This is the beginning of Chapter 19: Emily from Kathleen's (Jared's mom) point of view.
I kicked the car door shut with my foot, carrying the grocery bags up the steps. Kim's car was in the driveway which means she and Jared are here! I walked into the kitchen and put the bags on the counter before walking over to the living room where I could hear voices.
"So, a four would go there." Jared said, pointing to a notebook. She nodded her head, "See, this isn't that hard." He laughed slightly, looking down at her. He always had this loving look on his face whenever he was around her. I had never seen him so happy. Neither of them noticed me come in, which was surprising on Jared's part because of his super hearing. He was always so wrapped up in Kim that he hadn't been paying attention to anything but her.
Normally a mother might be upset and a little mad to see their 17 year old son and his girlfriend cuddled up on the couch with no one home but I trusted not only Jared, but Kim as well. I had seen her a few times since I had met her and she was always so polite and sweet but not in a fake way. You could tell she is genuinely a good person and anyone could see how in love she and Jared are. I also knew she was Jared's soulmate which meant she would with him forever. If my son had to imprint on anyone I was glad it was her.
Kim looked up, smiling like always, "Hey Kathleen!" She said happily.
"Hey Kim! You know, if I had known that all he needed was a girlfriend to make him get better grades, I would have insisted on him getting one a long time ago." I told her, winking. Jared's chemistry grade had gone from a C to a B+ with the help of Kim and his history grade had gone from a B- to a B. I learned that those were the two classes he had with her. Why couldn't they have more classes together?
"I'm sure not everyone is as patient as me." She responded, winking back. Jared let out a huff, causing her to giggle. I didn't miss as he leaned down and placed a kiss on her temple. They are so cute! Ever since Jared had become a wolf he had, had issues with his temper. If anyone else had made that comment he would have started shaking and gotten mad but he was so calm and careful with Kim which told me just how much he loved her.
"You'll stay for dinner tonight?" I asked. She shook her head no, "Wish I could but I have to leave in a couple minutes for work." I could see Jared frowning and he seemed to tighten his arms around her slightly as if he didn't want her to leave. I sighed slightly, "Thursday?" I asked hopefully. I had been wanting to have her over and I liked being around her. If I was around Kim then Jared was with her so I ultimately got to spend more time with Jared. He was also happy. It was a win, win situation for everybody and she was fun to be around.
"Sure, as long as I get to meet Matt because Jared has not introduced me to him yet." She said, grinning. "Because he is annoying and you will run away, never to come back after you meet him." Jared proclaimed. I rolled my eyes and laughed as Kim shoved him. "Jeez Jare, dramatic much?" She asked. He shook his head no. I smiled at the nickname.
"Yay! I'm so excited!" I squealed. What should I make? What does she like? "And I can't believe Jared hasn't let you meet him, he's really not that bad." I defended my other son. Jared and Matt fought often. Even though Matt was six years younger than Jared they still argued about the most pointless things. Matt could sometimes be a bit annoying but he wasn't a bad kid. I rolled my eyes at Jared's disagreement and hummed, walking back into the kitchen to start dinner, excited about Thursday night.
If she came for dinner maybe she would be around here more often. I really liked her and I didn't have a daughter. I would give anything to have a daughter I could go shopping and share secrets with, do her hair and help her with makeup. Don't get me wrong, I love my sons and wouldn't give them up but it would have been nice to have a little girl as well.
"What do you want me to bring on Thursday, Kathleen?" Kim asked, interrupting me from my thoughts. I grinned at her politeness, "Nothing." I responded happily. She opened her mouth to protest but I beat her to it. "I'm serious Kim. Just bring your pretty self. If you show up with anything else, you will be in trouble." She sighed, almost as dramatically as Jared earlier. "Fine!" I giggled.
"See you on Thursday, Kim." I waved goodbye as she walked to the front entryway, Jared never far from her. A couple minutes later, Jared walked back into the kitchen, smiling like he always was after spending time with Kim.
"What should I make on Thursday?" I asked. He shrugged and I frowned. "What does she like?" I probed, honestly wanting to know. "Oh...She'll eat pretty much anything except she doesn't like hot dogs, cake, or pears. She's also allergic to pineapple and chipotle." He told me. I nodded my head, surprised he knew her so well. I was thinking chicken parm… "Sounds good! Oh, I am so excited!" I squealed, clapping my hands slightly. He rolled his eyes and opened a cupboard, taking some chips out and stuffing them in his face. I gave him a disapproving look but knew he would still eat his whole dinner anyway.
"You know," He said between mouthfuls, "She really likes you. I can tell." My eyes lit up. "Really?" I knew that the girlfriend should want the parents to like her but I wanted Kim to like me so badly, especially since she was so important to Jared. "Yeah, she was really nervous about meeting you guys but she's comfortable around you now. Isn't she just amazing?" He sighed. I smirked. "Mhm…" Lovesick, teenage puppy.
This Emily's point of view from Chapter 19: Emily.
I couldn't remember when I had ever been this excited. I didn't get out much and going to Port Angele's was a big deal for me. It wasn't that I wasn't allowed to go out or anything, I just usually didn't because people stared at my scars and made me uncomfortable. I was glad Kim had agreed to come dress shopping with me. I didn't have any other girl friends who would do something like this for me. There was Leah, who hated me on her best day and I had my sister, but she lived on the Makah reservation, I didn't really have any friends in La Push. She finally stopped the car and I was out before she had even removed the keys from the ignition. I paused part way to the store.
