Chapter 3: Two Words

"There's an empty seat next to Mr. Littlesea over in the back, Ms. Greyson."

The teacher directed her to an impossibly tall, muscular boy who raised his hand. She should have just said, hey, go to the kid who looks like he's on 'roids over there. He sure as hell doesn't look like he could crush you with his fist.

Collin laughed to himself as the new girl walked his way. She was apprehensively hugging a backpack close to her as she headed her way through to him, looking straight ahead in order to avoid the stares her newfound classmates were giving her.

Tara was right; she's a tiny little thing. "Hey there, welcome to the awesomeness that is Intro to Music. The name's Collin."

The girl eyed him nervously before answering, "Tabitha. Good to be here." She was still standing next to the empty seats beside him, a panicky expression on her face, as if she didn't know how to continue from there on.

"Feel free to take a seat." She set down her pack and slowly sat down in the desk in front of him.

Collin analyzed the girl; he wondered what Tara was talking about when she said she sensed something strange from her. She just seemed to suffer a little from chronic shyness.

After that thought, he backtracked a bit. Now that he realized, there was something odd. He had an imprint, which meant most girls appeared kind of fuzzy when he looked at them directly; the only exceptions were his own imprint, family, fellow female pack members, girls in pain, and other imprints like Claire. This girl, Tabitha, while she wasn't quite yet clear, did not have the blurriness that he faced when interacting with other girls like her in school. Maybe there was something wrong with her?

"Is there something wrong, Collin?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You seemed…distracted by something."

He mentally shook himself awake; he must have kept on staring in her direction while he was thinking. "Oh, uh, sorry, just kind of spaced out while thinking about something."

She chuckled and shook her head, "No worries, I tend to be a daydreamer myself." Tabitha timidly pulled back a curl behind her ear, looking away from him.

"Well, I guess our third member is going to have a hard time keeping us from dozing off class."

"Third member?" she asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

"She's my girlfriend, but she's busy this period with some student government activities she's working on right now," he said with a proud tone in his voice.

Tabitha smiled inwardly at the faraway look he got on his face as he started talking about his girlfriend. She'd never seen any male, least of all a teenage boy, have such an adoring look in his eyes when they talked about their significant other. It baffled her, especially considering her jaded view on love. I hope they turn out to be one of those rare couples that last way beyond high school, and not anything like my parents. She wished mightily with all her heart to the powers that be as she touched the choker on her neck for extra luck.

"What's that you're holding on to?" he said, pointing to her choker. She looked down at the pale pink heart dangling from a thin chain.

"It was a present from my brother, well, one of the three anyway. He likes buying weird stuff like this, gifts with meaning, he says." She smiled as the memory came to mind.

Collin thought the new girl looked a lot better when she smiled. It seemed she was finally opening up. "So what's the meaning behind that? Is it some kind of love charm witch-y thing? Looking to get a little lucky in love?" he teased.

A flush of pink managed to show through her tanned skin, "No, nothing like that! Ay Dios mio, it's rose quartz, for emotional health and inner peace, crazy stuff like that." She noticed that Collin was giving her a look. "Not that I believe in any of that, I think it's mostly symbolic anyways."

"Are you a troubled sort of person, then?" He said it a joking manner, but he was secretly wondering if that was why he could see her almost clearly.

She stiffened at his question, her voice was still quiet but it had taken a slight icy quality as she replied, "Not mentally, no."

Insert awkward silence here, why can't Sky be here at a moment like this?

Thankfully the teacher soon retrieved Tabitha in order to show her what they would be working on for the rest of the semester and how the music class worked. An unbearable silence had been avoided, but he wondered what the new girl had meant. Not mentally? He'd have to ask Sky about that later. Soon Tabitha was back in her seat; she had an apologetic look on her face as she slumped in her seat, avoiding meeting his gaze.

"I shouldn't have snapped at you earlier, I just," she paused, contemplating how to phrase her words without giving anything away. "I've been going through a rough patch lately."

