Bonfire Stories

It was now the next day. I was still thinking about last night when I dropped Kim home, or rather, at Emily's, where I met all the boys. I was at school, in front of my locker, waiting for Skylar. When she eventually arrived, she had massive bags under her eyes.

"Woah. You look tired." I stated while I received a half-asleep glare from the girl.

"I had 3 hours of sleep last night. I stayed at the school until 11 then went home to finish it some more." Skylar said with a yawn.

I frowned. "I told you to go home early and sleep. Did you at least finish your project?"

She leaned up against the lockers, closing her eyes. "I know. And I got most of it done. Just needs a few finishing touches."

"Well." I started while walking behind the girl. I pulled her off the lockers and walked her forwards by pushing her back. "I'm pretty sure your project can wait until tomorrow when you've had a nice, long, deep sleep."

It was time for math class as I pushed Skylar into the room. We went to our seats but as soon as she sat down, her head hit the table with her eyes closed. I had to admit she was a hard worker, but Skylar always pushed herself too far, to the point of exhaustion where she couldn't focus properly the next few days, causing her to get behind in work. It was like a never-ending cycle.

"Skylar!" The loud, booming voice of Mr Henrick called throughout the classroom.

Skylar snapped her eyes open and lifted her head off the table, looking forwards. "Sorry, sir." She called until he turned his attention back to his desk.

I had to stifle a laugh. Luckily for Skylar, today was just answering textbook questions so she managed to rest her head on her hand and close her eyes. From where Mr Henrick sat, it just looked like Skylar was concentrating on her work.

I gave a small smile before answering the math problems before me.

The rest of the classes went by like this as Skylar tried to sleep, missing all the lessons' content. Soon enough it was lunch in the cafeteria. Skylar was still tired as she picked at her food. I gave a glance around the room, spotting the table I was looking for.

I turned back to Skylar. "I'll be back in a minute. I just need to quickly do something."

I heard her mumble something as she lazily glanced up. A gave her a smile while standing from my seat. I walked across the cafeteria, stopping in front of the table of Kim and the boys. I could feel everyone in the cafeteria staring at me. I tried my best to ignore it.

"Hey, Maddison." Seth spoke up as everyone turned to face me, giving me smiles.

I looked at them all, before stopping at Embry, giving him a smile which he returned. "Hey." I started. "I was wondering if one of you guys would be able to return the clothes Emily leant me."

"Maybe you should come over again and give them to her personally." Paul stated while giving Embry a look which I couldn't identify. All the boys and Kim smiled at his comment making me think I was missing something. Maybe an inside joke.

"I can't just rock up again out of the blue." I tried to deflect the idea.

"I know. You should come over tomorrow night. We are having a bonfire at Emily's so you could return the clothes and it would give you a reason to come over." Jared said with a sly smirk.

"Perfect, be there at 6." Quil piped up.

I was internally panicking as they made plans for me.

"Oh, and the attire is just casual, so you don't have to dress up or anything." Jared added as he took a bite of his sandwich.

I was left dumbfounded that I automatically nodded my head, not realising I had just agreed before turning around and walking back to Skylar. As I was leaving, I could faintly hear them saying things like, "there you go" and "see, that makes things easier". I had no clue what they were talking about.

When I reached Skylar, I sat back down. She looked more awake as she stared at me. I felt pressured under her gaze. "What?"

"Why were you talking to them? I didn't even know you knew them." She said with exasperation.

"I meet them last night. Kim needed a lift and I was caught in the storm, so I stayed with them for a while. I just wanted to see if they would return the girl's clothes I burrowed." I explained.

"Girl, you were just talking to the hottest guys in school. Some girls are still death glaring you right now." Skylar said.

I furrowed my brows before turning to glance around the cafeteria. Skylar was right, there were some nasty stares from some girls. I don't think I've ever been on the receiving end of this much hate and anger, so it hit me pretty hard.

Skylar saw my expression. "Just ignore them. They're just jealous you spoke to them."

I was still seeing all the glares until I made eye contact with Embry. It's like everyone around me disappeared and I could care less about them. His eyes looked full of longing but also sadness. My frown turned into a smile, which caused the sadness in his eyes to disappear.

Suddenly, a hand waved in front of my face. "Hellloooo. Earth to Maddi." My attention snapped back to Skylar as she brought her arm back to her side. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Sorry." I said with an awkward cough.

"Look, don't worry about those girls. Besides, when you don't talk to that group again, they'll forget about it." Skylar mentioned as she took a spoonful of her lunch.

I didn't reply which caused Skylar to glance up at me. "You aren't going to talk to them again, right?"

