This is where I put in major Seth/Summer interaction. One of my favorite pieces to write thus far :) Review if you'd like! It keeps me encouraged :)
The next morning, I woke up squinting at the blinding light coming in through my window. The curtains were open, and bright sunshine filtered down, peeking between fluffy white clouds. I turned over to find Colton on the other side of the bed, watching a movie on our shared laptop as he ate a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal. He looked over when he felt me stir in the bed.
"Morning, Sum. Want some breakfast?" he asked cheerfully. I simply groaned and turned back over to bury my face under the covers. It was too early for cheerfulness. "School called, I told them you were sick and needed me to take care of you," Colt told me nonchalantly. I flipped over in my bed, wide-eyed, to stare at him in shock.
"It's a school day?" I asked in disbelief. My voice was a throaty, nasty mess full of sleep. Colt laughed at my shock.
"Course it is. It's Friday, Sum. Where have you been?" he asked me laughingly. His eyebrows furrowed over his concerned hazel eyes. "Are you feeling okay? I just assumed it was a late night and you needed to sleep…did something happen last night?" he asked me, shutting the computer and pushing it to the side as he turned to face me.
"No, that's a silly question," I told him as I flipped back over to bury myself under the covers. Colton wasn't convinced, and I groaned loudly to normalize the situation. "Is there any coffee?" I asked him from under the covers. Even though it was muffled, he still understood my question perfectly. He knew me too well.
"Yeah, I'll go make you some," he laughed at me. I felt him leave my bed, and I went completely still beneath the covers. Colton was observant, but I couldn't believe I had let that much show in my face. All the hiding from the Cullens wasn't good for me; when I got home, I just let down my walls completely. If the habit kept up, I would be worrying Colton a lot more in the near future.
When Colton returned from the kitchen, he handed me a steaming cup of coffee in my favorite Cinderella mug, fixed just the way I liked it with cream and two sugars. I sat up on my bed and took the cup and sipped at it gingerly while Colton put his movie back on and took the headphones he had been using out of the jack so I could watch, too. For the rest of the morning and afternoon, we watched Spiderman and stupid YouTube videos and laughed and spent a long time together.
Afternoon arrived, and Colton left to go hang out with some friends at the movie theater in Port Angeles. I tidied up the house in my baggy pajama shirt and sighed as I picked up the trash that littered the kitchen. Colton had been the one to cook, and it showed drastically. Instead of the clean, orderly kitchen that was present when I cooked, there was a huge mess in a room that looked like it had survived a hurricane. I cleaned until the kitchen was normal again. Just as I was about to open a new book, there was a knock on my front door. I went to answer it in a hurry, hoping that I looked appropriately sick if it was anyone from school.
To my complete surprise, Bella was in front of me, holding a large bowl, with Alice at her side.
"Hey, Summer," she said brightly. She gestured to the bowl as she held it a little higher. "I heard you were sick, so I made you some soup," she told me.
"Oh, that's so thoughtful of you, Bella," I told her, at a loss. How quickly did news spread in Forks? I opened the door wider, allowing her and Alice to step inside.
"I helped, too," Alice told me with a chiming giggle as Bella made her way to the kitchen to set the bowl down. Alice hung back with me and smiled. She looked around the living room curiously. "Are your parents home?" she asked.
"No, not today," I answered breezily as I went to curl up under a blanket on the sofa. Lies, lies, lies-all to keep up the charade and keep Colton safe. I would be able to stop lying when I turned eighteen, I hoped. Alice followed me into the living room and sat in the chair and Bella joined me on the sofa.
"So, did you have a fever?" Bella asked me. I smiled.
"Not really. Just a little bit of a stomach bug. But I'm fine now. It was one of those short things. Colton just left actually-he's been taking care of me all day," I explained as I plucked a string on the throw pillow in my lap. Bella nodded.
"Well, you didn't miss much at school," she offered quietly with a shrug.
For the next few minutes, we talked about classes and how we weren't learning much. Alice, I knew, had no problems in her classes, and Bella simply described Trig as her downfall. I played up my loathing of science and just talked about how hard it was to understand the finer points of protons and neutrons while we sipped tea. Well, Bella and I sipped tea. Alice faked it.
After a while, Alice and Bella left with wishes that I felt better soon. Alice casually reminded me that her father was the town doctor, and that he didn't mind paying house calls. I told her it was really just a cold and completely unnecessary. More vampires trouping around my house? An adult to notice that I actually didn't live with my parents? No thank you.
I called in sick for work for a few nights, knowing that I didn't want to relive the other night over again. It was a week before I finally had enough courage to venture back, and the night passed by uneventfully in the club.
