Chapter 13

"Are you sure you feel okay?" I asked Quil, for the 15th time that day. Normally, he might have snapped at me, but he didn't seem himself, somehow. He just nodded weakly.

"I'm fine, Cherry." He said. "Just a little tired. I'll be okay in a while."

"Are you sure? Do you want to go to the nurse? Do you feel weird; is any of Sam's gang staring at you, or anything like that?"

"What? No, why would you think that? Jeez, Cherry, lay off me." Quil said, looking a bit annoyed. I forced myself to calm down.

"Sorry. It's just that Embry acted the same way before he…. Changed and I don't wanna lose you too. If you're sure you feel okay, then I won't say anything." I apologized quickly.

Quil nodded, and we ate in silence at the lunch table. I pulled out my Chemistry notes, and started to revise for a test I had next period. When I glanced up, I saw that Quil was glaring behind me.

"What are you staring at?" I asked.

"He stares at you, you know that?" Quil asked. I turned around, and saw that Jake, Embry, Paul and Jared were at the table behind us. There was a new addition to their table today that I hadn't seen before – Kim Sheldon.

"Who's staring?" I asked. They were all turned away from me.

"Embry." Quil muttered. "He stares at you. It's just…weird. I don't get it. Why tell you that he's a werewolf? Why not me?"

"I don't know." I muttered. "Maybe he figured that I'd be easier to fool? Look, Quil, let's not talk about this okay?"

"Why not?" Quil asked.

"I don't know! Maybe cause I'm starting to doubt my own sanity? I don't know what the hell is going on anymore." I snapped. "Maybe I'm hallucinating all of it, and neither Embry nor Jake ever spoke to me."

Quil shook his head.

"He's still staring at you," was all Quil said. I turned around to find that Embry was actually staring in my direction. I shot him the most furious glare I could muster, and then snapped my Chemistry book shut.

"I'm going to class." I said. "See you later."

By the time I got out of last period, I couldn't find Quil anywhere. He'd usually wait for me by his locker, but he was nowhere to be found. I wandered out to the parking lot, wondering if I'd see him by his car, but he wasn't there either. Instead, I found Paul, Jared, Jacob and Embry leaning against their car. As soon as they spotted me, Embry started to walk over. I tried to walk away, but he was too fast, and caught my arm.

"Cherry. Hey." He said.

"Let go of me." I snapped, and he released his grip on my arm.

"Sorry." He said. "Look, I- I know you don't believe me."

"Damn right, I don't." I replied. "I think we talked about this already, so if you don't mind, I'm going to leave so that I can catch the bus before it leaves since my ride blew me off."

"Quil didn't blow you off." Embry said. "He had to leave."

I glared at him.

"Look, Embry, I really don't know why you're here. " I said.

"I want to prove it to you."

"Prove what to me?"

"That I'm a werewolf." Embry said sincerely.

"Embry this is dumb." I snapped. "You're not a werewolf, okay? And there's no way that you can possible prove that you are, you're just embarrassing yourself. I'm done talking about this."

Embry grabbed my hand before I could leave again. His grip was burning hot.

"I want to prove it to you." He said.

I stared at him for a few seconds, and he looked straight into my eyes.

"Okay." I said, giving in. "Prove it."

Embry smiled. And somehow, I couldn't help but smile back. It had been so long since I'd seen him smile genuinely, and I really missed it. He continued to hold my hand, and started to lead me out of the parking lot.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Well, you can't expect me to phase in front of the entire school parking lot, can you? We're going in the forest.'

I stiffened. The forest?

'You'll be safe." Embry continued. "I'll protect you."

I nodded, and followed him into the forest. All the while thinking that I was making a huge mistake.

"How much further in?" I whined. "My legs are hurting!"

"I offered to carry you, Cherry." Embry said. "You were the one who refused. Offer's still up, if you want…."

"No." I snapped. "I'm fine."

Embry shrugged, and continued on, while I trudged up after him. He wasn't even out of breath. When did Embry become this fit?

"Okay, fine, let's stop." Embry said as soon as we came to a small clearing-type thing. "Nobody should see us this far in."

"Thank God!" I cried. "Honestly, I walked all this way, now I swear; I better see something impressive, Embry."

Embry nodded, and suddenly started to take his shirt off. It took me a few seconds to realize what he was doing.

"Embry! What the hell?" I cried. "What are you trying to do?"

"Um, sorry." Embry said. "I'll just…. Wait here, okay? Don't go anywhere." he said, disappearing behind a clump of bushes.

"Wait, where are you going?" I yelled after him, rooted to the spot. "You better not be leaving me here, Embry, I'm going to murder you!"

I got no response, and instead stayed where I was, hoping that Embry would come back. I heard a rustle in the bushes to my right, and jumped a little. That was when I saw it.

A huge wolf had stepped out of the bushes.

"OH MY GOD!" I screamed, closing my eyes. "Embry! Embry, where the hell are you?" I started backing away from the thing trying not to make any sudden movements or scare it. "Embry!" I called again. There was no response, and I opened my eyes, glancing cautiously at the wolf.

"Embry?" I called again, a little more weakly this time. The wolf whined, and I looked at it.

Oh my freaking god, it had his eyes.

I stumbled back, and tripped over a tree root. Falling on my butt, I let out an ear-splitting scream. The wolf quickly ran back into the bushes out of sight, and before I knew it, a hand placed itself over my mouth.

"Sssh!" Embry cried. I let my scream drop, and turned to face him.

"What the hell was that?" I yelled. My voice was high-pitched, on the brink of hysteria.

"Cherry, you need to relax."

"Relax? Relax?" I cried. "You just turned into an animal, and you want me to relax?"

Embry didn't respond, just lowered his head in what looked like shame.

"I knew you'd take it this way." He muttered. "I'm a monster, Cherry, but I can't help it."

I looked at him, not sure how to respond. I'd almost had a heart attack when I saw the wolf, but looking at him now, this was… this was just Embry. My childhood friend, the one who'd always made me laugh, the one who comforted me when I was hurt. Except he'd just turned into a wolf.

"I need to go home." I said. "Take me home."

"But, Cherry, we need to talk about this." Embry said.

"Not now." I said. "Take me home."

He nodded.

"Okay." He said. "But you can't tell anyone."

"Dammit, Embry, just take me home."

He nodded, and we started to walk out of the forest, silently.