Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
— 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 always felt horrible.
Sometimes it cut deeper than even a breakup could because no one ever walked into a friendship expecting to come out the other side lonesome once more.
Willow tried not to let it get to her.
Tried not to be the kind of person who relied on another for their happiness, but the truth was that Embry had been the light in her very much darkened life.
He'd heard her cries for help when no one else did, and he'd rescued her from the depths of grief and mourning.
In just the short amount of time Willow had been in La Push, she was certain the friendship they'd built would last a lifetime.
She struggled to understand how he could just leave her behind the way he did. And after a week of sleepless nights, she finally came to a conclusion.
Either something drastic happened in the days before he left her, or he'd been planning to leave her for a while.
And despite the new look being quite drastic, Willow couldn't mistake the closeness Embry had with Jared Cameron and Paul Lahote for anything other than that — closeness. She'd noticed that they all had matching tattoos as well, and that certainly wasn't a decision to make so suddenly with just any random classmates.
That only meant that he'd wanted to leave her for some time.
So after a week of sleepless nights trying to figure out why Embry left, she now faced sleepless nights trying to figure out how she could've stopped him from leaving in the first place.
Maybe if she'd done something different, been more attentive — then she could've noticed the signs of Embry being unhappy. Maybe then, she could've fixed herself and he wouldn't have felt like he needed to leave her.
The what-ifs would haunt her for the rest of her time in La Push, Willow was sure.
— 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐘 enough to get her uncle to drop her off at the gas station in Forks before he went off to work, and Willow allowed the cold of the air conditioner to soothe her.
The one thing she didn't miss from her old home was the heat. She could appreciate the weather in Washington in a way she couldn't back in California.
As she quickly made her way to the area in the station with popsicles, she failed to hear the ringing of the bell indicating that someone else had walked in.
She stared at the popsicles, thinking back to her parent's one-year death anniversary. Embry had taken her to the very gas station she was standing in; and had even bought some silly glasses by the register, just because it made her laugh since they hadn't matched his face shape.
But then she remembered how he'd left her, and she was so lost in the memory of him walking away from her that she didn't even notice the tear rolling down her cheek.
When someone from behind her cleared their throat softly, she finally snapped out of her daze and jumped slightly from the startling interruption.
She quickly wiped her tears and smiled apologetically at the bronze-haired boy behind her. As he smiled back politely, she noted just how tall he was.
Willow herself was taller than average, and she wasn't used to seeing many people much taller than her. He was also notably pale, paler than her even, but then again — everyone in Forks was pale, so go figure.
Selfishly, she thought about how much happier she would be attending the high school in Forks, where she wouldn't be disrespecting anyone by her mere attendance and appearance.
Before she could stop it, her mind went back to the most recent argument she'd had with her aunt.
Willow had argued every point under the sun to Briony — other than the fact that she had absolutely no friends. Up until recently, there had always been Embry.
Willow hadn't brought up the idea of switching schools ever since, because she'd promised herself she would stop acting like the victim. She wondered if Briony would even take having no friends as a valid reason, anyway.
It wasn't like Willow was being bullied or anything — but she knew how small towns worked. Everybody wanted to be friends with the new kid. They didn't treat them like an outsider invading their space — though Willow certainly thought and felt like that was exactly what she was.
But before she could continue going down her thought spiral, she snapped back into reality and blushed as she realized she'd just spazzed out in front of the boy. She avoided eye contact and focused on the snacks behind his shoulder.
"For what it's worth, I think it's a completely valid reason to switch schools." The boy spoke, smiling at her comfortingly.
Her eyes snapped to him, and her cheeks bloomed in embarrassment. "Did I say all that out loud?" She whispered in mortification.
He chuckled, "You think...very loudly."
At his response, Willow quickly looked around to make sure no one else was near enough to have heard her thought dump and sighed in minute relief when she didn't find anyone.
"I'm so sorry about that, sir." She apologized, and he only shook his head.
"Call me Edward, please."
She nodded, "Right! We're probably like the same age, sorry. I'm Willow, nice to meet you."
Edward chuckled once more, "It's very nice to meet you as well, Willow. And you can stop apologizing now."
She blushed even harder. "Right! Sorr-" She cut herself off, and stared at her feet to avoid the amused smirk Edward wore.
"My sister would kill me if I didn't get your number." He suddenly spoke, and then it was his turn to look embarrassed.
"Wait, I mean-"
And Willow smiled, feeling better for the first time in a while.
Perhaps coming out alone on the other side just meant that there was room for a new person to join instead.
