4- Not a date
My mother was already awake when I stepped in the back door, she was typing away at the ancient computer that inhabited a corner of four living room. "How were patrols? You are kind of late getting home."
I was exhausted and hungry which did not equate to quick thinking or complete sentences for that matter. "Oh yeah, went out really far, nothing wrong."
"There is some breakfast being kept warm in the oven," she explained as I started heading towards the bedroom. My mind might not have been at one hundred percent but my stomach was, it grumbled as soon as she mentioned food. Changing my destination I moved to see what goodies my mother had made. After breakfast, a short nap, and a long hot shower I was starting to feel human again. Seth was on the computer writing up something for his English class, so my mother was kind enough to let me borrow her car.
I spent most of the afternoon writing up my meager resume and searching the newspaper classifieds for any jobs. Monday morning I headed back to Forks, my freshly printed out resumes in hand and an uncharacteristic smile on my lips.
As I drove into town I adjusted my skirt, it had been a while since I had gotten dressed up. Nothing in my wardrobe fit so I had to borrow one of my mother's old khaki skirts, it was a little wide around the waist but the color was right, I was also wearing one of my father's button up shirts. I was going to have to make do with the only shoes I had other than flip flops, a worn pair of tennis shoes. They had new laces and I had cleaned them yesterday in anticipation of my big day. Given a choice between flip flops and tennis shoes, I had decided the shoes would be more professional looking. Top this off with my father's old jacket and who could resist hiring me.
My first stop in the job hunt was the local grocery store. It was large enough, surely they were hiring all the time. The woman in customer service, Judy was her name according to her name tag, took my resume and had me fill out their general application form. I used my summers spent working at my parent's store for cashier experience. Judy noticed this, I could see her blade like nose twitching as she looked it over. She had several employee of the month stars pinned to the front of her shirt, I could not detect the reason why she had been given this honor. It certainly was not for her customer service skills if this was her usual behavior.
"How can you have this much experience, you are not old enough." I could tell if she had anything to do with it my application was going to disappear into the trashcan as soon as I left.
I took a deep breath and told myself I needed a job, and it would not do to tell my potential future employer where she could stick it. "I helped out at my parents store during the summer."
Judy made a little note in the margin of my application. "We will call you if we are interested."
"I will be waiting right next to the phone." So maybe some of my sarcasm leaked out, she had worn my patience a little thin.
The hardware store owner was worse. I had actually been hopeful, there was an ad in the local paper announcing a job opening. There was even a sign hanging on the front window, "Help Wanted" it had said. Apparently I was not the help they wanted.
"Well you have no experience with our products, customers come in here expecting a certain amount of knowledge." He told me when I approached him about the help wanted sign.
"Larry, where are those new halogen bulbs?" a customer interrupted our interview.
"Right next to the regular light bulbs." the hardware store owner stated.
"Hmm, thanks I will look there." the customer, wandered off to find his lightbulbs. Yeah I could tell it would take a lot of expertise.
I know rejection hurt but for some reason it had hurt worse that it was done by a guy wearing a pair of overalls. Who over the age of five wore overalls?
I went home somewhat despondent, I had spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon with no success.
"How was the job hunt?" My mother asked when I got home. She was at her desk doing some paperwork, she usually came home Monday afternoons to catch up on the accounts from the weekend. It would amaze people if they knew how much paperwork actually went into running a business.
"Not so well," I sighed, flopping down on the couch. I kicked off my shoes, they landed somewhere in the vicinity of the door. Jake and I had done the midnight to six in the morning patrols again so I was a little tired.
"Are you giving up already?" She seemed somewhat surprised at my easy capitulation.
"Not yet, I have a few more options but I really needed to get some sleep." Just sitting here on the couch I could feel my eyes drooping. I must have fallen asleep right there on the couch because the next thing I knew Seth was poking my shoulder.
"Hey Leah, stop drooling on the couch." I heard him saying. I jumped a little and rubbed my face. My hand came back wet, I guess Seth had not been exaggerating, I had been drooling.
