Seth POV

I wanted her. There was no one else that mattered. She was my sun, my moon, my gravity. I had never felt like this before. All I could see, hear, feel was love. Raw, intense love. A perfect smile graced her goddess-like face. For me. She was happy to see me.

I stood up to go to her, but Embry, Quil, and Colin got in my way, asking if I imprinted. God, couldn't they just leave me alone? Nodding impatiently, I brushed them aside, but they grabbed my biceps and forced me away from her. No. NO! I couldn't leave her.

Quil said quickly, hurriedly, "Seth, we have to go to Sam and Jacob. Then you can see her. I know it hurts to be away, but you have to deal with it. Come on, be a man."

He didn't know. He couldn't understand how awful this was. He didn't know the pain that I felt. No one knew. She stood up, a questioning look on her face, and my heart screamed for her. I couldn't leave her. I tried to break out of their grasps, but they held fast. Damn them! I can't do this right now!

Brady soon ran into the cafeteria and they all dragged me out, with me resisting each step. As I was being led further and further away from her, I heard a heartbreaking sob. When I heard that cry, her cry, I broke free. I was running as fast as I could towards the cafeteria when I ran smack into Jacob.

"Seth. Get to the truck.Now." I thought about fighting back for a split second, but because he was an alpha, and he used his alpha voice, I reluctantly went out to the truck, and then Jacob dropped me off at Emily's house before speeding away in the truck. Emily ran out and gave me a hug.

"Oh Seth! I can't believe it! I'm so happy for you! I already called your mom and Leah, and Jacob came by…oh, I'm just so happy!"

"Emily, how did you guys know?"

"Well, Jacob was patrolling with Nessie near the school, and he heard something near the cafeteria, so he phased back and texted Brady to go to the cafeteria and see what was going on. When Brady got to the cafeteria, he looked in and saw you fighting against the other boys while looking at Dalia, put two and two together, and he called Jacob in before going into the cafeteria to help."

Dang. These people work fast. I looked back in the direction of the school where shewas. Sam ran into the house and firmly said, "Seth, you have to stay away from her for now. Tomorrow you can see her."

I looked up at him in shock. One whole day? I wouldn't be able to stay away that long.

"But, Sam, maybe I could just…" His eyes were furious, and he definitely didn't want to be contradicted.

"NO. Seth, you are going to wait. I need to make sure she's safe."

"You never had to do this with any of the other's imprints!" I argued.

"The other girls were not new. We all knew the other girls. We could all trust the others. We can't trust the new girl until we are sure she's safe."

"Sam, if we can trust Nessie, we can trust Dalia. She's not dangerous," I persisted.

Sam heaved a big sigh. "You never know, Seth. You don't know her at all. We just have to wait and see. Jacob agrees with me. Go on home now," he suggested, wrapping his arms around Emily's waist.

I walked off then, still processing this new information. God, why couldn't I see her? Nothing was wrong with her. She was the most perfect girl-woman-creature ever.

I didn't know where I was walking to until I arrived. The Cullen's front door was open, like always, and I walked in. Embry was sitting in the kitchen, his face wistful.

"Hey, Em. What's up? You looked depressed."

"Yeah, Seth, I am depressed. I'm the only guy over 13 in the packs that haven't imprinted. I know imprinting is supposed to be 'rare', but it makes me feel kinda left out. It makes me think there's no one out there for me."

"Embry, I felt like that all the way up until lunchtime today. And if you don't imprint, so what? You can date whoever you want! But I think your gonna find her one day." Poor guy. I understand-well, understood-exactly how he felt.

"Seth…can I tell you something?"

"Uh, sure?" I hoped with all my heart that I was not about to be told that my best friend was gay.

"When I saw Dalia, I felt a connection." This was worse than him being gay. This was wrong, and sick. I didn't say anything at all, I just stared, empty. Blank. I couldn't breathe at all.

"Seth, are you…? Oh! Yeah, I see why you would get angry." He laughed. How the hell could he laugh at a time like this? Dalia was mine. She was mine and nobody else's.

