Sorry this chapter kind of jumps around a lot, it used to be two chapters :) anyway, i hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Twilight or an of its characters
Chapter 6: Goodbye Friend
APOV
From then on, I spent almost everyday with Nessie, Claire and the boys. We went to the beach and to see movies, and we spent a lot of time at Sam and Emily's house just talking, laughing and eating. Emily was getting farther along in her pregnancy and needed more and more help around the house, especially at meal times. Since I had done most of my own cooking at home, I started helping Emily prepare food for the multitude of large, hungry men that tended to show up at all hours.
Nessie and I were cleaning up after breakfast one morning late in the summer when Seth and Kale strolled through the back door wearing nothing but low riding shorts. Kale, who looked old enough to drive or even vote, would be the grade ahead of me when I started school in September. It was reassuring to know that there would be at least one friendly face.
"Quil, Embry!" Seth hollered, lazily browsing through the fridge. I heard the couch in the living room groan as their combined weight was lifted from it. Claire bounced into the kitchen first, closely followed by Quil and finally Embry.
"What's up?" Quil asked, easily lifting a squealing Claire onto his broad shoulders.
"We're heading up to the cliffs, you guys in?" Kale grinned, showing his gleaming white teeth. I caught Embry shooting me a quick glance before shaking his head.
"Not today guys," he answered, Quil nodding in agreement. Nessie, however, whipped around to face them, obviously not satisfied with that answer.
"But today would be perfect," she argued, "Its really nice outside and there's nothing else to do today." She turned her full pouting gaze on Embry and Quil, and the two had no choice but to bend to her will.
"Fine," Embry relented, "but you guys DO NOT get to jump, do you hear me?" He pointed at Nessie, Claire and I in turn. "Swim all you want, but jumping is too dangerous."
I couldn't stop the huge grin that took residence on my face; I'd seen the boys cliff diving before, and it looked like a lot of fun. I knew that Embry had been deadly serious with his warning, but I also knew that if I really wanted to try it, he would let me; he always did.
Jake was in the backyard with Sam but jogged over to us when we came out the back door.
"Where we goin?" he asked Seth.
"Out to the cliffs," Seth replied, hopping into the back of Embry's old truck. Jake looked like he was about to protest but Nessie put her hand on his arm and he shrugged, joining Seth in the back.
Embry got in the driver's seat and Claire, Nessie and I squeezed into the cab with him while the rest of the boys piled into the back. It was a short ride to the cliffs, and soon we were all on the highest outcrop, looking down into the dark, choppy Pacific Ocean. Embry kept one hand on my wrist as I leaned over the edge to get a better view of the rocks below. I had never noticed before just how far of a fall it was to the water. I felt Embry tugging me back from the edge, and I followed, watching nervously as Seth took a running start and catapulted himself off of the cliff.
The rest of the boys took their turns jumping, leaving just us girls on the cliff. Nessie was dangerously close to the edge, and I could hear Jake yelling from the water for her to get back. When she turned to look at Claire and me, she wore a wicked grin. I should have known that she, like me, had planned to jump all along. I just hadn't thought of jumping from this high.
"No, Nessie!" I yelled, grabbing for her arm a second too late. We were too high up; it was a miracle that the boys had all made it unscathed, but Nessie was so little she would surely get hurt. She soared out over the water and executed a perfect dive, breaking through the surface and disappearing beneath the waves. I dropped to my knees at the edge of the cliff and frantically searched for a sign of her small body. Jake was already swimming towards the last place I had seen her, but there was no need. She had returned to the surface and was performing a very graceful backstroke towards the shore.
I drew in a shaky breath and sat back from the edge. Claire was standing close to me, watching as Nessie reached Jake. Her eyes were wide and she moved closer to the edge.
"Don't even think about it," I stood up and pulled her back. She was way too young to jump off a cliff. Me, however… if Nessie could make it completely unharmed, I could too. She was smaller than me; not by much, but still…
"Stay here Clare," I told the girl, who looked at me with a frustrated expression.
"I never get to do anything fun!" she huffed and sat on the ground with her arms crossed.
I smiled at her, took a deep breath and ran. I was about two feet from the edge when something very solid collided with my torso, knocking the wind out of me. It turned out that the solid something had been an arm, which then pulled me close to a large, warm chest.
I coughed, unable to breathe, and looked up into the very angry eyes of Embry Call.
