CHAPTER ONE:
TO FLIRT & LEARN

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TO THE SURPRISE OF her family and friends, Maeve Cooper had always been a morning person. When she was young, Mae and her dad would wake up at 6am in the morning every Saturday, regardless of the weather, to hike in the woods surrounding their cabin-style home. It was the best part of Mae's weekend, one of the only interests that she alone shared with her dad. Lina and Kira cringed at the thought of getting up so early — on a weekend, no less — to trek through the forest for hours on end. They much preferred the comfort of their beds over the beauty of nature.

But as Mae got older and James decided to go back to teaching — something he gave up to be a stay-at-home dad — their weekend tradition slowly fizzled out. They still hiked when they had the chance, hence why James bought a house right on the edge of the woods, but with James teaching English to middle school students and Mae starting high school, they were both too exhausted by the time Saturday came around to get up so early.

Mae liked to go when she had spare time, dragging a resistant Lina along with her when she could, but it just wasn't the same without her dad by her side, photographing the animals and plants they came across with his trusty camera as they spoke about Mae's dreams of travelling the world. Yeah, she could do that with Lina, but Lina Song was an 'all work and no play' kinda gal. The moment she graduated from high school, she planned to head straight into college where she could work for a degree in medicine. The idea of travelling to countries like Australia — Mae's dream holiday, for anyone who wanted to know — was out of the question for her. 

It was the morning of Mae and Lina's first day of school. Mae woke up at 5am to watch the sunrise while Lina spent every spare second she could get tucked up in bed. When her alarm rang at six, Lina grudgingly dragged herself outside to where she could see Mae sitting on the front porch, her legs tucked under a knitted blanket as she balanced a hot chocolate between her hands, just staring out at the trees with a serene smile.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Mae sang, sipping from her drink as Lina dropped into a seat beside her. "You excited for our first day?"

"I will be after coffee," Lina huffed, scowling when Mae chuckled at her. "Why are you so happy?"

"I'm just thinking of all the guys and gals I can flirt with," Mae winked, to which Lina scrunched up her nose in disgust. Mae was very open about her relationships, even with their parents, whereas Lina couldn't stand the thought of sharing her feelings with anyone let alone her family. "Don't be embarrassed, Lee, you'll find someone one day."

"Oh, shut up," Lina grumbled.

Mae laughed again, glancing down at her wrist watch with a sigh, "I should go and get ready."

"We both should," her sister agreed. She was up on her feet as Mae stared out at the forest longingly. If she could sit on her porch all day just watching the trees — or better yet, if she could go for a hike and explore — she would in a heartbeat. Lina knew that too, for she rolled her eyes and grabbed her sister's arm, yanking her out of her seat. "Get a move on, Mae. The forest will still be here when school's over."

Mae groaned but allowed Lina to lead her inside anyway. After dumping her empty mug in the kitchen and her blanket in the study, she made her way to her room to get ready. Lina was already in her own room with the acoustic version of a pop song playing low through her radio so she didn't wake her mum. Mae's dad had gone to work early for a meeting, peeking into Lina's room to check on her before he kissed Mae on the head as he went. Having already brushed her teeth when she woke up, it didn't take Mae long to change into a pair of light-washed jeans with rips in the knees and black flowers stitched into the back pockets, matching the cropped hoodie she wore and the sneakers adorning her feet. Once she was dressed, she sprayed her chestnut curls with water and ran a comb them, deciding to just leave them to frame her face naturally as she grabbed her school bag from its spot at the end of her bed.

Heading to the kitchen, she was unsurprised to see Lina seated at the dining table, snacking on an apple with a half-empty coffee mug in front of her. Lina was always ready before Mae, with makeup on and everything. She was a naturally organised person, she had been for as long as Mae could remember, something Mae would've envied if she didn't mind being a completely disorganised mess. 

"Took you long enough," Lina smirked in spite of her, causing Mae to roll her eyes as she grabbed a bottle of apple juice from their fridge for the ride to school.

The two girls made their way outside and down the street to where the bus stop was. On any other day, James would've made sure to drop his daughters off at school, but since his meeting was far too early for them to be out of bed, they had to take the bus instead. Something Lina wasn't too pleased about, though Mae didn't care. There were several other teenagers waiting at the bus stop, most of which eyed Mae and Lina curiously, failing to recognise their faces. The sisters ignored the looks. Lina had a book in her hands and Mae had her earbuds lodged in her ears, casually sipping from her juice as she stared back at her new classmates with a smirk. 

After several minutes of waiting, the bus arrived. It was almost full, save for a couple seats at the front and back of the vehicle. Most of the other teenagers gravitated towards the back, except for Mae, Lina and another girl, who chose to sit on the bench in front of the sisters.

"Hi, I'm Kim!" she grinned, holding out a hand for each of them to shake.

