Disclaimer: Don't own this.


Chapter Three- Don't Bust My Chops

(Karen's POV)

I followed Embry down the steps. He opened Nadi's door for me and I got in carefully. The inside of the car was just as nice as the outside. Embry started the car and pulled out of the driveway. He asked me for my address and I told him.

I was hoping the car ride to my house would be as silent as when Emily drove me, but Embry soon squashed those hopes.

"So do you like hanging out with Emily?" He asked.

"She's great." I answered. I prayed if I kept my answers as short as possible maybe he would get the hint I didn't want to talk. There was something about him that made me want to tell him everything about me, but another part told me I didn't know him and I certainly don't trust him. Why should I have to tell him anything about me?

Embry didn't look pleased by my short answer, so he asked, "What about Bella? Do you like her? Do you like Kim and Nadi?"

"Kim is nice. Bella's a lot like her just a little bolder." I said, turning my face to look out the window. Why was he driving so slow in a car so fast?

"What about Nadi?" Why did he have to ask that question? I wasn't quite sure I liked Nadi yet. I mean sure she was sweet as can be, but she intimidated me a lot.

So I just said, "Yes."

"Yes what?" Embry asked.

I didn't answer. I couldn't lie and tell him I like her, I mostly do like her, there was just something about her I didn't like that I couldn't put my finger on. Embry didn't like my silence.

"So you don't like her?" He asked sadly.

"Why do you care so much?" I asked without thinking. I blushed furiously and put my head down, staring at the armrest my hand was gripping at the moment.

"She's my friend. Why don't you like her?" He asked.

I sighed. "It's not that I don't like her, it's just I don't like something about her."

Embry asked, "What do you mean?" He glanced over at me curiously, trying to read my eyes. I kept my gaze out the window.

"It's the way everyone looks to her and Sam for anything. How they seem to be in charge of everyone." I said.

Embry was silent for a moment, and then asked. "Where did you get that?"

"Last night at the Cullen's house, when Paul yelled at me, Nadi told him to go outside and he went. Then Nadi said it was getting late and everyone started to leave. Then you volunteered to drive me home and Nadi said no. And all of you look to them for permission. I don't like it." I said.

Embry was quiet again. "You don't know what you're saying." I rolled my eyes, but he didn't see. He continued, "Sam and Nadi have helped us through a lot of stuff. I don't know where any of us would be without them."

I thought back to what my mother said about Sam and Emily. I asked, "Why would Sam leave Emily so easily then? My mom said when she was attacked by a bear Sam was all torn up about it. I didn't even know Nadi was a Cullen until yesterday at graduation. She just came out of nowhere and suddenly her and Sam are together and saving you guys." My voice dripped with disbelief, I didn't know what was wrong with me today.

Embry gripped the steering wheel tighter and ground his teeth together. "Karen, there are a lot of things you don't understand. You will soon, but please don't judge Sam and Nadi until you know the whole story. They are respected in La Push for a reason."

"And what would that reason be?" I snapped.

He looked at me, "I'll tell you soon enough." Then looked back at the road. The intensity in his eyes knocked the breath out of me momentarily. I blinked and looked down at my hands.

Embry looked back at me, smiling this time. I hadn't realized we had arrived at my house. I reached for the door, but Embry stopped me, "Karen," I turned back. "Can I get your number? I'd like to call you if that's okay."

It took me a minute to process what he said and then I took his phone that he was holding out to me. I added my number to his contact list, mumbled a 'bye' and went inside.

My mom wasn't around anywhere, so I went up to my room and lay down on my bed. I couldn't believe Embry wanted my number. Could he actually like me? Even after I pretty much admitted I didn't like Nadi?

It's not that I don't like Nadi, I do. It's just the thing about her I don't like. I certainly didn't hate her; I found it impossible to hate her. I took a shower and crawled into bed once I had my fluffy pajamas on. That night, I had the strangest dream.

I was in my room asleep, when a sharp pain in my side woke me up. I sat up in bed groaning from the intensity of the pain. I wanted to call out to my mother for help, but I couldn't speak. It was like cotton balls in my mouth preventing me from speaking.

