Special thanks to my awesome Betas: beautiful. nightmare.x and BelleDean. And thanks for all the readers that take the time to review.

Chapter 9: This was war!

I was sat waiting outside the building for Camille and April to arrive as they had made me promise to have lunch with them today. It had been more than a week since I'd spent the evening with the hotties, watching a movie, eating pizza, and bonding with them. It gave me the feeling of being back in La Push with the pack boys. That special union I felt floating in the air when I was around them was bizarre seeing as I had never had this kind of relationship with anybody apart from the pack in my entire life.

We'd been hanging out from time to time last week, in between and after classes but today was the first time they had invited me to have lunch with them. They were all really nice people. Well, everyone except for Nick. That guy was definitely hormonal or something. He kept changing his attitude towards me like Alice changed clothes. The other day, I thought he was glad I was there with them, but as soon as the movie was over, he started with that pain in the ass attitude of his again.

While I was waiting for the girls to come, Amanda walked by and sat down next to me.

"Hi, Leah! Waiting for someone special?" she asked with a wink, elbowing me playfully.

I shook my head.

"Anyone asked you out yet?"

"What?"

"Come on, Leah! You're very pretty. No, you're gorgeous. I guess lots of boys have asked you out by now."

"Um...no," I replied.

"Okay. Then you'll be glad to know that Julian hasn't spoken about anyone but you lately." She smiled.

I raised an eyebrow.

"He's cute, he's funny, and he's smart. You two will make an incredibly cute couple, don't you think?"

"He's cute but-"

"Oh, you like him too! This is great!" Amanda shouted excitedly, interrupting me.

"Who does she like?" A voice from behind Amanda asked. It was Camille, or Cammie, as she preferred to be called. The rest of the gang were behind her, walking toward us.

Amanda was at a loss for words for a moment but immediately found them and said, "Julian and Leah. They like each other."

"What? You can't date him!" Nick shouted, looking directly at me.

"It's none of your business, but just to make it clear, I never said I liked him, I just said he was cute. I don't want to date him," I explained.

"Good," he mumbled.

What? "Why do you care anyway?"

"I don't care. I-" he started saying but was cut off by Julian who was walking toward us.

"Hi, Leah, Amanda! Hi-" He saw the others and was rendered momentarily mum like Amanda had done before, but soon recovered and looked in my direction, not noticing that Nick ooked like he was ready to jump onto him.

Cammie noticed the look on Nick's face so she quickly asked, "Leah, are you coming to lunch?" whilst grabbing Nick and taking him with her.

I nodded and followed with Julian and Amanda behind them.

"Wow!" Amanda breathed.

Once Nick and the rest of the gang entered the cafeteria, Amanda turned to me before we got into the building.

"Are you friends with them now?" Amanda asked. "They've almost never talked to other people, let alone invite them to lunch."

"Oh, last week I needed some notes and I went to the girls' room and-"

"You what?" she asked.

I told them that I went to their room to ask for the Literature notes and that I ended up spending the evening with them.

"You're different, Leah," Amanda said. You have no idea… "I mean, this is the first time they've show this much interest in someone. They talked to you, they invited you to their room, you're having lunch with them, they talk to you…"

"You've already said that," Julian pointed out.

When we entered the cafeteria, they went to their table and I walked toward the food. While waiting for my turn to grab my food, I glanced around the cafeteria. I saw Amanda, smiling and giving me the thumbs up. Mental note: Find Amanda a life. She was obsessed with the hotties, but she had a point. They were very interesting people. At first sight you just saw the extremely beautiful people they were, but once you knew them a little more, you could see they not only had the beauty but also personalities and qualities that made them unique.

Kara was the sporty girl in the group. She was very strong and athletic which had helped her become team captain of some of the sports teams. Her sarcastic nature gave the image of a strong girl that didn't care about anything, but once you looked beyond her pretty façadeyou could see that she was very protective of her friends.

Camille had the most beautiful features I'd ever seen. Her beauty resembled her personality. She was extremely understanding and comforting. I couldn't imagine anyone hating her because she was one of those girls that you loved from square one.