"Seth come set the table and leave your sister alone, let her sleep," I could hear my mother speaking from the kitchen.
"No, I am awake," I pushed myself off the couch, it was getting dark outside, how long had I been asleep?
My mother questioned me about my job applications that night over dinner, the nap I had taken on the couch helped me actually answer in coherent sentences. I spent the third, and luckily last night of this week, going on patrol with Jake. I told him to bug off and leave me alone as soon as he shifted, he was smart enough not to test me. Well bug was not the word I actually used.
The next day continued to look for a job, this time I hit up the smaller shops. There were several boutique like places, I kind of felt like the bull in the china shop when I went inside them. I knew it would probably not work out but I was somewhat desperate.
Needless to say no one jumped at the opportunity to hire me; maybe it would be better if I take the job offer my mother made me. A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush, as the saying went. At least I would get some money, and I would not have to figure out how to get to work everyday without a car.
A sort of depression settled over me as I drove back to the Reservation. I went straight to my mother's store. I may as well tell her the good news, she just acquired a new employee.
I parked in the rear of the small building, right next to the back entrance. My mother did not want us parking in the front, that was for potential customers. I walked through the back storage room dodging empty boxes, paint and the other odds and ends required to maintain boats. It smelled strongly of fish back here, bringing back memories of being out on the water with my father.
I had just kicked some old fishing nets out of the way when I heard someone talking to my mother, I recognized that voice.
What was he doing here? And more importantly, what was he talking to my mother about?
I walked through the doorway that led to the front of the shop. Yup, I had not imagined it, there he was leaning up against a counter, I had forgotten just how tall the man was. I had not forgotten that voice, it was just as rumbly as I remembered. He was wearing jeans again, this time paired with a dark blue t-shirt. The dark color went well with his skin tone, but I was willing to be he was not aware of that fact - he struck me as the type of guy that would pick his clothes based solely on the fact that it was the first clean shirt he could get his hands on.
His black hair was no longer tied in a ponytail, instead it fell in straight thick chunks around his face - it added some much needed softness to that hard face, not that it was fully able to hide that strong jaw. His hair was not as long as I had predicted the other day, just and inch or two beyond his broad shoulders. My first impression was that Phil was not conventionally good looking, and that I was willing to stand by that observation - but he sure as hell was sexy, especially when he was smiling in that understated way. Lips curling up slightly only at the edges. I had read books describing these types of people, the ones that could easily overlooked but got more and more interesting as you got to know them.
His looks were not what was bothering me, no it was the fact that he was speaking to my mother. I forced myself to look away from Phil, so that I could asses how much damage he had done. Mother was calmly sitting on the other side of the counter, talking with him, in a pleasant voice I might add.
"Good afternoon, Leah," he met my eye over my mother's shoulder. I really liked the way he said my name, and wow impressive his memory must have improved. It was a miracle he could actually remember my name. Oh crud, I needed to focus on what was important, I was trying to read the situation. How much had he told my mother?
"Oh hello Leah, how did the job hunt go?" Mother turned around on her stool to smile at me. I did not see anger or suspicion in her face, that was a good thing, but also very confusing.
"Not well, one woman actually had the audacity to tell me I was too tall for the job." I was trying to act normal and guiltless. Maybe she was waiting for Phil to leave before she ripped into me, but she seemed far too pleasant for that.
"You should call the ACLU, they cannot discriminate against you for that." Phil added helpfully. His tone was serious but when I looked at his face I could see the tightening around his lips, he was trying not to smile. He succeeded for a few seconds but then the dimples popped out. Hmm I never knew I had such a dimple fetish, maybe it was a recent development.
"What are you doing here?" I asked in an accusing tone, my mother gave me a questioning look. Oh crud, maybe he had not said anything and now I had ruined everything. But wait he had identified me by name when I had first walked in, so it was his fault.