That must be why he could sort of see her. He'd half been wondering if she would be the next person to join the pack, but it didn't seem that way anymore, not that she looked like she'd been through a growth spurt lately.

"No worries. Besides, this is music class, the perfect class to relax and enjoy the sweet satisfaction of creating art through sound." He held up his fist. "So, are we cool?"

She eyed his gigantic fist warily. They had just met yet he was being extraordinarily nice but she hesitantly bumped his in return, "We're cool."

Tabitha spent the rest of the class chatting about music with Collin; opening up a bit more as time went by, joking a little more freely. Apparently he played the guitar and even had a pretty good singing voice, which he mostly used to woo his girlfriend rather than a crowd of people. She confessed to him that she didn't know how to play any instruments but she liked to dance and sing for fun when she was alone or with close family and friends. Unfortunately she realized that the remainder of the class flew by too rapidly for her liking. After the class was over, she walked to the next with her heart a little lighter. The first day had barely started and she already had two people she could look forward talking to. Maybe she wouldn't need to run to the bathrooms circled in red after all.

"Open Sesame!"

"I take it you're having problems with your locker?"

"Ay, caramba!" Tabitha held her hand to her chest, trying to calm her racing heart. She turned around to face the culprit only to find the same tall girl she had run off from the night before, "What are you, a ghost? I never heard you coming and the hallway is empty; who the hell sneaks up on people like that anyway?" She was breathing heavily, trying to recover from the scare and it certainly didn't help that she was a person who spooked easily; which probably explained her rudeness.

The girl, Tara she remembered, had a mischievous grin on her face. "So the midget actually does speak, and she has spunk."

Tabitha sent her a glare. This girl has some nerve.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm the only who can help you right now." Tara moved the shorter girl aside and analyzed the locker. "What's your lock code?"

"I'm not telling you my lock code."

"Uh huh, like that's gonna stop me." Tara held her ear against the locker door, turning the dial a bit only to stand back with a satisfied look on her face. She pounded the locker on each side of the lock and watched Tabitha's mouth dropped in amazement as the door swung open.

"You might not want to put any valuables in there."

Tara smirked; it looked like the girl was torn between thanking her and warning Tara to stay away from her stuff.

"I'll pretend you were grateful and said thanks. So anyways, what'd you think of Mrs. Hundley? Hasn't she gone to the craziest places?"

"You're in second period World History?" Tabitha struggled to remember seeing Tara there, but all the students in that class seemed to blur together. Then again, it shouldn't have been a surprise; each grade was so small that each year shared most core classes.

"Yep-a-rooni! There are other people that'd you like to meet in that class too – which you would have met if you hadn't been so antisocial – but they're not as awesome as I am," she said in a sing-song voice all the while throwing her hands in the air.

"I'm sure." Tabitha found herself laughing in spite of herself. The girl was amusing, she'd give her that and she seemed friendly enough despite the fact she might have thieving tendencies.

"You dare question my awesomeness? What's your name girl-who-doubts-obvious-awesomeness?" she said while pointing an accusatory finger at her.

Tabitha raised an eyebrow, and she thought she herself had outrageous mood swings. "Umm, no, but I guess I'll be seeing you then. Don't want to be late to Honors English." She placed her World History textbook inside her locker and quickly high-tailed it out of there towards her next class before the weird girl started acting even stranger.

She looked over her shoulder, yelling as she left, "Thanks for the locker voodoo magic!"

"Over here, Tabitha!"

She had been standing in the doorway of the classroom, wondering if she was at the correct one, until she heard a familiar voice call her name. She hurried over to where Skylar was sitting and sat next to her, it appeared the teacher hadn't arrived yet so she sat wherever she wanted. Tabitha scanned the room, registering that this class was most definitely not filled to the brim with juniors.

"Is this Honors English?"

"Yes, but you could also call it Twelfth Grade English if you want to be technical. QTS can't really afford to hire that many teachers, so most of the time an Honors class just means advancing a grade level for that particular subject." Skylar shrugged, as if to say, 'What can you do?'

Tabitha didn't answer, just nodded absently; there was something about this class that was driving her over the edge. Maybe it was due to the fact that she was surrounded by students older than her; she did feel a little intimidated.

