Holy crap that was fast! Does everyone always respond almost immediately to a new story? I know the whole First Beach bonfire thing is pretty much what happened in Twilight, but I honestly had no idea how else to let the two of them meet. La Push isn't exactly a tourist destination with theme parks. Then again, maybe it will be in real life now that Twilight made it famous. Thank you thank you thank you for reading.

Last time:

One of them caught my attention more than most. He was fairly good looking, with reddish brown skin and short black hair and dark eyes. He was also staring like a goldfish, a man that had never seen the sun, someone who had just witnessed a miracle.

And he was staring directly at me.

I nudged Mason, who was sitting next to me, though he was actually acting social. "Who're they?"

Mason looked up, "The freakishly tall ones? They live on the rez. I think their names are Jake, Embry, Quil, and Seth, but I don't know them all that well."

I lowered my voice in the hopes no one would hear me. "Who's the one staring at us?"

"Us? That's Seth, and I'm pretty sure he's looking at you, hun. Good luck!" Mason winked. I wanted to sink into the ground.

"Hi!" Cassie yelled out, waving her hand, "Want to join us?"

"Sure," one of them, the tallest, said, "I'm Jake, this is Quil, Embry, and Seth." As he said names, he gestured toward each. When he looked at Seth, he looked momentarily shocked. Oh good, I wasn't the only one noticing his weird behavior; I haven't gone crazy after all.

"Hey Seth, come on," he back at the rest of us. "'Scuse us for a second." He grabbed Seth by the arm and the two of them walked off towards the woods.

The other two, Quil and Embry, gave each other knowing looks and sat down, farther away from the fire than I would've sat, given their summer wardrobes. They started talking to some of the others, Allie, Cassie, and another girl named Vivian. Was it just my imagination, or were they looking at me a bit curiously? I was sure they were. Every time I saw them doing it, they would pointedly stare at something else.

Allie started introducing everyone, "…and this is Haley." I looked up when she said my name. Coming back toward us were Seth and Jake, or the ones with the normal names. Oh great, just when I thought I'd been embarrassed enough, he had to come back to ogle me some more. When someone's looking at you like that, everyone else looks at you too.

Mason noticed that Seth was coming back and got up from his spot next to me to go sit next to Allie, winking at me again in the process. Thanks, thanks a lot.

Seth was coming closer. Please, please don't sit next to me. I knew I'd cause myself utter humiliation if he did, even if he was really cute. "Fairly good looking," what was I thinking? He was absolutely amazing! That gave me even more reason not to want him to sit next to me. What would he possibly want with me? He could get pretty much any girl he wanted, what with that face and that body. I, on the other hand, had never been asked out, flirted with, asked to dance, or anything else like that. I'd been starting to think I gave off a weird anti-boy vibe. I wasn't hideous or obese or anything.

He came over and sat down next to me. Rats. "Hi, you new here? I'm Seth Clearwater." Oh my gosh his voice! I had to calm down. There was no way he'd be interested in me at all. He was still staring at me, though. I ran my tongue over my teeth, trying to check for any bit of food from lunch. No, nothing. Why was he still staring at me?

"Y-yes," I managed to stutter out. I took a deep breath, trying to make the butterflies in my stomach go away. No luck. "I'm Haley Adams."

"Where are you from?" he asked, actually sounding genuinely interested in the answer.

"Massachusetts," I said, faking a Bah-ston accent. I couldn't resist. Now that he was here, I realized I wanted him to stay. Attempting humor seemed like a good way to go about that.

"Wow," he said, "That's a long way."

"Tell me about it. It's so different here. I mean, I lived on the coast by a lot of forest but it just looks and feels so different. Not just because of the rain, either."

He grinned. "What grade are you in?"

After I answered that question and asked it in return, he started quizzing me on almost everything. After a while I learned that he was in the eleventh grade, was sixteen, had an older sister named Leah, had no pets, his favorite animal was a wolf (he looked a bit amused as he said this one), his favorite color was green, and he liked pizza.

When he got to, "What's your favorite book?" I smiled. "I don't really have a favorite book. I have way too many books that I like to choose a favorite."

"Name one that you like, then," he insisted.

I lifted the book that I was currently reading off my lap. It was Eragon. I had always been a huge fan of fantasy; I often wished I lived in a place where magical things were possible. I handed the rather tattered book to him. He flipped it over and started reading the back. Hmmm, he was not a very fast reader. He handed it back to me.

"Looks cool," he said, "Maybe I'll read it sometime."

"Maybe, it's really good. It's about my seventh time reading it. You could borrow it if you like." I handed it out to him. He reached for it tentatively, and held it like it might shatter into a million pieces.

"Thanks," he grinned again. He had such straight, white teeth. My teeth were straight too, after no little amount of orthodontia funded by my parents. I tried to look at him without it being obvious that I was doing it. It was useless, but it didn't really matter. He was still staring at me.

It was at that moment that Mason's older brother, the chauffeur, called out, "Come on, everybody! I'm leaving with the car, with or without you!"

"I guess I have to go," I said, smiling wryly up at Seth. I started to get up, but he touched my hand. I jumped, a reflex action, not because I was startled but because his hand was burning hot!

"Sorry about that," he said, "I run a little hotter than most people. It runs in the family. Would you like to come over here to a bonfire tomorrow- Saturday- night? I can pick you up around six if you tell me where your house is."

