CHAPTER SEVEN
OUT OF THE ORDINARY

"Where the hell is Jake?"

"I don't know why you're still asking that question," Montana replied to Quil, doing a terrible job at disguising the bitterness in her voice.

It had been weeks now since Bella had brought the bikes to Jacob, and they'd been spending practically every minute, of every day, fixing them together. To set things straight, Montana was not jealous. In fact, she was happy that Bella was getting out of the house and doing things again, rather than dwelling on the depressing thoughts of her ex-boyfriend. However, when Jake not only stopped hanging out with Montana, but also Embry and Quil, to spend his time with Bella instead, a problem had arisen.

Montana had an entire speech planned out in her head about how she, Embry and Quil were feeling ignored, but every time she saw Jacob, the right words never seemed to surface.

When Jacob did make a rare appearance and they hung out together, it felt normal, like nothing had ever changed. Sometimes, it felt so natural that Montana even forgot the way he had been treating them over the past few weeks. But it was clear that there was always something there, some unspoken tension that seemed as if it was never going to be addressed by any of them.

As the weeks went on, Jacob gradually grew more distant from them. And, after a while, Montana gave up trying to confront him about what was going on, deciding that there wasn't actually any point, because it seemed evidently clear that Jacob would always choose Bella over them from now on. And Montana would be lying if she said that didn't hurt.

"He'll come around eventually," Quil assured, noticing the fallen expression on her face. Montana had been quietly playing with the food on her plate for the entirety of lunch, a heartbroken look in her eyes that was becoming physically painful to both Quil and Embry.

Quil was confused as to why Jacob would drop without warning, but simply put it down to the fact that he had a crush on Bella. He was certain that Jacob would eventually see sense and come back to them, and everything would continue as normal again.

Embry was furious at Jacob, mostly because of how much he was hurting Montana, and couldn't help but start to resent Bella for the trouble she was causing between them. He missed his best friend, of course, and still cared about him, but he could not understand the sudden attachment or interest in Bella. In Embry's humble opinion, he, Quil and Montana were way more fun to hang out with.

"Hey, you know what we should do?" Embry suddenly perked up, glancing between the pair of them. "Go cliff diving. After school. It'll be fun, take our minds off things."

Montana grimaced at the thought, her nose scrunching in distaste. She had a love-hate relationship with La Push's favoured activity of cliff diving; following the widely known, and always reminded, near death incident, starting with Quil shoving her off the cliff edge as a joke, and ending with her in A&E, it wasn't exactly her favourite thing to do. Though, she did have a lot of good memories with the boys there, and it was always a fun place to go in the summer. Plus, she always overdramatised how bad the incident actually was to make Quil feel bad – it was only a few stitches, and, honestly, she probably deserved it for teasing him all day about being rejected by Kasey Cortez.

"Embry, it's November," Quil pointed out.

"And?"

"Uh, it's freezing," Montana backed up Quil. "And, yet, for some reason you still refuse to wear a coat."

"Some of us have warm body temperatures," Embry countered. "At least I'm not ice cold like the pale faces in Forks," he continued in distaste. "The ones Jacob loves so much."

"I mean, at least the pale faces don't go cliff diving in the middle of fucking winter," Montana responded, adding a chuckle to assure him that she was joking, noticing Embry's unusually hard expression.

"Whatever, it was just an idea," Embry dismissed. There was a hostility in his voice that was never usually present, causing Montana and Quil to exchange wary glances. "Just wanted to take your mind off Jacob. It's all you both seem to care about at the moment."

Montana's eyebrows drew together in a frown, whilst Quil placed his fork down on his tray, looking up at Embry questioningly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Embry shrugged nonchalantly. "Just saying, if Jake wants to hang out with the pale faces instead of us, then he can get on with it for all I care."

Montana almost did a double take, staring up at her best friend. Embry's hands gripped the edge of the table, knuckles almost turning white from how tight he was holding onto the bench. There was a dark frustration in his eyes, and Montana was baffled that her sweetest, and gentlest friend had suddenly become so hostile towards Jake in a mere matter of days.

An awkward silence filled the air, neither Montana or Quil knowing what to fill it with. Her concerned gaze hovered Embry, watching closely as he stared down furiously at the table, the muscles in his jaw tightening. Sweat had began to accumulate on his skin, and his eyebrows were pulled into a harsh frown.

"Em, are you ok?" Montana asked quietly, tentatively reaching a hand to touch his. Immediately, she drew it back, feeling the heat of his skin. "Jesus Christ, you're burning up." She rose from her seat, moving to his side of the table. "Embry, are you sick?"

"I'm fine," he said, gritting his teeth together.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Embry–"

"I said I'm fine!" He snapped, shoving her hand away. Montana took a few steps back as Embry stood abruptly. The chair legs scraped against the floor, the noise feeling as if it was the loudest sound in the cafeteria.

Quil immediately came to Montana's side, feeling protective over his friend the moment he read Embry's aggressive stance. "Hey, calm down, man."

Embry looked at him and scoffed, shaking his head. Montana could see his rage bubbling to the surface, but she still took a cautious step towards him, reaching out. "Embry..."

"I'm fine," he snapped.

"You don't seem fine."

Embry groaned in irritation. "For fucks sake Montana, just–" He regretted it the second he did it. Cursed himself the moment his palms connected with her shoulders. The unintended force of the shove sent her stumbling back into Quil, whose hands immediately found her waist to steady her. Embry's careless actions only made Quil even more angry, and the deep look of hurt in Montana's eyes sent his heart almost exploding out of his chest. "I have to get out of here," Embry mumbled before either of them could react, hands trembling with pent up frustration as he reached for his backpack.

Montana stood in a stunned silence, watching helplessly as Embry stormed out of the cafeteria, leaving the sound of double doors slamming against the walls in his wake.

Jared and Paul had spotted the commotion from the other side of the cafeteria, the former sending an urgent text to Sam before they both raced after Embry. "Tana, you ok?" Jared couldn't help but double check as he passed the shaken girl. She remained where she was, feet feeling rooted to the floor, staring ahead at the closed doors Embry had just stormed through.

From behind her, Quil placed his hands on Montana's forearms, his touch prompting her out of her stunned trance. Her eyes flickered up to Jared's concerned stare, though she couldn't help but notice he looked in desperate need to get out of the cafeteria. Montana blinked, nodding her head. "I'm...I'm fine."

"Don't follow after him, ok?" Jared warned, glancing at Quil momentarily. "Stay here."

Montana didn't respond, watching as he hurried out of the same doors as Embry, her mind flitting back to the conversation she'd  with Jared and Paul the other week. "Your friend Embry, has he been acting any...differently lately?" Well, this was certainly out of the ordinary. 

"Did he hurt you?" Quil asked worriedly, moving in front of her.

Montana swallowed thickly, tears brimming in her eyes as she thought about Jared and Paul's warning. She had no idea what her best friend was going through, but she desperately wanted him to be okay. He had never acted aggressively before, especially physically, and certainly not towards her. Embry was the kindest and most caring person she had ever met, even when he was annoyed about something, he would never take it out on anybody like that. With Jared and Paul's strange questioning, and the way she had noticed Sam staring at him a few weeks ago, Montana began to grow worried that it was something to with them. It was the only way she could explain Embry's behaviour.

Quil's eyes softened once he met Montana's tearful gaze, his chest tightening into a knot as a single tear spilled down her cheek. "Hey, hey, it's okay," he said gently, wrapping his arms around her. "Everything's gonna be okay."

That day in the cafeteria was the last time Montana saw Embry for over a month.

A/N

We all need a Quil 🥺