You Were Always on My Mind

It’s Sunday so I have to get up a bit earlier than normal to go to church. I quickly take a shower and change into one of my Sunday dresses. I slip on my favorite sandals then rush downstairs. I eat breakfast and finish getting ready upstairs. Amy and Nicole text me this morning saying we should have a sleepover tonight at Amy's house. Nicole asks me separately if we can meet up and hang out before, just the two of us. I tell her I have church, but we can hang out at the beach afterwards.

"Hey, Sammy," I hear Jacob call behind me. I see him through the bathroom mirror and smile.

"Hey Jacob," I say turning to hug him. As I hug him, I try not to put a lot of pressure on his stomach. We head out of the bathroom and down the stairs. We all go to the little church that I’ve been going to every year during summer. I sit in between my dad and Jake, just as usual. After church is over and we get back home, I change into a flowy high low skirt and a white tee.

"Dad, I'm heading over to the beach to hang out with Nicole," I inform him slipping on a pair of sandals.

"Are you walking alone or do you want a ride?" My dad asks.

"I'll walk, but thanks for the offer dad," I answer, grabbing my bag and heading out the door. I have my license but no car. Either way, I don’t mind the walk.

"Where are you headed off to?" I hear a voice ask from Jacob's porch. I turn and see Billy reading the newspaper.

"I'm going to meet Nicole at the beach," I respond.

"Have fun. Wait, are you walking alone?"

"Ya, it's good exercise."

"I can get Jake to drive you, it's a far walk to the beach."

"It's fine, I'm use to running farther than that, but thanks Billy," I respond. He was always like a second dad to me.

"Well if you need a ride home, just call the house and I'll send Jake," he assures me winking.

"I might take you up on that offer just so that Jake has to actually get up and move around." Billy whispers something with a grin on his face, but I decide to ignore it. "Bye, Billy."

"Bye, Samantha."

I walk to the beach and spot Nicole already tanning. I sit next to her on the big towel she’s laying on.

"You wanted to hang out and talk perhaps?" I question.

"Well I heard you went on a date with Nick and since he lives across the street from me, I know it didn't last very long," Nicole says slipping her sunglasses onto the top of her head.

"Only a movie and a trip to McDonald's," I fill her in on the basics.

"He left cheery and came back… not so cheery." I then decide to tell her everything I told Jacob and a little more. Like how he had his arm around me a few times and whenever I would move farther away in my seat, he'd just put his arm on the back of the chair. He would then wait a while and put his arm back around my shoulders. This finally stopped when he put it down to hold my hand and I "went to the bathroom".

"Why didn't you let him hold your hand?" Nicole questions sitting up.

"I don't know, I just didn't want to lead him on or I just didn't want it to be him."

"So who did you want it to be?"

"Don't tell Amy because she'll freak out since she wants it to be me and Nick so badly. After the movies, I waited for Nick to leave then headed over to Jacob's garage. I watched him for a while and I told him almost everything, but I told him I didn't want to see it as a date. The whole time that I watched him work on the car, I was thinking about what I would've done if it were Jacob. Later I started working on the car with him and I was having difficulty connecting two wires. I asked for help, but said I still wanted to do it so he came behind me and wrapped his hands over mine and helped me. We almost kissed after that, but Alex interrupted, of course."

"Yep, you've already chosen Jacob. Last year you liked him too. So is Nick basically out of the 'race'?"

"I guess so, but I don't want to tell Amy until Jacob and I are more serious."

"I understand. She can get a bit pushy toward what she approves more of. Have you thought about staying here for school?"

"A little, but my mom would be alone in that big house in San Diego. If I start dating Jake, I'll most likely stay here or visit a whole lot more. My mom hasn't seen Jake since I was 10 and she came up here for my birthday."

"If you end up staying, you can visit her with Jacob."

"She might come up for my 17th birthday too so she'd get to see him and hopefully see us together before a trip home."

For the next couple of hours we talk about Jake and I. She mentions cliff diving and how Jacob acted around me. We also talk about last summer. Around 3, we get up and head to Amy's house. Since Nicole also has her license, but not her car, we end up walking. On the way to Amy’s house, we pass by my house where the boys are playing basketball. I hear two voices that I don't recognize so I lead Nicole to the side of the house.

"Hey Sammy!" Jake calls out as soon as he spots me. He walks away from the game and heads toward me. "Hey Nicole!"

"Who are those two?" I ask pointing to the two mystery guys.

"That's Embry and Quil," he answers walking me over to introduce us.

"Hey Sammy and Nicole!" Alex calls out as we approach the makeshift court.

"At least he spotted me right away instead of just you," Nicole whispers into my ear and I feel the heat crawl up my face.

"Embry, Quil, this is Samantha," Jacob introduces us.

"I'm Embry, and you're one pretty lady," Embry declares shaking my hand.

"Back off my sister, you're not even her type," Alex tells Embry as he heads over to us.

"Embry is nobody's type," Quil retorts shaking my hand next, "I'm Quil, I can be everyone and anyone’s type."

