Hey guys, thanks for checking back in. Without much talking, here is the next chapter. I'd love for you to tell me what you think. :-) The plot of this story loosely follows Eclipse's timeline. I will, however, change dates around according to my liking and needs.
Marianka: Mia does like her life the way it is. But I think what we, as children, believe to be right for us, may change when we grow older. Especially when our social circle expands and we get to know new sides of life that are equally exciting as the things we previously thought to be the most important parts of our lives. :-)
Two more weeks. Two more weeks and then it would be over until February. I'd checked my calendar- October was coming to a close, the race being just one day after Halloween, on the first of November. The weather had been shit the last week. It was raining constantly, the sky always a dull gray. Now it was Thursday night. I sat hunched over at my desk, trying hard to finish up my homework before the weekend. We, we being Jessica, Mike, Lauren, Eric, Angela and Tyler, had planned to spend our Saturday afternoon at First Beach. I was excited to be back in La Push, although it hadn't been more than a week since I'd last been there.
To my shame I had to admit that I was almost hoping to run into Sam Uley's gang. It made no sense; these guys made my blood boil, especially the douchebag. Despite that I couldn't help but wish to see him again. It frustrated me to no end. I stared down at my paper, feeling like my brain would explode if I spend one more second trying to figure out my math problems. Sighing I leaned back. With longing I let my eyes wander. It was dark out already, but I could make out the shapes of the trees in front of the house.
Mr. and Mrs Wellington lived right in front of the woods, which was one of my favorite things about the flat. If I opened the window even just a bit, it was almost like being back at the reservation. The wind rustling the leaves, and thus producing a hushing noise, almost like the ocean on a quiet day, felt incredibly calming to me. I stood up and opened my window. The night was quiet. The street, and therefore the streetlights as well, were on the other side of the house. There was barely enough light to see by.
A sudden movement between the trees made me squint my eyes in the general direction in an attempt to recognize what it was. With batted breath I kept my eyes trained on the spot, at first to no avail. Another movement made me realize I was looking at a wolf- a rather large wolf. It had dark gray fur and looked too big to be real. I was instantly reminded of my own words, making fun of tourists for saying horse-sized wolves lived in the woods here. I didn't want to blink, afraid it would be gone once I opened my eyes again. Was I going mad? Had I finally cracked under the pressure of trying to somehow graduate from high school, despite my lack of interest in any of the subjects, and training tirelessly to excel at running?
Slowly I closed my eyes. I counted to ten, then opened them again. The forest was quiet. Nothing disturbed the perfect peace of the night. I got up abruptly and ran to my door, grabbed the keys and rushed down the stairs. Breathlessly I stood between the trees. There were no sounds, nothing to be seen that looked even remotely like a wolf. Unsure of what to do I stepped deeper into the thicket of trees. Besides the disturbingly large size of the wolf I was thoroughly confused to have seen it in Forks. Sure, the wolves were all around the reservation and Forks, but they had never been spotted in town; only in the surrounding woods.
It was always around La Push- almost as though a magical wolf-repelling line existed they wouldn't dare to step over. Slowly I started to feel the cold of the night on my bare arms and legs. A slight drizzle fell. I made my way back into the house, but not without a deep sigh and another backward glance.
The next day at school I told Jessica and Mike about what I'd seen. If anyone knew about previous sightings it was them- Jessica, who knew every piece of gossip the town of Forks had ever come up with, and Mike, who worked in his parent's outdoor shop. "And I'm not exaggerating. It was the size of a horse, and not a small one at that. I mean I've seen plenty of bears in my life. I've seen it all. But I've never seen a wolf like that."
Jessica looked at me with a look of utmost shock on her face. "Did it growl? Did it attack?" I rolled my eyes at her dramatic assumptions. "No, I told you, it just kept staring at me. It definitely didn't look menacing. Honestly, to me it seemed more so curious, if anything. I really don't know what to make of the whole thing. It was kinda weird." Mike took a more calm approach, which I could appreciate. "There have been sightings of wolves around Forks and La Push for about maybe four years or so now. But nothing has ever happened. They usually keep to the woods that belong to the reservation, anyway. I don't think I've ever heard of one of them being seen in Forks."
I shrugged nonchalantly. "That's what I thought, too. I've never heard of them being in Forks. But, really, it was only a matter of time, wasn't it? It's not like Forks and La Push are very far apart, especially not for a wolf. Especially a wolf of that size." "Do you think we should skip our trip down to First Beach tomorrow?" A sound of indignation passed my lips and Mike looked up from his plate of spaghetti with a look on his face that told me he was ready to protest. "No. Why would we? It's not like the wolves are going to attack us, Jess. Even Bella still spends time in the forest, both here in Forks as well as down at the rez, and we all know she is the most accident-prone person to ever walk planet earth." I retorted and Angela snorted into her glass, grinning up at me.
