Enigmatical
By wired2damoon
Chapter 6: Arrangements And Arrivals
A/N: Hey everyone, thanks again for all the lovely reviews, I'm a little disheartened that I've so few but hey what ya gonna do? I may discontinue, but I enjoy writing too much at the moment! So please, if you like what you read, let me know. -wired2damoon-
- Claire's POV -
Okay, so I'm feeling a little guilty right now, and who could blame me really?
I just spent the entire morning, lying and convincing Quil to do something he obviously doesn't want to do.
Not to mention the fact, I told him I was going to see Nessie when in reality I got her to cover for me (something she was not entirely over-joyed to do) whilst I really snuck off to rendezvous with some random stranger.
So yeah, I'm feeling pretty shitty right about now.
That is, until I saw…him…
Alright, call me a big, swooning girl if you want but c'mon, in fairness, you have not seen this guy.
Okay, okay, so I'll be the first to admit, he has nothing on the muscles front compared to a few wolf boys I know, but apart from that, he is 100 per cent god-like (and believe me, it kills me to say something like that).
I never really was the type to swoon or gush over the opposite sex, I found it pathetic and a huge waste of my time, (that and the fact that there was no one to swoon or gush over) but now, now I can kind of see why some sickeningly giggly girls do that sort of thing. Well, kind of.
But I will not let his drop-dead-gorgeousness distract me, he is just a guy after all, not a god Claire, remember that, I mean for the love of Pete, you don't believe in any Gods!
"Hey Claire," he smiled, his perfect, straight…STOP IT CLAIRE!!
"Oh, hey Cody", I replied, smiling as I heard the uber-casual tone flow from my lips.
Oh yeah, I have this casual, 'calm-the-hell-down-he's-just-a-guy' thing mastered!
And the ball started rolling, we were off to another wonderful start…
It's like I said, he's too easy to talk to!
Now if only I could stop thinking about my guilt over Quil…
- General POV -
"Good day and thank you for flying with us. We hope you enjoy your stay."
The young girl breathed a sigh of relief as she stood up and stretched. That had to have been the longest flight she ever had to endure.
It was horrible enough sitting for eight hours with absolutely nothing to do, without having to listen to a screaming baby and a moaning, impatient business man the entire time!
She was just glad it was over.
All she had to do now, was get off the plane, gather her luggage at the airport, look for a woman holding a sign with her name on it and then she could finally start enjoying herself!
She just hoped that what Claire had told her in her emails about Forks and La Push were true, otherwise, she'd be seriously pissed off after the day she's had…
- Claire's POV-
"So…this was nice," Cody smirked across the table at me, drinking the last of his coffee.
"Yeah, it was", I said, sounding almost dreamy. Oh for the love of crud I think I actually am going to puke soon.
He leaned a little bit closer to me, his elbows pressed on the table and I could feel my breath catch in my throat. His aftershave was sending my brain into a downward spiral.
"So, hey, I'd really like it if, you know, we could do this again sometime, but, maybe in a different setting?"
Wow. Am I actually being asked out on a proper date? This is one for the books…
"I'd like that," I replied, seemedly incapable of a lengthier response.
Cody flashed me another one of his award-winning smiles, looking pleased by my response, how ever brief.
"Good, good, I hear there's an awesome cinema near by in Port Angeles, how about we go there next Saturday?"
I was so excited by this, I could hardly think straight.
"That sounds great, I can't wait", oh fabulous, now I'm speaking in rhyme.
He laughed lightly as I blushed a deep crimson, my eyes darting to my lap.
"Hey…" he cooed, leaning even closer to my face and forcing me to look at him, "why don't you show me around a little before you've to head back? There's still quite a few places I haven't had the pleasure of seeing yet."
I laughed at his attempt to rid me of my embarrassment, "yeah sure, just don't get your hopes up too high now…we're not Hollywood you know."
Oh my God, such a bad joke. Such a very, very bad joke Claire!
