So I sat down to write this chapter, and it turned out to be a lot longer than I originally planned (not like long chapters are a bad thing, but this one was way too long) so I split it up into two chapters. Without further adieu, here's chapter three, it's called Surprised. Hope you like it!

DISCLAIMER: I still don't own Twilight. Everything is by Stephenie Meyer and her pure genius.

Sam and Jared sat with me at lunch the rest of that first week of school. Jared was one of those funny guys you could depend on, and Sam was…Sam. There was no denying the connection between us, and the first couple weeks of our friendship, I vacillated on believing whether or not he felt the same way about me.

The third week of school, on Tuesday afternoon, Sam invited me to hang out with him and some other friends that night.

"We're just going to have a bonfire down on First Beach. Think you want to go?" The way his eyes burned into mine was so intense; I couldn't believe all he was asking was to go to the beach. The emotion in his eyes read, "Marry me and forget the world." But instead his mouth said, "Sit around fire with friends at beach?" Good thing I wasn't deaf or I would misunderstand a lot of the things he said.

"You're not going?" I asked Jared.

"No," he answered softly, looking down at his lunch. Poor guy, I thought. It turned out that his mom truly was the 'mama bear' persona he had made her out to be. She rarely let him do anything and was avid that he remained completely ahead of the game academically.

"Mom?" I asked, feeling guilty at the great relationship I shared with my parents.

"Nope," he retorted, his head flicking up so he could grin at me wickedly. "I have a date."

"A date?" I couldn't help but ask. "With who?"

"You know that girl Kiani who transferred here from the Makah rez?" He got a date with Kiani!? How sweet.

"I do!" I practically squealed. "My cousin Emily goes to that school and Kiani was one of her friends. Good for you, Jared!"

For once it was Sam who rolled his eyes when Jared said, "I know!"

Then Sam turned his attention back to me. "Lee-lee?" My head snapped from Jared's face to Sam's.

"What did you just call me?" I asked, perplexed. Lee-lee? Jared laughed his usual, guttural laugh.

Sam grinned triumphantly and my heart melted. "Lee-lee. I like it. I think it fits." He chuckled.

"Lee-lee?" I repeated the name, it sounded so much better when it came off of Sam's lips. "It sounds like… like I don't even know. Jared, what does it sound like?"

"Lee-lee?" he asked and immediately started cracking up.

Sam laughed, too but then he turned serious. "Ok, I don't care what it sounds like, that's your new nickname." He smiled, my heart stopped. "Lee-uh," he said, the intensity back and enunciating each syllable separately. "You didn't answer my question."

What question? I wondered. Oh yeah! He wants me to go to this bonfire thingy. Sure, why not? "You mean your asking me if I want to go the bonfire?"

"Yes…" he said, although he seemed not totally satisfied.

"Well, yes I do want to go." I smiled at him and he returned the grin. "You said First Beach, right?" He nodded. "What time should I get there?" Unfortunately, I don't quite have enough for a car, yet, I thought to myself. But Mom shouldn't mind if I take hers.

His smile faltered slightly, and he said, "Leah, do you…want to go to the bonfire with me?"

Click! Oh! "You mean…like a…?" My voice trailed off, unable to finish the question. I could feel my cheeks heat up and I was evermore grateful for my dark skin and its ability to disguise embarrassment.

"Date?" Finished Jared, and I could tell he was holding back laughter.

"Yes," answered Sam, and for the first time since I'd met him, he sounded shy.

Of course! My head yelled, but I was somehow unable to say anything. Sam actually…what? Likes me? "Sure," I in some way managed to answer. His smile grew even bigger. How is that possible?

"Great! I'll pick you up at seven, then. Is that okay?"

I just nodded. I couldn't believe Sam had just asked me out. I looked at Jared. Yup, definitely holding back laughter. Sam looked at him, too and sighed. "Just go ahead and laugh, Jared." And then Jared busted up.

"You two…" he said between laughter, "…are the most…" But he didn't even finish his sentence. Oh well. I just rolled my eyes and finished my lunch. The bell rang, and once Jared stopped laughing, he shook his head and picked up his lunch tray (Unfortunately for their health, I hadn't convinced either one of them that the school cafeteria's food was not to the benefit of their wellbeing. I personally, thought they were just too lazy to make their own lunches), heading to throw away his trash and head to class.