"Seth, man, I don't like her like that." The breath rushed back into my lungs. I was so relieved, I could've cried.

"I'm just saying I felt like there was a magnet, not pulling me to her, but to someone like her. So I need to find a super pale girl. How hard could it be?" He laughed again, and I smiled. A few seconds later, Alice flitted in from outside, probably hunting.

"So, Seth. What's her name?" Good Lord. Is there anyone in a ten mile radius who doesn't know I imprinted?

"Her name is Dalia."

"Ohmigosh, that's such a pretty name! What does she look like?"

"She's about five foot five; straight chestnut hair cut shoulder length with side bangs, blue-grey eyes that are like looking into pools of lake water, she has skin so pale that it could challenge yours, she has long legs, oval shaped face, long eyelashes, eyebrows that could use some work though, well defined hips, and a chest like a stripper. She's skinny, though. "

"Thank you, Embry, for telling us that. Now Seth, what do you think she looks like?"

"Embry had it mostly right, except for the eyebrows, skin, and the chest. She's not that pale. I've seen paler. Her eyebrows are beautiful, and her chest is fine. And she's ten million times prettier than anyone could ever describe her."

"Yep," Embry said, raising his eyebrows. "Her chest sure is fine."

I hit him hard on the shoulder, and you could clearly hear it crack. Embry pushed his shoulder back into place, and you could hear everything sewing and clicking back together of the inside. It was nasty.

I got something to eat, and then left on patrol. As soon as I phased, I had about eight people jump on me at once.

Seth! Welcome to the club!

Hey buddy! Congrats!

What's her name?

I can't believe this. My baby brother imprints before me. This is awful!

Kim wants me to tell you congrats.

I gotta go, Rachel's coming over.

You guys! Leave him alone. Let him think for a second.

Everyone quieted down almost immediately.

Thank you Brady. For once, I'm actually glad you're here.

Gee, Seth. Thank you SOOO much.

You're welcome. You guys aren't going to be able to hear about her until tomorrow, because Sam wants to do some 'background research' on her, and see if she's dangerous.

Why would she be dangerous? Sam's acting a little stupid.

Jared. Control your thoughts.

You could hear Jared gulp, and I'm sure he was on his belly, whimpering.

S…Sam. I…uh…sorry.

The reason I'm not allowing Seth to see her is because I sense something different about her. After school was over, I walked down, and I watched her. She has a knowing in her eyes. It's quite unusual. It is almost like she stares into your soul. She seems to have a…chilling presence. There's a scent around her that I can't place my finger on. She seems to be alright, but this is a precaution.

Sam, what happens if she's dangerous?

Then you will have to stay away from her. If she gets out of hand, we will have to…take care of her.

Around me, I heard the others protesting.

Sam, you'd be killing an imprint. That's illegal?

If it is for the good of the pack, anything is legal. Jacob's watching her now, and he's supposed to phase if anything goes wrong.

Sam, there's nothing wrong with her.

Seth, hush. We will see if anything is wrong with her.

I couldn't take it. Jacob has seen her, Sam's seen her, hell, Jacob's stalking her. I phased back, tugged my shorts on, and went over to my mom's house.

"Seth!" She ran out as soon as she saw me and gave me a big hug. "Oh baby, I'm so proud! Your dad would be so proud!"

"Thanks, Mom."

"What's she like?"

"I…I don't know."

"What? How do you not know? On second thought, why are you here? You should be with her!"

"Sam wants to keep me separated for a day, just because she's new. She has an 'unusual scent' and she 'has knowing in her eyes' He's not even my alpha."

Mom nodded. "That's just Sam for you. He's just paranoid. Let him do what he wants, and when there's nothing wrong with her, he will feel embarrassed that he made you wait to see your imprint."

I smiled at her, and then hugged her again. "Mom?"

"Yes, Sweetie?" She sounded like she was about to cry.

"I love you."

