Princesses All Round

After the events of the wedding, I only got one day to rest up before it was back to school. Of course, I couldn't go with my wrists being obviously bruised. So, I had to cover them up.

I wrapped my wrists in a bandage so no one could see it. Then I wore a long-sleeved shirt to cover most of the bandage. It was as good as it would get.

Unfortunately, it was not good enough to stop the curiosity of Skylar. "What happened to your arms?" She asked as soon as she saw me.

I looked at my bandaged wrists. "Burnt them slightly." I told her as she looked at me. "Hot oil from cooking." I elaborated.

"Ouch." She cringed at my cover story. "You alright?"

I waved her off. "I reckon I'll live." I joked.

"Of course you will." She grinned. "And even if you were dead, that wouldn't stop you coming with me to go dress shopping." She threw me a sly grin.

"Dress shopping?" I questioned. "For the school dance?"

"Bingo. We go tomorrow." She stated as she wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Speaking of which, have you asked him yet?"

I felt a smile creep on my face. "If you are referring to Embry, then yes, I asked him to go with me and he accepted."

"Nice!" Skylar cheered as she slapped me on the back. "Took you long enough to ask your own boyfriend." She teased.

"I know, I know." I pouted. "I was so nervous to ask."

Skylar laughed. "That sounds so like you. But at least you finally asked." Skylar suddenly froze. "But what will I do? I don't have a date." She looked at me with panic. "I don't even have a crush on someone."

I held a finger to my chin. "If you want, I can ask Quil if he will go with you." I suggested.

"One of your boys?" Skylar asked with disbelief.

I was still caught on what she said. "Uh, 'your' boys?" I mumbled in confusion.

Skylar didn't bother explaining herself. "Wouldn't half the school be asking him?"

"I don't know." I said with a shrug. "As far as I know he isn't going with anyone. Can't hurt to ask. But I haven't seen him at school today. I wonder where he is?" I thought aloud.

Skylar lunged forwards. "But I don't want him to take it the wrong way. I just don't want to go alone." She began to ramble. "I mean he's attractive but I'm not interested in him in that way."

I let out a chuckle. "Don't worry. He won't see it that way. He already has someone special to him so he's not looking for anyone." I reassured her.

"Really? Who?" Skylar asked curiously.

I smiled. "Don't worry. You don't know her." I held a finger up. "In fact, she doesn't even live here."

School had finished and Embry and I were heading to Emily's. Embry opened the door as he walked in, me following close behind.

"Uncle Embry!" A little voice rang out. I turned to see a small girl ran up to Embry and wrap her arms around his legs.

Embry ruffled her hair. "Hey, Claire." He squatted down to her level. "Look at you. You keep getting taller."

Claire, huh? I wonder.

"I know." She squealed with happiness as Embry stood back up. "Soon, I'll be as tall as Quil." She reached her arms up to emphasis her point.

"One day." A happy voice stated as hands scooped Claire under her arms and lifted her into the air. It was Quil.

"Yay!" Claire screamed in excitement and surprise. "Higher!"

As instructed, Quil raised the little girl higher into the air before finally setting her back down on the ground. It was at this point, she noticed me. She paused as she stared at me in confusion. I was a stranger to her.

Quil smiled as he squatted next to her. "Claire, this is our friend, Maddi." Quil faced me. "Maddi, this is Claire, Emily's cousin."

I smiled in confirmation. This was Quil's imprint. "Hi, Claire." I waved at the little girl as I squatted down.

Her eyes lit up. "Aunty Maddi!" She cheered as she ran forwards to give me a hug.

Aunty Maddi, huh? Makes me feel old. I placed a hand on the girl's head as she looked up at me. "Nice to meet you, Claire." I gave the girl a smile as she grinned.

"How long as Claire been here?" Embry questioned with curiosity.

The noise of people talking caused Claire to release me. She let out a small giggle before running to Quil, running around and around him.

Quil watched the little girl fondly. "She just got here today."

"Ah." I said in realisation. "That's why you weren't at school. You were waiting for Claire to arrive." I smiled at the thought. He couldn't wait to see his imprint again.

Claire grabbed Quil's arm and began to drag him away. "Let's play." She begged.

Quil let himself be dragged away as he gave Embry and I smile that confirmed that was the reason he skipped school.

"His face is covered with the fact that he is guilty." Embry playfully commented.

I turned to look at him. "Like you wouldn't skip school if you were in his position." I teased.

Embry looked at me with loving eyes. He bent down slightly and kissed the top of my head. "I would do anything for you."

I gave him a sweet smile before thinking of something. "Jake wasn't at school either. Where is he?"

Embry let out a sigh and shook his head. "He's still upset so I'm not sure where he is."

"He hasn't run off again?" I asked with concern.

"No." A new voice called out. I turned to see Sam enter the room. "He spends most of his time at his house."

"Oh, guess that should have been obvious." I muttered in embarrassment as I awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck.

"How are your wrists?" Sam asked with concern.

"Oh." I said with surprise. "They're fine. Just as long as nothing hits them." I gave a soft smile.

Sam looked relieved. "That's good."

I think he felt a bit guilty since he was the one who told Embry and Seth to leave the wedding. I also know the whole pack knew what happened and about my gift. Wolf telepathy after all.

We fell silent until Sam asked us both a question. "Are you two free the day after tomorrow?"

I know I go dress shopping tomorrow with Skylar for the school dance but the day after that I think I'm free. "As far as I know." I said as I glanced at Embry who nodded in agreement.

