Chapter Thirteen

I looked up at his dark brown hair and reached out to touch it, tempted to do as he arranged it in a perfect clean cut. But I couldn't, not right now. He looked down at me with his soft, dark eyes that held so much emotion in them- I couldn't think, I couldn't respond.
I couldn't breathe.
He smiled as he waited for me to say what I was supposed to say. I took a deep breath and kept myself locked in his eyes, finally making my speech.
"I do."
-

"Are you going to wake up or do I have to make you?" Allen shook my shoulder hard, snapping me out of the best dream that I had in a long while. I groaned and felt like I wanted to cry. Seriously, did he have to wake me up now?

For God's sake!

I sighed as he went out of the room, barely caring about what mood I was in. It's not like I would expect him to; brothers usually don't care if their sisters are in the mood for school or not.

I glanced at my alarm clock and it was 6:30am already. I sat up and went on doing my morning routine. Today I was going back to school after the week off we had after our exams.
I spent most of last week at school anyways, just not that early. I had a nearly-daily meeting with Bryan Hamilton and sometimes with the girls from the design team; Jesse and Emma.

We had managed to set a default design for all the pages and some special designs for the activities' pages, with a little more color and suitable design for each. It was a lot of work but it was definitely worth it; we only have to wait for Mrs. Cox's next meeting so that we could have her final permission and get this thing printed!

I got dressed and went downstairs, grabbing my patterned backpack on my way, remembering to take the keys and phone with me. I found Mom fixing Al's collar.

"No it doesn't look 'cool'," she said," Elvis had died a very long time ago." Allen rolled his eyes.

"I like it better that way, Mom," he tried to reason but she just glared at him.

"Would it bother you to just look decent for once?" she asked," Only once, please." He sighed.

"Fine, Mom," he said and I chuckled, getting to the kitchen. I grabbed the jar of jam and toast from the freezer and spread the jam over it before I took a huge bite. Mom raised an eyebrow at me.

"What?" I asked after I swallowed. She rolled her eyes.

"You won't get late for school if you waited for the toast to warm up, you know," she stated. I smiled as I took another bite.

"Embry is giving me a ride," I said, still chewing. It sounded more like "Mmm mmm mmm mm" so I repeated it again after I swallowed.

"Lucky you," Al said," I have to walk." I rolled my eyes.

"Maybe you'll get some muscles," I teased. He glared before he headed out, slamming the door shut behind him.

"That wasn't exactly nice," Mom commented. I laughed.

"It's just Allen, Mom," I said,"If we don't tease, Earth is moving the opposite direction." I symboled with my fingers. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket for a short moment."Embry's here!" I said and kissed Mom's cheek."See you." I grabbed my backpack and ran outside to Embry's motorcycle. He hadn't brought it in so much; it startled me how loud the engine was. He smiled brilliantly at me, showing his cute dimples in the process.

"'Morning, honey," he said and kissed me quickly before I hopped in front of him. My heart lost its pace at his voice that I had missed.

I hadn't seen him in two days due to my constant morning working and his night-patrolling for Sam's sake. I hadn't realized how much my day revolves around Embry Stephen Call until he wasn't there to lighten it. I'd missed his voice, his eyes, his hair...

"'Morning to you, too," I answered cheerfully, putting my backpack on my lap.

"Are you better now?" he asked, leaning to kiss the top of my head.

"Well, I did say your name right," I said and he laughed.

"True," he said and we were in front of the school in no time, to my bad luck."Good luck," he wished. See what I was just saying? I sighed and hopped down. Before I could speak, he did," I'm going to call you at Lunch," he said and took my face in his hands for one long kiss, I forgot that we were in public for a second,"I missed you so much," he breathed before taking off towards the opposite direction, shooting me another one of my favorite grins.

I turned to face the school, throwing my bag on one shoulder and taking the first stair. I jumped when two semi-cold hands covered my eyes then sighed, knowing who it was.

