Navigation 101

The sunny weather did not last long. It went back to rainy weather the very next day.

I was at Emily's studying. Embry was out patrolling with Quil. No one else was in the house besides Emily. Well, that was until Sam came back.

When he walked through the door, he walked straight over to Emily and smothered her in kisses. When he finally acknowledged my presence, he wasn't surprised to see me.

"Thought I might find you here." He commented as he made his way over to me. "Math. Fun." He joked as he looked at my book. "Here." He pulled an envelope out his pocket and sat it on the table.

I gave the item a curious look as I put my pen down. "What's this?" I questioned as I picked it up. It was addressed to me.

"Billy gave it to me." Sam explained vaguely.

I gave him a confused look before opening the envelope and pulling out a card. It was an invitation for Bella and Edward's wedding in just over a week.

I gave Sam an intense stare. Why on earth would I be invited? Why did Billy have it? Why are they getting married so soon?

"Are you sure this is for me?" I inquired with disbelief.

Sam nodded towards the envelope. "It has your name on it."

I was still bewildered as the door opened and Embry and Quil walked in. Embry instantly saw my expression and become concerned. "What's wrong?" He rushed to my side.

I couldn't answer as I handed the invitation to him. Everyone peered over Embry's should to see what it was. "Bella and Edward are getting married?" Quil questioned with surprise.

The phone began to ring as Sam moved aside and answered it.

"You're invited?" Embry said but it came out more as a question. I nodded my head. "I didn't know you were close."

"I know." I agreed. "I don't know why I'm invited. I've only met her three times." I explained.

Quil chuckled. "Well, you must have left an impact on her. Said something that made her happy."

My mouth slightly opened as I thought back. "I did wish her the best with Edward." I muttered aloud.

Quil snapped his fingers and pointed at me. "That would be why you're invited." He clarified before glancing at Embry. "Damn, we didn't get an invitation."

Sam suddenly interrupted. "Yeah, but there was someone else who did." We all gave him confused looks before Sam explained. "Jacob has shifted and ran away."

I frowned as I realised Jacob must be absolutely heart broken. The girl he loves is marrying another and he got their wedding invitation.

"We can go get him." Embry stated as he placed the invitation back on the table. He and Quil moved towards the door.

"No." Sam stated firmly. "No one goes after him. Just leave him be." That was an order. Embry and Quil had to obey.

I glanced down at the invitation. What should I do?

It was the next day and I was still thinking about the wedding invitation. Jacob had ran far away with no signs of returning anytime soon. I also found out the Black and Clearwater families were invited. Now I was wondering if I should go.

I held a hand to my forehead. It was warm. It was starting to feel like I was getting a headache. Either I was getting sick or overthinking things.

I was with Skylar as we stood outside the school by the woods. We were in physical education doing an all-day event for this class. Life skills of navigation or something. Basically, they give us a map, compass and such and make us find our way around in small groups to certain locations.

I glanced at the sky. It was dark. I hope they give us an umbrella.

"All right, listen up!" The teacher shouted to get our attention. "The goal is to find the areas marked on the map and be back by the time it gets dark." Another teacher walked around with a bag. "No phones or technology." Everyone handed in their belongings.

The teacher continued. "You'll be in groups of five so choose wisely." The teacher held up a radio. "Each group will get a radio just in case but only use it in emergencies. One bag of equipment per group. Begin."

The students broke off into groups. I turned to Skylar. "We need three more."

"Right." She turned around and began to search. However, everyone had formed their groups of five. She turned to the teacher. "We need three more." She explained.

The teacher searched around. "Ah, you two can go with Brittany, Chantel and Ashley." The teacher announced before walking away to help another group.

We stared at the three girls in front of us as they did the same back. "You have got to be kidding me." Skylar whispered to me.

The trio walked over to us. "If we have to be with you, then there are rules." Brittany stated. "First, I have the map." She pulled the map out the backpack.

"Chantel, you can have the compass." Brittany explained as she dug through the bag to find it and gave it to the girl. She grabbed the radio next and gave it to Ashley. "And Ashley gets the radio."

I gave a glance to Skylar who was not impressed as she had her arms folded, glaring at Brittany. "So, what do we get?" I asked.

