First date time for Seth and Josy! Exciting stuff! And oh gosh, it's been a long while. I got my wisdom teeth out and now I have six projects I'm doing. I'm sorry if quality goes down guys, I'm just so busy :(.

Chapter 21

Josy P.O.V.

I groaned and wished that I had gone to bed a little earlier, but I didn't regret spending my night stargazing in my backyard, which had been an extremely comforting experience. My mother had taught me everything she knew about the constellations and the stories she had learned from her mother and grandmother. Animals and people leapt out at me, from my culture as well as the stories of Greek mythology. One of the most important things my mother had instilled in me was respect for other cultures and other ways of life. If it isn't the way you live or the way you think life should be lived, it doesn't matter, you shouldn't say it's wrong if it doesn't interfere with yours.

My mom was a smart woman and to say that I missed her was a large understatement, that said, I liked to remember the happy things and the lessons she instilled in me as a child. Those didn't make me cry. What did make me cry, though, was the fact that when I woke up in the morning I still expected to wake up in Oklahoma and to see her in our kitchen or using her family's prayer shawl. But I had to deal with it and make sure my brother and dad were okay, so I just tried not to think about those moments of uncertainty when I woke up in a strange house without a mother.

I stretched and sat up, today was my date with Seth. First date. First date with the guy I was most likely to spend the rest of my life with. I looked around and wondered what to do. My homework had already been done, so nothing to do there, I didn't really have chores because for whatever reason my dad had hired a maid, and I knew the guys had probably already eaten and left. I finally got up and decided to take a shower, there was no harm in getting ready for my date with Seth early. I looked around for my alarm clock and the numbers read nine-o-five. Not too bad, I had time to take a shower, dry my hair, and pick out a cute sweatshirt to don when the time came.

I carried my underwear, jeans, and a t-shirt with me into the bathroom and left the door cracked to let steam out. I opened the small window near the top of the ceiling that was next to the small shower cube and let a sliver of a breeze run through the bathroom. Nothing too wrong with letting fresh air into the house once in a while. I slipped out of my pajamas and ran the water until it steamed, fogging up the mirror, but not too much. I didn't want the steam to ruin the paint job. One I was bound to re-do at one point in time but for the time being I wanted it to look nice for when people came over. Not that too many outside of the pack really would, but still.

I used my special shampoo - yes, I do happen to have special, really good smelling shampoo for occasions such as these - and the body wash I had bought at Bath & Body Works before we moved. I hadn't used it yet and they would probably go well together. Awapuhi ginger extract shampoo and some tropical smelling body wash. I hoped that I would come out smelling like my cousin Rebecca. Everyone said that when she visited from Hawaii - which was rarely, if ever - she smelled like gardenias, orange blossoms, and the sea; the combination would be perfect for a first date with Seth. Especially since I had really gotten to spend time by the sea, actually, I'd gotten to spend more time by the sea here in a month and a half than an entire lifetime in Oklahoma. We would go to the gulf every once in a while and spend a week there. But we would also be there for other things, not just swimming and splashing around.

It was amazing; the ocean was an entirely different beast than the small lakes we sometimes came across, and I was determined to conquer it. Just as soon as I conquered the first date jitters that Seth's face was putting me through. And Seth's body. And Seth's eyes. And just...Seth himself.

I hadn't been able to really get to know Seth in the short time I had lived in Washington. It made me a little sad that I hadn't been able to spend much actual time with him outside of school and the pack life that I as still so new to. That I actual wasn't allowed to really participate it. It was nice to finally be doing something normal. Something very teenager-y. Though, it did feel weird to be jumping right into something just as soon as I got out of something, but I didn't quite feel for Dallas as much or as strongly as I used to. It seems that as soon as I met Seth, Dallas didn't matter anymore, it wasn't like I had been super close with him before or after we started dating.

I shrugged to myself and turned off the shower, stepping out of it and onto the small rug that was situated next to the tub. I dried off and pulled another towel off of the rack to wrap around my damp hair; I turned to look in the mirror, my skin was lighter than it had been when I had arrived in Washington, my eyes looked darker in comparison, and so did my hair. I knew my hair and eyes were the same color, it was just my skin. I'd have to fix this, I couldn't get lighter again and let my brother go around calling me pale face for another year; that was one year that I would never be able to live down.

I walked the few feet to my room, closed the door, made sure my blinds were closed, then shucked both towels. I shook my hair out and put on the underwear I had set on my bed. My closet was open, so I could just look in from where I was standing. What did I have that would be okay for a date? Some jeans? I had a cute top and sweater I had been dying to wear someplace, but were they okay for the weather? A quick peak through my blinds let me know that, no, it would not be appropriate for the weather today. I frowned and stared into my closet. I was sure that Seth probably wouldn't mind my usual look, just a regular sweatshirt and some jeans. Nothing wrong with that.

I pulled out my cutest sweatshirt - but let's face it, there's only so many really cute sweatshirts in the world - and threw it on my bed while I picked out some jeans. My favorite pair of light washed jeans came to mind and I dug through my closet looking for them. Nothing. Not even a hint as to where they could be in my closet. I went through my dresser. Still no jeans. I huffed. I didn't feel like looking through the laundry basket, so I just settled for some skinny jeans that I didn't wear often. I found my favorite flip flops and prayed it didn't rain that day. Nothing is worse than flip flops in the rain. Well, There are quite a few things worse than flip flops in the rain, but to an American teenager like me nothing else mattered.

