Loca

It was around three a.m. Danni and I were the last ones standing, as usual, and our plotting had finally come to an end. We were on the move.

“He’s gonna catch us,” Danni hissed as we approached Hector’s tent. I rolled my eyes. “If he catches us we run.” I said obviously.

Danni was about to protest and I cut her off before she could say what I knew she was about to. “If he catches us again we admit to nothing.” I said more rushed and less reassuringly and then shut up.

It was so dark; if I wasn’t a wolf I’d have been completely blind.

I had a lantern that the teachers had lent out to the students, but I was afraid to turn it on cause’ the light might wake someone up.

I had helped the teachers put batteries in them before the trip, with help from Jacob. If you could call it that. He just talked to me the whole time and texted Embry with his cell.

I was wincing as I unzipped the tent Hector was in; I knew it was only being loud because I was sneaking around. Any other night it’d be silent I was sure.

I crept into Hector’s tent and grabbed what I was looking for. He was sprawled across his sleeping bag in his boxers, his face adorable in his sleep.

I had to pause what I was doing for a second. I knew this wasn’t what I was here for and yet I still couldn’t help but sway from my mission a bit as I took out the camera I’d brought with me for the trip and took a picture of Hector.

I’d save it for a rainy day…

“Got it?” Danni mouthed when I came out. I nodded and we took off running, trying not to giggle too much and wake everyone up.

XxX

I was awake early in the morning, waiting for events to unfold.

Danni and I had an eventful night, sneaking into tents and invading cars and trying to do whatever we could to find every last article of clothing Hector owned. It took less time then we’d thought fortunately. I got plenty of rest.

This wasn’t necessarily my revenge though; just a small appetizer.

Hector’s tent mates had left, at different times, none of them realizing what had gone down since Hector hadn’t woken up yet. He was still inside for a long while before I heard him get up and start searching.

It took half the morning for him to grow some balls and storm out, (although I was sure he had realized earlier what had happened) and my name the first thing to angrily leave his lips.

“TROY!” he barked, marching over in his boxers, with the cutest bed head.

Vanessa, Whitney and all the other girls who weren’t in the pack squeaked and covered their eyes while Jacob stared at Hector with the most astonished face you could imagine.

“Jeez Hector put some clothes on, that’s disrespectful,” I said, shielding my eyes playfully. Danni laughed somewhere around the diminished fire, beside Embry no doubt.

Hector growled at me and I thought for half a second of how Jacob never did that. I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for the onslaught.

“Where are they?” Hector ground out through clenched teeth. He was shaking, but I noticed now that some of his anger was washing away. He was embarrassed, a subtle hint of red to his face and the loss of fire in his eyes.

I pointed off into the woods and he marched off.

The second he was out of what people thought was hearing distance, everyone was laughing hysterically.

Jake especially, although he had a look also that I couldn’t quite place. It was something like unwilling sympathy. Or maybe I was confusing that with something else.

“You find em?” I called loudly after about ten minutes. I distinctly heard Hector grumbling, but he didn’t respond until he finally tramped back through the woods, dragging his two bags.

“This is a new one; tying them to a tree.” Hector said, tossing them into his tent and flopping down beside me before flicking my nose. He was in jeans and a wife beater now, still with bed head.

“I gotta say baby girl you’re getting creative. I wouldn’t have noticed them tied to the tree is I hadn’t have been right beneath em.’” Hector said with unwilling props. He wanted to move on. To get this prank over with; I knew him well enough to tell.

I blew him a kiss and he rolled his eyes, while for a half a second his gaze stopped on Lizzie, eyes staring at the ashes of the fire that had been on and off since we’d been here.

Her eyes betrayed no emotion, her hair that had been black not long ago, but was now blonde and pink, slumped into her face that was paler than usual. Did she feel used too?

“We can leave anytime we want, as long as we let em’ no and don’t just disappear. I think I wanna hit up the lake though first” Lafe was saying to Alex, referring to the lake about three miles from here. He was answering a question Alex and Noah had both asked two different people, that I had missed somehow.

“I wanna see the lake too!” Danni chimed, and Embry nodded. She was sitting on his lap, his palms resting on her thighs.

“We should all go,” Jake said his eyes flashing to mine and away.

