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❝ What do you want to know? ❞
la push, Washington ( la push beach )
I DIDN'T remember falling asleep last night. After the phone call with my mother, I lost all motivation to do anything for the rest of the day. Getting out of bed, a sigh leaving my lips as I did so. Doing the usual each morning, I got dressed before heading downstairs to the kitchen to make some breakfast.
Turning on the living room tv for some background noise, I began making chocolate chip pancakes along with some sliced-up fruit and a glass of orange juice. Grabbing my plate and cup, I walked over to the living room to eat― using the remote to change the channel to something more interesting: Spongebob Square Pants. Smiling, I began eating, my mood lifting dramatically.
"Spongebob Square Pants! Spongebob Square Pants! Spongebob! Square Pants!" I sang, putting all my belongings in my backpack, getting ready to leave.
Stepping out of my house to the sun shining brightly in the sky made me smile. It was going to be a great day today. Walking over to the bus stop, I sat down at the bench to wait for the usual bus that drove down to La Push.
Once I stepped foot at the beach, I ran straight for the water— not before dropping my belongings and stripping down to my bikini. Entering the water all the way till I was covered from the waist down before sinking below. Everything was relaxing, the cold water numbing my whole body: it felt nice. The burning in my lungs told me I had to resurface to get some oxygen. But for a second. Just a second. I contemplated on staying down.
Breathing out, bubbles coming out of my nose, I began swimming back up. Gasping for air once I did. Sighing, I pushed my hair back while wiping my face of the salty liquid. Laying back, I made myself float; closing my eyes and relaxing.
I didn't know how long I had been in the water for but the wrinkled look on my fingers gave me a good idea. Time to get out.
Swimming back to shore, I was able to make out a familiar face: the creepy boy from before and his friend. Squeezing my hair to get rid of the excess water while walking to where I left my stuff, I grabbed my towel and began drying my whole body before grabbing some shorts and a hoodie, putting them on.
"Where should I have lunch?" I muttered to myself, looking around to see if there was any nearby diner to eat.
Lost in my own thoughts, I was unable to focus on the approaching figure until he was standing right next to me. The shadow looming over me made me look up, making eye contact with the creepy boy from the other day. "Can I help you?" I asked, sitting up from my laid-back position on the sand.
Clearing his throat, the boy shyly rubbed the back of his neck, "I just... I wanted to get to know you better. And apologize if I weirded you out yesterday. There's not really new people that come to La Push, and I got interested."
I stared him down, trying to see if he was trying to get at me or being genuinely curious about my presence in the reservation. But when I looked at him, I couldn't help but feel at ease in his presence: very warm and bubbly. I patted the seat next to me, "What do you want to know?"
A wide smile made its way on his lips―making me smile as well―and made himself comfortable next to me, our arms brushing against each other. "First of all, what's your name?"
"Nora. Yours?"
"Jared."
"When did you move here?" Jared asked, playing with the sand in front of him.
"A couple of days ago. My family moved to Forks from Russia," I answered honestly, "Have you lived here since you were young?"
"Yeah, my whole family has lived on the reservation: all my ancestors." Jared looked away from his hands to look at me. His eyes were deep brown and looked even brighter under the sun. I motioned at him to ask the next question.
"Why did you decide to move here? The dreary town of Forks of all places."
I looked down at my feet, grabbing a handful of sand, "Well my parents are doing some work-related stuff in Seattle, but I didn't want to live in the city. So I managed to convince my parents to stay in a small town instead."
Nodding, Jared grabbed his own handful of sand, "You don't like the cities."
I huffed, dropping the sand on my hands, "I've spent way too much time in cities. They're loud and dirty. I just wanted to live in a place where I could be away from people and spend time with myself."
For the next couple of minutes, the tanned boy and I spent our time getting to know each other by asking questions back and forth. I hated to admit it, but I was actually enjoying his company. A warm bubbly feeling filled my stomach, confusing the hell out of me. Why did I feel so comfortable around him? I must really be getting lonely being by myself.
"Hey uh," Jared cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck shyly, "Would you like to come and eat lunch with me. And my friend, of course."
The grumbling of my stomach answered his question. "Yes."
Chuckling, Jared motioned for me to follow him. We walked together, a small conversation held between us until we arrived at a two-story, red house in the middle of the woods. Not sketchy at all.
Stepping inside the house, I was met with another man sitting in the living room. He had the same tattoo as Jared and was just as tall, muscular, and tanned as Jared. What is up with these guys? Steroids?
"Hi, I'm Nora," I extended my hand for him to take.
"Sam." Shaking my hand, I held back a flinch at the extreme heat that came off his hand. That kind of temperature should not be healthy. But he did seem okay.
An awkward silence fell in the room, making me shift uncomfortably. Sudden thoughts filled my head regarding two boys, two strong boys, killing me and disposing of my body in the woods. No one would notice me gone. My parents probably wouldn't care.
"I invited her for lunch," Jared spoke up beside me. They stared at each other for a moment, seeming to have a private conversation with their eyes, making me raise my eyebrow, expecting them to share.
"Well come on," Sam walked away, "I'm starving."
Jared followed after him, and I couldn't do anything but follow as well. Sitting down at the dining table, I spared Sam a glance. He had dark brown eyes and short dark hair. Everyone in La Push seemed to share the same qualities― which made sense.
"So Nora," Sam spoke up, catching my attention, "Did you recently move here?"
"Yeah," I swallowed the piece of chicken, "My family and I moved to Forks just a couple of days ago. Work-related stuff."
Sam nodded, taking a bite of his own chicken, "How are you liking it so far?"
I shrugged, "It's alright. La Push is much more entertaining tho."
This caused both of the large boys to smile. "You should come over more often then. I bet Jared would like that."
Jared choked on his food, coughing furiously after what Sam said, making me giggle. Sam sent Jared a smirk which I easily caught. Boys.
***
Hours seemed to fly by and before I knew it, it was past 5:00 PM. The entire time I spent with the Quileute boys was far more entertaining than I expected. Getting along with Sam was not hard and we immediately bonded. Every second spent with them had me smiling and laughing like never before. And it felt good.
