I got to school early, hoping Juniper might be there so I could see her before lunchtime. I waited in my car- it was pouring outside- but didn't see her drive in. The rain stopped and I got out of my car, leaning against it to watch students drive in, looking out for Juniper on her scooter. But she didn't arrive, and I was going to be late for class, so I left. She was probably running late- maybe she'd slept in. I found myself imagining her sleeping- blonde hair spread out across the pillow, face peaceful, lips just slightly parted...

I almost walked into Eric Yorkie, and quickly made myself concentrate on what I was doing. I went to class and tried to listen and take notes and do my work, all the time unable to stop thinking about Juniper. In first hour, Spanish, Matt and Tom asked me how it had went. I didn't give them a lot of details, and Mrs. Goff kept telling us to stop talking, so they said I'd tell them at lunchtime.

I waited for lunchtime eagerly- not to tell Matt and Tom about my date with Juniper, but to see her. I got there before her, but it didn't take long for her to arrive. I waved to her and she smiled and came to sit down next to me. I wanted to talk to her, but Tom chose that moment to ask me when our first baseball game was. Alex wanted to come and watch, but she couldn't if it was in the next three weeks because she had a heap of ballet rehearsals for the concert coming up.

Juniper was similarly tied up talking to Steph. I couldn't hear what they were saying really, then I heard Steph say 'Andy'. I was about to turn and ask them what they were talking about, when Kate and Matt arrived.

"Hey everyone!" Kate said loudly and sat down between Steph and Juniper.

"So, tell us about last night!" Matt said as he sat down next to me.

"Last night?" Alex asked. "What happened last night?"

Her question was answered by Kate, who suddenly squealed,

"You went out with Andy?"

Half the cafeteria turned to look at me. My face went hot, and I knew I was blushing. I looked at Juniper. Her cheeks were redder than normal as well.

Kate began to ask Juniper questions. Alex joined in. Matt and Tom seemed to decide they'd get more information out of her, and leaned in to listen.

"Where did you go?" Kate asked her. "What did you do?"

"Was it good?" Alex asked.

"Did you guys... do anything?" Kate said suggestively.

"We went to the beach and ate fish and chips." Juniper said, eyes wide and defensive. "That's all."

Clearly no one believed her.

"Nice work mate," Matt murmured to me.

I blushed more and didn't answer.

The bell went then. Juniper practically sprinted out of the cafeteria. I went off to English and tried to ignore the stares and whispers around me.

Juniper didn't look happy when she walked into Gym at the end of the day.

"Hey," I said, a little tentatively.

"Hi." she smiled, but it was a bit forced, I could tell.

"They're pretty annoying, hey?" I said.

" 'Pretty annoying', is an understatement." she said, "Do you realize that the whole school is talking about us? Even Chloe knows." She shook my head.

"Who's Chloe?" I asked, confused.

"Just this girl in Biology." she replied, then sighed. "But that's not the point."

I pulled her into a hug, feeling her warm body against mine.

"Is it really that bad?" I said into her ear.

She lifted her face to look up at me, and smiled.

"But I didn't want this. I just wanted to be with you." she whispered.

"I know. I wanted the same." I replied.

It was true, too. Ben and Daniel, and half the other guys in school, wanted Juniper so they could tell all their friends that they were dating her. I didn't want the world to know we were together. I just wanted to be.

"It'll get better," I said, trying to cheer her up. "In a few days no one will care. It'll go back to normal, I promise."

"You think so?" she asked, speculative.

"I know so." I replied.

She laughed, and I smiled at the sound. I wasn't sure that everything would go back to normal in just a few days, but I hoped so. And really, how long could it take for them to get over it?

After school I was doing my homework at the kitchen bench and my dad was watching the news. When the weather report came on, he said,

"The weather's going to be good this weekend, Andy. You should go down to La Push with your friends."

I turned around, and sure enough, a yellow sun was hovering above Forks on the map. The weatherman pointed to it, making a joke about a technical error.

"Yeah, I think we might." I said.

My mom emerged from the laundry. She had been listening to the conversation.

"Good, you can ask Juniper over for lunch." she said brightly.

"Mom, she might not want to come..." I said.

"Oh course she will. I want to meet this girl, that you spend so much time with. Invite her to lunch on Sunday." mom said.