"You could ask her about the wolves, you know, if you're so worried about them." She pointed behind Jessica: I moved in my chair to see what she meant, when I saw Bella approach. She had scarcely sat down when I turned my full attention on her. "Bella. Have you heard about the giant wolves in La Push?" Her hand stilled, the fork halfway to her mouth. Her face turned somewhat red, a sure sign that she was nervous. "What?" Her voice was slightly squeaky. My brows furrowed I looked at her. "Don't tell me you're scared of them as well."
My voice was slightly accusatory, but in my own defense, it was a bit ridiculous to be scared of wolves that had been seen what, ten times maybe, each time very shy and in no way aggressive. "No, it's not that. My dad has just…" Her voice trailed off, a far-away look in her eyes. "Haven't you heard? They have found two dead hikers. People have been whispering it may have been the wolves." Eric interjected, having just arrived from getting his food. "Apparently they are still trying to figure out who they are. The bodies look rather mangled."
Jessica's face scrunched up in complete and utter disgust. "And they say it was the wolves?" Jessica asked, this time not able to conceal the panic in her voice. "Well-" Bella interrupted Eric, throwing him an apologetic look. "My dad is investigating what may have happened, and they aren't sure what it was at all. Most likely not wolves, though. The… the wounds don't look like anything they've ever seen. So your trip to La Push," at this she looked at me, a small smile playing on her lips, "should be no problem. Don't worry, Jessica, you'll be fine. Just don't wander into the woods alone and you'll be safe. Speaking of that, what with these two hikers being killed, you probably shouldn't necessarily spend too much time out in the forest anyway."
This time I didn't appreciate her pointed look at me. "It's sweet of you to be so caring, but I can't really not go running, and you know it. The race isn't won on a treadmill." Her sigh told me she had already given up on convincing me, probably known my answer before I'd opened my mouth, which was a smart decision, given the fact that I was at least as stubborn as she was. I stabbed my fork into a couple of noodles and shoved them into my mouth. "So, who's coming along?"
Saturday turned out to be a rather nice day for October. It wasn't too cold, though it would be very windy at the beach, and the sun had peaked out between the clouds a total of five times already. I'd dreamed of the wolf. Nothing had really happened in my dream, other than me running alongside the giant wolf through the forest, but it had been enough to completely throw me off. My state of confusion annoyed me- now I wasn't just thinking of the jerk from the cinema, no, now I also spend my days daydreaming about horse-sized wolves. Well, daydreaming about the horse-sized wolf.
So far I hadn't seen anymore, and I didn't necessarily feel the need to, either. My feet were hot in my running shoes, despite how mud-splattered and wet they were. It had rained all night and therefore the ground was still soaked. Aidan hadn't said a word when I mentioned going to La Push this weekend. For one, I didn't think he wanted another argument. And I did also mention that I was planning on running before we left, which I guess calmed him down a bit, too. I very much needed this sort of distraction before I went back to the lion's den.
The sun broke through the clouds again, painting the outlines of the trees on the ground. Against Bella's advice I was out in the woods. So far nothing weird had happened- no wolves, no murderers. I was ecstatic, although it made me start to wonder if maybe I had been delirious with lack of sleep. I arrived back at my flat shortly after, took a quick shower and shoved everything I'd need into my backpack.
A honk from the street startled me out of my thoughts and let me know that the others had arrived. The drive to La Push went by quickly- we spent it laughing, gossiping and overall in a good mood. Upon our arrival at the parking lot I jumped out of the car, a sigh leaving my lips. We'd been crammed into the car and the last five minutes had felt a bit like the oxygen was running out.
The air was crisp, the wind tossing our hair to and fro, the waves crashing against the rocks along the shoreline. The beach was almost crowded, at least for La Push. We spilled onto the beach and quickly split into groups. Angela, Jessica and Lauren remained behind at the beach where they wanted to people watch. "The guys in La Push are seriously hot." Was Jessica's explanation at my confused face. I decided to tag along with the guys. They wanted to take a walk before we settled down to have some lunch.
We had walked for a while, the others getting smaller and smaller in the distance whenever I glanced back. We were getting closer to the end of the beach, cliffs jutting out like sharp knives. Huddled at the base of the cliffs, right where the water lapped onto the beach, stood a group of guys. Dread pooled in my stomach. La Push didn't have a large population, but I still couldn't believe my luck. Why did I keep meeting them, out of all people?
