A/N: Hello again dearest readers! Sorry this chapter took so long. I come home from work dead tired and when I'm tired I get an extremely bad case of writer's block. Thankfully a friend made me eat ice cream tonight so I was a tad more awake. ^_^ Please review if you can! I would love to hear from you. I know things between Jake and Ina are moving kind of slow, but I want them that way. So just bear with me please. _ Next week I only have to work Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday nights so I should have lots of free time to type my little heart away. By the way, does anyone else go through the evasive procedure thought process like I do or is it just me being weird? _ Just wondering. Sorry for the long note! Thanks again!
Chapter 5
The rest of the week flew by quickly. I was in a daze most of the time, trying to figure out how to avoid going on this 'date' with Jacob. Paul came over to my house later that day, super excited and begging me for details. He's worse than a girl sometimes, I swear. Everyday I came home and finished my homework as quickly as possible, then just laid splayed out across my bed thinking up more escape plans. I refused to tell my mom about the date, because no doubt she would be making me go shopping and whatnot. I shuddered at the thought.
Well, she didn't have to, Paul did it for her.
Thursday (it seems to be the happening day) after school I was in the kitchen heating up some left overs when I heard a rapid knocking at my door. I opened it to reveal a grinning trio of Paul, Embry, and Jared. Quil honked and waved from his beat up pick up truck.
"To what event do I owe this surprise?" I asked, my glance flickering between the three. Paul and Jared grinned widely while Embry just rolled his eyes and chuckled.
"We would like to take you shopping for your big date Friday," Paul replied, leaning up against the door frame. I tried to shut it in his face but Jared jumped inside the house and waggled a finger at me, tsking like an old woman. "Come on, it'll be fun!" he begged. Guys saying that shopping will be fun…weird. The microwave dinged but Jared opened the door and pulled me out of the house before I could move to retrieve my food. He threw me over his shoulder like I was a sack of potatoes and walked to the truck.
"I'm not even wearing shoes!" I yelled, hand waving uselessly in the direction of my house. Jared ignored me and stuck me in the truck beside Quil, who patted my knee in sympathy. Jared and Embry climbed in the back of the truck while Paul locked the door and came trotting out of my house with my pair of neon blue flats I wore for Halloween as part of my fairy costume the year before.
"Paul these don't even match my outfit!" I whined. "How are you supposed to take me shopping when you have no clue how to match things?" His mouth dropped open in mock horror and he placed a hand on his chest.
"My lady, you wound me!" he said dramatically. Leave it to Paul to exaggerate things. Quil started up the truck with a bang, and Jared and Embry almost tumbled off out of the truck bed when he turned a corner too sharply. I grabbed Paul's elbow and the seat under me, hanging on for dear life. We passed my mom on the highway, coming home from her job at the grocery store in Forks. She didn't notice as we flew by, even though I sent her mental 'help!' signals. I wasn't exactly sure where we were going but I figured we were heading to Port Angeles for our little shopping spree. I settled in and tried to relax a little even though Quil's driving was less than a peaceful Sunday drive through the woods.
"I already told your mom where we going earlier this week, so no need to worry about that," Paul assured me. I looked at him in wide eyed horror.
"Did you tell her what we were doing and why?" I choked out. He smiled.
"Nah, I just told her we were going to hang out with a few friends, and that Friday you were going with me to a bonfire down at the beach. So you'll need to be at my house when Jake comes to pick you up."
Crap. No way to get out of this mess now.
I nodded and spent the rest of the drive in relative silence, laughing every now and then as Quil and Paul belted out whatever song they knew that came on the radio. Their rendition of "Gimme More" by Britney Spears almost killed me, I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. They started singing to me and pulling on my hair and rubbing my legs, and even made Embry swat at them through the window and tell them to lay off. Finally the song went off and we pulled into Port Angeles, me gasping for air, Quil and Paul laughing their heads off, and Jared and Embry looking more than a little windswept. Quil parallel parked at the end of Main Street and we all tumbled out of the truck. The sheer size of the guys earned us more than a few glances as they dragged me into a very pink boutique.
"Hello there! Can I help you guys with something?" the perky saleswoman said cheerily, looking a little scared until I pushed my way through the crowd of massive bodies. Paul leaned up against the counter and gave her one of his lady killer grins before pointing to me.
