For You, I Will

It had been two weeks since the Makah wolves had made their threat, I hadn’t been alone since. The second after Saul and his pack left, Jacob and the La Push pack had rushed to the house, grabbing my mom and I and sweeping us off to the Cullens.

Ever since then, Nessie and I had been guarded so fiercely we were beginning to loose our minds. Where ever we went (since everyone was keeping us close together), there were at least two body guards following us. Even just going to the bathroom or taking a shower, either Alice, Rose, or Bella would follow us. At night, Nessie and I shared a California king bed with Jacob and Embry, and though I loved being snuggled up to my soulmate, he was nothing more than a portable heater.

“You’re amazing, Embry,” I muttered one night, wriggling out from under the sheets, “but I’m gonna have a heatstroke. Move over!”

Embry grunted in his sleep and I managed to push him an inch or so to the right. Nessie was curled up in Jake’s arms, fast asleep. Lucky her, being half-vampire she was colder than I was, and Jake’s overwhelming body heat didn’t really affect her. Turning my back to them, I scooted over and pressed my back against Nessie’s, soaking up her icyness.

Winter break had come in gone in a boring, monotonous flash, and tomorrow was the first day of classes. As I shut my eyes and tried to get some sleep, I ran over the evening’s previous argument.

”The girls can’t go back to school!” my mom had cried in shock, wrapping her arm around me.

“They need to go to school, Alex,” Paul growled wearily. My mom shot him an aggravated glance, just as Bella said,

“They can wait! We can send them to a different school after this all blows over-“

“That’s fine for Renesmee,” my dad pointed out. “But Lillie can’t be held back forever. She ages, unlike Renesmee.”

“With Jacob and Embry accompanying them, and with the pack guarding the school, they’ll be more than safe,” Edward told my mom and Bella calmly. Both women shot him a sour glare.

“We should be able to go to school,” Nessie piped up, glancing at me for support. I bobbed my head as Lucas said,

“If we don’t go to school, won’t that be letting the Makah wolves win?”

“What do you mean?” Paul asked, furrowing his brow as he stared at my brother.

“They’re trying to ruin our lives, so if we show them we’ll keep going no matter what, won’t it be like a slap in the face?”

Paul grinned, slapping Lucas on the back as he said,

“He’s got a point, you know.” My mom let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose as she murmured,

“Okay, okay, Lillie, Nessie, what do you want to do?”

“Well, I want to go back to school!” Nessie cheered, bouncing up and down. Sometimes I just don’t understand my best friend.

“I want to go to school, just less enthusiastically than Ness,” I agreed, giving her a smile.

“Well, get some sleep, we’re leaving at seven thirty,” Embry announced grinning down at me.

I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew, Embry was gently shaking my shoulder to wake me up.

“It’s a new day, Lil,” Embry said softly, his chocolate-brown eyes shimmering as he smiled at me. I sleepily returned the smile; now his warmth was welcome, because someone (probably Nessie, she loves the cold) had opened the window, and the bed was chilly. Embry pulled me into his arms and held me close, pressing his lips to my forehead as he murmured,

“Time to get up.”

With a sigh, I wriggled into a sitting position and rubbed my eyes, brushing my golden curls out of my face. Embry was stretching beside the bed as I hopped up and shuffled to the bathroom.

“Bacon or sausage?” Esme asked Embry as she scooped a healthy portion of scrambled eggs onto my plate.

“Yes please,” Embry joked as Esme piled on the food. Embry began to wolf it down without a second thought.

“Let’s go you two,” my mom ushered, twisting her hair back into a clip as she hurried down the stairs. My dad intercepted her at the bottom and swept her into a hug, catching her by surprise. She let out a startled laugh as my dad gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

“Well, there goes my appetite,” Lucas growled, sliding off his chair as he grabbed his backpack. “See you guys at school!”

“Where’re you going?” I asked him, turning in my chair to stare up at my brother. “I thought you were gonna ride with us.”

“I’m gonna go pick up Ara,” Lucas told me, opening the door. “You’re welcome to come with me.”

Since the dance, Lucas and Ara had constantly been fighting. But once Paul threatened to take his car away unless he drove Ara to school and back, he seemed to forgive her.

Making a face, I muttered,

“Like hell I would.”

My mom passed behind the chair and gave me a gentle smack on the arm.

“Lillian, honestly, quit being so rude to Arabella.”

“She’s Lucas’s sister, not mine,” I retorted, pushing back from the table as Embry did the same. Renesmee and Jacob were on the couch watching TV, but when Embry and I paused at the door for our bags, they hopped up and joined us. Embry helped me into my jacket as Jacob held the door open for us, and we all headed down the steps, ready for school.

“Okay, I’m ready to be done with school,” I muttered as Jake and Nessie joined us outside the English room. I’d been the first person out; Embry had rushed straight from Spanish to meet me outside the classroom. I was having a pretty bad day.

