I have some pictures on my profile of Luke's things. You can check them out if you'd like.
My eyes were starting to droop by now. It was 6:34 in the morning, and we were still driving. We were supposed to have stopped in Washington, D.C. to get some sleep, but that was at 10:00 last night and dad was on a coffee high, so he decided to keep going, no matter how much Aunt Teresa, Uncle Will and I protested. Nikita and Teehana were curled up together in the passenger's seat, sleeping.
About ten minutes later, I had pulled off to the side of the road to put the top down the top, which meant that the cool morning breeze was blowing on my face. I was getting sleepier and sleepier. To try and wake myself up some, I turned up the radio to a hip hop channel. Headlines by Drake was playing. I loved the song, so I turned it up some more. When I saw the sign that read "Welcome to La Push, Please Respect All Tribal Rules and Traditions," I started to sing it. (A/N I know I shouldn't have all the lyrics, but I love the song SOOO much!)
"I might be too strung out on compliments
Overdosed on confidence
Started not to give a fuck, and stop fearing the consequence
Drinking every night, because we drink to my accomplishments
Faded way too long, I'm floating in and out of consciousness
And they saying I'm back,
I'd agree with thatI just take my time with all this shit, I still believe in thatI had someone tell me I fell off, oh I needed that
And they want to see me pick back up, well, where'd I leave it at
I know I exaggerated things now I got it like that
Tuck my napkin in my shirt, because I'm just mobbing like that
You know good and well that you don't want a problem like that
You gone make someone around me catch a body like that
No, don't do it, please don't do it
Because one of us goes in, and we all go through it
And Drizzy got the money, so Drizzy gone pay it
Those my brothers I ain't even got to say it
That's just something they know
They know, they know, they know
They know, they know, they know
They know, they know, they know
Yeah, they know, yeah
That the real is on the rise, fuck them other guys
I even gave them a chance to decide, now it's something they know
They know, they know, they know
I be yelling out money over everything, money on my mind
Then she want to ask when it got so empty
Tell her I apologize, happened over time
She says they miss the old Drake, girl don't tempt me
If they don't get it, they'll be over you
That new shit that you got is overdue
You better do what you supposed to do
I'm like "Why I got to be all that?" but still I can't deny the fact
That it's true, listening to you expressing all them feelings
Soap opera rappers, all these niggas sound like "All My Children"
And that's who you thinking is about to come and make a killing
I guess it really is just me, myself, and all my millions
You know that they ain't even got it like that
You gone hype me up and make me catch a body like that
Plus I live for this, it isn't just a hobby like that
When they get my shit and play it, I ain't even got to say it, they know
They know, they know, they know
They know, they know, they know
They know, they know, they know
Yeah, they know, yeah
I be yelling out money over everything, money on my mind(Mind, mind, mind)Tell them I apologize,
It happened over time (Time, time, time, time)
They know."
I was singing along, and half way through it, I turned it up on bust. By now, I was roaring the car through the narrow streets of La Push, and over one bridge that bared the sign "Quillayute Bridge," that, according to my pamphlet, went right over Quillayute River.
As I past a convience store, I got a dirty look from the clerk who was out on the concret step in front of the store, puffing on a cigarette. Then, Save You by Simple Plan came on. I turned down a little bit, than started to sing along to my favourite part, which was the chorus.
"Sometimes I wish I could save you
And there're so many thing that I want you to know
I won't give up till it's over
If it takes you forever I want you to know."
As I was driving around a blind corner, I then realized that I could no longer see Dad, Aunt Teresa, or Uncle Will.
I continue to drive full speed down the empty road. The grey pavement was filled with potholes and multiply cracks. The car almost brought up solid when I went over quite a large and deep pothole. The impact slammed my chest against the steering, and sent it veering off to the shoulder of the road.
As soon as my chest hit the wheel, all oxygen evacuated my lungs, and left me gasping for air. What little breath that was going in my lungs came out in loud wheezes. With shaking hands, I reached for my purse. Teehana barked loudly, frightening me, which made my hands jerk and the purse to drop to the floor. Nikita and Teehana were both jumping up on me now, licking franticly at my face.
My vision turned a little white, and I was desperately trying to get to my purse. My mind was too clouded to even think about taking off my seatbelt. My hand clawed at the clasp, trying hard to get it undone.
The little puffs of breath that were once coming into my lungs were stopped, and I was slowly suffocating. Drunkenly, I took one more swing at the purse, but couldn't reach it. With Teehana and Nikita still licking my face and barking in my ears, my eyes closed, and I saw a brief white light.