"This young lady has a date this weekend, and we as friends feel it is our supreme duty to make her look good. Real good."
The woman looked me up and down disapprovingly. Hey it's not my fault they dragged me out of my house wearing an orange hoodie, ripped up jeans and neon blue shoes. I glared back at her and crossed my arms.
"Well…let's see what we can do," she said finally, whisking me away to the fitting room. They threw various outfits over the door and told me to try on all of them. Embry's selections were the most sensible looking of all of them, Jared was trying to make me look like some kind of fairy princess thing, and Paul of course handed me clothes a little more on the sexy side. I blushed when I came out in whatever they put me in, since they all cheered and clapped every time. I was trying on what had to be the sixteenth outfit when I heard a mutual 'ooo' out of all of them.
"Hey Ina, try this on!" I heard Paul say as several clothing articles came flying over the door. It seems they had worked together on this one.
Several minutes later after much sucking in and buttoning up I emerged wearing a tight red dress, black tights (for warmth, Embry's doing I supposed) and thigh high black suede heeled boots. They all wolf whistled and clapped, and I blushed a deep enough shade to match the dress. The dress was extremely low cut in the back, almost reaching my butt before it became one solid piece of fabric again, and had three quarter length sleeves. The boots had to be buttoned all the way up, which was a long and extremely tedious process. Thankfully the dress had straps of fabric that crisscrossed in the back to hide my bra, or else I would be in trouble.
"Look at you!" Paul said in awe, shock evident on his face. Apparently he had picked out the boots and dress, while Embry of course had chosen the tights. I shot him a thankful look before being dragged over to the jewelry section by Jared. He held up several sets of sparkly earrings before his face lit up with one of them.
"Put these on," he ordered, his smile bigger than I'd ever seen it. I obeyed and Quil came over and slapped a few bangles on my wrist before they all stepped back to take a look at their finished product. Even the grumpy saleslady stopped fawning over them and looked at me, finally grunting and walking back behind the counter when she saw that she had lost their attention.
"Um, guys?" I stammered, "Isn't this a little too sexy for a first date?"
They all shook their heads no in agreement.
"Jake is one lucky dog," Quil chuckled, elbowing Paul in the side.
I had to admit that I did look…good, I suppose. Great even. Heck, I felt sexy. But wasn't sure if that was the message I wanted to give to Jake. Did I even want to give Jake a message other than 'leave me alone'? Embry rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I think I agree with you, Ina," he said finally. I sighed in relief as he looked around a bit more before picking out something sensible. The other guys sighed as I walked into the changing room. Embry seemed to know what looked good on me better than I did. He had given me a pair of dark wash jeans with studs down the side, a slightly ruffled white shirt, which I tucked in, and a black vest to go over it. I walked out and he placed a pair of faux snake skin heels in front of me. I slid into them and looked up.
"Well?" I asked. The guys all nodded thoughtfully.
"Still hot, I must agree. But we're buying you that other outfit too. You HAVE to wear it sometime, kay thanks?" Paul begged. I rolled my eyes.
"What would I wear it to?"
"Um, to get laid, duh," Jared said like I was an idiot. I smacked my palm against my forehead and shook my head. "Guess I'll never wear it then," I said, happily placing the dress back on the rack. They all yelled "No!" simultaneously, their hands out in front of them to stop me even though I was five feet away.
"Who's birthday is coming up?" Quil asked quickly, glancing at the other guys.
"Mine! November twenty fifth!" Jared yelled, raising his hand in the air like a little kid. Sometimes I think he has the mental capacity of a five year old that says naughty things he hears but doesn't know what they mean. He seems so innocent sometimes, but so evil at others. I'll have to observe him in his natural habitat and study the enigma that is Jared.
Quil clapped his hands together and said, "Great! We'll have a birthday party for Jared and you can wear it then."
"Why would she want to wear something sexy like that for Jared's birthday party?" Embry questioned, his hand rubbing his chin again. Thank you, dearest cousin! Kindly come up with an excuse for to me to never have to wear it. And make it snappy. Please.