Brittany grinned as she pulled something out the bag before handing the bag to Skylar. "You get to carry the backpack with water." Brittany turned to me holding the item she pulled out to me. "And Maddi, you get the whistle."

I held my hand out as she dropped in my hand. She gave me a smile before turning and walking away. "Come on, girls. This way." She guided as she walked into the woods.

"I hate her." Skylar said through clenched teeth. "When she gets us lost, I'm not giving her water no matter how much she's dying of thirst." Skylar commented as she looked at me.

I sighed as I hung the whistle around my neck. "Let's hope it doesn't get to that." I began to follow after the trio as Skylar put on the backpack and walked alongside me.

We didn't walk far before we found the first landmark indicated on the map. I don't know if Brittany actually followed the map or if we found it by accident.

It was a tree with a bunch of markers around it labelled 'A'. I picked one up and put it in Skylar's backpack. "Well, that's one." I mumbled before turning to Brittany. "Where next?"

Brittany glanced down at the map and pointed to it with her finger. "We need to go north-east." She stated and turned to Chantel.

"North-east is…" Chantel trailed off as she spun around. "…this way." She pointed out.

Suddenly, I sneezed making everyone face me. "Sorry." I mumbled at their stares.

Brittany screwed up her face in disgust. "You better not make me sick." She spat as she led the way.

I rubbed my nose as Skylar walked up next to me. "You all good?" She asked with worry.

"Yeah." I mumbled. "The quicker we get this over with the better I'll be."

We followed after the three as they led us through the woods. Hours passed and we found five of the landmarks required. There were three left.

We walked for a long time. Continually getting further and further away. I'm not familiar with the woods but we seemed to be deep within them. It had been a while since our last landmark.

"Are we going the right way?" Skylar piped up to the trio.

"Of course we are." Ashley brushed off the concern. "Aren't we, Brittany?" She asked for confirmation.

"Yeah." Brittany said but her voice was strained slightly. "We just need to head north now."

Chantel nodded her head as she looked at the compass. "This way." She led us in the direction.

We continued to walk for a while. The sky was getting darker and colder. The wind picked up and it looked like it would rain. A storm was definitely coming. Skylar turned to me. "There is no way they would make us walk this far." She looked at her watch. "School would be finished by now."

"True but they told us this activity would go over school time until dark." I pointed out. "But I do agree that we have walked way too far."

That was all Skylar needed to hear. "We have walked too far." She called out making the trio stop and turn around.

"No, we haven't." Chantel argued.

"Yeah, we have." Skylar stated. "They would not make us walk this far. Give me the map." She held out her hand.

Brittany pulled the map away. "No."

"Fine, just let us look." I added as I walked up to them. Brittany gave in as she showed the map. "Where are we?"

Brittany pointed to the middle of the woods. "Here." She moved her finger along towards one of the marked areas. "Heading north."

"That's not north." Skylar objected. "This way is north." She guided her finger in a different direction.

"No, it's not." Brittany argued.

"Yes, it is." Skylar replied. "It literally says in the corner which way is north." She pointed out the symbol. "You've led us the wrong way."

"It's okay." I spoke up. "We just need to go back to the landmark we were at." I looked at the map and pointed to the closest landmark we were last at. "Which would be this one."

Skylar tilted her head. "That's not the landmark we were last at." I looked at the map again. She was right. "We were at this one." She pointed to one far away from where Brittany said we were.

I furrowed my brows. "Brittany, have the landmarks been lining up on the map with where we were?"

"Yeah." Brittany said with slight hesitation. I raised an eyebrow and she looked away.

"They haven't." Skylar said accusingly. "And you didn't say anything." She was angry. "You led us astray and now we are lost. We don't even know where we are on this map anymore."

I suddenly sneezed again as I shivered. I think I was getting sick and this weather would make it worse. Skylar looked at me in concern. "We should just head back before it starts to rain. You're sick." She stated. I nodded in agreement.

Skylar turned to Brittany. "Give me the map."

"No." Brittany held it away.

"Give it!" Skylar yelled as she lunged at Brittany.

