"Will you take your brother to school please, Aria?" my dad asks me. I look up from my breakfast to meet my brother's eyes. This is the first day back from summer break. I'm officially a senior now while my brother's a Sophomore this year. His hazel eyes look at mine expectant.
"Of course. He can get a ride with me and my friends" I say with a small smile.
Since he's only fifteen yet, he can't drive himself to school. I have my own car, which I've bought myself. A black jeep. It was hella expensive but who cares? It's a cute car which is even able to let back the roof when the weather's great. Not like it's of any use in La Push.
I get torn out of my thoughts as I hear a car honk outside. I peek through the window to see the infamous white cabrio outside.
"Come on, Jake. Bye dad!" I say and give him a kiss on the cheek before I walk out of the lovely, red house we call home. I wave at my friends as my brother trails after me nervously.
"It's okay if we take Jake with us, right?" I ask the two girls in the car. The one driving is Olivia. Her dad has a lot of money which is why she got this cabrio for her seventeenth birthday back in April. And the girl on the passenger side is Kim. Kim's a nice girl, way too nice for my liking but she's cool. I've known both of them for forever and we've been bestfriends ever since we've came to the conclusion that we don't like many kids in our school on the first day of Freshman year.
"Of course. Hey Jake" Olivia says and smiles at us as she sways her blonde, curly, shoulder length hair over her shoulder with a swift motion. He smiles back at her and I watch as her dimples show. Of course I knew that she liked my brother. It definitely wasn't a secret. She was awful at lying and when I confronted her once she immediately confessed everything expecting me to be mad but why would I? She's a nice girl and I know that she would treat him right but he doesn't have eyes for her. He only has eyes for the Swan girl, which by the way we haven't seen in weeks. Ever since she's been with one of the Cullens, she's stopped talking to any of us. But I get it, she's in love. She'll come around eventually.
"So, what do you think of a back to school party this friday?" Olivia asks as we both get into the backseat, looking at us expectantly.
"A party? Where?" I ask and she playfully rolls her eyes.
"At my place of course" she says and laughs a bit. I smile and roll my eyes. Olivia is what people call a people pleaser.
"I'm in. Jake, you could come and bring some of your friends too" Kim says, smiling at him softly.
Olivia laughs. "You just want him to bring Jared"
Me and Olivia keep laughing as Kim blushes hard.
"What? He's cute" she says before she looks out of the window again, watching the trees rush by us.
"And you? No new interest?" Olivia asks me. I haven't gotten a new boyfriend after James broke up with me before the summer holidays.
"Nope" I say.
"Not even someone from Jake's friends?" Olivia asks me.
"No, she's off limits" Jacob says, making me chuckle.
"What?" I ask him.
"Well, I told them you're off limits. You're my sister"
We drive into the parking lot and I watch as a lot of heads turn. It was a lot like that. A few people called us the 'it-girls' from La Push High, which I wasn't complaining about. Olivia and Kim were beautiful and had a lot of boys at their feet, same as me they would say. I am the first to get out of the car, pushing my black skirt back down and adjusting my black leather jacket. Underneath I was wearing a simple white shirt. Olivia was casually dressed in all shades of pink once again, which were unmistakably her favorite colours as of Kim was dressed in jeans and a white tight top.
"I'll see you at lunch" I shout after my brother, who was already walking over to his friends. Embry, Quil and Jared were already standing there. I wave at them which they respond with one back.
"Seniors?" Olivia asks and Kim and I smile at eachother before we respond.
"Seniors" we both say together before we link our arms and make our way into the school. It was packed of new people and young boys and girls. Not really my favorite day of the year.
"What's your first class?" Kim asks.
"History" I say and Olivia frowns.
"I have calculus" she says, making me chuckle. That girl and maths was the worst combination on earth.
"I have history too" Kim says.
"See you later, loves" Olivia says before she walks away. Kim and I make our way to history and take a seat at one of the tables.
The morning goes by quickly, my first class with Kim and then the next with Olivia before we all have one together and then I have one on my own. Not that I complain though. I walk into the cafeteria to find most of the people already seated. I look around a little, trying to find my friends before I finally spot the famous blonde hair. Olivia was the only one with blonde hair which made her easy to spot.
I walk over before I slump into one of the chairs next to Olivia and across from Kim.
"Where is everyone?" I ask, trying to spot the rest of our friendgroup. It doesn't take long before Alex, Luke and James sit down. Since I've dated a boy inside our friend group, this meant that he would be around during lunch and there was nothing I could do about that.
"So, how long are you all in for?"
"Three" everyone responds except for me and Kim.
"We're out at two" Kim says and Luke looks at her confused.
"We have enough credits and only need a few classes this semester. Next semester we only have two or three classes then" I say and they all nod.
"Right. The two smart ones" Alex says, making us all laugh.
"Wait, how will we get home?" Kim asks.
"We'll just walk. It's not that far" I say and she nods.