Everyone immediately started to agree after that, Hector forgotten just as he wanted, and we all drifted away as we signed out and loaded up the cars and changed so we could make the trip.

Not a lot of other kids from school were coming, just Austin’s, Whitney’s, and Piper’s groups.

Hopefully the latter kept their distance. I really didn’t feel like I’d be so lucky as to hurt two people without getting charges pressed. No need to put anyone through that…just because I had temper problems.

XxX

We all decided to car pool to go to the lake, packing up our stuff and returning tents while people joined groups where we could drive easily.

Hector was driving Lizzie, but also Lafe and Joe so I didn’t feel too bad about it. Lizzie had simply replaced Danni the way they came in. Austin, Natalia, Antoine, Chelsea and Mark were all in Austin’s SUV.

Whitney, Vanessa and Jayyde all took Lizzie’s car for her because she didn’t really seem up to driving. I had no idea how they had gotten here.

In our car, Embry was riding shotgun with Jake driving and me and Danni in the backseat. We had all our bags in Quil’s car since he had offered to ride solo.

“Here comes the sun…” Danni sang out in the back seat, her long legs awkwardly sprawled against my lap. Her Ipod unfortunately hadn’t died yet. She alternated between rapping expertly, and singing oldies horribly.

I leaned forward to whisper in Embry’s ear “We know you love her and everything, but it’s better to tell her before you get too serious that she sings like a-”

Danni kicked me harshly in the rib. “Ow!” I snapped, slapping her thigh while Embry and Jake laughed at us.

“You couldn’t even hear me!” I moaned, looking at Danni accusingly. She rolled her eyes at me and took one headphone out.

“I knew you were saying something rude,” She said simply, and it was at just that moment we turned onto a road that was nothing more than a bunch of shells that had been dumped onto the dirt.

“We’re here,” Jake stated, pulling up to a spot and parking the Rabbit. I glanced around happily, seeing the sand that emerged from the shells on the road and led to the murky calm waters of the lake. It was gorgeous out today. The last nice day for a long while, I knew.

I hopped out of the car and Danni quickly followed, flocking to Embry’s side the second she was free.

“What are we waiting for then?” Em said, grabbing her hand and tugging her while the rest of us followed.

Jacob’s POV

The only other people I could see here when we arrived were Paul, Whit, Nessa and Jayyde. I hoped to god Paul wouldn’t cause’ problems, because I really didn’t feel like killing him today.

Or putting up with my crazy unreasonable jealousy.

As it was, I was extremely glad Hector wasn’t here right now. It gave me a minute in piece with his girlfriend.He had been hogging her for pretty much the whole trip and it drove me insane.

Except for that one night when I had bumped into her, the first day here, and when we set up Embry and Danni, I rarely got a word in.

On the other hand though that might’ve seemed like a lot more than I probably deserved. I guess I should be grateful.

It wasn’t like her and Hector were making out the whole time they were around me. They just hung around each other and Troy would snuggle with him if it was cold. It could’ve been worse.

They could’ve done more. Troy could’ve proven to me right away that she did more with him than she needed me for.

But maybe she was being quiet about her relationship because she didn’t want to upset me? It hurt my head to think of all the things it could be that made her so distant from me. Especially since I should’ve been ready for it.

“Jake!” Troy said suddenly, punching me in the shoulder harshly. I winced and came back to reality, staring down at pout that had formed on those perfect lips.

“Were you even listening?” Troy said impatiently. I shook my head and smiled down at her.

She was so cute when she was pretending to be offended by me. She was so adorable right now that it was too easy to control myself from staring at her tight blue and black one-piece and white shorts.

I know everything Troy did was reflecting of the tomboy in her, but she still managed to get away with dressing like a girl when she chose to. It was the cutest contradiction.

“I said do you think the others will be long?” Troy asked, bouncing on the balls of her bare feet.

She had shed her sandals so I could now perfectly see the tattoo of the angel and wings on her ankle that I had only noticed a few days ago.

“I have no idea,” I said honestly, and she nodded, acting like our little exchange was nothing. Or that it didn’t mean the world to me when we’d just have little conversations like that, and headed over by Danni.

They started talking and I sat next to Troy so I was on her right. Danni sat next to her on the other side with Embry left of all of us.