"Good morning to you, too," I said. He chuckled but still waited for me to acknowledge him,"...Matthew Davis." He laughed and dropped his hands.

"Hey," he said,"Nice show," he commented as we got in. I frowned in confusion.

"What show?" He snorted.

"The whole lip-lock-" I cut him off with a glare.

"Like we didn't see much of that when Samantha was around," I snapped but regretted it immediately as he dropped his gaze and looked at the floor."I-I'm sorry, Matt, really. I-" I paused, not knowing how to continue. I knew I hit a nerve. He shrugged and looked at me again with a smile.

"Don't worry about it," he reassured, "It ain't that bad anymore, you know?" he said and I nodded.

"I'm glad it isn't," I said as we took the stairs again. The English class was in the second floor. I wanted to change the subject."Allen says Chloe is sweet," I informed and he raised an eyebrow at me.

"I'm sorry but is your brother blind?" he asked," And deaf?" I laughed. We hadn't talked about that at all, the one time he talked to me last week was after the semi-final I didn't get to attend. He was thrilled, as any other player on the team, that we won and we're playing the Final game against Forks High sometime during the next month, probably after the Holidays, I didn't know. We tied last time we played against them. It was a funny feeling; Forks High was my former school and now I was cheering for PA High.

"It's a very good reason," I said," Maybe he is blind and deaf after all." He chuckled.

"Yeah," he said," Well, she says he was a gentleman so I guess we have two blind siblings." My eyes got wide.

"Allen?" I said,"Allen Anderson? A gentleman? Wow," I dragged the word as we entered the class way before the teacher came; I was early because of Embry's ride and Matt had morning practice, I assumed. He narrowed his eyes dramatically.

"Those two are either lying now," he said," Or have been lying their whole lives."

"Both options have equal chances," I said before the teacher entered and the class, surprisingly enough, was in order.

"Good morning, class," she said as she threw her books and purse on the desk,"So today is either going to be a Grammar revision-" everybody groaned-"Or we'll have a reading session- The Tale of Two Cities. You have that for the next term," she said and everybody got silent. Did she seriously want us to choose between Grammar and Reading? Honestly?

But, of course, there was always this one nerd...

"Reading," Peter Waltz, the kid with the always perfectly ironed shirt and jeans. He was quite handsome, though, the doctor-handsome kind of way; he had wavy black hair and sparkly blue eyes. It was a good thing he was handsome. The teacher smiled.

"Okay, then. Dickens it is," she said and the class begun...

"Wake up!" Stacey whisper-yelled from the seat next to me. I opened my left eye reluctantly.

"Did he say something important?" I asked, still not moving from my position on the desk, hidden behind the book. She rolled her eyes.

"He just said 'I can see you from behind the book, Miss Anderson'," she informed," Plus, he was-" I cut her off as I glanced at my mobile's clock.

"...5, 4, 3, 2-" I was cut off by the bell ringing.

"...And we'll continue solving the problems tomorrow, any questions?" the Geometry teacher, Charles Charles, said before he collected his stuff quickly and made his way out before we could even ask, if we ever had any questions. It was just so like him.

I put my pencil case, book and copybook in my backpack and looked at Stacey, who was already waiting for me to make our way to Lunch."Hair?" I asked.

She bit her bottom lip and stretched her hand to adjust my bangs back in place."There you go." I smiled gratefully at her and we took off towards the parking lot, that we had to pass from before we entered the cafeteria, and where we usually met Brad and Matt. Nessie always joined us later; she comes with all the Cullens.

The boys were gathered around their coach in front of one of the cars, they were beginning to walk away when we were at the cafeteria door. We never wait for them if they're late.

"Wait up!" Brad yelled from behind, Stacey turned to him faster than I did. She smiled up at him."Hey," he said and kissed her quickly," Hey, Mary," he greeted. I just waved at him, still sleepy.

"Someone's been sleeping in her Geometry class again," Matt whispered in my ear as we entered. I chuckled.

