Author's Note:
I'm trying to keep this one as close to the book as possible which means that at this point in time Embry is not yet a part of the Pack. So there should only be three shifters (hunky boys) at the moment, not four. If you started reading this story after 16/05/2012 (05/16/2012 for the Americans) then it doesn't matter because previous chapters have already been updated.

"Maybe you should put on a little makeup. You know, make a little effort to look good for Jared?" Lily suggested as she held out a makeup brush coated in powdered foundation.

I pulled away from her, "Because there is no reason to make an effort. It's not a date."

"Phewy." Lily laughed as she made the makeup brush chase me, "We all know it is, even if it's not called that."

It was December 31st and I was getting ready to go to the New Year's party being held down on the beach. Actually, Lily was trying to help me get more ready because as far as I was concerned I was already ready. I was wearing clothes and I'd even made an effort to brush the knots out of my hair. Wasn't that ready enough?

I grabbed Lily's wrist to hold her hand away, "We don't all know that, because we're not all wrong. Seriously, I'm ready. Can't we just leave?"

"Firstly, you really should make some extra effort, some makeup will just show him that you like him. Secondly, it's only six o'clock. No one will be there at the moment." she fought against me and I found myself laughing at her as she tried desperately to touch the brush to m cheek.

"Firstly, I don't like him. Not like that. Secondly, someone has to be first, why can't it be us?" I argued.

Now Lily was laughing at me, "Firstly, you so do like him like that. I saw the way you were looking at him yesterday, I'm surprised the whole of La Push doesn't know that you two are in love. Secondly, it's fashionably late not fashionably early. Didn't you go to parties in Australia?"

"Okay, firstly, gross. Secondly, I went to plenty of parties in Australia. But they were friend's parties so I just rocked up whenever I felt like it. I was ten hours early for a party once." I rolled across the bed to get away from Lily and her demonic makeup brush and she started crawling over the bed after me.

"Firstly," she sighed as she reached out for my arm but missed, "it's not gross. It's super sweet. Secondly, that's different and you're not in Australia now so you have to listen to me."

I laughed as I used the chair to block Lily's next brush attack, "Firstly, why are we still saying firstly and secondly. And secondly, since when have you been the juru of everything American? Shit." I swore as Lily got me with the brush.

"There, now that I've started I need to finish. Otherwise you'll look like an idiot."

I gave in and took up the spinney seat in front of her, "I don't know if you've noticed but I tend to look like an idiot no matter what I do."

"I can't believe you don't know how to put makeup on. Don't they have makeup where you live?"

I put on the thickest outback Australian accent I could, "Nah mate, we just use dried cow pats crushed up inta a powda."

Lily laughed, "I didn't think you could sound any more Aussie than you normally do but you just proved me wrong."

Lily had promised that she'd only use a little bit of makeup but she lied. In the end I was wearing foundation, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, blush and lip gloss. I threatened her with pain of death if she ever did anything like that again. I went to go wash it off but at that moment Kim and Mia had arrived and they had teamed up on me to stop me getting to the bathroom.

They had me out the front door and in Mia's car before I had time to find a way around them. I was sitting in the back with Kim and was already wishing that it was one o'clock in the morning so that I could be heading home instead of heading out. I looked nervously over my shoulder at the Clearwater residence and noticed that there was nothing on the back window.

"Do you have your license?" I asked Mia, checking the front window and finding it empty too.

"I have an intermediate license. So you can't tell anyone that you were all in here." It wasn't a long drive, not a long drive at all, because we were almost at the beach. The car was needed because Mia and Kim had brought a hell of a lot of crap with them.

"Why don't you have plates up?" Kim and Lily looked at me with puzzlement.

"Plates? What plates?" Mia was looking at me in the rear vision mirror and she looked just as confused as the others.

"Maybe it's just an Australian thing. We're considered a Learner driver until we're 18 and then we can move on to P-plates. We have to have them up when we're driving. Don't you have to show you're not a full licensed driver?"

They all just shook their heads and Kim chirped, "Nope."

Mia pulled up next to a green station wagon that was spotted with brown rust. I jumped out of the car and headed towards to boot to help get Kim and Mia's crap out of the back. In doing so I was oblivious to what was going on down at the beach behind me. Once I had grabbed my share of junk from the boot I walked around the side of the car and stopped to stare at the sight before me.

The tide was out, leaving the normally wide beach looking unbelievably massive. In the middle of the massive stretch of sand was a bonfire, over six foot tall and at least just as thick, with tall flames licking up its sides. It wasn't quite roaring as yet but it was getting there. I was certain that that would not be legal in Australia.

There were dozens of people mulling around the fire and all along the beach. At least two couples were rolling around in the sand with their tongues down each other's throats. The sun had only just set and the sky was orange in the last rays, once the light was gone I was sure that the fire would look even more impressive.

"Cool, isn't it?" Mia said with great admiration.

I smiled and nodded, "You'd get arrested for this in Oz."

"Really? Most big holidays we have a fire like this. And for council meetings, of course, but most of us aren't allowed to attend that." Kim sounded envious of going to council meetings and I wished there was a community event at home that I'd ever wished to attend. My town didn't have anything like that, at least not that I knew of.

