Chapter 4
Sadie's POV
Roselyn and I were lying down in the back of Uncle Rob's truck listening to music and looking up at the stars. What happened today was the weirdest most confusing thing ever. Seth. He was all I could think about since I first laid eyes on him. Not once thinking about Jared. Every time I closed my eyes, Seth's face would pop up behind my eyelids. I didn't know what it meant but I was curious to find out.
I heard more than saw Roselyn shift to look over at me. "So are you gonna tell me what was going on with you and that Seth guy?" And that was the question I was dreading throughout this whole day. What was I going to tell her? I didn't even know what was going on! So I said the only thing I could, "What do you mean?"
She sat up to look at me in disbelieve, "Seriously Sadie? My blind grandpa could see there was something going on between you two!"
I sighed still looking up at the stars. I had always told Roselyn everything. She was my best friend and I wanted to do the same here. I just didn't know what to say. "I don't know, Roselyn. That was the first time I ever saw him," I looked at her then, lifting my hand to her with my pinky sticking out. "Pinky promise." I only had to wait a few seconds before I felt her pinky wrap around mine. I don't know why but I always thought pinky promises were stronger than regular promises. And Roselyn knew I didn't break pinky promises. Ever.
Dropping her pinky, I sat up so I could tell her everything I did know. "The only thing I know is what I felt. It was the first time I met him but it was like I've known him before. Like I've known him for years." I looked straight into her eyes and felt a smile spread across my face at what I was about to say, "And he was seriously hot!"
Roselyn and me giggled over how hot both of the guys were and soon started arguing over who was hotter. I would say Seth every time. And then she would say Jacob was more muscular therefore that made him hotter. The arguing soon subsided to more giggling and a snort or two. It then went to the discussion on what-we-would-do-if-we-had-them-in-a-dark-ally.
I was trying to get my laughter under control when Roselyn shot a question at me, killing my laughter instantly. "What did Seth ask you when he called you back to him?" I looked up to see her curious face lit up by the moon. Her hair was shorter than mine but still considered long. It looked close to black in the dark night.
"Oh, nothing. Just that he liked to come to the beach to hang out and he hoped to see me there sometime." I had looked down and was playing with a lose string in my shirt when I heard her squeal.
"Ohmygoodness!" she gasped and started giggling again. I laughed at her reaction.
I was still laughing when her giggling died away suddenly, "What about Jared?" she asked.
I looked up at her as a gust of wind blew in, ruffling her hair along with mine, "What do you mean 'what about Jared'? I'm not going to dump Jared over someone I just met."
"Have you talked to him at all since we got here?"
I narrowed my eyes at her. What the hell was she implying? Roselyn saw my reaction and was quick to defend herself. Holding up her hands as if in surrender, she spoke, "Hey! I was just asking, Sadie."
My eyes were still narrowed as I answered, "No. I haven't talked to him. He probably wouldn't answer anyway with the prom and everything." I watched her as she simply nodded at my excuse and lay back down against the hard metal of the truck.
I looked down at her and asked, "Want to go ask my mom if we can go to the house now?" We were going to be staying at a relative's house for the week that we are here. Right now all I wanted to do is crawl into a nice warm bed and fall asleep. To escape the whirl pool of chaos in my mind.
I didn't wait for an answer as I jumped off the back of the truck to the ground below, getting dirt into my flip flops. As I stood there for the few moments I was waiting for Roselyn to join me, I felt as if I was being watched. I looked out toward the forest. I couldn't' see much past a few trees before the darkness of the night consumed it. I thought I could make out a shape but before I could study it further Roselyn brushed past me.
"Are you going?" I heard Roselyn ask after a couple of seconds of walking. I looked at her, confused to what she was talking about. After seeing the confusion on my face she continued, "To the beach tomorrow? To see Seth?"
Ah shit! "Umm…I don't know. Maybe." I really didn't know if I would go. I knew that I wanted to. I just didn't know if it would be smart. I didn't even know this guy. Even though it feels like I do. And if I did go then I would probably have to take Roselyn with me. Where else would she go? And I'm the one who dragged her along to this stupid reunion anyway.
We walked in silence the rest of the way. We heard just the sound of the night and our shoes against the sand. But I could also feel as if I was being watched. And that would usually give me this weird creepy feeling but this time it didn't. It made me feel safe. Again with confusing!
