Chapter 21

No one was more surprised than I was when Lydia pulled into Emma's driveway without causing any accidents. I guess we had now figured out why she always drove so slowly; she became a maniac on the road whenever she reached speeds above twenty-five miles per hour. When I finally got out of the car, my heart was racing and I had a sudden urge to kiss the asphalt under my feet. "Thanks, Lyd," I muttered as soon as I was on solid ground. I made a mental note to never push her into driving quickly again; it was far too risky and I wasn't interested in dying at sixteen.

"Liz, you have to call me as soon as you talk to your aunt," she said, a wild look in her eyes. Or maybe I was just imagining things.

"I don't know, Lydia," I said, biting my lip. "I'm not supposed to –"

She cut me off. "So you can sneak into La Push to see your boyfriend but you can't sneak a small phone call to your best friend? That's kind of messed up."

She looked at me expectantly, as if she knew she was pushing just the right button. "Fine, but not until she goes to sleep," I relented, sighing.

Lydia nodded, a wide grin breaking out across her face. "I'll wait up."

Chase got out of the car then, moving from the back seat to the front. He stopped before climbing back into the car and asked, "You do realize she'll stay up all night if you don't call her, right?"

I smiled. "I figured as much."

He patted my shoulder briefly before moving to get in the car. But the second he reached for the door handle, Lydia backed the car up a little, making it impossible for him to get in. "What the hell!" he exclaimed.

She rolled his window down and shouted, "If you actually think I'm going to let you back in my car after all of your insults –"

He interrupted her. "You almost ran my foot over!"

"Don't be so dramatic, Chase! My car is nowhere near your foot!"

"Of course you have no idea where your car is in relation to your surroundings," Chase snapped.

Lydia gasped but I cut in before she could say anything. "Would you two just get the hell out of here? Emma is going to flip if you're still out here bickering when she gets home."

"Always using the aunt as an excuse to get rid of us," Chase said with a laugh. Lydia, pissed that I was trying to get Chase into her car, glared at me through the open window. Chase used her distraction to open the door and climb in the passenger seat.

"Yeah, well, start taking the hint then," I muttered jokingly, closing the door behind him.

Chase laughed and flipped me off before turning to Lydia, who looked like she had just swallowed a lemon. I rolled my eyes, knowing that she would end up forgiving him before she dropped him off.

I walked into the house and headed straight for the kitchen, knowing that I would have to butter Emma up before I asked if I could go to that dance. I wasn't exactly sure what her favorite meal was but I knew she liked pasta so I got to work heating up tomato sauce and boiling water. I took care of Sophie, too, making sure she was fed and taking her outside when she needed to go. I even cleaned the house while dinner was cooking, trying to make the rooms downstairs spotless. This was a good thing, right? I was sure she'd be able to see exactly what I was doing, but she would at least see that I was making an effort. I tried to hold in a groan as I hurriedly ran the vacuum. This whole "being a kid" thing really sucked. I much preferred the way things were with my dad, when I was able to go off and do whatever I wanted without having to worry about notes and groundings and hurting someone's feelings. I knew that wasn't the ideal way to raise a teenage girl-Emma seemed really fond of bringing that up whenever we got on the subject-but it was definitely way more convenient than having to go to all this trouble just so I could go to a ridiculous high school dance.

Emma had good timing, walking in just as I was straining the noodles. "What's all this?" she asked in amusement as she eyed the table, which I had set up with some of her nicer dishes.

I shrugged, trying to look as innocent as possible as I said, "Just thought I'd do something nice." It sounded more like a question than a statement and I'm sure she could see right through me.

"Uh-huh," she said suspiciously, going back into the front hallway to hang up her raincoat.

Well, this wasn't going as well as I had expected. I followed her and said, "It's just… I figured it would suck to have to come home and cook and all of that after a twelve hour shift."

She smiled. "Yes, it definitely does suck doing that."

