Wednesday night, I stay at Kim's house, too afraid of staying home alone after the previous night's incident. Thursday, school is pretty much the same, with the added bonus that we finally know why Paul and Jared look so different. At lunch, they started sitting with us and answering our questions. Of course, I never answered any of Paul's questions directed towards why the vampire was after me and what my name really was. I wasn't sure if I could trust him with those important secrets yet. Sure, I trust Paul and all, but I just don't know how to tell him the truth of my past.

Friday is my last day of freedom away from my parents. Although I am not looking forward to having my Dad back, I can't say the same for my Mom. I miss her when she's not around, her and her cheeriness that keeps the house alive. Without her, our house is just dull and lifeless. Literally.

Morning classes pass by in the usual, boring fashion. So, of course, by the time lunch rolls around, I am dying to get out of there. I just keep reminding myself that it's my last year here and then I'll never be stuck here again in these boring classes. That doesn't help much, though.

I take a sit next to Paul at the lunch table, across from Kim. She's busy talking to Jared, so she doesn't acknowledge me when I sit down. I feel happy for Kim. After finding out from Jared himself that he was not going out with Destiny, Kim has been a bit happier. Plus, Jared has spent every spare second at school with Kim. I'm sure she's on top of the world. I know I would be if I were in her shoes.

I glance over at the huge pile of almost unedible cafeteria food and scrunch my nose in disgust. "How can you eat that?" I demand, my eyes still on the nasty pile of rubbish.

Paul chuckles. "It's food. I don't care if it tastes good. I'm just hungry," he defends.

I roll my eyes and avert my gaze to the table in front of me. "That's disgusting," I mutter under my breath.

"No, not really," Paul replies.

My gaze flickers up to him. "How'd you . . . ?

Paul chuckles again and points to his ear. "Supersonic hearing. Werewolf thing," he explains.

I roll my eyes again. Is there anything that's not involved with some kind of supersonic werewolf thing? I highly doubt it. Paul can do pretty much anything now, thanks to the werewolf genes.

Kim suddenly squeals, causing me to jump almost a foot in the air. I glare at her, but she doesn't notice, for she is bouncing up and down and clapping her hands. "Evie, you and Paul are coming with us to the bonfire tonight," she announces, a mischievous grin on her face.

I am almost positive that my jaw is touching the top of the table. Bonfire? With Paul? As in a date? A date with Paul? Do I want to go on a date with Paul? Kind of . . . then again, not really. Yes, I do want to go on a date with Paul, but then again, I don't. What in the world do I want? I can't make up my mind!

Kim grins widely at me. "Well? Evie?"

I shake my head discreetly to clear it before blinking and stammering, "I, um, I," I glance up swiftly at Paul to see him gazing back, his eyes showing nothing but hope. I can't help but reply with, "Sure." I couldn't refuse Paul. Unfortunately.

~.~.~.~.~

After school, Kim instructs me to go straight to my house. She has seen everything in my closet, and has her heart set on one of my dresses that I have probably never worn. I'm not a dress person. I prefer jeans and my hoodies.

By the time six o'clock rolls around, Kim and I are dressed and ready for our "dates," if that's even what's going on.

Kim is dressed in one of my dresses, of course. It's a spaghetti-strapped, yellow dress with white sandals. Her black hair is straightened and left down, while her face contains only a light amount of eyeliner, mascara, and blush. She is very pretty, in my opinion. Much prettier than me, the outsider white girl on the rez.

I, on the other hand, am wearing a strapless light blue dress that falls halfway down my thigh and accentuates my matching blue eyes. After almost two hours of begging and fake tears, Kim finally conned me into wearing this stupid dress. Silver flip flops, silver hoops in my ears, and a light amount of eyeliner is all that I had to accessorize. My light brown hair is pulled up into a messy bun, which rules out any thoughts of wearing a hoodie. Although I rely on my hoodies desperately almost, for some reason tonight I don't feel the need to wear one. I always wore them because I felt the need to hide my face away from the shame of not being like everyone else. I was always different, unlike everyone else. And, after years of being teased and tortured, I turned to the cover of a hood. But, now, I feel like I have no reason to hide from Paul. He seems to like me with or without the hood. Which only makes me like him more.