The two fought each other until suddenly Brittany lost her grip on the map. The wind caught it and blew it away. "No!" I shouted as I tried to run after it. It tumbled across the ground as I gave chase. It was going too fast and before I knew it, I tripped over a tree branch. I looked up from the ground to see the map being lifted into the air and disappeared out of sight.

The girls ran over to me. "Are you okay?" Skylar asked with worry.

She helped me stand to see my knee had been grazed. It was pretty bad. I had blood dripping down my leg and it was covered in dirt. "We need to clean that up." Skylar kneeled down and swung the backpack off her back.

Brittany looked disgusted as she turned away. Skylar poured water over my leg to wash the blood and dirt off. I winced at the contact. "Sorry." Skylar apologised as she pulled out the first aid kit. She found a plaster big enough and covered the wound. "We getter get you back."

"But the map is gone." Chantel pointed out.

"It's okay. We will just go the way we came." Skylar suggested.

Chantel smiled. "Oh, so this way." She pointed behind us.

"No, this way." Ashley pointed the opposite way.

Skylar glanced around. "Do you remember which way?" She asked me.

I shook my head. "No, sorry." Everyone fell silent. "But it's okay. We can just radio back to the teachers."

Everyone lit up in remembrance except for Ashley. "Pass it here." Skylar ordered to the girl who was in charge of it.

She paled. "Oh, no." She mumbled.

Skylar's face fell. "Don't tell me you lost it."

Ashley shook her head. "No. I didn't lose it."

Skylar was confused. "Good. Then give it here." She held out her hand.

"I left it at the first landmark." Ashley explained.

"How is that not losing it?!" Skylar shouted in annoyance.

Ashley cowered slightly before regaining her confidence. "It's not lost because I know where it is." She argued back.

Skylar's hand dropped to her side as she sighed to calm herself. "Let me get this right. We are lost with no map and no radio." Ashley nodded. "Like this can get any worse."

Suddenly, thunder crackled as it began to rain. "You just had to say it." I muttered sarcastically before coughing. I was exhausted and sick and now it was raining.

"My hair!" The trio yelled out in unison.

"We need to move under a tree for shelter from the rain." I explained to the group.

"There's a good tree there." Skylar pointed. The trio quickly moved under it as Skylar helped me walk over there too.

It was pouring down now. The tree provided some shelter but we were still getting drenched.

Chantel began to panic. "What do we do?"

"Are we going to be stuck forever?" Ashley added.

"No." Skylar answered. But I knew she wasn't confident about the situation.

Brittany spoke up. "They will send out a search party, right?"

Skylar didn't know how to respond. "After a while, I guess." The trio seemed to relax. "If we make it through this storm."

This set them off as the trio began to freak out. Skylar rolled her eyes. "What do we do?" She whispered to me.

I thought briefly. We had no way of getting back with no map or directions. No way of getting help without the radio. We were lost in a storm.

I shook my head in helplessness. Suddenly, I realised something. It was after school and we were in the woods. Maybe, just maybe, the pack was on patrol. If only there were some way to contact them. We didn't have phones. Then I remembered.

I looked down at my neck to see the whistle. It appeared to be high quality too which means loud. It was a slim chance but I had to try.

"Hey, guys." I grabbed everyone's attention. "I'm going to blow this whistle so prepare for the noise."

I held the whistle to my lips and took a deep breath. I blew as hard as I could, and I was right, it was loud. The girls covered their ears as I blew it again.

I continued to do so until Brittany snapped. "It may be loud but no one will hear it. They're too far away. It's pointless."

"It's better than doing nothing." Skylar snapped back at the girl in my defence.

I bit my lip. Brittany was right but she didn't know about the pack's super hearing. And surely they would come investigate someone blowing a whistle in a storm. "Maybe." I responded. "But if someone is close and they do hear it then I need to keep blowing it so they can find us."

I held the whistle up as I blew into it. All us girls were huddled under the tree, shaking from the cold and rain. At least the rain wasn't pouring down as much now. I was starting to give up hope as I blew the whistle.

Suddenly, I saw movement across from us as two shirtless guys emerged. It was Jared and Paul. When they saw us, they came running over.