Halfway through the conversation Em and Dan took a couples walk down the beach and I grabbed at the alone time.

Troy was more than a little impatient though; it seemed, for her to see her friends and that hurt a tiny bit, but I think I hid it pretty well.

Why wasn’t I enough? Why was I never enough?

I tried not to get depressed about it, I really did but this trip had sort of made me realize that I was getting nowhere with Troy. We were in a rut.

I’d never get her to be mine.

XxX

“Jake come in the water!” Troy yelled, waist deep with Lafe, Paul, those two guys Noah and Alex, and Vanessa.

“Im good,” I lied. I was trying to prove something. I don’t know why but I was. I was trying to prove that I didn’t cater to Troy’s every whim and desire.

I was losing the fight.

It was in my instincts to take care of her, and her sad face was more than I could bear. She turned around and didn’t bother with me anymore, starting to wad deeper into the water and I cracked.

I took my shirt off and joined her, Embry and Quil silently snickering behind me. I didn’t feel embarrassed at all, just ashamed that I had given in so easily. And then that didn’t matter because I was happy at seeing Troy’s smile that was so perfect.

Damn imprinting.

The other guys in the water gave us a wide margin of space and I swam with Troy for a long time.

The sun was setting when I finally exited the water, no complaint from her.

I sat on the beach and watched her for the rest of the time. The bitch clique and Paul had all disappeared a while ago and he was just returning now.

He was getting on my nerves.

All day he’d been hitting on Troy, and I couldn’t even enjoy her in her bathing suit because I was all-to-aware that he and Hector were too, although the latter not as bad.

He had gotten jealous too earlier, giving Paul this death glare that I admit, did scare myself into looking away…for a second.

I kept stealing glances.

Taking in every bit of her, I couldn’t help but notice how gorgeous she was today. I mean, clearly she was always gorgeous, but some days stood out in my mind more than others.

Her soaked brown hair fell in her eyes. Her tattoo was exposed, but her piercing was not, and neither was the scar of a claw mark that marked her hip from her transformation. Her long legs were never ending, and those milky thighs were so exposed…

Quil nudged me roughly and I realized I’d been staring, thoughts wandering. I cursed mentally. I should be quarantined.

Troy flopped down beside me, an irritated expression on her face. Not because of me, but because Paul had unsurprisingly not stopped his senseless pathetic flirting.

I could tell that she was trying not to let it get to her, but it wasn’t working and I was waiting for her to break while half absorbed in a conversation with Quil about Claire.

It wasn’t very interesting, but I still paid attention because he put up with me and my imprint all the time. The least I could do was return the favor with him and little two year old Claire.

“Paul, knock it off,” Troy said calmly, her eyes closed. I waited.

Everyone else didn’t seem to be paying any attention. Quil talked on, never shutting up and I wondered why Troy didn’t snap yet.

“Thats great man. Bout’ time Claire learned to say your name right, I still can’t get her to not call me Jay.” I told Quil, 90% of me focused on Troy and only Troy, fuming next to me.

It was about maybe two minutes alter that the snap I’d been waiting for came, but it wasn’t how I was expecting.

Troy didn’t go off, she simply stood up, very deliberately and angrily, and all-but dragged Paul back into the woods near the parking lot.

I stared in shock and anger before realizing that she was probably just going to kill him where there were no witnesses. At least that was what I had to convince myself when everyone finally started asking where Troy went, seconds after she disappeared.

Like I knew what was going through her head anymore.

Troy’s POV

“What’s your problem?” I demanded of Paul, throwing his wrist from my grasp and glaring in a way that I knew was not pretty.

“I don’t see what you girls get so defensive about, a few people I know enjoy the compliments,” Paul said simply, no shame anywhere.

If he wanted to play games then I could play too. But either way; this ended today.
I rolled my eyes and kept my voice even.

“What you say to girls aren't considered compliments…unless their seriously insecure or horny. Its more like harassment.” I said, kind of the way someone warns a smoker that they’re gonna die of lung cancer.

Paul snorted at me. “You needed to take me all the way to the side for this?” He grumbled, his big arms folding over his chest. He quirked an eyebrow at me, eyes wandering.

His eyes were dark, but they had specks of green in them that gave them light and left them mysterious. His face had only worn three expressions since I’d met him. Angry, perverted, and amused.

