I'm finally back from my long vaction in Oregon. Sorry it's so late please enjoy. And there will most likely be errors. I have no beta. I've read and reread this story many times but I'm not 100% sure all is fixed. Sorry! :)

Oh and like always I only own this story. The twilight world and concept is owned by another.

Long slender fingers tightly clenched the hem of the overly large night shirt that her frail frame swam in while trying in vain to suppress the gasp that danced on her damp lips. Silent tears stained her eyes red.

The faint sound of water dripping slowly pulled her from her thoughts long enough for reality to grasp her numb mind. Two large hands gently bobbed in and out of the ice cold water in the bowl that laid on the table next to her. Ripples danced across the water's surface staining the water with her blood. The rag was for ever stained, even if he was able to remove the blood this once blue rag would forever be tainted with the frail girl that sat before him 's blood. Another cloth to add to the collection.

"... Someday I wont be here. Airee are you even listening?" Pausing in the middle of cleaning a rather deep cut on said girl's bare shoulder, the owner of the large hands calmly waited for a reply.

"Some. But you're doing great. You've nailed this speech months ago. It's not like you need me to fully listen we both know how this is going to end." Arazla's facade fell, a shaky smile left in its wake.

He didn't know what to say for a few minutes. It wasn't what she was saying. It was the look upon her thin pale face that had him speechless. She looked so lost and even more helpless then ever before. The look was of someone that finally understood; she would never win. No matter how hard she would try to stand back up Fate would just knock her back down again. And at that moment she was content with giving up.

"If you wont leave, then..." Dropping his blood stained rag, the young man made his way to stand directly in Arazla's line of sight. "Then let me help you. Please..." Both hands now rest gently on her frail cheeks, willing her to understand the pain he felt for her. "Before its too late. I love you but I will not watch you calmly build your grave. I'll help. We can fight this."

"How! I have yet to find the magic button that will make all this disappear, what makes you think that you can do any better?" At the mention of fighting this as if she had never thought of this before, sent her into a fit of hysterics.

Stepping away from her flighting hands the young man allowed his friend to vent before he would explain. Needless to say this was kind of what he was hopping for. A sign that she hadn't completely given up. And thats what he was there for. He would build her up and this time she would have a little kick for her dear old father. Something he wished he could watch. Floyd needed his ass kicked and what a surprise would it be if it was from his dear daughter.

"You've been looking at this from the wrong angle." A sly smile touched his ever so sweet pale lips.

"Alright I'll bite, what? What angle have I over looked?"

"Stop being the victim." Was his simple reply.

"Ohhhhhhh, Oh ok. Thanks that was like, WOW, how could I not have thought of that. I'll just march right up to him and say, 'Look here, I think its about time we switch rolls.' Are you listening to yourself. I swear-"

"Thats exactly what I expect, well not as much talking..." Seeing the look of disbelief on her face, he decided that he changing tactics might be wise. "Airee, if you fight back, stand up for yourself you can change your 'rolls'."

"I... I can't." Head dropping low, Arazla allowed all of the false hope that she had not more then seconds ago clung to out. This was ridiculous. She could never, would never stand a chance.

"Thats where I come in. Let me help you."

XxXxXxXxX

"Your imprint looks almost as tired as you do. Was there something you would like to share with us?" Shaking a suggestive eyebrow, Jared nodded in the direction of the girl in question as she quickly walked to her locker on the other side of the court yard while he ate his lunch.

"More wishful thinking then anything. She can barely stand looking at him let alone be in the same room with our little Embryo." Eyeing the poor girl, the lifeless monotone taunt came from Paul. A weird thing. When poking fun he normally enjoyed it more. But now he looked bored and almost sympathetic. Almost.

"Still can't sleep?" As always Kim's concern was evident in her voice as she question Embry's state from across the table were they always ate their lunch.

Low snickering could be heard from Jake and Quill's corner of the long table.

"What? It's funny if you look at it from the right point of view. First he imprints on a chick who can't stand him. And, if thats not just hilarious on its own, now his body has turned on him. The crazy body spasm mix with your lack of sleep is just-" Stopping in mid explanation Jacob along with the rest of the little group watched from across the court yard as three girls corned Arazla.

