Chapter 14

"Strangers among Shopping"

I continued to lay awake in the bed listening endlessly to the voices that captivated my attention. After awhile I just got tired of hearing the others and just focused on one voice that seemed nervous, but had always soothed me.

"Nerves calm. Pulse stop racing. Stop pacing Seth!"

"Can wolves sweat?"

"Why am I so freaking nervous?"

"She's my imprint, I have to tell her."

"I will never harm her."

"We belong together."

"Breathe in, breathe out."

"I will tell her tomorrow."

The next morning I woke up with a lot of uneasiness. Sleep escaped me as I continued to listen to the voices. They didn't fade, they didn't disappear, and they didn't soothe me like they always have.

I got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast. I was going to stay in my room longer but the smell of pancakes filled the atmosphere causing my stomach to growl, thus remembering that I didn't eat anything yesterday.

Downstairs Charlie was already up reading the morning paper at the table. Sue stood by the counters fixing up breakfast. Seth was nowhere to be found and to my surprise Leah was also at the table, refusing to have direct eye contact with me. Not wanting to have the silence continue on, I asked them where Seth was.

"Good morning. Breakfast smells good." I said glancing over to the counter area where breakfast was being prepared.

"Thank you dear. It'll be ready in about a few minutes. Get yourself some orange juice." Sue answered, acknowledging towards the fridge. I walked over slowly grabbing a glass them pouring some orange juice. I took the other seat beside Charlie and Leah on the opposite end of the table. I looked over to Leah, hoping to have some idea of what her problem was with me.

"Stupid. Everyone is becoming a big family but me. Stupid Seth for imprinting on Kat."

I shook my head ignoring her and resumed to eating my breakfast that Sue laid in front of me. Short time thereafter Seth walked through the door. He looked anxious and nervous but still had a smile on his face. Although I was nervous myself, I smiled back; it was just hard to resist the smiles he always gave me. He didn't say anything as he walked over to Sue, gathered breakfast and sat on the opposite end of the table from me.

For mere short minutes nobody said anything. The silence once again was causing tension and it was making me more edger than ever.

"Well I'm going to head over to the first beach area and see if there is any help to set up the bonfire." Leah said getting up from the table and placing her dishes in the sink and leaving without another word. The rest of us continued in silence eating our breakfast. I stole a few glances in Seth's direction, probably making it obvious that I was looking at him which of course he is looking back too.

"I hope things will work out. Why did I imprint on her? I don't deserve a girl like her. She's Bella's cousin. I need to talk to Bella before the Bonfire."

"Well I'm heading over to the Cullen's before the fire." Seth said immediately after taking in his last bite. I watched him as he got up and walked to the sink to place his dirty dishes inside.

"Maybe I should invite her along. The others can keep her company while I talk to Bella."

"Um, I told Emily that I would go with her to the store this morning to pick up some items for dinner." I said ignoring Seth's hopeful glance in my direction.

"Okay dear. Tell her I said Hello and that we will see her later." Sue said as she too gathered her dishes and Charlie's.

I nodded and gathered my things to head over to Emily's. Once out the door Seth caught up to me.

"Hey. You want me to give you a ride over?" He asked. I thought of my answer. At first I was going to say no but the voice in my head was getting happily annoy, almost made me giggle.

"Please, please say yes. Please say yes. Please."

"Okay." I answered straining my voice to keep the giggling inside. I couldn't ignore anything about Seth no matter how hard I tried.

He helped me into his truck that the Cullen's had purchased for him. At the time I guess he always rode the motorbike to get to their place. They got him a Ford F-250 single cab blue truck.

The trip to Emily's of course didn't take very long. Seth helped me out once we got there and walked with me inside. Emily was sitting in the living room with Sam chatting idly.

"Hey Seth and Kat, how are you guys?" Sam asked.

"Not much. I'm heading over to the Cullen's for a bit and Kat said something about grocery shopping with Emily for tonight." Seth answered. I gave them a little smile.

"Hmm, maybe I should go with Seth to the Cullen's. The problem is back."

"I can't wait for tonight, especially with Seth revealing his secret. He'll be so happy."

"Uh, should we get going Emily? It looks like it may rain later." I said ignoring the voices.