The hallelujah chorus sounded at full volume in my head. Had I heard correctly? Had I just been asked out on a date? Good grief I needed to pinch myself! No, bad idea, he would think I was nuts!

"Um, sure, that would be great," it came out sounding like a question. That was better than me sounding as excited as I actually was. That would've scared him away for sure. I told him my cell phone number and new address, almost giving him my old address in the process. No better way to spoil a date than to make the guy late and unable to find you.

I dashed to catch up with the others, who were already waiting inside the car, almost falling on the slippery rocks. I caught myself, though and climbed into the backseat next to Allie.

She looked over to me, "He seemed nice," she said with a smile, turning to look at him as he walked away with his friends.

I was unable to keep myself from smiling as I answered, "Yeah, he asked me out for tomorrow night."

She looked impressed, and a bit puzzled. I hadn't exactly been the most social person around them, preferring to do my own thing. Around him, though, I had opened up considerably. She probably guessed that I liked him.

My face burned. I knew that other people went on dates all the time without turning the color of a ripe tomato but I couldn't help it. I hoped I'd get used to it before I got home so that I could tell my parents without them asking what was wrong. My dad was going to be hard to handle without that.

I looked outside the window as we drove past. I seemed to find much more beauty in the scenery and the patterns the rain was making in the window than before. I tuned out all the rowdy conversation in the car and continued to stare at the forest lining the roadway.

At one point I thought I saw some sort of huge sandy brown animal through the foliage, but decided it must've been my imagination. The only animal I could think of that would be that big was a bear and I didn't think there were any bears that color around here.

Since I lived so close to Mason and his brother, I was the last to be dropped off. I walked into the house and was greeted by the loud yaps of Dan's dog. "Ankle-biter," I mumbled under my breath. "I'm home!" I called out next.

My mom walked out of the kitchen and hugged me. "Hey, have fun?"

Now was my chance. I had to spit it out before Dad came and made it awkward. Mom would be much more happy (ah hem) overjoyed about it. She was popular in high school and didn't know where she went wrong with me.

"Yeah, a lot of fun," I gave the most innocent smile I knew how. "There was this really nice guy named Seth there too and he asked me out for tomorrow night," I said hurriedly. I wanted to get it over with.

"Oh, that's so nice Haley! Your first date!"

"Haley's going on a date?" Sophie really has got to stop eavesdropping. This is turning into a problem.

"It's just a bonfire with him, and some friends of his, I guess. Nothing special," I insisted.

"Come on Haley! It is too. Oh, and you're not allowed to wear anything like that," Sophie pointed at my jeans, rain boots, and oversized sweatshirt.

"Soph, will you please just leave me alone?" I begged, walking upstairs.

"No can do," she followed me up. "We share a room now, remember?"

"How could I possibly forget?" I said sarcastically. She was really starting to bug me now. She followed me into our room and watched as I lay down on my bed.

"Okay, now you have to find out what you're wearing tomorrow," said Sophie. She went into my dresser and started throwing clothes on my bed, (i.e. on top of me). I covered my face with my pillow. After a few minutes, when she still hadn't left me alone, I got up and pulled my clothes away from her.

"You can't just decide what I'm going to wear! It's going to be a bonfire! I'll look stupid wearing these."

Sophie gritted her teeth. I could practically see the light bulb flash above her head before she called out, "Haley's got a boyfriend!"

Naturally, this led both of my brothers to come into the room and start going "Ooooooooh" and singing that stupid song about sitting in a tree and k-i-s-s-i-n-g. Hadn't they outgrown that dumb song yet?

I yanked the pillow back over my face, which was apparently the wrong move because they instantly started taking the pillow from me and hitting me with all the pillows in the room.

"Mooooooo-ooooom!" I screeched. She had a rule against screeching her name but I frankly didn't give a hoot at the moment. I could've gotten past either one of them alone, I could've taken either in a fight, but together, Chris and Dan were the terrible twosome.

My mom called back, "What'd I say about screaming my name?" Figures. Those siblings of mine are crafty. I squirmed with difficulty out of my room, grabbing a book on the way, and walked into the kitchen, which had a large view of the forest. Just as I opened the book, I could've sworn I saw another flash of the sandy brown I'd seen earlier, but I blinked and it was gone.

The rest of the night and most of the next day seemed to drag. Time always did when I was anticipating something. I couldn't sleep. The rain that I had become more accustomed to over the last two weeks had started to sound soothing, but tonight it was like someone was banging on a drum set. I tossed and turned for hours until finally drifting off around four in the morning.

As always, I woke up late. This time, I practically set a record. One in the afternoon! Was my family crazy? Why would they leave me in bed past lunchtime? I sometimes think that they just get a kick out of my sleeping abilities. Or maybe they had tried to wake me but given up. Both were valid possibilities.

I spent the next five or so hours alternately jumping up and down and reading. I didn't bother getting too dressed up. I just wore my jeans and rain boots. No one could accuse me of not trying to look nice, though. I had on a pretty sweater. Sophie would probably try to jump me. There are advantages to being three years older and twenty pounds heavier, though. She failed. Haley: 1, Sophie: 0.

I was sitting in the kitchen, trying to distract myself by talking to my mother (it didn't work) when the doorbell rang.

I jumped up, grabbed the dog before he could jump on him (not that he could do a lot of damage, Seth looked like the type who could take a Maltese attack) and tried to get to the door before my dad could.

I opened the door and, smiling down at me like I'd just made his day, was Seth.