Looking in my mirror I realized that I hadn't done my make up or hair yet, I let my head loll back onto my shoulders as I groaned. I didn't want to do my hair. But I had to. I headed back to the bathroom and squared my shoulders, getting ready to tame the tangled beast that was my hair. I combed and combed and combed, then I combed it some more and finally it was detangled. Slightly wavy, but detangled and mostly smooth, so I couldn't complain. I let it air dry, seeing as it's not as thick as my brother's is and would dry within the hour it didn't matter, then I started in on my make up. Nothing too fancy, just a natural look. Some eyeliner, concealer, and mascara. Nothing too drastic.

I looked at the clock and it was still in the hour of nine and not anywhere closer to two o'clock when he was supposed to pick me up and that wasn't a bad thing...but it meant that I had gotten ready five hours early. What had I said earlier? That it wouldn't hurt to get ready early? Knowing me I would fuss with my hair and makeup until it was weird looking then go on the date and not look like me at all. I liked looking like me. It was a good look.

I fixed my eyeliner and sighed. It was gonna be a long five hours of waiting for Seth. The TV and a book would probably be my best friend for the next few hours until it was game time.

~*Break*~

Seth P.O.V.

I rolled up in my mom's car in front of Josy's house. I took a breath and steeled myself; I knew her dad had gone to work and her brother was out with Jacob. There was nothing to worry about on that front but I was still nervous. I knew she was my imprint and it seemed that I was hers - which debunked the myth that female wolves couldn't imprint - so I shouldn't be feeling anxious, right? I guess my body didn't matter what my brain said because my hands were shaking ever so slightly as I opened up the driver side door to get out. So were my legs. There was nothing I could do about it so I took another, deeper breath and walked up the path to her door.

Before I could even put my fist up to knock on the door, it opened quickly and I found myself staring at Josy. She was smiling brightly and already had her shoes on and bag over her shoulder. "Hey," she was still grinning from ear to ear. "So, are we gonna go?" She lifted her eyebrows and her eyes darted to the car. She was lively today and her actions said she was ready for an adventure.

"Yeah, uh, let me just get the door for you." We headed towards the car, I opened her door and watched her get in. I had the urge to get in the passenger seat just to make her laugh, but I'd save some of those antics for later.

When I put the key in the ignition, she immediately started fiddling with the radio settings, trying to find a station she liked. She finally stopped on a rock station that suited her tastes when we got to the end of the street. Some old Fall Out Boy song was playing and she was rocking out. It was cute. Seeing her like this, it was almost better than talking. I got to see exactly what she liked and how she responded to it.

She sang to every song that came on the radio on our way to Port Angeles and even got me to sing along to some. It was a nice break from wolf business. I hoped she was thinking the same but I wouldn't know until I asked her. I turned onto a road that led to the outskirts of Port Angeles and took a turn onto the main road to the movie theater. I had no idea what would be out at this time and I should have looked at what was playing before we went so we could make a quick decision but I hadn't put much thought to it at the time. I turned to Josy, about to ask if she knew what was out, but she was still rocking out to whatever was on the radio. I smiled and shook my head, then began to look for the driveway for the theater parking lot.

I eventually found the driveway and parked – crookedly, much to my dismay, making Josy laugh at me more than I had wanted her to. But if it made her giggle for a minute or two that's all I needed to heal my ego.

We bumped shoulders – well as much as we could because I'm probably over a foot taller than she is – as we walked up to the marquee to see what was out. I looked up and read the titles at the same time she did to see what sounded interesting.

"Hey, is Avatar that one with the blue people?" I asked her, confused. She shrugged and raised her eyebrows. "Does Harry Potter sound good?" She looked over and grinned, I knew I had hit the nail on the head.

"You have no idea how much I love Harry Potter," She smiled and closed her eyes. "I have all the books – yes even the little fake text books they released, don't give me that look." She stuck her tongue out at me as I tried not to laugh. I had no idea she was such a Potterhead. But what can you really guess from someone you don't know very well? We walked to the ticket booth and bought two for the 3:15 showing and headed inside. As soon as I got close to the doors I could smell the popcorn, the scent was wafting towards us from the concession counter, the butter-y smell made my mouth water and the artificial syrup smells washed over me. There was nothing better than junk food at the movies sometimes. Especially on a chilly day like today, the comfort of warm popcorn and a fizzing soda could make you feel amazing.

Josy immediately headed to the candy rack and picked up some sour things and I went with a sweeter alternative – you could never go wrong with chocolate covered cookie dough bites. Unless you're allergic to anything in them and can't eat them. I'm really sorry if you are.

Anyway, she insisted we buy things separately, telling me that I shouldn't have to pay for her just because I was the boy and society told me I had to. It was a little bit of a relief to be honest. Not because I didn't want to pay for her but because some people I knew felt so entitled to their partner's money and it just bothered me.

I took her hand as we headed to the theater. This was going to be a good day, I could feel it.

Hey! Thank you all for continuing to read while I was gone for so long. I can't tell you how much that means to me. 3