I smiled back as I watched her pet Sophie. "Come on," I said softly, treading lightly so I wouldn't ruin her good mood. "The food's going to get cold."

She grinned as she entered the kitchen. "What did you make, anyways?"

"Ravioli," I said, following her nervously. I was starting to worry that my plan was going to backfire. What if she figured out what I was doing and decided to ground me even longer for trying to get out of my well-deserved punishment?

"It smells good," she commented as she sat down at the table and started to pile food onto her plate. I watched warily as she took a bite, hoping it tasted as good as it smelled, and I was relieved when she gave me a thumbs up.

It was incredibly awkward, watching her eat when I felt entirely too anxious to have any food. I really wanted to be able to go to this dance, as ridiculous as it sounded, just so I knew I would get one more night with Seth before this battle, war, whatever it was, happened. Maybe I was being too pessimistic or I was letting the horror of the situation get to me, but it somehow felt like that was the last time I would ever see him.

"So," I began, trying to start some kind of conversation. "How was work?"

"It was alright," she answered. "A little slow, but I suppose that's a good thing." I nodded, not really sure what to say. "How was school?"

I tried to hold in a sigh as I told her about a test I had had in Chemistry. It was strange, having these tragically normal conversations with an adult who actually seemed to care if I passed Chemistry, but I figured it was better to stay on this topic. If we got on to the topic of Seth, I might get that odd guilty feeling again and accidentally tell her something that I'd immediately regret-like how I had been in Seth's bedroom unsupervised this afternoon-without being able to stop myself.

Dinner passed uneventfully after that. We stayed on safe subjects, her work, school, the stupid things my friends did, never once venturing on to the things I really wanted to talk about. When it was done, I got up quickly to pile the plates before bringing them to the sink. "Oh Liz, I can do that," Emma said, trying to pry the plates out of my hands.

"No, I've got it, Aunt Emma," I replied, holding on to the plates as if my life depended on it. There's no way I was going to let her do the dishes. I doubted she would feel too charitable if she was elbow deep in dirty water.

She dropped her hands, narrowing her eyes at me in suspicion. "Okay, spill it," she said.

"Spill what?" I asked, suddenly feeling very nervous.

"You're a terrific kid, Liz, but I doubt you did all of this out of the goodness of your heart," she smiled.

"You make me sound like such a jerk," I replied, glaring down at the hot water filling the sink. "I can do nice things without expecting anything in return."

"Uh-huh," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. She watched me, her lips twitching as if she were fighting back a smile.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "Fine," I sighed. "There's this dance at school next Friday –"

"I thought you didn't do dances," she smiled, interrupting me.

I shrugged. "Guess I was wrong." She sighed but didn't say anything. I went back to the dishes, trying to let her think. I didn't want to push her into refusing, after all. But the minutes slipped by and I couldn't take it anymore. I looked up to see her frowning at me and I was surprised by the sheer amount of disappointment that flooded through me. "Oh, okay. I understand, Aunt Emma. I just though I'd give it a try," I shrugged again, trying to sound nonchalant, though I don't think it worked.

"No," she said, grabbing my arm. "You can go, Liz."

"Really?" I asked, trying not to get too excited.

She sighed again and ran her hands through her short red hair. "I've been thinking that maybe it was time to let you off." I looked up at her so quickly that something in my neck cracked; trying to figure out if she was just messing around with me. If this was a joke, it was a very cruel one. "I might have… overreacted a little that night."

"A little?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Don't push your luck," she said sternly. Her tone changed, showing her lack of confidence, as she continued. "The break-in really freaked me out and when I found your room empty that night, I kind of lost it. Liz, I don't think you really understand just how much I worry about you. I jumped to conclusions about the whole sneaking out thing; I didn't even think to look for you outside. And I am truly sorry about that."

