Chapter 2

Embry

"Can you believe they managed to flood the school?" Quil asks with a large roll of his eyes. "And now we have to go to school at Forks?"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it. Our maintenance guy is a moron." Jake rolls his eyes as he pulls into the parking lot. "Let's just try to act seminormal, yeah?"

"You know you're asking a lot, right?" Seth says with a wide grin as he throws himself out of the car.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on. Let's go."

We're lucky we don't have to share lockers. Why Forks High has so many of them, I don't know. Were they expecting there to be a population growth or something? Or were they just buy one get a hundred free? Either way, serves us well.

I'm making my way to mine, fighting to navigate through the packed hall when I slam into a girl in front of her locker. I instinctively grab her to keep her from falling.

"Oh God. Sorry. Are you okay?"

The girl turns to face me. She's average height, about 5 foot 5, with long redish-blond hair that falls to her midback. She's wearing glasses, which she adjusts on the bridge of her nose.

"I'm good." And then she looks at me and I'm lost in large blue eyes.

The world lurches out from beneath me. Everything stops and then starts up in double speed. I've just imprinted. On a girl I nearly caused to faceplant into her locker.

"I'm Embry." I'm smiling like an idiot.

"Layna." Layna. I draw the word into me. Lay-nah.

I'm still ogling my beautiful imprint when the bell rings. She gives me a smile, and fuck, if it doesn't make my heart speed up. She waves and hurries off into the crowd. I watch until she's swallowed up completely before making my way to my locker, smiling the entire time.

Quil is waiting for me by the door of our shared math class. As soon as he spots me, his eyes light up. "What's up with the shit eating grin?"

"I imprinted."

"Shit man! Congrats! On who?"

"Her name is Layna." Quil gives me another grin before heading into the classroom. I take a moment to try to wipe the smile off my face before following him in.

The rest of the day is torture. I don't see Layna in any of my classes. None of the other guys have seen her either. There was one other good development that day though.

"Guys!" Bryce is bubbling over with enthusiasm as we pile into the car. Bryce is a new addition to the pack; he'd only fazed three weeks ago.

"What?" Seth asks, grinning back.

"I imprinted."

"Two in one day?" Quil turns to grin back at Bryce. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"Her name is Madison. Oh, and Embry? She's Layna's cousin."

"You two imprinted on cousins!" Quil cackles. I reach forward to punch him in the back of the head.

"You're an ass."

"You love me." Quil shoots back.

"You wish."

My mind keeps drifting back to Layna as I patrol tonight. I wonder what she's doing. Wonder if I'll see her at school tomorrow. Wonder how she'll react to the whole wolf thing.

"You're overthinking, bro. Just take it as it comes." Jared sends via the mind link before fazing out at the end of his shift. I decide to take his word for it. It worked well with him and Kim.

I do end up seeing Layna at school. She's sitting at one of the old rickety picnic tables, sorting through a large stack of papers and sipping from a Starbucks cup. She flashes me a grin as I slide onto the bench across from her. The table gives an ominous creak, and I silently hope it won't break under my weight.

"Morning, Embry."

"Morning, Layna. What are you working on?" She shrugs.

"Just yearbook stuff. We're putting photos in alphabetical order by class right now. I got the freshman, the largest group in the school. Of course, I also got those from La Push, but we still have to take those. So I have a list of your names and schedules so I can put together an order to snap your pics."

"You're a photographer?" I am again lost in her eyes.

She laughs. "I wish. I'm just the resident organizer. Our advisor's not the most organized person out there, so..." She trails off and rearranges a few of the photos in front of her.

"So when am I getting shot?" I lean one elbow against the edge of the table.

"Whenever I get to you." She flashes me a grin. "I'll try to move you up on the schedule." She stands easily before sliding the photos into a folder and sticking it into her backpack.

"I've got to run by the Yearbook office to turn this in before school starts."

"Can I walk with you?" She nods.

"Sure."

Layna leads me to the English building, and from there into a small room which she unlocks with a key. She slides the folder into a filing cabinet before stepping out and locking up behind her. "Perks of being Yearbook president." She grins and slides the key back into the side pocket of her bag.

I end up walking her to her locker. As we walk, we talk about random things. I learn that she loves cheesy movies, chocolate ice cream, and Harry Potter. A girl after my own heart. I also learn all about Madison; her best friend, cousin, and Bryce's imprint. Turns out, Madison's been crushing on the guy for years.

Layna gives me a smile when we reach her locker. "Well, I guess this is where we part ways."

"Guess so." I manage a smile, despite wishing I didn't have to leave.

Emily gives me a look as soon as I enter her and Sam's house. "Why did your brothers have to tell me you imprinted?" But then she flashes me a smile, letting me know I'm not in too much trouble.

As I sit at the kitchen table, listening to my brothers banter, I feel like the luckiest bastard ever. I have a strong pack, Emily's muffins, and a beautiful imprint. How could things get any better than that?

A/n: I'm late, I know. But, "Stronger Together" got the most reviews, so it'll be updated every Monday. "From the Heart" will be updated every other Wednesday, and "Written in the Stars" will be updated on the first Friday of each month. I hope y'all enjoyed Embry's point of view. If so, drop a review and I might keep doing it. Later!

Lauren.

Responses to Reviews:

Guest: Thanks! I try to normalize chronic illness where I can. I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one too. Please review and let me know.

Lady Shalpha: I'm glad you like this fic. I hope you like this chapter, too. Please review and let me know.