I sighed, knowing I couldn't persuade her.

I asked Juniper to the beach on Friday, at lunch when we were all in the cafeteria. Asking her too soon after our date looked a little desperate. No way was I mentioning Sunday lunch yet.

"The weather might be okay tomorrow." I said casually, "Do you want to go down to the beach?"

"Yeah!" She sounded really enthusiastic.

Then she glanced at the others. Guessing what she was thinking, I said,

"I thought we would all go. You don't mind, do you?"

She shook her head. I half wanted her to say yes, to tell me she just wanted to spend time with me. But I'd already discussed the trip with Matt, so there was no way I could get out of going with the group.

I slept in the next morning. I hadn't been able to sleep last night, thinking about Juniper. I hurriedly got dressed in my board shorts and threw a t-shirt on. I dog bolted a bowl of cereal and then rushed to the car, driving over to Juniper's. She was waiting in the shop as usual. She looked really excited- she practically skipped to the car. I grinned and opened her door for her.

"You don't have to do that you know," she said, getting in.

"I want to," I said, getting in the drivers side. "You bring your bathers?"

"Wearing them." she said.

I grinned, imagining her in bikinis.

"Hope it's warm enough to swim." I said. I glanced out the window, looking at the fluffy white clouds.

"It'll be warm enough." Juniper said confidently.

We parked in the parking lot at First Beach. Everyone was there except Alex.

"Where's Alex?" Juniper asked Tom.

"She's sick," Tom said, "She's got a cold or something."

"Poor her." Juniper said.

"You bring your swimming stuff?" Kate asked her from the front seat of Matt's car.

"Yeah," Juniper replied.

"Let's go then." Steph said.

We all made our way down to the beach and laid our towels on the rocks. I put mine next to Junipers.

Kate pulled off her t-shirt, and Juniper and Steph did the same. I looked at her flat stomach- it was almost as tanned as her arms and legs, and flat. She laid down on her towel, putting on her sunglasses. She looked like she was falling asleep.

Matt and Tom got up and went down to the water.

"Hey Andy, we're going in, you coming?" Matt called out to me.

I shook my head in their direction.

"Come on, Andy, the water's nice!" Tom yelled.

"Nah, I'm right." I replied.

I turned my head away from them, looking at Juniper, and smiled. She was so pretty. I'd never seen a prettier girl. But she was more than that. She was smart and funny and cool. She was fun to talk to, fun to be around. She was perfect.

She stirred and started to sit back. I quickly looked away, watching Matt and Tom in the water. She took off her sunnies and smiled at me. I smiled back.

"You're not going in?" she asked me, nodding towards Matt and Tom, who were now wrestling each other into the water.

I shrugged.

"I might. Are you?"

She nodded.

"I'll go now, if you want to come."

I nodded and we stood up. She took off my board shorts. Her body would make a model jealous. I took off my t-shirt, hoping I didn't look to pale. I was more tanned than Matt and Tom, mostly because I had a bit of native in me, or so my dad said. I noticed Juniper looking at me. I liked it that she looked at me.

"You ready?" I asked her.

"Yep," she replied.

We walked down the beach, stepping across the grey rocks. I wondered what it would be like to hold her hand. Would she mind? I didn't think so...

Watching the water, I casually put my hand around hers, wrapping my fingers around it. She responded, fingers entwining with mine. I glanced down at her fingers, and then at her face. Was she cool with this?

"Is this okay?" I asked her. I sounded stupid, but I had to know what she was thinking.

She grinned. "Of course, it's fine."

We reached the thin stretch of sand. It was cold on my bare feet, and the water was freezing.

"It's cold!" Juniper said, sounding surprised.

I laughed.

"I bet Australian beaches are warmer than this," I said.

She nodded, starting to shiver.

"Do you wanna get back out?" I asked. I didn't want her to freeze.

She shook my head, even though her teeth were starting to chatter.

"Gotta go at least waist deep." she said with determination.

We kept walking, still hand-in-hand. The water was still freezing, but I was determined not to let it show.

We got to waist deep on her, it was only halfway up my thigh. Tom and Matt ran up to us, both dripping wet, and splashing Juniper in the process. She screamed.