We soon got to where my mother was still socializing. "Hey mother! Can we go to Joey's now?" I asked ignoring the stares I got for interrupting their conversation. I didn't feel like dealing with anyone right now. I just wanted to be somewhere. Anywhere but here. And as I thought about it, the longing grew. I felt a pull toward the woods. I wanted to be there. It was like someone was waiting for me. And I wanted to come. But why? God, I'm so confused!
She lifted her head up to give me the don't-be-rude glare. Though to everyone else it appeared to be normal. Sweet and loving. "Sure, sweetie," she turned back to everyone to say her goodbyes while Roselyn and I made our back to the truck to wait for her.
We didn't talk much on our way over to Joey's. Joey or Joseph is my oldest cousin who just moved to La Push a year or so ago. He was one of my favorite adult cousins. As soon as we got to Joey's, I texted Jared telling him 'goodnight' and turned off my phone. I didn't feel like talking to him if he called.
We were in our room that we would be staying in for the week, lights off and about to drift off to sleep when I heard Roselyn's voice seeping through the sleepy-fog my mind was in. "So you're going, aren't you? To the beach tomorrow?" Roselyn asked in a quiet voice.
"Huh?" was all I could say. I was too close to sleep. I slowly opened my eyes to find Roselyn hovering over me. Her face too close for comfort. I jerked away from her, taking the covers with me and finally processing her question. "Oh, umm…I already told you, Roselyn. I don't know," I closed my eyes again, enjoying seeing Seth's beautiful face behind my eyelids.
"It's okay if you do. I won't go with you. I have some stuff I have to do tomorrow anyway." I felt her flop down on the bed making us bounce.
She had stuff to do? In La Push? "How do you have stuff to do?" I asked in a confused voice, slowly waking up.
She shifted beside me, "It's nothing, Sadie. Just some stuff." I was going to push for more but decided to let it go. I was really tired and just wanted to get some sleep. I turned over on my side and got in my comfortable position. Curling into a ball and hugging a pillow. I slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep.
I awoke to that same freakish pull from the beach. I opened my eyes to see the room completely dark. The moonlight illuminated the room making some spots lighter than others. Casting shadows and making it seem as if there was something lurking in the darkness.
I reached toward the nightstand for my phone. I still wasn't fully awake so when I grabbed my phone, I had to fumbled with it for a moment trying to open it and turn it on. I finally got it open and pushed the 'end' button to turn it on. It made its little jingle before showing my wallpaper. It was a picture of Jared and me at a Halloween party. I was dressed up as a sluty vampire and Jared as a werewolf. He was a very sexy werewolf when we took it. But now he just seemed plain. I studied the picture trying to find out why it seemed so different. I didn't study it too long before the pull distracted me by getting stronger.
I looked at the time on my phone. It was 4:57a.m. Wow that is early. Nobody would be getting up for another 3 to 4 hours. I put my phone down on the nightstand and crawled out of bed. The wood floor was cold against my feet as I hurried to get my socks and shoes on. I looked over to Roselyn who was still passed out on the bed. She was curled up in the blankets with one arm hanging off the bed. Her hair in a big brown wad on top of her head. She was gonna have trouble with that in the morning. I signed and grabbed my jacket. I was out of the house in less than 5 minutes.
It was cool outside. There were clouds in the sky, of course, but not as much as there was earlier in the day. I didn't know where I was going. I just knew that I needed to go somewhere. And the pull was still there, guiding me. I wandered for about 10 to 20 minutes and finally found myself standing at the beach we had our family reunion.
It was dark but it was beautiful. The moon was out from behind the clouds which I'm sure is not a regular thing around here. The moon was falling out of the morning sky to make room for the sun that would be coming up in an hour or so. I walked over to where the water met the sand and sat down to slowly remove my socks and shoes.
I stood back up leaving my shoes on the ground. Sticking my feet in the wet sand, I let it sooth all the chaos still going on in my head about Seth and Jared. I listened to sounds of water hitting the shore and smelt the salty air coming off the ocean. It was very relaxing. I let my eyes slide close, enjoying the feel of the wet sand against my feet and the sound of the water. I breathed deeply forgetting everything…
"Hey again." I jumped and almost fell on my ass. Breathing hard, I looked over my shoulder and saw Seth walking up to me.
