Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to AFI

Sorry I didn't update sooner, I went through a period of not wanting to write and then I was gone the whole day Sunday, and yesterday I was studying for math. Thanks for all of the reviews and just to let you know... the lyrics below might not be right but I just wanted the title anyway.

"Flavor rain, lose your name

and watch all your dreams fall through.

Here's my lullaby,

hush now don't you cry."

The Interview

"Viola, I'd like to talk to you after class…privately."

Whoa. Holy shit. Oh my gosh! Mr. Reid wanted to talk to me alone after class, which meant that he was holding me after school! If I was one of those squealing girls, that would be exactly what I was doing now. This crush thing was really starting to get out of hand. Not only was he my English teacher, he was the older brother of my friend, and a good deal older than me.

"Isn't Joel supposed to pick you up today?" Sophie asked quietly once her brother had gone back to his papers at his desk.

Shit, she was right. My car was having brake issues and Jake hadn't had the time to fix them yet for me. So in the meantime Joel was my ride, which he enjoyed immensely. I was alright with it too; with life buzzing on around us it was hard to find a designated afternoon to hang out like my Dad wanted.

"Well, he'll have to wait for a few extra minutes." I shrugged.

He wouldn't mind if a teacher held me back a few extra minutes…of course I wasn't about to tell him it was Mr. Reid. He hadn't actually ever said anything on the subject but he always got this certain look on his face when I started discussing English class.

When the bell finally rang, Sophie gathered her things and went to hang in the library like she usually did after school waiting for her brother to finish up.

"Alright Viola, I wanted to talk to you about your paper."

We had just turned in the paper about the influence in our life a couple days ago and he already wanted to talk to me about it? I'd failed it; that had to be it.

"How bad was it?" I cringed.

He laughed, "What are you talking about? It was the best paper I've read in a long time."

Relief flooded my body, and I felt a brilliant smile take hold of my lips.

"You have a way with words, Viola, and you better not let them go to waste. All I have to say to you about it is that you shared feelings in there that I'm not sure you have even realized yourself." He grinned. "But you will soon."

With those words he sent me on my way with my paper in hand. I stared down at the one hundred percent written across the top, and besides a few comma changes it was pretty much left unmarked. Maybe this was my sign that this was what I needed to do, and I wasn't about to ignore it; especially with our short stories due next month.

I was still beaming when I hopped into Joel's truck. I turned my smile upon him only to see a scowl in return, but I didn't care at the moment.

"I got a hundred on my paper!" I yelled excitedly.

His scowl vanished like I had hoped it would.

"Great job, Lala! So why did you have to stay after with him then?"

"He wanted to tell me that it was the best he had read in a while." I replied. "Wait, how did you know it was him that I had to stay after for?"

He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "I can smell him on you."

I chuckled a little at that. "What does he smell like?"

"Too much Axe body spray. It kind of reminds me of that stage Embry went through when Addy was sixteen."

We both shuddered at the memory. Embry had made a complete ass of himself by trying to impress a cold Addy with what he thought were irresistible scents. She was not impressed and the rest of us had to suffer while he figured that out.

"You just have a sensitive nose, he smells nice."

"Nice?" He quirked a brow.

"You smell nice too." I quickly added.

"What do I smell like?" He asked curiously as he pulled out onto the road.

"Cedar and cinnamon, but that might just be because I like those smells so much." I replied and then realized what I had just said, so I decided to cover myself, "What do I smell like?"

He didn't hesitate, "Cherry blossoms."

"That would be because of my lotion." I chuckled.

"I like it."

Insert awkwardness. I'm sure he didn't feel awkward, but I did…at least just a little. And it was only because our new friendship was still in the early stages. Friendship was definitely different between us now that puberty had run its course. It was so easy when I didn't constantly think of what he looked like shirtless, and I'm sure it was easier for him when my boobs (as small as they were) weren't there to distract him; if his wandering eyes every once in a while were any indication.

"Thanks for picking me up, Joel." I smiled as he pulled into my driveway.

He had patrol soon so he couldn't stay and eat some of the ginger snaps Dad had made last night, but that was his loss and my gain.

"No problem, Lala."

What had Mr. Reid meant about feelings I hadn't even realized myself yet?

***

After the positive feedback on my paper I decided it was time to put my skills to the test and start working on my application essays for the University of Washington. My day with Joel there had pretty much made up my mind on where I wanted to go, and now the next step was to actually gain admittance there.

Mom and Dad were happy and wished me luck as I locked myself up in my room and started to type up an essay about why I wanted to attend college and what I hoped to do with my life. A few weeks ago I would have been totally unprepared for that question, but I was prepared now.

For good measure I filled out an application for Washington State just in case and crossed my fingers as I sent them out into the world via the world wide web.

Before I knew it, it was already November seventh and the day of my Uncle Matt's wedding to his four month pregnant fiancé, Abby. I was pretty excited about it, mostly because of the new dress Mom and I had picked out for the wedding. There was also a part of me that knew that there would probably be some sort of drama going down at the wedding and when there was I would be right there watching from the sidelines. Unless it involved me of course.

"How do I look?" Livy asked as she struck a pose in front of the community center where the ceremony and reception were taking place.

Livy had also gotten a new dress for the occasion; a cute purple dress that flared out at the bottom and had bow in the back. And right now that bow needed to be tied again.

"Marvelous, but I need to fix your bow." I replied with a smile.

She immediately spun around and allowed me to tie her bow before she ran off to ask some more people how she looked. None of us had been allowed to go inside yet, because the ushers were running behind. In other words Joel and Ian were probably messing around with their neck ties.

"You look beautiful, Lala." Dad grinned as he walked up to me and put an arm around my waist. He looked pretty good himself; dressed in a nice blue shirt with Mom's favorite patterned tie on. I, myself, had on a black and white floral dress complete with a little black sweater for the La Push weather.

