All Grown Up: The Story of Jacob and Renesmee Part III

10

Alexandra

Adjusting to the pack was easier than I thought it would be but in all fairness, it made me sympathize with Leah more. Bugrudendly, I'll admit that it might have been easier transitioning into this life if she were here. It's weird being the only girl in the pack. Sometimes guys can be... weird. But Dad always made sure they kept it mostly clean when I was phased with them. Not that I really cared about who Matt hooked up with or that Cole had been wearing the same pair of boxers for like the last three days. If only they knew the cracked out jokes that Mollie and I came up with on the daily.

Having the guys is like having a bunch of brothers which was definitely kinda cool. At first, I was worried about not fitting in, something Anthony did with no effort but it turns out I was worried for nothing. Oddly enough, Embry was a really big help with helping me relax around the guys. I knew Anthony would never just ditch me but I'm still his kid sister in his eyes so, like Dad, he didn't joke around like he normally would.

Embry, fortunately, and at times, unfortunately, has no filter. He always pretty much said exactly what he was thinking. I could see why he and Quil were Dad's best friends. He spared me the sanctimonious crap of respecting me as the alpha's daughter and just joked and picked on me just like anybody else. I appreciated that more than anything. What was strange for me though were the small little butterflies that invaded my stomach whenever I was around him. Why was I feeling this way about my dad's friend? At first, it left me feeling fucking weird. But as time went on it began to fade. It began with the long nights we'd spend together patroling, somehow we were always paired together. I think Dad was avoiding me in a way. He never quite thought it, but I always got the feeling that he was somewhat nervous when we happened to be phased together. Always afraid he'd think of something he didn't want me to hear. I suppose I'd be pretty fucking nervous too if at any moment I could scar my kid with mentally disturbing images, so I try not to feel any type of way about it.

Sooner than later the shifts we were assigned weren't enough time for us. We hung out all the time. We enjoyed the same type of music, so many of the same movies. Every time I stopped by his mom's shop, he always had some stupid trinket ready for me and a crazy story to go with it. And I couldn't deny the fact that he is handsome. The way his eyes would sorta light up when he'd tell me these stories or the perfect contour of his high cheekbones were hard to ignore.

I thought I was going crazy! I know I didn't imprint on him or anything, I've seen enough from Quil's, Dad's, and Seth's minds to know that. But knowing that I didn't imprint on him and he didn't imprint on me made my heart hurt like I didn't know it could. What if he imprinted on someone someday and this stupid crush would just result in nothing? I didn't want to end up as bitter as Leah was when Sam imprinted on Emily. I swallowed those fears away though. I told myself if he was going to imprint on anybody, it would've happened by now. He's been phased just about as long as Dad has been.

"Xandra?" Embry nudged me, "Jeeze if my story was that boring, you should've just said something."

"Oh! No, it wasn't I promise," I said, "I was just thinking about something."

"I was kidding," he folded his legs criss-crossed.

We were just in the forest, sorta by the clearing that Grandma and Grandpa told me about. God, I missed them. I found that I liked being up in the cool crisp December air, alone with my thoughts and with Embry. The spot we picked had a nice view of dreary Forks and its low lights. We usually came up here to talk shit about Embry's customers and trade songs. It's something I looked forward to.

"I've been meaning to ask you something," he looked over at me.

"Shoot."

"So... what were your parents thought process when they named you and Mollie?"