I inhaled and exhaled with ease. No pain. All the oxygen I could ever want. For a brief moment, I thought I was back in my house in Huntington Beach, just waking up and would probably go boating, swimming or surfing with Kyler in just a few hours.
But I was mistaken when I heard the steady breathing of somebody close to me.
When I finally regained some of my senses, I felt like I was lying on someone's lap, my head in their groin area. Whoever it was, I could tell was fairly thin, with rock hard thighs, and barely any fat. At least on their legs. I could guess it was boy, because of the little lump I felt on his groin. I was probably being watched by him, which just made me nervous. I felt kind of tense. Almost like I shouldn't be here at all. My body wanted to bolt right out of there and run as fast as it could away from this boy. But my heart told me to stay there with him.
I could tell I was still in my car, because I could hear the rumbling of the heater and the faint sound of a song playing on the radio. The volume turned down lower than I had ever had it. The boy was softly humming away to the song. His voice was quite good, almost soothing. But it was also very masculine.
Should I open my eyes?
Decided against it, I decided to listen to the music. "And you're sitting in the front row, wanna be first in line, waiting by my window, giving me all your time, you could be my hero, if only I could let go, but his love is still in me, like a broken arrow, like a broken arrow."
I snaked my hand out, and turned up the radio, almost as loud as it could go. I've loved this song ever since I watched Beastly. This song—Broken Arrow by Pixie Lott—plays during the credits of Beastly.
The boy and I sung together until the end of the song, and then, when it was over and See No More by Joe Jonas started to blare through the speakers, I sat up and looked into the boy's eyes.
As soon as his brown eyes met my dark blue ones, he gasped. A smile spread across his handsome face. His eyes lit up and they kept locked on me. I forced a shy smile back at him before I positioned myself back into the driver's seat.
My fingers found the volume dial and turned it down. I looked back over at the boy who saved my life. "Um, aren't you going to get out now?" I asked.
That seemed to pull him back to earth, but his smile never faltered and his eyes never left me for even a millisecond. "Actually, I was wondering if you could give me a ride somewhere."
I considered it for a while. He saved my life, the least I can do is give him a ride. "Yeah, sure." I slipped the car into drive, and put pressure on the gas pedal, veering carelessly out onto the road, and continued down the road. But this time, I was watching out for potholes. "Where am I bringing you?"
"86 Quileute Street," he declared, moving in a little closer to me.
It then occurred to me that I hadn't put my seatbelt back on, and nether had he. I slowed down a bit to maneuver it on. "Hey, you should put on your seatbelt. You don't wanna get a ticket, do you?" I questioned.
The boy chuckled. "Cops barely come down to La Push. And when they do, they just drive around for ten minutes, and then leave again. If you're flooring it with the music blaring with no seatbelts on and you're high, they still won't stop you."
"Not very good cops, are they?" I said.
"No, not really."
We drove in silence for another five minutes, until he said something. "So, what's your name?"
"Luke. Luke Diaz." I glanced over at him. "You?"
"Seth Clearwater."
I giggled. "Clearwater?" I mentally slapped myself. Really? Make fun of his last name? How stupid can I get?
He smiled at me. "Yeah, I know. It's a weird last name. Whenever my friend Collin says it, he needs to go use the washroom."
We laughed together.
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" I asked him.
"Yeah. One older sister. What about you?"
I shoke my head. "No. My mom died while I was in her stomach, which meant I never really had the chance to get a little brother or sister. And my dad never really dated after my mom died."
A sympathetic look crossed Seth's face. "Oh. I'm sorry. It must be so hard for you, living without you mom."
Tears started to spring my eyes, but I fought them hard. "Yeah, a little bit. But my dad is really cool." I smiled. "He taught me how to surf, how to boat, and how to swim. He also taught me how to hunt, how to fish, and how to fix anything that runs on a motor."
"You should take to my friend Jacob Black. He's currently building a truck from scratch, just for something to do," Seth explained.
"Sure! I'd love that. Maybe I could be his little assistant."
"Yeah, and then you and my friend Embry Call could go surfing together. He loves to surf. Embry even placed first in his category in the La Push Surfing Contest last year."
Embry Call? How can Seth know Embry? Wait, maybe it's a different Embry Call. "Embry Call? Allison Call's son?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"And he has a new step-sister and a new step-dad named Connor Diaz?"
