Jumping Clichés

"Can't believe you missed school." Skylar scolded me as we walked into the school. "Two days." She said in exasperation.

I glanced at the girl as we made our way to the lockers. "I told you I was spending the days with my friends." It wasn't exactly a lie, just omissions of other facts.

"I know. Why do you think I didn't ring?" She gave me a look as if it was obvious. We reached my locker as she leant against the one next to mine. "I still don't get why you guys did it on school days. Ever heard of the weekend?" She muttered sarcastically.

I chuckled as I grabbed my books. "It just happened like that." I answered as I closed my locker door.

"And here comes Romeo." Skylar nodded behind me. I turned to see Embry walking in our direction. "What? Couldn't bear to stay away even after you spent two days with her?" Skylar playfully joked to the boy.

Embry smirked as he pulled me into his arms. He glanced at Skylar. "You have no idea." He commented, referring to the power of imprinting. Of course, Skylar didn't understand the reference.

Skylar suddenly grinned slyly. She reached out and pulled me out of his arms. "Well, we have class." She began to drag me away. "You'll just have to wait until lunch."

Embry had a surprised expression but it quickly turned into a smirk. All I could do was shrug my shoulders at the boy as I was led away.

Skylar turned to make she we weren't being followed. "So, have you asked him yet?" She asked with slight excitement.

I gave the girl a confused look. "Asked him what?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Skylar stopped walking as she looked at me in disbelief. "Asked him to the school dance?"

"The school dance?" I knew it was coming up soon and it was customary to have a date. "No. It's still not for a while." I said with red cheeks.

"It will come around faster than you think." Skylar scolded. "You need to ask him." She told me with a strict look.

"I will, later." I mumbled. "For now, I'm just waiting for lunch until I get to see him again."

"Fine." Skylar gave in with a sigh. "But remember we will be getting ready together." She grinned before leading the way to class.

Lunch came around slowly. I was dying to see him again. I wondered if he felt the same. But finally, lunch arrived.

I was sitting at the table next to Embry. The pack plus Kim was here, minus Jacob, for obvious reasons, and Seth, since he was patrolling with Leah. Lunch wasn't as rowdy as normal due to their absence but everyone was still in a good mood.

Suddenly, someone walked over to our table and sat down. I glanced to see a pretty girl with long, blonde hair. I had no idea who she was.

The table fell to an awkward silence. I looked around the table to see everyone staring at her. Even people from other tables were looking. Was I missing something?

My question was answered as Paul spoke up. "Can we help you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. I quickly realised they didn't know her.

She put on the brightest smile. "I'm Brittany." She introduced herself. "I'm kind of new here and wanted to make friends with as many people as possible." She looked at everyone on the table. I noticed however, she skipped Kim and I.

Maybe I was imagining things as I tried to brush it off. "Well, welcome to the school." I tried to be friendly.

"Thanks." She grinned at me before she looked away. I know I was not imagining anything as I saw her scowl at me briefly. No one else seemed to catch it. "So, what are your names?" She asked the boys.

I watched her carefully as the boys introduced our table. I finally understood what was happening. She wanted the boys. Everyone knew they were attractive but no one was brave enough to actually pursue them.

Unfortunately for her, she wouldn't get anyone. Paul, Jared, Quil and Embry all had imprints. They say they don't even 'see' other girls anymore. Brady and Collin were too young that they weren't interested. Besides, I don't think Brittany would be interested in younger boys anyway. Seth was innocent. He was waiting for his imprint so he wouldn't go for anyone else. And Jacob, well he is still Bella obsessed. Overall, none of the pack would fall for her.

I knew this, so why did I still feel intimidated? Was I jealous? Threatened? I had no need to be. None of them would fall for her and Embry loved me. What was I feeling? Maybe annoyance that she's flirting with my friends.

Usually I want lunch to go on for as long as I can but today I was glad it was quickly over. The bell rang as I stood up.

"Well, I better go." Brittany announced. "It was nice meeting you all. Can't wait to do it again." She smiled and walked away.

The pack looked confused as we all stared at each other. No one knew what to say. I didn't get the chance as I was almost tackled by Skylar. "Let's go." She instructed as she dragged me away.

I was completely in shock from everything that I could barely wave goodbye to Embry.

Skylar and I went to our next class which was physical education. "Please tell me you saw that." I told the girl.

"Everyone saw that." Skylar commented. "She was glaring daggers at you and Kim."

I stopped walking as Skylar turned to look at me. "That's what I thought! At first I thought I imagined it."

"You don't know who she is, do you?" Skylar questioned carefully.

I shook my head. "No. She said she was new."

Skylar scoffed. "Hardly." I furrowed my brows in confusion before Skylar explained. "She isn't 'new'. She's been here before. She was moved away and then came back recently. Now she doesn't like how you and Kim got close to the hotties."

"She's jealous." I realised as we continued walking.

Skylar nodded. "And she wants them."

We entered into the gym as we waited for the teacher along with the other students. Skylar suddenly rolled her eyes. "And I forgot to mention. She has followers."

I raised an eyebrow in question until she nodded behind me. In walked Brittany followed by two other girls. One had red hair with freckles. The other, brown hair that was curled beyond recognition.

"Red haired girl is Ashley." Skylar explained. "Curly hair is Chantel."

I stared at the three girls in question. "Tell me this is a joke?" I turned to Skylar. "No school actually has mean girls with their followers. It's a movie cliché."

Skylar scoffed. "Yeah, well they want to be movie stars I guess."

We watched as the three walked over to us. Brittany was smirking. "Didn't think you'd come back." Skylar challenged the girl.

