PURSUIT // P. LAHOTE

[007]

My dumbass was about to post the chapter without a gif, title, or ending note. Who let's me post this at 3 in the morning?? hashtag adult's writers life?

Skylar frowned at her phone, flinging it down on the couch beside her. For days, she had been trying and failing to get ahold of Embry after he had canceled on their plans earlier in the week. Jacob had told her he was feeling sick and had missed school but after three days he was bound to feel better to at least pick up the phone.

She snapped out of her thoughts as she heard Bella in the hallway, pausing to glance in the living room. "I'm heading to Jake's for the afternoon. We're about done with the bikes. Wanna come?"

"Nah," Skylar shook her head. "I actually have to finish an essay I've been putting off. I think it's due tomorrow or the next day or something."

Bella chuckled. "Maybe if you did your homework on time like a normal teenager you wouldn't be worrying last minute."

Skylar groaned, throwing her head back. "Tell Jake I said hey."

"Will do," Bella muttered as she walked past her. The door opened then slammed shut, and a few minutes later Skylar heard the loud engine of her truck sound out.

Forcing herself upstairs and into her room, she sat down and powered her laptop on, tapping her fingers impatiently on the desktop when it took a slower than usual. She skimmed over her desk and spotted the camera she received sitting on the edge.

A smile stretched across her face as she looked through each picture that had been taken, from the first day of school up to mere days ago. The question of doing homework or exploring took about two seconds to decide, so Skylar slung her camera strap around her neck and shut the lid of the laptop.

Just as she reached the kitchen, Charlie walked through the door. Raising an eyebrow at his daughter, he gave her a glance over. "You're going out?"

"Exploring," she simply offered.

"I thought you had homework to do... An essay or something?" He asked suspiciously.

Skylar gave him the best convincing grin she could give. "Or something. I'll be back!" Before he could respond, she ran towards the door.

"Be back by eight!" He shouted at her.

Sticking her hand back to give him a thumbs up, she shut the door behind her and strode towards her own car. Sitting down, she pondered on where to go for a second or two before deciding to head down to the reservation. Afterwards, she could always stop by Jake's place after all and maybe just find out what Embry was up to.

Half an hour later, she parked her car along the edge of the woods and walked out with her camera in hand. After coming here numerous times with the boys she knew the trails like the back of her hand so navigation was not an issue.

Instead, Skylar found herself losing track of time by the magnificence of the woods. The trees stalked up so high that the sky was only visible in slits, leaving small hints of light against the otherwise dark forest ground. A distinct scent wafted through the trees. No surprise, giving that every other day had a forecast of rain.

Skylar mostly kept her eyes on the screen as she snapped picture after picture. The occasional animal crept in some of the frames but darted as soon as they sensed her. A blur of motion caught her eyes, but as she looked up she couldn't find what caused it.

Out of instinct, she peered behind her but frowned when she didn't see anything. Turning to stare forward again, she jumped back as someone appeared in front of her. "Jesus, what the hell?"