Ash Over Seas

The first half of my day was better than expected and Kim had introduced me to several of her friends, including her boyfriend Jared who had English with us. I had Biology and English with Atticus, and didn’t know anyone in my photography class—not that I expected to—so when the final bell rang, I walked alone through the halls to lunch.

I went through the line, opting for a simple sandwich and iced tea, and paying before finding an empty table and sitting down, hoping I wasn’t intruding anywhere. I wasn’t sure if there were cliques at this school or not and I didn’t want to invade anyone’s ‘territory.’

I glanced up as I noticed someone sliding into a seat across from me. I recognized a tall boy from my Biology class this morning. He had the same dark skin and hair as most of the students here and a confident grin as he looked back at me.

“Colby, right?” he asked. I nodded. “Name’s Tony Lafayette, we have Bio together.”

“Yeah, I remember,” I said politely.

“So how you liking the school so far?” he winked. Something about his tone seemed condescending—as if he owned the world—and I was already put off. My brow furrowed as I noticed a table of students behind him, laughing and watching, but made sure to tune out their conversations. The last thing I needed was to lose my temper on the first day of school. I had promised my father not to cause a scene—to blend in.

“It’s fine,” I shrugged, taking a bite of my sandwich.

“Well, if you ever need someone to show you the ropes, feel free to give me a call,” he said smoothly.

“I think I’ll be fine. I’ve met some people already.”

“You sure? I’m a great tour guide,” he said, grinning suggestively.

“I don’t—“

“Get the fuck out of here,” I heard a familiar voice growl from behind me as Atticus slid into the seat next to me.

“Excuse me?” Tony said defensively, glaring at the boy beside me.

“Get. The fuck. Out of here,” he repeated, his face cold as he stared across the table.

“Whatever, man,” Tony scoffed, pushing off from the table and heading back across the room to his friends who were now in fits of laughter.

“Git,” my brother muttered as he pushed his tray in front of him.

I ignored the situation and changed the subject. “So how’s your first day been?”

I received a grunt and sighed. “Meet any of the locals Father wants you to be friends with?” I tried again.

Another grunt.

I rolled my eyes and decided to give up on conversation for now. I glanced up again as another figure joined our table, this time it was Kim and what I assumed to be her friends. They were all well over six feet tall and incredibly muscled.

“I think we found them,” I muttered to Atticus, quietly enough that no one would hear. He glanced up at them, a sour expression on his face, and then turned back to his food.

“Got your own swat team?” I teased as my eyes roamed over her assembly of friends—all of which were males.

Kim laughed happily and they all took seats around us as she introduced everyone. The heat radiating off their bodies only confirmed my suspicion.

“Colby, this is Embry, Quil, Seth, Paul and Jacob,” she said as she pointed to everyone, the last boy giving me the most piercing stare I’d ever seen. It was like he was trying to see right through me. I shifted uncomfortably but tried not to let it show.

I smiled and politely greeted them. “Hi, and this is Atticus,” I replied, gesturing to the boy who was blatantly ignoring me, as well as the rest of the table. “Just pretend he isn’t here,” I said, ruffling his hair and earning a glare. I chuckled and turned back to the table, seeing that most people were staring at the Jacob boy, who looked rather annoyed. Again, I did my best to ignore whatever it was that was wrong with him. A silence passed over the table.

“Anyway,” Kim pressed awkwardly.

“That’s so cool that you're from Britain!” Seth, who looked vastly younger than the other boys, said excitedly.

“Yeah, what’s it like over there?” said Embry.

I shrugged. “Pretty much same as here, we just talk differently and we have a Queen.”

“What’s she like?”

I chuckled and I heard Atticus scoff next to me. “I wouldn’t know I’ve never met her.”

“Oh. Right,” Embry said, a slight blush creeping across his cheeks.

“You can drink over there, right?” Paul asked, receiving a slap from Jared.

“Yeah, you can, but I don’t much.” I took another bite and had hardly finished chewing before I was asked another question.

“So why did you move here?” asked Quil.

I paused and felt Atticus tense next to me. “I… my father knows people around here. He… thought it would be nice to visit for a while.”

“So he decided to move here?” Quil chuckled.

“Yeah, ridiculous, isn’t it?” I laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of my neck as I focused on the table.

The heads of nearly everyone around me lifted as footsteps approached our table. She looked vaguely familiar and I noticed, once she approached Jacob, that I had seen her in my Calculus class earlier that morning, as well as in my photography class.

“Hey, Jake,” she said smoothly as she came up behind him. He was the last to lift his head to the pretty girl.

“Oh, hey, um….”

“Cammie,” she giggled, rolling her eyes and hitting him playfully, as if it were completely ridiculous that he would forget her name. The blatant flirting was a little strange… and immature in my opinion—at least the way she was doing it—but it wasn’t really any of my business so I just watched passively as the awkward conversation unfolded.