"Guys, cut it out, she's cold!" I said, annoyed. I liked being in the water with her, I didn't want her to get cold and get out.

"Andy, I'm fine." she said.

Was I being over protective?

"Yeah Andy, she's fine." Matt said grinning. He put both his hands under the water and scooped the water out in her direction, showering her. She screamed again, and Tom and Matt laughed at her. I frowned. I wished they'd cut it out.

"Juniper, just go in and warm up-" I started to say. her fingers were turning blue. But before I could finish my sentence, she had launched herself at Matt, and tackled him into the water. I laughed as Matt surfaced, spluttering.

"I c-can't believe you d-did that." he said, shivering so badly he could hardly talk.

We all laughed at him. Juniper didn't look at cold now. She grabbed my hand and pulled me in too. I went right under, the crushing cold surrounding me for a moment, and then emerged dripping and laughing. I looked at Juniper, watching her push the water off her face. She had seaweed in her ear. I laughed.

"Think you've got some seaweed in your ear, Juniper." I said, "Either that or your ears are green." I said it as a joke, but she looked seriously worried, as if it was a possibility. Her hand went to her head, eyes wide. Then she smiled and laughed and picked the seaweed out.

We were all getting cold, and so not long after that we all went in. Juniper wrapped herself in her towel. I grabbed my towel and went to stand with Matt and Tom. They were talking about our upcoming baseball games and baseball in general- both our team and the professional league.

After a while we returned to sit with the girls. Juniper was sitting up, looking upset, and I knew that something we wrong. Kate and Steph were lying down sun baking. None of them were talking. When Matt, Tom and I sat down they sat up and talked to us, but Kate ignored Juniper.

After a while Tom decided he wanted to go to the rock pools.

"You want to come to the rock pools, Juniper?" Tom asked her. She seemed to have become the official 'do stuff' girl- meaning she would actually do stuff the guys wanted to do, not just lie around and sun bake and talk.

"Yeah, they're awesome." Matt said, encouraging her. "You should come and look."

I expected Juniper to jump at the chance, but she hesitated, glancing at Kate and Steph.

"Um, no thanks." she said. "Rock pools aren't really my thing."

I looked at her in confusion. She was lying, I was sure of it. She loved nature and stuff- rock pools would definitely be her thing. So why wasn't she going?

Both Tom and Matt looked disappointed. They convinced Steph to go, and then Kate said she'd go too. Juniper watched them leave, looking miserable.

"Why didn't you want to see the rock pools?" I asked me. I was sitting on my towel next to her. She leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder. Her wet hair was cold, but I didn't mind, because where her cheek touched my bare skin seemed to burn like it was on fire.

"Like I said, rock pools aren't my thing." she replied.

"Really?" I said, "You seem like a rock pool kind of girl."

I felt her cheek move, and thought that she was smiling. Then she smiled was gone. I sat up and turned to face her.

"Did Kate say something?" I asked.

Her eyes widened at my guesswork.

"How did you know?" she asked.

I shrugged.

"Just guessed," I said. This wasn't completely true, but still. "I know she can be a bit... bitchy. Was it about Matt and Tom?"

"Mostly Matt." she said. "Although I don't know why she cares. She doesn't even like him much."

I shrugged again. I had never understood Kate.

"Thought it might be. She was the same when her and Matt were together and my cousin came down from Boston. My cousin and Matt played a bit of baseball together, and Kate got all mad and bitchy to her."

I remembered it well. Kate's jealousy was one of the main reasons her and Matt had broken up.

"Don't worry about her." I said. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in. She was so warm despite the cold water all over her. "In a few days she'll be back to normal."

She put her arms around me too. Having so much of her bare skin pressed up against mine felt... nice.

"Now," I said as we broke apart. "Do you still want to go to the rock pools? If we hurry we'll catch up."

She nodded and we stood up. We set off at a quick walk. I led the way down the sandy track that led to them. We arrived only a few minutes after the others. Kate glared at Juniper, but she either didn't notice or didn't care. She lay down on her stomach next to one, seeming not to notice the sharp rock, and gazed into it. I smiled, glad I had convinced her to come.