The sound of the doorbell ringing causes all hell to break loose. Kim and I dash down the stairs, but Kim, always the clumsy one, trips over her own two feet on the bottom step and falls forward. She lands on the wood and busts out laughing, which causes me to bust out laughing. I almost forget who's waiting at the door, but at the second Ding, I abruptly stop laughing and dash for the door.

And I thought Paul Reid couldn't look any hotter.

He's wearing a white wife beater, which contrasts rather sexily with his dark skin. Jeans are hanging low on his hips, and a thin leather necklace is around his neck, a small wooden carving of a wolf hanging on the end. He grins at the sight of me, and an involuntary shiver runs down my spine as something crosses his eyes: lust.

Jared looks passed me to Kim, who is still lying on the floor laughing. He rushes past me to help her up. I ignore them, though; I have eyes only for Paul at the moment.

We all pile into Paul's truck and head for First Beach, where the bonfire is being held. It's not dark yet, so about half a mile away, we can already see the smoke above the trees from the fire.

Once we arrive, Paul parks the truck and we all head for the beach. Jared leads Kim off to the side to meet some people, while Paul and I take a seat on some logs. It's silent for a minute before hooting and hollering gain my attention. I look up to see a couple of guys playing soccer.

A grin spreads across my face as I point to them and turn to Paul. "Ooh, do you think we can play, too?" I ask hopefully. Yes, I realize I am in a dress and am a girl surrounded by a few oversized guys, but that doesn't mean I can't hide my tomboy-ish side.

Paul glances over at the guys. "Um, they're werewolves, Evie. They're stronger than you by, like, a lot. You could get hurt."

I roll my eyes. "Oh, don't worry about me. Trust me, if I can handle my abusive father without going to the emergency room, then I can handle a bunch of juvenile werewolves."

A mixture of emotions crosses Paul's face before he sighs and relents. "Fine. But, if any of them hurt you, you'll tell me, right?" he asks, worried.

I nod. "Yep. You'll be the first to know."

Paul grins half-heartedly. "Okay. Let's go." We stand and walk over to where the guys are playing soccer with makeshift goals made out of shoes. I slip off my flip flops and throw them to the side. Paul grabs my arm.

"You can't play without shoes on. You'll hurt your feet," he protests.

I roll my eyes. "Paul, this isn't the first time I've played soccer without shoes."

Paul sighs and lets me go. I run forward to the only person I recognize: Jacob Black. "Hey, Jacob!" I greet cheerfully.

He turns and smiles. "Oh, hey Evie. Wanna play?"

I nod excitedly. "Yeah. Got room for a left-fielder?"

Jacob cocks a brow. "You're left footed?"

I nod. Jacob grins. "Good, 'cause none of us are." He turns his attention to the others. "Hey! We're changing teams!" he announces.

The other guys jog over to us. Paul stands by my side, an unhappy look on his face. He's probably worried I'll get hurt or something. Worry-wart.

"Evie, this is Embry Call and Quil Ateara," Jacob introduces.

I nod. "So, you guys are part of the pack, too?"

Three sets of eyes stare at me like I have three heads. I cock a brow and snort. "What?"

They each shake their heads and blink at the same time, causing me to laugh inwardly. I don't know how they'll react if I bust out laughing at them.

Finally, Paul breaks the short silence. "Well, are we gonna play or what?"

I smile up at him, causing him to smile widely. Ah, I gotta love him. Wait, what? Did I just say love? No, I don't love him. Absolutely not. Like very much, yes. Love? No.

Jacob nods. "Yeah. Um, ah crap. We don't have even teams."

Embry suddenly shouts, "Hey, Sam! You wanna play soccer?"

Within seconds, Sam Uley has joined our group. The teams are picked, and it's Paul, Jacob, and me against Quil, Embry, and Sam. Unfair, you say? Ah, well we'll see.

We get ball first since, you know, our team has one human. Paul plays right-fielder while Jacob plays goalie. Sam is left-fielder for the other time, while Embry is right and Quil is goalie.

Paul passes the ball to me. I fake my way passed a confused and startled Embry before heading straight to the goal. I get within a few meters before I slow down for the kick. Just as I kick the ball and watch it sail through the invisible net, something plows over me, sending me straight towards the sand. Luckily, I catch myself before my face slams into the grainy particles.

"Ow," I mutter, my face just inches from the sand.