"What the hell were you doing?" he growled. I could feel his chest vibrating with every word he spoke. He enveloped the top of my arm with one of his hands and started pulling me towards the path that led to the road with Claire following close behind.
"I wanted to jump," I gasped, and Embry stopped to allow me to catch my breath.
"Well that was pretty fucking stupid," he said quietly and continued dragging me down the path. Embry hardly ever swore when I was around, let alone directly at me, so I knew he was pretty upset. "You could have been killed."
"Nessie made it," I croaked, a sudden defiance flaring up inside me. I knew that I had scared him and that he was only trying to look out for me, but that wasn't what I wanted.
"Yeah, well, Nessie's… special," he said, slowing.
"I want to try," I abruptly stopped moving, causing Embry to stop and Claire to run into his back. I knew how childish I looked, but I didn't care. He gave me a critical look, deciding how much of a fight I was going to put up over this. I set my jaw into a hard line and crossed my arms, causing his eyes to roll and his shoulders to sag.
"Fine," he relented. "But you jump from the lowest shelf, and I'm going to be in the water waiting." He didn't smile and he didn't look at me as he turned and strode down the path. Claire and I looked at each other for a moment before we both set off after him.
We caught up to Embry on the lowest cliff and found everyone else already there. They were all sopping wet, and Nessie had a completely self-satisfied look on her face.
"Andy, come here," Embry's voice was harsh, and for a minute I was worried that he was angry with me. When I reached his side, however, he gave me a small smile before launching into his instructions for cliff diving.
"Ok, first things first: don't actually dive off of the cliff, ok? That's not a good idea"
"Nessie did," I mumbled.
"Well, you're not Nessie, so let's forget about her for now, ok?" he said through gritted teeth. "Second, you have to jump out far enough to miss the rocks at the bottom, so push yourself away from the cliff. And third," he looked me square in the eyes, "be very, very careful, ok?" He winked at me before taking two long strides and disappearing over the edge of the cliff.
I looked back at my audience and Nessie gave me the thumbs up. Once again, I took a deep breath before I ran the few steps to the edge and jumped. The cool, salty air rushed past my face for only a few seconds before I felt the sharp bite of the cold water. I was tossed around by the powerful waves for a moment before two warm, strong hands grabbed me and pulled me to the surface. I took a deep breath and looked up at a smiling Embry. I could hear the shouts and cat-calls from my friends overhead, and I couldn't help but smile.
"So how was it?" Embry asked as he towed me to shore.
"I felt… free," was the only thing I could say. He gave me his signature look; not like the one that so many others had given me, but one that was a divine mixture of amazement and confusion. We spent the rest of the day swimming and jumping before meeting Jared and Kim and heading to Port Angeles for the evening.
~ * ~
I had been told very early on that Nessie would be moving before the start of the school year, and the time for her departure was near. Nessie had become my best friend in the short time that I'd known her, and I wasn't looking forward to letting her go.
Her whole family was relocating because her adoptive father, who I'd found out was the incredibly gorgeous Dr. Cullen, had been asked work at a teaching hospital in New Orleans. They would be leaving in the middle of August and Jake would be going with them because he had been accepted to a college in the area. I was suspicious about Jake's reason for accompanying Nessie's family, but I didn't want to ask Embry because he was already depressed about Jake leaving.
A week before they were leaving, Nessie's sister Alice was taking us to Seattle to shop for their going-away party. I had been picked up in the only car that the Cullen's owned that wouldn't stand out in this small rural town. I had been to Nessie's house, and I had been in the garage. They had more outrageously expensive cars than most people had pairs of shoes, so I was slightly disappointed to see the silver Volvo pull into Hannah's driveway. I grabbed my wallet and hurried out the door, calling goodbye to Hannah in her flower garden, and hopped into the backseat next to Nessie.
"Hello there Andy," Alice said in her wind chime voice.
"Hi Alice," I smiled. Nessie had a lot of adopted brothers and sisters, and Alice was one of my favorites, along with her bear of a brother, Emmett. I found it a little strange that her siblings had paired off and got married, but they were all just so perfect together it didn't really matter. They all lived together too, except for Edward, who had married a girl from Forks and moved into a small cottage near the main house. I went to Nessie's house a few times with Embry and Jake and had become close with her beautiful family quickly, so I was sad to know that I would soon have to say goodbye to them.
