Chapter 3
Being the new girl at a school was a curse. I really didn't know how I was so distinguishable. Was I that odd looking? I knew Paul went to this school so maybe they were just scared to get near me. I didn't receive one, "Oh are you new here?" or a "Hey my name is … what's yours?" This all painfully reminded of my last school. I peered at my schedule; math, great, my favorite class. I walked into room 110. Someone, with overly large glasses and frizzy orange hair, popped out at me. I silently applauded myself for not screaming. "Hello there dear," she said with a moony voice, "you must be Paul's cousin. My name is Mrs. Loompa." Did she just say Loompa, like the scary things on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? She looked at me with expectant eyes, as if daring me to make a jab at her name. "I'm Thaila, Thaila Curtis." "Well dear you can take the empty seat next to Mr. Call." I was stunned for a few seconds, Embry was here? I quickly looked over to see him smile and give me a wink. I trudged to my desk, red sneakers squeaking on the floor. I sat down in my seat and instantly turned away from Embry. This was way too awkward because I was so aware of him. The girl on my left smiled at me and introduced herself as Lisa. "Where did you move from Thaila? You look like you were born here on rez." "Well I was born here but my family moved to Vancouver when I was three." I was annoyed that Embry could hear everything I was saying to Lisa. Couldn't he give us some privacy? "So you're Paul's cousin? Truthfully I just moved here last week and he kind of scares me." "Don't worry Paul is actually a huge softy under the surface. He's just really intense." "Well it's a good thing he hasn't noticed me yet." That sounded so much like Paul. "Well actually," Lisa continued, "I haven't exactly let him see me. Every time he comes around a corner I all but run away." I smiled to myself Paul wasn't that bad. "So Thaila, what do you do for fun?" That one took me off guard. "What?" "For fun, La Push is pretty boring if you don't have a hobby." I could practically feel Embry's breath on my shoulder. I didn't need to turn around to figure out he was leaning towards me to hear me answer. I thought about what my hobby was, ogling Embry Call maybe, nah I didn't thank that was an actual activity. "Well…I write, sing, play the violin and read. Does that count as a hobby?" She nodded with a pleasant smile on her face. "That's a coincidence I'm a singer as well." A harsh throat clearing caught me attention, "I do like to see that you're getting acquainted with Thaila Lisa but I'm afraid we're in math class right now."
Math class had been torture each and every minute seeming to pass even slower than the last. My next class was English, guess who was in this class as well? If you guessed Embry Call you're corrected. I sat down next to him and whispered, "Did you steal my schedule from the office, or something?" A wicked grin formed on his face. "Maybe I did maybe I didn't." I quickly lunged for his schedule, even though I'm sure he saw my hand coming before I'd even started to move, he didn't stop me. Our schedules were exactly the same. I stared up at him in shock and then decided to calm down. "You're going to be so sick of me by the end of this year you're going to get a crate and personally ship me back to Vancouver." He emitted a low growl, one that was not playful. I quickly looked back his eyes were dark. "I would never do a thing like that ever." He grabbed my shoulder and I could see the muscles in his arm flex. I instantly blushed because where he touched it burned. "You must be Thaila!" Embry's left eye visibly twitched. I turned around to see a good looking guy, no where near as hot as Embry, but still attractive. I detached Embry's hand from my shoulder he then put his arm around his waist. I felt a bit light headed when he touched me like that but when I looked into his eyes there was something I didn't understand. Maybe the guy who'd introduced himself had a reputation.
Embry's P.O.V
What was that snake Tristan doing? One minute I was happily talking to Thaila the next he'd appeared like a vision from hell. Not only had he destroyed the moment he was obviously hitting on her. The way his eyes roamed her body made me want to smack him. He seemed to be oblivious to the fact my arm was around her waist. In most cases when a guy is holding a girl it means she's taken. If it was possible to send messages through the brain right now I'd be saying back off Tristan, back off before you're dead. Tristan looked at the notebook on Thaila's desk then he grabbed it. "Hey!" Thaila protested. What was this idiot doing? I was about to make a move for the book, hands shaking, when his obnoxious voice rang throughout the classroom. "So you're a writer. You know the school has a writing club, you should check it out. It's probably the best club here, probably because I'm the president of it. This guy was so full of himself I looked down to make sure Thaila wasn't falling into his 'I'm so popular' act. My heart took a leap when I saw her face held an identical look of disgust. "Nice to meet you Tristan," with a voice that didn't reveal any happiness.
