We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.

-Joseph Campbell

Kim leaned against Shay's locker the next morning, tapping on the back of the binder in her arms. They've moved past the awkward stage of their post-fight and were now squarely back in friendship territory, complete with Kim's yawn of impatience.

Shay looked at Kim with red rimmed eyes, not having gotten a lot of sleep yesterday. Images of robbers and wolves and imprints plagued her dreams.

"What's wrong?" Shay asked, glimpsing at her friend's hands. "You seem antsy."

"I'm just thinking," Kim said, resting her head on a locker door. "My mom told me this morning my grandma was moving in with us."

"In the spare room?" Shay asked, thinking of the corner bedroom of Kim's house. It had become a collection bin of all of Kim and Helen's old toys, along with a desk and set of guitars that her dad almost never used.

"Yeah," Kim sighed. "I love her, but it's going to be weird to have her there all the time."

"Aren't you at Jared's like, 80% of the time?" Shay laughed, her stomach still rolling as she thought of their 'soul mate' talk yesterday.

"I guess." Kim seemed to perk up with this revelation. "He has mentioned us moving in together after we graduate."

Shay opened her mouth in surprise, and then decided there wasn't much to be surprised about. Before she could say anything, though, Kim was talking again.

"Have you and Jake talked yet?"

Shay turned from Kim's knowing look and continued to aimlessly root about her locker.

"He texted me last night that he was going on patrol and we could talk today."

"And what are you going to do about Simon?"

Shay felt a twist of guilt in her lower stomach. She hadn't even thought of Simon last night. Was she a horrible person? He had been so nice, letting her eat lunch with him and his friends every day, and here she was, kissing other guys.

"Um..."

"I think you should probably decide soon, because he's about to come up to you."

Kim gracefully ducked away as Shay swung her body around to face Simon, who was looking at her with a timid smile, hands around his backpack straps.

"Hey," he said, gesturing to the brick wall. She followed his hand and squinted at the newly put up flyers next to her. "Have you seen they announced the prom?"

Technically, the school called it an "end of year dance" but the seniors treated it as their prom since they didn't officially have one. It was in three weeks, a week before their graduation, and the bright green flyers were now plastered down the hall.

"Oh. Yeah."

Shay's heart rate sped up, and Simon must have mistaken the slight panic on her face for something more endearing.

"Would you want to go together?"

Shay floundered for a moment, willing her brain to think of something nice to say. Should she let him down? Should she go, and forget about the stupid crush on Jacob? Should she go with no one, and just be alone the rest of her life? It seemed the safest option.

Her racing mind was cut off by the sound of shoes scuffing against the tile floor, and a new body appearing to her left.

Jacob smelled like earth and fresh laundry. She instinctively leaned closer to him before realizing her weirdness and staying firmly in place.

"Hey guys."

Shay closed her eyes briefly. If aliens existed, she hoped they would choose the next moment to beam her up and away from Jacob and Simon who were exchanging tense looks. A knot started to tie and untie repeatedly in her abdomen.

"Hey Jacob," Simon finally said, nodding briefly. He was about half a foot shorter and fifty pounds less, but tried to straighten up and angle himself to be taller.

Before Shay had to say anything, the bell blissfully rang above her head, the noise sending relief to her bones.

"I have a history test, so I've got to go," Shay said, her eyes flitting between the two very different boys. "I'll see you later?"

She wasn't even sure which one she was directing that to, but Simon seemed to think it was him.

He smiled, and before she had a chance to spin on her heel, Simon was leaning forward and placing a very light kiss on her lips.

"We'll talk later."

Shay's entire body froze, a siren wailing in her brain. Simon had already pulled back and waved good-bye before she could even move her limbs.

With wide eyes, Shay turned to Jacob who was looking at her with a surprised expression that she absolutely could not decipher. She could tell he was tense though, his knuckles turning white as they squeezed his textbook.

"Jake—"

Before she could even say anything else—what? I'm sorry? I'm confused? –he was stalking down the hallway, in the opposite direction of their classroom.

Sighing, she hit her head against her locker a few times before trudging to history.

Jacob avoided Shay the rest of the day, even at lunch where she finally sat at their table again.

Everyone in their radius was casting looks at them the entire time, especially Kim and Jared. She wondered just how much Jacob had told them all before remembering the highly unpleasant fact that they could see each other's thoughts in wolf form.

Paul was the only one who didn't stare at her, so she watched him messily eat his three sandwiches the entire time before finally engaging Seth in a conversation about fishing.

She didn't even try to catch Jake's eye, because she wasn't even sure what she wanted to say.

He returned the favor, and it gave her a stomach ache to think that they might go back to not having any relationship at all.

Kim had borrowed Jared's truck to drive her to work after their last class. Sue had texted her, asking her to help with a consultation, and Shay actually welcomed the distraction.

Kim gave her a sidelong look, hands resting on the steering wheel as they pulled into the bakery's parking lot. She had listened to Shay's account of the morning and was deep in thought.

"Do you want to go to the prom with Simon?"

Shay knew that if she was asked this two months ago, she would have fallen out of her seat in joy. But now, she couldn't help but compare the feeling of Simon's mouth versus Jacob's, and there was really no comparison at all.

"No."

"Okay, so you have to tell him that."

