SOPHIE'S POV

I now had completely conflicting feelings.

I liked Cole. He was sweet and funny. And he treated me like… well like any girl would want to be treated. In theory, he was perfect for me. He was a gentleman. And he made me happy.

But he wasn't Jake.

Jake was unpredictable and made my emotions go crazy. He frustrated me in a way I thought impossible. He angered me. But he also made me laugh. My stomach was all twisted and I had a fuzzy feeling in my toes and fingers.

But he didn't treat me like the other imprints.

To be fair, I had rejected it since the day I got here. I refused to allow my fate to be controlled by some force I couldn't control. I had already been changed into some freaky-wolf-shifter-thing. I wasn't about to allow this damn gene to tell me who to be with.

But the guys were right. It wasn't forcing me. It was pinpointing. If Jake and I didn't have this gene, who's to say I wouldn't end up with him. But who's to say I wouldn't end up with Cole.

Why was my life so complicated?

A month ago I was a normal teen, and now I am part of the supernatural world where a lot of crazy shit happens that I can't control.

The bell rung for the end of Math and I quickly escaped from the room at the speed of light.

I spent the day avoiding both guys. I felt bad. I had led on Cole without meaning to, and hurt Jake by doing so. I didn't want to be around anyone right now. I seemed to hiding an awful lot lately. Maybe that was because I kept pissing people off.

My phone then buzzed.

'Where are you? xx :)' which was from Ashley.

I rolled my eyes. 'What has the most stories?'

I patiently waited for a response, but none came. So I continued studying.

"If you stopped hiding, maybe I would get the answer."

Ashley stuck her head round the side, making me laugh.

"You're here aren't you?" She just grinned, sitting beside me.

"Why are you hiding anyway?" She asked.

I sighed. "I messed up, Ash."

She nodded. "I already know you're a dumbass." My mouth fell open at her sweet and innocent voice saying that word. "How're you gonna fix it?"

"I'm not."

She shook her head in disapproval. "You really are a dumbass."

"What am I supposed to do?!" I exclaimed in anger. "Jake is going with Brittany, why can't I go with Cole? What's the difference? There's a double-standard here." I ranted.

Ashley shook her head. "The only reason there's an uproar, is that you never actually have said you've accepted the imprinting. They don't know whether you wanna be with Jake. But we all know Jake wants to be with you."

I hid my head in my hands. "This is ridiculous. Of course I do." As soon as the words escaped my mouth, I regretted it.

Ashley's face turned bright and a large smile appeared. She then stared giggling and jumping up and down.

"You do?" She exclaimed. "That's great!"

I groaned. "But not now." That killed her happy dance.

"Why not?"

"Because I've known him a week. Because he doesn't trust me. Because he treats me like a possession and not a person."

"But if all those things were resolved?" She asked hopefully.

"Then… Maybe."

She grinned again. "Good enough for me."

So we left the Library together and headed to gym, where I had to face Jacob.

I walked out in my skimpy uniform, and found that today we were doing Volleyball. I was on a team with Ashley, Jake, Embry, and Quil. Brittany and her clones were on the opposing team.

Missy began by serving. So I hit it back over the net. Brittany hit it straight into my face. So I growled, smacking it over the net as it bounced off my face and hit her in the leg. Luckily, I made it look like we got a point, so that made it all the more sweet.

I saw Cole in the stands with his Jock friends. They were holding up nine cards. Each was a letter, making out the sentence. 'GO SOPHIE!' I rolled my eyes with a smiled and Embry served. It came back over the net, and I jumped to get it. I found someone pushing me up for it. I smacked it back over the net at them all and we got another point. I landed on my feet to see Jake standing behind me. I held up my hand for an innocent high five, which he gave me with a forced smile.

We won by the end, obviously. Brittany went whining straight to Jake, so I went in the opposite direction, walking over to Cole and his friends.

"You rock Soph." James, one of the guys, grinned.

I laughed as they all cheered. "Thanks guys."

Jacob then came over, completely calm. "Can we talk?"

I just nodded and followed him over to the other side of the gym. He let out a massive sigh and looked at me, as if it hurt to lay his eyes on me. That upset me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I'm sorry."

"What?!"

JACOB'S POV

When Ashley told me what I would have to do to get Sophie back on Team Jacob, I didn't hesitate. I was sorry for being an ass. But part of the time it was justified, I swear. I had to admit the truth to her. I wanted her to start believing in us. Like she did at the start.

So I sucked it up and apologised.

"I'm sorry for being a jerk. I didn't mean to make this spiral out of control." I made sure I didn't say the word 'but' or 'if' or the phrase 'you started this'. Because I wanted her to like me, not slap me in the face. Even though she had control, it didn't mean she wanted slap me in the face out of choice.

"It's-It's okay." She assured me, shocked.

"Really?"

"Yeah." She insisted. "We both were being childish."

"So… You won't go with him to the dance?"

"Why the hell wouldn't I? We're friends. I said I will. Why shouldn't I go and enjoy myself?" She asked me incredulously.

"Because he has a thing for you! I thought you understood!"

She glared at me. "I understand, but I am not your possession."

"You're my imprint!"

She then let out an aggravated moan and left me standing there, storming off.

You really screwed it up this time, I thought. Good job, Jake. Good job.

SOPHIE'S POV

How dare he? I was not just some object! I told Ashley that I wouldn't put up with that kind of talk and, even when my best friend told him (Who I knew would tell him), he still was a douche. I thought he was finally trusting me. I guessed I was wrong.

I spent the rest of the week completely ignoring them all. I did my patrols and Paul allowed to train me. And on the Saturday, he finally started to.