Half way out of his seat Embry felt Kim's tiny fingers tighten around his wrist.

This fight was about him, well the entire group of 'La Push' boys. He could hear the sneers the other girls were making toward his imprint. And Kim was stopping him? Why?

Before he could question her motives his silent pondering was answered.

"Sit. You'll only make it worst if you join in. She still doesn't like you let alone trust you and the argument is most likely about you guys." Nodding her head to the table before her that was currently occupying the rest of the 'La Push' boys. Not having the sensitive hearing as the others she couldn't say for sure what was being said but she had a pretty good guess as to what it was about. Removing her hand from his wrist Kim gently laid it upon her chest in a gesture of responsibility. "Let me-"

Just as Kim was about to offer to aid her quickly growing best friend the taller girl of the three that had been hearsing Arazla just upped the stakes. Rough fingers wove themselves into Arazla's hair, wrenching the smaller girl backwards causing her to stumbled as the taller one dragged her prey back to the locker bay.

All watch on in pure shock, even Paul remained silent. In a matter of seconds the scene had shifted.

Two of the three girls stood wide eyed against the wall, unable to peel their gaze away from the sight before them.

One foot firmly place on the bigger girl's back and the other just to the left of her shoulder. Arazla stood glaring at the girls plastered to the wall while she absently wrenched on her victims oddly extended arm higher into the air.

The taller girl of the three that insisted on following Arazla around during lunch was named Angela. The other two, Linda and Jessica, along with their ring leader Angela for the past week had been using every ounce of their free time to make the newest female student of L PHISH to pay for stepping in on their time with the hunks of La Push.

And to their shock they just may have to find a new toy, this one had a little kick to it. One second she was running away from the fight and the next she had untangled Angela's fist from her hair, flipped and pinned Angela face flat against the tile floor of the locker bay. All in a matter of seconds. Before Angela could even process what was happening her new toy had pinned her.

Somehow while Arazla was trying to walk away from the three girls, and being pulled back to the locker bay by her hair, Arazla had switched rolls. One second she was the mouse and then the next she was the cat.

"You know I would pay to see her do that to you, Paul." The first to break the silence, to everybody's shock was Brady. A few followed in his pursuit, chuckles and snickers followed along with a few side comments of what she could do to Paul.

From across the court yard only a few continued to watch the show, Embry being one. And Paul the other. Many missed the strange look in the ever changing grey eyes of Embry's imprint as she slowly backed away from her fallen victim and retrieved her forgotten back pack.

The little tif between the three and Arazla had ended just as quickly as it started.

To Arazla's relief the lunch bell rang. She wasn't all too hungry anymore anyways.

XxXxXxXxX

"Hey, Arazla wait up." Quickly approaching foot steps could be heard as the owner of the voice jogged to catch the small girl as she made her way to her next class.

Slightly out of breathe Kim paused by Arazla's side once she finally caught up. "You left so quickly yesterday after music class I never had a chance to congratulate you on your solo. It was... Wow. I didn't know you could sing."

"Thanks Kim." Dropping her head to hide behind her long locks, Arazla mumbled her reply.

Kim was a walking explanation point, her overly loud praise was more than the petite female next to her was used to. Arazla didn't normally mind her friend's means of expressing herself. By no means was she over dramatic like the typical lead star of some daytime drama. Just very bubbly and constantly open about her thoughts and feelings.

But at this moment Arazla would give just about anything if Kim could just lower her expressive meter by half.

"It's a shame you hold back so much, that voice of yours should be heard."

"I, I um-" Turning an even brighter shade of red Arazla lost the ability to think on her feet and instead mumbled something un intangible.

"Wow! A bashful Arazla. Who would have thought it was possible. Seeing you deal our sweet little Embry verbal whiplash in a few short sec-"

"Not this again." And that was all that was need to get our little Arazla back on track, mind skipping back into place. She had no problem ending this topic before it could grow any further.

"Okay okay, point taken. So... How was your lunch?" Kim's sly all knowing smile had Arazla paling.