"No place I'd rather be." Brittany replied smartly.

"And yet you're straight on the boys." Skylar argued. "Too bad they're not interested in you." Skylar teased with a smirk.

Brittany frowned in annoyance as she didn't reply. She glanced at me with hate. Skylar took the opportunity. "You jealous of Maddi? She is dating one of them but I guess you already knew that." She teased.

"It won't last long." Brittany tried to keep her composure. "He can do better."

Skylar looked mad at the insult and was about to fight back. I held my hand out to stop her. I saw the teacher walk in.

I smiled as I turned to face Brittany. "You're right. He could do better. I don't know why he loves someone like me." I admitted. "But he thinks I'm the best and that's all I need to know." And with that Skylar and I walked away as the teacher began the lesson.

The next few days passed by in a blur. Brittany continued to sit with us at lunch. She didn't do anything drastic but she did flirt with the boys.

They even mentioned she tried talking to them whenever she could. The boys remained friendly with her. I don't think they truly realised what she was trying to do.

Besides her, Jacob had recovered. It was amazing how quickly he did but it was no surprise with his healing ability.

Over the days, I was just trying to catch up on all the work I missed. This usually was done at Skylar's as we helped each other. And if not, it was at Emily's with Embry keeping me company.

The pack would often be there, hanging out. I would sit at the table doing my work while Embry sat with me. He even helped me where he could. And if both of us were confused then one of the pack would know, usually Kim or Emily.

This led us to the weekend, more precisely, Sunday. I was getting changed in my room. Today was warm and sunny. Extremely rare weather. The pack had decided to go to First Beach to go swimming and cliff diving.

I've never been cliff diving. The thought scared me but I really wanted to try it.

I got dressed in my bikini before also putting on some shorts and a singlet that can get wet. I was not the most confident person in the world.

The sound of a car pulling up outside was my cue that Embry was here. I grabbed my things before running down the stairs. "I'm leaving now. I'll be back soon." I called out to my parents.

"Okay. Have fun." I heard my mother reply as I ran out the front door.

I quickly hopped in the passenger of Embry's car. I threw my belongings into the backseat as Embry drove off. "Hey." I grinned at the boy.

I saw him glance at me briefly. He didn't seem to mind what I was wearing. Like he was happy as long as I was happy. "You ready to go cliff diving?" He asked excitedly.

"Guess we will find out." I commented with a strained breath. I was nervous but excited.

The car ride was short as we pulled up alongside other cars. Looks like we were the last to arrive.

We followed the trail that led to the cliff face next to the beach. The whole pack was there minus Sam. "Ah, look who finally arrived." Paul teased as Embry and I walked towards the group.

"Took you guys long enough." Quil smirked with a lot of energy.

Kim ran up besides me. "Ignore them. We are glad you are here."

"Yeah, they're just really excited." Seth pointed out.

I knew exactly what he was talking about. I heard that both Rachael and Claire were coming to visit soon. Paul and Quil were having their imprints come back and were over the moon.

"Whatever." Paul grinned as he tackled Seth off the cliff.

I let out a small gasp as the two fell down into the ocean. "It's even more terrifying when you're the one falling." Leah commented after seeing my reaction. She was sitting next to Jacob on some rocks.

Quil stepped forward as he peered over the edge. "Got that right." He muttered as he stepped back to get a run up. "But it really is a thrill." He shouted as he ran up to the edge and front flipped off the cliff.

By now I was frozen in fear with wide eyes. Kim noticed as she placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to jump if you don't want to."

"I want to but I'm just scared." I admitted to the group. "I'm not good with heights."

Jared smirked. "If it makes you feel better, the first time Embry jumped, we had to push him off the cliff."

Kim playfully hit Jared. "That's not reassuring at all."

"Have you jumped?" I asked Kim.

The girl nodded. "It took a long time but I have. It was terrifying but fun." She held onto Jared's arm. "I held onto Jared like this the entire way down as I screamed."

I slowly walked to the ledge and peered down at the water below. I could see Paul, Quil and Seth. "Come on down, Maddi!" I heard Paul yell to me.

I stepped back away from the edge as Embry walked up next to me. "You don't have to." He told me with full seriousness.

I contemplated for a moment before glancing at him. "Will you jump with me?"

He gave me a smile. "Of course." He held out his hand which I gratefully accepted. We stepped onto the edge of the cliff face.

"You promise you'll jump with me? You won't let go?" I asked with worry.

He gave me a reassuring smile. "I promise. Just make sure you jump otherwise I will accidently drag you down."

I gave a small nod as I gulped. "On three." Embry stated. "One, two, three!"

We both jumped off the cliff. I was so scared that I didn't even let out a scream. My mouth fell open as we fell towards the water below.

I braced for impact as my body hit the cold water. I was submerged underwater until I managed to get back to the top for air. I let go of Embry's hand to wipe to water out my eyes.

I heard to noise above us. I looked up to see the pack cheering and whooping from the top of the cliff. I let out a laugh. I get what they mean now. Terrifying but a thrill.

"That's how it's done, Maddi!" Paul told me encouragingly. "Better than Embry on his first shot."

Embry let out a mock laugh as he swam to me. "You okay?" He asked.

I nodded my head excitedly. "Yeah. That was fun." I told him.

The two of us swam over to Paul, Quil and Seth. "You didn't even scream." Quil pointed out as the five of us swam back to shore.

"Honestly, I was too scared to." I admitted with a chuckle.

We finally hit the beach. "You up for it again?" Seth questioned.

"You bet." I said with a grin.

We spent rest of the day having fun with each other. Never in my life did I think I would be cliff jumping. And I will never forget it.