Claire Young walking around La Push with a hot guy beside her is like Paris Hilton walking down Beverly Hills making kissy faces with Donald Thrump on her arm…everyone stares, their mouths hanging open, inwardly screaming "WHAT THE FUCK?"
Fortunately, I was too engrossed in conversation to notice much around me, from the death glares and astonished expressions I was receiving from some of my female classmates to the look of sceptical apprehension and expressions of mild interest from my male classmates.
Cody, it seemed, failed to notice these glances too, either that or he was just being polite and not acknowledging them.
As we finished off our ice-creams, I glanced around at the people near us.
My eyes went wide when I saw someone very familiar walking in our direction.
"Oh shit!" I gasped, dumping the rest of my ice-cream in the trash can and grabbing Cody's arm, pulling him off the bench and over towards the bushes.
"Claire what're you-"
"-No time, just come on!" I exclaimed, knowing well I must of sounded like a lunatic, but not caring.
Quil can not see me with Cody. Quil can NOT see me with Cody!! Thank frick he had his head turned or he would have seen us, meters away or not!
"Quick, get behind here!" I hissed, pulling Cody down with me as I kneeled down behind the shrubs.
"Claire what-"
"-Shh!" I whispered, putting my finger to my lips as Quil drew closer to the bench that we just occupied moments before.
I sure as hell hoped he wasn't in the mood to put his bionic hearing to the test.
I saw Cody peer through the bush and frown, before leaning so close to me I almost felt faint.
"You don't have a boyfriend or something, do you Claire?" he murmured, sounding both a little disappointed and frustrated.
I looked out at Quil, who seemed like he was waiting for someone, my heart sinking a little, "no, no I don't have a boyfriend."
Why did I sound so disappointed? I should be happy I don't, shouldn't I?
"Well, is he like an ex-boyfriend or something?" Cody asked softly, gesturing to Quil warily.
I could tell he was a little put off by Quil's…uh…stature.
"N-No, he-he's not an ex-boyfriend or anything, he's my best friend", I replied, feeling a little uneasy.
Cody frowned at me, "if he's only your best friend, then why are we hiding from him?"
Well, he sure got me there.
"Uh…well…its kind of hard to explain, I guess its because he uh…is VERY over-protective and kind of thinks that I'm at my friend Nessie's house", I replied, feeling stupider by the second.
But honesty is the best policy right?
"So you lied to him? Why?"
Geez this boy asks some seriously awkward questions.
"Uh…"
Why exactly was it that I lied to him again? I can't remember making a conscious decision, it was almost involuntary. I didn't want Quil knowing I was dating, I knew that for sure. All I wasn't sure of was exactly WHY I didn't want him to know.
It's because you don't want him to be all over-protective, a voice reminded me.
Yeah, yeah that's it, I don't want him to be over-protective and worry about me!
Then why do you suddenly feel so guilty? Like you're betraying him? The voice asked, sounding like Nessie all of a sudden.
My heart lurched painfully. I was so not ready to answer those questions.
You have to stop lying to yourself Claire! Don't even try and deny how good and content you felt today when he picked you up and hugged you -
- Stop! I inwardly yelled at the Nessie voice, my eyes growing wide at the implications she was planting in my brain.
Wow…I'm having an inner-argument with myself, yep, Quil was right all along, I am nuts.
Quil…
I could see Cody in my peripheral vision, glancing at me as I stared in a trace-like way at Quil.
"Claire?"
"I don't know why I lied to him, I just did. Look, can we just go?" I whispered or more like tried to whisper but it came out more as a snap, not looking directly at him, my eyes still darting to the solitary Quil on the bench.
Cody shrugged his shoulders, "yeah sure, let's go," he mumbled.
Oh great, this must be a world record, I have him wary of me in two whole days. Oh joy. Well done Claire!
"I'm sorry Cody, I didn't mean to snap at you or anything, I just…I've been under a lot of stress lately with the exchange student coming today and getting ready to go back to school and all, please just feel free to tell me to shut up at any time", I added jokily, a wave of relief washing over me as he cracked a smile.