April was the artist, always doodling in her books or creating stuff with paper or whatever she was in possession of. It was incredible to see her create such beautiful things with whatever she had at hand. It was like watching an artistic MacGyver. She was very similar to Camille, always smiling and cheerful.

Alex was the joker, although when the situation needed it, he was the most serious in the group. He tended to be oblivious sometimes, especially when it came to people liking him. April told me that once a girl named Candra liked him, and asked him out tons of times, but he thought she meant as a group, no matter how many hints she dropped. He was extremely spontaneous, and was never afraid to speak his mind.

Elliott was the player and the hot-head of the group. He reminded me a lot of Paul when he hadn't imprinted on Rachel, although Elliott was nicer when you were alone with him while Paul was a jerk 24/7. He tended to speak before thinking which would get him into a lot of trouble or given some weird looks as some of his sentences didn't make sense as he hadn't run them through his mind first.

Noah was the patient and smart one in the group. My first thought about him was that he was the typical smart guy that only talked about science and politics just to make the rest look and feel stupid but he wasn't that kind of genius guy. Behind the lab coat there was a regular man, funny in his own way and such a cutie.

And then, there was Nick...he was the charmer of the group. He could pretty much get any girl he asked for just by snapping his fingers. He was that good looking. His brown hair, combined with his blue eyes was exactly what got me going whenever I saw him. The guy was so fantastic looking that he could send you into fever if he wanted to...but he was a jerk.

When you stopped looking at their model faces, you could read them like a book. If anybody paid a little more attention to their inside they would have seen all that.

I paid for my food and walked toward the hotties' table, I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice Nick coming toward me and walking right into me, causing me to drop the tray with all my food onto my clothes.

"Oops! I'm sorry, I didn't see you," he lied.

"What's your fucking problem?" I yelled. He was really getting the worst out of me. I didn't know how I managed to stay human, because all I wanted was to phase and rip his head off.

"You. You're my problem. I told you to stay away from us," he whispered angrily.

Cammie ran toward us. "Nick, look what you've done to her! Leah, you better go and change, and you go help her," she ordered. "I'll go grab something for you to change into."

I went to the bathroom, Nick following me. He didn't care that it was the ladies bathroom, he entered anyway. He took a paper towel, wet it and then started to rub it onto my t-shirt.

"I can do it by myself. Besides, after your threat, I don't really want your help in the first place," I said.

Nick smirked and took a step toward me. I took one back which ended up with me being backed up right against the wall. I gulped once as Nick stopped right in front of me and leaned his face down next to my ear.

"That was nothing, sweetheart. You have no idea what's in store for you," he whispered, his breath tickling my ear, causing me to shiver slightly.

"Don't call me sweetheart," I ordered. Clearly he didn't think it was a big deal and repeated it into my ear, making me shiver even more. Then I did something that surprised me. I shoved him.

He raised an eyebrow at me and started walking toward me again. I held a hand out in front of me so that I was pushing against his chest.

"Will you stop doing that? Stop flirting!" I snapped.

"I'm not flirting," he objected. "I'm just playing with your mind until you crack, and clearly it's working."

"What? With the sweetheart and all? That's what you think will make me crack?" I scoffed. "You'll need more than that, Nick. I'm a hard bitch."

I saw the smug smirk on his face replaced with a much more determined look. He came up to me again, hugged me tightly and started to lean closer to my face but immediately pushed me away when the bathroom door opened and Camille walked inside with a t-shirt in her hand.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't know you two were-" She seemed nervous. "Here," she said, handing me a blue t-shirt.

She walked out of the bathroom and Nick followed her soon after. I changed into the clean shirt and walked back to the cafeteria.

There was already a tray waiting for me on the table.

"I hope you like chicken and mashed potatoes." April smiled at me.

Nobody seemed to enjoy lunch, which consisted of Nick glaring at me, neither of us eating a thing, and the others finally figuring out that we didn't get along.