"Bye, Jared! Good luck on your date!" I called after him, knowing I wouldn't see him again, today. Even though he was in my grade, we didn't have any classes together.

"Thanks! Good luck on yours, too!" he retorted. Again my I felt my cheeks burn.

Sam sighed and asked, "Are you ready to go?" He walked me to chemistry everyday. It was my most favorite part of the day. Just Sam and me. Lovely. It even made up for the fact that I loathed chemistry class.

"Sure," I said, and I picked up the trash while he grabbed my books. Then we headed to my class, and I couldn't tell if it was just me, or if he was walking deathly close to me.

We talked about random things on the way to chemistry. Normally, he would pound me with questions, questions about the most random things. Favorite color, food, things about my childhood… I didn't understand how he found all of that so fascinating but the way he looked at me when we talked told me he really was interested. Today he didn't ask me anything like that, though. In fact, it was kind of quiet. I got worried.

"Are you okay, Sam?" I asked when we reached the door of the chemistry lab. Maybe he regretted asking me out.

He looked at me with intensely dark eyes. "Of course. Why?"

"You just seem awfully quiet."

"Oh. I'm sorry. Honestly, I'm just surprised is all."

"Surprised?" I questioned. "Surprised at what?"

"You," he said, and his smile was back on his beautiful face. I smiled back, unable to fight it. When he smiled, I smiled. Seeing him happy simply made me happy.

"What about me?"

"You said yes," he made it sound like some kind of miracle. I rolled my eyes.

"Of course I did. Why is that so surprising?"

"I don't know…I guess I just felt like…maybe you didn't feel about me the same way I feel about you." He sounded shy again.

"Sam," I addressed him. His eyes were burning into mine, and it made it extremely hard to think coherently. "How do you feel about me?" Wow! Where did that forwardness come from? I thought. That was definitely out of character.

And then, when he smiled and opened his mouth to speak, the damned bell rang again, telling him to get to class. "We'll talk tonight," he said, and handed me my books. Then he smiled again and rushed to class.

As if it wasn't already hard enough to pay attention in chemistry class! It seemed like Mr. Real was speaking another language as he described cations and anions and polyatomic ions. What the heck is an "ion" anyways? I thought. But then my thoughts turned back to Sam, and I became anxious. Halfway through Mr. Real's lecture, I gave up completely on trying to pay attention and put all of my brainpower into trying to figure out what Sam had said.

How can he be surprised that I said yes? And what the hell does he mean, "Maybe you didn't feel about me the same way I feel about you"? Haven't those been my thoughts since the day I met him? And how on earth am I supposed to wait until tonight? I was turning into a real-life teenage soap opera. I'd never felt this strongly about a boy in all my life. I didn't know what was happening to me.

After chemistry, I made my way across campus to gym class. I loved gym; it was the one class I didn't have to try one bit. Physical things just came naturally to me. I couldn't explain it—it's like it was in my genes. I'd always been fast and agile. Needless to say, gym went without a hitch, all we did was run the mile, and it was a good outlet for me to put my stress. As I changed out of my P.E. clothes, the nerves hit again, and I rushed outside to find my mom's car.

That was the almost sucky part about getting my license so early. I didn't have a car yet, so half the time, Mom needed hers, and that meant she still had to pick me up and drop me off. I spotted her quickly and got in the passenger side, while we waited for Seth to make his way to the car.

"Hi, Mom," I greeted her as I put my seatbelt on.

"Hey, sweetie. How was your day?" She smiled at me.

I was about to say, "Fine," like I always did but changed my mind. "Great, actually." I could feel the smile forming on my face.

She looked at me to try to read my expression. "What happened?" she asked.

"You know my friends Sam and Jared?" I had told her about both of the boys. It seemed like they would be most of whom I'd be spending my time with, so I'd already filled her in.

"Mhmm," she answered, as Seth got in the car.

"Leah! You got shotgun this morning!" he whined, sliding in.

I turned around. "I always get shotgun in the afternoon," I said. "It's not my fault you slept in this morning and were late getting ready. You snooze you lose."

He just sighed heavily and said, "Whatever." I knew he wouldn't actually care. Seth was too nice for his own good. My mom just rolled her eyes and directed her attention back at me.

