Disclaimer: None of the awesome-ness that is twilight belongs to me, it all belongs to the amazing Stephenie Meyer. Hopefully I can sort of do her characters justice.
Author's Note: Sorry Guys! I was really looking forward to getting another chapter up by the end of the weekend, but I just couldn't manage. Anyway, seeing as its only Monday, and I had a really busy weekend, I'm forgiving myself, and I hope you can too. The dance will definitely be done by the end of this chapter and, I think Edward will show up in a few chapters from now… Oh and by the way, there's a link to the picture of the red dress on my page. Read on Lovelies…
'Adfigi Animis'- to be imprinted
Chapter Three-'Until Tomorrow.'
Posted: March 31, 2008
I couldn't believe my eyes. Never before in my life had I been so fortunate as to experience such beauty. I vaguely noticed the guys all staring at me, they probably thought I was crazy, I wondered if they had yet to follow my gaze and catch a sight of the beauty that was the girl in the pink dress. Which was all it took to break me from my reverie, I wanted her, and I didn't need my friends drooling all over her. I almost thought I'd caught her attention, but my head was snapping to face the guys too quickly for me to really notice, also a good thing, because I would have remained lost in her eyes much longer than was probably necessary. I could hear the low rumbling in my chest, it was getting to me, all the guys staring past me at the bleachers, though still, their reactions were nothing near what my own had been… I began to wonder if they were even looking at the same girl.
"Have you ever seen her before?" I asked them, I really wondered where this beauty had come from.
"Wendy? Man, she's in like, all of your classes… Don't let her know you forgot her name!" Embry smirked shaking his head at me. It was true, forgetting Wendy's name would have been terrible, except that, I knew who Wendy was, and Embry was right, she was in practically all of my classes, but I hadn't been talking about Wendy, I had been talking about the girl in the pink dress. So, I tried again.
"Not her you moron, I'm talking about the girl in pink." My whisper was harsh and all the guys stares clamped to me, my head instinctively went to the side in confusion, what was wrong with my friends tonight? How did I get stuck with these idiots?
"Eew! Dude that's just gross… I can't believe you were just making eyes at my sister!" Paul from my math class exclaimed. Again, imbeciles! I also knew Paul's sister, and didn't for a second find her attractive, and even if I had, she was off limits, and that was something friends just didn't do.
"What is wrong with you idiots? Can't you see the blonde girl in the pink dress with the brown eyes and the gorgeous face?" I was near shouting now, all of my frustration bubbling to the surface. That's when I felt it, my werewolf strength made me feel the actual touch very lightly if at all, but the teenage boy in me felt the jolt of electricity that came from her fingertips. All the guys were staring at me with a look that said, 'sorry man, but, she's right behind you…' though honestly, from the electricity I had felt and the intensity that came with it, I didn't need them to tell me, though I was glad they had confirmed my suspicions.
I heard a quiet giggle. It wasn't overly girly, but there wasn't a better way to describe her tinkling laughter other than as a giggle. It was quiet at first but eventually it grew until I could hear her practically squealing with delight from over my shoulder. I wasn't sure I'd ever heard a more angelic laughter in my life. She placed her hand on my shoulder to support herself, obviously having a riot over me embarrassing myself. The boys were still staring at me, I could feel their stares boring into my face and then finally the back of my head as I stared up at the beauty in front of me. She was much more gorgeous up close, I wanted to reach up from my seat, grab her, and run off to my car. I figured it wouldn't be too long of a drive to Mexico. Her other hand was placed over her heaving chest as she tried to steady her breathing.
"I was going to ask you to dance, because you didn't seem so eager to ask me, but now I don't know if I can stand long enough!" She hiccoughed and looked at me through teary eyes. Her laughter was contagious and I found myself chuckling with her. She looked as though she was going to faint or something; with all the breath she was trying to take in I thought she might get dizzy.
"Would you like to get some fresh air?" It was a question more so because I was worried about her rather than wanting to be alone with her, though I had to admit, it would be easier to get her into my car to run off with her if she went willingly outside. She took a deep breath and nodded, I stood raised my eyebrows at my table of friends and began walking towards the door. Her arm linked into my own and her tiny body leaned against mine as she tried to regain her breath. There were still glimmering tears in her eyes, and I was having trouble seeing just what had been exactly that funny. Sure it had been enough for a good laugh, but this was becoming tedious.