"Thanks Dad, you look pretty good yourself."

"You get it from me." He grinned.

"Oh shut up." Mom laughed. "Everyone knows that Lala looks like me."

They then started to have one of their playful arguments that used to embarrass the hell out of me, but for some reason I found cute now. The fact of the matter was that I looked like a mix of both of my parents while my siblings looked like one or the other. Livy looked like Mom, and Ian definitely looked like Dad.

"About time those boys get to business." I heard Emily say loudly as Joel and Ian started to escort people to their seats.

We didn't have to wait long for Joel to walk up to us and hold his arm out. I waited for my Mom to link her arm through his like what was customary, but instead they all turned and looked at me expectantly. Um…okay, I guess I could link my arm with his.

Joel smiled as I slipped my arm through his and led us into the community center. I couldn't help but notice how he was dressed and how well it suited him. He wasn't wearing a suit, no one was really, but his dark maroon dress shirt and black tie looked great on him. More than great…but I wasn't going to get into that.

"You look beautiful." He whispered with a smile.

I peered up at him with a grateful smile, "Thank you, you look pretty nice too."

He laughed, which of course caught everyone's attention. "Just pretty nice?"

"Fine, handsome then."

"Okay, I can take that."

We reached our row then and I walked down the row of the chairs to the end so the rest of my family could fit in. As Joel walked away I heard my Grandma Hanner say from the row in front of us:

"Before we know it, it'll be their turn!"

Thank you, Grandma for publicly embarrassing me for the second time in a matter of months. I sunk a little lower in my seat which only caused Dad to laugh and sling his arm across the back of my chair. I don't know why he was so okay with this topic; fathers weren't supposed to want their daughters to get married or even have boyfriends.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." He muttered finally.

Well, there…at least he was finally being normal about it.

The wedding was an emotional one to say the least. I was crying as soon as I saw Jared's face which was wet with tears. Damn these emotional wolf men! My makeup was probably all ruined now. If that wasn't enough Abby started bawling during her vows and Uncle Matt almost lost it when he recited his own. Instead of drama I had been handed a serious dose of emotional tears.

Once it was over everyone clapped and followed the newlywed couple back to where the reception was being held. Everyone had pitched in and made a dish so there was plenty of food to go around and there was music playing in the background to set the mood.

Everyone immediately dug into the food as was usual at pack gatherings. And once all the food was gone besides the cakes, that's when the actual partying started. One minute there was slow music playing in the background and everyone was sitting down, but the next thing I knew there was a heavy beat going and people were on the dance floor.

I watched from the comfort of my seat as Jacob, Matt, and Embry started to dance in a group with each other. It was hilarious to say the least, and was only broken up when each of their respective imprints walked out on the dance floor to join them.

"Come dance with me, Lala!" Livy giggled.

Normally I would have declined because my dancing skills were nonexistent, but it was okay to look like an idiot if you were with a little kid; that had been a lesson I had learned when I was a little kid and my Dad used me as a cover for various reasons.

So I grabbed my little sister's hand and together we headed to the dance floor where most of the 'young people' were dancing. Of course some of the 'young people' really weren't all that young; like Matt, Jacob, and Embry. In reality, they were all in their thirties but appeared to be twenty five; the same appearance they had when they first phased. It hardly seemed fair that the men gained the ability of eternal youth. Wasn't that a woman's desire?

"Don't be shy! Shake your butt!" Livy ordered.

A mini Dad in the works right here. Regardless, I followed her order and started to 'shake my butt' with her. By the time the song was over we were both laughing. Of course at that time a slow song came on and Livy darted off the dance floor leaving me there looking like an idiot amongst a handful of couples.

I was about to make my own exit from the dance floor, when a warm hand grabbed my hand and turned me around.

"Care to dance?" Joel asked with a smile.

My eyes connected with his and shivers raced through my body. There was no way I could say no after that, even though I was pretty sure I would probably step on his feet…not that he would feel it anyway.

"Sure, but I'm not that good."

He chuckled, "Yeah, I know, but I'll dance with you anyway."

I shot him a sarcastic smile as he brought my hands to his shoulders and then settled his hands on my waist. We then started swaying instead of really dancing, but that seemed to be what everyone else was doing. Except my parents who were gliding across the dance floor fluidly gazing at each other with such love in their eyes that made me proud to be their daughter.

"Your parents are good dancers." Joel whispered.

I tore my eyes away from my parents and looked into his dark brown eyes; dark brown eyes that were suddenly starting to look more like my favorite homemade chocolate candies instead of just plain old brown.

"I think my Grandma Mire made my Dad take dance lessons when he was a teenager and he taught Mom." I giggled as the image of my teenage father dancing swam before my eyes.

"Did the guys in the pack ever know that?" Joel asked with a grin.

"Well they're gonna know now."

We swayed for another minute in silence, just watching each other, when the music stopped. We stopped swaying but neither of us made a move to move away from each other. It wasn't until my Dad walked up that he finally removed his hands from my waist and took a step back, causing my hands to fall from his shoulders.

"Mind if I cut in, Joel?" Dad asked with a knowing smile.

"Go right ahead sir."

Dad smiled before he grabbed my hands and started to sweep me across the dance floor as another slow song played in the background. I didn't have to do much work as Dad led me around the dance floor, but when I stumbled he quickly caught me and started to move at a slower and less complicated pace.

"Hope you don't mind that I told Joel about your lessons." I grinned.

"That's alright and you know why?" He smirked. "Because all of their women have been watching me and are going to want them to dance like that with them. Next thing you know they'll want dance lessons."

"I love you, Dad." I chuckled.

"Love ya too, Lala."