Fell For You

Superman Punched Embry

You're not listening," Jacob repeats through gritted teeth.

I slurp my cola and nod, distracted. "We are," I mumble into my straw, jerking my chin toward Seth.

Seth—parked beside me—shoves the rest of his vanilla cupcake into his mouth. I'm sitting a little farther from him than usual. It helps. Less... static. Less heart-thud nonsense. We're still doing our usual things—jokes, snacks, hanging out—just with this invisible line I keep between us while I figure out what my feelings are doing.

"I'm telling you, the Hall Monitors on Steroids are out to get me," Jacob whispers, eyes darting between the window and us like the glass is bugged. (It isn't. We barely have a working payphone on the rez.)

Seth and I glance at each other and crack up.

"Jake, they're not out to get you," Seth says through laughter.

"Chill, cuz," I snicker.

Jacob glares. "Great. Wait till I get abducted. We'll see who's laughing."

That was three days ago.

Now I'm trying not to smash my phone.

"This is the eleventh time I've called him!" I groan. I hate being late on Mondays.

Kristina—beside me on the porch steps—barely looks up from her phone. "So?"

I give her my best are you kidding me stare. "So we're going to be late," I hiss, and redial. A cold breeze nips my cheeks. Usually I love the bite in the air; right now it's just salt on my bruised ego. Jacob wouldn't forget me. He wouldn't.

The line clicks. "Jake, finally, I—"

"Hey, Cuteness," Rebecca answers, her voice smooth as always.

I blink. "Hey, cuz... where's Jacob? He's supposed to pick me and Kristina up. It's Monday."

"Oh, he's sick. Called in with the flu."

My brows knit. "What? Oh. Okay. I'll swing by this afternoon and—"

"I don't think that's a good idea, Cuteness," she cuts in quickly.

"How?" I ask, thrown. Last season I basically spoon-fed him back to health when he had malaria.

"It's very contagious. Even I can't see him. Darn club's contagious," she laughs, but it's thin—nervous.

"Right... okay."

"Have an awesome day—bye!"

She hangs up.

I stare at the screen. Weird.

"Shall we ask one of the parentals to drive us?" Kristina's already on her feet.

I squint. "How did you—"

Alarm flickers across her face. "Hehe. Your phone was on speaker. You coming?" She slips inside.

I check my phone settings. Speaker: off. Huh.

Mum appears like a cue. "Shall we go?" she asks, smiling, keys in hand.

"We shall?" I echo, still frowning. Kristina's already chatting with Mum in hushed tones as we head to the garage. The whispering pokes my nerves. I am visiting Jacob after school. Quiz or no quiz, something is off.

⸻

"Are you sure?" Seth whispers later, the two of us parked at the edge of the school lot, eyes fixed on the Hall Monitors on Steroids: Sam. Jared. Paul. Embry.

"I was with him at his worst," I say, jaw tight. "I'm not scared of a little flu. And Rebecca knows that. They're hiding something. First Embry gets a 'contagious flu' and shows up at an Elder meeting looking like he ate a gym, and now Jacob's paranoid one week and sick the next? Sus. I'm his cousin. I'm not stopping till I find the skeleton in the closet."

Seth pinches the bridge of his nose. "Hypothetically, even if something is up, you can't walk over and confront them."

"Watch me."

I step away before my courage has time to evaporate.

Seth gapes, then scrambles after me. Heads turn as I cross the lot. Embry's eyes widen when he sees me coming. Good. Be surprised. I don't usually let the temper run the show, but today? Today the leash slipped.

Sam's the only one not looking at me. I stop in front of them, aware of how small I must look. Doesn't matter. I feel taller than my anger.

"What's your problem?" I ask—calm, aimed at Sam. The guy who shattered Leah, the guy who took my best friend and rewrote him.

Windows hush. Footsteps slow. Everyone's watching the short girl mouth off to the biggest man on the rez.

Sam finally turns. Looks down. Way down. "Excuse me?" His voice is so deep it's practically a threat by itself. It rolls through my ribs, but I stand my ground.

"First Embry. Now my cousin," I say, low and steady.

"What we do is none of your business. Go bother some other unfortunate idiot and leave us be," Paul snaps, disgust curling his lip.

Sam shoots him a look, and Paul clamps his jaw shut.

I take a step closer. (Am I on a death wish? Maybe.) I angle past Sam and lock eyes with Embry.

"So this is what you wanted, Embry? You're a coward. You're just going to stand there and let them take Jacob like that?"

He finally looks up. For a blink—just a blink—there's sorrow. Then it's gone, stamped flat.

"Listen, Melody," he growls. "You don't know anything. Shut up, stop acting like a little hero, and go to class."

My hands shake. The anger floods fast and hot—losing my friend, being shut out, feeling like everyone might disappear into Sam's shadow and I'll be the drama queen they leave behind. The red washes over everything.

"Mel!" Seth's voice is somewhere behind me.

My fist is already moving.

Knuckles meet jaw. Crack.

Embry drops.

I freeze. Did I just— He's twice my size. What was in my cereal?

Arms clamp around my waist and yank me back. There's a low, animal growl from somewhere—maybe everywhere—and my brain buzzes with too much adrenaline to locate it. I'm hauled past a ring of staring faces, toward the trees.

Seth spins me to face him, hands warm on my cheeks. "You okay?" He scans me, frantic.

My heart skitters. I angle away from his touch before my chest does that stupid flutter thing. "I'm fine." My knuckles aren't. They throb. Purple already blooms beneath the skin. I tuck my hand behind my back before he can see.

Once he decides I'm in one piece, Seth finally reacts. "What the hell were you thinking?" he hisses.

"I was thinking since when do I let a bunch of over-sized, muscle-brained idiots steal my friends?" I snap.

"Mel—you knocked him down."

A tiny, traitorous smile tugs my mouth. "Oh yeah. I did."

He facepalms. "Not something to be proud of!"

"Why not? First fist fight. I kicked— I mean, sure, maybe he was holding back. Sexist bastard. Point is—"

"No. Point is you just punched one of Sam's guys. He's not our Embry anymore. You walked up and swung at a wolf in a pack." Seth scrubs a hand through his hair, worry etched deep.

I deflate an inch. "Okay, okay. You have a point."

"Ya think?"

"I'm sorry," I blurt, the words tumbling out faster than I can edit them. "I just—I have a bad feeling and I don't want to lose anyone. I don't want to lose you."

His eyes soften, all warm brown and steady. "Hey. You're not losing me," he says, voice low and rough. "Not ever."

I lean back against the tree, bark cool through my shirt, and swallow. "I'm not so sure about anything anymore. I don't want to lose the people I love."

He steps in, close enough that his warmth edges out the wind, and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. I shiver at the touch.

He cups my cheeks, thumbs gentle along my jaw. "I'm still here, Mel," he murmurs. "And I'll always be here."