"Where are you going to meet Jared?" Mia bubbled as she led us to an empty spot on the beach. I wasn't sure what half the stuff I was carrying was but I wasn't interested enough to ask.

As if on cue I heard him, "Hello there."

Everyone mumbled their hellos, me included, as we put down our loads and Mia got to setting up the picnic rug so she could get comfortable. Mia wasn't feeling one hundred percent so she wanted somewhere to sit in relative quiet without being so far away as to be antisocial. I had suggested that I would sit with her but Lily had squashed that thought by saying she'd take care of Mia and I should focus on taking care of Jared.

"So, what are the two of you going to be doing?" Mia asked with a wink as she sat down on the rug.

I felt myself blush a little and hoped there was enough foundation that it wasn't too noticeable.

"Well, nothing really." Jared smiled as he looked at me, "We're just going to talk."

Mia and Lily glanced at each other with matching smirks before turning back to us.

"What does that mean in Australian?" Mia giggled and I felt the urge to kick her. Not too hard, just hard enough to get her to apologise.

Lily laughed, "Just remember to come up for air sometimes. While you're talking, that is."

"Alright, I want to leave them now. I hope you catch whatever Mia has." I said with a playful growl then turned to Jared, "It's probably best if you lead the way, I'll most likely fall in the fire if it's left up to me."

Jared smiled at me and I could see his eyes twinkle in the light from the bonfire.

I could hear Lily and Mia chuckling to themselves as we walked away, Kim had already gone to meet up with Lucas. It made me very nervous to hear them acting like that because it didn't seem right to me that anyone would have those kinds of... intentions with me.

To begin with I found it hard to enjoy talking to Jared; it wasn't anything that he was doing, it was more what he wasn't doing. He wasn't making me dislike him. I wanted him to be boring or rude or something like that but he wasn't. Jared was nice and polite and incredibly entertaining. He made me laugh every few minutes with simple sound effects or choice words.

It wasn't fair that he was so perfect. Not when I felt so imperfect.

I noticed, more than once, that there were some people looking at us strangely. Jared didn't seem to notice, he just kept talking through the stares. But why would he? He wasn't as insecure as me so he wouldn't think twice of people looking in his general direction. Me, I was all too aware of their staring because I knew what they were thinking.

Why would someone like Jared want to be seen socialising with her? How does someone her size get the attention of Jared? Why would he want to talk to her? You couldn't get two more opposite people; fit and gorgeous, fat and hideous. Why would he waste his time?

I hated when people looked at me. I wanted to just melt into the background, get through this miserable stretch in life without catching anyone's attention and then maybe one day, if I lost some weight and felt a little better about myself, then I'd come into the spotlight. But I didn't like the idea of being in the spotlight with the way I currently look.

"... and I still stand by my assertion. I was not to blame." Jared finished defiantly and waited for my response.

We were sitting side by side on an old grey log some ten metres from the bonfire. I could feel the heat from it on my face and it felt awkward because of the makeup I was wearing, almost like the makeup was melting off my face. It wasn't helped by the fact that Jared felt like he was running a fever and was sitting a little bit too close.

"Of course, not." I muttered and caught someone else staring at us.

Jared leant forward to look at my face, "You're not listening to me, are you?"

"I'm listening. Broken window, not your fault." I argued, my attention now fixed back on Jared. I had long ago learnt how to multitask feeling insecure with hiding my insecurities.

He didn't look convinced, "Come on, what is it?"

I sighed, "People keep looking at us."

"So?" he laughed, still leaning forward to keep in my line of sight.

"So, I don't like it."

"Just ignore them, they're probably just jealous." he said with offhanded disregard.

"Jealous?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing, unless he meant that they were jealous of me being with him, which made all the sense in the world. But I got a feeling he didn't mean it like that.

"Yeah, if I were them I'd be envious of whoever was sitting with you."

I hated hearing him say that. I'd spent most of my life having people tell me things that I knew were clearly a lie and this was definitely a lie, "Can you not?"

"Pardon?"

"Don't act like it's a good thing to be seen with me. Don't pretend that I'm something that I'm not."

Jared's brow furrowed, "I'm not following you."

"I'm not pretty. I'm not... of your calibre."

"My calibre?" somehow he sounded stunned and the intelligent and interesting guy I'd been talking to all night seemed to disappear from my sight.

"Yeah. You're hot." That was blunt even for me but I was so caught in my own bizarre concoction of emotions that I couldn't stop myself, "Like seriously... so fucking hot. I... I'm so fucking not. They're staring because you're a ten and I'm a zero; I shouldn't even be on your radar."

"I don't care what they think and you shouldn't either. I want to get to know you because I think you're pretty, I really do." Jared sounded sincere. He sounded more than just sincere, he also sounded hurt, that I could think so poorly of myself, and shocked, that he had to point these things out to me.

Intellectually I wasn't sure how to react to it but years of insecurity had created what was almost like a second me, one that when faced with a social situation that I couldn't comprehend was miraculously able to step up to the plate, "Thanks, but I don't need your pity. I'm aware and accepting of who and what I am."

Before Jared could say anything in return everyone started yelling and cheering.

"Ten..! Nine..! Eight..! Seven..! Six..! Five..! Four..! Three..! Two..! One..! Zero! Happy New Year!"

And I could have died.

Jared kissed me.