Nessie and I chatted and laughed the entire way to Seattle, which was surprisingly short. Alice must have some lead foot to make such a long trip in such a short time. She easily navigated her way through the heavy traffic and pulled into the underground parking lot of a huge mall.
"Ok ladies," Alice turned to us with a deathly serious expression on her face. "We have exactly two hours and twenty-three minutes to find and accessorize outfits for you two." Nessie and I nodded our heads, and Alice led us into the mall like a general leading soldiers to battle. If there's one thing that Alice didn't mess around with, it was fashion.
We scoured every shop in search of dresses appropriate for the party. The Cullen's had great taste, and this party was going to be a sophisticated affair so formal wear was in order. Finally, in a French boutique with a name that I couldn't pronounce, Alice found what she was looking for.
"Nessie!" she called from deep within the stock room. She had convinced the girl behind the counter to let her in there with what I'm sure was a substantial bribe. Alice emerged carrying a sheer fabric that was a deep forest green.
"It's beautiful," I gasped, reaching forward to touch the dress with my fingertips.
"Here, try it on," Alice thrust the dress into Nessie's tiny hands and dove back into the many racks in the store room. Nessie ducked into one of the changing rooms leaving me to browse through the store. Every dress I saw was very pretty, and very expensive. I didn't have much money, only what I had earned babysitting back home and these dresses were far out of my price range. I was contemplating going in search of a bargain bin when the door to Nessie's changing room swung open. I looked up to see her wearing a dress that looked like it was created with her in mind. It was strapless and flowed away from her frame like a cloud to fall just above her knees. The shade of green accented both her bronze hair and pale skin perfectly, making her look much older than she was.
Alice appeared at my side wearing a grin that was wider than humanly possible.
"Perfect," she said, clearly pleased with her choice.
"I don't know Alice," Nessie looked conflicted. "It's really pretty, but Daddy isn't going to like it very much."
"You just let me worry about Daddy," Alice said, heading back to the store room. She returned not a minute later with the most gorgeous dark brown dress I had ever seen and held it out to me. My hand shook as I took it from her and she gently pushed me into one of the changing rooms. I would not let myself like this dress; I couldn't afford it so what was the point? I slipped out of my jeans and tank top and pulled the dress on.
"Well?" I heard Alice call from outside. I turned to look at myself in the mirror and my breath caught in my chest. The dress was fantastic, the chocolate brown matching my hair perfectly. The shape was very similar to Nessie's; it was sleeveless and came to my knees, but it was a little more fitted and was slightly longer on one side, creating a diagonal line across my pale legs. I wished I had the chest to fill the dress out a little better. The fabric wasn't sheer like Nessie's though, it was rich and soft and shone as the light caught it. I took a deep breath and slowly opened the door.
"Wow, Andy, you look beautiful," Nessie was standing in front of me, back in her own clothes.
"Of course she does," Alice said. She leaned forward to adjust something on the hem and I noticed the little tag dangling there.
"Oh my God!" I squeaked when I looked at the price. "Alice, this dress costs six hundred dollars!"
She looked up at me with a puzzled expression before looking at the tag for herself.
"This can't be right," she frowned and stood up, glancing around. "Excuse me," she called to a girl with a nametag. The girl smiled and walked over to us.
"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked Alice.
"How much is this dress?"
The girl looked at the tag, and like Alice, she frowned. "Give me a moment," she turned to a clipboard that hung just inside the store room.
"I'm so sorry, but this dress has been priced wrong, it's actually thirteen hundred dollars."
My mouth hung slack, and I had the immediate urge to get far away from the dress. If anything happened to it while I was wearing it, I would be working it off for a year.
"That's what I thought, thank you so much," Alice smiled at the girl who then went back to sifting through the racks.
"Alice, I can't afford this dress!" I told her in a shouted whisper. Surely she knew my situation, why would she even get me to try it on?
"Here you are Miss," the girl from behind the front counter had appeared next to Alice and handed her a clear credit card.
"Thank you," Alice shot her a dazzling smile before returning her gaze to me.
"Alice, what did you do?" I asked, although I was positive I already knew the answer.
"Whatever do you mean?"
"Alice, you are not buying me a dress, especially not one this expensive."
"Calm down Andy, I didn't buy you a dress," she grinned at me. "My father did, as a going away gift."
