Pandora's arms circled around her body as she sat in the sand on the shore of First Beach. Water washed up and covered the tips of her toes, instantaneously causing a shiver to rise up her back and through her arms. Behind her a crowd had formed into a poorly shaped circle; teenagers circled around where someone was handing out beers from a cooler. Said teenager being the 'cool guy' for the night and thinking that he was on top of the world and every move would be unstoppable.
Elaine stood with a tiny group that had formed, all but one of the four choosing not to drink. Elaine glanced back to where Pandora was and frowned. Knowing that Pandora needed to blow off steam, Elaine put on a small smile and started laughing at what a fellow teenager had said.
The 'cool guy' was standing with a few guys who were known to be popular. Each one looked like the other and each one acted like the other. The 'cool guy,' otherwise known as Allan, was trying to impress the popular guys. They knew what he was trying to do and, being the jerks they were, set him up for disappointment.
"There's only one way that you can impress us," the blonde started before he sipped out of his red Solo cup.
The burly looking brunette held back a smirk, "Get with Sister Christian down there." His pudgy finger pointed to Pandora.
"Why would I do that?" Allan asked, cocking his eyebrow up in suspicion.
"None of us have the balls to try it," the pudgy one replied.
The blonde continued, "The quiet ones are always the freakiest."
Allan hesitated before he took a long gulp of his beer and started to walk to where Pandora was.
"I give him three minutes before she walks away," a ginger spoke up from beside the pudgy one.
"I give him six minutes until I rip his balls off." Elaine harshly spoke as she grabbed a Sprite from the cooler. "Your little friend pulls a move that I don't like and," Elaine made a slitting noise as she ran her finger across the front of her throat.
Pandora froze up when a big, boney hand gripped her shoulder. Pandora's attention went from the reflection of the moon on the water to the buzzed teenager standing with his hand on her. Allan gave Pandora a cocky smile and handed her a red cup.
"I don't drink," Pandora stated quietly as she wiggled out from his grip and moved further away.
Allan mumbled under his breath, "Fine then," and proceeded to drink out of the cup. To Pandora's displeasure, Allan plopped down on the sand beside her and sat extremely close to her.
Pandora remained silent and Allan looked extremely agitated. "You don't talk much, do you?" Allan asked, finally starting to see that the guys had set him up for failure.
"No," Pandora mumbled, her eyes set on the moon in the sky.
"Look, I'm trying to impress those guys back there." Pandora's eyes never left the moon as Allan spoke in a low tone. "Hook up with me once: that's all I'm asking for."
Pandora stood up and tried to get away from the pig, the sand slowing her down.
"You're not leaving until you give me an answer," Allan growled, grabbing her shoulder painfully.
"Don't touch me." Pandora hesitantly spoke, trying to escape his grip once more.
"One time, that's it." Allan stated again, causing Pandora's eyes to go wide.
"No," Pandora insisted while feeling his hand tighten on her shoulder. Allan was about to make a crude comment when someone grabbed the back of his throat in a tighter grip than he had on Pandora.
"I'm going to let you go and you're going to walk away as quickly as you can and not look back, got it?" Embry's voice sounded from behind Allan. Allan let go of Pandora's shoulder and meekly nodded. When Embry let go of Allan, Allan took off toward the party again.
Embry smiled down at Pandora whose lip slowly curled upward. "Thank you," she said quietly as she stared up into his brown eyes again.
"It's a good thing that I saw you again," Embry stated with a victorious smile.
Pandora's face flushed, "Maybe it is."
Elaine spotted the two talking and a smile formed on her lips, noting that Pandora looked genuinely happy. Seeing how Embry looked at her friend gave Elaine hope on introducing Pandora to the real world.
"I think it's time for a proper introduction." Pandora nodded and Embry took her hand, leading her away from the party and toward a large pile of rocks.
"W-where are you taking me?" Pandora asked as Embry let go of her hand and climbed onto a large rock.
"Do you really want to be around them?" Embry asked, referring to the group of nearly drunken teenagers. Pandora shook her head than looked down to her bare feet. Embry reached down and took Pandora's hand into his own, noticing how they fit together perfectly. "This will go quicker if I carry you."
Pandora reached the top of the rock and let go of Embry's hand, nearly falling as a result but Embry caught her and stood her upright.
"I don't want to be carried," Pandora insisted. "I can do this myself," she demanded, taking the lead.
"Even though you have no idea where we're going?" Embry pondered out loud.
Pandora blushed from embarrassment, "I'll figure it out." Embry smirked from behind Pandora and watched her attempt to climb the rocks.
When Pandora had finally reached the top of the rocks, she came across a small landing on the side of the cliff. Pandora turned around and came face-to-chest with Embry again, her face going even redder this time. Pandora backed up and sat on the grassy landing, looking down to the group of teenagers.
"I'm Embry Call," Embry spoke up before he sat next to Pandora and dangled his legs over the side of the cliff.
"Pandora Maynard." Embry knew the name before she had said it, knowing there was only one Pandora from Forks.
"Your mother was Evangeline Maynard…" Embry stated rather than asking, then proceeded to turn to look at Pandora. Pandora nodded and glanced over at Embry, wondering how he knew that. "Your mother lived on the Reservation." Pandora looked more shocked than anything else. Why was that the one thing that her aunt and uncle hid from her?
"That must be why my father left her when he found out that she was pregnant. She'd have been ridiculed and thrown out for having a white man's child." Pandora spoke quietly as she looked far out to the tops of the trees.
"I think it's more of you being conceived out of wedlock," Embry explained, causing Pandora to look back to Embry. "I don't know who my own father is and my mother is treated poorly because of it."
"Why are you sharing this with me?" Pandora wondered out loud and curled her legs up against her chest.
"To show you that you're not alone," Embry gave her a smile which Pandora tried to reciprocate, but failed in doing so.
"I don't think I can handle it sometimes," Pandora shared. "My aunt… she's not the nicest woman in the world. If it wasn't for my uncle Ian, I probably wouldn't be alive." Embry tensed up at the idea of his imprint being deceased. "I shouldn't be sharing this with you when I haven't even told Elaine," Pandora cleared her throat and closed her eyes. "Why do I feel so comfortable around you?"
Embry shrugged, not wanting to reveal his secret so soon. "Fate," Embry guessed. Pandora snorted and shook her head.
"Yeah, fate. I'm being tempted to reveal everything to a guy I barely know because of fate." Pandora harshly put down the idea. Pandora started to shiver and Embry moved closer, giving her the warmth that she needed. "There's something different about you, Embry Call."
Embry smiled, "You'll have to figure it out on your own, Panda." Pandora bit the inside of her cheek because of the nickname and looked away, pushing other thoughts into her head – like how dark it was outside.
"What time is it?" Pandora asked anxiously.
"A little after eleven, why?" Embry furrowed his eyebrows while Pandora quickly shot up.
"If I'm not home soon my aunt will shoot me." Pandora turned back to Embry who stood up and tilted his head to the side. "Thank you, Embry." Pandora gave him a genuine smile before leaving the landing and starting her trek down the many rocks.
To those of you who may be questioning where I'm at in this story – it's the transition between New Moon and Eclipse.
A thank you to all of those who have added this story to their alerts and have reviewed. : ) I appreciate it!