Ginger stood there frozen. She had dreamed of this moment ever since she was a little girl. All werewolves are entitled to having a mate, one person they are meant to be with forever, lose your mate and you'll never get another. Having a mate isn't just amazing, but also spiritual. To be connected to another so strongly, to feel their emotions, read their thoughts, to project your own thoughts into their minds. It's an incredible thing and Ginger had wanted to find her mate for so long and here he is. This boy who stared at her with so much love and happiness was the man that she was meant to be with for her entire life.

The moment between them was broken, however as the sound of cars drive past the beach, teenagers screaming and yelling. Ginger pulls her eyes away from the boy to see a bunch of cars heading down the road. "They're heading to the public beach, La Push." The boy says. "Anyone can go to it, but this one is for the people who live on the reservation." Ginger looks back at the boy and gives a timid smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know. I'll just go then-" She says, feel sadness clench her heart as she realizes her mate does not wish for her to be here.

"You can stay if you want." The boy says quickly. "I don't mind and I'm sure my friends wouldn't either." He says before he realizes he never even introduced himself yet. "Right, I'm Jared by the way." He says giving her a crooked smile. It causes a smile to form on Ginger's own lips and she holds out her hand.

"I'm Ginger Hale." She expects him to shake her hand and say 'it's great to meet you', but instead he takes her hand in his and kisses the top of it, the part that was not covered by her glove, and it cause her to blush.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." She nearly melts when he says this. His voice is like the ocean, smooth and rough at the same time, deep and shallow all in the same.

"Y-You too." She stuttered out nervously. She hated to be nervous or embarrassed, a Hale is never either, but this boy seems to bring out a side that Ginger never knew existed.

"Come on." Jared smiles, taking her hand in his, sending goosebumps and heat running up her arm all at the same time. Jared lead her over to where the other two guys and the girls were sitting. The oldest of the guys had the most muscles and had darker hair and eyes, while the other guy was very muscular, but just not as muscular. The girl sat between the legs of the oldest one and she was absolutely beautiful. Long black hair, dark brown eyes, and honey tan skin. The only defect of this beautiful woman was the long scars that ran down one half of her face, but Ginger knew better than to stare. She knew what it was like to have someone see your wound and never stop asking questions. At least Ginger can cover her scars without it being too obvious. "Hey guys this is Ginger." Jared says to his friends and the young woman smiled up at Ginger, all to happy to have another girl in this group of friends.

"I'm Emily." She says with a smile. "This is my boyfriend, Sam, and that's Paul."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Ginger says with a smile. Jared takes a seat beside Sam and Emily, anyone could see Jared and Sam were very close friend, while Paul distance himself more from them. Jared glances at Ginger and mentions the spot beside him.

"You know you can sit, right Ging." Jared says with a smile, causing a slight blush to form on her cheeks. She goes and takes a seat beside Jared, nervously playing with the ends of her gloves, a nervous habit she picked up after the fire.

"So Ginger you from around here?" Emily asks, causing Ginger to look over at her.

"I move around a lot, but I just recently moved in with my godfather." She answers her.

"So where are you originally from?" Sam asks as he plays with Emily's hair.

"California." I say, causing Jared to glance at me.

"This must be a big change then, all sun to all clouds." Ginger laughs and shakes her head.

"Not the part I am from. I'm from a small town called Beacon Hills, the weather is a lot like this actually. Not that sunny."

"You're a bit pale for sunny anyways." Paul grumbles, causing Ginger to nod.

"Yeah, well red hair and sun does not go good together, so I much prefer this weather." She tells him. She could tell Paul tries acting tough, in away he reminds her of her cousin Derek, hurt so much in the past that he built a strong wall around himself.

"Red heads also are snappy." Emily says with a teasing smile.

"Mmm, doesn't help that I come from a family of hotheads and sarcasm." This got them all to laugh, even Paul.

"I like a girl with fire." Jared whispers in Ginger's ear, causing her to blush slightly once more. Emily looked at her knowing before faking a rather dramatic yawn.