When we got back to the beach some of the kids from the reservation were there. I knew some of them- my dad was friends with a couple of the Quileutes. I came down to the beach quite a lot and so I saw them then. They had set up a bonfire, and Matt and I asked if we could join them. They agreed easily enough, and all of us went to sit on the sand or driftwood logs. It was getting dark and the temperature was dropping- I was glad of the warm bonfire.

I sat on a log with Matt and some Quileute guys our age. Some of them were older and some younger than we were. We talked for a while. One of the older Quileute guys, Sam, joined us, and told us a long, funny story. We all laughed. I glanced around to see where Juniper was. She wasn't with Kate, Steph and Tom. I saw her talking to one of the Quileutes. She was wearing a jumper she hadn't had before. Had the Quileute guy given it to her.

I felt a hot burst of jealousy. Then I forced myself to think about it. The guy she was talking to looked younger than us- he was still a kid really. Juniper was allowed to talk to anyone she wanted, and except jumpers if she really wanted to. After all, it was better than her getting cold. I didn't want to turn into one of those guys who didn't let their girlfriends talk to other guys.

I looked away, convinced that I had no reason to be jealous. Sam had launched into another, equally hilarious story. I laughed along with the others, but my eyes wandered back to where Juniper was. She had gone- I thought she might have gone to sit with the others but she wasn't with them. I looked around and saw that she was now with not just the one Quileute guy, but half a dozen of them. She was talking to another young looking guy, his black hair tied up in a ponytail.

I knew she was just talking, but still, I couldn't help feeling a little jealous. I walked over to join her, slipping my arm around her waist. Some of the Quileutes looked disappointed, and shot me jealous looks. Not that I cared.

We went up to the parking lot when it had gotten really dark and cold. Juniper waved goodbye to the Quileutes, but she held my hand as we walked up.

We all said our goodbyes in the parking lot. Juniper got in my car and we drove back to Forks.

"That was really fun. Thanks for organizing it." she said, grinning at me.

"No problem," I replied.

"The Quiltetes are nice." she said,

"Yeah, most of them are good guys." I said. There was no trace of jealousy in my voice- it was stupid that I'd ever been jealous. Juniper was with me, Juniper liked me. I realized that I still hadn't asked her to lunch the next day. My mom would kill me if I didn't. I glanced at her, and then said,

"Juniper, I know this might seem really sudden, and way to fast," I paused, glanced at her again, watching for her reaction. I hoped she wouldn't freak out. "But my mum wants to meet you, and she wants me to ask you for lunch tomorrow." I said it very fast, trying to get it over with. My cheeks were turning red, I could feel it. I looked at Juniper.

She looked stunned, and I was just beginning to curse my mom when she grinned.

"Yeah!" she said, quite enthusiastically. "I'd love to meet your parents!"

I smiled in relief. She was cool with it.

"That's good," I said, "Cos mum's been begging me to invite you over and I wasn't sure you'd want to."

"No, I really want to." she said, smiling at me.

I smiled back. We sat in silence for a moment and then she spoke.

"Andy," she said. "What's your last name?"

I looked at her in surprise, partly that she didn't know it and partly that she had asked.

"Goldborne." I said.

"Andy Goldborne." she said, mostly to herself.

"What's yours." I asked.

She didn't reply for a moment.

"I don't want to tell you." she said.

I looked at her and smiled.

"It can't be that bad." I said.

"It is. It's stupid and boring and ugly."

"Come on. What is it?"

"Green." she mumbled.

"Green?" I repeated. "Juniper Green?"

It wasn't that bad. And green was so her- she wore green all the time.

She groaned.

"Told you it was stupid and boring and ugly."

"No it's not. It's nice. It suits you." I said sincerely.

"I consider that an insult," she replied.

I laughed.

She was silent for a minute, and then she started laughing. Or giggling, more like.

"What is it?" I asked. confused.

"Nothing," she said. I knew this wasn't true- she couldn't stop laughing.

"Oh, tell me." I pressed.

"It's just our names." she said, "Juniper Green and Andy Goldborne. Green and Gold."

I smiled, not really getting why this was so funny. Heaps of surnames were colours.

"It's not that funny." I said.

"But they're the Australian colours." she explained. "That's why it's funny."

I laughed then, understanding. Juniper joined in and we laughed and laughed all the way to the Welcome to Forks sign.