"I can also just not attend history and drive you two ladies home" Alex says.
"No, it's alright. We'll just walk but thank you" I say and smile at him before I remember something.
"I'll be right back" I say before I get up and the boys shoot me a confused look.
"I have to talk to Jake"
Luke smiles at me softly before I make my way through the cafeteria, walking to the other side of it. I smile at the boys before I hug my brother from behind, who has his back turned towards me,
"Hey idiot" I say and they all chuckle. I look around and smile at everyone politely before my brother turns around.
"What's wrong?" he asks with a smile.
"Well I'm done with school at two and I wanted to ask if you want me to get you from school?"
"It's okay. Embry's mom will get us" Jacob says and I look over at Embry.
"Your mom doesn't have to come. Come on, I'll take all of you home"
"You sure?" Quil asks. "You don't have to"
"Yeah, it's fine" Jacob says but I shake my head.
"No, no. I'll take all of you home. You're my brother's friends so you are mine too. I'll see you infront of the school at three sharp" I say, pointing my finger at each of them. My eyes linger on Paul. He's also younger than me by two years and a good friend of my brother. He's rather known for his hot-headedness but I've never seen that side of him. When I'm around he's always quiet or just annoying his friends. I smile at him before I walk off.
"Wait, you only have four free spaces" Jacob says loudly.
"Well, someone has to get into the back then" I say and shrugg before I walk off laughing as I hear them already arguing about who has to sit in the back.
"What was that about?" James asks as I sit back down.
"Oh, just told my brother that I'll take them home from school" I say and take a bite of my apple.
"Them?" Alex asks confused.
"My brother and his friends"
"Why?" Luke asks even more confused.
"Because he's my brother and they're his friends. And they hang around at our house anyway" I say.
"Uh, can I come over?" Kim asks, making me chuckle.
"Me too" Olivia says, making me laugh.
"Sure, why not? I'm going to cook something anyway" I say.
"You're cooking for them?" Luke asks.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"I wouldn't cook for my sister and her friends" Luke says.
"Well, at least they won't get food poisoning that way" I say and we all laugh.
"I'm not that bad of a cook" Luke says and Alex scoffs.
"Yeah, remember that one time you-"
"Dude! I get it. I'm not that much of a chef" he says and we all laugh again. I notice James' eyes on me a few times but shrugg it off. He's asked me to get back together this weekend but I declined. Of course we've been together for more than a year but he broke up with me and I had to move on, which I did.
"So, party at my house on friday?" Olivia asks and the boys holler.
"Yeah! This is going to be epic" Alex says.
"Are you in?" Luke asks me with a soft smile.
"Of course. I wouldn't want to miss one of Olivia's famous parties" I say and she rolls her eyes playfully.
"They're not that famous" she says and giggles.
A lot of people don't like her but honestly, I don't get why.
Olivia's one of the most generous people I know. And so loving and caring. Of cours she's a bitch to people she doesn't like but who isn't?
I run a hand through my hair as I look around the cafeteria. People laughing together and talking to eachother about non-important stuff like tests and homework.
My eyes catch someone elses. I look into his chocolate brown eyes and smile at him. I watch as his cheeks turn a sweet shade of pink before he looks away and goes on talking with my brother.
Of course I was aware of Paul's crush on me. He has had one for as long as I can remember. When he came around he always used to ditch the others to come play with me and when we played something together like soccer, he always wanted to be on my team. Since we've started highschool, this whole thing has turned into smiling at eachother and saying 'hi' and 'hey' sometimes or even flirting when we talked to eachother briefly but nothing more. He was younger than me and only now that he had grown about a foot since the start of the break and his muscles getting more defined, I had started to show some slight interest in him. He was hot with his short hair and the confidence he was wearing since his transformance but Jacob would never let me. Paul had found himself some sort of reputition as a 'ladies-man' and 'hot-head'. Apperantly he has started to get into more fights recently but nothing major.
After school, I walk to my place with Kim before I take the car and drop her off at her house. I arrive at the school just as the bell rings and watch as my brother and his friends come walking out. It looks like they were discussing over something again.
"Important question, Aria," Jared says as he gets into the back. "Do you like Olive's or not?"
"That's your question?" I ask and chuckle as I look at all of them before I start the engine. "I love Olives. Now, why is this important?"
"Because Embry and Paul don't like Olives. But we all do" Jared says, making me chuckle again.
"See they're perfect for eachother" Quil says, which earns him a smack to the back of his head by Paul.
"Who's perfect for eachother?" I ask, concentrating on driving since I'm having five boys in my car.
"No one. Are you coming over today?" Jacob asks his friends.
"Yeah sure" Embry says and they all agree.
"Great. I'm making spaghetti if you want to stay of course" I say with a soft smile and chuckle as they all get excited. "Oh, and Kim and Olivia are coming over later"
"Why?" Jacob asks and I look at him confused.
"Why are your dorks coming over?" I ask.
"They're not my dorks" Jacob says annoyed.