His body wasn’t half bad, and he was tall. About an inch or so taller than Hector; 6’5 instead of 6’3. But he was nowhere near as tall as Jacob, or as good looking as either Hec or Jake.

Also he’d probably have a lot more girls in his fan club if he wasn’t such a jerk.

“Being unconfident shouldn’t really be a problem for you,” I said to counteract his statement. It was a minor detail that I needed to have this discussion with him without an audience.

He was distracted, and snorted. “Please. There is no way Im insecure. I get more girls than anyone in both schools combined.” He scoffed. I rolled my eyes teasingly.

“But who’s to say that’s what you really want. Obviously if you had found the right girl you wouldn’t still be doing this; looking for her I mean.” I said simply, and Paul looked at me like I was insane.

Which was a look I was very familiar with…I laughed out loud.

“C’mon Paul, Are you really so surprised I don’t know why you play your little games?” I snickered, walking over to the trees in the parking lot.

He followed and we stood under the canopy of trees, having a silent face off. The sun was just barely there.

“I’ve been around guys like you my whole life Paul. It’s easy to see which was are actually assess and which ones are just confused.” I said simply, while Paul looked at me in that same way, but with a bit of panic in his eyes.

He was terrified I was able to figure him out so quickly.

“For example,” I finally continued. I felt like I was running my mouth a lot but as Paul was speechless I guessed I’d better get a word in now. “Antoine is a total ass. But like you said, he’s had less than you.” I told him, and to my surprise his face thawed out and he cracked a smile.

“So…are you saying that my intentions are better?” he said, with that gleam in his eyes, but his voice was serious. Trying to figure me out, like I had done with him weeks ago. I’d had a lot of time to figure this stuff out in my head. It seemed like it was all pouring out now.

“No. Im just saying you’re not just in it for the sex…even though that’s what you’re getting. You’re trying for more than that.” I stressed.

Paul looked at me funny again.

“Not a lot of people would have made that assumption. It’s nice that you think so much of me.” He said smirking again. He apparently had decided not to let me get away with knowing his little game.

“What’s nice is that I know Im right,” I said simply.

Silence.

“It’s not like that though,” he said suddenly, after minutes had passed.

“Im not trying to find the girl of my dreams or anything close. Im trying to forget she’s out there. Nearly everyone in the pack has their girl. Except for the little guys, but even so, Brady and Collin have girlfriends...and Seth doesn’t care so much…Leah and I are the only ones alone…you have no idea how bad that feels…so I have to forget that there’s someone out there, or I’ll really never be able to be with anyone…like my dad…” Paul ranted, losing steam, looking off into the distance with the most horrified expression.

It wasn’t one of the ones I’d ever seen him wear and it made me feel a bit of guilt in the pit of my stomach that shouldn’t have been there. Not for him. Not for someone so rude and obnoxious.

I was supposed to be making him guilty. Guilty enough to change. He shouldn’t scare me out of it so easily.

“Leah? Brady? Collin?” I interrupted him in order to distract him from his suddenly hurt and vulnerable face.

He slapped a hand over his mouth. “Damn, wasn’t supposed to mention them. Yeah Brady and Collin phased a few weeks ago. Leah’s been with us though; she’s Seth’s older sister. You know him from school.”

“Yeah...” I muttered, not worrying about the Leah part of the story. I didn’t know her yet so I wouldn’t use her in an argument with a short-tempered womanizer.

“Not everyone in the pack has found their imprint,” I told him, and he raised an eyebrow.

“Oh you mean Jacob,” he caught on quickly. He started shaking his head. For a split second I thought he was going to tell me Jacob already imprinted on some lucky girl. I think I might’ve died if that was the case. But it never happened.

“Well it doesn’t matter if Jake didn’t imprint…or for arguments sake if he did. He’s already in love with you past the boundaries of sanity. But you knew that, didn’t you?”

My face was shocked, and I’m sure I was bright red, but as it was very dark out now, I knew it probably wouldn’t stand out too bad. Paul was the one waiting for an answer now.

“Everyone thinks that,” I stated dryly. “But that doesn’t make it true.”

Paul snorted. “Please.”