"I'd never tell you to shut up Claire, but I may just have tell you to be quiet every so often", he whispered back and the two of us fought not to laugh.
Slowly, we stood up (stay a little hunched) and walked off in the opposite direction. I had to continuously remind myself not to look back at Quil and stop wondering what he was doing sitting on the bench on his own and not letting who the hell he might be waiting for, get to me…
We were safely out of view and hearing range of Quil when my cell-phone rang.
I threw Cody a apologetic smile before answering.
"Hello?"
"Claire its Mom."
"Oh hey Mom, what's up?"
"Honey, have you forgotten what time it is?"
I frowned and looked at my watch.
Oh shoot, it's 6:15. Had I really just spent the better half of the day with Cody? Wow…time really does fly.
"Oh right sorry, are you going to collect Erin now?" I asked, chancing a glance at Cody who was walking by my side, looking off in his own little world.
"Yeah, I'm leaving now, her plane should be landed by now and I don't want to keep her waiting. Tell Nessie she can come over tonight and meet her if she wants and be home in the next ten minutes please Claire, just to give the house a last look over", my mom said sweetly, but really meaning, get the hell home right now or you're in trouble missy!
"Alright, I'll be home soon, bye."
"Bye sweetie."
Sighing, I hung up and saw that Cody was now looking at me expectantly.
"Gotta go?" he asked, and I couldn't help but notice the sad look in his eyes.
Geez, I really think this guy is too good to be true…
"Yeah…Erin's plane just landed, my mom is gone to collect her at the airport and I gotta get home and make sure you could eat off the floor before she gets here."
Cody smirked and shook his head, "so…can I call you or is it too soon to exchange numbers?"
I pursed my lips, jerking my head to the side as I observed him silently.
Did I trust him enough to give him my number so soon? He seemed like a good-guy, but then again, appearances can be deceiving…
"How about…we just meet up on Saturday and take it from there. What time is good for you?"
We were better off staying in public places and not knowing any major personal details for now. Some may call me suspicious and paranoid yet I just call myself cautious.
There are some weirdos around. Humph! Says the girl who hangs around with vampires and werewolves in her everyday life.
"Yeah sure, that's fine, how's eight for you? We could go see that new horror movie that's out", he suggested off handily.
Ha! If he thinks I'll cuddle up to him at the 'horror' movie, he's gonna be sooo disappointed. It takes a lot to scare me buddy!
"Yeah sure, that's awesome, so I'll…see ya then?" I asked, beginning to walk backwards towards my street.
"Yeah, meet you in the lobby. Bye Claire", he waved, heading in the opposite direction, around the corner and out of my sight.
I heaved a sigh, turned back around and headed for home, I'd have to do a speedy check around the house, Erin would be here any minute!
- Quil's POV -
I hate this.
Why the hell did I ever agree to this?
Oh yeah, I remember, because Claire asked me to.
Claire, Claire, Claire, the reason for my existence.
And so, I sit here now, on a park bench, waiting on the one guy that could possibly help me with this mess.
Jacob Black.
As if on cue, I see him walking towards me, and shift over to make room for him on the bench.
"Hey man, how was Paris?"
Jacob smirked and sat down, clapping me on the shoulder.
"Ah it was alright, a little too artsy fartsy for me but you know, Nessie was there so…anyways what's this I hear about Claire finding you a date?"
And so I launched into the horribleness that was this morning, explaining in detail, exactly what Claire had made me agree to.
Jacob nodded in understanding, not interrupting once.
When I had finished, he took a deep breath and squeezed my shoulder.
"It's just a teenage girl thing Quil, she'll come around. You're her best friend and she thinks that this will make you happy, she'll soon realise her mistake when she sees you with another woman."
I groaned, "but Jake, I don't think I can do this! I mean how would you feel if Nessie made you date someone else instead of her and you had to do it because it made her happy?"
A dark look came over Jake's face all of a sudden, making me frown deeply.
"She suggested it once, I almost got sick at the thought of being with someone else…" he murmured, looking away from me.