Jared danced over and put his arm around me, giving me a slight squeeze. "Because she loves me, of course," he smiled. Feigned innocence with an ulterior motive, that had to be it. I don't know if Jared is that smart though. I saw Quil cross his arms and laugh.
"No she doesn't, you dolt. She loves Jacob, duh."
"Um," I got cut off by Paul.
"Yeah but she doesn't know that she loves him yet. So if she wanted to wear the dress, you know, asap, then I don't think Jake would mind." He smirked his most evil smirk and I felt like he had x-ray vision and was looking at my underwear or something by the look on his face. Creeper.
"Yeah I suppose." It was Jared's turn to rub his chin thoughtfully. "Since she doesn't know she loves Jacob it would be completely okay for her to wear the dress for us."
"Guys, are you really that stupid and two-faced?" Embry snapped. They all looked him with 'whoa' faces. Embry getting angry was like the world coming to an end, or so it seemed. "You would really do that to your best friend? I think she should wait until she feels ready to wear it, and no Ina that doesn't mean you have to wear it to 'get laid.'" He smiled at me and clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Don't let these guys pressure you into anything—"
It's a little too late for that, I thought.
"—you don't even have to get the dress if you don't want to. Unless you feel like being greatly, um, appreciated by Jacob staring at you for the duration of time that you wear it. I'm trying not to make this sound weird since I'm your cousin." He sighed. I cut him some slack.
"So basically you're saying that I should get the dress just in case I need it for some unknown reason and want to feel special and sexy and whatnot, not because I want guys ogling me?"
"Exactly!" He looked relieved. Dear cousin, have I ever told you how much I love you? I'll have to take him out to dinner or something sometime to thank him for his wisdom and help among this bunch of idiots. I wonder if stupidity is contagious. I hope not, but I highly doubt it since Embry hangs out with them more than I do and he is able maintain a certain level of intelligence. I chuckled to myself but the guys noticed.
"I was just thinking how happy I am that stupidity isn't contagious," I explained. Everyone except Embry frowned.
Soon we left the boutique and were meandering around downtown Port Angeles, looking for some place to grab dinner. On the way to wherever we were going, Jared spotted a pretty hairpin through the window of some shop and went in to buy it. He came out smiling like an idiot and made me put in in my hair, using a window as a mirror. It actually was kind of cute. Silver and shaped like a long leaf, it was about two inches in length. Now I looked even more outrageous, but it seemed to make the guys happy so I didn't care. We finally found an all you can eat Chinese buffet and entered, crowding around a long table that the waitress had led us to. The guys brought back at least two plates each, piled high enough to rival Mount Everest with steaming food.
"Jeez guys, you hungry or what?" I asked, gawking at the rapid rate of disappearance of the food on their plates. I looked down at my own measly plate and felt out of place.
"Here, try this Ina!" Paul said, shoving a piece of chicken in my face. It was covered in some kind of sticky goo, but looked delicious nonetheless. I bit off a small piece and chewed, my eyes widening at the taste before I bit the rest off of his fork. He chuckled and soon the rest of them were trying to get me to try things. I had to stop before I got too full to eat my own food, so they just shrugged and continued shoveling food into their mouths. They finished long before I did, which was weird because they had tons more, so all of them except Paul left to go get dessert. The waitress took advantage of the pause in the feeding frenzy and quickly refilled our drinks. Paul gnawed on a bone, trying to get the last bit off meat off, and grunted as he turned his head in my direction to try a new approach. I couldn't help but laugh at him.
"What?" he grumbled, still gnawing. "You just look like a big puppy chewing on a bone," I answered. He just rolled his eyes.
"Thank you, Paul," I mumbled quietly. He waved his hand in dismissal as the rest of the gang returned to the table. I took a deep breath.
"Thanks guys, for everything. I didn't think I would, but I actually had a lot of fun today," I blushed. Quil paused his eating, an entire slice of cake halfway to his mouth and smiled at me.
"It was Paul's idea. We should hang out more!"
The others nodded enthusiastically, their cheeks stuffed like hamsters while waiting for an answer.
"Oh alright," I said finally, giving in.
