Without Love

Alanya waited outside the airport in Seattle with a satisfied smile. She’d already discarded the napkin where Carter’s cell phone number was written with her black eyeliner. She had no use for his number; she could just find herself a new toy. That was the fun part of her game.

A small red car came to a screeching stop in front of the sidewalk. Her eyes widened when she recognized her brother coming out of the passenger seat. He’d changed so drastically. Embry pulled her against his chest in a bone breaking hug. Alanya worked hard not to cry as she felt his warm arms around her.

“Emmy,” she whispered against his sweater.

“Serena,” he said and grinned at her.

She lifted a finger at him. “It’s Alanya now,” she instructed.

Embry furrowed his eyebrows at her. “Why Alanya?”

She shrugged. “Where’s mom?” she asked and eyed the slightly familiar man getting out of the driver seat.

“She had to work, and she told me to say sorry that she couldn’t pick you up herself, but she promised to make a chocolate cake for you later,” He rambled.

Alanya laughed. “It’s okay, you’re here.” She looked at the other man again, realizing how good-looking he was. “Who’s he?” she asked and prayed at the top of her lungs that he wasn’t some sort of a relative.

Embry laughed loudly. “Don’t you recognize Jacob Black?”

Alanya was at loss of words as she stared at Jacob’s handsome face. When she thought of Jacob all she could see was the gangley teen she remembered from some of her earlier summer vacations. She got a grip of herself and walked over to shake his hand.

“Hi, Jake,” she smiled, “Sorry for not recognizing you.”

He smiled back at her. “That’s okay, Sere- Alanya,” he corrected himself. “You look good.”

Her smile turned into a smirk. “I know.”

Embry cleared his throat. “Let’s get going.”

>X<

Her mother’s house was so different from Mac’s lofty and modern apartment on the Fifth Avenue. This house was small, old fashion and cozy. It wasn’t exactly Alanya’s style, but she’d always liked this house. Even after she had moved from La Push she had pictured this house as her home.

As she entered she was met with the familiar scent of freshness and vanilla. The vanilla smell came from Ronnie’s perfume. The scent made Alanya miss her mother; but she knew it was just a matter of hours before she got to see her again.

Embry helped her with her suitcases to her old bedroom before he let her be and went to the kitchen. Alanya sighed when she looked around her old bedroom. It was so… childish. Posters of stars she’d been into and some random of cats, dogs and horses.

She ripped them all down, leaving the wooden walls bare. She then proceeded to her closet. It was a lot smaller than her walk in wardrobe back in New York, but it would do. She emptied her luggage before folding the clothes into perfection and placing them on the shelves; the dresses on hangers.

She found the picture of her and her father and placed it on one of the shelves and the wedding picture of her father and Michel. It had been a small ceremony in New Hampshire; Alanya had been the only guest/bridesmaid. But it had been perfect, simple, but perfect.

Alanya found a pair of change before she walked out in the hallway and down till the bathroom to freshen up a little bit. The sharing bathroom thing could become a problem; Alanya could use many hours in there if she wanted to. It hadn’t been a problem in New York; she had her own bathroom. She tried not to dwell on it.

After she felt fresh and fine again she found her brother and his friend in the kitchen. They were eating and it made her realize she hadn’t had a bite off food since she left New York – Alanya hated plane food. She grabbed the hamburger Embry was about to eat out of his hands.

“Hey!” he yelled at her and tried to take it back but Alanya jumped out of his way and bit into it quickly.

“Trust me, you don’t want me around if I don’t eat this thing,” she said truthfully to him.

“Fine,” he grumbled and made a new one for himself. “Have you settled in?”

“Kind off,” she said and took another bite. “I had to remove all the posters and now the walls are full of lighter squares. I’ll have to ask Ronnie if I can paint.”

“And by saying I, you mean me, right?” Embry asked her and raised a brow.

She batted her eyelashes at him. “Don’t you want to help your sister, Emmy?”

Jacob laughed when he saw Embry’s face. He couldn’t say no to his sister.

“Fine,” He grumbled and looked away from her. “Let me know when you’ve decided on a color.”

Alanya smiled triumphantly.

“Well, I’ll head out now,” Embry informed her. “Jacob really wants to stay with you till mom gets home.”

Jacob’s mouth fell. “I promised Sam I would come as well,” he tried to argue.

Embry shook his head. “No you didn’t. Have fun,” he waved at them over his shoulder as he walked out off the kitchen.

“Am I really that horrible to be around?” she asked Jacob after she picked up the words he cursed under his breath.

