Chapter 9

Loved Claire

Claire's POV

The sun was shining brightly the next morning in La Push and I was woken up by a very loud two year old who I didn't even know.

"Claire, Claire, Claire!" The kid shouted as he jumped up and down on my bed.

"Yay! Claire is here!" I heard a little girl start shouting. Suddenly I felt two bodies jumping on my bed.

"Ivy! Quinn! Stop jumping on Claire!" I heard a female voice say from the doorway.

"But mommy we're just excited! We've always wanted to meet Claire ever since yesterday!" The little girl, Ivy, said.

I laughed and sat up. The two cutest kids were sitting on my lap with wide eyes and 'O' shaped mouths. "Hi Claire. I'm Rachel, Paul's wife. Have you met him yet?" The lady in the doorway asked.

"Um, no I don't think so. I only met Aunt Emily and Quill." I said.

"Oh…that explains why…never mind. Well Emily is making omelets and everyone is already downstairs, if you want to join us." Rachel said kindly.

"Sure I'll be down in about five minutes." I replied.

"Come on Quinn and Ivy, it's almost time to eat." Rachel said to the kids that were still on my lap. Before they jumped off the bed and ran out the door they both gave me a hug. After they left I sat in my bed for a few minutes.

After making myself look presentable I skipped downstairs humming my favorite song. I had the cutest green and black checkered bow in my hair, but that was the only accessory I had left. I had to leave everything else in Wyoming.

Well, I had one necklace that had a silver chain and had a charm that was carved from wood. In the most beautiful handwriting I'd ever seen was written the initials C.A. It was also the only piece of jewelry that my step loser hadn't destroyed.

The moment my foot hit the bottom step, I had fourteen pairs of eyes on me. "Claire! You're awake." I heard Aunt Emily say. I looked in her direction and saw a man with his arms around her waist. That's when I guessed that he was Uncle Sam.

"Um, hi everybody." I said really nervously. "Rachel, why don't you introduce her to everybody? I still have to cook." Aunt Emily called as she returned to the kitchen.

Rachel put her arm around my shoulders and started pulling me to people. By now about half of the people in the room had resumed doing whatever they were doing before I came in.

The first person she took me to was tall and had cropped jet black hair. When he saw Rachel, his stern look turned to pure love and admiration.

"Claire, this is Paul. He's my husband and you already know Ivy and Quinn." She said. "Ah, Claire. We've all missed you so much." Paul said, still looking at Rachel.

Rachel laughed and pulled me to yet another tall, tan and gorgeous guy. "And this is Jacob, my brother." Rachel said. "C'mon sis, Claire remembers me!" Jacob said.

Rachel rolled her eyes and pulled me to another person. After about nine more people, I knew who everybody was in the room. For the first time in nine years, I actually felt like I had a family. I actually felt like I was loved.

I had this weird feeling that someone was missing though. I turned to Rachel and asked, "Where's that other guy that I met yesterday?"

"Oh you mean Quill? I'm not sure where he is. He said he would be here. You would figure that he would want to see you after how long he's had to be without you."Rachel said looking puzzled.

She walked over to Paul, dragging me with her, and asked, "Where's Quill? He isn't out there is he?" Rachel asked.

"Eh, well…Um…"Paul said uncomfortably. "Well he said he just couldn't quite be here now. Said he couldn't handle it." He finally said.

"Oh" was all that Rachel said as she looked down at me (She was considerably taller than me in high heels)

I made my way through the sea of people to the kitchen where Aunt Emily was getting the food ready to eat. "Claire, I know this is kind of sudden, but I want to know how you feel about going back to school."

"It sounds kind of scary." I admitted.

"Well of course you wouldn't be alone. Jacob, Collin, Brady, Seth, Quill and Embry would go back with you." Emily said sympathetically.

"Oh, that changes everything! Yea of course I would like to go back to school then." I said energetically.

"Well great then! We'll sign you guys up to Black Forest High next week." Emily said, turning back to the food.

I sat back down in the living room again, but started to feel kind of claustrophobic so I headed toward the back door.

Panic started to flutter inside me and I could feel my head start to pound. At this point I had to run out the door. I thrust the door open and continued running.

Ever since about eight years ago I'd been very claustrophobic. The step loser locked me in a coat closet with no light and no food for two days. I had to sit with my legs against the wall because the closet was way too small.

My mom finally found me there when she was getting a coat to go out. That showed me just how much she truly cared about me.

Half way through the yard I tripped and fell, cutting my hands and knees on rocks. When I stood up I saw a shadowy figure come out from behind a tree. The figure slowly approached me and I was cemented to where I stood from fear.

The closer it got the more I could make out who it was. It was a girl with long curly brown hair and bright green eyes. It was my sister.

I still couldn't move, but at this point I didn't want to. Vivian came right in front of me and lifted my hands. She kissed each of my palms and my cuts went away. They even went away on my knees.

"I love you Claire," Was what she said right before she disappeared.

I stood there for twenty minutes just staring off into the trees before someone came outside to get me.