"I don't want another pretty face. I don't want just anyone to hold. I don't want my love to go to waste. I want you and your beautiful soul. You're the one I wanna chase. You're the one I wanna hold. I won't let another minute go to waste. I want you and your beautiful soul."--from Jesse McCartney 'Beautiful Soul'

Seth's POV

"Good-bye Seth." Erin had just uttered the saddest sentence I'd ever heard. We had just gotten to school and she was headed up the stairs to her locker while I took a left and walked towards mine.

Four and a half hours. I reminded myself as I opened my locker door. Just four and a half hours 'till lunch. I can hold on. I have to hold on.

I grabbed a couple books out of my locker and then felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around, coming face to face with Dakota Grant. She was tall and fairly pretty, but I only really noticed how Erin looked.

"Seth Clearwater, look at you." she said, smirking. "Did you get any taller over the summer?"

I shrugged, slamming my locker door. "I don't think so."

She grinned slyly. "Well, I think you have. At least a of couple inches."

"Uh, Dakota is there any particular reason you wanna talk to me, 'cause I really gotta get going." I told her, shifting my weight from foot to foot impatiently.

"I'm in your first period." she said, looking a slight bit offended.

"Right." I said, nervously. "Can we walk and talk?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "Fine with me."

We began walking and I said, "So, what did you want with me?"

She started grinning again. "Well, we have that back to school dance this weekend."

A dance? This weekend? I wondered if Erin would want to go. I mean, I couldn't dance, but I'd get Edward to teach me if she really wanted to go.

"Seth, did you hear me?" Dakota asked, taking me out of my thoughts of dancing with Erin.

"Huh?" I asked, blinking a few times. "Sorry Dakota. What were you saying? I spaced out for a second."

She sighed heavily. "I asked if you maybe wanted to go to the dance with me. It'd be so much fun."

I shook my head. "Sorry Dakota. Taken."

"Who asked you?" she demanded. She looked extremely angry and I suddenly realized why. I was Dakota's new 'guy' for the year. Every year she picked a guy that she would go after. They usually ended up dating after a while. It'd been going on since middle school. It looked like I was it this year.

"No one." I assured her. "I have a girlfriend already. I didn't hear about the dance. I'm gonna ask her if she would like to go." I explained. It was better to set her straight now. I was Erin's and I was not going to leave her. I couldn't leave her. She was my imprint and that was that.

"What?" she growled. "You haven't dated anyone ever and now all of a sudden you have a girlfriend!" People started to stare and I felt embarrassed.

It was true that I'd never dated anyone before Erin. I had wanted to wait for my imprint. I wanted her to be my very first kiss. I thought it was more romantic, more… special.

"It just kind of happened over the summer." I explained, hoping that she would calm down some. She was beginning to scare me. That was pretty bad considering that I was a werewolf who fought vampires.

"Who?" she asked, her jaw clenched.

"Erin Morgan." I told her. "She's new here."

"Wait, you mean that junior who transferred here from Forks?" Dakota asked incredulously. "You're dating her? Why?"

I shrugged. "I really can't explain it Dakota. She's amazing. I love her. That's all." I told her, as we walked into our classroom.

"But, she's not even that pretty. What do you see in her?" she asked. It was as if I was explaining some totally alien concept to her.

I sighed, sitting my books in my seat. "She's beautiful to me and that's all that matters." I sat at my desk and faced the front of the room. This discussion was over. Dakota needed to learn that she wasn't always going to get what she wanted.

She glared at me the whole class period. I pretended to ignore her and did all of my work. When the bell to second period sounded, I was extremely happy. I'd be away from Dakota for the rest of the day. It also meant that I was closer to having lunch with Erin.

Just three more hours now. I reminded myself. Just three hours 'till lunch. I can hold on. I have to hold on. For Erin. For my sanity.

Sorry that it's really short. The next one will be a little longer, but not by much. This is off topic, but did you notice the song excerption I had at the top? I think 'Beautiful Soul' is the perfect imprinting song. Updating soon.