I rolled my eyes, "exactly. That's what I'm talking about! I mean how the hell am I supposed to get through this?"
Jake sighed, "look Quil, trust me, as soon as Claire sees you with another girl, I mean actually having fun with her, she'll immediately regret ever trying to set you up. Imprinting practically works both ways you know, she'll feel like the woman is stepping on what's her's."
I looked down at my hands, "I dunno Jake, Claire isn't like most girls, she thinks differently to them. Maybe she won't care at all, maybe we were only ever meant to stay friends…"
I heard Jacob inhale a large breath at my exclamation, "Quil, when has it ever happened that an imprint hasn't returned the appropriate feelings?"
Okay, so I know that it had never happened, as far as the two packs were concerned. Every imprint (so far) had returned the werewolves feelings without question, but whose to say that it would never happen? There's a first time for everything…
When I expressed my views to Jake, he shook his head, "why wouldn't she return your feelings Quil? You're perfect for her in every way. Look, I know you wanted to wait until she was eighteen to tell her everything, but you know, I think Claire is a smart girl and would take it all in her stride. Why don't you tell her on her seventeenth?"
I'll admit, the man had a point. Okay, so what if I had been putting off telling Claire that I imprinted on her? That wasn't cowardly, it was clever. The question now though was, is Claire ready to hear it?
"Hey Jake, why did Nessie suggest to you that you date?" I asked, still feeling a little confused as to why Claire would want the same for me.
The alpha-wolf now looked a little uncomfortable, twisting his hands together in his lap, "uh well…she was thinking about dating herself, and I guess she didn't want me to be alone. I soon convinced her out of dating though", he finished, smirking knowingly at me.
Oh god, I think I just died.
"HOLY FUCK! YOU DON'T THINK CLAIRE'S DATING DO YOU?" I yelled, utter panic rising in my chest, not caring that I was attracting some very concerned looks from the few people a little away from us.
"Calm down Quil, she's probably not", he hissed, looking around us.
I did as I was told and tried to slow down my rapid pulse and breathing deeply.
Then, something occurred to me.
"Wait, what do you mean probably?" I asked fearfully.
Jacob ran his hand over his face for a moment, rubbing his eyes, "well…Rachel was dating a guy for a while when she met Paul and continued dating him for at least two weeks before breaking it off. So yeah, it definitely is possible considering that Claire is completely oblivious to your imprinting, that she could date another guy, at least, for a while, before realising that no one apart from you is any good for her."
My heart sank into the depths of my stomach as he said that.
Could it be? Could my Claire-bear actually be secretly dating someone and trying to pawn me off on another woman to stop me investigating her love-life? Yeah…that definitely sounded like something she would do…
"Yeah, that definitely sounds possible," I admitted, gritting my teeth, "that doesn't make it any easier."
"Well of course it doesn't Quil, but you just have to be patient with her. She has to figure out how she feels about you on her own terms, you don't want to spring this on her suddenly. Only tell her when she's seventeen if you think she's ready to hear it."
I nodded, taking in everything Jake had said and thanking him for it.
I wanted to engage in more conversation but I found my mind wandering, the same question torturing me.
Who the hell was my Claire dating?
I may not know now, but I was sure as hell going to find out…
- General POV -
Lana Young smiled across to the young girl sitting in the passenger seat.
She seemed like a lovely girl, so nice and polite, but her appearance was a little startling in Lana's opinion.
She had dark, black hair with purple highlights that went down to her waist, she had her lip pierced and wore very outlandish clothes and black nail polish on her nails.
But Lana didn't hold this against her, for her own daughter wore quite strange clothes and listened heavy rock music and she knew it was just all the range this decade. (A?N: Wow, I'm making Lana sound so "un-cool" aren't I? She's not really.)
She was very beautiful, this girl, Erin O'Connell. She had the most startling green eyes Lana had ever seen and the clearest skin that was obviously the envy of most girls.
The older woman couldn't help but smile as Erin continued talking a mile a minute (she was so like Claire) even as they pulled into the driveway.
