CHAPTER 4

Leah POV:

I walked into the house and went straight to my room. I stripped out of my wet clothes and put on some dry ones. Then I sat down on my bed. What the hell just happened? I couldn't believe that I jumped off of a cliff, and what scared me the most was the fact that Embry had kissed me! Why did he do that? I really didn't see that coming.

I felt that we might become friends, but I never thought about anything more than that. Did he? Had I done something to lead him into thinking I wanted more than that? I had to patrol with him tonight. How was I going to keep from thinking about this?

I put my head in my hands. How did this happen? What am I going to do?

Just then I heard the front door slam. "Leah? You here?" It was Seth.

I opened my door and hollered downstairs, "Yea, upstairs!"

It was time for supper, and I had nothing ready. I headed downstairs to the kitchen. Seth was standing there with his head in the fridge. "Hey," I said.

He backed out and asked, "What's for dinner?"

"Um, I don't know. Sorry, I just got home. Let me look."

He moved from the fridge so I could take a look. "So where were you?" he asked.

Should I tell him? Mom would have a cow if she found out. I couldn't think of a lie. And besides, I kind of wanted to share my cliff dive with him. I took a pan of leftover lasagna out of the fridge then turned to set it on the counter. I looked at Seth and said, "I went cliff diving."

"Yea, right! Funny, Leah," he said with a laugh.

I just stood there looking at him and smiling.

"No shit? You really jumped?" he asked.

I nodded. "Don't tell Mom, I don't want to freak her out. But, it was such a rush, Seth! All this time I have been ragging on the guys telling them how stupid I thought they were for doing it. I just thought they were showing off, but man, it was so cool! Seth, I can't tell you how free I felt. It was the most awesome feeling in the world."

"No way! I have been begging the guys to take me, and they always tell me I'm too young. It's not fair! Why did they take you?"

"It was just me and Embry. He told me I needed to have some fun, and so we went." And then he kissed me and I freaked out. Yea, I would never tell him that.

"Will you take me sometime?" he asked. He looked like such a little kid. I smiled.

"Maybe, if you're a good boy," I told him as I tousled his hair. He hated that. I cut some lasagna and put a piece on a plate and stuck it in the microwave. "Dinner will be ready in a couple of minutes, OK?"

Embry POV:

I drove my truck home and walked into my house. My pants had dried pretty much by the time I got home, so I decided not to change. Less laundry to do.

My mom would be home soon. I looked in the fridge, and as usual, there wasn't much there. I was always starving, and there never seemed to be enough food. I hated that I had to eat so much. I knew that Mom couldn't afford to buy more than what she did. I guess that's why I was the scrawniest werewolf. Jake was so big and buff! He made me look like a little kid next to him.

I picked up an apple and took a bite. I sat down on the couch and flicked on the TV. I just stared at the screen. I didn't even know what was on. All I could think about was that kiss. What the hell was I thinking? I was always so cool with girls. I never got rattled like this. But, looking at Leah, and seeing how excited she was. I have never seen her like that before, and, I don't know, I just did it.

I turned the TV off, and threw the remote down on the couch. I had finished my apple, so I got up to throw the core away. I stood there for a second and looked out the kitchen window. Suddenly, I remembered the papers that Leah had given me to read. Oh no, I had put them in my pocket! I reached into my back pocket and pulled them out carefully. They were still wet, so I sat down at the kitchen table and opened them very carefully and laid them out to dry. I looked at the first one and started reading.

I heard Mom's car in the driveway. I can't let her see these! I picked them up as carefully as I could and ran back to my room. I laid them on my small dresser as I heard her come through the door. "Embry? You home?"

"Yea, Mom." I left them there and walked out to the kitchen. I smelled food. She had stopped and picked up a bucket of chicken on her way home. Yes!

"Hope you don't mind. I'm just too tired to cook. And I knew there wasn't much here at home," she said.

I already had the lid off of the bucket and had pulled out a chicken leg. I bit into and said, "Thanks, Mom."

She smiled at me and said, "I don't know where you put all that food. You're so tall and skinny. Must go to your legs!"

I pulled a couple of plates out of the cupboard and handed her one. We sat down to eat. "So, how was school?" she said as she opened the container of mashed potatoes.

"OK. I met a girl named Mandy. She is in my math class. She said she would tutor me to help me get through the final. If I get a B or better, I think I should get at least a C."

"Mmmm, hmmm. That's good. "

"How's work?" I asked to be polite.

"Alright. Working more overtime. It's exhausting, but I like the money," she answered. I looked at her and noticed how tired she looked. I felt bad she had to work so hard.

"I've been thinking about looking for a summer job," I told her.

"Yea? That's a good idea. Maybe it will keep you out of trouble."

Just then the phone rang. "I'll get it, "I said. "Hello?"

It was Jake. "Hey bro. You doing anything tomorrow after school?"

"Nope. Why?"

"I need some help on a truck I'm working on for this friend of Charlie's. I have another car I'm working on, too, and this guy is in a hurry for the truck. You can keep the money he'll pay for the job. What do you say? You in?" Jake asked.