Skylar looked at her worriedly, "Are you okay? You seem kind of antsy; you keep tapping your fingers on the desk repeatedly."

Antsy? She looked at the time on her wristwatch, it read 11:07. She didn't feel hungry or anything of the sort, no shaking of the limbs or palpitations which meant there was less of a chance of it being a sugar low. I ate my snack an hour ago, I should be fine. She did feel anxious for some reason, like something was tugging at her heartstrings, the same sensation she had last night when she had ran off from Tara, only more intense.

"Do I? Maybe it's the first day jitters you were talking about." She struggled to keep her hands still, but it seemed impossible. What was up with the teacher? Why couldn't he or she get here and distract her already?

Skylar grinned like the Cheshire cat, "There's always the bathroom down the corridor if you need it."

Tabitha gave her a small smile distractedly muttering inwardly, "Good to know." Damn it, she needed to distract herself, badly. She reached for her backpack, rummaging through her belongings. Let's see, read a book or grab my sketchbook. Hmm, sketchbook, I need to do something with my hands.

Skylar had been watching curiously and widened her eyes as she saw Tabitha take out a sketchbook and a pencil.

"You draw?"

"I'm an arts kind of girl," she bit her lip nervously as she peered at Skylar's excited face, "so yeah, kind of following in my dad's footsteps, since he's an artist himself."

Skylar snapped her fingers, "Greyson, I should have known, your father's Evan Greyson, right?"

"Do most people in La Push know him? I had a similar run-in with the secretary."

"Sort of, he had a gallery in Port Angeles recently so that's pretty much the cause. My aunt's a fan so she has a couple of his paintings hanging around the house. Can I see your sketchbook?"

The question, so simple and easily answered, brought Tabitha up short. It's not that she didn't want to show Skylar her artwork, but just that there were some specific drawings she didn't want her to see. Tabitha usually expressed her every feeling through her work, so there were some that were a bit too personal for her liking. She didn't want people to know she was a diabetic so soon and a lot of her recent drawings reflected her feelings about it. Tabitha nervously fiddled with the medic alert bracelet hidden by her black and white striped long shirt sleeve. Just for good measure, she pulled down the sleeve so she could hold the end with the palm of her hand.

"Umm, well, I don't think-"

"Morning class, sorry for the tardy," he chuckled, "maybe I should give myself detention for my continual ability to remain unpunctual."

Tabitha sighed in relief, saved by the teacher. She hadn't been this happy to see a class start in a long time. The teacher sat down at his desk, readjusting his glasses while reading a paper that had been placed there recently. "Well, it seems we have a novel addition to the class. Step up in front of the class young lady and introduce yourself if you please."

Gone was the happy feeling. She hadn't realized how glad she was that her previous teachers hadn't forced her to introduce herself until now. Public speaking was not one of her fortes. She dragged herself up from her seat and forced her feet to walk towards the front and face her impending doom; the crazy antsy feeling was back and it had returned with double the force. It tingled at her extremities, her fingertips were trembling slightly. Please let it not be a sugar low. Don't fall, don't faint, be strong. The young girl chanted it inside her mind – a mantra for the moment – as she stood in front of the students, numbering in a little over a dozen.

She looked down toward her flats, inspecting them as she spoke, letting her downward gaze cause her bangs to cover her eyes. Maybe if she didn't look directly at any of their imposing stares boring a hole into her she wouldn't stutter. "Hola, my name's Tabitha Katiria Greyson-Velasquez. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

"Well you certainly look refreshingly young, Ms. Greyson. Are you perhaps a sophomore?"

"No, I'm a junior, but I'm still fifteen, although I'll turn sixteen in December," she answered, still keeping her gaze to the floor all the while fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

"And from where may ask does your lovely accent originate from?" inquired the teacher.

Tabitha had been hoping to get this over quickly but it seemed the teacher wanted to torture her a little longer. She'd barely even noticed she had an accent, but since she was nervous her words pulled up in strange places and her accent had become heavier.