I sat near a window as it started to rain, watching how the rain drops fell and crashed against the ground. I smiled and decided to go outside. I loved the feeling of rain running across my body. I lifted my palms up and opened my eyes to stare at the grey sky. This reminded me of home. La Push was always shadowed by grey clouds and it rained all the time. Since I was a little girl I had enjoyed the rain.

"Are you insane?" a male voice called out.

I sighed and turned to see Nick leaning casually against the door, watching me.

"Maybe."

He smirked. "What's a foolish girl like you doing?"

"I think the question is…why aren't you playing in the rain?"

He laughed once and smirked at me. What the hell was with him and that stupid smirk?

"I don't want to get all wet and soggy."

Oh, he has no idea what a great suggestion he just gave me! It was time for me to smirk. I kicked at a puddle, causing the water to hit Nick. I started laughing. He grabbed my arm and pulled me around so I was facing him.

"What the hell was that for?"

I didn't avoid his gaze and stared at him. "Take your hands off of me." He only tightened his grip. "God, you're such a baby. It wasn't on purpose, idiot." Yes it was. "It's not my fault you were in the direction the water went. I wasn't aiming for you. Don't be such an ass about it."

"You just think you're so damn clever, don't you? Well, you're not."

I slammed my foot down on his and he let go of my arm. And then I walked away.

I needed to change my clothes again.

We were having dinner in a nearby pub. Lots of the college students were there, drinking beers, playing pool, watching the game or playing cards.

I was sitting at a table in the middle of the room with the hotties. I sighed. His eyes were on me, sending invisible balls of fire. I tried to ignore him, but just knowing he was staring at me made me want to glare back at him.

"Leah, you want another drink?" Noah asked me. I shook my head. "Nick, you want another drink?" I looked at Nick, and he was still glaring at me, ignoring the question. Didn't he ever get tired of being such an ass? He stopped when Noah nudged him in the ribs. He stood up, and followed the blonde to grab some drinks.

"Hi, Leah!" the nervous voice of Julian come from behind me.

"Hey, Julian. What's up?"

"I-I was...I was wondering if you wanted to...um, go Friday night to have dinner with me?"

"I-"

At that precise moment, the two boys arrived with the drinks. Nick sat down next to me and looked at Julian, analyzing him like an Alpha did when a stranger got close to his pack.

"Just like friends, you know? Not a date if you don't want to," Julian added nervously.

"Sure…" I answered.

"Friday at eight then. Is that okay with you?"

I nodded. Julian smiled and rushed to his table.

I turned to look at Nick, his eyes turned to daggers as they landed on me, his jaw tightening. He looked so dangerous and sexy at the same time. I smiled, thinking that he was pissed I was going on date with Julian. I was enjoying this moment of victory until Brooke, my roommate, with her mini-skirt and a shirt that looked like a bra came to our table.

"Hi, Nick!" she said flirtatiously. 'Oh, hey you.' She nodded, looking my way for a second and turning back to him.

I rolled my eyes and Nick smiled in satisfaction at my reaction. He then looked back at her and started flirting with her, no holding back.

Nick only dated brown-haired girls...then why was he flirting with Brooke? Well, she had dyed her hair brown when she found out Nick liked brunettes. This only proved the power this guy had on women.

I felt something strange in my stomach. It was really bothering me and it only happened whenever Nick touched Brooke. It must have been something I'd eaten which caused the reaction. I was sure it was that…or was it something else? No, there was no way I was jealous. No way! I didn't feel anything for him. I mean, yes, he was attractive, very attractive, but all he made me feel was hate towards him.

"So, Friday at 8? You better be on time. I'll be waiting for you. My room's 236. See you later." Brooke winked at him and left to return back to her table.

Nick turned to me. "Guess I'll be seeing you at your room when I come to pick up my date on Friday," he told me with that stupid smirk plastered on his face.

The reaction in my stomach was bigger this time. I shouldn't have eaten that sandwich. I looked at him. He was going on a date with Brooke…why her? My mind started imagining Nick and Brooke kissing passionately. Hell no! This couldn't be happening to me. I refused to let this happen! I refused to be jealous! No, no, no, and no. Oh Lord, who was I kidding? I was jealous. Was I really falling for Nick?