— RORY had a bad habit of skipping school. It's not like it was a secret though, Jonas knew where she was most  of the time. She'd be with Embry Call, mostly. Jacob and Quil tagging along half the time, crushing Embry's bad attempts at flirting.

The night before had been such a shock to Rory, she'd decided to take a day of recuperation and just hang out with Embry. Who'd also decided to skip school that day.

"Oh! Hello you two!" Tiffany Call greeted the duo as she walked into her home, spotting Embry and Rory sitting on the ground playing monopoly.

"Hi, Ms. Call!" Rory greeted the woman, keeping her gaze on the board game.

"Didn't know you'd be stopping by today." Tiffany appointed them, ruffling the girls hair. "Had a hard day yesterday, didn't feel like goin' to school." The brunette mumbled in response.

"And you?" The older woman sent her son a pointed look.

"I—I'm being a comforting friend." The boy stammered. "You should've seen her when she got here, Ma." Embry shook his head in mock-sadness. "She was a wreck!"

Rory's mouth dropped in offense, she threw a card at him. "Was not!" A card was thrown her way in retaliation. "Was too!"

"Alright, you two." Tiffany interrupted the arguing duo. "School's out for the day anyway." She checked the watch on her wrist.

"I'm gonna head back out, my lunch break isn't that long." She told them. "Be good, here's some money for food if you get hungry." Tiffany grabbed a couple of bills from her wallet and handed them to Embry.

Embry gave Rory a cheeky grin.

Tiffany caught her son's expression. "For food, Embry." She repeated sternly.

"Yes, ma'am."

With one last smile, the older woman turned and walked towards the kitchen to grab her lunch before leaving once more.

"Let's go eat!"

—

Jacob and Quil had met up with the duo at a cafe nearby. "Get your grimy hands off my fries!" Rory smacked Quil's wandering hand that had went to pluck yet another fry off of her plate.

"Come on! Sharing is caring!" The boy replied.

"Not when you've been stealing them since I got my plate." She glared back.

The other two at the table had fallen silent as the cafe bell ringed, signaling people had walked in. Jared Cameron and Paul Lahote, the older boys moving past them to sit at a more secluded table.

Noticing the way Jacob and Embry were glaring at them, Rory waved a hand in front of them.

"Hello? What's got your guys' panties in a twist?" Her words came out muffled as she took a bite of her burger.

"Nothing important." Embry shrugged.

Rory raised an eyebrow, yeah, because she was going to believe that bullshit excuse. "So, why're you glaring at those guys like they just stole your puppy or something?"

"They're just...irritating." Jacob grunted out.

"They seem normal to me." She shrugged carelessly, glacing over at the older boys. Watching as a waitress about her age sat with the shorter one, they're together, she assumed.

"No, they just think they're the shit, y'know?" Quil told her, not sparing them a glance.

"Yeah. Skipped school a few weeks and came back with haircuts and a matching tattoo, following Sam Uley around like some lost puppies." Jacob explained to her, painting them like some assholes.

The smirk on the bulkier one's face gave her the idea that maybe he was, but she wasn't one to judge a book by its cover.

"They're like—" Embry took a second to think, the other three sharing looks of amusement at the thoughtful expression on his face. "—like hall monitors on steroids."

Rory snorted loudly. "Hall monitors on steroids?" she repeated.

Embry nodded. "Look at them—all jacked up like some NFL players. I mean...you can't find decent shirts?" He speaks animatedly, eyeing the shirts they wore with cutoff sleeves.

"Yeah, whatever." Rory rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna go pay up, you can finish my burger if you want." The girl took the money from Embry's extended hand and snorted when Quil greedily snatched the last bite of her burger.

She turned and walked towards the cashier, the waitress from earlier had made her way to the counter.

"Did you find everything okay?" She asked politely, taking the money that Rory handed to her. "Yeah, everything was great."

"I've never seen you around? You new here?" The waitress asked and Rory shook her head. "No, I just live with the pale faces as my friends would say."

"Oh! Cool, I'm Kim!" The girl introduced herself. "I'm Rory!" The brunette grinned.

"Kimmy baby! We've come to pay up and say our goodbyes." The shorter boy she'd seen earlier walked up to the counter followed by the bulkier one.

"Excuse his dramatics." Kim apologized. "This is my boyfriend, Jared." The boy gave Rory an award-winning smiled. "The best guy around." He said smugly.

"This brooding piece of handsome is my friend, Paul." Jared pointed at the bulkier one. The older boy nudged his friend aggressively before meeting Rory's gaze.

He froze.

"Nice to meet you guys! I'm Rory—" Before she could finish, Embry had approached. "Ready to go?" The glare he sent towards the two boys was anything but subtle.

Rory sent Kim an apologetic smile before excusing herself, letting Embry lead her outside where Jacob and Quil were already waiting.

"Dude! You imprinted!" Jared poked at Paul's shoulder.

"Shut up." Paul brushed him off and marched his was outside to his truck. As he climbed into the truck, he noticed her.

The way she seemed to frustratedly argue with Embry, hesitantly situating herself onto the back of his dirtbike.

Paul hated the idea of imprinting. Why should he spend his entire life with one person if he can't even choose? But he couldn't question the fates, they'd chosen her for him with reason.

—

WOO! UPDATE!