"I went by your house earlier, but on one was home. A helpful neighbor directed me here, and I found your mother." He said with a smile, my mother looked back at him, and returned his smile. I took the opportunity to glare at him and try to tell him to get lost in gestures only.
"Yes, it was nice meeting your tourist, Leah," my mother said with a suggestive tone. So she had put two and two together. But why was she not angry?
"I came to see if you wanted to have dinner with me." Phil was looking at me while he said this but I got the impression that he was asking my mother's permission as well.
The conversation I had with Jake came back at me, for one wild moment I thought about what it would be like to use this guy. Ok, time to pull the mind out of the gutter and face reality. He did not treat me like potential girlfriend material, he harassed me too much. Sleep deprivation was catching up with me and I could not think all that clearly.
"Uhhh, I don't think I am really dressed well," I said looking down at myself. I was not even wearing my own clothes, how much lower could a girl possibly get?
"You will be fine." he said looking me up and down, I watched a smile appear on his face as he got down to my tennis shoes.
"Leah can I talk to you for a minute?" My mother gave me a look, and I reluctantly followed her into the back room. Here we go, time for the lecture. I looked back at Phil who had a happy smirk on his face; I was going to make him pay for this. My glare said as much, but he just wagged his eyebrows at me. He obviously did not know me well enough to realize what my glare meant.
My mother moved far enough into the back so that Phil would not overhear us, "Leah, what do you know about this man?"
"He seems nice enough, but I don't know him all that well. He is not from around here." I shrugged that was about all I knew. At least all I was willing to share with my mother, no need to mention his need for setting land speed records on a motorcycle.
My mother paused for a second looking unsure of herself, which was strange, she never hesitated. She opened her mouth to ask me another question but she closed it again.
"Mom?" she was starting to worry me.
"This man is a perfect stranger if you feel unsure about him I can be the strict mother that will not let her daughter go out." For some reason she suddenly decided to be the protective mom. Like I would need protection from some human man.
"He is just a human mom, I can take him down even without trying. The hardest part will be leaving him uninjured if he ever gets me angry" I snorted, the possibility of my needing protection from a human was funny.
She smiled a little, but then she got serious again "Leah, sometimes the physical damage is nothing compared to what they do to our spirits."
I finally understood, she was trying to protect me from this man, so my mother might have been looking out for me all along - I had been too self-involved to notice. "No mother I did not imprint on him if that is what you are asking. You would think I would be a little happier if I had."
It may just have been my imagination but she looked somewhat disappointed. Why would she want me to imprint on this stranger, was there something she knew that I didn't? How had Phil charmed my mother, she was not stupid. My mother hesitated yet again, searching for the right words, "it is just that recently you have been a little better."
"That is because I am starting to formulate a plan to get out of here." Away from the Rez, away from Sam - that was my plan and I was sticking to it.
Mother flinched a little at my words, "you will have to keep the secret, Leah. You cannot tell Phil anything about the tribe."
"Yeah mom I know. I don't want to be locked up in some government science lab and cut into little pieces." I knew how to behave around humans.
I left my mother there in the back, a worried look on her face.
"Are you coming?" Phil asked me when he saw me.
"Yeah, sure I have nothing better to do." Except sit at home and contemplate my crappy life. Why are you lying, I actually looked forward to going out with Phil. Plus he had mentioned there was food involved, who was I to turn down food?
For a second I thought I saw a look of triumph on Phil's face but it was quickly cleared for a smile. I must have just imagined it, maybe I should take a raincheck and go take a nap instead.
He led me out the door, it was then that he looked down at me frowning. "Don't you need a jacket, you might get cold," he had put his back on while I was talking to my mother.
I looked down at myself, the jacket I did not need was still in the car. That was when I noticed the skirt I was wearing, how could I have forgotten about that? There was no way I was going to go on a bike. I sighed more disappointed than I had should have been - it was just dinner and he had not made it even sound like a date or anything. I had anticipated a momentary break from my life; this stranger who knew nothing about my problems seemed to be adept at helping me to forget.