I don't remember much of the ride home because I was asleep for most of it. It had gotten a lot chillier as the night wore on, and I tried to think of some way to fit Embry and Jared in the tiny truck cab without us getting pulled over. They just waved me into the truck as we were leaving and climbed into the back, pulling the hoods of their jackets over their heads to block against the wind. I tried to stay awake but they had worn me out. Paul noticed my head dropping and pulled me against his feverish shoulder with a smile. I barely noticed Quil's crazy driving as I drifted off.
Sometime during the drive I woke up to Paul's rumbling voice arguing quietly with Quil. I jumped as we hit a bump in the road and sat straight up, looking around anxiously.
"It's okay baby we just ran into a pothole," Paul soothed, pulling me back against his chest. Sometime during the drive he had maneuvered us around to where he had his back against the truck door, his left leg propped up against the seat and his right on the floor with me leaned against his chest. Not a very safe position if we got into an accident, but quite frankly I didn't really care at the moment. I was tired and Paul was warm. I settled against his chest, resting my head against his neck, and he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I felt safe. Like for the first time in a long time I belonged somewhere and had good friends I knew I could trust.
"Jared and Em okay?" I mumbled. Paul's voice sounded strained when he answered.
"Yeah they're fine, honey. Don't worry about them and just go back to sleep okay?"
"Kay," I mumbled, closing my eyes but not really falling asleep. The truck was silent for a while, then Quil finally spoke up.
"I think someone should tell her soon. It's not right to keep her out of the loop. Plus who knows what will happen when the Cullens come back, since Bella has been trying to get a hold of Jake again. I wish she would just leave him alone," he sighed. I felt Paul nod slightly and he ran his hand through my hair gently.
"I just…I just don't get why he had to imprint on Ina. She doesn't even know him, right? I've known her all my life, since we were kids. We used to play together everyday. What does she have with Jake?" Paul said grimly. What? Imprint? What does that mean?
"I'm sorry, man, but it doesn't work that way," Quil answered, his voice sad. "One day you'll find your imprint too, and you'll feel so much better. I promise."
It was silent for a moment.
"But I wanted it to be her," Paul whispered. They talked some more but I was losing focus, and let sleep overtake me once more.
When we reached my house Paul tried to carry me to my room but I swatted him away and stumbled up the steps to the front door. He followed me nevertheless, and I was thankful that he was there to deter any questions my mom had. He held my arm as we walked to my room, whispering, "I've got your bags, I'll come get you around five tomorrow so you can get ready, okay?" I nodded and flopped onto my bed, kicking my shoes off before curling myself around my pillow. He stood looking at me for a few moments, arms crossed and eyebrows knitted together in thought before he turned to walk out.
"Paul, what does imprint mean?" I mumbled without meaning to. I thought he might have heard me because he paused for a few seconds, but he just shut the door behind him and left me in total darkness. I suppose that question will have to wait until later.
The next morning I woke up to someone shaking me, my mom's worried voice floating through the haze of my unconsciousness before I finally heard, "Ina, it's 7:25 what are you still doing in bed?"
I sat up quickly and almost head butted her, my heart racing frantically. I grabbed some clothes and ran to the bathroom for a quick shower. "My mouth tastes like butt!" I groaned as I scrubbed vigorously to get rid of the nasty morning mouth. I dried myself off quickly and pulled my hair up into a messy bun, yanking my clothes on and barely remembering to wear shoes before I ran out the door to my car. I fumbled with the stupid lock before realizing I had left my bag in the house, but luckily my mom was standing at the door with it. Soon I was speeding up the road at an alarming rate, probably flinging chunks of asphalt in my wake.
I reached the school at 7:55, but of course all the good parking spots were taken. I had to park way out and sprint up the hill to school, once again entering English class looking like I was deranged. Everyone stared at me with wide eyes as I stuttered an apology to the teacher before taking a seat. He looked down his nose at me and held his hand out. I looked at it curiously before slapping his hand in a low five. The class giggled and he rolled his eyes and said, "homework."
Crap. Curse Paul and the rest of them for making me forget.
I told him I didn't have it, and he gave me detention during lunch. Lovely, I get to spend a whole thirty minutes getting stared at by some creepy old guy.
Well this day started off great.
I dragged my way out of class, narrowly missing getting run over by several of the more 'devoted' students (or maybe they were just avoiding people too). I shuffled to my locker, waving at Embry as I passed like always. He had a smile plastered on his face, but it fell when he saw how I looked.