"Oh, Seth! I love you too. Oh, I heard there was a bonfire down near Billy's. We should be going."

"Can we just stay here? I don't ever get to see you, and right now, I honestly don't want to deal with a lot of people asking about an imprint I can't see."

"Oh, yeah, that reminds me, you couldn't go anyways. Dalia was going to be there. Embry invited her earlier this week." That made me angry that Embry had seen her more than I had. He had talked to her. I had only looked.

For the rest of the evening, Mom and I stayed up, looking at pictures from when I was little. Leah even came out for a little while. We went to bed around 10:00, and I fell asleep immediately. I had this awful nightmare about Dalia though.

I was walking through the forest at midnight. The moon was full, emitting a slight glowl. I walked into a clearing, and she was there. Dalia. Beautiful. She had a pale blue dress on. It was strapless, and it had a full skirt that swished around her when she moved. She turned around, and saw me. She smiled, barely curling her lips up. She blinked once, twice at me, and then ran off. I followed her. I didn't know where she was going. Every once in a while, she would turn around, as if checking to see if I was still following. She stopped in another clearing, and you could clearly see the moon shine down on her. It made her glow. She pulled something out from behind her dress. It was a knife. It was made of pure silver, and the handle was beautifully decorated. She looked at it for a while, and then she looked at me. Her eyes were so shockingly blue that I wanted to cry out. They were burning me. Her eyes knew everything. Her eyes filled with tears, and it made me want to cry. Her beautiful eyes were heart breaking. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Her tears were silver. "I'm sorry." When she whispered those words, it was like my soul split in two. They were completely filled with pure agony. There was no way to describe it. Never looking away from me, she raised the knife, and without a blink, plunged it into her heart. I saw the light fade from her eyes the moment I heard her heart stop beating. As she fell, I heard an unearthly scream. I didn't realize it was coming from me. When she hit the ground, I ran over to her, and kneeled down. A silver tear still hung on her cheek. She was cold. I lifted her up, but it did no good. She was limp in my arms. Tears rolled down my face and landed on her. Where my tears touched her skin, a small glow emitted. As I sat there, in complete agony, an unknown force lifted her up, and carried her up to the stars, where she disappeared. She was gone.

I woke up with a strangled gasp. It wasn't real. I was so disturbed that I was shaking. I looked around to see what had woke me up; my alarm clock. I switched it off, and got ready for school.

After eating breakfast, I went over to Sam's to see if Jacob had reported anything weird about Dalia. Sam wasn't there, but Emily said Sam didn't say anything to her earlier that morning.

With that uplifting news, I almost skipped to school. The first three periods were boring as ever, and then we finally got to lunch. Dalia was sitting with Tayen and Beverly again, and she was so beautiful my heart hurt.

"Hey, Embry."

"Seth!" He slapped me five and slid into the chair next to me. "I've got good news."

My heart beat three times faster. Was it news about Dalia? He continued in a cheerful tone, "You've got the all clear on her."

It took all my self control not to leap up and punch the air. "R…really?" I couldn't believe it.

Laughing at my enthusiasm, Embry slapped my back and said, "Go talk to her. Ask her to the beach. Do something before you go crazy!"

Grinning my thanks at him over my shoulder, I walked towards her, and no one objected. Dalia looked up, and her eyes stared into my soul. She stood up when I was about five feet away.

"Hey. It's Dalia, right?" I didn't need to ask that. Her name was burned onto my heart forever.

"Yeah…you're Seth?" Her voice was the most beautiful sound in the world.

"Yep…I…I hate to sound too forward, but, would you maybe want to go out sometime? Like, maybe tonight? If possible. I was thinking maybe going to the beach. Because, you're really beautiful, and I just want to get to know you better." I didn't realize I was running my hand through my hair until I noticed her looking at it. Ugh, I sound like such a creeper. Why am I so awkward around her?

She looked at me for about thirty seconds, and then slowly smiled at me. "Erm…well, I don't really know you, but sure. I've got a good feeling about you. I'm free tonight."