Did she see the little confrontation between her and the three bullies?

Not saying anything more Kim continued her path to class leaving a paling Arazla behind.

XxXxXxXxX

"Alright class take your seats. Today we'll be starting a new project. It seems that we are so far a head I had to rearrange a few things. So, in this project we will be combining Math and Science using both in a practical environment. Your projects will be using some form of Civil Engineering. Each team will get to decide which sub category that you would like to use." Pointing to the board behind her, Emily continued to explain to the class their newest task. "I'll be grouping you into teams of three and four. Each team will choose together what task they would like to complete. At which point you will write your chosen task on the board next to your group's number. No two groups will have the same job. I will also be handing out a list of requirements once the groups are assigned. Now group one will be..." Reading through the list Emily paired her class into groups with a bored look. That was until group three however. "... Arazla, Seth, Tasha and..."

At the mention of Seth's name Embry's heart dropped. It wasn't anything to do with Seth personally, Embry liked him. It was the look upon Arazla's face that crushed poor Embry. Which was the real reason Emily made a last minute switch-a-roo to her pre-planned list. She had seen both of their looks; Arazla's look of relief mix with joy and Embry's heart shattering plea for help.

"Embry will be group three. Group four will be..." And with that she continued down her list.

And at the mention of Embry's name Arazla's sudden pleasant mood vanished. Sinking further into her chair, Arazla glared at her bare desk.

This day just gets better and better. First the Goon's cheerleaders, now the Goon himself. Yay me.

The class regrouped with their new partners.

"O.K. so according to this list of requirements we need to pick a job that has something to do with Civil Engineer; build and test something to do with the field that we choose." Reading over the list that Emily just handed out, Tasha summed up the task in one long breathe.

Clapping her hands excitedly together Tasha loudly announced her idea of what they should do while she eyed Seth hungrily. Inhaling quickly Tasha shot a snide look in Arazla's direction before she rambled her idea. "Well, we could build a software that-"

"Negative ghost rider, I don't think so. Try again." The quick reply came from somewhere within the pair of folder arms that blocked Arazla's view of her team. Just the way she liked. She didn't care for her team, well save for Seth that is.

"What! Why not, it would be a shoe-" The quick shot down and the fact that the little twerp couldn't even look her in the eyes while she snapped at her had Tasha livivd.

"Well, first off you're a little confused on what the project is asking of us. And-" Biting her tongue Arazla fought with herself to remain polite as she explained her reasonings to the young lady who sat across from her glaring at her.

"Your 'It's a shoe-in' is the very reason why we shouldn't. It's kind of a cheap shot don't you think, using Arazla's family legacy as an easy A?" This should have won Arazla over, but Embry's little attempt to be her white knight was in vain.

One, she had never asked him to defend her. She definitely didn't need his help, she was doing just fine. And the second was his methods. One of Arazla's pet peeves was being interrupted. She hated it when people take things from her and this was a form of doing just that.

Grinding her teeth, Arazla chose to stay silent and look the other way.

"A Civil Engineer does design things but thats more or less things such as roads, buildings, airports, tunnels, dams, bridges, or water supply and sewage systems. The fields could be either design, construction, research, or teaching. While computer could be interwoven easily into any of these fields they have their own category outside of Civil Engineering."

"Fine, then what would you suggest Arazla?" Tasha's fake politeness only won her a blank look from the other girl.

This was why she disliked High School, girls like Tasha, Angela, Linda and Jessica. And this school was filled with them.

Team three debated back and forth until the class ended, and yet they were no further then they had started. Well beside Seth and Arazla being the only two who got along with one another.

Seth was the only one that attempted to get along with all. While Embry resented Seth for Arazla beings so opening and comfortable with the younger man.

Tasha on the other hand dislike all. Seth because he chose to side with Arazla and seemed rather fond of the little twerp's thoughts. Arazla for the obvious reasons, she had called her out and she was taking the guy she liked while another was chasing her. She was the typical girl that Tasha hated about High School. And Embry for being the little freak's lap dog, willing to follow her around.

