DAWN (a Tori Vega and Jacob Black fanfic)

Chapter 7: Introductions and New Friends

I was forced by Jacob and Emily to stay on bed arrest for the next three days..

"It'll be over before you know it!" Emily had said.

"It won't be that bad, Tor," Jacob had reassured me.

Boy, were they wrong.

Those three days on bed arrest were the worst days of my entire life. It was worse than being attacked by a vampire!!! I felt so useless sitting in bed all day doing absolutely nothing. I was bored out of my mind and I was getting restless.

Finally, after three days of mental torture, Emily looked me over and declared that I no longer had to stay in bed. I was free to do whatever I wanted, really.

Jacob never left my side, which I didn't mind. It was nice having him there with me. Being around him made me feel warm. Loved. Safe. I wasn't allowed off the Reservation, though. Jacob and Sam thought it'd be easier to protect me if I stayed close by. I took to the idea wholeheartedly. As long as I didn't have to live with my abusive mother anymore, I didn't care where I was.

Jacob showed me around the Reservation. We went to La Push Beach and Jacob showed me the cliffs were people went cliff diving.

"Can we go cliff-diving?" I'd asked excitedly.

"Not today," Jake had said. "But someday. I promise."

I made a mental note to hold him to that promise.

Today Jake was introducing me to his group of friends. Jake had told me all about them while I was In "bed jail" and I was really excited to meet them.

We were standing in front of Jacob's house, a small one-story building surrounded by a big yard. Just beyond the yard, lay the forest. We were waiting for Jake's friends to arrive. We'd planned to meet up here at 9AM. They were already 20 minutes late and I was starting to wonder if they were even coming at all.

Suddenly, I heard Jacob say, "Here they come!"

I turned to see a bunch of shirtless, very muscular teenage boys running towards us from the woods. As they got closer I saw that leading the group was...

"Sam!" I called, smiling.

"Hey, Tori," he said as he reached us.

I lunged myself at him and embraced him in a hug. Sam seemed surprised for a second, but then gingerly wrapped his arms around me in a warm hug. I smiled as we parted. I went to stand next to Jacob again and saw him grinning at Sam. I heard the others laughing quietly.

"Awww! You got yourself a new friend, Sam!" one of the boys teased, clapping Sam on the back.

"She's like an energetic little lion cub!" another one said.

I blushed and I heard Jake chuckle beside me. I felt him wrap his arm around my waist and I smiled, leaning into him a little bit.

"Alright that's enough!" Sam declared. His voice was meant to be serious, but the smile on his face showed he really didn't mind the teasing.

"So... Jake," one of the boys said. "You gonna introduce us?"

"Sure," Jake said, smiling. "Well, Kitten," I smiled at his nickname for me, "You already know Sam."

The others laughed and I blushed.

"So, the guy next to Sam is Paul."

"Hi, Paul" I said smiling.

"Hello, Tori" Paul said kindly. "Its nice to meet you."

"You, too."

"So," Jake continues. "Next to Paul, is..."

He continued to introduce me to the rest of the group- Jared, Embrey, Quil, and Seth. They were all really nice and I couldn't wait to spend more time with them and get to know them better.

Suddenly, we heard footsteps behind us. We turned to see a girl walking toward us. She looked similar to Seth, with the same dark hair and deep brown eyes. She stopped to stand next to Seth.

Jacob sighed. "Tori, meet Leah Clearwater- Seth's older sister. Leah, this is Tori."

"Hi." I smiled, giving her a small wave.

"Hey," she replied, a small smile of her own on her lips.

We all stood there for a few seconds in an awkward silence.

Then Jared said excitedly, "Hey, who wants to see what Emily's making in the kitchen?!"

Not waiting for an answer, Jared ran off toward Sam's house. Paul, Embrey, Quil, and Seth were hot on his heels, leaving Jake, Sam, Leah, and I standing there.

We all shared glances and I said, "Well, if we want any food we better go now. Before they eat it all."

The other's laughed- even Leah.

"Good idea, Kitten," Jacob praised. "Let's go, guys!"

Then he ran off towards the house, Sam, Leah, and I following close behind.