Liplocked Lullabies

“Will you stop eating your damn Oreos in my car?” I mumbled something incoherent as we turned sharply. “You’re going to get crumbs all over the place.”

Embry glanced over at me, before turning his attention back to the road.

I had been emitted from the Forks Hospital two and a half weeks earlier.

Since then, I had spent most of my time sleeping, watching re-runs of over-dramatic soap operas (usually in which were in foreign languages), and icing and changing the bandages on my face.

Embry claimed it was time for me to meet Emily, one of the few girls associated with my brother in La Push, which was the reason behind our little outing.

I had asked him if Emily was his girlfriend, but he just chuckled and told me that Emily was Sam’s fiancé. I had groaned, remembering my not-so-pleasant encounters with Sam, and proceeded to beg Embry to leave me at home. Naturally, he had refused, claiming that Emily and I had a lot in common.

That is how I found myself in Embry’s car, speeding through Forks to get to Emily’s house.

With my feet up on the dashboard, I had opened a pack of Oreos prior to Embry’s scolding. I just loved taking off the first cookie and licking the cream off, before eating both of the cookies.

Embry on the other hand, couldn’t stand the chocolate sandwiches of wonder, and refused to even try one.

“Want one?” I offered again, shoving the small cookie at him.

He wrinkled his nose in disgust and shot me a glare. He knew I was only offering them to him to piss him off.

“That’s okay. I don’t want to eat a chocolate-filled cookie and gain thirty pounds before becoming obese and unable to walk.”

I scoffed at him, realizing that he was still angry at me for my decision in the hospital.

“Whatever.”

The ride was silent before I decided to fiddle with the radio, but the only sound that came out was static. Just like everything Embry touched, the radio was broken.

“Goddamn radio,” I cursed, smacking the small device for special effect.

Embry rolled his eyes before turning the steering wheel and pulling up into a small house.

Like most houses in La Push, it was quaint and wooden, seemingly smaller because only two people lived there. The roof was made out of the same material as our house’s roof, and the windows looked almost identical.

Unlike our house, Emily’s house had a nice porch, like one you saw in the movies: wide and long, running the entire length of the house and full of exotic potted plants and bright lawn chairs.

Embry shut the door of the car and I followed suit, slipping my feet into my flip-flops, careful not to get dirt wedged between my shoes and my feet.

“Knock knock,” Embry called out, not even bothering to actually knock, before throwing the screen door open, and motioning for me to go inside.

I shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable, before stepping into the house.

“Sam?” Embry called out, glancing from room to room, searching for his friend. “Emily?”

“In the kitchen!” I heard a muffled female voice call out, and Embry lead me towards the back of the house, where I assumed the kitchen stood.

I realized I was right, as I was greeted by a large refrigerator and the scent of blueberry muffins.

A woman was bent over, oven mitts in hand, retrieving the blueberry muffins from the oven. Sam was leaning against the counter, as though he was expecting us. He smiled upon seeing us, his smile only dropping once he saw my bandaged face.

“Jake really did some damage, huh?” he mused, clearly not affected by my scars or damaged cheek.

“Samuel Uley!” The woman scolded, her back still to us. “That is no way to treat our guest.”

The woman turned around, and I instantly felt a pang in my chest. Normally, it would have been out of sadness or regret, but this pang was full of relief.

The woman, Emily, was in her early twenties. Inheriting the qualities of a natural-born Native-American, Emily had the flawless copper skin, silky black hair and big brown doe eyes.

The quality that made her different, that made her unique just like me, were the three scars running from her hairline down to her jaw. And I immediately knew what had caused it.

I glanced at Sam, expecting to see rage or sorrow, but only saw a look of pure adoration shining from his eyes. I knew that Emily had it worse than I had, but it seemed that Sam really loved her.

I felt another pang in my chest, this time for the loss of love. I wish I could fall in love.

My mind flashed to Jacob, the days we spent in his garage drinking flat soda while waiting for Bella. The race all those years ago, when he pushed me to the ground. Jacob flirting with Breanne Coleman at all those football games, him in his jeans and her in her short cheerleading skirt. Jacob on the beach, upset and protective. Jacob on his month long vacation. Jacob, running away. My wolf.

Emily’s mouth immediately dropped open, as though I was some sort of circus freak.

“Was it because of…?” she trailed off, sending a nervous look at Sam. He nodded once, and her frown turned into a beaming grin.

“Where are my manners?! It’s so nice to meet you!” she smiled, her voice abnormally cheery. What was with everyone and their happiness, these days? “I’m Emily Young, but I suppose you’ve already met my fiancé Sam?”

“I think so.” I sent Sam a look.

“How about you two ladies go into the living room.” Sam suggested, eying us carefully. “I need to talk to Embry for a moment.”

“Sure, honey!” Emily smiled cheerily, before kissing her fiancé on the cheek.

I sent Embry a desperate look, but he just shook his head, before nodding towards the direction of the living room. I dragged myself after Emily reluctantly, who had grabbed two blueberry muffins and was now making her way towards the sofa.

She was way too enthusiastic.

“Well, I’m sure we’re going to be good friends. It’s good to have another girl around here. I mean, it’s only me and Leah, and Leah isn’t exactly filled with joy.”

“Leah?”

I had heard of her before, a Clearwater, she was.