"Puerto Rico, sir. It's a small tropical island in the Caribbean, ninety miles south of Florida."

"Ah, that's interesting and a long ways away – more than a thousand miles I believe. I'd ask you more but I'm afraid I don't want to end up being more intrusive than I already am. Feel free to keep your seat next to Ms. Young."

Tabitha felt her whole body relax in relief, she finally raised her gaze to take a peek at the class when she suddenly felt an urge to look at the back row. Staring back at her were the most warm brown she'd ever seen coming from a tall, muscular, looking boy akin to how Collin had looked. The intensity radiating from his returning gaze startled her, and it took all of her will to not run out of the classroom like a lunatic.

She quickly shuffled to her desk, wondering what the hell that was about and what the hell was up with herself. Tabitha could almost sense the heavy gaze on the back of her neck, urging her to look back. She wanted to look back - no, she needed to. This was madness! Shaking her head in order to clear her thoughts, she turned to Skylar, but she was looking towards the back of the class in the same direction she was trying to avoid.

Her expression was an outlandish and seemingly impossible mixture of unrelenting joy, good-humored reprimanding, and slight concern. Skylar was whispering something she couldn't comprehend to someone in the back, but that was crazy because no one had hearing amazing enough to understand what she was saying from so far.

Tabitha dared to look behind in the same direction of Skylar's gaze. It was the same boy as earlier, except this time he seemed to be directing his stare at any direction but hers.

That was odd, she thought, I could have sworn he had been staring at me…

Beep, beep.

Collin had just been heading towards lunch when he felt his cellphone vibrating. He took the phone out of his pocket, looking at the small screen.

You have one message from Sky Angel

This peaked his curiosity since he was going to meet up with her shortly at the lunch table. What would be so urgent it couldn't wait? He hoped she was okay as he opened the message. His eyes widened as he read the words, comprehending, but momentarily unable to believe they were true. Nonetheless, he smiled, pleased for his friend. Collin decided the news had to be shared.

Beep.

This message has been forwarded to Loony T

Tara had been minding her own business, walking in the company of Brady as they headed towards the aromatic paradise that was lunch. Regardless if the food tasted like garbage that day didn't matter as long as something was filling her bottomless stomach. She took a sniff at the scent wafting through the halls.

~This place about to blooow! Blooooow!~

"Oh fat Jesus!"

Tara forcefully fetched her phone out of her pants pocket, wondering who dared to interrupt her culinary fantasies.

One message from Border Collie

Her eyes quickly scanned over the message. It was short, straight, and to the point, but its content baffled no less. Tara's hands started to shake with a mixture of suppressed annoyance and anger. She knew something like this was coming, but it still tore her heart to think that yet one more important person in her life was snatched away by something that was supposedly "rare."

Brady gave her a bemused look before grabbing the phone out of her hands. His delighted expression was the complete opposite of hers. Damn to hell those two words, she thought. Tara snatched back the phone and sulkily glared at the words she refused to comprehend.

Seth imprinted.

Hola, friendly and not so friendly readers of fanfiction! For those who give a damn, I'm so sorry for not having updated in a month. There's just this thing called life which involves University, education, and family problems that got in the way of me writing the next chapter. Sadly, I can't even blame it on social life, because I have none. I blame my professors for that...

Moving on, as always. Please review! Tell me what you liked/didn't like. Constructive criticism is strongly suggested and welcomed. It's helpful to know what I'm doing wrong so I can better my writing.

So what did you think of Collin? It's always harder to write out boys - ya know, since I'm a girl and all. Feel free to tell me what you think of Tabitha, Skylar, and Tara.

What were your favorite lines? Favorite scenes? What characters do you like so far? Predictions, anyone? What do you think is up with Tara?

For the record, Seth will show up in the next chapter. There's just this thing called setting the scene and character development that gets in the way.

Ugh, I've rambled enough. Feliz Navidad y Feliz A~o Nuevo for those who celebrate Christmas and New Year's! Happy everything else for those who don't!

Simply,

ThatOneDiabeticGirl