"I can't go with you, I am wearing a skirt." I pulled on the offending garment.
"I had noticed that. I don't normally hang out with girls who wear skirts. Well, unless they are really, really short... the skirt, not the girl." He smiled down at me and I felt my mood lift a little. Phil reminded me a little of my brother, at least how Seth would be after a few years of seasoning. Always happy, both of them. I laughed a little, the two were nothing alike, one was a boy and the other a man.
"I can't ride a bike with a skirt on." I pointed out the obvious.
"It would be fun to see you try, fortunately for you I did not bring the bike. Mothers tend to object when I try to make off with their daughter on a bike." He moved his hand to my lower back and gave me a little push. It was gentle enough, but tired as I was it would have knocked me over if I had not had wolf reflexes. Phil had pretty quick reflexes too, he moved to catch me almost immediately. "Sorry Princess, let's just get you off your feet."
I looked around and did not see his bike, instead there was a small white nissan truck, it had a huge tool box in the back. If it was like anything like other men's trucks, the tools inside were worth more than the truck.
He opened the door for me to get in. Why was he being such a gentleman? "Who are you and what did you do with the Phil I knew?"
"Your mother is watching, so try to behave." He motioned with his head to the window of the shop.
I quickly looked up to see he was right, my mother was right up against the window. She was not even bothering to hide the fact that she was staring right at us.
"I take it you have done this before?" I sat pulled my feet into the truck, he still had his hand on the door as if he was going to go full out and close the door for me like a true gentleman.
"Not really, I usually don't hang around schoolgirls. But I figured if I was a parent and some guy came to take my precious little daughter there would be certain standards that would have to be met." His curling of the lips smile was back.
My smile was a little more obvious at the compliment, he had thought about me and had come up with a plan to avoid trouble with my mother. I deliberately chose to ignore the schoolgirl part of his comment.
Instead of heading for the drivers's door he went to the back to rummage in the toolbox, quickly he pulled out a big grey piece of fabric. He gave it to me when he got in the truck, "that is one of my favorites so I want it back."
"What?" I was a lot more tired than I had anticipated, I was having a hard time keeping up with the conversation.
"You seem to have this thing for loosing your outerwear, so I am telling you to keep up with that one." I watched as he started the truck.
He waited patiently until I got the sweatshirt on and my seatbelt fastened before pulling out of the parking space. "So tell me, where is the coolest beach you got?" he asked as he backed up. The engine of the truck sounded as well tuned as his bike, none of these banging sounds I had gotten used to hearing these days.
I quickly gave him directions to one of my favorite places. It was a little ways off the regular roads, I liked it because very few people went there. Not that there would be too many people at the beach at this time.
He drove at a much slower speed, keeping well within the speed limit. He kept up a minimal amount of conversation, but it was mainly observations about the area we were passing through. I did not think he wanted much of my input, so I did not expend the energy to keep up my side of the conversation.
I noticed there was a couple of baskets by my feet, with a blanket on top of it. I was curious but I did not ask him about it, I was saving it for a little bit later.
"Nice truck," I told him, it was nice and clean on the inside, like he had cleaned it very recently. I could still smell the cleaning products, I was a little suspicious that he was going out of his way to be nice to me.
"Oh this is not mine." he said with a smile.
"Stolen?" He had slowed down to a near crawl at this point, we were heading closer to the cliffs. The view of the ocean and cliffs peaking out from between the trees was amazing - no matter how jaded a person was they could not look at this picture and be unaffected. It was mother nature at the her wildest, and in my opinion at her most beautiful.
"Would you believe borrowed?" It took him a while to answer. I noticed he was looking at the path more closely now, it had narrowed down to practically a one lane dirt road.
"Tell that to the police." I looked outside, I had been so involved in my own problems I had forgotten how beautiful this place was. Fall had crept up on me while I was not looking, the trees were slowly changing. The forest was dotted with oranges, reds, and even some browns. How had I missed this, come to think of it, I had missed summer as well.
