It was a sunny day in August, early one Friday afternoon after their half-day of school had ended and Piper had driven home to Jonathon's house. Macy Newton and Lisa Malone had talked her into coming to a bonfire down at the La Push reservation after much pleading and bargaining on their part. She had never ventured onto the reservation, knowing Jonathon wouldn't approve and it would only earn her more bruises that she'd have to hide. It was hard enough to hide the vivid, sickly green and blue splotches he left, her usual sweaters and jackets too hot to wear in the summer heat.
Thankfully he had been busy these past few weeks and hadn't been home often enough for her to provoke his anger, so her pale body was unmarked and she could wear her yellow, backless swimsuit without worrying about showing the evidence of Jonathon's rage.
"Piper, do you want to ride with me?" Macy sat on the edge of Piper's rumpled bed, flipping through the latest issue of Seventeen magazine and humming softly while Piper packed a towel and some sunscreen into her yellow tote bag.
"Sure, since I don't know the way there." She slipped her red, square-framed sunglasses onto her face as Macy let out a soft sigh and stood up, adjusting her tiny, cutoff shorts.
"Really, Piper, I can't believe you've lived here for, what, 10 years? And you've never gone to La Push!" The dainty blonde shook her head in disbelief and headed down the stairs, Piper following behind her and slipping her sandals on as she walked.
"I told you, beaches aren't my thing." Piper couldn't stop herself from rolling her dark brown eyes, glad the bubbly girl couldn't see.
Macy turned to give her friend a smirk as she hopped off the porch and leaned against the driver's side door of her BMW. "Maybe the beaches aren't, but have you seen those Quiluete boys? Pure hotness, no joke!"
Piper couldn't help but chuckle as she activated the security system and locked the door like Jonathon always told her to before she stepped off the porch and walked over to the little red car parked at the curb. "Didn't a Quiluete boy almost rip your brother's head off once?"
"Irrelevant." Piper got into the car, pulling her curly, honey blonde hair back into a loose ponytail as Piper sat her bag in the back and got in as well, running a hand through her thick, red hair and resting her elbow on the door. "Besides, I forget you're basically married to Logan by now."
"He wishes. Last week I told him not to call me anymore unless he learned how to not be an obnoxious twit." Piper sighs at the mention of her ex-boyfriend, glancing to the side and watching the trees turn into a blur of deep green leaves as Macy drives towards the winding road leading out of Forks.
"And next week you two will be back together like always." Macy rolls her ocean blue eyes, glancing at her friend and smirking knowingly. "You've been on and off with him since like our freshman year, when are you going to accept the fact you two are perfect for each other?"
"When he shows he has an interest in more than the country club and my uncle's praise." Piper raises on thin eyebrow at Macy, her pouty, pink lips set in a firm frown. "You know he broke a date with me last Friday to help my uncle campaign?"
"You can't really blame him though, Mr. Holmes is helping him a lot. If he gets into politics, you'll never have to worry about anything," Macy says softly, trying to console the obviously irritated girl.
Piper scoffed softly, shaking her head as she relaxes in the soft leather seat. "It doesn't even matter. Can we drop this, please?"
Macy raised her hands in mock surrender, steering the car momentarily with her knee on the bottom of the wheel. "Yes, Princess Piper."
Piper laughed softly and closed her eyes, relaxing for the rest of the drive as she thought about what Macy had said. This time will be different. We're done and if he thinks he can come running back into my arms again, he's going to get a rude wakeup call.
oooooooooo
Lisa was already laying out on the beach when they got there, her golden-tanned skin glistening and contrasting with her white bikini as she relaxed, pretending to be oblivious to the attention her hourglass figure was garnering. Macy spread her towel out beside Lisa's and stripped her shorts and halter top off, sprawling out in her baby blue bikini, massaging her tanning lotion into her skin.
Piper spread her own towel on the damp sand beside Macy, sitting down with her white kimono cover-up wrapped tightly around her body as she looked around the crowded beach. There were couples kissing in the sand, friends playing in the water, and children running around, playing and eating popsicles and ice cream, making her smile as she let herself relax a little more.
Her daze was broken by Macy's impatient sigh. "Piper, are you gonna stay wrapped in that the whole time?"
"You know Miss Prude over there probably will," Lisa says casually, rolling her eyes as she raises up on her elbows to look over at them, her perfectly drawn on brows arched as she peers over her oversized Quay sunglasses.
