Disclaimer: Don't own Twilight.

(Chapter 6)

It took some convincing, but that night, I found myself by the ocean once more. I didn't do anything crazy. I just waded out a few feet and fell back into the salty spray, holding my arms and legs out so I could float on the surface. The sky was clear and the millions of stars shining overhead seemed to swallow me whole.

"Oh, the ocean rolls us away. Away. Away." I sang softly as the waves lulled me into a comfortable emptiness.

I cleared my mind and soul, letting the stress and cobwebs of life drift away with the water. (Which, of course, I warmed around myself so I wouldn't freeze to death)

"Hello?" The voice of a rather panicked boy yelled from the shore line. I tried to stand, but I had floated out farther than I realized and my head slipped under the water. "Are you okay?" He called.

I jumped and waved, but he mistook it for a gesture of distress. "Hold on!" The tall boy pulled off his shirt and quickly ran into the water in long, even strides.

"I'm fine!" I called out, but now his head was under the water, so he couldn't hear me. Before I knew what was going on, his arm was around my waist and I was being pulled to shore. The idea that I could drown was so hysterical, I couldn't hold back the laughter. I was chortling in earnest when it was shallow enough for us to stand together.

"Are you alright?" He asked hesitantly, clearly thinking me insane. He was young, about the same age as me, but much taller. Just at six feet with beautiful tan skin and dark eyes that were crinkled with worry. His long, onyx hair was pulled back into a low pony tail that lay dripping at the base of his neck.

"I'm totally fine." I said, wiping salt water from my eyes. Either from the ocean or laughter, I didn't know. "I wasn't drowning. I was just laughing too hard to explain."

He looked embarrassed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Er- sorry, I thought…"

"No," I interrupted with a wave of my hand. "It was really gentlemanly of you. And they say chivalry is dead." I grinned up at him and he smiled back.

"Well, its not everyday I see a body floating motionlessly in the ocean." He said.

"Hopefully not." I said, holding out my hand. "I'm Ivy, by the way. Ivy Adair."

His larger hand swallowed mine in a strong, warm grip. "Nice to meet you, I'm Jacob Black."

I looked down in shock as our skin made contact for the second time and really too note of the energy humming in his veins. (Oh, yeah. I could sense energies in people when I made skin to skin contact. Technically, the Cullens were dead since their hearts didn't beat, so I never got a reading off of them and regular humans had so little energy it barely registered) but Jacob's energy was very strong. Stronger than it should be for an ordinary human.

'"The Quileute tribe lives at the coast in La Push. They have a long line of werewolf ancestry."' Edward's words echoed in my memory.

Oh. My. God. I had just, by chance, met a werewolf! Or a dormant one at least. How incredible!

"Is something wrong?" Jacob asked, pulling his hand away.

"What?" I blinked rapidly, trying to focus. "Oh! No, I'm just tried. First day at a new school and my thoughts are in a million places."

"Oh." He said, crossing his arms over his chest. "What school?"

"Forks High."

He smiled. "My friend Bella goes to that school."

"Bella Swan?" I asked in surprise. I didn't know why, but I suddenly got the distinct feeling that he liked Bella.

Like liked her. It was something about the way he said her name. It rolled off his tongue like a caress. And for a reason-completely unbeknownst to me-that knowledge irritated me.

Now it was his turn to look surprised. "Yeah. Do you know her?"

"I'm a foster kid at with her boyfriend's family." I said, completely unaware that he was about to flip shit.

"WHAT?! You live with the Cullens?" He yelled, his eyes wide with shock and… worry?

My eyes narrowed a fraction and intuition kicked in. Aw crap! He knew.

"Yes. I live with them. They're great." I said, trying unsuccessfully to ignore is reaction. So done with the conversation, I took off quickly toward the shore, Jacob kept up easily with his long-legged stride, but he wasn't as graceful as I had originally assumed. He stumbled at times, reminding me faintly of Bella who was constantly tripping over her own feet.