"But I'm not the one who's leaving," I protested.
Alice shrugged her tiny shoulders, and a thought occurred to me.
"Alice, you gave her your credit card while I was trying on the dress," I stated.
"Mmhmm," she responded, guiding me back into the dressing room and closing the door.
"So how did you know that the dress would fit?" I called through the door, stripping off the dress and pulling my clothes on.
"Because I am an excellent judge when it comes to fashion," she opened the door and took the dress from me.
"Alice, really I can't let - " she silenced me with a glare that made my blood run cold. I knew that Alice would never hurt me, but she could be very scary.
We exited the store with two very impressive looking black garment bags and Alice began searching the rows of stores. "Now to find you some shoes…"
~ * ~
The day of the going-away party crept up on me at an alarming pace, partially due to the fact that Nessie's family hadn't even begun to pack.
"We're going to New York for a week before we move into our new home, so we will have someone move our things for us after we're gone," Nessie's mother, Esme explained over breakfast the morning before they were leaving. I had spent the night, and had yet to see a single box.
"Wow," was all I could say.
"I like it to feel like home right up until we have to leave," Esme said, giving Nessie a one armed hug.
The rest of Nessie's family had left very early, before we had even woke up to go hiking. Nessie's family loved the outdoors; they were always going camping and hiking, so they wanted to get in as much as they could before they moved to a city.
"That's really nice," I said. I wished that my mother cared as much about my feelings as Esme cared about her family's.
She smiled in response and we heard the front door open.
"Mmm, I smell breakfast," Jake sniffed as he walked into the kitchen, closely followed by Embry.
"Sit down boys, there's plenty," Esme placed two plates down on the large kitchen island, and within minutes they were being licked clean.
"That's gross Jacob!" Nessie laughed.
"No, you're gross Reneseme," Jake retorted, sticking his tongue out at her.
"Well, my IQ is dropping just listening to this, you ready to go Andy?" Embry asked.
"Yep, we'll be back later Ness, thanks for everything Esme," I waved.
"You're very welcome sweetheart, see you tonight," Esme said as she placed another full plate in front of Jake.
I followed Embry out the door and climbed into his truck. It was a quiet ride to Hannah's; we were both to busy thinking about how sad tonight was going to be. He dropped me off, and I trudged into the house.
"How was your sleepover?" Hannah leaned out of the kitchen to ask.
"Fine."
"What time are we going to the party?"
"You're coming?"
"Of course, silly, I have a very nice dress upstairs that needs to be worn," she gave me a wink.
"Well, I think we're supposed to be there around seven," I said as I climbed the stairs to take a shower. I spent the day lazing around the house and helping Hannah take pictures of her flowers for a contest she entered every year. When it was finally time to get ready for the party, I paid extra attention to my hair. It was usually just a tangled mess of haphazard curls, but I planned to take a lot of pictures tonight so I wanted to look nice. I wet my hair in the bathroom, then went to work applying products, serums, and sprays. By the time I was finished, I had created a thick mane of rings that reached halfway down my back. It had been a while since I'd had a haircut, and I liked how long it had gotten.
I'd never been a big fan of makeup, but with the dress and the hair, it seemed appropriate. Alice had insisted on supplying me with enough makeup to it keep a sorority house happy, so I dug through the pile until I found the few things I knew how to apply. I chose a brown eyeliner, pink shadow, and mascara. Applying foundation was a daunting task, so I bypassed it completely. By the time I had finished, it was almost seven o'clock. Damn, we were going to be late. I grabbed the dainty silver earrings and bracelet that Alice had provided, and slipped into the low-heeled sandals that matched my dress perfectly. I hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen where Hannah was waiting for me. She wore a flowing white dress with short sleeves that hung about mid-calf. The contrast of the creamy fabric against her tanned skin was beautiful.
"Well, well young lady, you look fantastic," she said, a warm smile spreading across her face. Her hair was pulled away from her face and fanned over her back. "You definitely don't look like you're about to turn fourteen."
"Thank you," I did a little spin. "You look great too, I love that dress."
"What, this old thing?" she asked, adorning a fake southern accent.
We laughed and joked the whole way to the Cullen's house, which was lit up like a Christmas tree. It must have taken them all day for the house to have been transformed like this, but here it was. There were thousands of sparkling white lights and candles everywhere. Hannah and I walked in the front door to find that we were the last ones to arrive. All of Embry's friends had showed up, but I saw hardly anyone else. Surely the Cullen's had more friends than this?