She pulled me away from the sink so that she could hug me while I attempted to hug her back as best I could without touching her with my soapy hands. I should have felt happy, I was finally free, but I only felt incredibly guilty. She was right, I had snuck out, and I had somehow managed to make her feel awful for it. I was a horrible person. But still, the guilt wasn't bad enough for me to confess. The only thing that was running through my mind was the fact that I would be able to see Seth whenever I wanted, not just between the supervised hours of seven and eight. "Thanks, Aunt Emma," I said, pulling away and turning back to the sink. Hopefully she wouldn't be able to read the shame on my face.

She tried to nudge me out of the way. "So you can stop trying to suck up now, it's only making me feel worse."

I laughed at that, standing firmly in front of the dirty dishes. "You don't have to feel bad, I'm not sucking up."

She scoffed at that. "Right. You cooked dinner and cleaned the house because you've decided to become some kind of domestic goddess."

"Damn straight," I replied, smiling at her.

She sighed as she took the soapy sponge out of my hands. "Really, I've got this. I'm sure you want to go call Seth and let him know that he has plans next Friday."

"Right," I said, letting her take over. I wasn't sure what came over me then but I hugged her again, spilling soap bubbles and warm water down her back. "Thank you," I muttered before grabbing the phone and running to my room, ignoring the strange mixture of bewilderment and amusement on her face.

I stopped short once I reached the doorway to my bedroom. Alice must have been in there earlier, although she had never come to see me during the day before. She had left something for me, too. There was a black box in the middle of my bed and a bag from the pharmacy on top of that. I opened the bag first, rolling my eyes when I spotted the box of condoms inside. That was a little presumptuous, although it definitely wasn't a bad idea. I should probably get Emma to take me to a doctor so I could get on birth control, but that was a conversation that I was definitely not looking forward to. And I couldn't bring it up tonight anyways; my freedom was so new that if I mentioned it, Emma might lock me in my bedroom and fit me for a chastity belt or something. I hid the box, still wrapped up in the white plastic with the local pharmacy logo on it, in my nightstand.

I turned to the black box next, opening the lid slowly and removing the white tissue paper. I groaned when I saw the shoes inside. They were these black strappy things with an insane heel and an even crazier small platform on them. They looked a lot like the shoes I had tried on in the mall but had passed on because of how high they were, except they were obviously much more expensive. Of course she had given me these; it was like she was a pushier, immortal version of Lydia. "Thanks, Alice," I muttered as I picked up the phone. I would have to find some way to repay her, like a wooden stake through her cold, unbeating heart.

I called Seth first, wanting to tell him the good news. I selfishly wanted him to come over, despite Sam's objections to his crossing into Cullen territory. It didn't matter that I had just seen him that afternoon, or that Emma would probably still watch us like a hawk, my body longed to be near him in the worst kind of way. It was pathetic, really, but I had long since silenced the part of me that was always critical of just how much I needed him.

Leah picked up, though, and I had to stop myself from hanging up right then. I hadn't seen Leah since Chase had snuck me into La Push the first time. Frankly, I had been more than a little relieved by that fact. I knew that the next time we met, it would be extremely awkward considering that the last time she saw me, I had been topless and straddling her brother. At least this wouldn't be quite as bad, although she somehow found a way to be incredibly intimidating over the phone. "Hey, Leah, it's Liz. Is Seth there?"

"No, he's out on patrol with Colin and Brady," she answered. I might have just been imagining it but I swear I could hear a smirk in her voice.

"Oh, okay," I said, disappointment flooding through me. "Can you tell him to call me?"

"What am I, his answering service?" she asked, sounding annoyed.

"Right, sorry. Thanks anyway," I said quickly. "Bye." I hung up before she could answer, not really interested in prolonging that conversation.

The phone rang the seconds later and for one panicked moment, I thought Leah was calling back to yell at me for hanging up on her. My heart seemed to restart only after Lydia's number came up on the caller ID. "Hey," I said as I answered the phone.