Tayen hit her arm and whispered, "What are you doing? He's not hot at all!"

Dalia blushed and whispered back, not knowing I could hear her, "Yes, he is! I feel like I've got this connection with him."

She thought I was hot. I didn't realize I was grinning until her beautiful voice cut through my train of thought. "What time do you want me to meet you?"

I blinked and said, "Er, I'll pick you up at the reservation entrance at six. It that okay?"

She blushed and nodded. "That's good. See you then."

I kind of stood there, awkwardly, and Dalia said, "Er, do you want to go find a table where we can sit…kind of alone?"

I nodded, and took her hand. She recoiled and whispered, "You're hand is really warm…are you okay?"

Shit, moving to fast! I half-smiled at her to make up for the awkwardness. "Yeah, it's a genetic thing."

Her eyebrows came together and she slowly said, "Oh…okay. I thought you caught that fever from Embry. Any other genetic things I should know about?"

I winked (was that okay? Ah, I'm useless at this stuff) and said, "It's impossible for you to physically hurt me."

Dalia crossed her arms. "It that a sexist joke? Because I could hurt you if I wanted too."

She's so cute when she's mad. Shit, she's mad! God, it was just like me to ruin everything and make her mad before we'd even gone on a date. I quickly managed to say, "No, it's a fact. You can punch me in the face if you want to."

Dalia grinned back and replied in an easy-going tone, "Okay, I will."

Before I could register what she had just said, she punched me in the face. Yes, she (a tiny human), punched me (an enormous wolf). There were several things that I immediately realized shouldn't have happened. She should've been hopping up and down, screaming bloody murder, like most people do after punching a werewolf. She was standing there, with both hands over her mouth, in complete shock. I was in total pain. I should not have been in total pain, because (again), I am a werewolf, she was a human. My nose was absolutely broken; there a small stream of blood dripping from it, and I could feel that it was off. I put both hands over my nose and pushed it back in place before it started to heal, and was relieved to know that it hadn't started to yet.

"OH MY GOSH! Are you okay?" She looked so upset, like she was about to cry. "I'm so sorry! It's just that you told me too, so I did."

"Yeah, it's perfectly okay, I promise." If she cried, I would never forgive myself. "You didn't break it or anything, so it's okay."

She tilted her head slightly to the side and narrowed her eyes. "Yes I did. I heard it crack, and then it was bleeding. I broke your nose!" I laughed at that.

"No, you didn't; it's fine," I grinned, gesturing at my face with my hand.

She nodded, but I could tell she didn't believe me. Beverly walked over with Tayen to throw away their shared soda can, when a piece of paper floated down in front of Dalia. The paper had something written on it, and I couldn't see what it said. Dalia read it, and her facial expression turned to angry. Whatever was written on there had pissed her off.

Throwing the paper down on the table, Dalia stood up abruptly and curtly said, "If you'll excuse me, Seth, I'll be right back. I have a bit of unfinished business."

Waving dejectedly at her retreating back, I put my head in my hands. I probably ruined everything. How the hell could I be so stupid? She's too good for me, and she probably thought I was a freak or something.

I glanced at the paper that angered her, to see what had gotten her so worked up. Feminine writing covered the loose-leaf paper. 'Dalia,' it read. 'Don't you dare go out with that little Clearwater freak. Dump him, or we dump you. Kisses! Bev and Tay.' Wow. That little Clearwater freak? It's a shame they don't have more friends in the packs.

I located Dalia's scent, and tried to focus in on what was happening. She was right outside the cafeteria, talking to "Bev and Tay".

"…Beverly, there's no need to be rude," she was saying. "I might like him, okay?"

Beverly laughed and said, "Sorry, he's just sort of weird," not sounding apologetic at all.

It sounded like Dalia stomped her foot before she yelled out, "Beverly, I know I just met you, and I thought we would be good friends. I guess not. You're…you're kind of a bitch!" In a much softer tone, she continued, "I'm sorry for being rude. But please don't bother me anymore. See you later."