He nodded. "Yeah! But I don't know his step-sister's name."
I laughed. "Seth! Connor Diaz is my dad!" I looked over at him. "I'm Embry's new step-sister!"
Seth laughed along with me. "How ironic! I was just going over to Embry's house to meet you guys!"
We laughed for another two minutes, before my cheeks started to hurt. Still chuckling, I snaked my hand across and turned up the radio. Astronaut by Simple Plan was playing.
The sun was just started to pelt the afternoon sky. The gloomy colours were replaced by bright oranges, pale yellows, and streaks of silk gold.
After about a minute of watching the sky, I was soon mesmerized by the beach we were passing. I saw a few good waves coming in, but not very many. Mostly junk waves. Two little girls about nine years old were paddling on surfboards in the junk waves not far from shore, with a thirty year old woman watching them from shore. Farther out, I saw four boys and a girl trying to catch some waves. The girl had just dropped down on one of the boys, making them both fall over. They sprung up, and started to laugh. A teenage boy and a girl who looked about three or four were making a sandcastle. An older boy ran up, scooped the little girl up, and blew a raspberry on her stomach, making her laugh and try to swap his head away. Three girls wearing skimpy bikinis were tanning on the beach. Two boys who were sitting on a near by log were checking them out, whistling when one girl leaned over, showing her cleavage.
Seth must have saw me staring, because he said, "You like the water?"
By the this time, we were past the beach. I could still hear the crash of the waves on the shore. "Back home, I was the surfing, boating and swimming champ of Huntington Beach."
"Wow."
I nodded. I was just itching to get into the water. To feel the cold water on my skin as I duck dive, and try to catch that perfect wave. Or maybe I should give Seth and his friends a ride on my boat. Sure, I can only take five per round, but I could do more than one round. Oh well. I'll figure it out when I get unpacked.
"Turn here," Seth declared, pointing to the street on his side.
I turned, without putting on my blinker (oppsie!), and continued down what I guessed was Quileute Street. Twenty-eight, thirty, thirty-two, thirty-four. . . . And it just went on and on and on. Eighty, eight-two, eighty-four . . . eighty-six! Seth didn't have to tell me to pull in, because I saw my boat, in all it's glory, sitting there, behind dad's truck. I put the car into park, turned it off, and then we both got out.
The house didn't really stand out from all the other houses in town. It was simple, nothing like our house in Huntington Beach. This one was two stories, pale yellow, white shudders that were peeling a bit, a brown door that looked newer than the house itself, a huge window beside the door that I guessed was in the living room, three more windows further up the house, and when I glanced to the side of the structure, I saw a 7x10 window that looked like it was in the kitchen. The front yard was full of lush grass that looked like it hadn't been mowed in years, a flower garden filled with sunflowers, daisies, petunias, and lilies, a white fence that looked like it hadn't been painted in more than ten years, a paved driveway off to the side, a wooden shed in the backyard, a little garage off to the side, a long but narrow stream ran through the back yard separating the forest with the backyard, and more trees than I have ever seen in one place were in the backyard.
"Is that yours?" asked Seth as we passed my boat.
I placed my hand on the rail. With my other hand, I brushed some dust off the fiberglass frame. "Yeah. My best friend Kyler and I were partners for the boat races in Huntington Beach." I smiled at the memory. "We were unbeatable. But there was this one time that a girl/boy team from Australia beat us. But it was only by, like, half a centimeter."
The two of us walked up the steps, and Seth opened the door, gesturing me in. The inside was just as old looking as the outside. On my left was the living room, and on my right was the kitchen. Straight in front of me was a hallway, and at the end of the hallway was a set of wooden stairs that led to the upstairs (I guessed.)
The living room was . . . quant. There was one long couch on the wall beside the windows, two love seats side by side on the other side, a chair diagonal to the love seat, and an old wooden rocking chair by the door. A simple brown coffee table stood in the middle of the room, a 50" television stood on a black entertainment center, and a brown entable was placed beside the long couch with a simple lamp sitting on it. A few magizines were casually thrown on the coffee table, along with a book called "Dark Water" by Sharon Sala, a glass bowl of mints, a little vase of flowers, and three coasters. Many pictures of one boy were spread all over the wall. One picture for each year he has been in school. I guessed the boy was Embry. There were also three or four pictures of Embry and a woman who looked to be in her early thirties, who I guessed was Allison. Also, I saw a picture of Allison in a knee high white dress, and my dad, wearing a tux; both were holding glasses of red wine. I guessed that this was their wedding picture.