"Hey, what's up?" he said. Embry must be some sort of magical being. He weaved his massive form across the hall without hurting anyone in point five seconds. I shrugged.
"Mr. Sampson gave me detention during lunch because I didn't have my homework," I grumbled while opening my locker. He frowned.
"I'll get the rest of the guys to come with me and explain for you, okay? We'll make something up."
I shrugged. It was just one day, not really that important. He gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder before walking down the hall to his next class. It was third period before it finally hit me.
Today is Friday.
My date with Jake is today.
I'm doomed.
My nerves increased by over nine thousand as the day wore on, and I was almost relieved to have lunch alone so I could think a little. I grabbed an apple and a bottle of water from the cafeteria before heading to Mr. Sampson's class to report for duty, sir. I knocked on the door before trudging in and taking a seat. He handed me a piece of paper, makeup work no doubt, and returned to his desk to stare at me so I started immediately. After a few minutes there was another knock on the door, and I looked up, curious to see who else had detention. The door opened and Paul, Embry, Quil, Jared, and…Jacob filed in, massive lunch bags in hand. He glared at them in question.
"Excuse us, Mr. Sampson, but we were wondering if we could have detention too," Embry said, presenting himself in front of Mr. Sampson's desk. "As it was our fault she didn't get to do her homework in the first place," Jared interjected, "because we sort of kidnapped her—"
"Giving her absolutely no chance to do any of her assignments," Paul finished with a dramatic flourish. Mr. Sampson crossed his arms and glared for a moment before sighing and waving them away.
"Very well," he said, "Just sit apart from each other and stay quiet."
They turned around and grinned at me like a bunch of fools. Paul and Jared patted my shoulder as they walked by to sit at the back of the class, Embry sat up front in my usual seat, Quil across from him, and Jacob sat a few seats to my left. I glanced at him and he caught me looking and just smiled, making my heart beat so fast I thought it would burst out of my chest and take off running. Although it made it harder to concentrate due to the various chewing noises and the tingling feeling on the side of my face caused by Jacob's staring, I was happy that they were there for me. That teary eyed feeling came up again and I sniffled, surreptitiously wiping my eyes on my sleeve.
Makeup work is no joke. It was so hard I stared at Embry's back, willing him to hear my telepathic pleas for help for five minutes straight before I gave up and just did the best I could. Lunch was over before I knew it, and I sighed as I walked up to the teacher's desk and unwillingly turned in the paper I put my blood, sweat, and tears (literally) into. I held my breath as he checked the answers and, at last, nodded and waved me out. When I walked out only Jacob was standing outside, leaning against the wall. I tried to refrain from thoughts like 'wow he looks delicious' and instead beamed a smile at him. He returned the smile and shrugged his shoulders, his hands in his pocket.
"Paul told me to say, specifically in this order, 'no problem,' 'don't worry about it,' and 'anytime,'" he laughed. I shook my head. That sounded an awful lot like something Paul would say, but I was surprised he didn't leave some sort of crude or embarrassing term of endearment along with it. Maybe Jake just left it out for his sake, or maybe Paul was actually growing up. I'll never know.
"So," he said suddenly, holding his elbow out. "Can I walk you to your next class?"
I gulped and managed to squeak out a 'sure' before slipping my arm through his. He squeezed it against his side and grinned like it was nobody's business. I tried to calm myself down. I don't know how he knew my heart was beating so fast last time but I didn't want to give him that advantage again.
I had not talked to him since Monday after school, although I did catch his eye every now and then in the hallway or at lunch. It felt kind of weird because he seemed to know when I was there, and would look at no one but me until we passed each other. I could feel his eyes on my back after that, and had to hurry and turn a corner before the tingling feeling went away. I was brought out of my daze by Jake suddenly stopping, making me stumble a bit before I turned to look up at him.
"Why did we stop?" I asked, confused.
"Um, we're at your next class?" he chuckled.
I looked over and sure enough, Mr. Haney – Room 203 was plastered on the wall above the door. "Oh," I mumbled, looking down to hide my embarrassment. He laughed and brushed my hair away before giving me a quick peck on the forehead.