"Well, we all can't be Kim Kardashian wannabes like you, Lisa," Piper remarks airily, standing up and letting her kimono fall off of her shoulders with a challenging glance at the older girl as if daring her to make a comment.
Lisa scoffed softly before laying back down with a graceful shrug. "At least we know who the jealous one is."
Piper merely rolls her eyes, used to the girl's snippy comments, and walks down the beach a little way to the tide, letting the cool water splash against her ankles. Moments later, a soft hand nudges her bare shoulder and she turns to look down into Macy's worried eyes. "Don't let her get to you, Pips. You know how she gets."
"I know, Mace. She doesn't bother me, I just wanted to come see the water." She smiles as she leans down and hugs the tiny blonde, towering over her 5'0" frame at 5'7" and counting. "Thank you for checking on me though."
"Anytime, Piper." Macy smiles and hugs the taller girl back, then squeals and pulls away as she notices the crowd of tanned bodies coming down the beach. "Hotness alert!"
Piper rubs her ringing ear, turning to check out what Macy was gaping at and feeling her eyes widen a fraction. Macy was not exaggerating, the three boys walking down the beach were pure muscle and, by the looks of it, they knew how to use it to their advantage. "Who are they?"
Macy whispered as she pointed down the row of boys, "That perfect male specimen is Paul Lahote, the rez bad boy. Beside him is Jared Cameron, you probably know him from the Tribal baseball team. He's dating Kim Whitefeather though, so he's pretty much off limits."
Piper's eyes roamed Paul's body, from his arrogant smirk to the deep V that disappeared beneath his black board shorts. Damn, Logan doesn't have that... Her eyes moved over to Jared, her nose crinkling a little as she glances at him then moves on to the last boy, not wanting to cause any drama with his girlfriend. The last boy was stockier than the other two, shorter but broader with a headful of curly hair. He was winking at girls as he passed them, puffing his chest out as he smirked. Piper didn't find him particularly attractive, but Macy squealed happily again and jumped up and down, waving. Piper sighed, trying to hide her face in her hand in embarrassment, "Macy, what are you doing?"
Macy ignored her, dashing over to the boys and diving into the stocky boy's waiting arms. "Quilly!"
"Quilly?" Piper mutters to herself, walking over to the group as the boy spins Macy in a circle, holding her to his chest and laughing. "Uh...Hi." The one Macy had identified as Paul gave her a raffish smirk, his eyes raking down her body as if he could see through her swimsuit. She automatically crossed her arms over her chest, raising one eyebrow at him as she snaps, "Are your eyes broken?"
Paul lets out a loud, braying laugh and shakes his head. "Damn, a ginger with an attitude."
Piper rolls her eyes as she turns to look at Macy only to find the blonde with her tongue down Quilly's throat. "Are they going to come up for air anytime soon?"
"Yeah, they'll cool off after a while. They always do this." Jared gives her a genial smile and she finds herself liking him more than the other two, returning his smile hesitantly. "What's your name? I haven't seen you with her before."
"I'm Piper," She says, tucking a stray lock of her fiery hair behind her ear. "I uhm...I've never been to La Push before."
Jared's eyes widen a fraction in surprise before he grins, throwing an arm over her shoulders. "Well then, you gotta come to the bonfire with us. Trust me, our parties are legendary, you can't miss it."
"I guess I can stick around for it." Piper grins up at him, finding his cheerfulness contagious as she relaxes under the heavy weight of his arm.
oooooooooo
The boys escorted the three girls to a burnt out bonfire circle further down the beach where fewer people were roaming. "Just sit tight and we'll be back to start the fire, okay?" Jared smiled down at Piper, finally moving his arm from where he had been holding her protectively.
She nods and smiles as she steps away, running a hand through her hair. "Alright."
As she turns away from her newfound friend, she nearly bumps into Lisa who's attached to Paul like a leech. That actually makes a lot of sense. She thinks to herself as the older girl glares at her, her arms wrapped possessively around Paul's slim waist. Backing away from them, she sits down on one of the logs surrounding the pit and relaxes, glancing up at the orange-hued sky as the sun set slowly behind the mountains.
A few long minutes pass before she sees a shadow coming up behind her on the sand and automatically jumps up ready to swing, years of living with Jonathon making her paranoid. The slim, shirtless boy behind her holds his hands out in front of him in peace, chuckling softly. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I'm Embry."
