Steamin' at the Seams

"Is everybody here?" Maggie asks, looking around.

It's Saturday morning, and Will and I are outside hanging out with a few new friends while we wait to leave. I'm talking to Katie, Dylan, Becca, and Tyler, while Will has a very animated discussion with Ashley, Alex, Aaron, and Ian about a baseball game that was on last night. They're not Orioles fans. I think Will's going to have a complex.

"Yeah, Maggie, we're all here and ready to go," Katie says.

"Can we leave, please?" Becca asks. The rest of us laugh.

"Yeah, let's go," Maggie says.

I ride in Maggie's van on the way to La Push, in the middle seat with Katie.

"So, was Baltimore much different from here?" Becca asks, leaning forward to rest her head on the back of our seat.

I laugh. "Yeah, it's pretty different. It doesn't rain there all the time, and you can actually see the sun a lot, for one thing. Plus there's the fact that it's a big city on the harbor, and Forks is…Forks."

Maggie laughs up in the driver's seat. "Yeah, you'll get used to Forks eventually. We're all just waiting to go off to college, to get away."

"S'what I'm doing," Dylan says from the passenger seat.

I shrug. "I'm in no hurry to move again."

I turn and stare out the window as the Forks natives get talking about some big party that someone's having tomorrow night.

Will went in the other car, with Alex, Tyler, and Ian. I think Will and Alex would make a cute couple; he was checking her out when Maggie introduced us all.

It's amazing just how green everything is around here. All of the trees are covered up with this insane green moss. Everything is squishy and wet and green. Nothing at all like Baltimore. It's kind of creepy. This area seems like the setting for some horror film or something. Where an army of monsters comes to massacre the town. Werewolves, or maybe vampires.

I wonder what school here will be like. Maggie said that last year they had less than 400 kids in the whole high school. That's insane. Like, for real. My last school had like 300 kids in just my sophomore class. Geez, this is going to be something to get used to.

"Hey, Lacey?" Katie asks uncertainly.

I blink and look away from the window. "What?" Everyone is staring at me.

"The car has been stopped for like, five minutes. We're here." Maggie says slowly.

I giggle a little. "Whoops. Guess I zoned out there. Sorry."

We climb out of the car and rejoin with our friends from the other car. We walk down the path to the beach. From far away it looks like the shoreline is just gray stones, but up close, you can see all the different colors in the rocks. It's really pretty.

Maggie leads the way down to what looks to be an old fire pit. The boys get a fire going and we settle around it. I've got Dylan on my left and Alex on my right.

Everyone starts chatting, and I pull my sandwich out of my backpack. Peanut-butter and jelly on wheat bread. My favorite. I take a bite and look around at the group.

Alex is talking intently to Ian. He's got one of her hands in his, so I guess they're a couple. I hope Will wasn't really into her or anything.

"So, Lacey, how are you liking Forks so far?" Dylan asks.

I shrug. "I don't know yet. We haven't been here for long yet, so I haven't really been able to form an opinion yet."

"Let me tell you, there isn't much to do around here," Katie says quickly. "Whenever we want to do anything good, we go to Portland."

I nod. "Duly noted."

Katie starts jabbering on about…something. I don't know what she's talking about, I'm not really paying too much attention, but I nod where it seems appropriate. Katie's one of those girls who really likes to gossip, it seems. An attention seeker, maybe.

I continue with my sandwich, listening to Katie talking and admiring the view. The waves are black and choppy. The look dangerous, and, for some reason, very alluring. Maybe it's because they look like you would easily drown. I don't know why, but I've always seemed to be drawn to very dangerous situations.

When I was five, I tripped and fell into a firepit. Lucky, there wasn't a fire, but there were a few hot coals, giving me some scars on my back. I've fallen out of trees a lot, and I like taking walks when it storms. I'm a freak, so sue me.

"Hey," I hear an unfamiliar voice say.

I glance up. Two guys are walking up to join our group. Judging by their coppery skin and black hair, I'd say they're from the reservation.

"Hey, I'm Maggie," Maggie says.

The shorter guy flashes a big grin. "I'm Quil. Mind if we hang out?"

Maggie shakes her head, gesturing for them to sit down. "Nah, go ahead, the more the merrier."

The other boy introduces himself. "I'm Embry."

They sit down, joining in the conversations like we're all old friends. Well, actually, all the Forks kids are. It's just the Quileutes and me and Will who are strangers. I don't know if I could even call Will a stranger, he seems to be fitting in great. Maybe it's just me.

"So, you're all from Forks?" Quil asks.

We nod. "Lacey and Will just moved here," chatterbox Katie says quickly.

"OK…" Quil says slowly. I laugh a little. It's obvious that this has no real meaning to him, since he doesn't really know us.

"I'm Lacey," I say.

He grins, holding out his hand. We grasp hands and his is insanely warm. And huge. Did I mention that I have very small hands? "Hi, Lacey."

I frown at him. "How come you're so huge?" Whoops. That wasn't supposed to come out.

He laughs. "I don't know, all my friends are like this, too. Maybe it's something weird in our genes or something." He's got an amused look in his eye, like I’m missing some joke or something.

"So, where'd you move here from?" Embry asks.

"We just moved up from Baltimore," I answer.

"Wow, that's pretty far," Quil comments.

I shrug. "Yeah, but it's not so bad. I'm just lucky that I like rain." They laugh.

"Yeah, but what about all the green? I'm pretty sure it's not like that in the city," Embry says.

I laugh, too. "Yeah, the green is pretty weird. Pretty different."

"Did you have a boyfriend in Baltimore?" Quil asks.

I shake my head. "Nah, I've never been one much for guys." he looks alarmed, and I laugh. "I'm not gay! I've just never been noticed by guys much is all."

"I don't know why they wouldn't notice you, you're really pretty," Embry says.

I blush. "Sure, sure. Maybe it's because they got to see me before I looked this way, back when I was a dorky middle-schooler. Well, not that I'm not dorky now, but…I think I'm rambling."

He laughs. "Yeah, just a little bit."

I sigh. "I do that a lot."

Quil laughs. "Do you talk to yourself, too?"

"Not much," I say defensively.

"You know, they say that talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity," he comments.

I roll my eyes. "I already knew I was insane." He laughs.

"Hey, Lace, how're you doing?" Will asks, walking over and sitting near me.

"I'm great. Just having a stranger tell me I'm insane. Nothing new," I say. "Guys, this is my brother, Will."

Embry says "I'm Embry."

"Quil," Quil says. "We came down from on the rez to hang out, if you couldn't figure that out all on your own."

Will laughs, and they start talking about what there is to do around here – nothing.

I spend the rest of the afternoon talking to Quil and Embry. They're pretty cool.

"Hey, are you and Will doing anything tomorrow?" Quil asks me as we Forks folk are packing up to leave.

I shake my head. "Not that I know of, why?"

"Do you want to come hang out with me and Embry and some of our friends?" He asks hopefully.

"Sure," I answer with enough eagerness to match his hope.

He beams. "Cool! Do you guys know how to get to the store here?"

I shrug. "We'll get directions."

"OK, well, meet me at the store around one, and I'll take you to where we're all going to be," he says.

I grin. "Sounds good to me."

I tell Will about tomorrow's plans as we crowd into the cars. He seems pretty pleased with it. I'm just glad to be making friends.