I was walking back to my car when I felt it-the prickly feeling on the back of my neck that told me immediately that I was being watched. I discreetly checked my surroundings, noting that everything looked extremely ordinary, before my gaze passed just over him.
The man from before-the Native American wolf-shifter-my very own savior. He was leaning against the wall in front of the alley I had been attacked in just a week before, and I could have sworn that he twitched when his eyes landed on me. His body was dressed in a black t-shirt, dark jeans that had seen better days, and ratty, hole-ridden tennis shoes. I assured myself that I had to be imagining things when he pushed off from the wall and loped towards me on the mostly empty sidewalk. My car was in a lot down the street, and I had nothing on but my normal work outfit (a tight black mini skirt, a fitted black corset, my pretty mask, a pair of very tall and slightly wobbly high heels, and my leather jacket to keep me warm).
"Hey!" he called as I spun around and tried to make a run for it. It was no such luck in my heels and when he was so obnoxiously tall with obnoxiously long legs. He caught up to me, grabbed my arm lightly with his scorching hot hand, and spun me around to face him. I immediately avoided his eyes and tugged my arm free from his strong grip. "Hey," he told me again with a bright, easy smile. His white teeth glowed in the darkness surrounding the two of us. Despite his huge frame and muscles, he seemed about my age, maybe a little older.
"Hello," I said quietly as I peered down at my shoes. The shifter laughed, it was a happy, bright sound.
"I don't know if you remember me…" he trailed off. I cut him off by glaring into his night-dark eyes harshly.
"Of course I do. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to leave now," I told him. I began to stalk off, but he caught my arm again in his scorching grip.
"Wait! Please don't leave!" he begged me. He ran a hand through his cropped black hair. "I-I know that you're probably very busy…"
"I am," I assured him simply.
"Please!" he begged. I hated the tone of his voice; it made me feel that I had to turn back and give him the time of day. With a heavy sigh, I turned back to the shifter warily. He extended his hand to me quickly. "I'm Seth," he offered. I took it and shook it once, firmly, but Seth seemed as though he wanted to hold on a little longer. I tugged my hand free from his desperate hold.
"I'm in a hurry, it was nice to meet you," I told him dismissively. Seth grabbed my hand and pulled me back.
"Don't you think you could give me just a minute? I helped you out, after all," he told me quietly. I glared at him, my eyes narrowed into almost slits.
"I can take care of myself, thank you," I told him.
"But you don't have to," Seth told me quickly. I looked up at him, directly in the eyes, and felt something zing through his hand and into mine. I pulled away slowly and adjusted my mask. Seth's easy smile made a reappearance, and I felt very protected in his presence. His smile made me feel very warm inside.
Seth's hands were slowly moving towards my face, and I pulled back in a hurry when I realized he was trying to take off my mask.
"What are you doing?" I demanded. Seth looked appropriately embarrassed.
"I, um, wanted to see…your face," he answered softly. I felt myself sigh in annoyance as I turned to walk towards my car. I took a deep breath and steeled myself as I turned back to Seth.
"Do…do you want a ride home or something?" I asked him, slightly irritated-but only slightly. I knew that I did owe him some form of kindness for helping me out with those men, and he looked to be truly alone. Seth beamed at me brightly and nodded quickly at my offer.
"Yeah…sure!" he agreed enthusiastically. He walked next to me as I made my way down the street and into the dark parking lot where my car was. The streetlamps that usually lit it up had died out and it was left in a creepy, shadowy darkness. I noticed a bunch of men lurking in a corner, but Seth effectively scared them off with a glare and they left the parking lot quickly. My eyebrow quirked in surprise, but I unlocked my car and gestured for Seth to climb into the passenger seat. I took a small bag out of the backseat and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and took off my mini skirt. I took off my jacket, flung it over the backseat, and pulled on a sweatshirt as I took off my corset underneath. After I slipped a bra on, I switched my heels for bunny slippers and slipped inside on the driver's side. When I shut my door, the car was dark except for the dash lighting up various buttons.
"You can put the radio on whatever," I informed Seth as I pulled out of the parking lot. With a huge sigh, I ripped my mask off, chucked it into the backseat, and put on a pair of glasses to see the road signs better.
"You wear glasses?" he asked me. He sounded genuinely surprised. I narrowed my eyes and threw him a glance.
"Yes," I answered him simply. I didn't get into the details of only needing them when I was driving, watching TV, or in a classroom. I pulled out onto the highway and began driving home. Seth seemed jovial as I pushed the speed limit but didn't go over. I sighed as I set my cruise control. "Where do you live?" I asked finally.