And with that, she walked back into the cafeteria and sat next to me. "I'm sorry, I just had to deal with girl drama."

"Hey, don't apologize. I appreciate you standing up for the little Clearwater freak." I offered a smile at her, and was pleased to see her smile back. Crumpling the note up in her little hands, she shot it towards the trashcan, and laughed when it circled the rim and fell in.

For the remainder of lunch, we played that game '20 Questions', so that we knew each other a bit better, and I walked her to her next class. Waving shyly at me, she bid me goodbye and told me she'd see me later tonight. I couldn't concentrate in my classes at all. My mind wasn't on AP Economics. I was thinking about big blue eyes, and soft, pale skin.

After school was dismissed, I ran to Sam's. Emily was standing out in the front, and as soon as she saw me, she exclaimed, "SETH! What happened? What is she like? Did you talk to her? Did you kiss?"

Girls seriously get WAY over excited about romantic stuff. "Hi to you too, Emily. To answer your questions, she punched me in the face after I told her too, she is like the best person in the whole world, I didtalk to her, and no, we didn't kiss yet, but I have a date at six."

Emily stared with her mouth open for what seemed like five minutes and finally squealed, "She punched you?"

"Yeah. It actually hurt, too."

"It HURT?"

"She actually broke my nose, but it healed before anyone noticed.

Emily's eyebrows went flying up. "She broke your nose? How is that even possible?" I shrugged, but before I could say anything else, my mom's car pulled up in the driveway. Mom practically threw herself out of the car and ran up to pull me into a hug.

"Sweetie, I'm so proud of you! I'm just so happy! Oh, this is just so special!"

Emily was standing next to Mom with one eyebrow raised. "Yes, Sue, it is. Did you know she broke Seth's nose?"

Mom didn't look surprised at all.

"Is that so? How nice. Anyways, Seth, you need to come home with me, because you have a date tonight, and we need to discuss all the little details."

I couldn't believe Mom wanted to discuss a date with me.

"Er, Mom, that's perfectly okay. I have to go patrol anyways."

"Oh no you don't! I spoke to Jake, and he said you could have the day off. This is a really big deal! So get in the car. Now."

Mom got in the car with me, and we drove back to our house in silence, listening to the Beatles. The moment I walked in the house, Mom went off. She started talking at the speed of 100 miles per hour. I caught a random word every few minutes.

"…Pay…wallet…kiss…mouthwash…car…Mexican…no-no…strong…sushi…roses…lilies…meet..." Knowing my mom, I guess she said something like this, "You are going to pay, so bring your wallet. If you are going to kiss her, make sure you use mouthwash. You can take my car, and don't go out to Mexican. Mexican is a big no-no for the first date. Anyways, don't come on too strong. Ooh, you should take her out for sushi! Make sure you bring roses…no, bring lilies. Anyways, I can't wait to meet her!"

"Er…okay, Mom." She smiled at me, blinked a few times, and all but squealed, "Oh, I'm so proud of you sweetie. My little Sethie-poo is all grown up!" Now she was going too far with the nickname.

At that moment, the clock struck 5:30. Mom sprang up, yelling, "Seth! You have a date!"

I slowly stood up. "Yes, Mother, I know."

She looked at me like I was crazy. "MOVE! Go wash your hair, then brush your teeth! I'll see if I can pick up some flowers, but we only have 30 minutes!" And with that last note, she swept out of the house in a flurry. I got a quick shower, changed my gym shorts for a pair of jeans and a plaid button down, slipped on some Vans, and walked downstairs. Mom was already back, and she brought a small bouquet of lilies, peonies, and gardenias.

"Seth, sweetie, now don't be nervous. Nothing is going to go wrong. You are a…a…koala! Yes, you are a koala, sitting in a tree, eating eucalyptus."

"What the heck, Mom? Really?" She was babbling; obviously nervous. She had nothing to be nervous about! Iwas the one going on the date.

