Chapter 26: The Bitch.

Laurence's POV.

I was going to a party in Forks, Washington—a cold, wet and sunless town. Was I supposed to be excited? I kind of appreciated going on vacation. I just wished it was somewhere nice like Jamaica or Mexico.

The mom of Embry's friend, Seth, was getting married and they wanted him to go to the engagement party. Embry wanted me to come and once he asked me, saying no wasn't even an option. I could never say no to him, not when he asked me so nicely.

I checked my make-up one last time and made sure my purple dress wasn't wrinkled then opened the door. My heart skipped several beats when I gazed at Embry. He was so handsome in a classy get-up of black pants and a blue buttoned down shirt with a tie. I'd never seen him in anything other than jeans and a tee-shirt. I couldn't help smiling.

"What?" Embry seemed a little self conscious.

"Nothing. I just love you allot. That's all."

Embry smiled, "That's awesome." He wrapped his arms around my waist.

"I know, right."

Someone cleared their throat, causing Embry and I to disperse.

"Mom!" Embry complained.

Embry's mom's arms were crossed over her chest as she shook her head at the both of us, "Don't run late." She said before leaving the house and heading to the party.

I had a budge—a tiny budge—that Embry's mom didn't like me. I wasn't sure why , since we had only been here for a few hours—but she'd been avoiding me and didn't seem interested in learning who I was.

I tried not to let it bother me. How could she not like me? She didn't even know me. Once we'd sit down and talk, she'd love me like everyone else.

Embry sighed, "She doesn't like when beautiful woman corrupt me." He said with a grin and pulled me into his chest again.

"I'm corrupting you, now? We'll that's great." I smiled as if that didn't bother me at all. I mean, why would I care about what Embry's mom thought of me? Oh yeah! Because I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him! If any mother mattered, it was his. I sighed.

"Are you okay?" Embry worried, his eyebrows knitting together.

I didn't like when he worried about me when it wasn't necessary. I stretched onto my tip toes and kissed his forehead, "I'm fine, we should go. I don't want us to be late." I pulled on his arm.

"We won't be late." Embry said and I followed him to the kitchen, "I'm going to eat a little before we go. I get self-conscious when I eat in public." He winked at me.

I rolled my eyes, "We better not be late."

"We won't be late."

We arrived to the party late and I was so embarrassed. The room was dead silence before we came in. I whispered "I'm sorry" to about anyone that glanced in our direction and Embry led us to a round table that was seated with several other man who all smiled at our arrival.

I sat next to a handsome boy with bronze skin and light eyes. His gaze was focused on my exposed cleavage for several seconds before he looked up at my face with a nervous grin.

I smiled back at him, having been used to this kind of attention. When you've had a size D cup size since the tenth grade, guys tend to notice. Embry was the first guy to not stare at my chest and I loved him for it.

I looked at the stage where the bride, Sue, stood with a glass of champagne in her hand. Everyone at the long rectangular table on the stage was beautiful. It was easy to believe that they were all from the same family. Three of them had pale white skin and I could see their gold eyes from where I sat in the large room.

I recognized them as the vampires right away. Embry had told me about them and he said I had no reason to fear them. I so wasn't scared.

I presumed that the only humans up there were Sue, the other russet skinned, elderly woman, Charlie—the groom—and the petite blond who was sandwiched between—it was just a wild guess of mine—two werewolves. Seth—the son of the bride—and Leah—the girl werewolf and daughter of the bride. I didn't know who the petite blond was but by the way she looked at Seth, I could only guess she was his girlfriend—and possibly imprint.

The bride made a speech that I paid attention to because I felt so bad for arriving late. Once the speeches were over, the incredibly attractive waiters came in—all male, all super sexy. None of them were nearly as sexy as my Embry. I didn't have to look twice to know that.

"So, you're the famous Laurence." Said the large man with long hair and a grin on his face, "It's really nice to meet you. I'm Jacob." He offered me his hand.

My jaw dropped. The famous Jacob Black! The one I had heard so much about. Embry's best friend and Alpha, "Dude! I know who you are! Don't act like we're strangers. Come here!" I got up and gave Jacob a huge hug.

Jacob laughed.

The guy who was staring at my chest earlier laughed nervously, "Hey, I'm Embry's best friend too." He grinned.

"Oh, you're Quil?"

"Sure," he shrugged and got up with open arms.

I was about to give him a hug when Embry interrupted, with a frown directed to Quil, "He's not Quil. He's Hunter." He hit the boy in the back of the head. "That's Quil."

He pointed at a bigger, paler man with a nice smile, "Hey, Laurence." He got up to hug me.

"Come on! I'm Seth's best friend!" Hunter pointed at the stage where the son of the bride sat, "Don't I get a hug?"

I was going to hug him when Embry stopped me, "Hunter, you disgust me. Sit down." Embry pushed Hunter back in his seat.

I glance at the dark skinned man. He was amazing looking. He had dark skin and light brown eyes, his head was shaven and his facial features were practically perfect. He had a manly jaw, a straight nose…he was perfect…

"Who's you best friend?" I smiled at him.

He seemed a little shy and surprised to see me talking to him but answered, "That girl, the beautiful blonde on stage." He turned around and pointed at the girl next to Seth. "Oh, and Laurence, my name is Nahuel." He nodded. He had the slightest accent that I had never heard before but it fascinated me with its exoticness.

The food came in and it was delicious. We all talked like old friends which made me feel less self-conscious of people disliking me. I knew that Embry's mom would come around eventually.

We were all laughing when I got up, "Can you guys excuse me? I have to go…you know?" I left to go to the washroom. It wasn't too hard to find. The Clearwater's had rented a room at a hotel, or something, to do this party. It was a tad extravagant—with a huge guest list—but I loved it! And I loved all of Embry's friends and I loved the food. I couldn't wait to see my next day in Forks.