I’d failed the ‘welcome back’ test in math, managed to set my shirt on fire in biology, and I’d earned myself a referral for smart mouthing in English.

“It’s not your fault Mrs. Wilson didn’t get the joke,” Nessie soothed as I reluctantly told Embry what happened. Wrapping a warm, secure arm around my shoulders, he pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head. I tilted my head back a bit, and he gave me a gentle kiss on the lips, pulling back to murmur,

“It’s okay, Lillie. Things’ll get better, you’ll see.”

“I know,” I sighed, resting my head on his chest as we headed for lunch. “Thanks Embry.”

“You and Ness go get some food, Embry and I will go get a table. Sound good?” Jake asked as we entered the lunchroom. Nessie linked her arm in mine and towed me towards the lunch line, saying,

“Look! Your favorite!” Sure enough, tater tots were on the menu, and I actually smiled to myself.

“Things are getting better.”

Nessie and I got as much tots as we could fit on the plate, reluctantly getting a helping of sloppy joes when the lunch lady called us out. Of course, the lunch money on my card had run out, so I paused in line to get some change out while Nessie went ahead and grabbed us some milks.

After paying, I picked up my tray and began to scout for Jake and Embry. I’d just spotted them when my foot hooked onto something, and I felt myself tumbling forward. The entire lunchroom (minus Jake, Nessie, and Embry) burst into laughter as I slammed into the floor and my face went right into my sloppy joes.

I was completely mortified; in fact, I was contemplating just crawling out on my stomach until I heard that nails-on-chalkboard voice sneer,

“Oh, bummer Lillie! Looks like someone couldn’t wait till she sat down to eat!”

Every single cell in my body erased the embarrassment and replaced it with fury. Shoving myself to my knees, I wiped the sloppy joes away from my eyes and glowered up at Arabella.

“That’ll teach you to keep your slutty hands off my boyfriend,” she hissed as Cade wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her towards the tables outside. Nessie was at my side instantly, offering me a towel from the janitor; I just glowered after Arabella.

Jake and Embry were running towards me, snarling at people to get on with their lunches. The crowd of laughter began to disperse, and the lunchroom fell into its usual chatter as Jake and Embry reached me. Embry dropped to his knees in front of me and took the towel from Nessie, beginning to wipe off the mess.

My anger at the day had reached its breaking point; gently, I pushed Embry’s hand away and got to my feet.

“Lillie?” Nessie asked gently, resting her hand on my arm. Without a word, I turned back to the lunch line and grabbed a plate, piling it high with sloppy joes. The lunch lady gave me an apologetic smile and said,

“This one’s on the house.”

I barely heard her as I turned back to my friends; they were all staring at me anxiously, like I might snap and throw myself in front of a train. Silently, I walked forward, passing by Nessie and the boys as I headed towards the doors leading to the tables outside.

Whether they followed me or not, I didn’t care. Shoving the door open with my shoulder, I followed the cement walkway past the cafeteria, around to the grassy area where there were several picnic benches. Ara, Cade, and two of Ara’s slutty little friends were seated around the bench. There were dozens of kids outside; even Lucas and Lindsey were sitting on the grass, enjoying a nice lunch.

I approached the table without any second thoughts. One of Ara’s friends caught sight of me first, and she sneered,

“Oh look, Ara! You’ve got yourself a little follower!”

Ara casually flipped her hair over her shoulder as she turned to smirk up at me. The second her face was pointed towards me, I slammed the plate of sloppy joes into her face. The few people who had been lucky enough to look our way right then let out gasps and laughter as they watched me humiliate Ara. She let out a disbelieving shriek as she clumsily got to her feet and stumbled back, wiping the food away from her eyes.

“You bitch!” she shrieked, lunging for me; I was so ready. Ara swung her fist towards my face, but she was too slow. Dodging her blow, I landed a pretty hefty right hook of my own, sending Ara back a few paces. Spluttering, Ara tried to regain her composure, but I didn’t care. I rushed forward and slammed my fist into her stomach, effectively doubling her over. Mercilously, I drove my elbow into her face and knocked her back onto her ass. But as I lunged for Ara again, a sharp pain shot across the left side of my face, and I took a startled step back to glare up at one of Ara’s friends.

But as I went to lunge for the girl, my feet were yanked out from under me, and I felt Ara throw a pretty good punch into my right side. Wincing, I tried to kick free of her just as Ara’s friend slammed her foot down on my stomach. My breath left me in a whoosh, and I couldn’t struggle free of Ara while I was trying to breathe. As Ara’s friend went to slam her foot down on my face, she was suddenly barreled to the side and pinned to the ground. Turning to see who’d come to my aid, I was completely caught off guard when I saw Nessie’s petite form pinning the girl down as she snarled,

“Not so tough by yourself, are you?”