I heard Phil laugh, "I would not worry too much about it. The truck belongs to the house I am currently staying in, a friend of mine needed a house sitter and I needed a place to stay for a few months, so a great plan was born."
I had not realized people let others borrow their houses, and I pointed this out to Phil. I would most certainly not like someone living in my house. Turns out Phil's current home was just a vacation house in the woods, he was going to be staying there until mid January or so, when he would head back to his real life. He did not go into details of what constituted his real life.
We stopped at one of my favorite beaches, there was a small area next to the water, this is what some might call the beach part, of course it was covered with the stones and seashells. The area was almost completely surrounded by cliffs rising out of both the land and water, when I was younger I used to imagine they were great spirits coming out to play with me. The forest tried to reach as close to the water as possible, it did not succeed everywhere, but there was a nice green wall less than a hundred yards away from the shoreline.
"Here we go," Phil said, "a picnic for the princess." He grabbed the baskets that had been next to my feet after he had helped me get out.
I noticed he had gone back to calling me princess now that my mother was not around. "That reminds me, how did you con my mother?"
"Oh that was easy, I offered to give her my social so she could do a full background check on me." He was spreading out the blanket, I should have helped him but he seemed to have a plan. Instead I sat on one of the bleached out logs, I watched the precise movements of his long fingers.
"No seriously, what did you do?" I really wanted to know so that I might use it in the future. He was adjusting the blanket trying to get it perfect, unfortunately some of the rocks were closer to being boulder size and kept making his blanket poof up in places. I could not help but laugh a little when he let out a frustrated breath. He finally, lifted the blanket and threw some of the rocks away.
It took him a while to be finally satisfied with the positioning of the blanket. "Yeah seriously, don't you think I would be doing a background check on the guy that took my daughter out? I told you, I thought like a parent." He reached into one of the baskets and pulled out another blanket, this one seemed thicker than the other one.
I hopped off my log to help him, or else we were going to be here all night long before he got the second blanket down. "Here let me help you."
I could see in his face that he was somewhat reluctant to let me help, "OCD much?" I asked him.
The second blanket turned out to be a thick quilt, I flopped onto it before he could start fixing the corners that were slightly askew. It was a lot more comfortable than I had anticipated. "You promised food, so feed me, now would be nice." Yeah I had the table manners of a wolf but I was hungry, and technically I was a wolf.
I could not help but be impressed with the amount of food he had actually brought, but then I should not have been surprised. I remembered the amount of food he had ordered the day I had first seen him in the diner.
"What is this stuff," I asked after I had opened a tupperware box, I did not recognize what was in it. Looked like tomatoes, and some leaves.
"Caprese Salad," he told me, pulling out more tupperware boxes.
"How do I eat it?" I asked him sniffing it, was that basil I smelled?
"Usually on bread. Here let me get you some and show you." He said taking the food away from me. He might have lost a hand for taking food away from me. Fortunately he quickly spooned the mixture onto a thick piece of bread before handing it back to me. What? I had skipped lunch, it was late afternoon, and the wolf metabolism was not helping.
This was pretty much the way our dinner conversation went, I poked at a strange food and he would show me how to eat it. I liked most of it, some of it I would not touch. I would tell him it smelled funny, he would laugh at me and call me a picky eater. I had to bite my tongue so that I would not tell him some of the meals I had consumed recently. I can't fully describe to you how disgusting bunny tails actually taste.
After we had both gorged ourselves, I leaned back a little while using my arms to brace myself - my stomach almost uncomfortably full. Phil was picking up and putting away the remains of the meal, and I was watching the gulls circle above me.
"Oh I almost forgot, I got you a present."
I was pleasantly surprised, and greedy, it had been a while since anyone gave me a present.
"Sorry I did not wrap it." He said handing me a small brown paper bag, inside was what almost looked like one of those cans that you squirted the silly string out of. This was not that colorful, it felt a lot heavier and looked more like the military version.