"Good. Will we being going to First Beach with the pack and imprints." Sam explained.

Embry furrowed his brow in confusion. "Is there a special reason why?"

Sam looked over at Quil who was playing with Claire. "It will be Claire's birthday and also all the imprints are gathered." He said with a small smile.

"Sounds like fun. We'll be there." I stated with a grin.

Sam gave a nod before leaving the room.

"Uncle Embry. Aunty Maddi!" Claire called out as she came running over to us. She was wearing a tiara as she grabbed us by the hand and led us over to Quil.

We sat on the couch while Quil and Claire sat on the floor. Claire had a lot of toys spread out on the floor. "What are we doing?" Embry asked with confusion.

"Tea party." Quil mused as he watched Claire pretend to pour some cups of tea.

"Right." Embry realised as Claire handed him a cup. "Thanks." Embry grinned at the girl as he pretended to drink it.

Claire gave me a cup next. "Thank you." I stated as I took it out of her hands.

She turned around to get the last cup for Quil. "You're good at this." Quil teased Embry with a smirk.

Embry didn't hesitate to tease back. "You seem even better than me at this."

Claire held a cup out to Quil. "Thank you, princess." Quil said in a sweet, sing-song voice. This caused Claire to giggle and go back to playing. Quil looked at Embry with a triumphant grin. "You have no idea."

Claire was playing with a dollhouse when she called for Embry. "Uncle Embry. Look!" She pointed at something in the house. Embry got up so that he could see what she was pointing to.

In the meantime, I turned to Quil. "Hey, are you going to the school dance?"

"Yeah." Quil spoke as he turned to face me.

"Are you going with anyone?" I asked the boy.

Embry chuckled. "I bet he got a lot of people asking." He teased before focusing back on what Claire was showing him.

"I'll have you know I did." Quil retorted before addressing me. "No, I'm not going with anyone. I was just going to hang out with Jake there but with his current mood I highly doubt he is even going." Quil explained with a sigh.

"Well, I was wondering if you would be interested in going with my best friend, Skylar?" I asked the boy.

Quil contemplated it. "Her, huh?" The boys had never actually met Skylar, except for Embry, Jared and Paul. But they knew of her since she is my best friend. Heck, when Embry first imprinted on me, the whole pack stared at us two at school.

"She doesn't mean it in that way." I explained just in case he thought she liked him. "She just doesn't want to go by herself so I thought you might want to go with her."

Quil thought about it briefly. "Hm, it would be better having her there so that I'm not third wheeling you two."

"I think Skylar feels the same way." I said with a laugh. "So, do you want to go with her?"

"Sure. Why not?" He confirmed.

Embry spoke up. "I feel like they'll have a good time. They both have the same sort of personality."

"Yeah, happy-go-lucky." I agreed.

"Sounds like we will be the life of the party." Quil stated with a grin.

"How about this one?" Skylar asked as she pulled a bright, yellow dress off the rack. It was the next day, and like promised, I'm dress shopping with Skylar for the school dance.

"Woah." I muttered, averting my gaze. "I'm going blind from just looking at it."

"It's not that bad." She pouted before her eyes lit up. "You'll look like the sun." She said with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, but no one likes staring directly at the sun." I mumbled under my breath. However, Skylar heard me as she sighed and put it back.

We kept browsing the dresses. "So, Quil really agreed to go with me?" She questioned with disbelief.

"Yep." I announced. "He doesn't wanna third wheel and thinks you two will be the life of the party."

"Damn." Skylar stated. "Now I have to live up to those expectations."

"I'm sure you'll do just fine." I encouraged as I searched through the rack of dresses.

I heard Skylar chuckle a little. "At least one good thing is the face Brittany will make when she finds out."

I laughed. "You're so petty. But I can't wait either." I stopped when I spotted a dress. I pulled it off the rack and held it up.

"Oh, pretty." Skylar commented as she walked up to me. "You going to try it on?"

I gave a nod. "Might as well give it a shot."

I made my way to the changing room. I shut the curtain and changed. It was a purple, one shoulder dress that reached my feet. It fit nicely as I stared at it in the mirror.

I stepped out the changing room to show Skylar. Her face lit up when she saw me. "That's it. That's the one for you!" She clasped her hands together. "It fits you so well and the colour is perfect!"

"You think?" I asked as I gave a little twirl.

"I know." Skylar stated. "Embry will faint when he sees you."

I gave a smile to the girl. "Hopefully he faints for good reasons." Guess I found my dress. I looked at Skylar. "Have you found one yet?"

"Actually." Skylar announced as she walked over to one of the racks. "I found this while you were changing."

Skylar pulled out a cute, knee length, light pink dress. "Oh, try it on!" I told the girl. I had the feeling it would suit her.

She didn't need much encouragement as she gave in. "Okay." She grinned as she ran into the changing room.

It didn't take long for her to come back out. As soon as she stepped out, she gave a twirl to show it off. I was correct. It suited her perfectly. "It's perfect for you. I love it!" I grinned at the girl.

"So do I." Skylar agreed. "Look at us, we look like princesses."

I laughed at her comment. "I wouldn't take it that far. We need gold and servants."

"Damn, we were so close." Skylar clicked her fingers in fake disappointment before smiling. "Guess we didn't spend ages finding our dresses."

"Right! I thought we'd take forever." I added. I'm so thankful that it didn't take long.

Skylar placed her hands on her hips. "I say we get changed, buy these dresses and get out of here."

"I thought you'd never ask." I grinned at the girl as we both went into changing rooms. Our dress shopping had been a success.