"So anyways, Leah, you were saying?" she prodded as she pulled the car out of the school parking lot.

"Oh yeah," I said animatedly, getting back into my story of the best day of my life. The great thing about my family was, that we were all close. I loved both my mom and dad dearly, and even though Seth and I fought sometimes, I was close enough to him for him to know pretty much anything about my life. He was a good kid. So his presence in the car didn't change the course of conversation one bit. I continued, "So Sam and Jared. Well you remember Emily's friend, Kiani, up from the Makah rez?" I asked. Mom nodded. "Well, Jared has a date with her tonight."

"Really?" Mom asked, genuinely surprised. "I thought you said his mom was strict?"

"Well apparently she's lightening up a little bit. Isn't that cute though?"

"Mhmm," my mom answered again, waiting for me to continue. "And what about Sam?" she asked.

"Sam has a date tonight, too."

"Really?" interjected Seth from the backseat, concern crossing his face. "Don't you like him, Leah?" I smiled.

"Seth, I'm the date."

"Oh sweetie, how fun!" said my mom. What was it like for people who weren't close to their families? I guess most of them have best friends and such to share it all with. But when you had a family as perfect as mine, why wouldn't they be your best friends.

"Cool, Leah!" said Seth, slipping back out of the conversation.

"He's picking me up at seven and we're going to a bonfire out on First Beach."

"Well that sounds like fun," said my mom as we pulled into the driveway. "What time will you be home?"

"I don't know. What time do you want me by?" Yet another great thing about being close to your parents: trust. I'd never really had a set curfew; it just depended on the situation.

"Hmm," she said. "Well it is a school night so how about being back by ten-thirtyish?"

"Ok, I'll let Sam know."

We walked into the house and I went upstairs to my room to finish my homework. English and math I finished quickly, and I spent a good amount of time working on chem., regretting my zoning out during sixth period. Finally I gave up on that, going to take a shower and get ready. I glanced at the clock. It was five, so that should give me plenty of time to get ready.

After I showered, I spent a good amount of time drying my hair, taking the time to leave it decently wavy. After that I went back to my room to try and decide what to wear. Then the nerves hit again. I'm turning into such a girl! I thought frantically as I fretted over what outfit was most appropriate. I decided on a jean skirt with a sweatshirt, and threw on some flip-flops. That's good enough, right? I wondered as I looked at myself in the mirror.

I never wore makeup; it seemed like too much of a hassle. But for some reason, I found myself searching through the drawer in my bathroom and then applying mascara. It was amazing, the difference that simple tube made. It really outlined my deep brown eyes, and not to mention it made me feel even girlier.

At a quarter to seven, after attempting chemistry in one last effort, I walked downstairs to see what Mom made for dinner. I saw Seth on a barstool at the counter, twirling spaghetti onto his fork. Dad had gotten home and he was sitting at the table, doing the same. He smiled when he saw me and said, "So Mom tells me you've got a date tonight?"

"Yes," I answered, becoming even more nervous when it was said aloud like that.

"Well good for you, honey. I hope you have fun."

"Thanks, Dad."

Then Mom's head came out of the open fridge as she pulled out the milk carton she'd been looking for. "Oh Leah, sweetie, you look so pretty!"

"Thanks, Mom," I said.

"Do you want some spaghetti before you go?"

"I don't think so," I answered honestly. "I'm too nervous to eat."

"It'll be fine, Lee," said Seth, scooping more spaghetti and switching hands for better rolling technique. "I ran into Sam the other morning." He did? "He seemed to know who I was and he seemed really cool. Don't be nervous."

"Thanks, Seth." Wow. Good thing there's no one else in the family. Thanks, Mom, Thanks, Dad, Thanks, Seth… it'd take forever if I ever won an academy award or something. Too many important people in my life.

Watching them eat reminded me to brush my teeth. "I'll be right back," I said, rushing up to my bathroom and pulling out the toothpaste and toothbrush. After I rinsed, I repeated, and then I gargled my favorite mouthwash. Just as I was finishing up, I heard the doorbell ring. I ran to my room, grabbed my keys and cell phone, and arrived at the top of the stairs to see my dad answering the door.

What did you think? The next one should be up soon, I'm just putting the finishing touches on it.

Please review! They are the most encouraging things to get!