Her father, Harry, had a died a few months ago because of a heart attack. It had been big news around the reservation, and I had seen the invitation to the funeral on our kitchen counter. A small white envelope, unopened.

I remember my mother had seen the envelope, mumbling something about death and how Sue Clearwater had never done anything for her, so why should she return the favor? I remember watching my mother throw the small white envelope in the trash, not giving a care in the world.

A cold heartless bitch, my mother was.

“Yeah, but you don’t need to worry about her.” Emily smiled, picking up a blueberry muffin and offering it to me. I declined politely. “I mean, we have other girls around here too. There’s Kim who is Jared’s girlfriend, but she’s mighty quiet. And there is Claire, but she’s only a few years old, and doesn’t really count. You can’t gossip with a toddler, now can you?”

I stared at this woman, confused as to whether or not I was supposed to reply to her question. She continued babbling, ignoring the lack of conversation on my part.

“And there was that Bella girl that came around a couple of times, but nobody really liked her here. She was just so…out of place you know?”

“Uh-huh.” Emily was looking at my now, her voice slightly higher.

“All I’m trying to say is that, Embry and Sam have there werewolf thing, and since you’re his sister, we consider you family now. We‘re glad to have you around.”

She smiled, and I was literally stunned once realizing that Emily was in on the werewolf secret. We sat there in silence for a minute, before she turned to me.

“I know it’s hard, with the scars,” I looked at her expecting her to continue, “and I think it’s really brave how you chose to stick with them.”

“Why did you stick with your scars?” I blurted, hoping not to sound nosy and selfish.

“At the time, Sam and I didn’t have enough money to have the surgery. And my parents weren’t exactly supportive of my new life with Sam.”

I felt even worse about disliking this woman. I soon came to realize that she had a heart of gold, and that I had misjudged her. Maybe Emily wasn’t so bad after all.

I felt as though I should say something comforting, like a line from one of those movies off of the Hallmark channel. I wanted to say something sentimental and soothe Emily, claiming that we would get through this, and she would get her surgery. That she was already beautiful, and the scars didn’t define who she was.

But I couldn’t say that, because Emily was a complete stranger. I wasn’t that brave, and I was always the stick-to-yourself kind of girl, unless alcohol was involved.

Sure, Emily and I shared a physical deformity, but what did that make us? We weren’t friends, members of the same group, even neighbours. We were just acquaintances, bonded over the fact that our loved ones were monsters that howled to the moon.

That made me feel so much better. Not.

An awkward silence filled the air, where neither of us knew what to say. I decided on listening to Embry and Sam’s conversation in the kitchen. If I listened hard enough, I could hear the murmurs of their voices.

“Does she know, about us?” a voice I assumed was Sam asked.

“Yeah, I told her when she woke up from the accident. She knows about Andrei and the Cullens too.” Embry replied.

I remembered Dr. Cullen and his white skin, lab coat and shiny teeth, smiling at his son with the bronze hair who clung to Bella.

“I still don’t like them,” Sam hissed, “even if the girl saved Journey and Jacob.”

“She has a bond with Jake though.”

“Jacob imprinted on her?!”

“Of course not,” Embry sighed, “Jake imprinted on my sister, remember?”

“Oh, yes.” A silence filled the air.

“Does she know about Jacob?”

“She thinks that he’s on a vacation.” There was a pause, and silence on Sam’s part.

“Any word from him?” Sam asked, finally.

“Last time I checked, which was on Monday, he was at the Canadian border.”

“Oh, god.” Sam sighed, “I just hope we can get him to come back.”

“Of course he will,” Embry said, though the tone in his voice suggested that he wasn’t so sure, “Journey’s here, and he wouldn’t leave her.”

“I don’t know." Sam gave an exasperated sigh. "When you go on patrol later, see if you can reach him.”

“Okay,” Embry said, his tone defeated. “I’m worried about him, ya know? He’s my best friend.’

“We’re all worried.”

“I mean, he’s hurting himself enough. He already had the thing with Bella, and when he imprinted on my sister, I wanted to kill him. But it made them so happy. And then the accident happened and he just takes off!”

“Calm down, Embry.” Sam ordered.

“It’s just,” Embry sighed, “Journey’s not stupid. She’s going to find out eventually.”

“Well let’s just hope that eventually will be a long while from now. Embry I think we should--”

“Journey?”

“Huh?!” I snapped out of the conversation to see Emily staring at me expectantly. I cleared my throat. “I mean, pardon?”

“I was asking you if you liked this show.”

I turned to the television and realized that it had been turned on to a station I hardly ever watched.

“Uh-huh,” I nodded, feeling slightly dazed.

It was an old western show, with the sheriff of the town about to have a showdown with the bad guy. Emily proceeded to chatter about the show, obviously a regular viewer.

I zoned out though, pulling my mind back to the conversation between Embry and Sam. What was imprinting? Where was Jacob? He had gone to the Canadian border.

The wheels slowly clicked together, turning viciously in my mind.

Jacob was gone, and he wasn’t coming back.

I turned back to the television, feeling numb and exposed. My cheek hurt even more.

The villiain was now telling the sheriff about his evil plan. The bad guy attempted to escape, but the deputy appeared out of the saloon, also holding a gun. Both men cornered the bad guy, and arrested him.

I stared at the screen, noticing how everything was straightforward. I sighed, turning back to Emily. I wished things were that easy.