"I forgot." I mumbled. Kim slammed into me. "Forgot what?" She asked. I turned around so I could face her. "Kim? Will you be my maid of honor? I really wanted to ask you earlier but I thought maybe you wouldn't want to since you haven't known me that long but you have become my best friend here in such a short amount of time and I would love for you to be apart of my wedding but if you don't want to I understand and-" I started to become nervous. Would she not want to be my maid of honor? She didn't know me well enough! She was going to think I was crazy!
"Emily!" She interrupted, smiling. "I would love to be in your wedding as your maid of honor!" I squealed and hugged her before dragging her into the store and looking around at everything. I can't believe I am getting married. Sam and I had been engaged for a while but everything was finally falling into place and it felt great! I noticed the woman who asked us if we needed help was looking at my scars. I blushed and let my hair fall in front of my face. Kim seemed oblivious to it, she was one of the only people who never looked at me differently or judged me. Even my family sometimes found it hard not to stare and Sam always had that apologetic, painful look in his eyes when he looked for too long. Kim followed be around, holding dresses while looking at dresses she could wear. She is so pretty. I thought, She could pull off a strapless dress without a problem.
We went to the fitting room and she seemed almost as excited as me. There was this one dress that I really liked but it was open-back and showed some of my scars so I told Kim that I didn't like it. I finally found the perfect dress and Kim squealed, jumping up and down. We found a gorgeous beige colored dress for her that was spaghetti straps and had a brown band around the waist. It looked beautiful on her.
"Do you want a veil?" She asked. I walked over to where she was standing, looking at the veils. "I think so...It will help cover up my scars." I told her. She groaned before turning to look at me.
"Seriously Em, it's not a big deal. You're gorgeous and you shouldn't have to worry about what Sam will think because, seriously, have you seen the way he looks at you?" She told me, clearly not liking my obsession with my scars today. Most of the time I forgot about them as long as people didn't stare and I didn't really care what most others thought, but this day was so important to me. I had been dreaming about it since I was a little girl. Leah and I had played 'fake wedding' when we were ten and in all my dreams I had never had scars going down the side of my face. I had always been beautiful. I had always been a princess.
"I know." I sighed. "My scars don't bother me but I just want to feel like a princess. Just this one day. And princesses don't have scars, Kim." She seemed to take in my words before shaking her head in slight disgust. Not at my face or necessarily me, but at my viewpoint.
"Everyone has scars, Emily. Some people just don't wear them on the outside." My face softened at her words. She was right…
This is the end of Chapter: 19, Emily from Jared's point of view. It takes place after Kim has dinner with Jared and his parents.
I heard the click of a seatbelt and a cold body pressed against my side. I wrapped my arms around her, protectively. "You should be wearing a seatbelt." I warned, glancing down at her for a split second before looking back to the road. She looked up at me. "Are you planning on getting us in a car accident?" She asked innocently. I smirked, still look ahead and shook my head no. I could feel her gaze on me but I couldn't look down. If I did and happened to get lost in her eyes then we would surely crash. I could tell she was deep in thought and she was tense even though my arm was around her.
"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned. She wasn't upset or anything...was she? I glanced down in time to see her nodding her head. I couldn't be sure if she was telling the truth though. "Jared?" She whispered softly. I glanced down again waiting for her to continue. It sounded serious. "What...never mind." She said, shaking her head. I tightened my arm around her. She sounded nervous. What was wrong? Did she not trust me?
"No. Tell me, I want to know." She shook her head again. I sighed. I wanted to make whatever was bothering her all better. I wanted to be there for her which was hard if she wouldn't let me in. "Come on Kim, you know you can tell me anything." I pleaded. I brought my fingers up to rub against her bottom lip. She was chewing the life out of her lip which meant she was nervous, upset, or both. I was instantly worried. "Kim...What's wrong? Did I do something? Did you not have fun tonight?" I panicked. She didn't want to be here. Was she mad at me? She didn't want to hang out with my family. I shouldn't have done this. I shouldn't have pushed her. "Oh God, You didn't want to come tonight and my mom forced you too. I am so sorry, I am so-"
"Jared!" She interrupted my rant. "Stop! It's not that! Jeez, you always expect the worst." Well, duh. I was waiting for her to decide she didn't want me. I was so scared of her leaving me or me telling her what I was and her freaking out. She was the most important person to me and I couldn't lose her. "What are you doing after graduation?" She asked in a small voice.
"I-What?" I asked, confused. What did this have to do with anything? After graduation I am going out to eat with her and my family. "What are you doing next year Jare? Where are you going to college?" She asked softly. Double oh. She wanted to know about us. I guess I hadn't made it very clear. I didn't see my life without her and assumed she knew that. I assumed we would just be together forever. I was incredibly happy to know she cared, though.
"Thats what this is about?" I asked, not even trying to hide my amusement. She tried to pull away from me but I kept her where she was, securely under my arm. I could see a blush form on her cheeks from where I was sitting. She looked away trying to hide it. Why would she be embarrassed? I leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"I'm staying here." I told her simply. "I have a job lined up next year. Sam is going to be teaching a course on our tribes history at the high school and he asked Paul and me to help out. Maybe in a year or two I'll head to college but right now I have everything I need here." I didn't want to go to college. For one thing I needed to be with Kim, who would still be in school, and for another I had a duty to my pack. The only way I was leaving here would be if Kim was. If Kim ended up wanting to go to college that was far away then I would go with her. I wasn't leaving her for anything.
"What, would you miss me?" I asked teasingly, trying to keep my voice light, but on the inside completely serious. Would she? "Yes." She said confidently. I pulled into her driveway.
"I'd miss you way more." I whispered, looking down at her, lovingly.
There you go! Next chapter is an alternate ending to a story line I never pursued. I think you will enjoy it! (...Wonder if you can guess who the two main characters are…) I will also have a new chapter of Wonderland hopefully up by tomorrow! xx.