"Uh... thanks." I said trying to be polite, I tried to pull on the tab at the top.
He put his hand on mine to stop me, I looked up to see him laughing. "It is mace, not the grocery store brand either, this stuff will melt the face off of anyone you spray it on."
"Wow how nice," I continued, even more confused now. Why would he give me mace? I would have preferred the silly string, that would have been more useful.
"I figured if you are just going to jump on a bike with a stranger you needed some protection. Not all guys are as nice as I am. Just be careful not to use it on a police officer, they tend to get really pissed off if you do that." The twinkle in his brown eyes gave the impression that he had personal experience with doing that.
The more I talked to this man, the more I realized how much older than me he was. He might look like he was in his late twenties but I kept getting the impression he was older than that. He knew his place in the world; he was more comfortable in his skin than anyone I had ever met. There was a certain amount of peace to be had being around a man that was this comfortable with himself, but it made me wonder what he was doing with me.
"By the way, do you always do stuff just because someone dares you to?" he asked me in a casual tone.
"When you are surrounded by boys that expect you to be the sissy girl you kind of have to prove yourself everyday." I explained to him.
"Why are you so determined to prove yourself to them? Is their approval that important?" He seemed genuinely curious.
"I don't know, pride I guess." I answered him after thinking about it. Pride was the only think I had left, and I had so little left of even that these days.
He laughed, "you remind me of one of my cousins, she says she can do anything a man can, except she can do it in two inch heels."
"Wow, I would want to meet her, she sounds kind of cool." My type of woman, maybe I can pick her brain about secrets of how she did it.
"Not really, she is a total bloodsucker." He looked away, distracted by an especially loud wave crashing against the rocks.
I could feel the blood drain from my face, how did he know about vampires, did he know about what I was as well? For a minute I could not speak as different thoughts ran through my head.
Phil finally noticed that I was not longer participating in the conversation. He kicked one of my shoes with his big boots. "What is wrong?"
"Uhhh she is a what?" I could barely get the question out, my voice sounded a little high.
"A bloodsucker, you know a politician? Are you okay." He was looking at me more closely now.
"Yeah, I am fine." The relief I felt was overwhelming, I did not want this man to be part of the creepy supernatural world, I could not handle any more strange in my life. I wanted normal. I laughed, it sounded a little off, but he seemed not to have noticed.
Phil got up to go throw rocks into the water. I had noticed that he was incapable of sitting still, even when he was just sitting there he gave the impression of being in motion.
"Can't you sit still?" I laughed at him, this time it came out a little better. I truly enjoyed teasing this man.
He came back to sit down next to me, but I could see him still fidgeting with something in his hand.
"All right I will be still," he did not move a muscle, but I could still feel the waves of energy coming off of him. My grandmother would have said he had a very powerful spirit. She had been a very wise woman, I wondered what she would have said about Phil, heck I wondered what my father would have said about Phil. I lay down on the blanket, I could feel myself getting really sleepy. The fact that my hunger was fully sated did not help me stay awake.
I woke up with a start, was that a yelp I had heard?
It took me a minute to get my bearings, I was on the quilt. Great you fell asleep on Phil, some date you are. Oh yeah this is not a date, or he was not treating me as such. His attitude seemed very platonic, not once did I catch him staring at my breasts. I could not decide if I liked being treated like a person or if I wanted him to notice I was a woman.
"Sorry did I wake you," Phil's rumbly voice interrupted my inner dilemma.
"What?" I said still groggy. I really needed to get back to a regular sleep schedule, this falling asleep at all times of day was not going to to me any good socially or other ways.
"You are not very coherent when you first wake up?" I heard his deep laugh, it was kind of nice even if he was laughing at me.
"No, no I am awake." I sat up, and felt something crunch under my hand. I looked down and saw the outline of my body in seashells. Someone had placed them all around me while I was asleep.
