A/N: Thank you to all the people who favorited and alerted! And special thanks to the reviewers. (See? They get special thanks. *Sticks tongue out*) Even more special thanks to Sagaobsessed, who was my first reviewer. Actually, my only reviewer. So...Yeah.

And yes, I know that the first chapter probably wasn't very interesting. I'm getting there! Just to clarify things, Seth and Hayley are seventeen while Embry, Quil, and Jake are eighteen and Jared and Paul are nineteen. Colin and Brady are sixteen. Yes, the ages are messed up. But it's my story and it works that way even though I don't own very much except Hayley. And the cat. I SO own Echo. Paws off my kitty!

Songs:

Pressure- Paramore

Shark In The Water- V.V. Brown

Hayley POV

"What bit you and gave you rabies?" I asked Embry as he came back inside. (Yes, I use that phrase instead of saying 'what crawled up your ass and died', because that just disgusts me.)

He looked very angry, and he was shaking a little bit. ...Huh? But his eyes were flashing with some intense emotion, and it was kind of freaky.

He glanced at me and tried to smile reassuringly. Guess what? It didn't work. "It's just Seth being his usual immature self. He's one of those guys that's just looking for a new conquest every time he sees a girl."

Funny. When I'd seen Seth, he hadn't looked like that type of guy at all. I mean, of course he was gorgeous, (Those abs? Swoon.) but he seemed kind of sweet and innocent.

Then again, I hadn't always been the best judge of character. The scars on my abdomen proved that.

But Embry was completely avoiding looking at me, and I remembered that he'd never been the type of person that could look you in the eye and lie, especially to me.

"Embry," I said sweetly as I stood up and sat on the kitchen table in front of me. "Do you want to tell me the truth?"

"I just did." He mumbled, staring at the ground.

What kind of answer is that? Staring at the ground was a telltale sign of lying, everyone knew that one. "Why don't you look me in the eyes and say that again, Embry?"

He sighed and looked up, saying, "I just told you the truth."

Oh, good job, Embry! It was almost believable. But I was good at telling when people were lying, and his pupils had been dilated when he'd said that.

But hey, I didn't need to tell him that.

So I just said, "Okay." And then he smiled weakly and walked into his room, clearly not wanting any company.

I decided that going for a run before that stupid bonfire thing would be a good idea, running is something that always clears my head. I also wanted to see what some of this place was like, because Embry's house was the only one around, sitting in a large, cleared area with the forest all around it. And, of course, the rain was always falling. Sometimes I wondered where those stupid clouds got all their rain from and why they never seemed to run out.

I took my ipod and changed into some shorts, even though I knew I'd probably freeze, and shouted to Embry that I was going for a run. After slipping on some tennis shoes, I shot out the door, onto the trail, and started running as fast as I possibly could.

Which is pretty fast, if I do say so myself. No one has ever beat me in a race, and I could keep going for hours at this pace without getting tired.

My friends from Connecticut had told me countless times that it was unnatural, how fast I could run and how I never had to stop. I'd just told them that I'd been able to do it since I was five, and five year olds could hardly be considered unnatural, just adorable. Their response was to say that that comment wasn't really fair, considering I was definitely unnatural even though I was still the height of a five year old.

Which no, I am not. Yes, I may only be 5'1, but if a five year old was that tall, I would assume she had giantism.

Although the whole short thing was kind of annoying, after so long you get used to it. By now, the only issue I had was that I would probably end up with some kind of fatal spine issues or something from having to look up all the time.

I turned the volume on my ipod up as I started to listen to "Misery Business" by Paramore. Sometimes I felt a little weird listening to it, because it was a kind of old song and just reminded me of crazy teen fangirls, but I liked the song and it shut out the noise from all those stupid rabid squirrels.

My feet pounded on the trails, and little droplets of rain that slipped past the treetops plopped onto my face, but I barely noticed. Running was my way of getting away, my way of avoiding things or trying to clear my head.

And right now I was trying to get everything suspicious that had already happened here out of my head.