"Oh, sorry, baby. Just…have fun. This is your first date with your imprint. This is where it all begins." I hugged her tightly, and the clock struck 5:55. Mom all but pushed me out the door and into the car, and I was off to the reservation entrance.

Dalia was sitting on the reservation sign, with a smile on her face and an iPod in her hand. She was singing along with the music, and when she saw me, she rolled up her headphones, and stuck her iPod in her pocket. She was wearing a purple t-shirt that had "THE BEATLES" emblazoned on it, black skinny jeans, and Mario Converse that had Sharpie drawings all over them. She was absolutely stunning.

"So…how's it going?" She sounded nervous. She was nervous around me.

"Um, it's going alright…" She was so breathtaking that I could barely speak. She walked a little closer towards me. She was so close the tips of her shoes were touching mine. "Maybe we should go to the beach, Seth. We could go eat later." Oh, God, she smelled like gardenias.

I tried to speak, but words faltered in my throat, so I just nodded. She took my hand-she was holding my hand-and soon we were walking to the beach. Her little hand was so soft, and her fingers fit through mine perfectly. I snuck a look at her, and was amazed. Her head was angled towards the sunset, and the sun was hitting her face perfectly. Her skin glowed, her eyes sparkled, and her hair glittered copper. Her eyelashes were so long, and they were curled perfectly. Her lips were angled up in an angelic smile, and her hand squeezed mine as she turned her whole body to admire the sunset.

"There is nothing else on Earth that can compare with a sunset. Nothing could ever capture the true beauty of the sun going down over the water." The words that fell from her lips were pure poetry.

"Dalia." My voice was barely a whisper. She turned her head towards me. "Dalia, you are beautiful."

She blushed a dark pink, and said, "Seth, that's…thank you."

We didn't say anything, but we sat there on a cliff, watching each other, with the sunset as a background. When the sun slipped beneath the water, she stood up, pulling me with her. Could she hear my heartbeat?

"Seth, we should go now. My curfew is 11:30, and we still have to eat, and I'd like to talk to you some." In reply, I grabbed her hand again, and we started down the worn trail. We were about 5 minutes from the car when I heard a rustling in the bushes. Dalia tensed, and stared at a bush about 5 feet away from me.

"Seth," she gasped. "What is it?"

"I don't know. Stay back." I crept a little closer to the bush, and the rustling increased. When I was about 3 feet away from the bush, a small creature sprang out, and scurried into the clearing. She didn't scream, but she jumped, and then spun around to see what the creature was. It was pacing back and forth on the ground, going forward three steps, backward three steps, again and again. She stood over it, and asked, "What the hell is it?"

I walked up behind her, and stared at the creature on the ground. I didn't know whatit was. I was getting ready to say, "I don't know," but Dalia skirted back 10 feet, and whisper-yelled, "SETH, WE NEED TO GO. NOW."

I looked over my shoulder at her. "Why?"

"Because," she said hurriedly, "That…that thing is a possum. And not only is it a possum, it is a possum with rabies, which means that if it bites you, you will die." At the mention of rabies, I walked back slowly, and the possum stayed on the ground, still walking back and forth. Rabies is not the best thing for a shape-shifter. Dalia reached into her pocket and pulled out a small pink taser.

"Dalia," I asked, "Why do you carry a taser and scissors in your purse?"

"Because," she replied, "You never know what to expect." True enough. During lunch, I learned that she went to school in a bad neighborhood, so she was paranoid of the big cities. "

"Now, don't move," she muttered. I started to walk forward, but she elbowed me. "I said don't move." She crept forward, making sure she stayed out of the possum's line of vision. She moved forward silently, and then she stepped on a twig. The crack cut through the forest like gunfire. I heard her swear under her breath, and the possum slowly turned to face her. It made a hissing noise, and jumped forward. It arced through the air, with its paws flailing everywhere, and I heard the taser go off, and then a small scream. The possum lay at Dalia's feet, smoking, and it was clearly dead. Dalia still had the taser in one hand, and she looked really scared.

