Chapter Four
The Pack
Seth
I love the pack. Don't get me wrong. But sometimes, I want to kill them. Just a little.
Like now. We're all hanging out around Sam and Emily's. We've been here for most of the day, with the exception of Embry, Sam, Rachel and Kim. Embry and Sam because of patrols, and Rachel and Kim because of work.
Paul has a massive temper. And, because he was bored, Jared decided to try to make Paul faze.
"My girlfriend's better than your girlfriend." Jared tries to goat a reaction out of Paul. It works and now Paul is shaking.
"Outside." Emily orders, waving a spatula around. Bits of batter fly off and land on the wall.
It takes me and Jared both to get Paul out to the backyard. Rachel, his imprint and the only person who can calm him down, is at work right now. So we get to deal with Paul's infamous temper. Yay us.
Paul fazes and lunges toward Jared. He fazes too, and soon they are duking it out. Jared is an idiot sometimes, purposely pissing Paul off. Dude has one of the worst tempers I've ever seen.
"If you two don't stop fighting, you won't eat dinner tonight!" Emily yells from the kitchen window. Those are the magic words. Both Paul and Jared faze back and shake hands.
Jared's nursing a lovely cut on his cheek. It heals closed by the time he gets back into the house. Unfortunately for him, Kim, who arrived about five minutes ago, notices.
"What happened? Are you okay?" She stretches up to press her lips to the cut.
"I'm fine, babe." Jared wraps his arms around her, a contented smile on his lips.
"Food's ready!" Emily carries two bowls of food out to the table. Sam follows right behind her with even more food.
"Kim, Em, Ray, I suggest you raid the food first." Sam says with a laugh. Kim grabs some food and settles into a chair next to Jared. Paul's eating one-handed, with his other arm around Rachel. Sam and Emily are holding hands under the table.
"Did you hear about Jessica Stanley? She's pregnant. With twins." Quil leans forward, his eyes sparkling. Quil loves gossip.
"Twins, huh? Hey, Ray, have you seen her for an ultrasound?" Embry turns to Rachel. Rachel works as a receptionist at the hospital.
"Yeah. She has a small bump already." Rachel shrugs.
"There's a new girl in Forks. She just moved in." Collin pops a giant bite of steak in his mouth.
"Yeah?" Kim asks. "Who?"
"Annie Snyder, I think? Rob Snyder's daughter? You know, the dentist?"
"Oh! Ainsley Snyder?" Kim asks, her eyes lighting up.
"Yeah! Ainsley!" Collin snaps his fingers.
"Big deal." my sister Leah mutters, shoveling mashed potatoes and gravy into her mouth.
"I showed her around La Push High." Kim says.
"Why's she going there?" Quil asks. "I thought only people on the Res would be let in?"
"I don't know. Nobody said anything about that and I didn't ask. It's none of my business." Kim shrugs. "She seems nice enough, though. A little closed-off, but not outright hostile or anything."
"She didn't say anything to upset you, did she?" Jared asks, a protective expression crossing his face.
"No. She was just really quiet. Probably just shy."
"What's on TV tonight?" Paul asks.
"Football!" Brady yells. We all run into the living room and try to grab a good seat. Collin and Embry make faces as they leave for patrol. Leah rolls her eyes and leaves. The rest of us get comfy around the room. Sam turns up the volume, Emily brings in giant bowls of popcorn for each of us, and we settle into watch the game.
"Touchdown!" Quil screams as the Sea Hawks make a touchdown.
I inhale my fifth bowl of popcorn. One of the mildly annoying things about being a werewolf is that I'm always hungry. I eat enough food for five people. Poor Emily nearly buys out the entire grocery store every week for these pack dinners.
Kim and Rachel go to help Emily clean up the kitchen. I absently wonder if the brownie batter is still stuck to the wall. Oh well.
The Sea Hawks end up eventually taking the win. We leave after that.
Leah's watching some kind of stabby-stabby movie. How Mom hasn't come down here to yell at her to turn it off, I do not know.
"Blood does not spurt out like that." I say, flopping into the overstuffed recliner.
I'm probably the only teenager in the world who loves Mondays. It's a new beginning. Mondays are the start of the new week.
My sister does not share my point of view. She's scowling into her third cup of coffee. "If you're getting a ride with me, hurry up."
Leah scowls the entire way to school. I have to put a lid on my usual dose of optimism because I don't feel like getting punched in the face. My sister hasn't been the same since Sam left her for Emily.
"Hey, dude." I greet Jared, who's leaning against his locker, staring at his phone.
"Hey. You excited for that assembly tomorrow?" he asks with a roll of his eyes.
"Ew. No."
"Kim! Hey!" Jared's whole face lights up when Kim comes into view.
"Hey! I was just helping run the school supply drive with the beta club. Ainsley stopped by to get something." Kim stretches up to kiss Jared.
"Yeah? Was she more talkative today?"
"Not really. She was nice, but she's very quiet, I guess."
"Well, I should probably drop my books off before class." I wave to my pack brother and his girl as I walk away.
My locker is right next to the one that I'm pretty sure belongs to the new girl now. She's not there, though, so I'll have to wait to get a look at her.
I open my locker to reveal a mess of rumpled papers, textbooks, notebooks and pencil stubs. I'm not usually a slob, but... oh who am I kidding? I'm messy as hell.
I slam my hand against the edge of the locker to keep the mess from falling out. I throw my books in, grab my gym clothes, and head off to class.
A/n: Hey guys! I'm so sorry I'm updating late. My workload got a lot heavier than I expected. I'm sorry. We got to ten reviews! So, here's the deal: if we get to fifteen reviews by Thursday, I'll update then. If not, it'll be on Saturday. Later!
Lauren.
Responses to Reviews:
shy girl: Seth's chapters will have hardly any swearing. As of right now, Ainsley uses it as a coping mechanism. You know, acting all tough to avoid getting hurt? I'm glad you're loving this story. I hope you like this chapter, too; please review and let me know.
Dee: I'm glad I haven't disappointed. LOL. For real, though, I'm glad you like my story. I hope you like this chapter, too; please review and let me know.
Twilightfanjm: Agreed! Being bullied sucks! I'm sorry you were bullied; I hope that situation is resolved now. I was bullied for being a nerd, so I can relate. She meets Seth in the next chapter. I hope you like this chapter; please review and let me know.
Aquilae Ravenclaw: I'm so glad you love the story. I hope you like this chapter, too; please review and let me know.