"Hey," my voice shook slightly. I looked back over to stare out into the ocean. It was lighter outside now and it made me wonder how long I was standing here. But it wasn't too light. The moon was still crawling itself out of the sky so I didn't have to worry about everyone waking up and finding me gone.
He stood next me as he said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
I looked over to see Seth staring out into the ocean. "It's okay. I just wasn't expecting to see anyone here."
He looked over at me saying, "Yeah. I didn't expect to see you here either. What are you doing here anyway?"
"Umm…I don't know. I woke up and wanted to be somewhere, though I didn't know where. So I just went walking and found myself here." I could feel my face heating up as I explained my reasoning for being here. Why did I even have to explain? I didn't know him. I breathed in deeply before letting it out in a loud sigh. "What about you? Why are you here?" I asked hoping it was too dark outside for him to see my red face.
"I told you. I like to come here to relax and hang out," he said smiling at me.
I smiled back at him and said, "At 5:30 in the morning?" I giggled.
He chuckled saying, "It's not 5:30, Sadie. It's 6."
The first thing that caught me was the way he said my name. It sounded so perfect when he said it. The way his voice seemed to caress it sent shivers through me body. The second thing was the time. Six o'clock. That was a shocker. I was standing for 30 minutes. No wonder my legs were so stiff. "Oh…" was all I said.
After standing in silence for a few moments, we had shifted from being beside each other to standing in front of each other. I was so close to him that any outside observer would thing we were intimate. A gust of wind blew my hair all around me and getting a piece of my hair stuck on my eyelash. I was about to lift my hand and brush it back down when Seth brought up his hand and brushed it away but didn't remove his hand. He left his hand on my cheek, cupping it. His thumb stroked my cheek in small circles. His touch was warm, feverish. Just like it was when he had helped me up at the reunion. I melted into his hand. Leaning into it and relaxing completely.
His face was beautiful in the early morning sky. His dark brown eyes where staring into mine, pouring out an emotion that I still didn't know. Though it seemed familiar. I just never seen an emotion so intense. His jet-black hair was tousled, as if he had been running his hands through it. The moon shined down on us—lighting our encounter.
As seconds and then minutes passed, I found myself leaning toward him. I breathed him in slightly to get the scent of him. He smelled so good. It was the scent of the woods but with a mix of something intoxicating. It's hard to describe. But I couldn't help gulping it down. It was like I couldn't get enough.
He was still looking into my eyes as I saw him leaning toward me. We were getting closer and closer. His lips parted slightly making me dart my eyes to them. His tongue came out to lick them. It glistened in the moonlight. I felt myself moving closer. I didn't even think about what I was doing. I just wanted to taste him. Put my lips on his. Just to see what would happen. That was okay, right? Nothing wrong with that. Just to see how it felt. I darted my eyes back up to his and he was staring at me as I felt his arms weave around my waist to pull me closer. Our lips were so close. I could feel his breath on me and breathed it in slightly. Jared would never know. I thought to myself. And that one thought brought everything back. I didn'teven know this guy.
I quickly pulled away, turning to face the opposite direction he was in. I tried to slow my heartbeat that was pounding in my ears. I'm sure he could hear it. I stood there for a moment almost wishing to have Seth's arms back around me. The absents of his warmth left me feeling empty in a way. I shivered and turned to him.
He was staring at me with hurt eyes but he quickly put up a mask. Seeing that second of hurt in his eyes hit me like someone had punched me in the gut. I sucked in air before saying, "I have to go." I couldn't stay here. I had to get as far away from him as I could.
I bent down to pick up my socks and shoes and started off to Joey's house. Seth's voice stopped me half way up the beach. "Wait!" I heard him yell and making me turn around to see him jogging up behind me. He stopped in front of me and said, "I'm sorry, Sadie. I didn't mean for…" he trailed off not knowing what to say.
I looked up into his eyes and saw just how sincere his apology was. But I didn't want him to be sorry. Because I wanted it too! I wanted him to kiss me so badly it scared me shitless.
I looked into his chocolate brown eyes and said, "It's okay, Seth. But I do gotta get back." I turned around then and headed for Joey's, leaving Seth behind on the beach as the moon finally fled from the sky.
