The Little Things

9. Summer

He picked me up and threw me into the freezing cold of the Pacific Ocean. Despite the warmth of the air, the water never warmed up. I came up gasping and spluttering, "I'm gonna get you!" I yelled.

I yanked him down and swam away.
Quil and Embry joined him, and Nina came over to help me, which turned it into an all out war between boys and girls. We were outnumbered, but we lasted pretty well until Quil and Jacob dunked me and Embry grabbed Nina but slipped and fell and they both went down.

"I think you won," I panted to Jacob.
We lay on our towels for a while to dry off. As soon as I was dry I hurried to put my clothes back on. The sun was warm but the dip in the ocean had cooled me down enough that I was almost shivering. And lying in the sun was sure to give me a sunburn. I was often a little jealous at my friends naturally darker skin as they didn't have to worry about burning nearly as much.

But I still had fun.

Every once in a while I babysat for some of our neighbours. There were several families with a few children each that were all under the age of eight that lived near by and appreciated the help every once in a while. It wasn't my favourite pass time, but I liked being able to make a little bit of money of my own.

Whenever I could I hung out with Emily. She was really fun and made delicious food. It was no surprise to find out that she had been at the top of her class for home ec. She also helped me get more comfortable with the idea of Sam and Jared being wolves.

The day the pack grew I was laying in Jacob's garage watching and helping him work. The radio was playing some country music station over the sound of the pouring rain. The Rabbit was almost done but Jacob was still tweaking things here and there. He lay under the engine as he tightened the oil pan back into place.

"Ouch," Jacob bumped his head as he turned to look at me. "Pass me the ratchet please."

I turned over and grabbed the ratchet from his old toolbox and lay down again to pass it to him.

"Thanks."

His hair was pulled back into a ponytail like it was whenever he lay under his car. Otherwise it often got caught as he moved around.

A loud howling sounded right during a gap in the music. We both jumped at the sound.

"Ouch!" Jacob bumped his head again.

I frowned, a little worried. Sam and Jared didn't normally howl to much in the daytime. "That sounded really close."

"Yeah, but don't worry about it. Remember what dad say about the wolves. They are our 'protectors'," Jacob mumbled between a mouthful of screwdriver.

"Mmh hmm," I hummed. One of the wolves must have seen something. Just then the howling sounded again. This time there were three distinct howls.

"Did you hear that? There are three of them," I exclaimed. Someone new must have phased!

"Liana, don't worry. We are in a building. The wolves won't get us here," Jacob said laying his head back and turning to look at me, unnecessarily trying to calm me.

I shook my head and a few curls fell in my face. "I'm not worried, it's just interesting. We don't get wolves as much up at Forks."

Jacob nodded and hit his head on the underside of the car again. "Owww!"

I laughed, "Maybe you should stop moving. Or jack the car up a bit more."

He flopped his head back on the ground and groaned dramatically. "You have no sympathy."

After a few more minutes he announced that he was done.

I stood up and stretched, "Good that you're done now. If it had taken any longer there might have been a trip to the hospital. Maybe we should get you checked for a concussion." I teased.