"It really wasn't that funny…" I told her, trying to get her to stop laughing at me.
"Yes it was! You got caught with your hand in the cookie jar! How is that not funny?" I supposed she was right. Not only had she caught me staring at her, but she had caught me talking about her as well… Maybe it was stupid to think I even had a shot with such a girl. I pushed the gym doors open and held it for her as she let go of my arm and stepped outside. She was still beaming and now that she was out in the moonlight, her skin was a glow, it resembled the colour of milk, but I bet myself it tasted about a hundred times better.
"So, out of all of the girls here, you had to pick on the lowly new girl, huh?"
"I wasn't picking, I was… admiring." I defended, I don't know how she thought I was picking on her, she was there for the part of the conversation when I said she was gorgeous, wasn't she?
"You were staring for like, fifteen minutes, with your eyes bulging out of your head. It was like I was a science project or something, like I was under a microscope."
"I was trying to figure out where you had come from. Usually people around here aren't as beautiful- or as pale as you are. No offence."
"No offence taken, this time." She gave me a calculating glance and climbed up onto one of the stone ledges, which she then proceeded to pace across. It might have had something to do with me knowing Bella for too long, but instinctively I grabbed her hand to get her down, but she only looked at me quizzically and playfully dragged be back and forth across the rock with her, making a point of not letting go of my hand- which looked humungous in comparison to hers.
She was breathing regularly now, for which I was extremely thankful, I wouldn't have wanted her to have had a heart attack or anything silly like that. In addition to holding my hand and sending sparks all the way to my shoulder and then throughout the rest of my body she was grinning devilishly at me. I was beginning to wonder why she hadn't come into my life sooner, she was the ultimate epitome of perfection as far as I ever needed to be concerned. She was breathtaking, figuratively anyway. Where had she come from, why was she here? Was she staying? God I hoped so. Her wide grin then spread and her mouth opened, from it tumbled a small fit of giggles which I silenced with my hand.
"What on earth is so funny now?" Honestly, there must be something wrong with her brain…
"You, you're so serious. Don't you ever just want to kick back and have some fun?"
"I have fun all the time!"
"Doesn't seem like it. It seems like you just like to 'people-watch' you did it before when we were across the gym from one another, and now I'm here right in front of you, and still practically all you can do is stare… Am I that much of an atrocity?"
My head tilted to the side in confusion, how could she think so lowly of herself? She was stunning! It was unfair that girls had to battle such terrible self confidence issues. It was getting late now, I was positive I would have gone home by now if I hadn't have spotted her, but now, I wanted to stay the whole night. Maybe she was right, there was something freakish about some guy you don't know staring at you barely speaking to you, holding your hand outside of a school gym. So, I broke our silence again, asking her to come inside with me and dance. To that she had replied that she'd 'love too' and it was my 'best suggestion of the night'. I was hook line and sinker for this girl, it was almost unnerving how I had fallen for her so quickly, I barely knew a thing about her, and yet I was completely fascinated. I had again held the door for her as we walked inside and she had thanked me, saying my 'breed was scarce'. I was sure she had meant gentlemen, but she was right on another level… There weren't very many Quileute werewolves.
She re-adjusted her hand in mine, and raised her other to my shoulder. There was a slow song on, I couldn't name it, but she seemed to know it, humming along the entire time. I had placed my free hand on her lower back ages ago, and we had swayed to the music for a very long time before the song ended. When it did, I was relieved to find another slow song graciously floating out from the speakers. She raised her head from my shoulder and looked at my quizzically.
"You're not sick or anything are you?" She looked kind of nervous bringing it up. "You're really warm."
My eyes widened and immediately I said "Sorry, I didn't know you were uncomfortable."
She smirked and told me, "I'm not, I like the warmth, but I don't feel like getting sick. Summer's just around the corner, but as you can imagine, this dress isn't the warmest."