"Hell, yea! I'll be over right after school." I answered.

"OK. See ya then."

I hung up. "What was that all about?" Mom asked.

"Jake asked me to come over and help him fix a truck he's working on. He said I could keep the money," I told her.

"Sounds good." She picked up her plate and put it in the sink. "I'm beat. I'm going to take a bath and go to bed. Be good, son," she said.

"I will. I'll even do the dishes for you," I said with a smile.

"Wow, that would be great! Thanks." She leaned over and kissed me on the head, then tousled my hair.

She walked back to the bathroom and closed the door. I put the dishes in the sink and squirted dish soap over them then turned on the water. There weren't very many, so it didn't take long to wash and dry them.

I thought maybe I should actually crack a book and do some homework before I had to go out on patrol. I mean, it wouldn't kill me. I went out to the truck to get my book bag. I looked down and saw Leah's shoes and her bag. I grabbed my book bag and went back inside. I found myself really hoping that I hadn't made too much of a mess of things with Leah. I realized that I liked the idea of us being friends.

Leah POV:

I phased and headed to the spot where we would take over on patrol. That was one thing I did enjoy about being in wolf form, the absolute freedom of running so fast.

I got to the meeting point, and saw Seth in the clearing. "Hey, little brother. Anything going on?"

"Nope. God, it's so boring and I'm so tired. I'm going home to bed." Seth took off toward home.

I waited around wondering if Embry would show. Maybe he talked Sam into getting someone else to patrol with me? Quil came running up. "Hey, is Embry here yet? I actually have some homework I need to finish. I tried to do it at Claire's, but she was pretty fussy tonight. She's not feeling well, and she just wanted me to hold her."

"Haven't seen him yet."

We waited around for a few minutes and then Embry broke through our thoughts. "Sorry I'm late! I fell asleep doing homework. On my way . . ."

I felt relieved that he didn't feel weird enough to stay away. But I was also nervous. Embry broke the brush and into the clearing. "Hey Embry! It's pretty quiet around here tonight. I'm heading home for homework and bed. See ya in the morning." Quil took off into the night.

It was just us. I nodded and began running through the woods. Embry fell in beside me. I tried hard to focus on the trail, trying hard to pick up some scent. Any scent! I noticed that Embry was trying hard to concentrate on some math that he must have been working on before he fell asleep. I even saw a flash of a girl who I assumed must be Mandy.

"She is pretty, Embry."

"Oh sorry. I was thinking about the math homework I was doing, and Mandy is that class, so . . ."

"It's OK. You don't have to apologize. I'm used to seeing girls with you. I wouldn't know it was you if you didn't have a bimbo or two swimming around in there."

"Well, I am the ladies' man, you know."

"I know you THINK you are."

Maybe this was going to be OK. If we can just keep things light and not think about that ki . . . Oh no! Too late!

I took off and ran faster. Keep running, Leah, just keep running. Let that wind fly through your fur. Feel the freedom!

"Leah I can still hear you no matter how far or how fast you run, you know. We are going to have to deal with the fact that I fucked up and kissed you. I'm sorry! It just happened. Please don't hold it against me the rest of my life, OK? Unless it was bad and you really hated it. But, I can't imagine that. I mean, I KNOW I'm a great kisser. Legendary, actually."

I laughed to myself. That is the Embry that we all know. I slowed down to a trot and waited for him to catch up. "Sorry for being an idiot, Embry. You just really caught me off guard! It had nothing to do with it being a bad kiss, because it wasn't. It was actually very nice. And don't let that go to your head."

He was trotting beside me now. "Yea, like it could get any bigger, huh? Come on, Leah. Let's put this behind us and finish our patrol, OK? And maybe we can find a way to be friends?"

"Yea, I'd like that."

"So, I read the papers you gave me and I have been thinking about the tests. It feels kind of wrong, but I can't go on not knowing. I want to ask the guys if they'll take the test. Will you ask your mom?"

"Yea, sure! I will talk to her tomorrow and let you know what she says. Then we'll get Jake, Sam and Quil together and ask them. I know this is really hard for you, but I think it would be a lot harder for you to never know."

"I guess."

We ran the rest of the patrol in a sort of eased truce. Of course we found nothing. I was hoping that Sam would cut down on patrols soon. It was pretty boring patrolling and never finding anything.

Sam and Jared showed up to relieve us. Leah even actually greeted Sam this time. She took off at a dead run for home.

"Everything OK with her?" Sam wanted to know.

"Yea, why?"

"Well I don't know, she wasn't quite as . . . upset, I guess."

"Yea, we talked and I think she finally sees that now that you guys are having a baby, it's time for her to move on."

"Really? She talks to you?"

"Yea. Why is that so hard to believe? I'm not the idiot everyone thinks I am, you know."

"I know that. I just didn't realize that you and Leah were . . . so close."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, chill, bro!"

"I'm out of here." I turned and took off at a run for home.