CHAPTER FOUR – Beginnings

CHAPTER FOUR – Beginnings

Winter's POV

I woke, and for a second had a moment of startling disorientation where I had absolutely no idea where I was. Then I remembered. I was at Sam's, in the guest room (now effectively 'my' room), and today was my first day at the La Push High School. Groaning, I rolled out of bed. I rummaged through my chest of drawers, looking for a shirt that was relatively clean. Tidiness was definitely not one of my attributes. I would have to go shopping soon, I mused, as I searched for a shirt. Finally I pulled out an old, black Rolling Stones t-shirt, grabbed my jeans off the floor and my towel off the back of the door as I headed to the bathroom. I turned the lights on and locked myself in. As I waited for the shower to heat up, (Sam's house having a notoriously bad hot water service) I assessed myself in the mirror. I realised that if you looked carefully, you could actually see the family resemblance between me and Sam. I just prayed nobody looked close enough. I hated questions, hated having to answer, knowing that everything I said would be warped and passed around the school in the form of malicious rumours.

I analysed my face carefully. I could be pretty, I thought, though not in the traditional Quileute sense. I looked straight into my reflection. Piercing green eyes looked back at me, framed by pale skin and wavy ebony hair. I had Ma's skin, clear (thank god) but incredibly pale. Yet, I had somehow defied the genetics that said I should look like my mother and inherited my father, Joshua's, black hair. I wondered about this as I stood in the shower, letting the hot water pummel my shoulders. Sam and I had agreed to keep our family ties a secret, preserving both my parent's reputation. Not that Joshua Uley had had much of one to start with. We settled with telling people I was Emily's niece from up on the Makah reservation, instead of just blurting out that I was his illegitimate half-sister. That would definitely make people curious. Curious enough to ask questions, and that was definitely the last thing any of us wanted. I tried to relax, tried to push all thoughts out of my mind. Unfortunately as I did that, it left room for more thoughts to come in. And that was how I found myself thinking about Jake.

He's been teaching me to fix cars like he does, down in his little garage at the back of his place. It had been a little over a month since I'd first met Jake that day at Billy's. I saw him almost every day after that, both of us making up lame excuses to go to the other's house. Jacob and I had just slipped into one of those friendships that seemed as natural as breathing. Finally we stopped making excuses and just turned up randomly, usually citing the evil green flying llamas as a reason. Hey, it worked for us! So yeah, we were practically inseparable. And whenever I was a bit sad or depressed, Jake would turn up out of the blue and cheer me up. It was like he had his own personal Winter radar. I giggled and let my mind wander as I got out of the shower and finished getting ready for school.

I was halfway into the kitchen when a deep, familiar voice pulled me up short. Speak of the devil and he shall appear indeed!

"So what's for breakfast, Aunt Em?" I froze in the doorway, and then chided myself for being silly. 'It's just Jake!' I chided myself. 'It's not like he's going to eat you!' I summoned my confidence and walked as naturally as I could into the kitchen. Five pairs of eyes looked at me and five voices chorused:

"Good morning, Win-ter!" like I was a kindergarten teacher.

"Whoa, whoa!" I flung my hands up.

"Glad you decided to join us, sleepyhead!" Emily teased as she handed me a plate loaded high with blueberry pancakes. I looked at the plate, then at her in amazement.

"You really expect me to eat all this?" I asked, bewildered.

"I forget. Catering to such hungry boys all the time, you usually overcompensate." She waved her hand around the room. I looked up. Sam, Leah, and Jacob were smiling. There was a guy sitting on the counter near the stove. He had sandy brown hair and looked scarily like Leah. He was also huge, almost as big as Jacob.

"Winter, this is my brother, Seth," Leah stated with a scowl. Jacob just looked at me from over the top of Leah's head with an exasperated expression, and I desperately tried to suppress a laugh.

"Hey, Winter," Seth said slyly. "Are you gonna eat those? Cos, I could help, you know! And I'm still really hungry!" He shot a look at Emily, and I couldn't stop my laughter any more. It rang out, taking Seth by surprise. Well, Seth really did look like a giant cuddly teddy bear when he looked at you with those puppy dog eyes. After a few seconds of me laughing like a maniac though, Seth and Jake joined in. even Leah cracked a smile, which stunned me. I didn't know she could smile.

"Alright. You can have some," I said, relenting. "But let me eat first okay, Seth?" Still laughing, I sat down at the table across from Jacob and offered him a pancake.

"Hey! How come he gets pancakes and I don't?" Seth whined in an injured tone.

"Because he's my friend and I only just met you. And because he didn't beg." Jake just grinned widely at Seth and stole another of my pancakes, so I took pity on Seth and sent a few flying his way. Soon his grin matched Jake's as they both devoured my breakfast.