"You wish," Jake bursts out laughing his husky laugh.

"So what is her type then, you?" Quil challenges him. Nicole and I start slowly walking away.

"Maybe," Jake replies turning to where I was standing.

"Well we have to get over to Amy's house before she starts worrying," I state slipping off my flip flops then jogging away with Nicole. She checks back behind us.

"They started playing again, trying to still one up each other about you. Jacob is basically just standing there watching you..."

"Stop spying on them!"

"I'm just informing you, just be happy that Jacob had a love struck face."

I ignore her comment and start walking the rest of the way to Amy's, slipping on my flip flops. When we get their, Amy's mom greets us at the front door.

"Sammy! I haven't seen you since the party" she greets hugging me.

"I've been really busy" I answer hugging her back. She hugs Nicole too then leads us into the house.

"Amy's up in the loft, she said she wanted to have the sleepover there," Amy's mom informs us. We head up to the loft as Amy's mom heads to the kitchen. Amy's family was rich so they had a very, very, large house. Her dad’s a OBGYN and her mom’s an anesthesiologist. We head up to the third floor where Amy is setting up sleeping bags.

"You guys took a while to get here," she comments unrolling the last sleeping bag onto the mattress.

"I stopped by Samantha's house and the boys were out and wanted to talk, we tried to leave," Nicole replies putting down her bag.

"It was Embry, Quil, Alex, and Jacob," I clarify setting my bag down next to Nicole's.

"So how was your date yesterday with Nick?" Amy asks casually, but carefully eyeing me.

"It was okay, nothing special. Although I wouldn’t consider it a date," I answer trying to sound nonchalant.

"Sammy, just give him a chance," Amy says walking toward me, "he's a good match for you."

"That doesn't mean he's the one," Nicole defends.

"Amy, he's just not... right for me," I gently tell her. I won't tell her about Jacob, but I don't want her to try and get me with Nick.

"Just give him another chance. He's funny, sweet, cute, kind of smart," Amy insist.

"What about Jacob?" Nicole mentions and I give her a look, "he's also sweet, cute, caring, funny, strong, smart."

"But Nick and her are in the same group so no one has to make sacrifices," Amy points out.

"Jacob hangs out with us a lot, especially when Sammy's around, which proves he's willing to do anything for her," Nicole mentions.

"Okay, enough about the guys for now. I smell your moms food and I'm starving," I interrupt heading toward the stairs, "coming?"

"Yes!" Amy and Nicole exclaim. We rush down the stairs and head straight for the kitchen. Amy's little sister Paris and her little brother Oliver are already sitting at the dining room table with her dad.

"Hey Oli, hey Paris," I greet as I sit down across from them.

"Hi Sammy and Nicole! Where's Becka?" Paris asks eagerly. Nicole and Amy share a look.

"She's not coming Paris, she's really busy and has a lot going on," Amy replies.

"Oh," Paris says looking down. She really likes Becka.

Amy's mom comes in with the food and sets it down on the table. We eat an early dinner, all chatting about the randomest things. After dinner, we head back up to the loft. Amy has a stack of movies out to watch.

"Why do you spoil me with these movies?" Nicole asks excitedly holding up all of the Nicholas Sparks movies in her arms.

"I vote for A Walk to Remember and The Last Song!!!" I declare. I notice some of the Harry Potter movies on the table. Last summer, I made Jacob watch all of the movies with me. He actually ended up liking Harry Potter in the end. When he wasn't around I'd rewatch the movies.

"Okay A Walk to Remember first then The Last Song and we'll choose from there," Amy declares. She gets 3 bags of popcorn and puts them in the microwave for later then grabs 3 blankets and throws one to each of us. We curl up on her big couch and watch A Walk to Remember first. After the movie, Amy makes some more popcorn for the next one. We watched movies until about 9 at night, then we go back to the boys and I.

"So what movie did you two watch?" Amy asks after the last movie.

"Me and who?" I ask confused.

"Nick and you silly," she replies.

"We're the Millers," I answer annoyed to be back on this topic.

"Amy," Nicole warns.

"What?"

"It wasn't a date for her so stop trying to make it one," Nicole retorts.

"Did you two hold hands?" Amy questions ignoring Nicole's comment.

"No, we didn’t because we’re not dating," I answer. Why won't Amy drop the subject?

"Well are you two going to the movies again?" Amy prods.

"I'm saying no if he asks," I inform her.

"Would you go to the movies with Jake?" Nicole asks. That got me thinking.

"I think so," I tell her truthfully, "but I'm use to spending my time with Jake. A lot of the time it's just me and him."

"But what about on a date?" Amy asks. At least she’s trying to see my side now.

"I'm not sure because Jake and I aren't really like that, as far as I know, but maybe I'd give him a chance like I did with Nick," I respond. We stay up until 3 o'clock in the morning talking about boys and life here in La Push. When I finally fall asleep, I dream about the different possibilities with the guys.