The kitchen was similar. Everything was mostly white and cheery, a round table, wooden chairs, and the curtains were pale blue, and were blowing in the light breeze. I continued down the hall, passing two doors. Beside the stairs was a simple alcove, with a little window seat, a book shelf, and a large window looking out into another's house window.
"That's my house," Seth said from behind me.
I looked at the house more closely. It was very similar to my new house, except Seth's house was a pale blue with yellowing shudders.
The two of us trotted casually up the stairs. Once we reached the landing, I heard voices.
"Mr. Diaz, when is your daughter going to get here?" said an unfamiliar voice.
"I don't know, Quil. Mr. Diaz is my dad. I'm Connor. And my daughter's name is Luke," said dad.
"Luke? I thought that was a boy's name," said a different boy.
"Yeah, I know. Her real name is Caroline."
"Well, where did you get Luke from Caroline?" another voice chimed in.
"She hates the name Caroline, so she got everyone to start calling her Lucas, which is her middle name. When she was in second grade, her best friend Kyler shortened it to Luke. And that's what we've been calling her ever since," dad explained.
"Oh. That makes sense, I guess," said the first boy, Quil?
We followed the voices to the last door on the right, and then walked in. The first thing that caught my attention was how big the Quileute boys were. And I thought Seth was big! Compared to these guys, Seth was an ant! They were all very tanned, with shaggy black hair, deep brown eyes, and some had six packs, while others had eight packs. Neither of them were wearing shorts or shoes. The only thing they had on were shorts that went to their knees. Dad looked very out of place, sitting on the bed in the room with his arm around the woman I saw in the pictures, who was Allison Call. Well, Allison Diaz now. She was wearing a purple sundress, white flip flops, and her long black hair was straightened and partened so that half of it was on her left shoulder, and the other half was on her right shoulder. She was wearing mascara, and blush.
All eyes were on me. I shifted uncomfortably, my BDD acting up. I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to cower back out the door. Dad, sensing that I was uncomfortable, got up and introduced us.
"Luke, this is Sam Uley, Jared Cameron, Paul Lahote, Jacob Black, Leah Clearwater, Quil Ateara, Collin Nobally, and Brady Roberts." He walked to the boy that was the furthest away from me, and put his arm around the boy's shoulders. "And this is Embry Call, your new step-brother."
Embry gave me a shy smile, which I kindly returned. Luckily, not all eyes were on me now. Dad pushed lightly pushed Embry over to me, until we were standing a foot away from each other. He put his hand out, and I shoke it, giving him another shy smile. One of the boys—Jacob Black—pushed Embry, roughly, towards me, and he rammed into me.
"Embry, hug your new sister!" exclaimed Allison from the bed.
Embry, shooting an annoyed look at his mom, leaned forward and wrapped me in a tense hug. We hugged for only four seconds, and then we back away from each other.
Dad looked behind me, at Seth, and then shot his hand out. Smiling, Seth took it. "I'm Connor Diaz, Luke's dad."
"I'm Seth Clearwater, Luke's first friend." When Seth stepped back, he winked at me.
"Are you related to Leah?" dad asked, gesturing to Leah, who was whispering something to Jacob.
Seth laughed. "Mr. Diaz, Leah is my big sister."
Dad laughed with him. "Oh. Well, I guess you are related then. And, once again, Mr. Diaz is my dad. I'm Connor. So, how did you guys meet?"
"I was going over a bump, and my chest beat against the steering wheel when the car landed, and then my Asthma took over again. I passed out, and Seth saved me," I explained.
Dad looked shocked, and then outraged. "You almost died? Luke, I'm going to get those potholes fixed! And then I'm gonna sue the mayor for everything he's worth!"
Allison giggled, and then appeared behind dad. "Connor, honey, La Push doesn't have a mayor. We have a Council, which is full of Elders. And if you sue the Elders, we'd better high-tail it out of La Push, because everyone is going to hate you."
Dad sighed. "Alright, fine." He looked back at Seth and his smile was there again. "Thanks, Seth, for saving Luke. I really appreciate it."
Seth's smile widened. Something told me that he did that a lot. "It was my pleasure, Mr. Di— I mean, Connor."
"Um, Seth, may we speak to you?" asked Sam.
Seth shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." Seth turned and walked out the door. The rest soon followed, leaving only Allison, dad and I.