Instead, I went over to my window. I didn't remember climbing out of it, but here I was on the ground next to my house. There was a sharp pain in my back that caused me to fall against the house. I tried to speak again; my tongue ran over sharp teeth, much to sharp to be my own.

A sharper pain in my back caused me to fall forward this time. My vision blurred, but then became sharper. I could see every blade of grass on the ground in front of me.

Saliva fell from my open mouth and in between my hands that were spread apart in front of me. I felt an odd sensation in my hands and watched as hair started to grow out of them. I stood up and shook my hands wildly trying to stop the hair growth, but it didn't work.

I lurched forward again, expecting my face to come in contact with the ground, but my hands shot out and stopped my fall.

I woke up the next morning, naked in my bathtub. I tried to remember the rest of the dream but I couldn't. I stood up and took a shower before getting dressed for the day. I had to work this morning at Blockbuster in Port Angeles. I got out of the shower and dressed in my uniform.

I climbed into my mom's old Honda Accord. Of course she couldn't drive it anymore and she had owned this car since I was young. The drive to Port Angeles was long and slow. Work was even slower.

When work was over, I decided I didn't want to go home and face my mother yet. She was probably still mad at me about yesterday, so I took a walk through Port Angeles. I went into a bookstore and got some dinner from Burger King. Then I decided it was time to go home. I drove slowly; hoping mom would be asleep when I got there.

She was, so I was able to go up to my room without her bothering me. As soon as I shut my bedroom door, the phone rang. It was all the way downstairs in the living room. My choices were either to let it ring and it would wake mom up, or I could go down and answer. I chose the latter.

"Hello?" I asked into the phone.

"Karen, it's Embry." Came the husky voice from the other end.

"Hi Embry." Why was I so nervous all of a sudden? I went into the kitchen and went to sit on the back porch, which thankfully was screened in. "Why are you calling so late?" I asked him.

"Why are you up so late?" He countered.

"I just got home from work." I told him.

"Oh. How was work?" He actually sounded concerned about my work. I sat back in one of the chairs and put my feet up on mom's little wicker table. If she could see me doing this she might hit me.

"Boring. Work is always boring." I told him stifling a yawn. I ran a hand through my wet hair and shook it a little, feeling the rainwater dripping down my arm.

Embry asked, "Well, what are you doing tomorrow night? I promise it won't be boring."

I held the phone away from me and stared at it a minute. Am I dreaming this? I wondered. I shook the phone a little, I'm not sure why.

"Karen?" I heard Embry ask.

I put the phone back to my ear, "I'm here. I was just…thinking, sorry. Um, I'm free. Not doing anything, at all. Ever." I whispered the last part, hoping Embry didn't hear. If he did, he didn't acknowledge it.

He happily said, "Well, I'll pick you up around five, okay? I kinda have plans the next morning so I have to be in early."

"If you have something you have to do then we can wait to go out." I said.

Embry didn't give in to me. "No, it's fine, I have to see you tomorrow night. We'll be in early, don't worry."

I wondered why he said he'd have to see me, but I let it go for now. "Okay, well, I'm going to bed, I'll see you tomorrow night."

"See you tomorrow." He said. I hung up the phone. I have a terrible habit of hanging up the phone without saying goodbye. If I feel the conversation is over, I hang up. That might have a lot to do with the fact no one ever calls the house that isn't a telemarketer or bill collector.

I went up to my room and quickly picked out clothes to wear the next following night. Embry didn't say what we were doing, so I picked out a pair of jeans and a nice top. I showered and then crawled into bed. As I was turning out the lights, I remembered the dream I had last night and prayed that I wouldn't have that dream again.


A/N: This was a little shorter than I wanted it to be, but oh well. Update is an update, be happy! So Karen is a little closer to finding out what's REALLY going on in her world. Stay tuned to find out, lol!

Thanks to my reviewers last chapter: Hales Bells, Curtis, (BTW, don't feel bad, no one can write a review like AnnabelleLee!) and of course to my always loyal and second coolest person on this planet, AnnabelleLee13194. THANK YOU for all your help on this story, without you Karen wouldn't exist and Embry would be lonely....

~Ever Uley~