The bell rang, announcing to all that class was dismiss. Cleaning up, Arazla prepared herself for the rest of her classes. The ones where she had to participate with the rest of the school.

Grabbing her bag Arazla stood up about ready to leave for the next class when a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Hey, we need to set a time to meet for our projects. We have nothing to show for this entire class." Spinning around Arazla eyed the taller man as he spoke.

Pealing Embry's fingers off of her shoulder, Arazla eyed the man with something akin to dislike that bordered very close to loathing as she spoke slowly and almost calmly to the man. "No need. I'll just do it and you can put your name on it."

"I'm down." Popping into the conversation uninvited Tasha added her two cents in. Looking as if she was mentally debating with herself if have the little dweeb on her was a good thing.

"Well I'm not." Embry snapped almost offended of the thought if he wasn't so hurt by her look.

"Look, I'll make sure-"

"How will that look for a future tribe council member if we pass our responsibilities off on someone else. It sounds like a bad habit to get into to me. Plus I was thinking we could all meet at this diner in Forks." The soft spoken words came from behind the Big Goon that now blocked Arazla's path to the door.

Being Seth that interrupted Arazla in the middle of her plea to just let her do all the work, Arazla would let it slide.

Plus he kind of had a good point.

Seeing that she was still hesitant Seth added in a ... "We could make it a group thing. We could have Kim's group join us as well. How does that sound? "

Pondering her options Arazla finally agreed. "Fine. When?"

"When would be good for you?" At this Kim popped in, it seems she had over heard enough if not all of it.

Knock knock

"Enter."

"Father, what would you like for dinner tonight?"

"Don't bother, it would most likely be burned anyhow. I'm leaving for Boston in a few hours for a work conferences. I will know if you step past your boundaries. Beware of the consequences if you diced to brake the rules. You will be punished, so think before you act."

"Yes, Sir."

"Now leave before you're late for school."

"Yes, Sir."

"Well what are you waiting for?"

"Well Sir, my class is having their monthly Open House on the 27th. Will you be able to make it?"

"We'll see. Now leave before you ruin my good mood."

"Yes, Sir.

Thinking about the encounter she had with her father earlier that day Arazla took a chance. Her father would be gone for at least one full day.

"Well tomorrow is Saturday, how about a late breakfast/early lunch?"

A few seconds passed before all nodded.

"Do you have a ride?"

"You can ride with me if you want?" Kim's question was barely out before Seth shot his.

"I can walk, were is it?"

"Don't be silly! I'll pick you up." The simple statement had both boys, Embry and Seth, eyeing Kim. She left no room for arguments. You could tell in the look in her brown eyes that she wasn't about to play this game.

XxXxXxXxX

Sliding open the loose floor board in her bedroom, Arazla silently took out the only prized possession in this house.

It was a risk but one Arazla was willing to take. The foul creature of a father was gone at least until mid afternoon tomorrow. There for it should be some what safe to pull out her secret beat up theft store radio alarm clock. Tonight was something to celebrate.

Floyd hadn't been on a business trip in almost six months. For a CEO of his own computer tech business that was a long time to not be involved in the branches across the country's affaires. And Arazla couldn't be more thrilled. He was gone for at least a night, she would be able to relax and listen to music and do just nothing. And on the plus side school wasn't that bad either. Well besides the first half of the day, but the second was pretty good.

She was having a rather pleasant time chatting with the Friendly Hacker via text and had the pleasure of teaming up with him. Seth or the Friendly Hacker either way you wanted to call him was growing on her. He just may be one of her only friends besides Kim at this school. And they were all meeting up for a late breakfast study group.

She wasn't all too thrilled about being teamed up with the goon Embry but as long as Seth was there then she would tough out the next few weeks.

Plugging in her dingy alarm clock Arazla sung along to the first song that came on; White Ballons by Sick Puppies.

Outside the window silently listening to the angelic voice singing the sweetly and completely heart wrenching song sat a very still wolf.

I would love to hear if people are actually reading this and would lke me to continue. While I was on vacation I was pondering about ending this story. Please let me know if I should or not.

Thanks

~Ashes~