"How did that happen? How did you end up with them?" He demanded.

The muscles in my body went stiff at his tone. This boy needed to watch out, I was very close to losing my cool and it would be a lot more impressive. "I'm an orphan. I didn't have anywhere else to go. They took me in and they've been really nice to me. Is that okay with you?" I snapped, maybe a bit too harshly. The fire in his eyes faded and he looked embarrassed.

"Oh." He said much softer, biting his lip. "I'm sorry to hear that."

I shrugged and continued on my way to the car. The boy was irksome and, yet, intriguing. Did he know he was a werewolf? Is that why he didn't like the Cullens so much? Would he try to awaken his dormant powers? If he did, would he go after my family?

The last thought made me a little sick to my stomach.

"Hey, Ivy. Hold up." He said, stopping me with a hand on my shoulder. He was lucky I was ready for the contact because I almost catapulted him back into the ocean with a flick of my wrist. "Wait, I didn't mean to offend you or your foster family. It's just - I've grown up being told to stay away from the Cullens my whole life. My dad's always said they were dangerous and then my friend Bella starts dating Edward and gets in a bad accident a few months ago and now you're living with them and you just look so small and fragile-" His little speech cut off when I started laughing.

Me? Fragile? Of course, I looked that way, but he didn't know what I was capable of. Being underestimated had its advantages, but half the time it was funny and the other half was beyond infuriating.

"Why are you laughing?" He asked, a grumpy frown turning down the corners of his mouth.

"I can take care of myself, Jacob. You don't need to worry about me." I patted his shoulder and smiled.

He begrudgingly returned the smile, "I can't help but worry about you. I've known you all of three minutes and I've already tried to save your life."

"Well, I'm fantastic in water." I said mischievously. "I can promise you I'll never drown."

He didn't look like he believed me, but let the subject drop anyway. "Let me walk you to your car." He finally offered.

"Thanks." I fell in step beside him as we strolled, a little sad my time in the water had been cut short. I never expected to come across someone out here so late. "So Jacob-" I began.

"Jake." He cut me off promptly.

"Come again?"

"My friends call me Jake." He smiled, large, even and very bright teeth shone down at me. He had a nice smile, nice lips too…

"Oh, so we're friends now?" I asked, a little flirty tone threading through my voice.

What? He was cute and I wasn't getting any more single.

"Sure, sure." He laughed. "I'd like that."

I smiled. "I would too." I clicked the unlock button on my key fob. "So, Jake how old are you?"

"I just turned sixteen." He answered. "How about you?"

"I'll be seventeen in a month, I did just get my license though."

"I'm getting mine soon. I can't wait, I've been re-building a VW rabbit in my spare time and it's time I took her out on the open road."

"Are you a mechanic?" Gotta love a handy-man...

Jake shrugged noncommittally. "I like engines. I've always been good at fixing things. It relaxes me."

"That's cool." I said hopping into the car and starting the engine. "Well, Jake, good luck with the rabbit and the license."

"Thanks." He said after I rolled down the window so we could keep talking. "Hey, lets hang out again."

"Well..." I said slowly. I couldn't bring him home because I lived with a bunch of vampires and that would probably trigger the change. And I couldn't really tell my foster brothers I was friends with a dormant werewolf or they'd probably lock me in a dungeon to 'keep me safe.'

"Tell you what." I finally said. "I'll be back to swim tomorrow at sunset. We can hang out then."

Jake smiled and drummed his hands against the door. "You're on. See you tomorrow, Ivy."

I smiled all the way home, not exactly sure why, but Alice noticed my chipper mood straight away.

"Why so happy?" She asked when she greeted me by the front door.

"Oh, nothing." I evaded. "It was just a good swim."

...

In case you were wondering, the song Ivy is singing at the beginning of the chapter is "The Ocean" by The Bravery. It's one of my favorite songs. :)

Chapter 7 is almost done!