"Well," I said," I tend to do that when the lesson is boring, Monsieur Defarge." He laughed.

"Yeah, that was funny, Lucie, wasn't it?" he said, remembering the role-playing the teacher suggested to do this morning."Di-" he was cut off by Bryan Hamilton.

"Hey!" he said and put a hand on my shoulder quickly and took it off- not embracing,"Lookin' good." Matt raised his eyebrow at me and I just shrugged indifferently.

"Hey," I greeted back as we sat on the table- the others went to grab some food. I wasn't that hungry and Matt, apparently, found the whole situation more amusing than to just skip it to buy some food. Bryan smiled.

Bryan was well-built, tall and a year older than I was- He was a junior. He had honey-blond, relatively short hair and light green eyes- not Emerald green but rather tends to hazel green more. He was wearing a casual Nike hoodie and low-waist jeans, along with his Nike Air sneakers.

"So I wanted to ask you something," he said as Matt began drinking some of his orange juice that he had in his hand. I nodded encouragingly. What did he want to ask for anyways? A year- he cut my thougts off by speaking,"Would you like to go to the winter dance with me?" he asked and I could see Matt covering his juice-filled mouth with his hand, his eyes as wide as mine. I had a dumbfounded expression on my face. I didn't know what to say. I mean, what would a normal girl say in a situation like this? A situation in which she has a boyfriend and wants to turn down this guy's request for the second time in two years. I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. I kicked Matt's leg from under the table for support as he recovered his frozen expression. He just gestured for me to speak. I blinked and Bryan was still waiting.

"Uh- I..." I still couldn't make straight sentences. Stacey and Brad joined us then. Nessie still didn't come. Stacey must have noticed the awkwardness that creeped in. I saw Matt whisper something into Brad's ear which made him chuckle."I'm sorr-" Matt cut me off.

"She'll go," he answered for me and I think I just stared at him. What kind of a joke was this? Bryan smiled but turned to me again for confirmation. I glanced at Stacey for support this time but she seemed to think otherwise.

"Of course she will," she said and I almost fainted- why did I have to remember my vitamins every day?

"Then next Friday at six?" he asked and I wanted to yell at all of them. Find an excuse, find an excuse, find an excuse...

"D-Dad," I said," Dad wouldn't let me," I concluded and he frowned.

"Why not? It's just a school dance," he said.

"I have curfew," I concluded with relief. Thanks Dad.

"I'm sure Dad can convince him this time," Stacey said," Come on it's going to be fun," she urged and I was just going to give up when Nessie appeared with her chocolate bar in her hand. She pretended to not notice anything that was going on but I knew she was in on everything. She leaned on my ear.

"Nice show you and your boyfriend put on this morning," she said, loud enough for everyone to hear,"You would've gotten detention if any of the teachers had seen you," she concluded and looked at everyone,"Oh, hey, guys." She sat down between Matt and Brad. Bryan raised an eyebrow.

"Boyfriend?" he said then smiled at me,"Well, you should've said something," he added, cheerfully though. I was glad he wasn't hurt."I'll see you guys at the dance, then." I shook my head.

"I really do have curfew," I said, relaxing. He shrugged and got up."Well, I'll see you Tuesday at the meeting, then?" he said and I nodded. He finally left and the whole table- sans moi- burst into laughter. I glared at all of them.

"Traitors," I said.

"Oh, come on!" Matt said,"You should've seen the look on your face!" I scowled at him.

"You-" I was cut off by my ringing phone. Embry. I sighed and answered him."Hey, Em," I said.

"Hey, honey," he answered,"How was your day?" he asked.

"Pretty..." I paused, searching for the right word," Well, I can't describe it so I'll tell you all about it later." He cuckled.

"Okay, then," he said,"D'you wanna come see Mom tonight? She's wanted to see you," he said and whispered,"She made me say this." I laughed and heard a faint Embry Stephen Call from the phone. Must've been his Mom.