I rubbed the back of my neck, shyly. "Well, you see, they invited my to a bonfire tomorrow night so that I can return the clothes myself."

She put her cutlery down. "You declined it, right?"

I bit my lip. "I think I kinda agreed…" I trailed off.

She gave me a disbelieving look. "How do you 'kinda agree'?"

"Well, they started making plans for me and I panicked and accidently agreed." I tried to defend myself.

"Normally, I'd be proud you are actually getting outside but since it's with those people…" She gave a small frown, not finishing her sentence.

"They're not a cult. They are actually really nice people." I defended with a pout.

Skylar let out a sigh. "I didn't say they weren't. It's just they have a bad rep, you know?"

That made my heart hurt. "Doesn't mean they actually live up to that reputation. Everyone who thinks that have never even spoken to them before."

Skylar and I stared at each other. I had a softer glance but I still refused to back down. "Fine." She said breaking eye contact. "Just don't do anything stupid."

I smiled with a small chuckle. "Who's the mother now." Luckily, this caused Skylar to smile slightly too.

The next day flew by quickly and it was getting close to 6. I was in my room getting changed. I wore jeans and a jumper but honestly speaking, this was my normal attire. I tied my hair into a ponytail as I always do before checking I had my phone, purse, and car keys. I went to my desk, picking up the pile of clothes I burrowed from Emily.

Once I had everything I needed, I headed out the door to my car. The air was freezing and my car was no warmer. I was shivering as I started it up and turned the heater on full blast. By the time I had reached Emily's, the car was only just starting to warm up.

Grabbing the clothes, I hopped out of the car, unsure of where I was supposed to go. I shivered from the cold before walking to Emily's house. I knocked gently before letting myself in. The smell of food instantly hit my nose. Whatever was being cooked smelt amazing.

The sound of footsteps came down the hallway before Embry appeared. His face lit up when he saw me, almost like he had been waiting for my arrival. "Maddison." He breathed, almost like a sigh of relief.

I felt so happy seeing him for some reason. "Hey, Embry." The two of us stared at each other for a little longer before I remembered. "Oh, what do I do with these?" I held up Emily's clothes. I don't know why I asked him because how was he supposed to know.

"Umm, just put them on the bench for now and let her know." He said, also snapping out of his staring trance.

I did as I was told and placed them on the bench before turning to face him again. He had a longing look in his eyes, but they couldn't be for me, surely. "So?"

"Right. Come with me, I'll take you to the bonfire." He gestured for me to follow him which I instantly did.

Once I was in step with him, I asked. "So, what happens at this bonfire?"

"Well, we eat good food that Emily cooked, chat with everyone, and get told some stories from the elders who are the council leaders." Embry explained while staring at my eyes for the last part.

"Stories from the elders?" I inquired, a little confused what that meant.

I saw Embry discretely bite his lip in deep thought. There was something more to this that I didn't know about. "The elders tell us some legends of the tribe."

I slowed my walking to a stop, looking at the bonfire a few metres away. Embry realised I had stopped and turned to me. "What's wrong?" He asked, voice full of concern.

I turned my gaze from the fire surrounded by people to Embry. "Aren't legends of the tribe kinda secret. I shouldn't intrude. I'm not a Quileute."

"No, it's okay. Trust me." He had this look that I couldn't identify but the moment he asked me to trust him, I knew I had to. "Plus, you aren't the only outsider. Bella Swan is coming to listen as well."

I furrowed my brows in confusion. "Bella Swan?"

"A friend of Jakes." Embry said with a slight tilt of his head, almost as if he wasn't sure what to classify her as. "Point is, you are totally welcome here. In fact, I think this bonfire will be very important for you."

Before I could ask what he meant, Embry smiled as he continued walking toward the bonfire, forcing me to follow. As we got closer, I heard my name being called. "Maddison!"

I looked up to see Kim running towards me with Jared not far behind. She gave me a hug before pulling away with the biggest grin. "I'm so happy you're here."

"I think we all are. Embry hasn't stopped sulking while he was waiting." I turned around to see Quil smirking as Embry gave him a glare.

I didn't say anything but I knew my cheeks were turning red. I saw Kim shiver because of the cold. "Well, it's cold away from the fire, so let's go sit down." She said, changing the subject.

Jared wrapped his arms around the girl while muttering. "Who needs the fire when you have me to warm you up." This made Kim giggle while I was confused. Like, was he trying to be cute or something? Nonetheless, I brushed it off and followed Quil and Embry to sit down.

Embry sat on a log next to Quil and I sat next to Embry. I had the chance to look around the bonfire to see who was here. Some people I recognised like Kim and Jared who were cuddling. Sam and Emily were standing off to the side, embracing each other. Quil was with Embry and I. Then there were people I didn't know.

