Chapter Two

Ooh, thank you for the lovely reviews! Here's the next one for you.

Disclaimer – I do not own Twilight, all rights to Stephanie Meyer. I do own Hetani and Elisha.

Change was meant to happen gradually. I had never really had that experience. I had been dumped in the woods very suddenly by parents I had thought loved me, my adoptive mother had died not soon after I joined her family in a very quick car accident, Bella Swan started hanging out around my house out of the blue and Embry ditched us. Well, he couldn't really ditch me because I didn't hang out with him but he ditched Jake and left me with bigger trust issues than I already had. I didn't trust many people. Jake and my dad were the only two people I trusted completely and Embry had been quite close. I hadn't placed all my trust in him because that would have been silly and, in retrospect, my feelings would have been more hurt than the day I said hi to him in the corridor and he shoved me out of the way. He didn't simply walk away; he full on blanked me, made no eye contact and shoved me into my locker before waltzing off without a backwards glance. It had hurt, mentally and physically and got worse when I fully comprehended that he had cut his hair, his biceps were on full show through his form fitting t-shirt and he was hanging out with Paul Lahote and Jared Cameron. I was full on gaping down the corridor at that point when I saw him grin and punch Paul's shoulder like they'd been best friends forever.

"Whoa, is that Embry?" my best friend, Elisha, asked as she came up behind me. Like most of the people around La Push, she had russet skin and lovely black locks but her eyes were piercing blue from her father's side. As though hearing her voice, all three of the giants at the other end of the corridor turned to look at us. I glared at the floor, unable to meet Embry's eyes and huffed.

"I guess," I muttered and slammed my locker shut, wincing as the arm I was certain was bruised from Embry's treatment stretched too far.

"Let's go to lesson before you dent that door," Elisha laughed and led the way to Trig. But I couldn't concentrate. For the entire day, all I could think about was Embry. Never before had he hurt me. Hell, he'd barely even touched me previously and then he barged past like I was nothing more than air. And he was hanging out with Paul and Jared – members of Sam Uley's so called 'cult' (as Jake had expertly named them). He'd cut his hair! It brought out a whole mess of abandonment issues that I really didn't think would have ever returned. It wasn't like it was much of a deal. Embry was Jake's best friend, not mine. I was just there to be babysat or protected, nothing more. So why the Hell did it bother me so much? Hall monitors on steroids my arse.

XXX

I walked into the house three days later to find Bella and Jake spread out in the living room. I nodded my greeting and proceeded into the kitchen to grab a snack.

"Stop stalling and do your homework!" Jake called from the living room. I ignored him and continued munching on my crisps, occasionally sipping my Sprite. After fifteen minutes of procrastinating, I gave up and trudged up the stairs to set about doing my maths homework. I knew I had to do it because it was the hardest of them all and I wasn't mathematically minded. Sciences I could handle and English was the best of the three but History was my complete favourite of all subjects, merely because I could absorb the information like a sponge and no homework took me more than an hour and a half. Maths on the other hand could last an entire Sunday if I let it which is why I had the insane notion of getting it out of the way.

Three hours later and I had figured out four of my twenty algebra problems. God, I really hated maths. So I decided to buck up my courage and enlist help. I slipped downstairs shyly and knocked on the living room door which was open slightly before creeping in. Both Jake and Bella looked up from a map of sorts. Bella didn't smile but I didn't really expect her to – she was suffering from heartbreak after all (according to Jake who had made it his life mission to cure her of the ailment which I couldn't understand) but Jake did. I sheepishly held up my maths homework and Jake eyed it with amusement.

"Please tell me that it did not take you three hours to do just that," he stated and I sighed, nibbling my lip. He knew how I felt about maths and he knew how uncomfortable I was around people I didn't quite know. Add the two together and I went mute and awkward.

"Do you need help?" Bella asked kindly and I nodded slowly, managing a weak smile. She gestured me over and I perched Indian style next to her as both she and Jake tried to help my brain wrap around the confusing questions. After another hour of work and a lot of help from both my brother and Bella, I had managed to do all of it.

"That's four hours of my life I'll never get back," I grumbled as I entered my room having left Bella and Jake to it after thanking them profusely. It was so obvious that Jake was head over heels for Bella and I wasn't sure I liked it. Her relationship to him seemed more of convenience than of care but I would hold back and wait to see what happened. If Bella ended up hurting Jake then I would become the protective sibling.

XXX

I walked along the corridor about a week after Bella and Jake had helped me with my maths homework. I kept my eyes firmly on my book so that I didn't need to make eye contact and it didn't hurt that the book itself was interesting. I moved my hand to sweep a strand of hair out of my face and WHAM! I walked straight into what felt like a solid wall. Thoroughly confused because I didn't think I was so intrigued by the novel that I would walk into a wall, I glanced up from my sprawled position on the ground. Paul Lahote was glaring down at me and I swallowed the nervous bile that rose in my throat.