"My fault, I overreacted. I'm Piper." She smiles softly at the boy, blushing as she realizes she's captured the attention of her friends and their boy-toys. "Sorry..."
"You're fine." He smiles, then turns to Paul and Quil as he plops into the sand. "Jacob will be here in a minute. He had to drag himself out of his pit of Bella-induced agony to get ready, so he's kinda pissy."
"Baby Alpha is always pissy," Paul laughs, his hand straying from Lisa's side and brushing against the swell of her breast as he trails his lips down her neck. Embry and Piper share an eye roll then laugh together as she sits back down on her log.
"So, Piper, what's a red-haired paleface like you doing on Native land?" Embry jokes, glancing up at her with an easy-going grin to show he's teasing.
Piper laughs softly, nudging him with the toe of her flip-flop as she raises one eyebrow. "Why're you singling me out? They're palefaces too."
"Yeah, but at the rate they sleep with Paul and Quil, they have more than enough Native DNA in them to qualify." Embry laughs, dodging the handful of sand that Quil splashes at him.
Piper laughs, covering her mouth to muffle the sound as she shakes her head. "Ew, Embry. TMI, thank you."
"At least you've never had to see it." He fakes an overexaggerated shiver of disgust, grinning as she giggles and opens his mouth to respond again, only to notice the shadowy figure walking up to the group. "Well look who the wolf dragged in!"
The boys chuckled as if it were some kind of inside joke before Paul called out, "What's wrong, Jakey? Bella busy with her boyfriend?"
"Fuck you, Lahote." The boy grumbled, plopping into the sand beside Embry and staring into the fire disinterestedly. Piper watched him from the corner of her eye, trying not to make it obvious.
He didn't have the arrogance or the air of danger like Paul, nor the cheerfulness and carefree smile of Jared, but she felt drawn to him for some reason. He had a decent amount of stubble growing on his cheeks and his hair was unbrushed and sticking up from his head in odd tufts, yet she could tell he could be cute if he only took care of himself. His dark, nearly black eyes moved suddenly and locked onto hers, widening in shock as she let out a soft gasp.
She felt something in her shifting, attaching to him like she had never felt. It felt as though she was a tetherball, swinging in tight circles around an unwavering, stable center. Evidently, he felt it too because his lips turned up in the ghost of a sunny smile as he leaned forward, resting one hand in the sand beside her foot as if he wanted to touch her but wasn't sure how she'd react. "I'm Jacob..." His voice sounded the smoothest velvet she had ever felt, making her blush deepen as she wondered how deep his voice could go.
A soft, rosy blush colored her pale cheeks as she let out a soft, uncharacteristic giggle, playing with a lock of her hair. "I'm Piper."
Neither of them noticed the shocked, confused stares of their friends from across the bonfire Jared had begun building with scraps of driftwood.
"I haven't seen you around before...are you new?" He never took his eyes off of hers, his fingertips gently brushing against her ankle as he inched closer to her, away from Embry's side.
"New to La Push, I guess, but I've lived in Forks since I was a kid." Piper smiles as his fingertips send flares of heat along her spine and she feels butterflies fluttering in her stomach. You've just met the guy and you're ready to drop your panties, slow it down...besides, what if Jonathon found out you were even looking at a Quiluete boy? Just imagining his reaction was enough to make her pull away from Jacob's grasp and stand up, pulling her kimono on over her white shorts and yellow swimsuit. "I um...I'm gonna go for a walk."
As she walked down the beach, she pretended not to notice the hurt look on Jacob's face. It's better this way...
oooooooooo
She had only been gone for a minute when she sensed his presence behind her as if the string attaching her to him was suddenly shorter and she spun faster around him. "What do you want, Jacob?"
"I wanted to make sure you were okay...I'm sorry if I came on too strong back there." He murmurs, jogging to catch up to her side as he ran a hand through his messy hair.
She tried to stay stern but failed as soon as she looked up into his hurt brown eyes. "It's nothing you did, Jacob...Just my own issues."
"I'm a good listener if you want to talk." He matches her slow, casual pace as he looks out at the indigo sky reflecting in the waters. "It's a beautiful night." He added when she made no move to respond.
She nods, looking up at the nearly full moon and smiling softly. "It is..."
