Chapter 12 - Water Under the Bridge

If you're not the one for me
Then I'll come back and bring you to your knees
If you're not the one for me
Why do I hate the idea of being free?
"Water Under the Bridge" by Adele


"That was a good one, sis," Collin said, plopping down next to me on the couch.

"Thanks, Bro Montana." I grinned, knowing what he was referring to.

"Seth phased last night and showed me what happened. The look on Paul's face was priceless. He knows you did it though, so be ready for retaliation.

"I'm not afraid of him," I said plainly.

"I know you're not," Collin said. "That thing with Brady got you some major cool points too."

"He shouldn't be such a dick. Especially to someone who doesn't deserve it."

"I don't think you know the whole story. Leah is kinda mean to us," Collin said quietly. He leaned away from me as if he were expecting a violent reaction.

"Emily told me what happened with Sam. Leah told me what happened with Sam. She has the right to be upset that imprinting ruined her relationships with both of them. All of the guys give her shit about being hung up on him. Not to mention she is the only girl wolf ever, you have no idea how she feels so cut her some slack," I snapped at him.

"This imprinting thing really bothers you doesn't it? I don't think it's just because of Paul." He turned to face me, staring at me until I looked back at the television.

"I want to choose my life mate," I replied. "I'm fucking seventeen, for fuck's sake. Let me live my life before I get tied down."

"You know what I noticed? You curse more when you're uncomfortable. You're using bad language to sound tough when you feel the most insecure."

I stared at him. My little brother knew me better than anyone. "Well aren't you Mr. Insightful. My fifteen year old baby brother is trying to teach me a life lesson." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Deflection; another sign of your insecurity."

"Fuck off, Collin." I stood up, ignoring his calls for me to come back. I shut the door to my room a little too hard and stretched out across my bed. My phone buzzed with a text. I scrunched my eyebrows as I read it:

Thank you for signing up for ChuckNorrisFacts . com! Reply STOP at anytime to unsubscribe.

Chuck Norris doesn't dial the wrong number. You answered the wrong phone.

I definitely didn't remember signing up for this. I quickly replied 'stop' and hit send.

My phone buzzed a moment later with another text. Chuck Norris has already been to Mars. That's why there are no signs of life.

Jeez. STOP

Another buzz. Chuck Norris wears sunglasses so that his eyes won't hurt the sun.

STOP

Thank you for renewing your subscription to ChuckNorrisFacts . com! We hope you're enjoying these facts! You can reply STOP at anytime to unsubscribe.

Fucking A. STOP

Chuck Norris doesn't sleep, he waits.

I was getting ready to throw my phone when I looked at the phone number and realized it was a local number. What an idiot I am. I quickly texted back: Paul, is that you?

Thank you for signing up for CaitlynJennerNudes . com!

Paul, you fucking asshole. How did you get my number?

Emily gave it to me.

And this is the best you could come up with for revenge for your shorts?

I'm just getting started, baby.

My heart got a little kick out of being called baby though I strongly decided to ignore it. Bring it, bitch, I replied. He didn't answer after that. I had to get him with something good. I decided that he was tomorrow's problem and rolled over to go to sleep.

What is it about Fridays that makes the school day drag by slower? When the last bell rang I nearly sprinted out the door.

"Hey, Ryvre," Sarah called, hurrying to catch up with me. "You have any plans this weekend?"

"Not really. Probably going to the beach or something with Leah."

"I was going to go to Seattle to go dress shopping. Homecoming is coming up and I wanted to pick a good one. You can come with me, if you'd like," she said hopefully. "Maybe we could meet up with some of your old friends and you could catch up?"

"I'll have to ask my dad," I said, already knowing what the answer would be. "With everything going on up there I just don't think he would be comfortable letting me go alone. Actually I'm surprised your parents are letting you go." That was the truth, too. Her father was on the council. He knew about the vampires.

"They don't know, actually. I told them I was going to Port Angeles. There's just this amazing store in Seattle that I just have to go to," she said.

"It's been a while since I've been to Port Angeles, though. Maybe we could go there instead?" I asked, hopefully. Anything to get my friend from going to Seattle.

"Nah," she said. "I've got my heart set on Sherry's shop. Well, just think about it and let me know. I'll text you later." She turned and left.

Her determination on going to Seattle worried me a little bit. As much as it pained me to be a tattle tale, I told my dad when I got home. He then called her dad to warn him of Sarah's plan.

"I called a little too late," dad said, appearing in my doorway. "Sarah had already left her house."

"Is there anything we can do? Maybe ask Sam to send one of the guys to follow her around?" I asked hopefully.

"Ryvre," dad started as he came to sit on my bed. "Sam wouldn't send any of them to look after your friend. It would be too dangerous for everyone involved. So far the vampires don't seem to know the wolves are here. Sending one into her territory would alert her to their presence and make your friend a target if they were seen together. As long as she's home before dark I believe she will be okay." He rubbed my shoulder to reassure me.

"I hope so," I finally agreed. Dad smiled at me then leaned over to kiss my cheek. "Have there been any more murders?" I had been purposefully avoiding the news so I didn't have to see any of the gory details but now I just had to know.

