Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and plot devices are the sole property of the illustrious Stephenie Meyer, whom I can only imitate. This fan fiction is for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement intended.
What I'm reading: Canon, by SideKick55, is a delightful post-Breaking Dawn story told from a unique point of view: a non-Cullen. Read along as Ethan moves to tiny Forks and discovers that the town holds ancient secrets. This story is both hilarious and captivating. Check it out and don't forget to leave some review love!
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Chapter Four
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I awoke to the front door slamming. The sun shone through my window, illuminating the rain droplets still clinging to the windowsill. It was only drizzling outside, though. No downpour.
"Ugh" I rolled over and looked at my clock.
10:34 am.
"Ugh!" With nothing really planned for my day I was reluctant to even get out of bed, but figured I should at least make an effort at being human. Maybe I should explore La Push. That would take, what, an hour at most? La Push was so tiny. I could start at the beach and go down to the marina, stop by the hotel to see Dad. Hmmm. I could take him lunch. He'd like that.
I heaved myself out of bed and started getting ready for my lonely day. Why didn't you put up more of a fuss when Brady had mentioned he be ditching you today? I thought to myself disgustedly. You have no reason to complain, since you didn't say anything when you should have. Just make the most of it. At least the sun's out! I put on a pair of shorts and plain tee-shirt. No need to get dressed up just to wander around the rez.
I prepared a several turkey sandwiches for lunch, wrapping up my dad's and putting them in a bag so I could carry them over to his workplace. I grabbed a bottle of water for myself, shoved my small umbrella and rain jacket into my bag, checking to make sure my compass still hung from the key chain on the zipper.
Okay, La Push, time to be explored! I stepped outside, not bothering to lock the front door. La Push was small enough that everyone knew one another. I doubted there were any robbers waiting for me to leave so they could steal our junk. We didn't really own anything of exceptional value anyway.
I started towards the beach. As my legs pulled me over the hill, my breath caught. With the sun shining through the light morning drizzle, the sandy shore revealed its treasure: small rainbow-colored pebbles strewn near the water's edge. They all glimmered in the light, adding to the sparkle of the waves as they crested and broke on the wet sand. I sat on my favorite driftwood log and simply drank in the sight. The island across the water, St James Island, jutted up proudly from the sea, its cliffs glaring white against a blue sky. The trees above the cliffs reached with their highest branches, trying to grab the few clouds that released their drizzling rain.
I sighed. It was sights like these that made me wish I could stay in La Push forever, to live here after I 'grew up.' But I couldn't, adopted or not. I wasn't a Quileute, wasn't married to one, and, unless I planned on living in my parents' house for the rest of my life--which I didn't plan on, even though I loved them both dearly--I'd have to move after a year. I supposed I'd go to college somewhere. I knew the time had passed for applying for the fall semester. I'd purposely put it off, since the family had been moving and I wanted to spend as much time with them before parting. Besides, I really did love my parents' culture--the Quileute nation was fascinating to me. I had all the history books and had studied the language under my father's tutelage. Staying longer in La Push was a dream come true for me, so putting off college for a year hadn't been a difficult decision. I was determined to enjoy it while it lasted.
Sliding from the log, I pulled myself from my reverie and started walking down the beach, towards the marina.
I spent the morning admiring the fishing boats docked along the pier, listening to the gentle lapping of the waves against the wooden beams holding up the little bridge to the hotel where Dad was working. I dropped off his lunch, earning a warm hug from him. He showed me around the resort, though it was so small it could hardly be called a resort. I got introduced to the other managers on duty that day. Apparently, with summer almost upon us, they had tons of work to do in order to get ready for the peak tourist season. I got out of the way quickly after that, and left Dad to his work.
Now what? I tried to figure out what to do next. I could go back home, but it was only three in the afternoon. I'd be bored out of my mind. Instead, I headed to the few shops that lined the main road in the town, starting with the one closest to the beach.
The shop by the beach was a touristy store, selling woven straw and wooden baskets and carved wolf masks. The middle-aged woman behind the counter smiled at me but left me to browse uninterrupted. I fingered a small wolf figurine carved from driftwood. It was superbly crafted. I wondered if the school taught this kind of carving in the woodworking class my brother was taking. I'd have to get him to make me something to add to my collection of Quileute artifacts.
I moved on to the small grocery store, hoping to get a granola bar. I decided to go on a hike after all. Who needs brothers, right? I'd go without Brady and Collin. They wanted to party? Fine. I wouldn't change my plans just because they wanted to hang out with a crazy gang member.