"C'mon...what's wrong?" He grabs her wrist gently, pulling her arms from where she had crossed them over her chest. "I won't tell anyone."
Piper bites her plump bottom lip gently, staring down at his hand on her wrist, noticing how much darker his hand was than hers. "I...My uncle won't like me being here very much...especially if he finds out I was with a boy..."
"There's no one around to rat on you..." He tugs her wrists gently, pulling her closer to his bare chest as he wrapped his other arm around her waist.
Her hands come up to rest on his chest, his heat sending tiny sparks through her fingers as she tried to keep a few inches of space between their bodies. "I don't sleep with guys I just met."
"Who said I wanted to sleep with you? I just want a chance to get to know an awesome redhead I met at a bonfire." He smiles down at her and she finds herself falling all over again, her lips turning up into a soft grin.
"So you don't want to bang me?" She teases, a soft blush on her cheeks as she pokes his chest softly. Dear god, he's solid as a rock...
He shakes his head solemnly, laughing softly. "Not at all. Your body repulses me."
"Good, keep it that way." She laughs, leaning up on her toes to kiss his cheek softly. "Let's go back to the others?"
"Sure thing." Before she can react, he crouches down and slings her over his shoulder cave-men style. She shrieks, gripping the waist of his cutoff shorts for dear life as she squirms and giggles, her legs kicking futilely against his hard chest as he carried her back to the party.
By the time they made it back, Jared had lit the bonfire and one of the girls was playing music on their phone. Lisa and Paul were laying in the sand, a tangle of tanned limbs and dark hair, while Macy and Quil were dancing. Or more accurately, Macy was grinding against him as he held her hips and stared at her ass in bliss. As Jacob set her down gingerly, Piper scoffed at the sight, meeting Embry's eyes and giggling softly as he fakes a gagging gesture. Jacob's warm hands remain on her hips, sending a pleasant warmth throughout her stomach as she listens more closely to the song playing. "Oh, I love this song! Dance?" She looks up at Jacob, biting her lip softly as if waiting for him to refuse like Logan always did.
Instead of saying no, Jacob gave her his signature, sunny grin and nodded, grabbing her hand and stepping a little closer to the fire so that he could see her in the light. "Of course." She wrapped her slim arms around his neck, laying her head gently on his chest and relaxing as they sway together.
"She just wants to be beautiful, she goes unnoticed, she knows no limits, she craves attention, she praises an image she prays to be, sculpted by the sculptor..." Piper sang softly to herself, her eyelashes fluttering as her eyes slip closed.
Jacob listened to her soft voice, his hands gently massaging her slim hips, then slipping lower to rest on the swell of her ass, pressing his lips against her forehead. She gazes up at him, smiling softly and blushing as she finds her face inches from his, slowly leaning into him as she whispers, "Still repulsive?"
"Totally," He mutters under his breath, his eyes slipping closed as his lips brush against her soft, plump ones. The song changes suddenly and a more fast-paced beat starts, driving the two teens apart as the moment is broken. Piper turns to glare at Macy who was holding her phone with a guilty grin.
"Sorry...that song is just so overplayed." She sets her phone back down as the loud rap song played and Piper let out a soft sigh, leaning back against Jacob's warm chest, slowly rolling her hips to the beat as Camila Cabello's voice sang about Havana.
Jacob's hands held her hips as she rocked her ass against him gently, a grin growing on her lips as she let herself relax and have fun. He grinned as he leaned down and pressed his lips to the vein pulsing in her shoulder, listening to her heartbeat speeding up at his touch. He could feel himself growing hard in his jeans but was powerless to hide it with her grinding and dancing against him like she was. If she noticed, she didn't mention it and, when the song ended and another started, she didn't pull away.
"Hey, Jacob?" She asked softly, leaning back against him as Paul and Lisa left the little gathering, their clothing rumpled already.
Jacob hummed softly, resting his chin on her shoulder although he had to crouch down a little to do so. "Yeah, Piper?"
Before Piper could speak what was on her mind, a car swung into the parking lot up the beach, it's bright headlights shining on the teenagers as they danced. Piper's heart sank into the soggy sand beneath her feet when she recognized Jonathon's black Mercedes. I'm so dead.
And here is chapter one! I hope you all enjoyed it, and if anyone has any suggestions or request I'll do my best to make them a reality. The song Piper sings is Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara.
Please remember to review, and thank you for reading!