"I'm not going any further." I announced, stopping so suddenly that Mike almost ran into me. "Are you afraid of boys?" Tyler snickered, obviously convinced that he was incredibly funny. "No. I just… I have a lot of sand in my shoe." Their eyes travelled down my leg, landing on my bare feet. "Eye, I mean." I started wiping my eye madly. None of them seemed to believe me, but they didn't seem too curious to know the truth, either.
"Okay… Guess we'll meet you wherever Jess, Angela and Lauren have gone to?" I nodded in approval before I turned around. I walked in silence for a hundred or so yards, until I heard footsteps behind me. "You don't need to walk me back. I'm a grown woman." I turned around, fully expecting to see either Tyler, Mike or Eric. To my shock and immense displeasure it was douchebag.
He was shirtless, which I hadn't realized at the distance before. It may also have been because I started panicking right away and tried to come up with an escape plan instead of paying attention. It pained me to admit to myself that Jess had been right. These guys were hot, very much so, actually. His skin was the same color as mine, a deep tan despite living in one of the rainiest regions one could find on planet earth. His eyes were, unlike mine, which were more of a light, muddy brown, a deep rich brown, which reminded me of tree bark. His hair was cut short, although not short enough to keep it from looking slightly tousled from the wind. His cut-off's were dirt-stained with all sorts of things you could get your clothes dirty with, if one were to roll around the forest ground. His feet were, like mine, and unlike my friend's, bare. He was smiling at me.
He did have a nice smile, but he looked a bit too confident for my liking. I instantly put my hands on my hips and crossed my arms in front of my chest, getting into what Angela called my "defensive, but mostly offensive" position. "I don't recall me inviting you to follow me." He held his hands, palms pointed to me, up.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you. I just wanted to apologize." His voice was deep and slightly husky. He didn't strike me as someone who'd apologize without expecting something in return. I cocked an eyebrow, remaining silent. The strategy worked- he felt obliged to continue talking, without me having to utter another word.
"Look, I know it wasn't right of me to whistle like that." I made a sound of indignation. I must've looked skeptical enough to make him feel like his explanation hadn't been enough. "I really didn't intend to insult you." I raised the other eyebrow as well. "Or any of your friends." He quickly added. "I know whistling is an absolute asshole-move. I just saw you, didn't know how to get your attention in a less cowardly way, and so I whistled."
I couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed at his words- and at the warm feeling that spread through my body at being told that he'd seen me and had decided he wanted to talk to me. I overcame the sentiment quickly- he'd thought my outer-appearance was nice enough to make me worthy of a catcall. That was hardly a real compliment.
"You can't tell me I'm the first woman you've whistled after. You don't strike me as the type to be apologetic, either. So what are you hoping to get out of this?" I scrunched up my eyebrows, contemplating what I should do next. I looked behind him- his friends were still hovering by the cliffs, looking like they were trying hard to stifle their laughter. It made me feel a bit like they had sent him to liven up their day a bit. Eric, Mike and Tyler had noticed that I'd stopped and were looking at me with a mixture of curiosity and worry on their faces.
Upon my words the guy pinched the bridge of his nose, a look of annoyance passing over his face quickly. He reigned it in almost as soon as I noticed. "I don't hope to gain anything from it. I seriously just wanted to apologize." "Okay. Thanks, I guess. If that's all, I would just-" I pointed behind myself and turned around, heading back in the direction we'd come from. For a few seconds it was silent behind me; then I heard his footfalls again, at a faster pace to catch up to me.
"I'm Paul, by the way. Paul Lahote." I rolled my eyes and turned my head slightly to look at him from the corner of my eye. Why did he have to look so good but be such a typical young man when it came to his behavior? And wasn't Paul Lahote the guy my dad had mentioned? The one who'd been mixing with the wrong crowd of people?
"Miakoda. Not that it's any of your business." "Nice to meet you. Miakoda Davis, right?" "How do you know?" I inquired, my curiosity getting the better of me. It was Paul's turn to roll his eyes. "This is La Push. How many young women have moved to Forks pursue a running career in the last few years and therefore hang out with white teenagers from town? You don't need to be a genius to figure that one out."
"No need to become all arrogant. But yeah, you're right. I did move away to have better chances at making running my career." I didn't want to tell him anything else, but at the same time I felt inclined to tell him everything he asked for. For a minute or two he was quiet, seemingly deep in thought. "Was it worth moving away at such a young age?"