"The La Push Indian Reservation," Seth answered me. He sounded nervous, and I glanced at him before looking back at the road. After a long moment of silence, Seth finally asked what he wanted to talk about. "Would you…answer some questions? Twenty questions?" he asked.
My lips quirked despite myself, and I struggled to hold back a smile.
"Like a game?" I asked, amused. Seth nodded vigorously. "How about ten questions?" I suggested. Seth laughed.
"Whatever you want," he said easily. I felt the tension in the air relax as he did. "Okay, let's start out simple. What's your favorite color?" he asked me.
"Blue," I told him simply, without hesitation. I felt his eyes on me, prompting me for more information. "Like the ocean," I said quietly. Seth nodded.
"I like it. Mine's red," he offered. He sighed and drummed his fingers on his long legs. "Where do you live?" he asked.
"In a house," I told him sharply. He knew immediately that he had crossed a line, and backtracked immediately.
"Okay, okay, um…how old are you?" he asked lightly. I pursed my lips.
"More than ten and less than thirty," I offered. Seth guffawed.
"Do you always answer questions with really vague answers?" he asked. He sounded exasperated.
"Is that one of your questions?" I countered back.
"No!" Seth said emphatically. He paused, thoughtful. "Do you have any siblings?" he asked.
"Brother," I stated.
"Cool. I've got a sister. Her name's Leah," he told me. "Um…how did you end up working in that club?" he asked. I could tell that this was a question burning inside of him, but he was tentative to ask it, because he wasn't sure of my reaction. I couldn't blame him. If he were anyone else, I would have exploded appropriately. Instead, I sighed quietly.
"I needed a job," I stated quietly.
"Was there nothing else?" Seth asked, genuinely concerned. I blinked slowly, and shot him a glance. I looked back at the road quickly. I couldn't tell this boy I had just met that other jobs required your social security number and work permits. This job didn't ask me for anything. It paid well, and I knew how to do a good job. But he couldn't know that, because we would get into the deeper, finer details on why I needed a job that didn't ask for respectable things like socials and identification and why my parents didn't give me money and the entire depressing saga my life had come to.
"Next question," I stated firmly.
"Okay," he said. "Why did you offer me a ride tonight?" he asked. I stiffened a little in my seat, not prepared for that question. He was good at pushing just the right buttons.
"I…felt bad leaving you outside in the cold," I admitted grudgingly. I hesitated. "And I owe you, for the…other night."
Seth laughed, surprising me. "Does this count as the debt being repaid?"
"No, of course not," I told him quietly. I was shocked he would think along those lines. "I owe you more than a ride home."
"You don't owe me anything," he decided simply. I looked over, and immediately saw his heart in his eyes. I stiffened in my seat, and sat up straighter.
"You still have three questions left," I informed him primly.
"Hey, I thought it was four!" he argued indignantly. I smirked.
"You asked about the debt, and I answered. That counts," I explained. Seth pouted, but didn't argue with my logic. He sighed and drummed his fingers as he thought again.
"Okay, were you upset that I found you again tonight?" he asked. I pursed my lips, and changed lanes on the highway to take my time to formulate my response. By the time we were in the right hand lane, I had no choice but to answer the question. I sighed.
"At first, yes. Later, no," I said grudgingly. Seth grinned.
"Do you think I'm hot?" he asked.
I nearly slammed on the brakes in shock, but managed to keep control of my reflexes and keep the car steady. Seth chuckled at the shocked, aghast look on my face, but I quickly wiped that look off and offered my calm, serene mask.
"Yes," I answered simply. Seth whistled lightly, clearly pleased with my answer.
He waited a while for the last question I had allotted him, until he had pointed out his street and then house. I pulled up outside the cozy little blue house before letting the car idle as I turned to him. His dark eyes stared into mine in the dim, faintly green glow from the car's internal lights from the dashboard. He looked intense, and his voice reflected that, too.
"Will you see me again?" he hedged. "Willingly, I mean."
I hesitated. Here was a great-fantastic-guy, right at my age, who had imprinted on me that had asked me out. I should have said yes. Instead, I found myself thinking of Colt and of all the other implications. I settled for giving him a mysterious smile.
"I don't know," I answered. He grinned at me.
"Thanks for the ride," he said. He opened his door and stepped out into the cold, frosty air. He shut the door, but then tapped the window before I pulled off. I rolled it down, curious.
"What's your name?" he asked me, his face eager.
I smirked, putting the car into drive.
"Sorry, Seth. You had your ten questions," I told him.