"Andy!" Nessie called, launching herself at me and wrapping her little arms around my neck. She was so warm; I would miss that.
"There she is," Nessie's big brother Emmett called. He swaggered over to where we were standing and pulled me into a freezing hug. I had learned early on that no one around here maintained a normal body temperature. Nessie's family normally kept their hands to themselves, but on the rare occasions that their skin made contact with mine, they felt like ice. Nessie and all the boys from La Push on the other hand were always much warmer than anyone else. I used to worry that they might be sick, but it had been almost two months, and everyone seemed healthy.
I made the rounds with Nessie, saying hello to all of the guests and taking pictures with everyone. Emily and Rachel were seated on the couches with Alice and Nessie's other sister, Rosalie, while Kim, Jared and Quil watched Claire play the piano with Edward. We were almost to the kitchen when Nessie's sister-in-law, Bella, called us over.
"Andy, I don't think you've met my father, Charlie," she pointed to the devastated-looking man standing next to her. He nodded and shook my hand.
"You're Hannah's new girl, right? Is she here?" he asked.
"Yeah, um, she's over there with Carlisle," I pointed to the door where Hannah still hovered, laughing with the handsome doctor.
"I should go say hi, excuse me," he said, clearing his throat and heading in their direction. Bella gave us a small smile before joining him.
Nessie watched them for a moment before leading the way into the kitchen where we found Embry, Jake, and a few other boys from La Push. I snapped a picture of them standing around the island, all looking relaxed and laughing.
"Hey guys," Jake smiled, saluting us with a bottle of beer.
"You guys look great," Paul said with a large smile plastered on his face, earning him dirty looks from both Jake and Embry.
I stood next to Embry and he gave me that smile that I loved. Everyone around us began talking and laughing. I was fiddling with the hem of my dress when I felt Embry shift closer to me.
"You do look very nice, kid," he said softly before pulling me back into the living room. Nessie followed, determined to spend as much time together as possible before it was time to go and slowly everyone else filtered in as well. We all talked and laughed, enjoying the delicious food that Esme had prepared.
The party drew to an end far too quickly although it was past midnight when I said my final goodbyes to Nessie and Jake. Jake pulled me up into a bone crushing hug before heading over to tackle Quil and Embry. I turned to Nessie, my surrogate sister, and saw that her brown eyes were crying freely. For the first time in my life, I initiated a hug, pulling her close. She latched onto me and we stayed like that for a long time; her crying and me trying not to.
Finally, we pulled apart and Nessie disappeared between Quil and Embry, both trying to get the last hug. The rest of the Cullen's joined Nessie and Jake at the door, waving goodbye as we all climbed into our respective vehicles.
I slammed the door of Embry's ancient pick-up and he started down the long driveway, blasting the horn as the lights of the giant house disappeared in the darkness.
I was fighting the tears with all that I had, but before we had made it two minutes in the direction of Hannah's house, I felt them dropping onto my lap. I had my arms wrapped around my chest to keep from shaking, but I soon couldn't breath and a huge sob tore through my chest.
I started crying in earnest then, and I leaned my head forward until I hit the dash board.
I barely noticed as the truck pulled onto the shoulder of the road. Embry put the old Chev in park and leaned towards me, unbuckling my seatbelt. I felt the warmth of his hands through the fabric of my dress as he placed one under my knees and the other around my back and scooped me into his lap. I hadn't cried in front of anyone in years, and here I was, literally blubbering all over one of the most gorgeous guys I had ever met.
Every time I felt like control was in reach, another round of sobs would rack my body. Embry sat there, rocking me back and forth, and I leaned into his solid chest, savoring the warm comfort that seemed to emanate from him. He rubbed my back and whispered soothing words in my ear, trying in vain to keep my pain from swallowing me whole.
We sat there for a long time that night, and when I finally regained control I pulled myself back into the passenger seat and we continued home. Embry chattered the whole way back to Hannah's, trying to break the silence that had taken the place of my sobs. We made plans to go to the beach the next day with Kim and Jared when he dropped me off, and for the first time in a long time, I didn't have to worry about nightmares; I didn't sleep a wink.
Ok guys, review, review, REVIEW!! they make the world go round!!
Thanks
Nikki ;)