Seeing my best friend throw herself into a fight for me sent a new wave of strength coursing through me. Ara landed a sharp blow to my face before I could stop her, but I recovered faster than she’d expected, and I rolled out from beneath her, then got to my knees and threw another blow to her face, knocking her back onto the grass.

A strong pair of hands grabbed my arms and yanked me roughly down onto my back; I saw Cade’s face for a moment before Embry drove him into the ground, growling,

“Don’t ever touch my girlfriend again, asshole!”

As I struggled to my feet, I saw the fight had doubled in size: Ara’s other friend, the girl not pinned down by Nessie, was now in a vicious fist fight with Lindsey, while Lucas and Jake were fighting with two other guys who’d tried to come to Cade’s rescue.

Just as I threw myself back onto Ara, I heard a deep voice boom,

“ENOUGH!”

Immediately I froze, and Ara elbowed my off of her so she could scramble to her feet.

“Who started this?” the principal demanded, his beady black eyes sweeping over the bruised and bloody crowd. Before I could say anything, several of the onlookers pointed to Ara and I, saying,

“They did! They did!”

Ara shook her matted blonde hair over her shoulders, her deep brown eyes smoldering as she glowered at the principal.

“You two, come with me,” he ordered. “The rest of you, get back to lunch before I start handing out detentions!”

Reluctantly, I began to trail after Ara, casting a glance back at my friends. They gave me a reassuring smile as I traipsed into the building behind the principal.

“Sit here,” he growled as we entered the office. Ara and I took seats across from one another as the principal entered his office and slammed the door.

“Way to go,” Ara hissed at me, gingerly crossing her arms over her chest. She had a bloody nose, and a decent sized cut above one eye brow, accompanied by several bruises on her cheeks, arms, and probably stomach. I basked in the glow of my accomplishments as I said apathetically,

“You started this.”

“I did not! You hit me first!”

“You tripped me and embarrassed me in front of everyone,” I snapped, gingerly feeling my cut lip with my tongue. “I was just making us even.”

“Whatever,” she muttered, sinking down in her chair and wincing slightly.

“What happened to you, Ara?” I asked quietly, flicking my eyes over to her. She was quite for a moment, and then said softly,

“I grew up.”

“Just because you grew up doesn’t mean you had to become an uber bitch to me and Nessie. We were best friends until you started high school, you know.”

“Well, things change, and I moved on from our childish games.”

“You didn’t have to turn into a bitch, though,” I murmured, feeling tears prick my eyes. “I thought we were gonna be best friends, and then you acted like I was a worthless piece of crap.”

Ara was quiet; I shut my mouth and concentrated on stopping the tears. There was no way I was crying in front of Ara.

“It was never you and me,” she said so softly I almost didn’t hear her. “It was you and Renesmee. You two were inseperable. Do you know how many times you left me alone, or blew me off, or just never hung out with me because you were with Nessie?”

My words caught in my throat as she continued.

“The only time you ever hung out with me was when Nessie was out of town, or she couldn’t hang out with you. When you couldn’t have Nessie as your best friend, I was your back up plan.”

“It was never like that, Ara-“

“It was, Lillie! Remember when you promised to come over and spend the day with my parents and I up at Port Angeles, and you blew me off because Nessie wanted you to go shopping with her? Or when you told me you couldn’t come to my birthday party because you were sick, but it was really because Nessie wanted you to go see a movie with her? Remember? And then when your plans fell through with Nessie, you decided to go to my party because you had no one else to hang out with?”

I couldn’t say anything; I was speechless, because Ara was right. I’d always put Nessie before Arabella. If it came down to the two of them, I always picked Nessie.

“And then I grew up. I realized that I didn’t need to wait around for you to hang out with me. I was tired of being the second choice, so I moved on from you and Nessie.”

I lifted my eyes to look at Ara; to my complete surprise, she was crying. When she caught me staring at her, she turned her head away and wiped her tears, wincing as she went over her black eye.

Seeing Ara cry sent me over the edge; hot tears began to leak down my cheeks, stinging me as they passed over my cuts.

“I never meant to hurt you like that, Ara,” I told her quietly, trying to control my wavering voice. “I never wanted to treat you like that. If you would have just said something…”

“If I had told you why I was upset, would you have hung out with me because you wanted to or because you were too guilt-ridden not to?”

I kept my mouth shut; we both knew the answer.

“I really am sorry, Ara,” I told her after a few moments. She glanced over at me, and our eyes locked. Something changed right there; nothing huge, nothing significant, but something happened. Her eyes softened just a little bit, and she said,

“It’s okay, Lillie.”

Before any more words could be exchanged, we heard a commotion in the hall. Seconds later, the door to the office burst open, and my heart dropped to my stomach. My mom was standing in the doorway, her smoldering blue eyes locked on me. Right beside her, Arabella’s mom Kara pushed her way in, narrowing her eyes at her own daughter.

“Oh boy,” I muttered.