Allison leaned forward and gave me a tight hug. When she pulled back and I looked into her eyes, I saw a kind of motherly love that I have seen before. Well, I've seen it, but it hasn't been directed at me. Her smile was very bright and nurturing. "Luke, it's very nice to finally be meeting you."
I smiled back. It wasn't forced, but it didn't exactly come easily either. "Same here, Allison."
Allison stepped back to dad, a smile still on her face.
"Luke, do you wanna see your room?" dad asked, already walking out the door.
I followed closely behind. Two doors up on the left was what we went into. Dad opened the door, and stepped back, letting me walk in first.
The room was actually pretty cool. I would totally need to redecorate, but other than that, it was pretty awesome.
The walls were a pale pink, the roof was white, a window seat beside the bed, a white desk with a pink computer chair, a blue beside table with a hot pink lamp on top of it, a fuzzy white carpet at the foot of the bed, and the bed was a simple twin Queen Size bed with a white comforter and a round pillow on it.
"Do you like it?" asked dad hopefully.
I turned back to him and Allison. "Yeah. Thanks dad." I hugged him and Allison together. "And thanks Allison."
With one final smile, they walked out, closing the door behind them. Sighing, I put my purse on the computer chair and lay down on the bed with my hands on my stomach, looking up at the ceiling. When I glanced out the window, I saw Seth.
Huh?
I sprung up and ran straight for the window. I sat on the cushion of the window seat, and opened the window. In the window across from me, Seth was standing there with his back to me, taking off his shirt. He carelessly discarded it on the floor and walked out of sight for about ten seconds. When he finally turned to face me, his eyes were closed, as if he were deep in thought.
He pulled out a chair, and sat down at his desk, which happened to be right in front of the window. Seth ran his hand through his black hair, and then opened his eyes. When his brown orbs found my blue ones, a smile lit his face. As fast as he could, Seth yanked up the window.
"Is that your room?" he asked.
I nodded, smiling. "Yeah! I cannot believe your room is right across from mine!"
"I know! Out of all the empty rooms in that house, you chose that one."
"Actually, dad and Allison chose it for me."
"Well, then it must have been fate."
I smiled, which made his smile widen. "Yeah. Fate."
We were silent for a minute, before Seth spoke. "Hey, you wanna go surfing with a bunch of us?"
"Us being who?"
"There's gunna be me, Sam, his fiancé Emily Young, Paul, his girlfriend Rachel Black, who is also Jake's sister, Collin, Jared, his girlfriend Kim Cunningham, I think Embry's going, Jake, Leah, Quil, and Brady."
"The guys who were just over here and their girlfriends?" I questioned.
He nodded. "Yes." He laughed lightly. "We don't get many sunny and warm days down here in La Push, so when we do get one the locals tend to take advantage of it."
I thought for only ten seconds before answering. "Yeah, sure."
"You have a board, right?"
I laughed. "Are you kidding? I have seven!"
"Do you have any long boards? Because we're trying to teach Emily how to surf, but all we have are normal sized boards."
"Yeah. I have one, I think. When are we going?"
Seth looked over his shoulder for a few seconds. "In ten."
"Okay. Well, meet you guys at the beach?"
"Yeah. You know how to get there, right?"
I shoke my head and laughed. "Not at all."
Seth laughed with me. "I guess I could come with you."
"Kay." I jumped off the cushion, closed the window and drew the shades over across the window.
I went straight for my drawer, and pulled out my plaid bathing suit top, blue short shorts, and a baggy white cover coat. I put it all on, and then flipped on my flip flops. I removed all my make-up, took my hair out of its pins, grabbed my surf bag, and then headed down stairs.
It was then that I noticed aunt Teresa and uncle Will weren't there. I walked over to dad, who was sitting at the kitchen table, reading.
"Dad, where are aunt Teresa and uncle Will?"
Dad didn't even look up when he said "I gave them money for two first class tickets back to California."
After I kissed dad and told him where I was going, I headed out to the truck, untied my long board and my Roxy board, placing them both in the backseat of my car. As soon I got in the car, Seth ran jammed open his house door, and came running, carrying a blue surfboard. He put his board in the back with mine, and hopped in the front seat, not even opening the door.
I shifted the car into drive, backed out of the driveway, and started to drive to the beach that I still didn't know the name of.
The last part of this chapter was rushed, because, well, it's 10:51 in the night, I have a math test tomorrow, and I still have to study. I promise my next chapter well be better written. –Cammie Abbott