"There was something moving around in the woods, it was getting a little too close for comfort, so I threw a rock at the correct bush. I think I got it, thought from the sound it made it might have been bigger that I thought." Phil seemed a little confused, he was holding a pretty large rock now.
I started to have a really bad feeling, like was one of the stupid pack members rustling around in the bushes. That would explain the yelp I had heard. I had to laugh, wondering which one of the pack he had hit. I had noticed Phil liked to throw things, he was ready to defend me if necessary, it was kind of sweet.
I picked up one of the seashells that had surrounded me trying to distract him from the potential wolf hiding in the bushes, and gave Phil a dirty look. "Did you have fun?"
"It was boring watching you sleep, except for the snoring bit that was kind of funny." He smiled at me, and out popped the dimples. I was wondering if you ever got used to the effect, or if he would always be able to make me forgive him with a flash of those dimples.
I thought about getting up and punching him but that would take too much effort, plus it might make the dimples go away. I lay back down on the quilt, the sky had darkened while I had been sleeping, I saw some stars peeking out where there was a break in the clouds.
"Tell me again why I put up with you?" I rubbed my face as casually as I could, wanting to make sure I had not drooled again. Much to my relief my face seemed dry, well one thing went right for me today.
"Because the alternative is having to live without me, and what is the point of living then?" He had come back to sit down on a log close to the blanket that I had used earlier. His tone was very serious, so serious I could barely hold back my laugh.
"Yeah, how could I go on?" I was laying on the sarcasm as thickly as I possibly could. I even rolled my eyes, but he was not cooperating since he had looked away from me. He was concentrating on the bushes again, I noticed he still had a rock in his hand ready to defend me. "Lions, and tigers, and bears oh my." I tried to joke about it, hoping to get his attention back to me, and away from a large werewolf on the other side of the bush. I really was going to rip someone a new one, how dare they endanger the tribe secrets? And for what stupid purpose would it be?
"Hmmm, I'm sorry, I was slightly distracted." Phil looked down at me now, there was something strange about his eyes, for a moment they were almost reflective like a cat's eye. Must have been a trick of the light, or what was left of it. I noticed how dark it actually had gotten.
"What time is it?" I asked, my mother must be getting worried by now.
"Getting late, don't worry I called your mother to tell her you fell asleep on me. Unfortunately I could only get a hold of your brother. Seth, is it? He said he would pass the message along to your mother." That was strange it was almost like he had heard my thoughts and answered them.
"You called my mother, how?" The wind shifted, I could smell them now. Paul and Quil had been here recently, I was wondering if they had done this on their own or if Sam was behind the stupidity. I really hoped it had been Paul that Phil had hit with that rock, I almost liked Quil - he was a good kid.
"These new fangled things called cell phones." I watched as he pulled one of of his back pocket and wave it at me. "Come on sleeping beauty it is time to get home."
I sat up again, more awake now, I looked down at my outline, he had not only included seashells but small rocks and feathers. I ran my finger down the line that had outlined my arm.
"All the elements right there," Phil said quietly.
"What?" I asked him confused.
"All the elements are represented, well the old school ones at least. Earth, wind, and water. You just need fire and you should be set, I can begin the incantation." He wagged his eyebrows at me.
It might have just been my imagination but when I cleaned off the blanked to put it away some of the rocks I touched had been hotter than they should have been.
"So, I was going to ask you something, but then you fell asleep on me," Phil said when we were back in the truck on our way to my house, or so I assumed. He did not need to much help finding his way back, but then there was only one road away from the beach.
"Go ahead," I was fully awake now, that nap had really helped. Too bad it was getting close to eleven at night, now what was I going to do? Maybe I could start working on a necklace, who said I would have to wait until the store closed down for the winter.
"So I am going to be here for a few months, and I was planning on doing some hiking and such but I need someone to do all that with. And since you are the only person I know..." he left it off as that.
"No I am not a tour guide." Was this the reason for all his elaborate plans to suck up to my mom, and to me?