"Yes, Emily you should go. I'm going to go with Seth to the Cullen's place. I will be back later tonight in time for the Bonfire." Sam said standing up and giving Emily a quick light kiss.

"Okay. See you boys tonight. And don't get into trouble. Tonight is trouble free, you promised." She called out as Sam disappeared through the front door. Seth hesitated for a minute.

"Go Seth. Sheesh, we'll be here later tonight." Emily said trying to push Seth out the door. Seth nodded and followed behind Sam to his truck. Once the roaring sounds of the engine faded Emily spoke.

"Well let's head on over to the shops in Forks for the dinner items. They have more selections and choices and of course I'm fixing for almost 25 people." She said happily as she gathered her keys and purse by the door. I stood stung at the amount of people she said was attending tonight's gathering.

Emily must have sensed my sudden shock and walked over placing her hands on my shoulders. She must have also seen the look on my face that I have desperately been all weekend hiding – the look of nervousness and guilt.

"Kat dear, are you alright?" She asked softly. It was enough for me to break out of my trance. I turned to look at her, with almost tears pouring out my eyes. I couldn't believe this woman is the one to break my composure, to break my wall.

"Oh Kat, sit down. You must talk to me, please. We are not going anywhere till you speak with me." She said sternly, leading me to the couch.

I took a deep breath. I seriously could not tell her everything although I knew more than she knew herself. So I lied.

"I'm just nervous about being around practically all the people around the reservation." I said softly, hoping she didn't read behind the lines or study my voice to see the lie.

Emily smiled at me then snaked her bad arm around my shoulders giving it a light squeeze. "Kat. The gathering is a fun time. You don't have to mingle with everyone there. Since we are a small group, sadly to say, we pretty much know who you are."

I stared at her, mortified at her words. Emily giggled.

"Sweetie I don't mean that in a bad way. Just mean that Charlie was so proud to have you along. He told us a bit about his family after he married Sue. I believe it delighted him that as his Brother's daughter to come live with him to at least gain a chance to know you since he hasn't seen you since you was a child. He sees you as a daughter to him because you remind him so much of Bella."

I continued to listen.

"Bella didn't leave him per say but she left him so soon when he just got her back as he said. But at least it wasn't all for nothing and wasn't all for bad."

I nodded after she spoke. I took a deep breath.

"Thanks Emily. We really should get going." I stood up and walked towards the door and to Emily's station wagon.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The shopping trip was actually fun. We went to Fork's Shoppers World. We managed to pile up on a lot of steak, ground beef, Hot dogs, hamburger buns, hot dog buns, corn on the cob, cheese, ketchup, mustard, relish, onions (which I untactful gagged at), potatoes, celery, apples, and about 10 different pies and cakes. I gawked at the price once everything was ringed up. My expression made Emily giggle.

"When you feed at least 12 different boys that have bottomless stomachs, the price doesn't surprise me anymore."

"What about the adults?" I asked surprised that Billy, or Quil Sr., weren't mentioned in the mix.

"Oh they eat but not like the boys." Emily said as she placed one of the million in one bags into the trunk. I just simply nodded and helped her.

"We need to go over to Miss Allen's garden depot. Need to gather some vegetables." She closed the trunk and we made our way over to the shop that was only a few buildings down. Nothing was shared between as we walked in silence but I was happy to be out of the house.

Shopping at Miss Allen's wasn't too bad. Miss Allen was an elderly woman who loved to garden who then opened her vegetable store. She definitely knew Emily.

"Emily, dear! How are you?" Miss Allen asked her as we approached the checkout area.

"I'm doing well." Emily answered with a smile.

"Oh, and who is this little darling?" Miss Allen asked looking in my direction.

"This is Kat. She is Charlie's niece; she is living on the Reservation with him and Sue. Miss Allen is a dear old friend of Sue's." Emily said to me after introducing me.

"Welcome to Forks my dear. My, I have to say you look so much like Chief Swan's daughter. Her hair was a bit longer than yours, but there is no mistaken that you are related. I haven't seen her much these days. She married a nice young man named Edward I believe. He is that wonderful Doctor at the hospital, Dr. Cullen's son. Oh that man is such sweet doctor and very young looking too. He helped me a lot when my dear husband passed. I never met all his children, but he and his lovely wife helped me manage the shop while I recovered from my loss. Have you met them dear? And seen dear Bella? I heard she had a child, a little girl. She got pregnant so soon after the honeymoon." Miss Allen spoke sweetly.