Because I'm just a naturally a suspicious person, it was kind of hard. That Seth guy had had a creepy stare, Embry had immediately taken him out of the house and come back angry, and then he'd lied about it. And what was up with the whole steroids thing? I mean, I know Embry's not on them, but him and Seth were pretty...muscular.

And then there were the rumors about the killer wolves. Embry doesn't know that I knew those rumors, but it's hard not to. Everyone in all the states had been talking about how the two little towns of La Push and Forks had been under attacks by wolves, how people were disappearing and there were always wolf prints.

When I was little, I'd always loved doing puzzles. And when I got a little older, like fifth and sixth grade, I'd liked to do those logic puzzles. I could always do them faster than most people, as soon as I figured out the pattern.

But there was no pattern here. The only thing I knew was that they were all connected.

At least it was a start.

I didn't want to dwell on this until I had a little more information, so I changed the song to "You Look Better When I'm Drunk" by The White Tie Affair, and kept running.

Because it seemed like running was the only thing I had left.

"So. We're going to a bonfire at the beach where there are going to be a bunch of people, even some from Forks, and you're just going because of the food?"

Embry smiled at me as we walked side-by-side down the trail. "Yup. They've always got lots of food. And you'd be surprised at how much the guys and I eat."

"No, I don't think I would." I muttered to myself. I hadn't seen any of Embry's other friends besides Seth, but I assumed that they were all as big as Embry. "But exactly why am I coming to this?"

"Because you need to meet people. Normal people. I mean, you're probably going to have to see my friends pretty often, but I think you need to meet some people with actual functioning brains."

"Aw, come on, I'm sure your friends have some working brains."

He gave me a look. "No, they really don't. I would know."

Okay then...

After ten minutes of walking, (well, me having to jog to keep up with Embry's stride) we broke through the woods and came up to the beach. It was about eight o'clock, so there were already plenty of people there, although I could easily spot what were most likely Embry's friends; They stood about a foot above everyone else.

"Embry!" I heard someone screech. He grimaced as a blond girl rushed over and hugged him. "I've been waiting for you." Then she glanced at me, having to do a double-take because she most likely assumed I was his little sister or something the first time. "Who's this?" She sneered.

This was the classic cliche teenage bitch girl, and this was the classic cliche teenage jealous bitch girl scene.

"This is Hayley. She just moved here, she's going to be a senior with the rest of us this year." And then he grabbed my hand and dragged me away, mumbling something about stalkers.

"Maybe you should get a restraining order." I mused.

He sounded completely serious when he said, "Believe me, I'm planning on it." When we were far enough away, he looked at me and said, "Go mingle. I have someone I have to talk to."

And then he started weaving through the crowd. "Gee, thanks Embry, leave me all alone during a party filled with strangers. Oh, I'm not going to get raped or anything, don't worry about me..." I shouted after him. He just waved without turning around.

I decided that I didn't want to look like a complete idiot, so I went to the cooler to get a Mountain Dew. As I straightened up, I heard a voice behind me say, "Yay! New girl!"

I turned around to see a girl not much taller than me and an average height guy standing next to her. He was giving off that kind of air that says 'you can look but don't touch,' but he was obviously not one of those overconfident guys. He had pure black hair, and he was tan, although he didn't look Quileute, and he was light blue eyes.

My attention was brought back to the girl as she started bouncing up and down. "Yes! Fresh meat to play with!"

The guy rolled his eyes. "Please excuse my sister. She doesn't like many of the people here, so she gets very...excited when new people come."

I raised an eyebrow. "I'll say."

I finally got a good look at the girl as she stepped a little closer. Her hair was dark brown and she was paler than most people here, and she had very light brown eyes.

"I love your outfit." She said it in a way that sounded almost surprised.

I looked down at what I was wearing, a simple dark purple shirt with quarter-length sleeves, black skinny jeans, and gray flip-flops. "Um..Thanks."

The guy laughed and said, "Please excuse her. She never seems to have manners. I'm Aidan Farsgrove, and this is my sister Lilly."

