Part 10

Nathan's POV

I had been right. Between the hour or two of restless sleep I managed to get, I was exhausted and irritated and confused. The teachers spoke but I seemed to be having trouble understanding the words. That had never been a problem for me before.

The class I was least looking forward to was third hour gym class. Gym had been annoying before and was going to be a nuisance now. Kevin and Leah had spent a particularly long lesson explaining my new physical strengths now. I basically couldn't run like I wanted to, couldn't jump like I wanted to, and had to act tired. Yay.

And, to make matters worse, Emily was in my class. I had a horrible feeling that my phasing would break the no-talk rule that had been my key to survival. Now I was exposed to all sorts of snide comments and aggravating taunts.

When I entered the gym, my heart nearly fell to my feet. They had large speakers rolled out in front of the changing rooms and a microphone attached. Since I was a Freshmen, I'd only heard rumors about this course. But they hadn't been rumors.

We would have to Ballroom Dance.

Festering with rage, I stalked into the changing room and nearly ripped my shirt in half. Luckily I stopped myself before it could go that far. I put on the bland, smelly clothes (not loving the super senses about now… yuck…) and went back outside. I pointedly looked away from the half of the gym I knew Emily would be on. Maybe if I didn't acknowledge her existence she would leave me alone.

The warm-up stretches went by too quickly. The gym teacher walked to the center of the floor with the microphone. "I've set you up in groups for Ballroom dancing," he said. "I'll tell you your partner and then we'll teach you how to dance if you don't know how." He cleared his throat and started listing boys and girls names. "David and Rebecca. Josh and Amy. Nathan and Emily."

Oh good God almighty, why? Why was everything going against me today?

I sighed in defeat, crossed my arms and stared at the floor. No. I was not going to walk over and Ballroom Dance with Emily. But I wasn't going to pout like a baby in the corner, either.

"Mongrel," a sharp voice spoke behind me. I didn't turn around. "Get over here. I'm not going to let you ruin my perfect grade."

I scowled and forced myself to turn. I looked anywhere but up at Emily. I was not going to let anyone think I was enjoying this. I mean, this was my best friend's sister, not beside the fact that she was as annoying as hell.

I found my feet very interesting at that precise moment. I walked forward so I was three feet away from her. I didn't dare move closer.

"Boys," the gym teacher instructed, "put your left hand on the girls back. Girls, put your left hand on the boys' shoulder. Hold hands with your free hand."

Oh, why? Why must they condemn us to this torcher? I bit my lip in aggravation and moved closer to Emily. I wrapped my left arm around and set it on the small of her back. Her right hand met my shoulder and held with a force that told me she was hating every second of this. That would make one thing we had in common.

"Boys, you will lead." He explained how we would move with our feet and had us practice a few times. I glared at my feet as they moved. When everyone seemed to have mastered this, he said, "And now put it to music. Remember to look at your partners."

Half a minute passed. Then, Emily said, "You heard him. Look at your partner, Fuller." Her voice wasn't as mean but not a tone I would define as anything close to nice.

I took a deep breath and looked up at Emily. My eyes came into contact with hers, and that's when things went crazy. I literally stumbled over my own feet, falling forward toward Emily. She yelped and jumped back, grumbling and cussing at me under her breath. I dug my fingers into the small of her back to steady myself, not just from my trip, but because suddenly she was the only thing that felt real. I didn't want to – no, I couldn't rely on my pack anymore. I couldn't rely on anyone or anything. She was the only thing that mattered.

And just like that, the person in my arms was no longer beast, but beauty. She was the world. My arm wrapped around her wasn't strange, but an embrace I wanted to deepen. I always wanted her safely in my arms where she would be protected from any kind of harm.

It took thirty seconds for my brain to process all this information and then realize what had happened. I absolutely hated myself with a deep, profound hate. Why, oh why? Why Emily? For Pete's sake, she was my best friend's sister! Not cool… not cool at all. He was going to kill me if Emily didn't first.

Oh God… what was I going to do about Emily? I looked thoroughly into her green eyes, wondering how I'd ever hated her. I fought the intense desire to tell her how sorry I was for ever fighting with her or arguing or telling her to go away. She could keep me awake or annoy me all she liked.

Her lashes fluttered in confusion as she looked at me. "Mutt," she hissed under her breath, "what's wrong with you? You look like you're going to faint."

"I'm fine," I said in the meanest way I could manage, which made me sound like a pouting three-year-old. Could I embarrass myself anymore?