"I'll see you after school?" he asked. I blushed and nodded before retreating into the classroom. What powers did he have that reduced me to a bumbling idiot?
I received glares from several of the female students as I sat down. It's not everyday you see a bumbling idiot with a hottie like Jake. I took out my paper and pencil and tried to ignore it the best I could.
The day seemed to intentionally pass by slowly in order to torture me. Anticipation was bottled up inside of me, waiting to explode as every second of every minute passed at an excruciatingly painful rate. Seventh period was spent by me just glaring at the clock, willing time to move faster. Finally, finally, it was time to go, and I shot out of the room faster than you can say lickety split. I waited at my locker for a little bit, expecting Jake to show up there but he never did. I became a little disappointed as I walked out of the building, and made sure to keep my head down until I got to my car just in case he didn't show up. I got to the end of my car and looked up and there he was, smiling as always. I decided to make a snarky comment about that fact and test him.
"Do you always smile or are you just happy whenever you see me?" I asked.
"A little bit of both," he replied.
Well that didn't work. I frowned and unlocked my door, throwing my books into the passenger seat.
"So, um, did you Paul tell you that you'll be picking me up at his house? Because my mom is crazy and would never let me leave without taking a billion pictures otherwise," I said, trying not to blush. The wind gusted from behind me, whipping my hair out of its bun and making it smack me in the face.
"Ow." I tried to wipe the needle like hairs out of my face gracefully but ended up just having to hold it down with both hands until the wind died down. The sky looked a little cloudy, but by the way the wind was blowing I was sure it would be storming by tonight. I hoped Jake didn't have something planned for the outdoors.
"You smell really good," he said suddenly, sniffing the air.
"Um, eau de Herbal Essences?" I answered, still trying to tame my hair back into place. He shook his head. "No, that too but it's just something that's uniquely you."
I wasn't sure how to answer that, so I replied with a quick thanks, looking at my feet awkwardly until I felt his finger under my chin lifting my head up.
"I really can't wait until tonight," he breathed. I made the mistake of looking him in the eyes and instantly I was caught. They were dark and loving and open, seemingly baring his very soul and all that is the essence of Jacob Black to me and me only. I could see an intense and unyielding love, happiness even, but under that I sensed the pain that he had gone through. It was like he was trying to tell me something, and I couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, couldn't move for fear of losing whatever it was.
The wind suddenly picked up again and my hair smacked him in the face, breaking the spell between us.
"I'm so sorry! Are you okay? It didn't poke your eyes out did it?" I gasped, trying to control my hair. It has a mind of its own sometimes, and right now it was saying, "Get on with it, you romantic twit!"
He rubbed his eyes with his fists for a while. When he opened them they were red and a little wet looking.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Took me by surprise is all," he laughed. "I'll see you tonight, okay?"
He leaned down and pressed a warm kiss against my forehead, letting his lips linger for a bit, and my heart nearly leaped out of my throat. I stood there dumbfounded as he smiled and walked away.
I eventually uprooted my feet from the parking lot and drove home. My forehead felt like it was burning where he kissed me, and I kept rubbing it trying to make it go away. I even checked it the mirror before going inside, worried that it had left some kind of mark and my mom would know. No, it was just tan like normal. I grabbed my bag and went inside. I tried to eat, but I was so nervous I thought I was going to throw up. So I did the only thing I knew to do to keep my mind occupied until five.
Thinking up escape plans.
It seemed to have become my secret passion over the past week. I vegetated on my bed, thinking up every possible situation that might occur.
What if he tries to hug me?
One part of me said to start coughing in his face to deter the present and future threats of said hug, while the other half said to go for it.
What about that awkward arm-around-the-shoulder thing guys do at the movies?
Shrug uncomfortably? Lean in closer.
…kisses allowed?
Most definitely. Wait, what? No! Proceed to evasive procedure number 16: sneezing uncontrollably! Or evasive procedure number…oh no, I was forgetting my vital evasive procedures. Did I want to kiss him and do all that coupley stuff? Surely not. I hoped. I was saved by the bell, the doorbell to be exact. Five o' clock had come way too quickly for my comfort, and soon Paul was dragging me out of my house and down the street to his.
I had no clue what this evening would hold, but I knew that no matter what I must not give in to the enemy.