"Watch where you're going, Black," he snarled before stomping off, shaking slightly. I shook my head and gathered up my books, rushing away from any prying eyes that might have seen that. But the strong stare I could feel on my back was too hard to ignore and I turned around. Instantly recognising Embry, I whirled back around before even glancing at the probing eyes I could feel on me and scurried down the corridor again.

"You look kind of freaked out," Elisha said cheerfully as I sat next to her in History. I shrugged.

"Paul Lahote knocked me down," I answered and her eyes widened worriedly. I shook my head to tell her I was fine.

"Are you sure you're ok?" she asked in concern and I nodded absentmindedly. I couldn't stop thinking about Embry and it was driving me crazy. I rubbed my arm where he had walked into me a week previously. He was a jerk – plain and simple. And yet I still fancied him. "Hetani, class is over," Elisha stated and I looked up in shock to see that History had indeed finished and half of the class was already out of the door. I packed my stuff away and followed Elisha to the canteen where the food was deadly and the noise hurt many people's ears. I walked into the deafening wall of noise and cowered slightly, moving closer to Elisha.

"Hetani, are you alright? I heard that Lahote knocked you over. I'll kill him, I swear," Jake's terrified voice filtered through the voices of those around me. I looked up at him (he'd grown about a foot in the last couple of weeks which dad didn't seem to find weird but it kind of freaked me out) and he was still filling out in rather big muscles. My brother was so strange.

"I'm fine," I assured him simply and went to go and get a pile of muck that the school called food to eat. Jake followed me like a concerned puppy into the queue but Elisha didn't seem to mind. In fact, she was blushing slightly as the pair made conversation. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she didn't really stand a chance considering his obviously strong feelings for a certain pale face. The pair talked behind me and I simply smiled, shook my head and bought some mediocre grub. Jake departed after asking me if I was ok a few more times and Elisha and I found a table.

"You're brother is really hot, Hetani," my best friend gushed and I simply raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't look at me like that. I was simply stating a fact." I laughed lightly and picked at the limp green salad on my plate, debating whether or not to tell her about Bella.

"Do you know Bella Swan?" I asked as casually as possible. Elisha shrugged and bit into what I believe was meant to be a cheese and ham sandwich but resembled a crumbled mess.

"I know of her. Isn't her dad friends with your dad?" she asked and I nodded in response, sipping my coke which was, thankfully, drinkable.

"She's been around my house a lot." Elisha seemed to get my meaning which was a well practiced talent considering I didn't really say much.

"Does Jake mind?" she asked airily but I could feel her disappointed aura already. I shook my head slowly and she sighed exasperatedly. "There goes my luck," she complained and I gave her a sympathetic look before trying to eat the salad in front of me. I didn't get very far before I gave up and threw it into the bin in annoyance. This was rubbish.

XXX

"What do you mean Jake has mono? Is he going to be ok?" I asked in a high pitched voice and dad looked at me calmly.

"He will be fine, angel. He needs a lot of rest so don't disturb him," he told me in his low voice. But he was lying to me.

"Daddy, what's really wrong with Jake?" I inquired and he sighed, holding my hand in his.

"I'll tell you soon, Hetani. But you can't know right now, ok?" I sighed but nodded, going to my room. On the way, I stopped outside Jake's room and placed my palm on the shut door.

"I love you, big brother," I whispered then proceeded onto my room. Instead of doing my homework, I sat on my bed and pulled my knees to my chest, rocking back and forth shakily with tears pouring down my cheeks. I was scared for Jake – mono wasn't exactly fun to have and I wasn't even allowed to see him.

XXX

I woke up the next morning with a headache and puffy eyes. I stumbled to the bathroom, thanking God for the weekend and washed my face. I walked downstairs, yawning loudly and found Jake just leaving the kitchen. He looked fine to me.

"Morning Jake," I greeted but didn't get an answer. Instead, I got a blank look before he moved to the front door. "Jake, where are you going? You have mono!" I cried although that was looking less likely by the second. Jake just stopped at the door, not even turning around.

"It's none of your business, Hetani," he scolded in a dark voice and I felt tears well up. He had never, ever used that kind of tone on me before. "Just leave me alone and stop being nosy." And he walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him. I don't know how long I stood staring at the door but eventually I moved and sat on the couch, staring blankly at the floor instead. What the Hell was wrong with him?

And so the wolf gene appears. This is when things start to build up, after these first two introductory chapters. Anyhow, hope you liked that and I'll see you in three days for an update. Happy Christmas (eve)! Love Bianca :) x