Mae was the only one to shake her hand, Lina simply drawing her eyes away from her book to smile at her as Mae said, "I'm Maeve, and this is my sister, Lina. You can call me Mae, though."

For the rest of the bus ride, Mae and Kim chatted like old friends, Lina occasionally giving her input but preferring the solace of her book. Out of the Cooper-Song sisters, Mae was the outgoing one. Lina only really cared about her family and her studies; she stuck to her sister's side like glue, leaving Mae to socialise for the both of them. Mae happily took this in stride; she enjoyed talking to new people and making new friends.

When they arrived at La Push High School, Kim exchanged numbers with Mae before saying goodbye. Then she ran over to where a group of boys were waiting on the other side of the parking lot. Mae and Lina made their way over to the building labelled as the office, once again ignoring the curious stares of the students lingering by their cars.

"Your social skills never fail to amaze me," Lina said to a smiling Mae, who was busy saving Kim's contact in her phone.

"It's a gift," Mae smirked before she pushed open the office door and allowed her sister to head inside first.

After collecting their timetables and a map of the school from the kind office lady, the two girls stepped back outside into the cool air of La Push, comparing their timetables as they entered the main building to find their lockers. In the end, they only shared two classes; Math and History. One of them, Mae enjoyed and the other, not so much. Math always confused her, she could remember history dates with ease but when it came to mathematical formulas, it was like her brain was trying to learn a whole new language. Something that Mae was also terrible at, if you couldn't tell. Hence her avoidance of foreign language subjects.

"We also have lunch together," Lina pointed at their shared lunch break with a hopeful smile. "So it won't be too bad."

"I never said it would be bad," Mae chuckled, folding up her timetable and shoving it into the back pocket of her jeans. "You're gonna miss me, aren't you?"

"Of course not," Lina rolled her eyes, though both of them knew she was lying. "If anything, lessons are going to be peaceful without you sitting next to me talking the entire time."

"I don't believe you but okay," she teased, then checked the time on her watch and sighed. "We should head to English. Meet you back here before Math?"

"If you insist."

With that, they went their separate ways, following their maps to where their classes were supposed to be. Mae arrived just in time for the bell to ring, striding towards the teacher's desk where a middle-aged woman named Mrs Watkins on Mae's timetable was marking a set of papers. At Mae's arrival, she looked up with a smile, her thick-rimmed glasses slipping down the bridge of her nose.

"You must be my new student," she beamed, accepting the slip of paper Mae held out for her to sign. "Maeve Cooper, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am," Mae nodded, taking the paper from Mrs Watkins once she'd signed it.

"Take a seat anywhere you like," she told her. "I won't force you through an awkward introduction."

Mae shot her a grateful smile before turning to survey the classroom. There were only a few empty seats; three, to be exact. Mae gravitated towards the one at the back of the room, right behind two boys who were whispering to each other obliviously. Even as Mae sat down in front of them, they didn't stop their conversation to stare at her, something every other student seemed to do when she passed them. Mae was glad for the break from the looks. It was a whole lot harder for people to ogle her when she was at the back of the room. 

As Mrs Watkins got up to address the class, Mae looked through her bag for a notebook and pen. The first, she found easily, but to Mae's luck she'd completely forgotten to put a pen in her pencil case. She didn't even have a pencil with her, a very Maeve Cooper thing for her to do. With a sigh, she turned to where the two boys were sitting, tapping the one right in front of her on the shoulder.

"Hey, do you have a pen I could borrow?" she asked as their eyes met.

Only a second passed. But for the boy before her, time seemed to stop. His eyes went wide with shock at the sight of her, like he couldn't believe she was real. Mae looked at him in confusion, a little unnerved by the intense stare. 

"Hello? Earth to random boy?" she hummed, waving a hand in front of his face.

At her words, the boy beside him turned to look at his friend curiously. Immediately recognising the expression of awe on his friend's face, he hissed under his breath, "Embry, snap out of it!" before turning to grin at Mae. "Sorry about my friend, what did you say?"

"I was wondering if he had a pen I could borrow," she muttered, eyeing this Embry guy as he seemed to snap out of his trance. A vibrant blush filled his cheeks as he looked down at his hands in embarrassment.

"I have one!" Embry's friend declared, searching through his bag for a second before producing a black ball-point pen. Mae accepted it with a quiet 'thank you.' "I'm Jared Cameron, by the way, and this is Embry Call."

"Mae Cooper," she said back, and that was the end of the conversation.

The boys went back to their whispering. Embry occasionally spared Mae a glance and a sheepish smile from over his shoulder, while Jared smirked at him in amusement. Mae simply focused on what Mrs Watkins had to say, knowing that Lina and her dad would want to see that she at least tried to pay attention.

But she couldn't help returning Embry's stare every now and then, remembering her words to her sister earlier that morning.

I'm just thinking of all the guys and gals I can flirt with.

And despite what Lina would like to think, Mae was being more than truthful.