"Yes ma'am. I was able to see my cousin over the weekend and met her family. Her daughter is adorable." I answered, a little embarrassed by her praise of my family and its new members.

"That's very wonderful. Well here you go my dears, and please don't be strangers." She said politely, handing over our bags.

"Thank you. And we'll be sure to visit soon." Emily answered as we made our way out the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I apologize if Miss Allen's story was a little uncomfortable. She loves to talk and she speaks highly of a lot of people around." Emily said to me as if she was apologizing for Miss Allen's behavior.

"Oh no. Not uncomfortable at all. It's nice to hear her speak highly of my cousin and her time here. It makes it a little less nerve whacking to deal with."

Emily smiled at me and we continued our way back to her car.

"Well look who it is." A man's voice spoke behind me.

"Little Kat Swan."

I stopped in my tracks. I recognized the voice. Immediately fear overwhelmed me.

"Looks like Mama was right. Little Kat is doing well in Forks."

I turned slowly to glance at the voice that spoke, even Emily turned from curiosity. This can't be happening. Why is he here!?

"Michael." I said in a short gasp. It been awhile since I have seen him. Last I saw him was during my last stay at Cheryl's.

"Katlynn Elizabeth Swan. It has been awhile. How have you been?" Michael said smoothly. His voice spoke with acid but velvet suave as he always spoke. And of course he was always one to use my full name.

"What are you doing here Michael? Did my Mother send you as an errand boy to keep tabs on me?"

"Course not darling. I'm just in the neighborhood."

"Michael, you live over 20 hours from Forks. There is no way you'd be here without reason." I spoke back with a dead tone. I did not like him here.

"My dear Katlynn I'm hurt that you'd think that I don't deserve to see you. We after all have history, do we not?"

"You and I do not have history! And I certainly do not want to see you!" I yelled at him but all he did was stand there and smile slyly at me. It did nothing but fuel my anger even more.

"Um Kat. We should go." Emily spoke for the first time since Michael's appearance I had completely forgot she was there. I nodded at her and turned away following her.

"You'll see me again baby. You always will!" Michael shouted as we walked away. I ignored him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The ride home was peaceful, no words shared. Occasionally I glanced over to Emily to see if she had any fear from that small meeting in her eyes, she didn't.

"Glad to be out of there. That boy was certainly creepy. I will let Sam know of the events to make sure he doesn't cross into La Push. Gosh I hope Seth has a plan. He'd be perfect for her than that loser."

We finally made it back to La Push. I helped Emily unload the bags and found Sam and Seth have returned.

"Hi babe." Sam said as he walked over from the couch grabbing one of the bags from Emily's hands and giving her a kiss on the scarred side of her face. "How was shopping?" He asked as he walked towards the kitchen.

As I walked into the door, Seth immediately got up from the couch and walked over to get the bags from my arms as well.

"Here, let me get that" He said quietly. He slowly took the bags out of my arms. His face didn't hold the happy-go-lucky expression he always carried. Something seemed to be bothering him.

"Thank you." I said to him giving him a smile, hoping for that look that I have grown to love. He showed it slightly.

I could hear the voices from the kitchen.

"Sam, I am telling you. Kat was in rage at the sight of this young man." Emily said in whispers but with a hint of fear.

"What did he look like?" Sam asked.

"He looked to be about Kat's age with dark brown hair and eyes that were like black. He definitely knew her, but darling, you should have seen her rage towards him. I never saw anything like it from her."

"We'll keep our eyes peeled and make sure he doesn't come around."

"I'm glad. He said that they had history together and that certainly fueled her even more."

"Did you ask her about him?"

"No. I was scared to. Obviously something is going on here. You should talk to Charlie as well."

"Hmm, I will definitely mention it to him. Perhaps he can phone Kat's mom of this incident, however I do not want it to spoil our night. It's going to be great."

"It won't be if you do not get out of my kitchen Samuel Uley so I can cook." Emily said with sternness in voice followed by a giggle.

"Down woman, sheesh, I'm out." Sam said with laughter and appeared around the corner with Seth following close behind.

I sighed. Although the party did not start yet, my nerves continue to snap at each passing moment. I hope the night would go faster.