Evelyn POV
I woke up at 7:00 A.M. the next morning. I should’ve told him to meet me earlier. I passed the time by sketching the forest. That took up about an hour. Then I decided to go ahead and wait by the beach. I brought my sketch pad with me and ended up sketching the cliffs by the beach. I’m not one to brag, but they both looked pretty good.
At a quarter to ten I was ready to go insane. The beach gradually started to fill up with people, but none of them were Seth. I was just about to start another sketch when two, big, warm hands covered my eyes.
“Seth?” I said, trying to shrug off his hands.
“Maybe. Who do you wish it was?” he asked.
“Well, Jonny Depp would be my second pick,” I started, getting up, taking his hands off my eyes and turning around to face him, “But you’re my first.”
He blushed and smiled at me, making my heart beat faster. Why is he doing this to me? I asked myself. I just met him, too. Well, yeah I met him before, but that was forever ago.
“So, is Jacob coming?” I asked, trying to ignore my stupid hormones.
“No, he thought it would be boring. He’s hanging out with Renesmee.” He said.
“Who’s Renesmee?”
“Oh, she’s like a family friend. She’s pretty cool. Maybe you’ll get a chance to meet her sometime. But enough about that. You ready?”
“Please, I’ve been ready since yesterday.”
“Alright then, let’s get going.”
He stepped into the forest and I followed behind. At first it was just silence, but then somehow we started playing 20 questions. At first it was stupid questions: favorite color (his is green), favorite food (his is anything), and favorite band (his is Linkin Park). But then the questions started to get serious. I was embarrassed when he asked me when I had my first date, because I never did, but he didn’t either. I found out that his dad had died in a heart attack about two years ago. I felt sorry for him, but he said that it was fine. Then came the question I was hoping he wouldn’t ask.
“So, why did your parents split?” he asked.
“Oh, uh…” I started.
“If you don’t want to-,”
“No, it’s fine. They really just grew apart. They were high school sweethearts and got married right out of high school. They stayed together until I was three, and then my dad wanted to move back to the reservation. My mom wanted to stay in Cali with me, and there you have it. They’re still cool. It’s not like that awkward kind of divorce where you hate your ex.”
“Well, I guess that’s nice. But how come your mom didn’t want you coming here anymore?” he asked.
“She went crazy when I was out of range. Mainly because she had nothing to do. But now she has a boyfriend. They’re in Italy right now.” I said.
“And you’re living it up in La Push. Lucky you.”
I laughed at his sarcasm, but in reality I was the lucky one. I was here in a place that I loved with my dog, my dad, and my friends. If you ask me, that sounds a lot like paradise.
We started to talk randomly again the rest of the way. Finally, Seth stopped and pulled back the brush just a little. He peeked through and smiled. Then he pulled them back all the way and let me through first. I stepped through the branches and into a huge clearing.
It was beautiful. I’m sure anyone else would have thought it was boring, you know just grass and junk, but I didn’t. You never would have been able to see something like that in LA. My heart beat faster when I saw to shadowy figures move behind the trees far off.
“Is that them?” I asked, pointing at the figures. My voice was barely above a whisper.
“Yeah, it is.” Seth said, pushing me forward a bit. “Go ahead. Remember, I said they were friendly.”
“Okay.” I walked forward just a tad, and as soon as I did they emerged. One was huge and had brown eyes and dark russet fur. The other one was smaller but still big for a wolf. That one had light gray fur and dark brown eyes. They were both magnificent.
The russet colored one was ahead of the other one, who was lingering a bit. As they came closer, I noticed that the russet one was male and the gray one was female. Soon I was close enough to reach out and touch them both. I raised my right hand hesitantly and he leaned his big head into it. His fur felt good in my fingers, and I scratched his ears. He growled in pleasure.
“You were right, they are friendly.” I said happily. I turned my head toward the female while still petting the other one. She eyed me up and down while I held my other hand out to her. She took a step forward and slowly leaned her head into it. She was tense at first, but then relaxed once I started rubbing her ear. She too, growled.
“So,” Seth started a smile in his voice, “which one do you like better?”
“Well, they’re both great,” I said, unsure, “but when it comes to looks, the gray one is prettier.” I took my right hand and started to rub both her ears. As I did, it almost seemed as if she smiled at the other one.
“Looks like Jake lost the bet.” Seth said placing a hand on the other one’s head. “He thought you would like this one better.”
I looked at the male, and his shoulders were slumped and his head hanged low. I laughed and started petting him again. “It’s alright, this one is very handsome.” That seemed to raise his spirits and he lifted his head and smiled at me. You know, like those doggy smiles. Although, I probably shouldn’t call him a doggy.
As I continued to stroke him, something changed. Suddenly they both tensed up and pointed their noses toward the forest. Then they crinkled their noses and growled at the forest. I looked at Seth and he had an identical expression. The next few minutes were the most terrifying and life changing minutes I’ve ever lived through.