"Hey!" She started talking really fast, like she always did when she was excited about something. "I'm sorry but I couldn't wait until your aunt went to sleep! How did it go? And what are you doing, answering the telephone? It's not a designated phone hour. Won't your aunt be pissed?"

"Actually, she freed me tonight," I said when she finally stopped to take a breath.

"What?" she yelled, and I could practically hear her smiling. "Why didn't you tell me that sooner?" It wasn't like I could actually get a word in edgewise. I tried telling her that but she spoke again before I could even open my mouth. "I'm coming over, okay? I'll be there in like five minutes."

"Wait, no! Lydia –" I started to protest but she had already hung up. I stared at the phone in horror before running downstairs. I had to make sure Emma was okay with this, otherwise I would murder Lydia in the most painful way possible.

Luckily, she still seemed to be in a good mood. She was playing with Sophie but she looked up when she heard me coming. She raised an eyebrow at me when I didn't say anything right away. It was a little ridiculous, I had come face to face with werewolves and vampires, both good and bad, but I was still terrified of this woman. "What's up?" she asked.

"Is it okay if Lydia comes by?" I asked. I figured it would be better if I didn't mention that she was already on the way.

Emma smirked at me. "Not wasting any of your new-found freedom, are you?"

I smiled sheepishly and nervously scratched the back of my head. "Well, I told her the good news and she kind of flipped, invited herself over, and then hung up before I could say anything. But I can tell her to go home when she gets here, if you want."

She started to laugh. "It's fine, Liz. You're not grounded anymore, your friends can come over whenever you want." I had to hold in a laugh at that. For some reason, I didn't think that same principle applied to Seth but I wasn't stupid enough to bring it up.

I could see Lydia's headlights as she pulled in behind Emma's car in the driveway. I rolled my eyes, she must have driven like a racecar driver to get here that fast and whatever the reason for that was, I'm sure it wasn't good. I opened the front door before she was halfway up the driveway and groaned at the magazines in her hands. "Oh, come on, Liz," she said, guessing correctly at the reason for my displeasure. "We've got to find decent hair styles."

"Lydia, we both have short hair," I reminded her. "There's not much we can do with it."

She frowned as she hung her coat up in the hall closet. "And that's why I brought these over, so we can find something."

"Right," I said skeptically, narrowing my eyes at her. I doubted she had raced over here just so we could look through magazines.

"Hi Mrs. O'Brien! It's nice seeing you again," Lydia said cheerfully before grabbing my arm and dragging me up the stairs.

"Not too late, girls!" Emma called after us.

"Alright," I yelled back. I was stumbling on the stairs as Lydia dragged me up them but her grip was too tight for me to break. "Geez, Lydia. What's gotten into you?"

She threw the magazines on my bed and then turned to me with a huge grin on her face. "I asked Brady to go to the winter formal with me!"

I stared at her in confusion. "I thought you were going with Chase."

She waved it off. "I'm sure he'll understand."

"I don't know, it might hurt his feelings," I replied. I randomly grabbed one of the magazines she brought before sitting down on the bed.

Lydia shrugged. "He'll get over it. I'm not going to pass up an actual date just so I can hang out with Chase. We could do that any night."

"You could also go on a date with Brady any night," I pointed out.

She laughed as she sat down next to me. "Are you kidding? I was trying to set something up sooner but he kept saying he had to work. What's up with that Sam Uley guy, anyway? Is he some kind of slave driver?"

I blanched at that. I was surprised she had gotten the same story that I had in the beginning, that Brady simply worked for Sam. I wasn't exactly sure what she knew and I didn't want to give anything away so I decided to change the subject. "Will they even let him into the dance? He's like, nine."

She picked up one of the magazines and hit me with it. "He's fourteen. And stop making fun of his age!"

"Well, it is kind of weird," I pointed out.

"No, it's not," she said defensively. "Seth's a year younger than you and you don't seem to have a problem with that!"

"Seth is only six months younger than me," I retorted. "And Brady is still in middle school!"

