BLOOD MOON » Embry Call

05. AT SECOND GLANCE

   LOUD RUMBLING could be heard from outside, followed by a lightning illuminating the dark sky. By now the rain was pouring heavily from the clouds, turning the driveway in front of the house into a large puddle of mud within the matter of a few seconds.

   Avery sighed, slouching down into the chair further, similar to the way Emily had done earlier. Jared and Jacob had already left, while Sam, Paul, and Seth stayed at the house.

   "Is there anything I can get started on?" The girl asked, nodding towards the table in front of them. Emily got up to stand next to her, and pointed around the mess while suggesting a few options. Avery ended up settling for putting together the wooden boxes for the flower arrangements that were to be placed on the few individual tables.

   After watching the girl shuffle around for a few minutes, Rachel let out a chuckle and nodded towards the kitchen counter that was just a few feet away. "I'm sure it'll be okay if you do this over there, right Emily?" Emily nodded as well without looking up once, and Avery picked up the panels of wood that had already been sawed into smaller pieces, along with the nails, a hammer, and a glue gun.

   "Do you have any sandpaper?" She asked, running a finger along the edges of the panels, nearly catching a splinter in the process. "I'll go get some," Sam said, disappearing through a door before reappearing just a second later, handing a stack of sandpaper to the girl. As she thanked him and began to soften the wood, the backdoor flew open yet again and, accompanied with another strike of lightning, two young men jogged into the house. Both shook their heads frantically almost at the same time, splashing water everywhere, which Emily immediately scolded them for.

   "You'll get it on the cards!" Rachel yelped, holding her hands over the work she had done in a protective manner. Paul chuckled at his girlfriend's demeanour, which earned him a light slap on the chest.

   "Sorry," the shorter of the two newly arrived men muttered, making a beeline for the kitchen, only to stop and stare at the stranger who was still rubbing the sandpaper against the small pieces of wood, not even paying attention to the newly arrived people.

   "Um—" He furrowed his brows, while his friend stepped behind him and tilted his head to the side. Avery looked up at the two, instinctively making a smile appear on her lips. "Avery—that's Embry and Quil; Embry and Quil—Avery," Seth introduced them as Avery sent a nod into their direction, before focusing on the wood again.

   "Wait, do I know you from somewhere?" Quil asked, while Embry rummaged around in the kitchen before retrieving two leftover muffins, handing one of them to Quil on his way to the table. "Has that line ever worked for you?" he teased in passing. Avery looked up again, scanning Quil's features cautiously.

   "Weren't you there the day our car broke down and Jake helped us fix it? I'm pretty sure you talked to my sister," she spoke, sorting the panels into small stacks of pieces that belonged together. "Right!"

   "Hey, I helped too!" Paul hollered from his position by the desk, Rachel still sitting comfortably in his lap. Avery rolled her eyes, huffing. "Of course you did, my bad—Hey, could you hold this for a second?" She asked, pointing towards the corner of a box she was trying to keep in place with just two fingers. Quil nodded, placing his hands on the material, while Avery drove a nail into one side, quickly placing the second one above it and sinking it into the piece of wood with one swift movement of the hammer.

   Quil whistled, handing the girl another panel to fix to the opposite end. Soon enough the first wooden box was finished and Avery went over to Emily, to ask for the woman's opinion.

   "Oh my god, yes!" she called out at the sight of the neatly put together box, that would be filled with some dirt and flowers a day before the wedding. "You're an actual life-saver!"