All too soon, we were headed out the door. I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves, and then moved to Jake's Volkswagen Rabbit, beating Seth to the passenger door by a few steps.

"I call shotgun!" I cried, and smirked at Seth.

"Well, fine, be that way," Seth pouted. I stuck my tongue out at him, and he stuck his out in response.

"Real mature, you guys!" Jake jumped into the driver's seat and I swung into the passenger seat, beating Seth again by only a few millimetres. I slammed the door closed and locked it, making childish faces out the window at Seth, who stuck his lower lip out and got in the back seat, with Leah following suit. I looked over at Jacob to find him pissing himself laughing. I couldn't help it and I burst out laughing too. His laughter was so infectious. Soon the entire car was rocking with laughter. Even Leah joined in, which was pretty special. She hardly ever laughs. We were still laughing as we pulled up at the school. I looked out the window and suddenly my supply of courage was all gone. I stared up at the teenagers swarming up the steps in large throngs. Leah and Seth were gone in an instant, calling out to friends, and it was just me and Jake in the car. I swallowed. I could do this. I had to believe that. I felt a large, warm hand on my arm and I looked up, straight into Jake's eyes. They were full of an emotion I didn't recognise.

"You can do this, Winter." The statement was quiet, unsure, but somehow I believed every word.

"Yeah, I think I can." His eyes searched my face for something. He leaned in involuntarily, and said even quieter,

"I know you can." I felt my breath catch in my throat as his eyes burned, struggling with some inner emotion. I had a sudden mad desire to reach out, touch his face, help him, and ease the struggle. Amazingly, though, I didn't. I smiled at him and broke the moment, getting out of the car.

"C'mon. We're gonna be late." I grabbed my bag and headed off toward the main building. An arm snaked around my waist as I felt myself being pulled in the opposite direction.

"You're going the wrong way, baby girl," he growled playfully in my ear. I sighed and let him pull me along.

I let Jake drag me along for a few metres, then stuck my heels in and shook his arm off.

"I'm perfectly capable of walking to the office myself, thank you very much, Ja-cob!" I dragged out his name so he would get the point. Unfortunately that failed and he just laughed. I folded my arms with a 'Hmph' and turned my back on him. Next thing I knew, I was in the air, being carried awkwardly over his shoulder.

"Put me down! Put me down!" I was screaming at him, and I could feel the reverberations of his laughter echoing through his chest. He finally put me down and we both dissolved into helpless laughter.

"Dude! Jake's…laughing?" I heard an unfamiliar voice and I turned. I could have sworn Jake was behind me, but I was facing Jake, times seven. I recognised Seth, Embry, and Quil. They were almost as helpless as we were.

"Okay. Not funny, guys." I narrowed my eyes at Embry, who had a strange compulsion to pick me up every time he saw me.

"New rule." Embry and Quil groaned. I had been forced to set down rules ever since I met them for my own personal safety.

"Winter's feet", I used third person to emphasise it, "stay on the ground at all times. Okay? That applies for you too, Jake. No more making fun of me because I'm short!" And I was short, only five foot three. I didn't even come up to Jake's shoulder. But then again he was six foot six, so he had an unfair advantage. Meanwhile, Seth was rolling on the ground laughing. I rounded on him.

"You too, Seth. ALL rules apply to you. And I might need some more."

"Like what?" Seth choked out.

"Hmm, I know. I always gets shotgun because I'm the shortest." That shut Seth up pretty quick. I stuck my tongue out at him for extra effect.

"Okay, enough fun at Winter's expense," Leah cut in sharply. "We're gonna be late to class."

"Hold up there!" Jake said suddenly. "Winter, these guys are Paul, Brady and Collin. And of course you know Seth, Leah, Embry and Quil … hang on, where did Quil go?"

"Here I am!" he sang, barrelling through people as he came toward us. "I got Winter's schedule and stuff." I just looked at him. Quil grinned.

"A little bit of thanks wouldn't go astray!" he whined.

"Fine, thanks," I muttered under my breath. Jake's smile grew wider, if that was even possible.

"Leah's right, though," I pointed out. "We're all gonna be late." We moved, laughing as a group at Quil and Embry's antics, up the steps and into the school. Quil, Embry, Jake and I left the others in the hall, as we had Government first period in building three, while the all others had English first, in building one. Paul, as a senior had a free period. I envied him, because I hated school at the best of times.

"C'mon, Winter, it's not that bad." I looked up to see Jake grinning.

"Yeah, Winter, the teachers are all pushovers," chimed in Embry. I took a deep breath and walked into the classroom.