"In a couple years, that kind of age difference wouldn't even matter," she said, her voice soft.

I think I might have gone too far, hurt her feelings a little, but I didn't want her to get involved with a member of the pack. It wasn't that I selfishly wanted them all to myself, but hanging out with them was dangerous. There were vampires, the constant worrying that they were putting themselves in danger, the possibility that they could lose their temper and phase too close, and I wasn't even sure if he had imprinted on her. If he had then there was nothing I could do, but if he hadn't… well, that could harm her in the end as well. I thought it would be better if Lydia avoided the supernatural beings in La Push all together. "Yeah, in a few years it wouldn't be so bad, but right now it's kind of weird," I said carefully.

She sighed in annoyance before forcefully opening the magazine in her hand and glaring down at it as she flipped through the pages. I knew I had upset her but I wasn't quite sure what to say, not feeling completely apologetic. I was just trying to protect her. I opened a magazine up as well but I couldn't focus on anything inside. My thoughts were firmly centered on Lydia and Brady. What if he had imprinted on her? I knew all too well the strange, reciprocating pull that an imprintee felt. It was so intense that it was a little scary, and if that was the case, I should probably be supportive instead of trying to make her feel bad about it. But he couldn't have imprinted, right? I mean, what were the odds of that happening? I would have noticed if he had, wouldn't I? The night I first met Seth, he had been acting so strangely that I'm sure it had been obvious that something was up to the people who knew him. Brady had been acting fairly normal, I think. I didn't really know him well enough to make that kind of judgment.

Lydia must have noticed the black shoebox on the floor by my bed. "Did you go shopping?" she asked suddenly, her voice a strange mixture of amusement and annoyance. She jumped off the bed before I could say anything and opened the box, her eyes going wide once she saw what was inside. "Oh my God," she practically shouted. "When did you get these?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know, before I was grounded." I hated lying to her, especially when it was such a horrible lie – why would I have gone to get those stupid death traps after I fought so hard against buying them – but what else could I say? "Oh yeah, you remember that girl whose fashion sense you envied so much? Well, she's my new fanged BFF and she bought them for me." I'm sure that would have gone over well.

She was still staring at those horrible shoes with wide eyes, an amazed expression on her face. It was as if she had just found the Holy Grail. "But where did you get them?" she asked in a reverent whisper.

"The mall," I replied, though it sounded more like a question than an answer. Where the hell else would I have gotten a pair of shoes?

She looked up quickly and narrowed her eyes at me. "There's no way you got these at the mall! No store in all of Port Angeles sells Christian Louboutin!"

"I meant in Boston," I explained. I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. "I got them right before I came here." I really hoped these weren't some kind of brand new, hard to find shoes or I was going to be completely caught in my lie.

Lydia still looked a little skeptical. "But these are nine hundred dollar shoes."

I had to look away from her so she wouldn't see my eyes bug out. Who in their right mind would spend that much on a pair of shoes? I shrugged my shoulders, trying to seem nonchalant. "My dad left me a little bit of money so I just decided to buy them."

"I didn't know you were such an impulse shopper," she replied, although she looked like she was finally starting to believe me.

"I'm not," I said. "I was just really upset."

She sat down next to me, still holding the box of shoes as if it were a baby, and asked, "Why didn't you tell me you had these?"

I smiled sheepishly at her. "Well, I'm not so certain that I can actually walk in them without killing myself."

"I can teach you!" she said excitedly.

I took the shoebox from her gently. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Lyd."

She looked so offended that I almost gave in right then. "Oh come on, Liz," she said adamantly, her hands reaching for the box. "You can't own a pair of shoes like this and not wear them! I mean, it's practically blasphemous."

A/N: A huge thank you goes out to lannie1102 for betaing this! And thank you to everyone that reviewed the last chapter! This one is a bit of a filler chapter I guess, but the next will have the dance in it :) I hope you guys like it anyways. Let me know what you think! And happy holidays to everyone celebrating right now :)