I smiled and said, "I'm Hayley Anderson." We shook hands, and it was very difficult for me to let go. His hands were somehow both rough and soft at the same time.

"So why'd you decide to move to this hell-hole?" Lilly asked me as we all sat down on an empty piece of driftwood near the fire.

I sighed. "It wasn't really my decision. This place was kind of my last option. I had to move in with my kinda sorta cousin, Embry Call."

Lilly's eyes widened and Aidan raised an eyebrow. (Hey! He can do it too!) "Embry Call? Of the La Push Gang?" He asked.

I laughed. "Embry? In a gang? Hell no. Trust me, I know him. He's practically harmless."

"Yeah, well, him and all those massively hot guys over there?" Lilly pointed and I followed her finger, seeing Embry among many guys, all as big and muscly as him. And yes, they were pretty hot. But what can I say? I may not be run by my hormones, but I'm still a teenage girl. "They've all kind of got this gang. It started out as just Sam, Paul, and Jared, but then suddenly they all joined. And have you seen them? You don't get that huge in a few weeks without help."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, whatever you say. Can we just talk about something else?"

Aidan smiled, and I noticed how nice he looked when he did. It completely lit up his face and made him look even cuter.

Oh, God. I felt like a boy-crazy teenage girl. And I have never been that before.

I'm gonna chalk it up to the air. Yeah, that's it. The air here must be doing weird stuff to me.

"Okay, how about we talk about the fact that you've got a creep watching you right now?" I followed his gaze to see that Seth was watching me. I think Embry noticed this at the same time, too, because he smacked the back of Seth's head and forced him to look away.

"What was that?" Lilly asked.

I sighed. Such a typical question. "I don't know. Embry can be a little overprotective, has been since we were little, and he told me that Seth is a total player who's just looking for a new conquest."

Lilly looked thoughtful. "What do you know about him?"

I rolled my eyes as I took a sip of the Mountain Dew. "I met him for, like, five seconds. I just got here today, remember?"

Aidan joined in. "I've never heard of anything like that, but I don't really pay attention to gossip that much. And knowing that group, I wouldn't be surprised if it was true."

Lilly moaned. "But he's so...pretty. And with his looks, I wouldn't mind being his next conquest. You should go and talk to him."

I gave her a you're insane look. "He's a creepy stalker that won't stop staring at me. And besides, Embry would bite my head off if I talked to him." Lilly gave me a look, and I laughed. "Yes, I'm afraid of the big bad wolf, okay? I mean, have you seen the size of Embry? Not that I think he'd actually hurt me, but he could lock me in a cellar somewhere pretty easily."

Aidan rolled his eyes. "That's what teeth are for." He teased.

Teeth. Oh God...The fangs. Blood everywhere, and me not being able to do anything as I was being held down...Ripping me open...More blood and shrieking...

I started to visibly shake as the memories ran through my head, and I faintly heard Aidan saying something.

"I'm fine." I managed to gasp out. "I just need to go get some air." The air I was so conveniently earlier saying was making me go insane. Ha ha.

I got up and stumbled through the crowd towards the wood, feeling like I was about to throw up. I ran deeper into the woods, hunched over, until I couldn't hear the party anymore. I found a tree and sat down, leaning against it, bringing my knees up close to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.

I shut my eyes tight, hoping to block the images filling my head, the unnatural eyes, the flashing white teeth...

By this time I was almost in full panic attack mode as I kept trying to block out the images. I was gasping and starting to feel dizzy, and I was struggling to calm down.

I don't know why it popped into my head, but I was suddenly picturing a huge sandy brown wolf sitting calmly in front of me. For ten minutes, I pictured that wolf, until my breathing finally started to slow down.

I thought that I'd been done with this. For the first few months after the attack, I'd barely been able to see someone smile without freaking out. But gradually I'd been able to handle things, and it eventually faded to the back of my mind, never gone, but never really surfacing.

Maybe it was the fact that I was in an entirely new place, but just the word 'teeth' shouldn'y have triggered something like that.

I heard a twig break and my head snapped in that direction, seeing a hulking figure.

