CHAPTER EIGHT

Futile Attempts

***

So, I thought it would be easier for me when Embry had a new haircut, since I think his hair was one of things I liked most about him. 

 Nope, he looked even better with it short. 

"What did I say about avoiding eye-contact?" Sam hissed as Emily brushed off Embry's shoulders, and Paul and Jared got into a very intense staring contest. I frowned, balling my fists. 

"I tried! Okay, Sam? I tried really hard?" 

 The man's eyes narrowed slightly, but so did mine. I felt mad, at myself, for talking about a goddamn haircut, when I could have said literally anything in the world. Ugh, I thought I was supposed to be the smart one. 

"It's not exactly my issue, I just thought it would be easier on you."

 I groaned as Sam walked over to Emily, slumping down onto the lumpy couch, aggressively running a hand through my hair. Stupid. Now I'm the stupid one. 

"Yo!" Paul jumped over the couch, landing in front of me and grinning proudly, "dude, check it out! I can juggle!" 

 I sat up a little, cocking my head to the side and quirking my eyebrow, "really?" 

 "Yes." He sounded so certain of himself, his smile wide and his hands holding three, quite breakable looking, cups. "You will be very impressed." 

 "No!" Emily jumped over, crawling over the couch and snatching the cups from Paul's hands. "You boys already eat all of my food, you don't need to break my bowls too." 

 "Yeah, goddammit, Paul!" I teased, standing up and jumping back over the edge of the sofa to avoid Emily's crippling glare. "Know your boundaries, man." 

 "Yeah, Paul!" Jared yelled from the kitchen, rolling his eyes dramatically and throwing me some sort of granola bar. "You have no friends!" 

 "Jesus-" Paul sighed indignantly, shaking his head slowly. "What have I done to deserve this abuse?" 

 "You were born," I shot back, grinning at the taller boy, sticking my tongue out from between my teeth, still not having the balls to look over to Embry, although I could feel his eyes burning holes into my skin. Paul looked like he wanted to hit me, but couldn't because Emily was inspecting his hair like she wanted to cut it again. 

 "Paul, Jared, Anthony-" Sam's sharp voice cut into our playful banter, making us all whip our heads to the side instantaneously. The Alpha crossed his arms, his sharp eyes boring into mine. "Out." 

 We obliged, filing out of the small house. I patted Embry's shoulder as we went, giving him a soft smile. Jared hung back, and I heard him say one last thing before I grabbed his arm and pulled him out. 

  "Would it kill you to say please?" 

 ***

 The worst thing about phasing is going back to school the first time. 

 And it was even worse with a mixture of awkward and sexual tension. 

 It has been a solid week and a half before Embry came back, and I'll admit, I was surprised and pleased to see him waiting at the end of my driveway. I was hit by a stifling wave of nostalgia, a roll so intense I had to stop walking for a second and make sure I was still in the present. 

 "Hi," I waved slightly, hiking my backpack up over my one shoulder, since the straps were too small to fit around both now. Embry glanced up, his new hair swishing around his ears, making my throat grow abnormally dry. He lifted a hand. 

 "What up?" 

 I laughed lightly as we began walking. It became clear that we weren't going to bring up our newfound 'wolf bond', as Embry began humming the tune of the Taylor Swift song from Hannah Montana, a movie we watched together one late summer night, and I relaxed. It felt normal again, like, sure we were both freaks of nature, but we could be freaks of nature together.  

 You know, as friends. 

"You have an issue." I pointed out, ruffling my hair and jumping over a puddle. "Normal sixteen year old guys don't know all of the lyrics to every single Taylor Swift song."

 "Well, when she's Quil's wife, I kinda have to make a good impression," was the response, followed by a sideways grin. I shrugged in response, smiling softly at the memory. It was actually when we were watching Hannah Montana, and Quil and Alyssa walked in, just so he could point at the screen and go: "hey bitches, that's my future wife!" Making Lyssa smack him and shove him out. 

 The good ol' days.

 "What up, losers?" 

 And the current days. 

 Jared took the liberty to leap in the air, smacking the back of my head when he got close enough. In response, I slapped him back, rolling my eyes. Embry still was kind of confused around Paul and Jared, especially during the first training session he went too, when I shoved Paul into a tree, and it fell over. 

 That was hilarious. 

 "Life." I shot back, smoothing my hair back, although I knew the effort was pointless. Embry was tense as we walked into school and he became the new center of attention, and I had to tense my muscles so I didn't reach out and grab his hand. 

 "Yeah, we know how fun school his," Paul said dryly, sharing an eye-roll with Jared and I. Embry nodded soundlessly. "If you want I can-" 

 "No fighting!" I cut in, already knowing what Paul was going to suggest. Embry's lips curled up in a small smile as his eyes flickered to mine. I lightly shoved Paul's shoulder, "just go to class, maniac." 

 "We have the same first period-" 

 "Don't care!" I snapped my fingers, and Paul grumbled ineligible under his breath, practically dragging Jared to the classroom. I huffed at his dramatics, turning to face Embry, who truly did look like a lost puppy. "Em, it'll be okay... we all did this, and it is really not that bad." 

 Embry raised an eyebrow and gave me a disbelieving look. I cleared my throat, "fine, it's pretty bad. You just gotta pretend you don't see any of them." I tapped my forehead like I was the smartest person in existence, grinning proudly, making Embry crack a smile. I relaxed slightly, lowering my voice. "I know things have been, and are probably going to be, kind of weird between us. But you're still my best friend, and I want you to be okay." 

 We both ignored the way my voice cracked on the word 'friend.' 

 "Yeah, okay." Embry cleared his throat, reaching up to tug on the ends of his hair, something I would much rather myself be doing. "I got this, cool. I'll just sit in the back and look bored." 

 I patted his shoulder reassuringly, my hand tingling where I touched him. "Good job, Em." 

 ***

 That little bitch is stronger than he looks. 

 Thank you. I internally smirked at Jared's thoughts, the power of being a wolf surging through my veins and making my tail wag like a chihuahua's. I bared my teeth as Jared faked to the left and lunged at my right, hitting me with his head and making me stumble on my feet. 

 Paul, Embry, and Sam were watching from the side as Jared and I scuffled, and I occasionally heard a snide comment from the former resonate in my skull. I was mainly focused on not failing, as I felt the very odd need to impress a certain someone withe the small amount of skill I have. 

 We know you want to impress your little boyfriend, but do you really need to- 

 I cut off Jared's internal comments by jumping at him and tackling him to the ground. I heard a fleeting. Dammit he was not meant to hear that! Before he retaliated, and we were rolling on the ground, howling and snapping at the other with our powerful jaws. I am not one hundred percent sure what Embry was thinking. 

 And I think that was a good thing. 

 A/N: Ugh, I hate them so much. "we're just friends" like, shut the hell up no you ain't, the sexual tension is smothering me. 

 Honestly though, do you guys like Quil and Alyssa? Because I am so tempted to make that a thing, and if Alyssa phases (which I am not sure if she will yet) it would be super interesting. 

 As you can tell, I am adding a lot of original work to this story, but in the next few updates, you will be seeing a lot more of the New Moon story line, and I have a pretty solid idea of what Tony will think of Bella... and the rest of the Cullen's... 

 Thank you for reading, and don't forget to vote and comment!