Embry must have seen my look of confusion, so he started pointing people out to me and explaining who they were. "See Paul over there." I looked to see Paul cuddling up with a girl I didn't know. "The girl he's with is called Rachael. She's Jacob's sister." I didn't know Jacob even had a sister. I wonder what he thinks of Paul dating her.

"You've met Seth before." Embry continued, nodding at the boy. I followed his line of sight to see Seth sitting next to another unknown girl with short hair. "That's his sister, Leah." Seth has a sister too? Seems like everyone around here does.

Embry spoke next about the people at the head of the campfire. "Now these people are the council leaders. The man in the wheelchair is Billy Black, Jacob's father. The other man is Quil's grandfather, Quil Ateara II, also known as Old Quil. Lastly the woman is Sue Clearwater, Seth and Leah's mother. She took over after their father, Harry, who died recently." Embry explained. I frowned feeling sorry for the Clearwater's loss.

"And that there is Bella Swan." I looked up to see Jacob jogging over to a fair-skinned girl with dark flowing hair.

"I thought you said they were friends." I asked, turning to Embry.

He gave me a weird look. "They are?" He asked more as a question than a statement.

"Then why does it look like something more. They look like a couple, especially how Jacob is acting." I gave Jacob and Bella another look.

Embry let out a sigh. "It's complicated but Jake likes her, but she has eyes for another."

"Oh." I said, feeling kinda sorry for Jacob. I watched as Seth ran up to the two and Jacob got Seth in a playful headlock.

Suddenly, there was a whistle from Sam, signalling everyone to come over. I guess the stories were about the begin.

The group fell silent as Billy began to tell the legends of the tribe. They were actually really fascinating. He told how the Quileute tribe was descendants of wolves and could use their power to transform into a wolf, called spirit walkers. He explained how they did this to protect their tribe from their enemies, with 'the cold ones' being the only ones left.

After the spirit walkers killed a cold one's mate, she sought revenge on the village. The chief was the last spirit walker and fought against her. But as he was losing, his wife sacrificed herself to distract the woman long enough for her husband to kill her, saving the tribe.

Once the story had ended, people began to chat again. I had noticed throughout the tale, people, including the council leaders, were giving me weird looks. As if they were watching to see my reaction. Embry turned to me, looking nervous. "So, what did you think?"

I glanced at him but before I could respond, I saw Quil stand up, leaving us. "I'll let you two talk." He said with a smile while Embry had an appreciative face.

Embry turned back to me expectantly. "I really enjoyed them. It's interesting and I actually love it." I said with a smile. I was being fully honest too.

"Really?" He smiled brightly. "I'm so glad you did."

His smile made my heart miss a beat. We stared into each other's eyes, neither saying anything or breaking the eye contact. I was so happy just being with him.

Suddenly, Seth appeared next to us, making us break out of our trance as we turned to him. "You two better get some food before everyone, especially Paul, eats it all." Seth held up his burger he was eating.

"I'm not the one eating it all." An angry voice called out making me look over to see Paul by the food with a grumpy look. There's no way Paul could've heard Seth. Sure, he wasn't whispering but he wasn't yelling either.

"You idiots. Can't you tell you're ruining the mood." Quil shouted from across the bonfire, next to the council leaders.

I looked at the council leaders and saw them staring at me and Embry with smiles on their face. I averted my gaze and looked around to see everyone's attention on us. All of them were giving us more knowing smiles, especially the boys with girlfriends. I was thoroughly confused as to what was going on. They didn't think we were a couple, right?

I heard Embry sigh and turned to face him. He stood up from the log and held a hand out to me. "Come on, let's go get some food."

I smiled as I reached out, holding his hand in mine as he helped pull me up. He was still holding my hand, even after I was standing. I looked down at our connected hands before looking at him with concern. "Your hand. It's really hot."

Embry quickly released my hand. I wasn't sure if it was because he realised he was still holding it or because of my comment. He raised his hand to rub the back of his neck. "Yeah, that's because the fire has warmed them up." He awkwardly laughed before turning more relaxed. "Now, come on."

We wandered over to a table filled with food and a barbeque along side it. Sam was manning the grill while Emily prepared the rest. There was so much food that it was almost at the point of ridiculous. But yet, these boys ate so much.

Embry and I grabbed a plastic plate and started making our burgers. Embry made two but I had a feeling that he was holding back and wanted even more. We took our plates and stood off to the side so we weren't blocking the way of the food.

It wasn't long before Jacob walked over to us with Bella by his side. "Maddison, meet Bella." Jacob introduced the girl to me.