"Sure, I'd love to," I said and felt Matt nudge my arm and mouth 'Bowling' to me but I stuck my tongue out at him and ignored him."So, pick me up after school?" I suggested.

"Great," he said," Miss you already." I smiled though I knew he wouldn't see it.

"Miss you, too. See you then."

"See you. Love you," he said before he ended the call. Matt scowled at me.

"I thought you were coming with us today," he said accusingly. Nessie, Stacey and Brad laughed.

"Well, I also thought you'd back me up when I needed you to," I answered.

"Touché," Brad commented. I smiled triumphantly. Matt rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he mumbled," So are you coming to the Final?" he asked."You must," he added with a bit of a warning tone in there.

"When is it anyways?" I asked.

"Thursday," he answered in a 'duh' tone. I think my mouth hung open. THIS Thursday?

I regained my composure,"Red and white, right?" I confirmed. He sighed.

"It's your own damn school," he muttered,"Coming or not?" he asked.

"Of course!" I said and pinched his shoulder."I told you I would, right?" He half-smiled.

"Well, you also said you would go bowling," he retorted. I grinned.

"Wouldn't miss this game for anything," I said. I knew how much this game meant to him and the whole school, and I was his best friend. So, of course I would! Maybe Embry would even come with me. I mean, why not?

After all, it's just a game.

He ended his kisses with one right on the corner of my mouth. He rested his forehead on mine, breathing heavily as I was. He smiled a toothy- dimple showing smile, not helping me with my breathing issue at all. He held my waist tight as he set me back on the floor, careful enough not to scratch my back in the process as I leaned on the wooden, outer wall of his house. He straightened my jacket and hair for me and I bit my lip.

"Here you go," he breathed," Just as perfect as ever," he added. I kissed his cheek.

"We'd better not keep your Mom waiting for longer," I said, still gathering my breath. He nodded and held my hand, walking ever-so-slowly towards the entrance of his house.

"Anything interesting at school today?" he asked and I chuckled at the memory of today.

"Yeah there was this guy who asked me to the winter dance," I said and paused to watch his expression- My turn to be amused at him for once- His face was quite unreadable but I felt his grip on my hand get stronger,"And my friends wanted to set me up to go with him." I wanted to sound like I had finished but I didn't succeed, apparently.

"Mmhmm?" he encouraged, his hand on the door knob, pausing.

"Relax, Em, I'm not going with him," I said with a chuckle," Did you seriously think I would?" He shrugged."Anyways, Nessie managed to save me. Oh, and there's this- Okay, wait," I said as he started to turn the knob. He looked at me questioningly. I bit my lip again and took a deep breath; I never asked a guy to a dance before, but it was just Embry...No, that didn't make me relax. "The dance is on Friday..." I trailed off, looking at the blue sky that was covered with a lot of clouds,"So, do you want to go with me there? You know, just- you- Uh," I stuttered and he chuckled and kissed my forehead.

"Of course I would," he said,"Who else would drive you there?" I scowled at him.

"Is that it?" I raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugged and tried to look indifferent as we entered.

"Oh and maybe be your date, why not?" he said and I hit his arm. He laughed a booming laugh and slid a hand on my waist,"Sure, angel."

"Where did that come from?" I asked. He just shrugged again before calling for his Mom, Amber.

Angel.

I like that.

So I tried my best to make this chapter more detailed than the rest, did it make any difference to you? Good? Bad? What do you think?

Oh, and I found this model the other day that I thought- and LiLAnnie123 thought the same, too- that she would be the Mary we imagined. Here's the link:

www(dot)newfaces(dot)com/sespinoza

If you bother to check it, tell me if she's like what you have imagined or not =)

Again, PLEASE tell me what you think. I worked really hard on this one, though it might not seem like it, and I tried to make a change, so, I honestly NEED your opinion, please.

Oh and thanks a lot for reviewing the last chapter and telling me what you really think =)

REVIEW!

xoxo