"That," she spat, "Was the most disgusting thing I've ever had to do. I can imagine the conversation now. My momma will be like, 'Dalia, what did you do today?' and what will I say? 'Well, Momma, I tased a possum'!" Shuddering, she pocketed her taser and turned back around to face me. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around her tightly. I murmured into her hair, "I'm sorry, I should've done something." I felt like such a wimp around her. It's like I'm not capable of doing anything around her.

She pulled away and grinned up at me. "You didn't have to do anything. What would you have done? Stepped on it?" Good point.

Scratching behind my ear, I awkwardly mumbled something about getting food, to which she wholeheartedly agreed too, despite having tased a possum.

A few minutes later, we were sitting inside the Japanese restaurant. Dalia had ordered cucumber sushi, and I ordered the chicken with rice.

We sat there in an awkward silence for a few minutes until Dalia suddenly asked, "Do you play any instruments?" I shook my head no.

"I wish I could. What about you?"

She immediately perked up, "I play viola and guitar."

Obviously, she was into the arts. "Viola is like a violin, right?"

She nodded, smiling, and explaining that the viola was the shape of a violin, but bigger, and had the strings of a cello, but up an octave. I nodded along, acting like I knew what an octave was." Dalia asked me what Embry patrolled, saying that she'd heard him in the book store one day. I hemmed and hawed for a minute until I came up with some junior Native American rangers program for the summer. Upon inquiring about her summer, she revealed that she'd taken a stage makeup workshop over the summer. "It was amazing," she stated. "Now, I know how to create fake scars, fake blood, fake wounds, fake acne…I can even make you look like a werewolf."

I laughed, and she furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm serious!"

"I know, Dalia, but the word werewolf is kind of…funny…to me."

She nodded and responded seriously, "I understand. One of my old friends used to crack up whenever someone would say doorknob."

Laughing loudly, she continued, "It was so weird!" I cracked up too, because her laugh was just that contagious.

The waitress brought our food out, then. Dalia unwrapped her chopsticks and delicately picked up her sushi.

After a few bites, she quietly admitted, "Seth, I…I think I like you."

I smiled, my heart overflowing with happiness. "I like you too."

She looked so confused it took all my self control not to burst out laughing. Except there was nothing funny about her situation.

"B…but…why do you like me?"

"Dalia, you are beautiful. You are really funny, you don't starve yourself, you don't wear too much makeup, you like music, you aren't failing in school, you aren't afraid to be different, and you have no physical flaws. You're perfect."

Laughing again, she exclaimed, "Perfect? Me? God, I wish."

Spreading my hands out wide, I gestured to her. "To me, you are."

Her expression sobering, she stared deeply in my eyes. "One day, Seth. One day, you'll know just how unperfect I am." Now, I knew what Sam meant when he said she had knowing in her eyes. I took her hand from across the table, gently rubbing it with mine.

"But imperfections are what make you perfect, Dalia." She blushed, shrugged, and squeezed my hand, not saying anything.

By then, we had both finished eating, so I paid for the meal, despite Dalia's protests, and we left. She was giving me directions to her house, and her house wasn't far from Charlie's, maybe five minutes or so.

We were standing on her front porch, and her fingers were woven through mine.

"Seth," she said, looking into my eyes. "I can honestly say that this was one of the best nights of my life. Thank you."

"No problem," I muttered. I was surprised I could talk, I was so lost in her eyes.

"Well, goodnight, Seth."

"Goodnight."

Neither of us moved. I was staring at her lips. They were full and pink, and I wanted to kiss them, taste them. Dalia, still looking in my eyes, slowly let go of my hand and put both of her arms around my feverish neck. My arms snaked around her waist. We moved closer.

Our foreheads were touching. I breathed her in. She smelled like gardenias. Her eyes fluttered closed. My eyes slowly drifted closed.

Our lips touched.