"No we aren't. We're only coming over because of you. At least some of us are" Jared says with a grin, earning him a smack to the back of his head by Embry. "What? I meant because of her spaghetti" he says, rubbing his head.
"You guys are idiots" I say and giggle.
I like the boys. It's easy to be with them.
"Your idiots" Quil corrects, making us all laugh.
When we arrive at our house, we all get out before they run towards Jake's shed. I chuckle to myself, as I see Jared pushing Quil over, causing him to stumble to the floor before they start to wrestle. I walk inside and get the ingredients out for a few cookies since it's too early for dinner. Halway through, Olivia and Kim walk inside, greeting my dad before joining me in the kitchen. By the time we're done with them, my dad's gone as he went over to Charlie's to watch a game and we start cooking some pasta and making the spaghetti, while listening to music, loudly.
We're screaming to the music, so occupied with it that we don't even realize, the five boys standing in the doorway and grinning at us.
"Nice moves" Jared says, looking at us. I look over at Kim and watch as she blushes, trying to hide it by looking down.
I laugh before I turn back to them. "Sit down. We're almost done"
"What's that good smell? Did you make cookies?" Quil asks excitedly.
"Yeah but don't eat too much just now. You can have as many as you want after dinner" I say as I turn back to the pot infront of me. Just then someone knocks at the door.
"I'm coming" Olivia says, before she joggs over to the door.
"Aria! This is for you" she says annoyedly before I walk over. My brother gives me a confused look and I shrugg before I walk towards the door to find none other than James standing there.
"Hey... uh... can we talk?" he asks nervously as he scratches his neck.
"I'm not getting back together with you, James" I say, crossing my arms infront of my chest with a serious look on my face.
"Why not?" he asks a bit sadly and I notice that someone shut off the music. Clearly they were listening in to the conversation. "Don't you love me anymore?"
"No, James. I don't. I don't love you and I don't want to get back together with you"
"But I-"
"No, you broke up with me. You broke my heart not the other way around so leave. I don't want you here" I say, and hear Jared chuckle.
"Who's here?" he asks angrly. "Do you have a new boy over?"
"This does not concern you. Leave" I say but he stands his ground.
"She said leave" I hear Paul say behind me. He walks up to us and stops to my right, towering high over me and James.
"So you're with Lahote now?" James scoffs.
"I'm not with anyone but the boys are here and I swear I won't hold them back if you won't leave right now"
He chuckles. "What are they going to do?"
"Oh, you really want to find out?" Paul asks before he pushes James back and out of the door.
"Jared!"I shout loudly before I hear him jogging over.
"Coming" he says before he separates Paul from James as he stand between them.
"Come on, man. Let's get inside" he says to his friend before they walk past me. I look at James angrily before I shut the door and close it two times.
"Are you okay?" my brother asks me as I walk back inside, everyone looking at me except for Paul who was looking at his hands. He seemed tinier than normally, like he was embarassed or something. "This was the fifth time in a week"
"What?" Embry asks and my brother nods.
"Yeah and everytime he gets more intrusive and refuses to leave" he says.
"Well, we'll make him leave" Jared says and I chuckle.
"No way. This does not concern you and I don't want you in trouble" I say eying them carefully before helping my friends in the kitchen.
"You alright?" Olivia asks me as she gives me a sidehug.
"Of course" I say but don't say anything further.
I carry the tray of spaghetti over to the table and set it down infront of the boys, who immediately grab themselves a portion.
"Can I talk to you?" I ask Paul who looks at me with wide-eyes, clearly surprised.
"I- uh- yeah, sure" he says and Jared chuckles next to him. Paul glares at him before he gets up and follows me outside. There's a soft breeze, making my hair fall behind my shoulders as I hug my body tight. I look up at the sky, already darkening as the starts start to appear.
He stands infront of me, looking down at me expectantly.
"You see the stars. They're beautiful" I say.
"Yeah" he breathes out, not moving his look from my face once.
"You didn't even look" I say, smiling at him now.
"I didn't have to" he says, making me chuckle.
"Thank you" I say.
"For what?" he asks me and I look down at my feet.
"For helping me earlier. It wasn't your problem and you still decided to help me. I'm grateful for that" I say and watch as he chuckles. He moves his hands into his pockets and looks down at his feet.
"No problem" he says. I smile at him before I go to walk back inside but stop as he grabs my wrist. A tingling sensation forms on my wrist where his hand is. "Just call me if he shows up again"
"Okay" I say before I grab his hand and pull him back inside. I don't let go of it, not even when we arrive at the table. Jared chuckles again and winks at his friend who just blushes even more, making me laugh as we both sit down and join the conversation.
I could never start something with Paul though. My brother would be endlessly mad that one of his best friends got with me. He probably wouldn't even speak to me anymore, so I won't even try. Jacob's one of the dearest persons to me in this world and I would never do anything to make him angry. He doesn't deserve this. He wouldn't.