He stared at her for a moment before he answered. “It’s not you, it’s me.”

Alanya gasped. “Are you- Are you breaking up with me Jacob?” She asked him in a saddened tone. She then burst out in laughter.

Jacob’s expression turned angry. “Stop kidding around, Alanya,” he said her name with sarcasm dripping from each letter.

She narrowed her eyes at him before she shrugged it off. “So what’s wrong with you?”

Jacob sighed in frustration and pulled his hands through his messy hair. “You don’t want to hear my tragic sob story, trust me. I don’t even know if it qualifies to be a sob story. It’s more a story about how pathetic a boy can possibly be.”

Alanya was always curious on other people’s life. Michel always told her curiosity killed the cat. “Why don’t you tell me and I decided if it is sob worthy or just pathetic.”

“Why should I tell you?” he asked her.

She pondered about it before she answered. “I’ll tell you why I want to be called Alanya if you tell me.”

It persuaded him and Jacob told her how close he’d got to a girl called Bella after her boyfriend dumped her, and how she ran straight back to him when he returned, dropping Jacob like he had just been some sort of a substitute. And now they were engaged.

The story just proved Alanya’s theory about love. It always ends in pain, no matter how hard you try. Alanya swore to never fall in love; she wouldn’t let anyone else than herself handle her heart.

“She’s the pathetic one,” Alanya said and patted his arm. They sat next to each other on the small love seat in the living room. “You just did the mistake at falling for her.”

“Yeah, but she just so amazing,” he said with dreamy eyes.

Alanya snorted. “I highly doubt that.” she was surprised when she saw a tear on his left cheek.

“For me she was,” Jacob said softly. “She was everything I dreamed off.”

“Then you have to forget her,” Alanya said and placed a kiss on his cheek.

“How can I?” he asked. “She lives in Forks. Her father is my father’s closest friend.”

“I can make you forget,” she murmured into his ear and straddled his waist.

Jacob was captivated by her brown eyes; they were almost the same shade of brown as Bella’s. But as soon as Alanya placed her lips over his he snapped out of the trance and carefully placed her on the couch next to him.

“No,” Jacob said sternly to her. “I can’t forget that way.”

She frowned. “Have you tried?”

“No,” he answered. “But you’re Embry’s sister.”

“I’m only a year and a half younger than him; you,” she told him.

Jacob sighed. “You shouldn’t throw yourself at everybody.”

Alanya sighed, brushing the rejections straight off. “Let’s go out, I should take advantage of the light weather. Besides, I want to go to the beach.”

“You haven’t told me why you want to be called Alanya,” Jacob said and walked after her outside.

She shrugged. “Dad and Michel took me on a vacation till Turkey. We stayed in a city called Alanya. I liked the name and adopted it,” she wasn’t lying; she just didn’t tell everything.

They walked in silence after she spoke. Alanya glanced at the nature, already missing the enormous buildings, heavy traffic and the city sounds. Everything was silent, only sound she could put her finger on were birdsong and waves.

She smiled though, when they reached the beach. A group of four good-looking boys, looking to be around her age, were goofing around, looking to have fun. She felt pleased when Jacob led her in their directions.

“Jake!” one of the younger looking boy perked up when he spotted Jacob.

“Hey Seth,” Jacob said and did the sort of handshake slash hug boys usually did. He then stepped back to Alanya. “This is Jared, Seth, Collin and Paul.”

Alanya looked at them one by one as Jacob introduced them. She felt a strange flutter in her body when she locked eyes with the last one, Paul. He was without doubt the hottest of them all. Paul was staring back at her with slightly shocked eyes, but she was used to boys reacting that way when they laid eyes on her.

“This is Alanya, Embry’s sister,” Jacob said and narrowed his eyes at Paul.

“Nice to meet you, Alanya,” Seth said with a grin and stepped forward to hug her, but Paul pushed him aside, making him fall down in the sand.

“I’m Paul Johnson,” he said to her and shook her hand a little longer than necessary.

She gave him her signature smile as she gazed up at him under her eyelashes. “Alanya Call,” she said.

“As I said,” Jacob pulled Alanya backwards, away from Paul. “She is Embry’s little sister.”

Alanya still had her eyes locked with Paul’s and she smirked when she saw the suggestive smile that played on his lips.

“You should go home,” Jacob suggested, desperate to get her away from Paul before he fucked her over. “Your mother is probably back now.”

“Nice to meet you, Paul Johnson,” she said as Jacob kept pulling her away.