Indian summer

Chapter 7

"Last day of summer before our junior year." Stacy pouted, taking a sip of her defiled coffee.

"At least its not your first time to Forks High." I laughed, warming my cold wet hands around my coffee. Stacy and I were sitting in the little coffee shop were we had first met, hanging out and enjoying the last day of summer before the law required us to attend hours of mindless classes and delete any tidbits of life we gained over the summer. Outside the rain was pouring, like always, it was the same storm that started the day before. Every once in a while the thunder would roll angrily like he had to keep reminding us he was there.

"True," She nodded. "But you're fitting in ok. Lisa is really the only one that doesn't like you." She leaned forward on her arms with an excited look on her face. "And you have the hottest guy in the school chasing after you."

I cocked my head to the side. At first I thought she was talking about Embry. But he was usually the first thing on my mind now a days so I dug deeper and realized she was talking about Dan. "Dans the hottest guy in the school?" I asked. "That's sad."

We both laughed, "C'mon now," She pressed, "you have to admit he's really cute."

I shook my head, "He's not my type."

"Oh that's right, you like the body building Indians."

I snorted, "That was nothing."

Her jaw dropped, "No, that was something. It's already spread through out half of Forks. Are you going to see him again or anything?"

I shrugged, "I didn't get his number or anything so I doubt it."

The bell rang signaling someone entering our dry little haven. I didn't turn around to look who it was but I felt a crawling feeling on the back of my neck. Stacy's eyes got wide, "Speak of the devil..."

I turned around and sure enough, Embry was walking towards the front counter. I wonder if the no shirts no shoes no service policy applied to the Natives because he was obviously breaking it. He was only wearing some tattered shorts like he had the day before. If he had seen me he sure didn't act like it. But what was he doing all the way up here?

"Go talk to him." Stacy giggled.

"Why?" I hissed.

"You know you want to." She was right, I did want to. But wouldn't that be kinda creepy? What do I even say? 'Hey, I made out with you yesterday and I dreamt about you last night. Wanna hang out?' No, that didn't sound creepy at all.

The lady at the counter gave Embry his coffee then. He grabbed it and started striding quickly towards the door like he hadn't even seen me. My heart started racing and before I could even think of what I was doing I said, "Hey,"

He stopped and looked in my direction. "Oh, hey." He replied, starting to walk towards us.

"Wanna join us?" I asked, motioning to the empty chair at our table.

"Sure," He grinned and my heart fluttered.

"Actually," Stacy said, standing up. "I was just about to head out. I've gotta do some running. But you two should stay and talk." Stacy grinned at me. What was she doing! I could have slapped her!

"I'm Embry by the way," Embry said, sticking out his free hand to shake.

Stacy took it, "I'm Stacy. Nice to meet you, but I gotta get going. I'm sure I'll see you around." Stacy looked back at me and discreetly winked then mouthed 'call me later.'

Embry sat down in Stacy's spot as she left the café. I happened to notice that his coffee was not defiled, that's a good sign. "So did you come all the way up here for coffee?" I asked.

Embry laughed, "No, this was just a short stop. I was doing some running around town."

"Oh," I replied dumbly; swirling my finger around the brim of my coffee cup.

Embry sighed then. I looked up at him, he was looking around anxiously and grinding his teeth. "Are you ok?" I asked.

He looked at me and his worried eyes softened. "I lied," He said, "I was actually looking for you."

Oh... wait... what? "You were?" I asked.

He put a cautioning hand out, "Don't worry, I'm not a stalker. I just needed to see you again." He glanced at the lady behind the counter. "I've been thinking about you."

"I have too," I said without thinking, "Thinking of you... not me." I corrected.

He smiled lightly. "I have to tell you something." His voice was soft and low, I doubted any one else besides me had heard it.

"What?" I asked, keeping my voice quiet. I had no idea why but it seemed like I should be secretive like him.

Embry ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Ok... have you ever heard of any of the Quileute legends?"

"No," I shook my head. "I hadn't even heard of them before I moved up here."

"Great..." he muttered. "Ok... so, there's a story about our tribe that says we descended from wolves."

I froze, "Wolves?" My mind flashed back to my dream last night. I could see the large wolves walking out of the woods towards me.

"Yeah," he eyed me warily. "And the story goes that when there's danger in the area the young men of our tribe will turn into wolves." I stopped breathing for a second. "It's true."

I didn't say anything at first. "What?" I asked making sure I heard him right.

He leaned forward so we were only a couple inches away from each other. I could feel his breath on my face. "I'm a shape-shifter. I turn into a wolf."

"You're joking..." I replied flatly. This guy had to be kidding, there was no such thing.

He grinned and shook his head, "I wish I was,"

I was speechless; I was definitely not expecting that. What was I even supposed to say to that? 'Oh, that's cool?' It was kinda cool but it was weird! I still wasn't even sure he was telling the truth. "I really don't believe you."

"You want me to show you?"

Did I? I mean, then I'd know for a fact if he was telling the truth. But... I don't know what I'd think if he turned into a wolf right in front of my eyes. "Yeah, show me." I dared.

"C'mon," He laughed, already getting up from the table. I brought my coffee with me; I don't know why. Maybe I could throw it in his eyes if he started after me.

We walked a little distance from the café. He walked really fast, like he was on a mission or something. Or maybe it was the fact that his legs were twice as long as mine. He abruptly stopped and grabbed my hand. It felt like an electric jolt shot up my arm. "This way," He looked both ways to make sure no one was watching us then pulled me into the woods. "Sorry, I can't do this where anyone can see."

I didn't say anything, just quickly followed after him as he tugged me deeper into the woods. He better know where he was going because I sure didn't. I couldn't even run away because I'd probably just run deeper into the woods. No one had seen me go in here with him... oh shit. What if this was where he took girls to rape them. Shit, shit, shit, what had I just done?

"This is far enough," I muttered in a shaky voice. I could still hear the road and could hopefully find my way back.

Embry looked back behind us, "Ok," he muttered. He looked flustered, like he had no idea why he was doing this. Maybe he had lied to me and really couldn't change into a wolf. "Stay here." He motion to the area I was standing before walking off and leaving me alone.

I wrapped my arms around myself to keep me warm. I had dropped my coffee somewhere, there goes using that as a weapon. The canopy of trees held most of the rain off of me but I still felt a couple drops. I felt a shimmer in the air, like a wave frequency had just passed over me. I looked to the area where Embry had disappeared and saw a huge grey wolf with two black spots on his back. "You weren't lying." I gasped. My heard started racing. It was the wolf from my dream.