When I reached the door of the washroom, I saw her doing her make-up. The petite blonde that was on the stage was in a room that I was about to enter! I remembered her name was Silver since I had heard it in the speech—Sue had called her my future-daughter-in-law. She had to be Seth's imprint! I was sure of it! But was her name really Silver? That sounded more like a nickname than an actual name.

OMG! I was in the room with another girl that had been imprinted on! I had so many questions to ask her. We were practically sister. I was extremely excited to get acquainted with this stranger.

"Hi!" I said, using my most friendly and welcoming voice. My smile came naturally; I was psyched to meet this girl.

She didn't hear me. She put her purse on the counter next to the sink and rummaged through it.

"My name is Laurence." I presented myself but my throat must have been dried because she didn't seem aware of my presence. Maybe she was deaf. That would have been so sad! I got settled at the sink next to her and put my purse on the counter like she had.

She pulled her lip gloss out of her bra which caused me to giggle. We already had so much in common, "I do that too! All the time. What's your name?" I cocked my head to the side and focused my gaze on her so she could notice my presence. I was getting a little nervous with her ignoring me like this.

My staring seemed to affect her because after applying her pink lip gloss, she laughed and turned to face me with a smile, "Okay, I don't like you, so, please stop talking to me." She didn't say her words harshly but they were really mean. She then rubbed her lips together as if she hadn't just insulted me and turned to look at herself in the mirror again.

"How could you not like me? You don't even know me." I asked incredulously. I thought this boat had sailed. The I-don't-know-Laurence-but-I'm-gonna-hate-her boat and it seemed to be getting even more popular.

"I know enough," she muttered.

"What did you say?"

She sighed and turned to face me. For a fraction of a second she seemed intimidated—I was much bigger than she was. It didn't matter though. I wasn't getting in a fight today. Or any day.

"Here's the thing, Laurence," She kept a sweet smile on her face. She said my name like it was a curse word. It made her seem meaner though. More smug and intimidating. "You might not know who I am, but I know who you are. I don't like you. Deal with it."

I wrinkled my nose. How nasty was this girl. She looked like a real bitch from where I was standing. She really seemed like she had a personal problem with me. Personally. But I didn't know her. "What's your problem?"

"To be honest; you are."

My jaw dropped. I was sick and tired of being judged like this, "Why? I've never done anything to you or your family."

She scoffed, "Funny you should say that. Do you know Amber?"

"No," I answered without even thinking about the name. It didn't seem familiar to me when asked so abruptly.

She laughed, "Amber is Embry's ex-girlfriend. The girl he was in love with before he met you. You know? The girl he was with when you two started dating."

I was so surprised and confused. Had I misinterpreted everything? Had I imagined the whole thing? She wasn't the imprint but Seth's friend? She was Embry's ex-girlfriend? I shook away all guilt because none of this was my fault and she had no right to be this mean to me."You're Amber."

She laughed once, "Worse, I'm her sister." And now she was threatening me. I couldn't believe my ears!

My heart was beating fast and I was fully aware that things would be getting very ugly, very quickly. Even though on the inside I was kind of freaking out, on the outside, I was being brave and focussing on the fact that this bitch was crazy, "Should I be afraid?" I looked at her up and down—her frame was tiny and I was at least 15 pounds heavier than she was, "I don't think so." I snorted.

"I think you should get out of my face."She retorted. Threatening me, again. She really thought she was scary. I looked at her shinny blond hair, her round face and bright eyes and wondered on what planet was this girl—not woman but literally a girl—a threat.

"Thinking isn't you high point, isn't it?" I pouted, teasing the baby in front of me.

"Blonde joke; very creative." She rolled her eyes.

I don't know why I said what I said next. I guess I wanted her to feel as bad as she made me feel when she ignored me just a few minutes ago, "If Amber is anything like you, I see why Embry would dump her for me." I grinned when I saw her eyes widen and she backed up a little. I hit her right where it hurt.

"Do you really think the world takes you seriously?" she asked me, "With those giant things attached to your chest you call breast?"

I held my head up high. That was a blow I had received on many occasions, "Jealous?" I smirked. It was clear that her breasts were smaller than mine and why would she make fun of mine if she wasn't self-conscious about her own? That's a little psychoanalysis for you.

She scoffed, "Oh yes! I'm so jealous! I wish that every time I entered a room everyone gawked at my breasts. That's all you are; a pair of boobs. Even Seth thinks so," She makes her voice deeper as if she was imitating her boyfriend, "If you saw the size of this girl's boobs, you'd see why Embry can't just be her friend."

I didn't let her see how that hurt me. I knew in my heart of hearts that Embry loved me. He never even noticed my breast and he hasn't tried anything funny or inappropriate since we got together, "First of all; at least I have breast. Second of all; I can guarantee you that Embry doesn't notice other women's breast."

She gasped and I knew I had seriously offended her. She was protective off her man. I used her weakness against her.

"Which clearly isn't the case with your Seth."

Her cheeks flushed and she glared at me. Her nostrils flared and she clenched her fist.

"You want to hit me right now." I noticed, my grin widening. I was having a lot of fun with this pip squeak, "You want to hit me because your sister can't hold on to a man."

"You. Are. A slut!" She hissed. It was like watching a fire cracker explode. I would have laughed if I didn't hate her so much.

"And you're a bitch!"

Her face got all red and, with all the strength in her tiny body, she pushed me.

I couldn't believe it! Not to mention she was strong for a little thing. I stumbled back into the wall of the bathroom stall. Her strength had sent me flying and totally ruined my hair. I was caressing the wall to get myself back on my feet.

I turned to glared at her, "You did not just do that."I stood up straight and starting taking off my hoop earring.

This bitch was going down.