Blood Moon (Paul Lahote)

Twelve: You weren't there.

I decide to stop calling Em's house. Whatever he's going through...he'll call me when he can. Jacob and Bella went to ride the bikes and I'm sitting doing homework at the table before heading to practice. As I'm doing my geometry homework I get a calm from Dad.

"Bella's in the hospital." He says calmly. When he says those words I automatically think bike wreck but since he isn't panicking I know it's not serious.

"What happened is she okay?" I ask. He sighs.

"She got hurt in Jacob's garage and needs stitches on her forehead." He says. "But I'm on call so I need you to drive her home."

"Okay." I reply. "What about my car?"

"I'll drive you there." He says. "Be there in five." And he hangs up. At this point we don't bother with Hellos and Goodbyes like Bella and I do. Dad gets here earlier than five minutes and I leave my homework on the table to finish when I get back.

The ride to La Push Indian Hospital is like usual. Dad talks about how Bella has always been a clumsy person and how he didn't want her driving how after getting hit on the head. He also talks about basketball, which isn't his strong suit, but he tries hard. He loves watching me play and I finally have a true family to play for, and to come watch my games.

We pull up to the parking lot and Bella and Jake are waiting outside of her rust bucket. They wave to Charlie and he drives off. We get into the truck and Bella leans on Jake's huge shoulder as we drive. She almost falls asleep before we drop Jake off and she snaps awake.

"So what happened?" I ask I as take off.

"Lost control of the steering." She explains. "Hit my head on a rock."

"Yeah I knew motorcycles where a bad idea." I say. "A person as clumsy as you should never get on a bike."

"Yeah." She says. Then she stutters before starting a sentence like she doesn't know how to go about it. "I saw Embry today."

"Is he okay?" I ask. "Was he in the hospital?" She looks at me then looks away and I raise an eyebrow.

"He- No." She stutters. "We saw him cliff diving."

"Oh." I say. "Maybe he just needed to take his mind off of things."

"With Sam Uley?" She questions.

"Remind me who that is." I say. I've heard the name "Sam" in her dreams but I can't place name with face. She looks to me, then the ground, then up again.

"The gang leader." She says and I stop myself from slamming on the breaks and turning around. I tighten my grip on the steering wheel and sit up straighter.

"Well." I say. "I guess I won't be seeing him anymore if that's the path he chooses." My eyes tear up again as I realize that I've lost another friend.

This is what happens when I open up to people, they leave.

I haven't called Em's house since last Saturday, the morning of Districts. Today is the Saturday of Regionals. We're in Port Angeles playing against Beaver. Jake is sick and can't come to the game today. Em is a no show but Ateara shows up. We go undefeated still and win regionals also.

I haven't given too much thought to Em in the past week because I'm too focused on Area. I've been practicing non stop while Bella is getting more worried about Jake. He's sick with the bug that everyone's catching right now. But when Harry visited Dad and Bella while I was at practice he told Bella that Jake has mono.

Yesterday was Semi Finals of state and we got beat out. I'm still so fucking pissed I honestly didn't care that Bella saw a bunch of oversized wolves in the woods earlier. I'm sitting on Bella's bed watching game film on her computer while she tells me about the huge wolves.