speaking of Paramore...:D I freaking LOVE this song! Since Josh and Zac left, it's the first one they did. (They've done more now, but it was the first) and i LOVE it. it's probably my favorite, or at least at the top of the list.

15. Monster: Paramore

When I pulled up at the spot we were meeting, Seth and Embry were already there, each with a can in their hands. Seth had a Dr. Pepper, and Embry had a Mountain Dew. From the looks of it, since there were four empty cans beside the cooler, they had only been here a little while. Ten minutes, tops.

And you think I'm kidding.

I hoped out of my car, excitement clear in my eyes and bright smile on my lips. This was too great to stay upset about.

"Guys!"

Embry frowned at me. "You're late. Where have you been?"

Suddenly, though, they both completely froze in their jog towards me—motionless like I didn't even know they could be. They must've smelled Laurent, because their throats tightened. Seth was watching me, eyes skeptical, and Embry looked simply scared.

Seth was the first to speak. "Were you . . . did you run into one of the vampires trying to kill you?"

I shook my head honestly, the smile not fading at all—getting brighter, actually. "Guess what!"

"You're smiling!" Embry exclaimed, temporarily off of the vampire scent, before pulling me into a tight, breathtaking hug. "This is awesome!"

I coughed. The cough even sounded choked, kinda like I felt. "Embry-boo, I love you, but I'm dying!"

He just laughed as he released me, ruffling my hair a little.

"What happened?" Seth asked curiously before hugging me gently, learning from Embry's mistake. "Gosh, this is great! You have no idea!"

I squealed and nodded. "Well, I just found out I'm in the process of becoming a vampire!"

Both of them completely froze as they watched my face, unsure as to whether I lost my mind or not. The look of horror on their faces confused me, to the point I frowned at them.

"This is good news," I informed them, nodding. "Because, now, I'm not dying either. We'll live forever together. When Dusk bit me, Carlisle and Edward didn't realize that there was venom. It isn't in my blood. It's slowly moving up my nerves. That's why it hasn't worked yet. And, well, it never will, but, the one vampire outside of the Cullens who wasn't trying to kill me and saved my life, he's gonna finish it for me, because at that point, my blood won't taste like blood. I'm gonna be messed up, though. He had the same thing happen to him, so he knows what it's like."

They were both just silently gawking at me.

I just said his name . . . and was okay after . . . .

My shoulders fell with that thought leaving my mind as their expressions stayed the same; continued to be that same horrified expression. "Why aren't you happy dancing? Why aren't you excited at all? I thought you two didn't have a problem with vampires."

"We don't," Embry whispered before looking at the ground, eyes narrowing slightly in pain. "It's Sam."

My teeth clenched together. "What did he do?"

"He told us we had to stay away from vampires unless we were killing them," Seth said gently, sighing. "He never approved of our friendship with the Cullens, so he told us to stay away—ordered it."

My eyes narrowed as I handed Embry the bag of candy. In my head, I was about to do something without thinking, go and do something I've wanted to do for a while now. "I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" Embry asked instantly as he blinked and looked at me, eyes now wide as dinner plates. "You can't talk to Sam!"

"And why the hell not?" I asked irately, opening the driver's door and scowling. "I'm not scared of him! He already hates me!"

"He'll kill us," Embry insisted, shaking his head. "You just can't, Mayze."

"Well, can't you just stay away from him?" I asked curiously, getting too hopeful with that statement.

Seth shook his head. "He's the Alpha, the leader. We have to listen to him. The only reason he lets us hang out with you is because he thinks there's a chance to make you hate vampires. If you start coming to La Push with us, he thinks that'll help."

"He can kiss my ass," I said icily before letting out a frustrated grunt. "Why does he have to just ruin everything?"

"He has his up sides," Embry defended gently. It seemed to be his instincts, to defend his Alpha, but I could tell he didn't like it. "But, there are way more downsides."

"Well, I haven't seen an upside yet," I grumbled before taking a deep breath. "And I was in a good mood too. Now, well, Sam's just pissing me off."