"Embry! What the hell?" screeches Paul before two warm hands grab me around the waist and lift me up. I brush off my knees and run my fingers through my hair to make sure I look fine before turning to see Paul glaring down Embry. Embry's hands are up in a peace offering, while Sam is standing between them, probably to prevent a fight.

"Paul, you need to calm down. You can't blame Embry; he was just playing the game," says Sam.

Paul begins to shake, his expression turning to fury. "He could've hurt Evie," growls Paul. "You want me to just let him get away with that?"

Sam takes a step towards Paul, but that only causes Paul to shake harder. From what Paul and Jared have told Kim and I, the shaking means they're about to phase. Even though it's dangerous and I could be seriously hurt, I still jump forward and grab Paul's trembling arm.

"Paul? Please calm down," I murmur.

Paul looks down at me, and his gaze immediately softens while his body slows it's shaking. Within seconds, he's the old Paul.

"You oka-"

"Evie!" Sam yells, interrupting me. "What in the world were you thinking?"

I roll my eyes. "Chill, Sam. I was just trying to calm Paul down, and it worked."

Sam is about to say something more, but I grab Paul's arm and lead him away from there. I don't want to get into a fight on our first date - if this is our first date.

The rest of the party passes by pretty quickly. I meet Emily Young, Sam's fiancée, Billy Black, Jacob's father, and a few of the other Elders. Billy Black retells the legends, and sometime during that, Kim falls asleep on Jared's shoulder. Once the storytelling is over, Jared carries a sleeping Kim back to the truck while Paul and I walk, hand in hand. When did I start holding Paul's hand? I honestly don't remember.

When we arrive at my house, I unlock the door so Jared can take Kim inside. Once Jared is out of sight, I turn back around to find Paul much closer than he was a minute ago. We're barely a whole inch apart.

"Uh, um, eh," I stutter, nervous and embarrassed and completely unsure of what to do next. I've never kissed a guy before, and I have a feeling that Paul is about to kiss me.

"Evie?"

I look up into Paul's chocolate brown eyes. Before I can reply, Paul's mouth is on mine in a sweet kiss. It's short and sweet; no tongue, no groping, no moaning or anything else like that. Just a short yet sweet kiss. And it is perfect.

I lean back first, a huge stupid smile on my face. Paul looks much the same, except his face is more perfect than mine.

"Whoah," I murmur. I have never been kissed, and that was the best kiss I could ever imagine without any explicit details.

Paul grins wider. "What are you doing tomorrow?" he asks.

My grin falters when I remember that my parents are due back home tomorrow. And my Dad doesn't take kindly to strangers. "Um, my parents are coming home tomorrow. And, uh, my Dad isn't exactly the person you want to meet."

Paul's expression changes drastically to anger. "I'd actually like to meet your Dad. Knock some sense into him for beating his daughter around."

I shake my head wildly. "No! No, you can't meet him. He has a gun, and he isn't afraid to use it, and I don't want you to get hurt, 'cause then it'll be on my conscious and-"

Paul cuts my rambling off with another short kiss. "Don't worry. If you don't want me to come, then I won't. Is there any way you can sneak away? Maybe go to Kim's house? She'll probably spend some time with Jared, too."

Paul looks almost desperate, as if he'll literally be in pain at not seeing my face tomorrow. I can't turn him down, even if I really want to. "Fine. I'll try to work something out."

Paul grins and kisses me one more time, this time a bit longer, but just as sweet. We're broken apart when Jared comes bustling out the door, running right into my back. I fall forward into Paul's chest, his arms winding around me.

"Dammit, Jared!" Paul growls over my head. Jared mumbled something sounding like an apology before jogging back to Paul's truck. I lean back from Paul so I can look up into his face.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Paul grins and pecks me on the mouth one last time. "See you tomorrow."

I watch as he, too, jogs back to the truck and drives down my driveway. I can't help but feel elated at the thought of seeing him again tomorrow. Who knew me, Evie Parker, the girl who wears hoods on her head and has only one friend, would be with Paul Reid, one of the popular guys, someone all the girls are drooling over?

I smile as I turn to walk back inside, but something moves out of the corner of my eye. I freeze and slowly turn my head in the direction of the object.

Her paper-white skin is almost glowing under the moonlight as she waves and grins a breathtaking smile. Then she disappears.

So, I better get some reviews for finally getting Paul and Evie to kiss! ;) And, I made the chapter almost twice as long as the others! So, can't I get some more reviews? Please? Is that really too much to ask for?