You Are My Sunshine

Chapter Nine

Embry's POV

Since I missed school on a regular basis, when I finally sat my ass down in a classroom I did my best to be a dedicated student. I turned my phone off, paid attention, took notes. If we were given time to work on an assignment, I spent the time on task. I didn't let anything that wasn't an honest-to-god emergency distract me.

But since Kinley showed up, I'd been leaving my phone on. It was set to vibrate, and I only glanced at it to see who was trying to contact me if it went off during class. If it was Sam or Emily — which it hadn't been — I would answer it. Otherwise, they could wait a few hours like they'd done before I started leaving the damn thing on. Both Sam and Emily knew this, and they cared about my education, so I knew they wouldn't call unless something important came up.

Which was why, when my cell phone began vibrating and I saw Sam was calling, I darted out of my seat and ran out of the room, barely managing to gather my belongings into my arms as I went.

Today was Kinley's first day of school. She'd been nervous, but after our talk I thought she was feeling better about it. She had her cute backpack and supplies and was ready to go. That didn't mean I wasn't worried, however. There were so many things that could go wrong — both big and small. The other kids could be mean to her. Or she could fall and hurt herself. Or some asshole could — nope. I stopped my thoughts right there.

I'd convinced myself today would go just fine...and now Sam was calling me. It was still early. She was supposed to already be at school, but maybe she'd gotten upset and he kept her home? That would be the most preferable situation, honestly. Anything else my mind could cook up would involve Kinley hurt in a way I likely couldn't help, and I hated the possibility.

My mind was spinning and I was still booking it toward the exit of the school when I answered Sam's call. "What's wrong?"

I heard his throat clear on the other end, and barely contained frustration filled his voice when he said, "Kinley's files were sent over today. The shit I found in here..." He huffed out a breath. "You need to see this."

I relaxed the barest bit, relieved something wasn't currently wrong with Kinley. "You can't just tell me?"

"No," he answered immediately, tone sharp. "Just come read it. I'll call the school and tell them you need to leave."

Laughing, I began heading toward his and Emily's house. It wasn't too far of a walk, and I'd gotten a ride in from Jake today and didn't have a key to his car. This was easier than having Sam or Emily drive and get me or tracking down Jake to loan me his keys. Plus, I was a wolf. Not like I had any trouble with a little physical exertion.

"Already on my way," I said. "I bolted when I saw you were calling."

I could just imagine his eyeroll. "Fine, then I'll call and give an explanation for why you left. See you soon."

And that was that. I walked silently to the Uley house, my mind wandering where it always did whenever I wasn't focused elsewhere — Kinley. For such a small, young girl, you'd think there'd be a limit to how much she could fill my brain. But in actuality, the possibilities were limitless. I wondered how her first day of school was going. I tried to imagine what she'd been like as a little baby. I attempted to imagine what her voice would sound like once she felt comfortable enough to finally start talking to us. I wondered how happy she had been before her life had gone south—and hoped we could either bring her back to that happiness or exceed it in due time.

All these thoughts swirled around in my mind until I made it to Sam and Emily's front door. Technically I was supposed to knock, since that was the new rule for all of us since Kinley arrived, but seeing as she was at school and they were expecting me I took it upon myself to just walk on in. I covered my eyes, though, as I did, calling out, "I'm here! Is everyone decent?" I'd never personally walked in on anything I'd never be able to unsee...but Paul had. With the pack mind, I'd gotten more glimpses of that than I ever needed and was in no rush to add any images to that box in my brain I tried my damndest to keep closed.