"I'm getting tired, maybe we should head back, huh, Sam." She says, causing Sam to look at her confused.

"What? We only got here-" Sam starts to say, not getting Emily's obvious point.

"Sam. I'm tired, how about we go." She says before making a rather obvious pointed look at Jared and Ginger. it seemed to finally click in Sam's head as he nod.

"Oh, uh, right sure." He says as he gets to his feet. Paul rolls his eyes, but he knows that he should give the two of them space.

"I'm going to head home too." He says, causing Ginger and Jared to look over at them. Jared was more than okay to be alone with Ginger, so he simply nods.

"Sure thing, guys. I'll see you later." Emily smiles at Jared as Paul simply nods and Sam gives Jared a meaningful look before the three leave Jared and Ginger alone.

"So, Ginger you thinking of staying in our sleepy little town long?" He asks, causing her to look at him.

"Yeah, I think I am." He smiles as she said that.

"Great, so that means I don't have to worry about giving you my number and asking you out of on a date." He says as he pulls a pen out from his pocket. Ginger bites back a smile as she looks at Jared.

"Carry a random pen with you all the time?" She asks.

"Never know when a pretty girl will show up." He replies as he uncaps his pen.

"Oh, so you just wait for random girls, so you can give them your number?"

"Only cute redheads such as yourself, but around here there's very few redheads." He says as he pushes her red hair off her shoulder.

"Bit forward, huh?" Jared chuckled.

"Maybe, but it seems to be working, so..." She smiles before he takes her hand in his and tries to take the glove off, she pulls her hand away, causing him to look up at her confused. "Or... not."

"No, I don't mind having your number, but I don't like taking my gloves off." She says looking at him a bit embarrassed.

"Well, where do you want me to write my number, huh?" He asks with a comforting smile on his lips. She frowns for a moment before taking her thumb out of the hole of her glove and rolling the glove back enough so her hand is uncovered.

"Is this okay?" He nods before taking her hand once more and scribbling his number down on her hand.

"There." He smiles. "Now about that date... You free this weekend?" He asks, causing her to smile.

"Don't see why I wouldn't be." He chuckled.

"Good. It's getting kind of late, it'll be dark soon. Do you want me to drive you home?" He asks as he stands up and helps her up from the ground.

"Sure, thanks Jared." She takes his extended hand and allows him to pull her up, but neither let go of the other's hand once they begin walking to his truck that is parked in the parking lot. Jared opens the car door for Ginger like a gentleman, causing her to smile. "Thanks." She hopes into the truck and he closes the door after her before going to his side and hoping in.

"So, where do you live?" Ginger glances over at him.

"Do you know where sheriff Swan lives?" She asks.

"Yeah, he's a friend of Billy Black's."

"Yeah, he's my godfather."

"Really?" Ginger nods as Jared starts the car and heads down the road. "Cool, so you got a cop for your godfather... I don't have to worry about getting threatened with a gun when I go out with you, do I?" Ginger laughs before shaking her head.

"Nah. You have nothing to worry about." He shakes his head as he looks at her before turning the truck onto another road. The two drive in a peaceful silence, one free from awkwardness and nervousness.

It only takes a few minutes before Jared stops in front of Ginger's driveway. "Thanks, for the ride, Jared."

"No problem. I'll see you around Ging." Ginger smiles at him before she opens her car down and gets out of the car.

"Bye Jared." he waves bye before she closes the truck door and heads up to her house. When she walks inside Charlie and Bella are waiting for her.

"Whose the guy?" Charlie asks, causing a faint blush to creep onto her cheeks.

"A guy I met. He lives on the reservation, knows Billy."

"I'll have to ask Billy about him then, make sure he's good enough for my goddaughter." Ginger smiles at him, kissing his cheek before heading to the stairs.

"I'm going to turn in early, I'm exhausted." She tells him before heading up the stairs and getting ready for bed.