"I will." Shay had to keep the whine from her voice.

"And you have to sort things out with Jacob after."

"What's the point of talking to you when you just tell me logical things?" Shay asked, smiling at Kim for the first time all day. "Can we not just sulk together?"

"I'm like your conscience," Kim said, grinning back. "You know it's all going to work out, right?"

"I'll take 'That's Too Optimistic for my Current State of Mind' for $200, Alex."

Kim rolled her eyes, squeezing Shay's hand.

"Shut up. Go to work, and call Jake when you're done."

Even though the hard part was far from over, Shay felt lighter, and nodded at Kim.

"You're right. Maybe he can drive me home."

"I hope so. I'm like your chauffer now, without the salary."

Shay gave Kim a sarcastic smile and saluted before hopping out of the truck.

She hitched her bag up her shoulder and pushed through the bakery door, warmth and cinnamon hitting her in the face.

She was two steps in when she realized the person at the counter had turned to watch her enter. She took one more step before realizing it was Bella Swan.

"I'm not really...the whole wedding planning isn't really my usual kind of thing." Bella smiled shyly at Sue and Shay, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Edward's family is helping me a lot, but I thought the cake part would at least be fun to pick out."

Shay had learned the consultation Sue wanted her to see was for Bella's wedding. She didn't know if Sue realized how weird she was feeling, but she was hopefully playing it off by appearing busy and interested in how the process worked. She clutched the clipboard in her hand, ready to make any notes.

Shay realized in five minutes that the animosity she imagined coming from Bella in the past was probably mostly imagined. She seemed kind of awkward, and that was probably why she wasn't exactly warm.

She still couldn't help but analyze her every movement, trying to get a glimpse of the person Jacob loved enough to leave town for.

"I think the red velvet is my favorite," Bella said, squinting at the samples. "You can't go wrong with that, right?"

"I love that one," Shay said, forcing a smile. Any of her own problems with Jacob weren't on Bella's shoulders, after all. Even if her life would be a lot easier without said girl in the picture.

"Perfect," Sue said, as Shay jotted it down. "What were you thinking for decoration?"

"Probably something classic," Bella bent down to pull some papers out of her bag. "Alice made some sketches, because she's...Alice."

Shay didn't know who Alice was, but she was a good artist. There were multiple tiers and flowers lining them, and Sue gripped the picture to get a good look.

"We can definitely do this. Mrs. Abel can get us fresh flowers for the top and sides," she said, grinning. "I don't do a lot of wedding cakes. It will be fun."

"Great!"

Shay tuned out the next few minutes of chatter of frosting and lilies and turned her attention to the parking lot, where she saw two figures walking. As they got closer, she saw it was Leah and Jacob, both in too-small shirts and pushing each other with their elbows.

The bell above the door rang in tune with Shay's anxiety, and she watched Jacob's entire face transform as he realized who was there.

Her whole table turned to the newcomers.

"Oh great," Leah muttered, as Jacob looked at them with wide eyes.

"Bells? What are you doing here?"

Shay let the nickname clatter through her brain, not bothering to meet Jake's eyes as they flashed to her across the table.

"Hey Jake," Bella said, a sort of low tone lacing her words. "Just picking out some cake."

Shay noticed she left out the word 'wedding', and wondered if it was on purpose. She also noticed her vampire fiancé was nowhere in sight, but that was probably a condition of the wolves in town.

Shay must have had a masochistic side because now she couldn't keep her eyes off of Jacob's body, which pulsed with tremors, even as he forced the world's fakest smile, his eyes so narrow they were almost shut.

"Do you want to take a walk before I head back to Forks?" Bella asked, rising from her chair, as Sue gathered their papers and the plate of half-eaten samples.

"Uh..." For some reason, Jake's eyes darted to hers, and Shay held them against her better judgement. "Sure. I just want to talk to Shay for a minute, I'll be right out."

Shay knew right then, seeing Jacob's hunched shoulders and wistful eyes, that she could not let herself like him any more than she already did. Her heart couldn't possibly take it.

Bella nodded and grabbed her bag, walking out the door past Leah, who barely moved out of the way to let her by.

Shay stood, Jacob turning to face her and resting his hands on the back of the chair that Bella had just vacated.

Rip it off, she thought. Quick, like a band-aid.

"Shay, about yesterday..." Jake trailed off, keeping his voice low even though she knew Leah could probably still hear it.

"Just a weird moment," Shay said quickly, shaking her head and hoping her voice didn't come out high. "Let's just forget about it."

"Forget about it?" Jake asked, his mouth twisting with the words as his eyebrows almost met in the middle of his face.

"Yeah." Shay nodded, letting her breath fill the space between them and ease the tight pain in her chest. "We're good, right? Still friends?"

Jake studied every inch of her face until she was sure she was bright red and melting into a puddle on the floor.

"Um...yeah." Jacob was giving her another look of confusion, tinged with something she couldn't decipher.

"Great. I'm sure Bella is waiting."

With that, Shay turned and walked to the back, letting the door swing a few times as she pretended to put away her clipboard, away from his line of sight.

She didn't go back out until she heard the bell ring with his departure.

Just a friendly reminder that I am changing the timeline of Bella's weddings from the actual dates, etc. to fit into the story a little better! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the new chapter!