I remember how I felt at 17, sitting with my friends and contemplating where our lives were going to take us. Trying to figure out a career or even where my relationships would take me was very stressful. It definitely brought me down a time or two because of how unsure I was. Imagine adding to that the pressure of being a werewolf. I would think that would be very frustrating. As if our poor Jacob doesn't have enough going on in life.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to the wonderful Stephenie Meyer and her Twilight series. Stephenie, I hope I've done Jacob justice.

We spent most of the day jumping off the cliff, just to climb the banks and do it again; or racing each other in the ocean. I won most of those of course. The competition felt good, and we only took a break to run and grab lunch. We made a pretty good dent in the supplies Billy had bought for the barbeque, so I knew I'd have to make amends and go to the store again before the weekend.

I swam my way over to the beach for the last time and flopped myself down on the sand. The sky was still a gorgeous blue and the sun's rays were warm and inviting. I stretched out and put my hands behind my head. My face hurt from smiling all day and I felt content. Eventually Embry and Quil joined me in the sand. We lay there, reminiscing about growing up and the awkward turns our lives have taken.

"It is going to suck to have to go back to school," Quil said.

"We've still got two months," Embry groaned. "Don't remind me. I mean, we save the entire town from an army of two-legged leeches and we still have to worry about calculus? Gym is going to be fun though; think of the damage we can do." He snickered and Quil and I joined in.

Too bad Mike Newton and I don't go to the same school; I'd love to humiliate that boy. I imagined it with satisfaction. "I think Sam is going to have us keep a low profile guys. Imagine the curiosity if we kicked everyone's ass at everything. I mean, yeah, it would be a hell of a lot of fun, but probably not in our best interest."

Quil almost seemed to pout at that. "Quit being such a buzz kill, Jake. It's not like we don't already draw attention by our size alone when we're all in a group. I think people would expect us to give 'em a beat down. Why disappoint?"

"You expecting to become a professional athlete, Quil?" Embry joked.

"No," Quil said, sounding sad.

"Well then why does it matter?"

"I figured I might as well have some fun while I can. I don't know what I'm going to do after school. Its not like being a professional werewolf is going to bring in a paycheck, and we're going to have to think of something to pay the bills." Quil's expression was serious now. "I have no idea what I'm going to do. Do we go to college? Do we have to plan on coming back afterwards if we do, or are we free to go anywhere? I mean, I love being a wolf, but I also feel like I'm tied here...in more ways than one." The final part of the sentence was almost inaudible.

Embry nodded slowly. "Yeah, I've thought about that too. I want to go to college, but on the other hand I think about losing my cool one day in a class or at some stupid frat party…imagine if I hurt someone. I don't know if I'd be able to do that for awhile. But then again, I can't really see myself working a nine-to-five around here either. I imagine we'll have to be able to phase if something happens, so the job would have to be flexible."

I contemplated that for a moment and sadness overwhelmed me. "Soon we'll only have to worry about the occasional vampire. The Cullen's will be gone and then what? It's rare that a vampire passes through here in the first place, and the recent ones only came because the Cullen's were here." Obviously I wasn't sad about the Cullen's leaving, but I knew once they did Bella would go with and then she would be gone to me forever.

Embry broke me out of my daze by clearing his throat. "Mmmhmm. Quil what did you mean by being 'tied here in more ways than one'?" He was trying to change the subject, and I let him.

"Well, there is the wolf part of course. It's our heritage, our legacy, and our obligation to fulfill our purpose," Quil said. I'd never heard him be so articulate before so I was surprised. Then all of a sudden one corner of his mouth turned up in a half smile. "Then there is Claire and the whole imprinting thing. She is probably the one sure thing in my life right now."

Embry smacked him lightly behind the head. "Of course, you've got a few years before you can really make anything of that. So right now you're simply a pervert." He ducked the sand Quil flicked his way and took off down the beach before Quil could catch up.

I watched them go so I could have a second to myself. I wish that I had some of that certainty in my life right now. However, imprinting is something that could consume you, fill you. Right now I didn't want that consuming feeling because, even though part of me wanted something to take the pain of losing Bella away, part of me didn't. I knew some of that pain is natural and necessary because I love her. If I imprinted would I still feel that love or would I feel guilt? I know that Sam still loves Leah in a way but its only a miniscule shadow to what he feels for Emily. The majority of what he feels for Leah is guilt and I never wanted to feel that. It wouldn't be the same for me because Leah had actually wanted to be with Sam, but I knew I would feel guilty for moving on with someone else when I was still in love with Bella. How could you be in love with two people without feeling guilty?

What am I getting so worked up about this for anyway, its not like its 'going' to happen, its more like it 'could' happen. What would I do if it did, I wondered. I got up slowly and moved down the beach to where Quil and Embry were wrestling. I'm not going to imagine the what-if's…that's how I got here in the first place. The entire mood of the day had been shot to hell.

AN: I know I said I was going to wait for 10 more reviews but it looks like I'm not going to get them (how disappointing). So I figured I would just post anyway because waiting was frustrating me. Thanks to those of you who reviewed and those who added me to their story alerts! Please review now if you can!!!!!