"Hi." I gave the girl a smile. "It's nice to meet you."

Bella returned the favour. "It's nice to meet you too. So, I'm guessing you're another wolf girl." She said with a small, awkward chuckle.

I saw Embry and Jacob visibly tense. I even saw the other boys' around the bonfire heads snap towards us. I assume it was because of Bella's comment but I don't know how they possibly could've heard her.

After my initial pause of watching the boys' weird reactions, I asked Bella. "A what?"

Bella seemed to also tense up at this before she flicked her eyes to Jacob. "Uh, it's hard to explain." Jacob started before Embry shot him a threatening look.

Before I could question, Sam's voice rang out loud, interrupting our conversation. "Okay, everyone, seconds are ready. Come and get some."

Jacob instantly saw that as a get away card and grabbed Bella dragging her away from me and Embry. "Come on, Bella. It's seconds."

"Sweet. I'm still hungry." Paul stated as he got up from sitting next to Rachael.

"See, this is what I mean when I said Paul eats all the food." Seth called out.

Paul let out a growl at Seth while Jared came up and patted Paul on the shoulder. "Eh, there's plenty of food so let's eat."

I could see everyone giving me discrete glances and awkward laughs as if to distract me from the conversation we were having. I looked at Embry who hadn't said a word and was off in his own little world, looking over the campfire. He seemed deep in thought and his face was neutral.

"Embry?" I asked to grab his attention. "You okay?"

Embry gave a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's sit back down and finish our food so we can get seconds."

I gave a small chuckle. "I'll be lucky to finish one burger let alone get seconds."

We sat back down and engaged in idle chatter. Different people came up to us throughout the night to join our conversation. I even had a chance to speak to the council leaders who seemed very interested to meet me. They seemed nice but like everyone, they had looks that suggest they knew something I didn't.

Embry left at one point to get seconds but he was back again in a flash. Eventually the fire started to simmer down and it was time for everyone to start leaving. When I told Embry that I better head home, sadness filled his eyes but he stood up with me. We went around to everyone so that I could say goodbye.

I finally reached Sam and Emily. Emily gave me a hug as she spoke. "Thank you for coming tonight, Maddison."

At the contact, something flashed across my mind. It was Emily. She was getting attacked by something huge that had a pitch-black coat. I instantly pulled away with my eyes-wide in shock. Emily frowned. "What's the matter?"

This caused Embry to become very concerned as the three looked at me. "No, nothing is wrong. Thank you for letting me come." I gave her a big smile.

"Oh, it was our pleasure to have you here. You're welcome anytime. Please stop by whenever you want." Emily said while Sam wrapped his arm around her waist.

"We are serious, you know? Drop in for a visit often. We'll be happy to see you." Sam spoke deeply as he stared at me. He meant it in nice way but he looks so intimidating.

"I- I don't want to just turn up uninvited." I stuttered out.

Emily smiled as if I just gave her an idea. "Then you don't have to. I'll give you my number so you can call and let me know you're coming." She outstretched her arm, wanting my phone.

I conceded and reached into my pocket to grab my phone. I passed it to her and she entered her number before handing it back. "There, now just ring whenever."

"Thank you." I said gratefully. "Oh, and thanks for the clothes. I've placed them on the bench in your house."

"No worries." She grinned.

"Once again, thanks for having me. Dinner was delicious." I thanked before looking to Embry, indicating I was ready to go.

He gave me a smile before turning to Sam and Emily. "I'll see you guys later."

They gave him a nod before we started heading off. I heard Emily call out. "Don't forget to ring and visit." She said with a huge small as she waved goodbye. I gave a chuckle in response before waving back.

Embry walked me back to my car as we stood outside next to it. "I'm really glad you came tonight." He said quietly, staring into my eyes.

I felt my cheeks turn red. I'm really not used to being around guys. "So am I. I had a really good time."

Another moment of silence passed as we just stared at each other, exploring each other's eyes. Until a question I've been meaning to ask surfaced. "What did Bella mean when she asked if I was a wolf girl?"

I know this caught Embry off guard slightly but almost as if though he was waiting for me to ask. "She was just referring to the legends of how we are descendants of wolves. It's kinda like an inside term we use. Since you're hanging with us she just assumed you were apart of it."

It made sense but everyone's reaction when she said it didn't. I feel like there was more then meets the eye but I didn't push it any further. I smiled brightly at Embry. "That makes sense. Thanks for explaining. I was confused."

He smiled back at me before I said my goodbyes and hopped in my car, driving home. I couldn't keep the smile off my face the entire drive home. I was so happy. I truly loved the group. It was like a family. But most of all, I couldn't stop thinking of Embry.