"How do you know I was young?" I replied, ignoring the much too personal question he'd asked. If I hadn't been so sure of his absolute self-confidence, I may have thought that he looked a bit uncomfortable at my inquiry. "Like I said, La Push is tiny. It's not like you need to dig deep to get information on people."
He realized a minute too late what he had revealed. "So you knew who I was before you approached me and decided to do some research?" I sounded angry, even to my own ears.
"No, I mean, Jacob knew you. He said something about you and Bella being friends." "But Jacob wasn't there that night, was he? I would've seen him." "He wasn't, but he knew who I was telling him about right away. Said there was no one else he knew who could've fit the description." A feeling of pride made me smirk. So my reputation did precede me. Good to know.
"And the next logical step was to dig up any information you could find on me? Because I looked so utterly hot that night? Or because no one has ever told you his opinion and you've never experienced rejection?" "It wasn't like that." He sounded defensive. "I just wanted to know who you were." He seemed genuine to me, but that wouldn't win the race. Sighing I stopped. "Okay. You've apologized. I accept it. Can I walk back to my friends now?"
"Yeah, in a minute. Look, I like to run, too. It's one of my… hobbies. We could meet up one of the next few days and go together?" He was back to confident now, a cocky grin on his lips, an easy going tone to his voice. It made him look even more handsome, but it also slightly infuriated me.
"So you do want something for your fucking apology." "No. My apology stands, regardless of your answer. I'd just like to see you again." He was smooth smooth, didn't even stumble over a single word, delivering his lines like it was the most normal thing and a daily occurrence to him.
"If you haven't noticed, we haven't seen each other yet, at all. You've treated me like a dog, I've told you off, I saw you in the distance and told you with a nice gesture to fuck off, and now you've followed me and forced an apology on me. I really don't know which part of this should lead me to believe that this is a serious offer or good idea."
"An apology is a good start, that's what I would say. Look, I'll give you my number, no strings attached. If you feel like it, you call me, send me a message, whatever, and we can work out when to meet for a run. If you decide I'm not worth your time you delete my number and I won't bother you again, okay?" He definitely looked slightly uncomfortable now, as though he wasn't used to not getting what he wanted right away. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Honestly, you could really use some rejection in your life. But I'll accept. Give me your number and I might give you a call in a few days. But don't get your hopes up too much. This is hardly a yes." His face broke into a grin and he took my phone out of my hand. He quickly dialed in a number and called it. His phone rang in his pocket.
"There you go. Now you can call me up whenever you feel like it." He even had the audacity to wink at me. "Won't happen anytime soon." I mumbled under my breath, than, louder, directed to him, "I'm already regretting this." I muttered, pocketing the device and turning back around. The phone was incredibly hot after he'd touched it.
I picked up my pace, unsure of what to do next. I hadn't promised anything, of course, and I hand't given him much reason to hope, either, at least I thought so. Did that mean I had to say goodbye to him? And how would I go about doing it? Shaking hands was outdated, hugging was too intimate, and a wave from afar seemed childish. I turned back around. He still stood where I had left him, a self-satisfied look on his face.
"Guess I might see you around?" I called back. He shrugged. "Sure. I'm looking forward to hearing from you again." He winked one last time before he turned around as well, and nothing short but sauntered over to his friend. I could tell he was happy with how it had gone. I wasn't so much.
The entire way back I debated with myself whether it had been a good idea or not, and what the next best step was. I walked so slowly that as I reached the other girls, Mike, Eric and Tyler caught up to me. "What did Paul Lahote want from you?" Mike sounded like he couldn't decide whether he was annoyed or worried about the conversation. "Apologize for his behavior at the cinema the other week."
The disbelief was written all over Mike's face. "That doesn't align with what I've heard about him at all. Except for if he hopes to receive something in return for his gracious apology." The implication in his words was all too clear. I shrugged, not willing to have this conversation with Mike. The only one who would be interesting to talk to right now was Bella, who probably had plenty of information on Paul and the rest of Sam Uley's gang.
"It looks like the others have set up lunch!" I exclaimed, genuine excitement lacing my voice. I hadn't noticed until now, too preoccupied with my thoughts, but I was starving. I ran over to the girls, not in the mood to be questioned by Mike any further. I sat down between Angela and Jessica; they had found a somewhat sheltered space where the wind wasn't as strong and had set up a small picnic spread. Conversation flowed easily between the others, but I was too nervous to follow them. I waited until everyone was occupied talking to their neighbor, than I turned to Jessica. I wasn't sure if it was the best idea, since she would definitely tell Lauren I'd asked later on, but I had to risk it.
"Jess, what do you know about Sam Uley's gang. And what do you know about Paul Lahote?"