I felt better then, happy to be comforting her in any small way, though; I wondered how she would adjust to the temperature when she wasn't pressed up against me. The DJ announced the time, and with it told us the next song would be the last of the night and that we were all to clear out after that. I heard her giggling and the vibrations shook their way all the way up to my head, giving me a mildly dizzy feeling. I was completely comfortable, and really didn't want to let this dance end. I didn't know if I'd ever see her again, I didn't know if she was coming to this school or if she was going to Forks High and was here with a friend. I also didn't know if she had a boyfriend… Come to think of it, I didn't know her name either, that was actually odd, something I should have thought to ask long before. The question was on the tip of my tongue; I had been just about to voice it when her small voice sounded from my shoulder.
"I'm Amber."
I wondered briefly if she had known I was going to ask that question, but quickly dismissed it. The only people I knew who could read minds were my pack mates, and I'd be able to smell that she was a werewolf, therefore, I chalked it up to coincidence and answered back with my name. I could feel her smiling against my shoulder and smiled back, though she couldn't see my face. Suddenly as I realised our time was coming to an end, I felt full of unanswered questions.
"Are you coming to this school?"
"I am in the fall. I wanted to graduate in a real high school surrounded by friends. Right now I'm home schooled. I know, weird. But my mom's a really good teacher."
"Actually that's kind of cool. I'm glad you're transferring here, I'll be happy to show you around on your first day."
"I think I'd like that…" It was a small murmur, but again I could feel the vibrations of her voice, this time stinging my neck, along with her warm breath.
And then, the music was cut off and the light turned suddenly on. Amber lifted her head and blinked a few times, her eyes adjusting to the light. She smiled at me, and we both looked around to see why the lights had flicked on. It turned out that Quil had been off with his date making out in the corner and had ruined the last few minutes of the dance for the rest of us, which seriously made me dislike him for a minute… It was upsetting, I had no idea if I'd even see Amber again before next fall.
"I was thinking." Amber whispered to me, though I had no need to strain myself to hear her, her voice was as plain as day, resounding in my ear drums.
"Do you do that often?"
She smacked my shoulder and then grasped her hand shocked, though finding a way to look curiously amused.
"Ripped much." She scoffed, and then smirked at me again. "Anyway, I was thinking it'd be much appreciated by my parents if you'd give me a lift home… My ride disappeared."
"No problem." I told her, forgetting completely about driving Embry here, though, if need be, he was fine on his own… I led her out to my Rabbit and she looked enthralled by it, why I wasn't sure. I hadn't taken Amber for a car buff. Then again, I hardly knew her, and shouldn't be judging anyone but myself. This was the first time I hadn't gone to open her door, and she didn't seem miffed by it at all, which I rather liked. I had no problem being gentlemanly once in a while, but it was too much effort all the time. Wow, that sounded rather pigheaded, and still, in my head it was justified.
The whole ride home she asked me random questions. Every time I tried to ask her a question, she'd cut me off and say something along the lines of 'not yet Jake, wait your turn.' And then ask me another question. Most of them were about my earlier years. What school was like, how I enjoyed the area, if there was anything interesting about, if the sun ever came out. I learned very few things from her questions, but one of them was that her parents had moved here to be near Amber's aunt who had cancer and that Amber had come to the dance with her cousin Maggie. Just before I had dropped her off she had scribbled her number down on a piece of paper.
"I'll give you my house number when it finally gets connected. Call me tomorrow okay? I'll be waiting to hear from you Jake." And with that she winked coyly, jumped out of my car, and jogged up her front steps, grabbing a key from underneath the welcome mat. My eyes stayed trained on her until she opened the door, waved to me, and slipped inside. There was nothing more I could do but pull away, go home and wait for tomorrow. I had always awaited the next day to make phone calls to Bella, but never had I wanted dawn to break so much in my entire existence.
Author's Note: And that's the longest chapter to date! Holy Cow. I'm actually really excited to know what you guys think of this chapter. Let me know if you like 'the girl in the pink dress'. I was tempted to keep her name from you for a bit longer, but figured it'd be weird if they never told each other their names. I know it's a question I would ask someone I liked. Anyway, hate it or love it, review either way. I like constructive criticism. Once again, thanks. You're just about my favourite people!
x.Tiffany, a.k.a Bedwardella