"Oh come on, what else are you going to do? You don't have a job, and you don't seem to go to school. Come play with me, just for a few months and then I will be out of your hair," his voice was cajoling but I refused to look at him. If the dimples were out it would be impossible to resist.
"For your information, you are wrong, I have a job." I told him proudly.
"What is it?" he asked, I wished I could tell him the responsibilities I had as a wolf but sadly that was not something I could discuss. So I told him about my normal job.
"I am going to have to start helping my mother out again around the store." He could bite me. I did have a job, protecting the tribe from bloodsuckers, if he only knew what I had done in the past six months.
"What are you going to do in your spare time?" he asked reasonably, his eyes on the road.
He had a point, my spare time these days had been spent trying to salvage my castle in the sky, but I had to admit to myself there was no going back to that. What was the worst that could happen? I actually had some fun with this man, that would be a change from recent times, a very nice change.
The lights were on when I got home, I hoped my mother had not waited up for me.
"Ok sure," I said reluctantly as I got out of the car.
"Great, I will pick you up on Thursday at seven in the morning, be ready for a bit of hiking." He spoke quickly, like he was afraid I would change my mind. He muttered a quick goodbye before he reached over and closed the passenger side of the door. I did notice he waited until I had opened the front door before he started the truck again and took off.
I was almost inside when I heard some noise behind me, I looked over my shoulder to see Sam walk around the house. I deliberated for a moment, then I slowly closed the front door again. Sam and I needed to have a quick discussion, well it was going to be closer to a lecture. He was going to have to learn to mind his own business, and stop sending his minions to spy on me.
"Impressive, I have not used a spell that primitive in... I can't even count the years," the woman told the man sitting beside her with a laugh, "I am surprised you still remembered how to do that."
"It might be crude but if you put enough power behind it.." he replied with a sideways glance. He shifted a little on the wet rock they were both sitting on, his eyes went back to searching the area around them. It would be annoying if one of the wolves were to notice their presence.
"What was that exactly? I could not be sure what you actually tried to accomplish..." she started to tease him, but curiosity still laced her tone.
"All that matters is that I am pretty certain it worked," he was giving nothing away.
A/N: There you go girls, a little more Phil time for you.
GothChiq80: Glad you like the Sam and Leah showdown in the last chapter, I considered letting her punch him but I personally don't care for violence. I know what you mean about having two kids sharing their stories though at this point we are still at the oral phase of storytelling. Though my daughter has finally moved into the elaborate pictures and a few attempts at spelling; you would think a girl who can read 100 page books in a couple of hours would know how to spell - but I guess that will come later. Glad you liked the plot, I am not going to change it up much just the presentation of it - I think at times the information can be overwhelming so I am working on trying to give it to you in smaller portions.
ABarbieStory: Was that enough Phil time for you? Don't worry there will be plenty more :D. Who can possibly resist the dimples? I sure as heck can't. Of course Jake would be jealous of his bike, I think comparing sizes is a thing boys never outgrow.
Toshii519: Glad you liked the wolf gossip channel, though seriously I don't see how it would not happen that way. Especially since they all share thoughts. Plus I imagine Sam's panties would have been in a huge twist after his last showdown with Leah. I would think Emily's would not really worry about Leah and Sam - she pretty much knows that Sam is hers, no matter what happens.
What I can see her doing is pushing Sam towards "checking up" on Leah, just to make sure Leah is all right. Emily is older than Leah and is engaged to essentially the tribe of the chief so it would be her duty to push herself into other people's business. Don't tell Leah that I said this but I think Sam is genuinely worried about Leah - he does still feel obligated towards her as the alpha of the pack. Emily on the other hand comes off as a busybody constantly having to have all the pack at her house - can you say attention whore?
Twilighter: Sending my little Jailbait on a date with his girl might be fun, I promise to work on it tonight. I might have to go back and re-read all the chapters so I can get back into teenage boy brain who can't get none. At least not yet...wink, wink. Unlike SM I have no problem with premarital sex.