Thaila's P.O.V
I was standing with Embry outside the school. "Is he always that obnoxious," I'd asked. The boy with red hair, Tristan, had walked up to me earlier that day and announced that he was the proud president of the writing club. Most guys didn't even write at his age and God forbid they'd ever admit to it. Not that I disliked Tristan for writing it was because he'd been checking me out for the entire class. "Most of the times," Embry said tartly. I think he was angry because Tristan had been eyeing me. "Well he probably makes my list of most annoying guys I've ever met. I'd probably put the proud president of the writing club at number two, quite an honor." At this Embry's face thawed. "Oh? Who makes number one." I pretended to ponder this. "Hmm I'm gonna have to say you." I smiled at his shocked expression. After two seconds he gave me a play punch on the shoulder. "I was just kidding I really don't know but Tristan doesn't bug me enough to hold number one…yet." I cold drop of water fell on my nose and I looked up to the sky. Rain was definitely not an unusual thing in Forks. "So," Embry said, something underlying in his voice, "you sing." "Um…yes?" He smiled. "Nothing, I was just trying to imagine Paul putting up with that. He'll snap at us if we so much as whisper when he's sleeping." "Well, I'd never sing in front of Paul, or anyone for that matter," I added, "I usually just bring my iPod and walk around the forest or the beach." I'd expected a laugh or at least a snort from Embry as I confessed one of my geekier habits. Instead he looked worried. "You shouldn't do that it's dangerous. What if something crept up on you in the woods while you were plugged in?" I leaned in closer to him, enjoying his woodsy scent. "You mean what if another wolf caught me eye?" "No. There's something else, something just as dangerous as us." Embry looked around the school yards and dragged me off campus. I didn't really know where we were going but it didn't seem like I had a choice not to follow.
We were down at the beach by the time Embry decided to stop and face me. He did a very quick scope of the beach to make sure no one was around then looked me straight in the eye. He grabbed me by my shoulders again and gazed into my eyes. "Thaila vampires are real. They're deadly fast, strong and smart. Wolves match them in all these things but it's too close a fight. Please, please, please do me a favor and stay out of the woods unless I'm with you. "Wait what do you mean? Vampires actually exist? Wait. That mean's they don't burn when they go out in the sun." "No actually they sparkle." What? "They…sparkle?" "Yeah it's a long story and not really important." I sickening realization hit me. "Why are you associated with vampires?" Embry sighed and looked out over the ocean. "I guess you would've found out sooner or later and I think it's better than I'm the one telling you. Vampires are, as you know, a brutal race that feeds off the blood of humans. The Cullens and Denalis are the only exception to this general rule. They feed off of animal blood. Vegetarians, they like to call themselves. Any ways from time to time a vampire will walk onto Quilute territory. It's our job as 'protectors' to hunt them down and kill them." My face hid no emotion I was completely freaked out.
Embry's P.O.V
This was it, I thought. She'd leave here. The girl in front of me was wide eyed and shaking. She took one step back and I quickly reached out to grab her but to my surprise she'd beat me to it. "Why would you do something like that? That's so stupid and dangerous! What if you got hurt?" All of her words seemed to float around my head not quiet sinking through for all I could think about was that she'd willingly hugged me. Her arms only tightened as she laid her head against me chest. "Don't worry Thaila. Here, let me show you something." He grabbed my hand and took me into the forest. I was about to ask what we were doing when he stripped his shirt off revealing his perfect body. "Embry what are you doing?" As much as I wanted to look away embarrassed, I couldn't take my eyes off him. "What? Like what you see?" He then ran off into some bushes. "Really…Embry you're gonna leave me alone in the forest after what you've just told me?" I heard what sounded like him unzipping his pants from behind the bushed. I tried not to imagine things but my mind won. Thank god he couldn't read me mind. Or could he! A foreign sound made my head spin. Emerging from the bush was a wolf. This wolf was different though it was bigger than a horse, about the size of a small shed. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that this was Embry but my mind couldn't comprehend it. The wolf took slow gentle steps its topaz eyes bearing into my soul. "You're probably waiting for me to say something." The wolf whined slightly and stopped in its tracks. I didn't know if I was brave enough to walk over to him. I closed me eyes and tried to imagine it was Embry, as a human, in front of me. It was hard to imagine that my cousin Paul could turn into a wolf, heck half the people I knew hear could turn into wolves. I took a confident step forward face betraying any signs of fear. I was sure Embry loved me and of course though I wouldn't admit it to him now I loved him. It didn't matter that he was a freaking enormous wolf. My hand reached out on its own accord and began to pet his fur. The top layer was hard but once I put my hands underneath that it was as soft as silk. He let out, what I thought was a purr. "Hey," I muttered, "isn't it cats that purr?" He barked I wasn't sure if it was a laugh or if he was angry at being compared to a house cat.