After that, I didn't break eye contact with Emily. I think she found that just as unnerving as the old part of me I refused to let go of did. I mean, I watched her so I probably looked… well, creepy. But I was having trouble tearing my eyes away from her.

When the teachers told us we could go and change, I didn't hesitate to let go of her and sprint (humanly) for the changing rooms, though every step I took away from her seemed to rip off a bit of my soul.

The day after that was even worse. It wasn't only the fact that I couldn't pay attention, but now my mind was on one sole thought process. Emily. And my mind kept replaying the same things over and over, like how her hand had felt resting upon my shoulder or how it had felt to hold the small of her back.

Last hour, I was almost free. I was literally ten minutes away from freedom, ten minutes from consulting my pack mates about this dilemma, when the teacher called on me for an answer. Naturally, I accidently said the first thing that was on my mind. "Talk to wolf pack!" I yelped at my AP World History teacher.

The teacher cocked his brow. "Er… Well, Mr. Fuller, I do not believe that Ancient Egypt's Geography was useful because they could talk to the wolf pack." His eyes narrowed. "If you were paying attention, you would've taken notes on this not ten minutes ago. Now, tell us, why was Ancient Egypt's Geography put toward their advantage?"

I blinked at him, trying to process a single thought.

"I'm sure the entire class wouldn't mind waiting as long as it takes you to find the answer."

I felt myself going red. "Well… Egypt was somewhere near the Black Sea so it could trade with – er – England? And maybe it had access to China. And it had fertile land so they were strong enough to defeat the French in the War of 1812."

The teacher looked as if I'd just given him sour milk. "That… that was truly… painful to listen to," he groaned and rubbed his ears. "For this… this butchering, yes, this intentional butchering and disrespect for the history of the world, I believe I'll be seeing you here tomorrow for after school detention." He rubbed his hand over his forehead. "Egypt was not even remotely close to the Black Sea, but was right below the Mediterranean which connected to the Nile, allowing easy access to sea trade. They didn't trade with England or China as much as they did Greece or Italy or Jerusalem. Their Geography was that of deserts, mountains, and large bodies of water, making them more cut-off from the world then – oh, say… - Mesopotamia was. And… no. The War of 1812 was between the United States and Britain, not Egypt and France."

I half listened sulkily, not caring enough to truly listen. Great, now I had detention.

The first thing I did after being released was run to where Kyle's locker was. "Kyle!" I panted as soon as I got there. "I need you to do something for me."

"Yeah?" Kyle asked without looking up.

"Tell your parents that I've had a situation and I won't be coming back to their house for a very long while… can you do that?"

Kyle seemed confused but nodded. "I guess I can. See you around, Nathan."

Emily's POV

"So Wolfy has had a situation," I breathed as I glared out the car window. Kyle was talking to Mom and Dad about the mysterious 'Nathan Situation'. I honestly couldn't care less about what was ruffling his fur. Kyle's little friends had always been a pain in the ass. Coming over at random and getting in my way. I didn't have friends over to annoy him, he should do the same for me.

But there was something else about Nathan… something that made me want to hate him (because he's my brother's friend) and talk to him at the same time. Charismatic wasn't quite the word I was looking for, but that's what he was.

Ever since I learned about werewolves and vampires, I'd done a little research on my own by reading Mom's book. One particular article that had disturbed me had been about this process called imprinting.

Maybe it was just the word or maybe it was something more; it just freaked me out. It sounded like whoever the werewolf imprinted on became, well, became property of the werewolf. The werewolf had stuck his claim and the imprintee had no real choice to choose the werewolf or not.

At least, that was how I had interpreted it.

I shuddered to think of how many more werewolves still had chances at phasing and about how the Cullen's were going to be around for many more years. By the time they left this place would practically be to the dogs.

Boy it's been awhile. XP

So I had severe writers block at the end. Yeah… sorry if it was a little short and that would be the reason. FYI: that's what my mom told me here view on imprinting was. I tried to explain how not 'controlling' it was, but she didn't seem to get it… so all thanks to my mom. :D

I've now updated two stories in one night. Yay! PLEASE REVIEW! YOUR REVIEWS MAKE MY DAY MOST OF THE TIME. Anyway, see you next time!

(And if you think the plot is messed up enough… just keep reading. Eventually the title is going to become clear… within the next couple chapters I suspect. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA coughcoughchokechokewritesdies)