"Wow…you have a lovely house Lana", she spoke, her eastern-Irish accent awestruck.
"Well thank you Erin, you come on in and make yourself at home, I'll grab your bags out of the car…" Lana replied as the exited the car.
"Oh no, no, there's no need I'll do it. The exercise will do me good," she laughed, already pulling her bags out of the back and up the lawn.
Lana let out a steady breath, that girl was strong.
Erin waited patiently at the door as Lana fished out her keys.
Once the door was open, she ushered her in and called out, "Claire, Erin is here!"
There was a bound of footsteps heard over-head, steadily quickening as they raced down the stairs.
Erin turned just in time to see Claire skid to a halt in the living room, mere feet from her.
"Hello Erin, it's nice to finally meet you", she said politely, inching closer and extending her hand.
Erin shook it heartily, replying, "it's nice to meet you too Claire."
The two girls embraced, giving each other a quick, tight hug, before stepping back.
"So…" Claire started, "how was your flight?"
A look of annoyance passed over the Irish girl's face before she sighed, "ugh it was long!"
The three woman laughed lightly, but were interrupted by the doorbell ringing.
"Oh, that'll be Nessie," Claire exclaimed, racing out to answer the door.
Erin threw Lana a look that clearly said, 'Nessie?' but Lana just shook her head and smiled.
"Of course, he insisted on coming and meeting the new girl", came a beautifully melodic voice from the hallway, steadily growing nearer to the living room.
"Embry, you're so nosy!" Claire muttered and Erin could tell she was rolling her eyes.
"Well, I try", answered a male voice, presumably the young man called Embry.
Claire and Nessie came into view first and Nessie headed straight for Erin.
"Hey Erin, I'm Reneesme, but you can just call me Nessie, everyone else does", she smiled, shaking her hand.
Erin was gob-smacked. Reneesme, or Nessie as she liked to be called, had to be one of the most beautiful young women she had ever seen in her entire life.
"It's nice to meet you too Nessie", she murmured, turning to the young man Embry who hung back and failed to say anything.
She frowned as she saw he was just staring at her with the oddest look on his handsome face.
Claire and Nessie saw Erin's frown and they too turned to look at Embry with interest.
"Uh…hi, I'm Erin", the Irish girl said a little nervously, extending her hand to shake his.
Embry just continued to stare directly into her face, his mouth hanging slightly open, looking as if he hadn't heard a word she just said.
"Oh boy…" Nessie mumbled, looking a tad uncomfortable.
Claire was gaping now, looking at her new friend and back to Embry with an astonished look on her face.
"No…Ness, please don't tell me-"
The beautiful girl cut her off with a curt nod.
Erin looked back at Embry, dropping her hand which he failed to shake, feeling a little uneasy, "uh…are you okay?"
Suddenly, Embry roused from the little staring trance he was in, and jumped, exclaiming a little loudly, "uh…uh y-yeah, I-I'm good…"
Erin frowned and looked away from him, "okay…"
Lana was now fidgeting nervously, her eyes moving from Embry and back to Erin rapidly, "uh…Erin why don't you and I take your stuff upstairs and I'll show you your room?"
Erin nodded silently and threw a small smile in Nessie's direction, avoiding Embry's gaze, a blush attacking her cheeks as followed Lana out of the room, but not before hearing Claire exclaim, "oh shit, how the hell are we going to explain this?"
A/N: Mawhaha I'm evil I know! Embry imprinted on the Irish girl! Sigh…wish it was me…ha! I got this idea as I'm heading to Florida on Friday and thought it'd be interesting to drop an Irish girl into the story. Just to clear things up, Erin is not my name, its Lyndsey, that is not a physical description of me (although there are similarities, such as I have a lip piercing, have had purple hair in the past and a similar dress sense) but that's it. Hope you're enjoying things so far, I don't know when I'll be able to update next, but maybe I might get one more chapter in before I go on vacation. Thankies again to all the lovely reviewers!
-wired2damooon-