"Don't worry about it," Seth said simply before shrugging. "Just forget about it, and while you're a human, let's make the best of this."

"Do you have to become a vampire?" Embry asked curiously. "I mean, I want to have forever with you, but I don't want that to mean I can never see you again. You're our Mayzie-pop, our sweetie pie."

"Our baby doll," Seth finished. "Mayze, you two are two of my favorite people in the whole wide world, and so are Edward and Emmett. I mean—" He stopped himself, midsentence. "Let's just . . . forget everything. Just clear your mind of everything and have fun."

"Good idea," I agreed while nodding, looking down for a minute as the rush of pain surged through my body; the pain attached to hearing their names. I gave them another bright, sincere smile after it passed, though. "You ready to jump?"

Oh you have got to be kidding me, the voice grumbled in my head, exactly like he would've done it if he was here. Do you remember the strongly worded no I gave you?

I couldn't help but giggle, and when I did, I quickly covered my mouth. "I'm sorry, guys. I've gone way past insane. I have a voice in my head that I'm talking back to now."

Maybe you should try listening to it, it retorted, quite snappy.

I just giggled again before grabbing both of their hands. "Come on! Show me how to jump and not kill myself."

Embry and Seth grinned at each other, surprising me to the point I stopped in shock. When I started to ask, they started pulling off their shirts.

"I hope you don't mind," Embry said slowly as he started taking off his pants, smirking at me. He kicked off his shoes. "We typically jump in boxers."

When I looked over at Seth, he was doing the same thing. Unlike Edward, they had six-packs, so it wasn't as impressive to me. But, they did have bigger muscles—too big for my taste.

I shrugged before kicking off my shoe and unsnapping my boot. "Just as long as you don't mind . . . ."

"Mind what?" Seth asked curiously as he threw his clothes on the log, looking over at me curiously.

I quickly took off my shirt and threw it on top of theirs. I had on a pair of bright cyan short Soffe shorts, and I had on a, well, I guess you could call it a sexy bra. Renée had gone strictly to Victoria's Secret when I turned fifteen, and she got the really sexy ones for reasons I try not to think about. Honestly, it was probably to try and get us to just be with someone so we won't get married, not until we're older.

Because she would rather we sleep with someone who we're not married to than for us to get married before we're at least thirty.

I grinned at them as their eyes bulged. I knew they were trying not to, but they couldn't help but stare. Here I am, their best friend, standing here in a fitting, DD cup, sexy bra—yeah, I finished growing. And, to top it all off, I'm in a pair of tight short shorts. So, I understood. I mean, they're guys.

"This."

With that, I turned around and ran off towards the cliff, leaving them standing there drooling. This would probably hurt, but oh well. I just wanted to live and make the voice talk to me.

"It's easy," Seth said tightly as he walked to the edge. His voice was strained, though, as he purposely looked away from me—at anything but me.

Oh yeah. He did have a girlfriend to think about. Embry, on the other hand, was staring at me. He didn't have anyone, yet, so he had no reason to look away. In his words, I'm his single, extremely sexy best friend.

Seth ran a few steps back before running as fast as he could to the edge of the cliff and jumping off. It reminded me of professional divers, the way they started out. Then, he didn't try to dive. He actually landed in a cannonball, which splashed the water up high enough for me to see from where I was standing.

Embry laughed as he walked to the edge. One of the great things about being out here was the only light source we had was the moonlight, so everything looked that much more beautiful. It was a little chilly, since it was November, and I'm sure the water was like ice, but I didn't care. I was going to have fun tonight, no matter what. Today was gonna be the day I needed.

"He's just an amateur," Embry laughed, shaking his head with a grin plastered on his lips. "Watch a pro."

He did the same thing as Seth—took a few steps back, that is—but he ran a little faster off than Seth had. This time, though, he was exactly like a professional diver. He leaped off gracefully and dove down into the water in a perfect dive. Seth was waiting for him, and when Embry came up, the two of them laughed, hit their fists against each other's, and looked up at me.