"Maddi." Jared said with worry. "Are you guys okay?"

I shook my head. "We got lost."

"Come on. We will help you guys back out." Jared said as the two helped us girls up.

"Thank god you guys are here." Brittany flirted with the two. Guess her first instinct is to make a move. I didn't miss how she stared at the boys, especially due to their lack of shirts.

Paul pointed to the whistle around my neck. "We heard the whistle." I smiled at him before we began to walk forwards.

The group got ahead of me as I tried to keep up. It was hard because every step I took sent pain shooting up my leg from my injury. It didn't help that I was sick.

I noticed Paul turn around and saw me limping. "What happened to your leg?" He asked with concern looking at the plaster.

"I tripped." I answered vaguely.

Skylar piped up. "And she is also sick."

Paul suddenly stood in front of me with his back turned and knelt down. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"It's a long way back." He explained. "I'll give you a piggy-back ride."

I held my hands out in front of me. "No." I shook my head. "That's not needed."

Paul turned his head to looked at me. "Embry would kill me if I didn't do this and you got worse. Hop on."

We stared at each other before I finally gave in. It hurt to walk and I wasn't feeling well. Plus, I didn't want Embry to get angry at him because of me. I climbed onto his back and wrapped my arms around his neck.

He stood up as he carried me. I saw the trio giving me jealous glares. I'm surprised they didn't start pretending they had broken legs or something. I ignored them as I shut my eyes. I could feel the heat emitting from Paul's body, warming me up. It reminded me of Embry.

I opened my eyes when I heard Chantel speak. "What are you guys doing out here?" She questioned with a blush.

The boys looked like deers in headlights. "We usually go jogging in the woods." Jared smoothly answered.

"During a storm?" Skylar asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It came out of nowhere." Paul commented with a scowl. I gently patted him with my hand to calm him down. This seemed to work.

Paul has been working on his anger management. He didn't want to get mad and accidently hurt Rachael like Sam did to Emily.

"Is that how you know the way out?" Brittany clasped her hands together and smiled happily.

"Yeah." Paul smirked knowingly as he exchanged a glance with Jared. "We know these woods like the back of our hands."

It went quiet until Jared spoke up. "What are you guys doing in these woods? You shouldn't be out here." He warned. "These woods are dangerous."

"It was part of our physical education class." Ashely explained. "Life skills of navigation."

Paul turned his head slightly to address me. "You didn't tell us about this."

"Neither did the teachers." I replied with my head on his shoulder. "It was a surprise activity." I mumbled.

Paul scoffed. "How much do you suck at this?" He chuckled. "How do you even get lost like this?"

Skylar gladly took the opportunity to answer. "Well, first, the map was being read wrong the entire time." She flicked her eyes to Brittany who glared back. "Then when we finally realised we were being led astray, the map blew away, making us lost." Skylar continued. "And to top it off, the radio was misplaced at one of the landmarks so we couldn't call for help."

"What about your phones?" Jared suggested.

Chantel shook her head. "No good. They were confiscated before we began." She explained.

Skylar grinned. "Luckily for us, Maddi was told to be in charge of the whistle which ultimately saved us." I saw Brittany scowl as she looked away.

I touched the whistle around my neck. "Good thing you guys were nearby." I spoke as I gave them a knowing look which they returned.

It wasn't much further until we walked out of the woods to find the teachers and other students. They were under the school shelter as they spotted us.

The teacher ran forwards. "Where were you?" He asked with a panic. "You didn't answer your radio. We almost sent out a search party."

The four began to explain as Paul sat me down on one of the seats under the shelter. It was nice to be out of the rain. I saw Jared find my phone that was confiscated and began to call someone on it. "You okay?" Paul asked kneeling in front of me.

"Yeah." I muttered holding my hand to my head. "Just sick. I just want to go home."

"We can take you home." Jared spoke up as he walked over to us. "We can take you and your car back home, then we can head back into the woods." He held up my phone. "I called Embry. He will meet you back at yours." Jared handed my phone back to me.

"Right. I'll let your teachers know." Paul said as he stood up. "You help Maddi to her car." He told Jared.

I watched as Paul walked away. Guess I get to go home quicker than I thought.