He fell down in front of the closest tree, sitting cross legged and patting the space beside him like it was story time. It might’ve been an attempt to make a move on me, but I didn’t think about that as I sat beside him.

“I’m in his head Troy; I know what he’s thinking.” Paul stated, staring at the clouds that blocked out the stars.

“And I know for a fact that he’s head over heels for you. He loves you. He’s in love with you. The dude can’t get you out of his head no matter how hard he tries. Everything you do drives him crazy. He’s always thinking up ways to make you smile and make you happy, and he’s always doing whatever he can to keep you that way...quite frankly, it’s kind of annoying.”

“Sorry,” I muttered quietly. I mean what else could I say? There was no point in denying anything or admitting anything. Like how my heart felt warm and butterflies flooded my stomach when he said Jacob loved me. There was no need to tell this to Paul.

Paul shrugged innocently, but said nothing. The silence was filled with meaning.

“But back to my original point Paul…I know why you do this. Or at least somewhat close.” I said looking at him and daring him to object. When he didn’t I continued,

“Basically, you’re searching right? Maybe not for your girl but for some way to forget, that’s what this is all about?”

He stared at me, nodded slowly and I pulled my mind away from our brief heart to heart.

“Well Im not saying you should stop doing that. I mean, everyone has their own way of dealing with the pain. Im just saying maybe you wanna be more…I guess modest about it. You’ll get a ton more girls that way.”

Silence again. It was getting annoying. We’d been out here for a while, and although Paul had opened up surprisingly well, we hadn’t made much progress. Those stupid awkward tense moments kept coming back while Paul had to keep deciding whether or not to let me in.

“Are you my therapist now?” Paul asked, to break the tension I’d guess. I smiled wryly, and punched him, but it wasn’t meant to cause damage.

“Maybe...I think I’ll have to be if you can’t control yourself.” I said, utterly confused by the whole ordeal. Paul seemed to have fallen out of his ways, at least for the moment anyways; his walls were down.

“Well then, I think we’ve made progress…can we go back to the lake now? We’ll have to leave soon.” Paul asked, a bit of hardness coming back into his expression. He didn’t want me to see that he was going to listen to me, even though I was certain he would.

“Sure, you can do what you want.” I said, standing up, but he hesitated. I looked at him, quirking an eyebrow and waited.

“Well no…wait first…since you actually had the guts to ‘help’ me I think I should return the favor.” He said, looking up at me. I didn’t understand, but as he patted the space beside him I sat down.

“About earlier, when I told you Jacob loved you…I was wondering…and Im sure I already know the answer but…do you love him too?” Paul asked. I said nothing, staring at the ground.

“Does it matter?” I grumbled.

“I think so,” Paul countered.

“No. You’re wrong it doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t tell you even if I did. You said it yourself; you guys share a mind link.” I reasoned, peaking up through my lashes at his expression.

“Jake doesn’t have to know,” Paul said quietly.

“But he will.”

“I think I can keep a simple secret,” Paul snapped, getting angry at my lack of trust. Our whole relationship had changed since we got into the woods.

“But I still can’t tell you if I love him,”

“You mean, you can’t tell me that you love him. Because you’re with Hector. And you don’t want Jacob to feel the need to cause’ drama with you two, anymore than he already does.” Paul theorized. He wasn’t completely right, but he was close enough.

I didn’t really want to stay with Hector, but I didn’t know that I was ready to jump into a love fest with Jake either. I was way to confused right now.

I nearly forgot Paul was waiting for an answer, but I finally nodded.

“Saying it out loud might at least put your feeling in perspective,” Paul said, and then abruptly got up and walked away. Well, he started to, but he was stopped by my voice, calling out against my will.

“It doesn’t matter to me what kind of drama it causes. I love Jacob. I just can’t tell him. That’s all. Are you happy now?” I croaked.

This was it. Saying it out loud made it so much more real. So much more unavoidable. I was in love with my best friend. I mean, I already knew that I was, but now I couldn’t deny it.

He turned half way this look on his face that i didnt recognize before it grew into a smirk.

“Ecstatic,” Paul said, winking and walking away.

His parting words weren’t enough that I knew Paul wouldn’t tell Jacob I loved him. I could only hope that he was loyal enough to me now to keep my deepest secret, and forget the rest.