I peered down at them and frowned, not liking the height of the cliff at all. "How cold is it?"

The second I asked, I knew that had been a really dumb question.

"It feels great!" Embry called back before they burst into fits of laughter again. "Come on, scaredy cat!"

I shot him the bird, and he just laughed even louder, more humorously. Then, I took a deep breath before walking back a few steps to prepare myself for the great leap.

Breathe, I thought to myself, and so I did; deep, long, relaxing breaths that were needed to calm myself. Eyes shut, fists tight, teeth chattering . . . I was terrified. B . . . breathe.

Don't do this! Edward's voice shouted at me, catching me completely off guard, although I should've expected it. Don't even think about it, Mayze! Think through what you're about to do!

My eyebrows furrowed at the two contradicting sentences. "You just confused me, so, I'm about to jump."

Right as I took off and actually jumped, his voice screamed, Mayzie, please!

It distracted me, though, to hear him call me that and beg me with such intensity, because he had done that before, once, and it killed me. So, instead of attempting to dive or do anything, I just fell straight down.

"Mayze!" Embry exclaimed when I was really close to the water. "Don't straighten your legs!"

Before I could react and change how I was falling, I hit. Since my right leg could move, it twisted so nothing would happen. But, my left leg . . . .

It snapped all over again. It was another not clean break. That was something I could tell by the way it felt. I doubted it would require surgery, but who knows anymore?

"Damn it!" I grunted as I came up. "My leg wouldn't move!"

"Did it smash against the bottom?" Seth asked softly with nothing but concern in his voice as he swam closer, preparing to pick me up.

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine, though. I can snap it back into place. They put some screws or something in there so if it broke again, snapping it back into place would align it right, and I could just let it heal from there."

They both winced.

"Maybe we should get you home," Seth suggested nervously, biting his lip in remorse. "I mean, Charlie might get mad."

I sighed. "If I'm out too late, yeah. He won't get mad, though, that I broke my leg." Then, I frowned. "Let's not mention how I did it."

They both laughed, and in unison, said, "Agreed."

I blinked, shaking my head at the two playfully. "You two have got to get some more friends."

When I got home, I had the same smile on my lips as I had had since I talked to Laurent. Now that I could think again and have a not-cleared head, I was happy—no. I was overjoyed again.

My hair was wavy, since it was still wet. It was also raining outside, and my leg was sorta hurting, since I popped the bone back into place before leaving La Push. The pain had died a lot, though, compared to what it had been before I fixed it and right after.

I had on my shirt again. I figured that would be the smart thing to do . . . with Charlie and all . . . .

"Hey, Dad," I said cheerfully as I walked into the living room and sat down on the couch beside him. Well, I was in the seat on the couch closest to his favorite chair, which is where he was sitting. "Whatcha watchin'?"

He immediately flipped the TV off and looked over at me with furrowed eyebrows, almost as if he was seeing a ghost. Either way, he didn't believe what he was seeing. "Are you . . . smiling?"

I nodded and hugged him. "Dad, I'm finally over it. I mean, of course, I'll always love him, and I'll always miss him, but, I'm finally past the depression."

His eyes lit up as a bright, toothy smile flashed across his face too. "I'm glad. This is how he would prefer you are."

I let out a sigh of content as I nodded and stood up. "Yeah, it is. He actually told me to, but, you know me."

"Stubborn," he agreed before shaking his head. He was grinning at me though.

I laughed and walked towards the stairs. "Yeah. I am."

And from downstairs, I heard my phone ring. Charlie was grinning, but I decided not to ask, in fear I might miss it. What if it was Embry? Seth? Laurent?

So, I just painfully hurried upstairs to my room to get it.

When I got to my room, I realized something. That ringtone was one of the ringtones I refused to change. All of the Cullens' ringtones were ones I had refused to change. So, when I heard Bring the Ruckus by Manafest, I knew who it was, to the point I just couldn't answer it at first.

He . . . he . . . he . . . .