We turned into Emily's driveway and parked just outside her house right on dusk. Climbing out of the car the small house was lit up, you could hear people and smell cooking, making it seem so much more alive than it did earlier. The front door was wide open, filtering a patch of light onto the front veranda. After everyone had gotten out of the car, Mum clutching a bowl of salad she had prepared and Dad a six pack of beer, we approached the house together.
The closer we got the more nervous I seemed to feel. I wasn't sure if it was because there were so many people here I was eating dinner with that I didn't know, or simply the Embry factor. I had dressed casual, in my favourite skinny jeans and white rabens with a different hoodie, and I was relieved to see everyone else carrying a casual look too as we poked our heads through the front door, instantly being welcomed inside. Now it seemed my heart was thudding in my ears.
The first area of the house was like one big room, the first carpeted bit being the lounge room and after passing that it became floorboards establishing the kitchen area that was rather large with a dining table set in the middle. Off the kitchen was a hallway to the right, where I could hear more people.
We crossed the lounge room to join everyone in the kitchen. Almost immediately we heard a door close loudly and fast footsteps and voices. Bursting out from the hallway and filling the kitchen were four large boys who had been laughing and arguing, the first one I recognised to be Embry as he stopped suddenly right before crashing into me, the other boys running into him.
I was suddenly snapped out of it and all my nervousness disappeared as we stared at each other in shock for a very quick moment until he smiled and stood up a lot straighter. He was wearing a slightly tight red and grey ¾ raglan shirt with similar shorts to what he was wearing earlier. In fact, all of them were wearing the same shorts they had on before, just they all had shirts on now.
"Uh, hey." He greeted me with a very cute smile.
"Hi." I smiled back.
"Emily, Sue, come and meet everyone." Harry said as he walked over to greet us also, followed by two women from the kitchen. I got a better look at them once they came over and stood in front of the tall boys. One stood by Harry with their arms around each other, so I assumed she was Harry's wife. The other was young and really beautiful... though I gasped in shock when she turned her face. The whole left side of her face had three red, majorly distinct scars running from her hairline to her chin, which slightly dragged the corner of her eye and her mouth downwards. It was shocking to see something so drastic happen to someone so beautiful. It must have been a really bad accident to have scars like hers. And she seemed so oblivious to the fact. What on earth could have caused that?
I quickly looked away in fear that I might have been staring.
"This is Aaron and Alex... Alex and Aaron..." Harry thought for a moment and everyone laughed.
"And Carter and this must be Scarlett, and finally, Camellia." He listed from left to right.
"And this is Embry, Paul, Quil and Jared, Sue and Emily." Harry introduced again from left to right. So that was Emily who was Sam's fiancée.
"My, you do have pretty eyes." Emily suddenly commented, smiling at me. I felt myself start to blush- who had told her that?
"Uh, thank you." I smiled back. I looked to Embry for a quick moment who was standing closest to me, who flicked his eyes from Emily to the guys. I looked away again to see Mum and Dad move into the kitchen with Harry, Sue and Emily while Aaron and Alex were talking about some gaming system with Jared, Quil and Paul.
"Would you like to go outside and meet everyone else?" Embry asked. I turned to him surprised, then smiled,
"Sure."
"Come on," He said as he turned to walk around everyone else. I followed him behind the boys and through the first door on the left in the hallway, which opened up to a rather large backyard. There were tables and chairs set up and a barbecue to the side being heated up. There was a nice garden on either side of the door, and two huge trees further to the back past the tables and chairs, and a bigger garden against the back fence. There were outdoor lights off the house that lit up the first half of the backyard and a couple of tall heat lamps amongst the tables and chairs. There were several people scattered over the area.
"You know Jake's dad, Billy, over there by the barbecue. He's talking to Quil's and Jared's dads." He pointed as we started to walk across the grass.
"And that's Paul's parents and Quil's, Jared's and my mum's over there." He pointed to a group of people standing underneath a heat lamp, talking.
"And this here is Sam and Jake, and Leah and Seth." He said as we reached the four sitting in some of the chairs.
"Hey, guys, this is Cam." Embry introduced me, and I remembered Sam and Jake from earlier.
"Leah and Seth are Harry's and Sue's kids." He informed me.
"Hey!" Seth waved enthusiastically and I waved back.
"Hey, Cam." Jacob greeted.
"Is your family inside?" Sam asked, getting up from his chair.
"Yeah, in the kitchen." I pointed over my shoulder.
"I'll have to go and meet them. I'll be back," He said as he moved towards the house.
"Leah." Embry nodded to the girl.
"Hi." I smiled. She had been the only teenage girl I'd met so far apart from Bella Swan.
"Hey." She said bluntly as she looked me up and down. It was quiet for a minute and I noticed everyone look quite blankly towards Leah. The situation started to turn awkward.