After that whole panic attack thing, I probably should have screamed, but I didn't.

And it's a good thing I didn't, because Seth suddenly came into view.

"Hayley? What's wrong?"

He sounded genuinely concerned, and I gave him a sad smile. "It's fine, now. It's not important." I could hardly say it was nothing, because I knew it was obvious that something was wrong.

He moved closer and dropped down to my level, looking me in the eye. "Yes, it is important. What happened, Hayley?"

I sighed and looked away, knowing that if I stared into his eyes much longer I'd blurt out the truth.

And that would get me sent to a nice white rubber room with a straitjacket.

"Nothing. I just...I just got a little freaked out about being in a new place is all."

He narrowed his eyes at me, like he knew I was lying, but he let it go and sat down next to me. "Are you okay now?"

I smiled weakly at him and leaned my head back on the tree. "Yeah. I'm fine now." I paused for a moment, wondering whether or not I should ask him but knowing I would go insane if I didn't. "So, is what Embry said about you true?'

He laughed a little and said, "What, the whole 'conquest' thing?" He looked at me and I nodded, and he laughed again. "Hell no. Not even close. If you ask any one of the guys, they'll tell you the truth. Except Embry."

"Why?" I questioned.

He shifted uncomfortably. "Well...I can't exactly tell you. He'd kill me if I did." I laughed and he looked at me, his eyes widening in shock. "Okay, so you want me dead? That hurts."

I giggled and said, "No! It's just that you actually kind of told me the truth instead of making up some stupid excuse. Thank you!"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay."

We were silent for a few minutes, until I finally said, "I hate to say it, but we should probably go before Embry finds us."

He sighed. "Yeah..." He stood out and he put out a hand to help me up. I had to hold in a gasp when my hand touched his; It felt like he had a major fever.

We went in different directions, and when I finally broke out of the woods and back into the party, Aidan and Lilly immediately saw me and hounded me with questions on whether or not I was okay. I insisted that I was fine, and they eventually dropped the subject.

So now we sat near the fire again, just the three of us, as Lilly excitedly told me about what kind of people were at the school, (she especially liked to talk about Evelyn Martina, the 'school bitch') while Aidan sat and rolled his eyes, throwing in a comment every once in a while.

I could feel a gaze on me, and I turned to see Seth still staring at me. The intensity was almost too much, so I turned back and shivered.

Aidan glanced at me. "Cold?"

I smiled weakly. "A little." Which was kind of ridiculous, because we were sitting as close to the fire as possible without roasting, but I really actually was kind of cold.

Aidan gave me a smile and moved closer to me, putting and arm around my shoulder. He wasn't as warm as Seth or Embry, but I was colder than I'd first thought.

"Better?"

"Yeah." I smiled. "Thanks."

I could feel Seth's gaze on me again, and I could also see Lilly smirking slightly as she continued her running commentary on the people and teachers at the school I would be attending tomorrow.

I wasn't really paying attention, I was more thinking about how when Seth had asked what was wrong, I'd actually wanted to tell him. I'd never wanted to tell anyone, because I knew they wouldn't believe me, and because even if they did, then I'd just be the poor little freak. But with Seth, I knew it wouldn't be like that.

Which is pretty stupid, because I barely knew him, and Embry had told me he was just after sex. Even though he'd told me it wasn't true, who was I supposed to trust, Embry or Seth? And like I said, I barely knew Seth.

So basically, that meant I had chosen to believe Embry. And it wouldn't surprise me if Seth...slept around, or whatever you call it, considering the looks I'd seen some of the girls here sending him.

So yeah. I was going to believe Embry.

Except I really didn't.

So I finally figured out why Embry's making Seth leave Hayley alone, although I don't think anyone is going to find out for a pretty long time. So anyone who reviews gets a hint. Not something that will give it all away, but it's a pretty big hint. A VERY big hint. So review! And if you're going to review, you might as well vote on my poll, too...

And I have a link to how I picture Hayley on my profile, and her outfit from this chapter also.