I swiftly walked the aisles, searching for snacks. Finally, I found the trail mix, and--yes--granola bars! Lunch was several hours past, and my stomach was begging for a snack. While standing there, examining boxes, trying to decide whether to get blueberry crunch or strawberry chewy, I felt a figure come to stand beside me. I glanced up at the beautiful girl pulling boxes of microwaveable popcorn off the shelves and into her overflowing cart. She had lovely copper skin and midnight black hair, pulled back into a ponytail.
"I recommend the blueberry, if you're trying to decide." Her voice washed over me, infused with happy laughter.
She turned to me and held out a hand. "I'm Emily Young."
I stifled a gasp when I took in the right side of her face that had been previously turned away from me. Her beauty was marred by three red lines that ran from her hairline to her chin, stopping to pull the corner of one eye into a downward slant and the corner of her mouth into a grimace. It was a shocking sight.
I forced myself to look into her dark eyes. They twinkled at me.
"And you are?" She gently prompted me.
"Oh, I'm Anna Darkwood. I just moved here with my family." I tried hard to look in her eyes while I spoke, but her scars pulled my gaze. I limply shook her hand.
She smiled, seemingly unfazed by my rude stare. "It's nice to meet you, Anna. I assume you attend QTS?"
"Yeah, I'm a senior. Only three weeks to go, yay." I cheered weakly, my nervousness at talking to a beautiful stranger, scars notwithstanding, getting to me.
"Well, that's good. My cousin is a senior, too." She paused and frowned. I watched, biting my lip, as the right side of her mouth stayed up while the rest of her mouth turned downward. "Well, she was a senior, I should say. I don't believe she's been back to school for quite some time, since Uncle Harry died."
"Oh, are you talking about Leah Clearwater?"
She looked back at me, amazed. "Yes, how did you know?"
"Oh, well, one of Seth's friends, Collin, is now also one of my brother Brady's friends. He was dishing to us about all our classmates during lunch the other day." I paused, horrified that I'd admitted to gossiping.
Emily relieved my fears by laughing. "Ah, yes. Collin. Sweet kid. He'll make a good friend for your brother. Seth, too."
"Yeah, he and my brother are going to Seth's playoff party tonight."
She brightened up even more. When she smiled like that, her eyes sparkled, and it was easier to ignore her scars. "Oh yeah? That's being held at my fiance's house. Or, at least, part of the party is—we're supposed to start the night off at the Clearwater's. I'm here trying to buy enough snacks for all the guys who are coming. They eat like pigs." Her light laugh sounded again.
I was starting to really like Emily. She seemed to have a very sunny attitude, despite being so disfigured. It wasn't so hard anymore to look past her scars, too.
"Wow, small rez, huh? Well, I'll leave you to that, then. It was nice meeting you."
She spun around as I sidestepped her, heading to the checkout lane clutching my box of blueberry granola bars. "You should come to the party tonight. I'd love to have another girl there to talk to. Sometimes the guys get completely caught up in the game and ignore everything and everyone else."
I smiled and said, "Well, I really don't want to impose. Besides, I was planning on going hiking for a couple hours before heading home to spend the evening with my dad."
Emily's face fell a little before brightening up again. "Okay, well I hope I'll get to see you again sometime. I know what it's like, moving to a new place. I only moved to this reservation a year ago. Feel free to come by sometime. Maybe we could have a movie night or something. Perhaps next week, say, Friday?"
A wide smile took over my face. "I'd like that a lot. Thanks, Emily." I'd made a new friend!
I paid for my granola bars and gave another wave to Emily, who was inching toward the checkout lane herself, throwing bags of chips in her cart as she moved. Stepping outside, I looked up at the sky. The drizzle had ceased so I turned to the forest and quickly found a path leading into the green foliage. Glancing at my compass, I stowed my purchase in my bag, grabbing and unwrapping a bar for myself, before starting out at a brisk pace.
I walked for about an hour, keeping to the now fading trail, checking my compass often, like a good little hiker. The scenery out here was amazing. The emerald green of the moss nestled itself against darker green of leafy trees, with a few brown spots here and there where the barks of trees peeked out from the moss. The forest floor was covered in a thick carpet of green grass, the soil obviously very rich from all the rain. I soaked it all in as I pushed on, oblivious to the darkening sky.
Suddenly, a trio of howls sounded from behind me.
Ten points to anyone who can identify the owner of the tourist shop on the beach!
A/N 4/20/09: I'll be heading out of town for a long weekend, starting on Thursday morning. So I plan to update and post a chapter on Thursday morning, early, before I leave. Don't want to leave my readers hanging! ;-)