"Umm, how about we go and get a drink?" Embry suggested, though he was already turning to leave.
"Ok," I agreed, turning after him. We crossed the grass once more side by side.
"Sorry about Leah..." He said softly.
"Um, it's fine. Have I done some-?" Embry cut me off,
"No, not at all! She's just... not the happiest person you'll ever meet." He explained dryly as he held the door open for me. I nodded, biting my lip in wonder.
"So what'll it be?" He asked as he waded around everyone towards the fridge.
"Uh, whatever you're having." I quickly decided. I looked across to the lounge room to see my brothers still with Paul, Jared and Quil, playing some gory video game. At the moment it was Alex versus Jared.
"Hey, Embry! Grab us one too!" Paul called as Embry closed the fridge door. He sighed and put the two cans on the bench before opening the fridge again and pulling some more out. He walked to the edge of the lounge room before tossing a can to everyone, leaving Alex's and Paul's on the coffee table for them. He then went back and grabbed our drinks from the bench and came over to me again.
"Lemonade ok?" He asked as he passed me the cold can.
"Yeah, that's fine. Lemonade's my favourite." I said as I opened the can with a content cracking sound.
"Really? Mine too, actually." He smiled while he did the same.
"Hey, Embry! Come and play, you can be up next!" Jared called. Embry looked to me and motioned for me to come too.
"Ah, damn." Jared cursed as the game ended and Alex high fived Quil in victory.
"Here, and Camellia can verse you if she wants to." Jared passed Embry the control.
"Cam," I corrected him, smiling. Alex offered me his control and I took it as we took his and Jared's seats on the floor.
"So... how do you play?" I asked, looking at the controls. All the La Push boys in the room started ranting in disbelief,
"What?"
"How could you not?"
"This is, like, one of the most popular, well known games ever!"
Embry laughed,
"Well, the aim of the game is to pretty much kill each other, and the first to kill their opponent wins." He explained. He leaned much closer to me, shoulders rubbing.
"This button is to shoot," He showed me with his hands,
"This control is to move around," He reached over me, and intense, musky, boyish scent washing over me.
"And this one is to pick up other guns and ammo when you walk over it." He instructed as he leaned away again, the addictive scent still lingering.
"They're the basics, so we'll see how you go with that to start with. Ready?" He asked and I nodded.
"Five bucks." I heard someone mutter behind me as Embry started a new game.
It seemed only seconds into the game and Embry was already shooting at me and hunting me down like a professional. All I did was run in the opposite direction.
"Hey! Where are you going?" He asked as he started running after me.
"I don't know!" I cried.
"Then stop running...!"
"No way! I'll die!" I frowned.
"Aargh! Turn the corner!" I yelled at the TV, stretching my controller out in front of me like it would help me move faster.
"He's gonna get me!" I panicked as I found myself at a dead end. I sensed Embry looking at me and I heard the room very abruptly fill with hard laughter. I turned around to see all the boys absolutely cacking themselves, leaning on each other and on the verge of falling off the couch. I looked back to Embry innocently and he was also laughing.
"What?"
"Oh my god you're hilarious!" Jared managed between breaths.
"Wha...?" I mumbled as a smile surfaced at their amusement.
"That was so funny, I wish someone filmed it!" Quil added.
"Filmed what?" I asked.
"You!" Paul laughed. I looked at my brothers in confusion.
"Just how you play- you run away and yell at the TV." Aaron explained on the verge of laughter.
"Oh ha ha." I pouted playfully. I turned back to the TV while they still laughed, including Embry. The next thing they heard was a gunshot and a flashing screen saying 'game over'.
"But it works." I turned around again, smirking at them while they were all silent.
"Oh! Embry, man! You just got done and dusted by a girl!" Jared said loudly.
"Her first time too!" Paul added. I smiled widely at Embry, who did look slightly embarrassed.
"Well, that's what happens when someone as good as me teaches you how to play." Embry told the guys, defending himself in a sarcastic sort of way.
"Right, Cam?" He asked turning to me.
"Absolutely." I nodded going along with him.
"All right guys, I think that's enough video games for one day." Emily interrupted.
"Now come and help me carry some of this outside." She said, picking up a few home cooked dishes and walking outside. All the boys jumped up to go and help and Embry offered me his hand up. His still very hot hand.
"Thanks." I smiled. He smiled a very cute boyish smile as we walked into the kitchen.
"Wow. That's a lot of food." I commented on seeing various dishes, often doubles of some.
"Yeah... we eat a lot." Embry stated.
"I see," I said simply.
"Aw, yum!" He said suddenly, dipping his fingers into one of the many.
"Embry Call!" Emily snapped, slapping his hand away when she returned to the kitchen,
"Don't be so rude!" He licked his fingers anyway.
"You're the best, Emily." He sighed, loving every bit.
"I know," She smiled.