“Oh, uh, right.”

“I was just wondering if you got problem 47 on the worksheet in class today because it’s been giving me a lot of trouble.”

Ha. Right.

“Oh… no I haven’t really done it yet,” he replied, seemingly oblivious to the fact that this girl was giving him an opening to ask her out. I realized I didn’t really want him to ask her out… she seemed too superficial. He could do better than that.

“Oh! Well that’s a shame,” she said, pouting slightly. “Well, I really don’t get it so when you do it tonight would you give me a call?”

“I don—“

“Here’s my number,” she added, quickly taking his hand and scribbling down her seven digits.

I scoffed as she flounced away and Jacob stared dumbly at his hand.

“Got the number without even having to think,” I muttered quietly enough that the others at the table couldn’t hear. I shook my head in disbelief.

“You're jealous,” Atticus replied, locking eyes with me for a moment, a mocking smile twitching at his lips.

“No, of course not,” I hissed, blushing slightly. “This place is just ridiculous. So cliché.”

“Ow Owwww!” someone cheered suggestively as the girl walked away. Most at the table were eyeing me closely and I shot them a look of confusion.

“You gonna call her, Jake?” Paul laughed.

Jacob still seemed like a fish out of water as he hid his hand under the table, opening and closing his mouth several times.

“Well, I mean it’s for homework, right?” he said awkwardly.

Seth let out a hearty laugh. “Jake, I’m a sophomore and even I know that was about more than homework.”

Jacob blushed and bounced his leg under the table, scratching his neck awkwardly. His shyness was actually kind of endearing and I felt myself smiling slightly.

“You should give her a shot,” I said, smiling slightly at the awkward boy.

His eyes flashed to mine, broadcasting surprise in my direction. He then narrowed them slightly, looking contemptuous.

“Maybe I will,” he said bitterly.

My brows furrowed in confusion… what did I say wrong?

“Okay…?” I trailed off, looking at him for an explanation to his behavior. I glanced at Atticus who just shrugged and occupied himself with looking out the window.

Jacob just shook his head in dismissal and focused his attention on his empty tray. Luckily, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, before anything could get more uncomfortable.

“What d’you have next?” Embry asked politely as he took up stride next to me.

I glanced down at my sheet, replying “gym” and hearing a distinct growl from Atticus’s direction.

“Hey, me too! So do Quil and Jake,” he said brightly as the other two boys fell in line beside us. Jacob was still seemingly avoiding me and I decided I wanted to know why. I motioned to the other two to let us fall behind and they gladly obliged, grinning cheekily.

It took Jake a moment to notice we had been left alone and he made quite an effort of avoiding looking at me. I tried to peer up at his face, which towered at least as tall as Atticus’s. His avoidance allowed me to truly get a good look at him now. I blushed slightly as I realized he was very attractive. I cleared my head, coughing softly, and began my spiel.

“Look. I, uh, don’t know what I said exactly to make you mad at me, but… I'm sorry?” I said lamely. It’s hard to apologize when you don’t know what you're saying sorry for.

He was silent for a moment before he shook his head and heaved a sigh. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. I was just being an ass. I’m not used to girls… being like that,” he said, smiling slightly.

“Well, do you like her?” I watched him, silently hoping he wouldn’t, even though it was none of my business—I just met him.

He glanced down at me. “No. I already have someone else in mind,” he said, grinning knowingly to himself, seemingly lost in thought.

“Oh, that’s… nice.”

He nodded. “What about you?”

“What about me?” I asked, confused as we rounded the corner and came in sight of the gymnasium.

“You and that Atticus kid seem pretty… close,” he said, his tone bitter.

“Close?”

“Well… you know.”

My eyes widened with realization and I laughed loudly, causing him to stare in puzzlement.

“Atticus?” I managed to get out. The idea of Atticus and I dating was absurd. I grew up with him for god’s sake. “Atticus is my brother!” I laughed.

It was Jake’s turn to go wide-eyed and his posture relaxed. “Really?”

I was still laughing. “Yeah. Well, I mean he’s adopted and everything, but definitely my brother. I couldn’t ever date him.”

“Oh,” Jacob said, brightening considerably as his stride became looser.

We reached the locker rooms and I turned back to Jacob before heading up the stairs to the door that read women.

“So, we’re cool then? You're not mad?” I asked with a smile as I stood; foot half up on a step and my arm locked and hanging back from the railing.

Jacob grinned—beautifully, I might add—and nodded. “I don’t think I could ever stay mad at you for long.”

“You hardly know me,” I giggled.

He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

“All right,” I replied, nodding appreciatively before heading up to change. Despite the slightly rocky start, I had a feeling Jacob Black and I would get along famously.