." Embry replied.

Ha, that's what he thought now.

"Mom, Dad, this is Embry." I announced.

I watched my parent's faces as they turned to look at Embry. Both of them were surprised. My Dad recovered first and held his hand out to Embry. As they shook hands I glanced over at my Mom; she was grinning at me.

"Myra tells us you live in La Push." My Mom stated.

"Yup, all my life."

"What do you do?" My Dad asked.

"I work in a mechanic shop my friend has."

"And you're how old?" My dad pressed.

"Eighteen."

I knew this could end badly, so I cleared my throat, "Well, look at the time we should be going."

I threw on my coat, and pulled Embry out of the house before anymore words could be said. My Dad was very pro- college and he wasn't afraid to express his opinion. He about had a heart attack when my older brother threatened not to go, so I knew it was a very touchy subject.

"They weren't too bad." Embry commented after we were both in his truck.

"Try living with them." I sighed.

He chuckled, and then the silence descended. I had no idea what to say, and I felt like an idiot. Embry didn't seem to notice though, he had a small smile on his face and he kept glancing my way every once and a while.

"So, what do you like to do?" He asked.

"You'll probably think I'm pretty boring."

"Try me."

"I like to read; in fact I want to be a librarian some day." I replied.

"That's not boring at all. Do you have any suggestions for me to read? I've been meaning to read more lately but something has always come up."

"What kind of stuff do you like?"

"What do you think I would like?"

"You look like a Jane Austen kind of guy." I chuckled. "You should read Northanger Abbey."

We talked about books until he pulled into a restaurant. Once we walked inside and got a table, we waited for the waiter to come. We didn't have to wait long.

"What can I get you guys?"

I looked up in surprise; Adam was our waiter. Oh my gosh, could my luck possibly be any worse? He looked just as surprised to see me, before his gaze turned into a scowl.

"Hello Myra." He said, almost sounding hurt.

"Hey Adam."

Embry looked between us curiously, but all he said was: "I'll have water."

"Yeah, me too."

After Adam turned away, and looked at Embry sheepishly. "Sorry, that guy has tried to ask me out for a while now."

"Do you want to leave?"

"No! I don't want to hurt his feelings anymore."

So began my awkward night from hell. Every time I would start to loosen up in front of Embry, Adam would appear with some 'waiter' excuse. I knew he was doing it on purpose, and by the time my plate was empty I was ready to leave.

"Let's make a fast get away." I whispered to Embry.

He agreed and as soon as we had the check, we made a dash for it. We were laughing as we ran out to the truck.

"I'm sorry about him ruining our dinner." I said as we pulled out of the parking lot.

"That's alright; we'll just have to go somewhere else next Friday night."

Butterflies erupted in my stomach. Was he seriously asking me out again? He must enjoy girls who make an idiot out of themselves.

"Yeah I guess so." I replied.

***

Addie teased me the whole week. Especially when she found out about Adam being our waiter. I knew she was happy for me, and she knew that I was easily embarrassed about this kind of stuff. That's why she didn't let me forget it.

Thankfully Adam avoided me. Addie claimed that he was embarrassed, but I was just relieved he wasn't by my locker all the time. Maybe he finally got the message that I wasn't interested in him, but there was a part of me that refused to believe he would give up that easily.

Sure enough when I was about to leave on Friday, he was waiting at my locker. He moved before I could ask him, but continued to watch me as I pulled out my bag.

"So, what are you doing tonight?" He asked nonchalantly.

I didn't want to mention my date with Embry so I lied, "Oh, some homework and stuff."

"Oh, well I won't be at work tonight if you need any help."

"Thanks, but I don't need your help." I stated before I walked away.

I felt bad for saying that, but he needed to realize that his feelings would never be returned. Nothing was more pathetic than a guy who pined after an unattainable girl forever. He would figure out eventually that I was doing him a favor.