"Now here, just to be safe you can take the plates." She instructed as she loaded a tonne of plates into his arms. He didn't even look to be struggling. I laughed when I saw his slightly disappointed face at not being able to carry any food. I picked up a dish and we walked outside together. We set them down on one of the tables outside. It was kind of like a serve yourself sort of idea- like an all you can eat buffet. Just as we turned around Charlie and Bella arrived.
"Bella!" Jacob called as he jogged over and gave her a tight hug. Charlie looked surprisingly happy.
"Good friends?" I asked Embry when I noticed all the boys looking on too.
"Yeah... sort of." He replied.
"Yeah, not as good as he wishes though." Jared elaborated. I looked across at him questioningly.
"Nope. Cullen has everything he wants." Paul stepped in.
"Who's Cullen?" I asked, curious about this little situation.
"Just some... cold, cr-" Paul started only to be quickly interrupted by Embry.
"No one." He said bluntly as Jacob came back over, bringing Bella with him.
"Hey guys, Cam." She greeted us.
"Hey, Bella."
"How's it going?"
"Good to see you again." Came various responses.
"I see you two have already met then?" Jacob asked.
"Yeah, a couple of times." I replied.
"We live in the same street, Jake." Bella told him.
"Ah, right. I remember." Jake smiled.
"I'm sure half the town's already heard her name at the least, let alone the school." She continued.
"Umm..." I mumbled unsurely, a bit nervous about what she meant. She turned to see me and her face softened.
"It's a small school, so... everyone will be looking forward to having fresh faces, basically." She explained,
"I mean, that's what I was told when I was new there." I noticed the boys send a quick look amongst them very briefly.
"Come one everyone, serve yourself." Emily invited and everyone started to crowd around the table with masses of food.
"You guys can go last." Emily winked as the boys crowded around too. Once everyone had loaded their plates they went to sit at a table. There was more or less an adults table and a kids table. I sat at the "kids" table across from Bella. Soon enough all the guys and Leah joined us too. Surprisingly, Embry sat next to me almost straight away, beating everyone else to sit down. Leah looked at him, grimaced, and plonked herself into a chair.
Little bits of chatter floated around the table for the first little while, no one engaging in a particularly interesting conversation.
"So who is this... Common guy?" I asked Embry quietly while mostly everyone else carried on amongst themselves. He chuckled to himself.
"Not very common, trust me." He smiled. I didn't quite catch the joke.
"You mean... Cullen." He corrected me subtly.
"Yeah, that's it. What's so bad about him?" I asked a little louder than intended. Embry looked around quickly.
"You'll find out soon enough." He said without looking up.
"So you're going to Forks High?" He asked, completely changing the subject.
"Yeah. Is that where you go?" I asked hopefully.
"No, I go to school here in La Push." He replied, everyone else zoning into our conversation one by one.
"We all do. Except for Bella, of course." He added and I nodded as the table grew quiet. It was silent for a few long moments.
"Hey, can you say something?" Seth suddenly asked cheerily. Everyone looked to him in confusion. He looked at everyone before looking at me.
"Please?" He begged.
"Umm... hey?" I said unsurely. He laughed,
"No, like a whole sentence or something- I wanna hear your accent." He explained. I smirked,
"Oi, Seth, how ya hangin', matey?" I asked in a thick Australian accent and his smile grew wider. Mostly everyone had a bit of a laugh at Seth. I smiled,
"How about Italian? De Italianos like dey're pasta, no?" Jared snorted.
"Orr we cann crack out tha heelbeelies." I dragged out and Quil joined Jared.
"Do you like the English folk? I use' to tawk like this awl the t'ime ba'ck 'ome. It's wreally qui'te ca'tchy, you know. And it gets wreally annoyaing too- ya know wha' I mean?" They all laughed again, myself included.
"No, wait, I'll do your accent- ready?" I cleared my throat.
"I can tarlk like an Amerricaan if I really warnted to." We all laughed again.
"We so do not sound like that!" Jacob protested, smiling.
"Yeah you do." I reassured him.
"So immature..." I just heard Leah mumble.
"Aww, just havin' a laugh, lovey." I drawled a thick Aussie accent once more. She turned away and I realised I might have just said the wrong thing, but everyone else ignored her.
"You're an idiot, Cam." Alex said, still chuckling with the others.
"Shh." I hushed with one finger over my lips. Conversation kept up from then on, more as whole table. All the boys and Leah had gone back for seconds before I was even halfway through my plate, and by the time I'd finished some had even had thirds. We sat around for a while longer until Emily encouraged us to take our used dishes inside. We piled them beside the sink, and after I'd set my own down, I turned around to see the kitchen full of boys, and Leah, and realised how much smaller they made the already small room seem.
