Breathe

It was a quiet car ride to the movie theatre. Lizzy had insisted that I wear some of her old clothes, but after I had tried them on, they had been the most uncomfortable items of cloth I'd ever worn. After throwing on some jeans and a purple ribbed tank, I was ready to go... and comfortable.

When Embry arrived, there weren't many words exchanged. I slid into the backseat. His friend, whose name I remembered to be Jacob, hadn't stepped out of the car, which was sleek and black. "Hi," I said quietly, looking at him.

He smiled, but didn't look at me. "What's up?"

I wasn't sure if it was rhetorical, so I didn't answer. Observing him a little bit more, I took note of a tattoo on his shoulder. His shirt was sleeveless, making his biceps look huge, and his hair was short, but it looked like it could use a trim. Jacob was rather tall, even sitting down. I was positive that when we got out of the car he would tower over me.

"Okay!" Embry said excitedly as he slid into the car. "So, does anyone have any idea what this movie is about?"

"Wasn't this your idea?" asked Jacob.

"Nope," Embry responded. "I mean - yeah, but the movie was Liz's."

Lizzy had buckled herself into shotgun and seemed to be getting more impatient with each moment. "It's a vampire movie, and we're going to be late if we don't get moving! Come on, Embry!"

"Okay, okay! Jesus."

*

I was skeptical about the movie. After seeing the poster at the theatre, I almost regretted agreeing to come. But, it turned out to be rather comical and I had a few good laughs. 'Nightlight,' as it was called, was about a girl who moves in with her father. I found her rather annoying, and thought that the story was dumb. After she meets this weird vampire guy, she falls in love with him (some stupid person's idea of love), and ends up almost dying like twenty million times.

There was more blood than expected, but they did it rather well, so it all fit into the story.

On the car ride home, I was beginning to grow a little annoyed with Jacob and his lack of contact. We grabbed dinner after the movie, and he hardly spoke to me, let alone made eye contact. Who did he think he was?

"What's your problem?"

He looked at me, eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"I mean - I don't really care if you find me annoying or not - but you've hardly spoken to me the whole time." I shivered. No one told me that Port Angeles could get so chilly during the summer nights.

His face fell. "I'm sorry. I just don't know what to say."

"Well," I said snippily. "It doesn't matter."

"Hey," Embry interjected, "no fighting back there!" He glanced back at us, and I felt my cheek muscles move up in a smile when he 'grr'ed at us.

"We're not fighting, Embry," Jacob said rather smugly. "We're talking. You know, using words to communicate, and not just grunts and points."

I laughed, and Embry, too. "Jacob," he began, "you have to understand that that's my mating call. It works, too. You should get one."

"A what? A mating call? Embry," Jacob leaned forward, putting his massive hand on Embry's shoulder. "I don't need a mating call. I have my insanely good looks and swoon worthy charm."

I scoffed quietly, and rolled my eyes. Boys.

Embry pulled into the driveway and when I went to unbuckle my seatbelt, Jacob placed his hand over mine. "Wait a second." I watched him get out of the car and quickly move over to my side, where he proceeded to open the door for me. I stared at him. "What?" He asked.

Shaking my head, I stepped out of the car. "You're ridiculous," I commented, side-stepping him to make my way up to the porch.

"Hey. Look, I'm sorry I didn't talk to you. I was overwhelmed." He closed the door and followed me up the driveway. "You're just... way too pretty."

I stared at him, and sighed. "I appreciate it, Jacob. Really."

"Give me another chance? We can go on a real date, and -"

No, I thought. Absolutely not. "Ask me some other time, okay, Jake? I'm not ready for this."

"Ready for what?"

God, he was so persistent.

"Just ask me another time. I still need to adjust to this place."

He sighed. "Okay. Alright. But I'm not going to give up." Jacob walked back to the car with a smile, and I watched as the two boys pulled out of the driveway.