"Mr Black, Mr Call, Mr Ateara. So glad you could join us today," the teacher said acidly.

"Sorry, Mr Cario. We were showing our new student around," Jake replied.

"Ah! Fresh meat! Where is she?" He frowned. "I don't see her." Embry chuckled and pulled me out from behind Jake.

"This is Winter Fields. She's cool!" Quil introduced me enthusiastically.

"Thank you Mr Ateara. Please take your seats. Ms Fields, there is an empty seat next to Mr Black. That can be yours."

"Aw, Jake, how come you get her? I wanna play with Winter!" Quil pouted. Jake just raised an eyebrow.

"As I recall, last time we let you and Winter 'play' you ended up trashing my shed.

"Hey!" I said. "We were playing hide and seek! It's not my fault Quil gets… overenthusiastic!" Embry cracked up.

"Besides, we cleaned it up!" Quil added.

"WILL YOU PLEASE PAY ATTENTION? MS FIELDS, MR ATEARA! THIS IS MY LESSON!" The teacher, Mr Cario, looked like he was about to have an apoplexy.

"Sorry!" We all chimed.

"It's nearly the end of the lesson, anyway," Jake muttered. "Not like anyone else is listening anyway." I shot Jake a quick grin and then busied myself with copying the notes from the board.

When the bell rang, we all jumped up and bolted for the door. In the ensuing chaos, I was nearly crushed between Quil and the doorframe. I struggled futilely get free. All of a sudden, I was assaulted from every side by my memories of that hideous night. I couldn't breathe. No one was coming to help. I was alone again. I shrank against the wall, fighting the dark that threatened to close in on me. I knew that if I did, I would be at the mercy of my unknown assailant. I wanted to face him head-on, face the demon with the nightmare eyes. Face the man from my dreams. I collapsed to the floor as the memories burned, etched forever on my brain. I couldn't forget even when I desperately wanted to.

Warm arms were suddenly around me, and concerned dark eyes looked into my frantic green ones. Faces jostled into my field of vision and I shied away from all the curious stares.

"Winter? Ohmigod, Winter I'm so sorry. I didn't see you. Are you OK? Please be OK…." Quil's voice trailed off.

I found my voice and tried to laugh it off, but I was a bit shaky.

"I'm fine. Quil, you have a huge ass if you didn't see me!" I felt the arms around me shake with laughter. He looked miffed, and then he grinned.

"It's not my fault you're tiny." I stopped smiling then and gave him a death glare.

"Jake's booming laugh sounded from behind me. I realised, with a twist of my insides, that he had been the one to catch me, and that it was his arms that were warm around my shoulders. He got to his feet, helping me up along the way.

"C'mon, baby girl. Let's go to the cafeteria." He slung an arm around my still shaky shoulders, and led me gently out of the classroom. Quil and Embry bounded happily after us, laughing and joking as if nothing had happened.

I sat silently next to Jake in the cafeteria at lunch, lost in my own little world. He kept his arm around me, somehow sensing that I was still fragile, liable to break at the slightest thing. I sighed and shifted closer to him. I just felt so damn safe with him! Jake… he was just… Jake. He looked down just as I looked up, and as I caught his eyes, a strange, tender look flitted over his face, passing so fast I wasn't sure if I had imagined it or not.

"You feeling okay, baby girl? You don't look too good. Do you wanna go home?" I shook my head.

"I'm fine, I think." He raised an eyebrow. I smiled weakly at him and stood, planning to ditch my tray and then go to my locker. My body, however, obviously had other ideas. My knees buckled underneath me and I collapsed back onto the bench.

"Nu-uh. You are not fine. Come on, I'm taking you home."

"I'm fine!" I insisted. "Really, I'm good. We've gotta go to class." I stood up again, grabbing my art diary with one hand, and reaching for my bag with the other. Jake frowned, grabbed my bag with one hand and my free hand with the other.

"I said, I'm taking you home," Jake repeated, and began towing me toward the nurse's office. I took four steps and my treacherous legs gave way again, piling me in a heap on the cold tiles. My head hit the floor with a sick thud, and last I saw before I drifted into black oblivion was Jake's face, all scrunched up in worry.

I came to in the nurse's office, with absolutely no recollection of how I got there. I panicked, remembering the last time I'd woken up in a strange place. The only difference was that back then there'd been a psycho leaning over me with a machete.

"God, Winter, you gave me a scare then!" Jake's voice sounded nearby, but I couldn't see him. I sat up, trying to find him, needing to see someone there. My head spun and I moaned

"Whoa, baby girl, bad idea." He gently pushed me back down onto the bed.

"Jake?" I whispered hoarsely.

"Relax, I'm not going anywhere. I'm taking you home now, okay?"