"Who's up for spotlight?" Seth asked as he spun a torch around in his hand which he'd found on the counter. Before anyone could respond Leah groaned and then walked outside to pull a chair up at the adults' table.
"Well I wouldn't mind." Jared said and Quil agreed. Then Jake, Paul, Aaron and Alex also nodded in agreement. Embry glanced my way as I agreed, and then he also did himself.
"Seth's in!" Jake decided quickly.
"What? Why me?" He protested.
"Only fair, buddy. You thought of it." Jared said and Seth shrugged.
"Fine." He mumbled.
"Someone pair up with the newbies, alright?" Jake said as he ran off to hide, as did Paul. Alex went with Jared, Aaron went with Quil, and then I felt a large, hot hand grab mine as Seth started counting.
Embry and I quickly ran out the door and into the backyard again. Holding hands, we looked around frantically for somewhere to hide. The parents gave us odd looks.
"What about over there behind that tree?" I pointed to the back corner. We ran over together, but as soon as we jumped into the tree's shadow we bumped into Jake.
"Oi, this is my spot!" He hissed. We jogged back out into the open and looked around again.
"Over here," Embry said quickly as he led me behind the chook pen. We only realised the spot had already been taken when I stood on Jared's foot and Embry tripped over Alex's leg. We quickly apologised and ran out again, and just as we did we saw the torch light lingering around the corner.
"Quick!" Embry whispered and dragged me around one side of the house. We were stepping on crunchy leaves as we went and I thought Seth would find as straight away because of the noise.
"There's nowhere to hide!" I whispered as we looked around.
"Umm..." Embry started. He suddenly dropped to the ground and looked under the hedge along the fence.
"Under here!" He said before rolling under the bushes.
"What?" I said, thinking that we couldn't possibly both fit under there together.
"Come on, Cam, quick!" I heard him again. Without a second thought I also dropped to the ground onto the crunchy leaves and rolled under the bush. I left a decent space between Embry and I, though I knew I was visible if Seth were to walk past.
Right on that thought I heard leaves crunching and straight away thought we had been found. But just then Embry wrapped his arm over my waist and slid me right into him to hide me better. He took me by surprise, being completely pressed up against him. We lay very still, and there was nothing but him holding me tightly and the same addictive musky, boyish smell.
Only a few seconds later and Seth had passed without seeing us. Embry then loosened his grip and I fell away the tiniest bit, now able to see his face. It was only then I realised I had been holding my breath and let out a sigh.
We lay there for what felt like a long time, Embry's arm still draped over my waist. We smiled the few times we made eye contact, but never spoke.
"In the bushes!" We heard faintly. We glanced at each other, realising how bad that sounded and almost laughed.
"Together?" We heard another voice, and we were then snickering. Then we heard the crunching of leaves and knew that Seth knew where we were.
"Quick, make sex noises!" I whispered quickly and we both laughed at the idea. As he made no move to do so, I did.
"Oh, Embry! No... please... oh my god!" I moaned and the crunching leaves suddenly stopped as we held back laughter.
"Oh, yes, oh!" I continued.
"I can just imagine the look on Seth's face right now!" Embry whispered. I laughed quietly,
"Come on, make it convincing and really scare him." I poked him in the chest.
"Cam, oh... don't stop!" Embry moaned and we heard the crunching leaves quickly leaving in the other direction. Then we couldn't help but burst out with laughter.
"I so wish we had a camera to film his reaction just then!" I said between breaths, just before we heard crunching leaves again, only more footsteps.
"Are you sure?" One voice said.
"Yes! Positive!" Said another, who must have been Seth.
"Oh, yes... yes!" Embry and I started again. The crunching footsteps got a lot closer and then a torch was shone under the bushes. I rolled over onto my back to see them all peering under the bush.
"Just kidding." I smiled widely, and all their faces changed straight away, all laughing. I rolled out from under the bush and Embry followed.
"That was really funny, Seth actually looked scared!" Jared laughed.
"I'm pretty sure you all did." I said as Embry and I stood up and dusted ourselves off.
"You're so dirty, Embry! Why would you even come up with that?" Seth asked, looking a bit grossed out.
"Yeah, that's the funny thing. I didn't." He smiled innocently as everyone turned to me.
"That was your idea?" Paul asked me.
"Yeah," I laughed, "And why would you go and look anyways? What if we were actually doing something?" I asked, smirking. All the boys looked at one another.
"They would have wanted in." Embry said sarcastically, and they jumped on him and ruffled his hair, all laughing as we left for the backyard again.
Sorry this took so long... :) It didn't end quite where I wanted to, I could have probably written some more... but I thought it was getting a bit long and I can just kick off next chapter knowing what to write. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! (I know I laughed reading over that last bit... ;) lol! I was also thinking that could have had a bit of a bad impact on the way I want this character to turn out...) Tell me what you think! I'd love to know! It'd help, a lot! :) xo