"Yes," dad said honestly.

"Does Sam have any kind of plan yet? I mean, it's been months."

"He does. In fact, they're meeting with the Cullen family tonight to discuss strategy." He turned to leave then, shutting my door behind him. I could only wonder what strategy they were discussing. Now I wished I had gone with Sarah to Seattle. At least I could have helped her if we did run into a vampire. With a snort, I rolled over and got to my feet. What could I really do against a vampire? Basically nothing. I wanted nothing to do with any of this mess.

Deciding that I had had enough of sitting in my room I headed downstairs. Collin and another boy were sitting at the kitchen table. "Who's this dude?" I asked, opening the fridge.

"Cory," my brother answered. "He's a new wolf. Phased a few days ago."

"And what's your name?" the new kid asked with a flirty grin. He looked like he were the same age as my brother.

I laughed once and spun around to glare at him. "The Wicked Witch of La Push. Wipe that grin off your face."

The smile dropped off his face in an instant, his eyes widened a little. "I'm sorry," he squeaked.

I smiled. "That's better. Now, you can call me Ryvre." With that I took my leave and went into the living room. My phone sat next to me on the cushion. The time was just after five. Knowing it would be getting dark soon, I texted Sarah: Any luck finding a dress yet?

A few minutes went by with no reply. Then a few more. Anxiety set in and I couldn't take it. I slipped on my shoes and coat and decided to go visit Emily.

"Hey, Ryvre!" she chirped after I had knocked. "Come on in. Hannah is here too." She leaned in to whisper, "Seth still hasn't talked to her yet." She gave me a pointed look but I knew what she meant.

I just rolled my eyes. "Of course he hasn't." We went into the kitchen where Hannah was sitting, nibbling on a muffin. Emily pushed the plate towards me as I sat.

"Hi, Ryvre," Hannah greeted politely.

"Sup, homie," I replied, taking a bite of my muffin.

"I'm surprised you don't have any plans tonight," Emily said looking at me.

I'm not, I replied in my head. It's not like I have any real friends here. "Well, there's nothing to do here," I finally said. "It's not like I can go to Seattle either."

"Oh yeah," Hannah spoke up. "They still haven't found whoever has been killing all those people." She shook her head sadly.

I looked at Emily. "One of my friends from school is there now. Dress shopping, of all things."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Emily tried to reassure me.

Looking at the table, I shrugged. "I texted her an hour ago and she hasn't replied yet."

"That doesn't have to mean anything," Emily said firmly. She looked at Hannah. "How are things with Seth?"

Hannah immediately perked up. I could almost see the stars forming in her eyes. "They're great. He's such a sweetheart."

"How did you guys meet?" I asked. She was an imprint but she didn't know it yet. I'm curious to see how she describes their relationship. Emily eyed me, probably already knowing what I was thinking.

"We actually were in the same class in second grade so we've kind of grown up together," she explained. "We weren't really friends though until a few weeks ago. He asked me to eat lunch with him one day and that was it." She shrugged. "We've only been going out a few weeks but I feel like we have this amazing bond. He listens to me and supports me. I've always been a really shy and private person. He never pushes me to talk and when we're around people I don't know he usually does the talking for me until I'm comfortable to speak up. And he never makes me feel bad for not speaking. He just goes out of his way to make sure I'm comfortable and taken care of."

She paused and leaned in to the table. "I got my period at school one day." She looked down as if it embarrassed her to even mention this "So I didn't go to class, I just hid in the bathroom. And cried. I was crying. He texted me to see if I was okay. I texted him back and told him I'd gotten my period but didn't have anything and there were no other girls in there I could ask. He didn't answer me and I thought I grossed him out. Then ten minutes later he came in with a box of tampons for me! He had walked out of class, went down to the store and bought them for me. It sounds silly but it's the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me."

I smiled but didn't really know what to say. Emily was telling her she agreed that it was pretty sweet.

Hannah looked over at me. "You've been here a couple weeks now. Have you met anyone you might be interested in?"

My stomach dropped. "No, all the guys at school are too afraid of me," I said with a grin.

The girls laughed at that. Hannah stood up. "Well, this was fun but I've got to get going home. I'll see you ladies at the bon fire right?"

We agreed and bid her good night. Emily got up to refill our glasses. I checked my phone again, saddened to see I still had no messages from Sarah. Kelly hadn't even texted me in a while.

"See, being an imprint isn't so bad," Emily said taking her seat again.

"Except for the part where Hannah and Seth weren't even friends until he imprinted on her and now he does all this stuff for her."

Emily just shook her head but didn't say anything. In front of me, my phone buzzed. 'Hey, I just got home. Sorry I couldn't text you back. My phone died!'

"Sarah is okay," I told Emily, texting my friend back. "Her phone died.

"See, you worried for nothing."

"Yeah, yeah." I stood up. "I'm gonna head home. See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Ryre. Be careful!" she called after me.

"Always am," I called back, glad I was turned away so she couldn't see my frown.