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ONE:
HIGH SCHOOL

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BRIAR SLAMMED THE DOOR OF THE TRUCK SHUT, pulling her bag over her shoulder.

This would be the year she'd focus on studies.

She promised Jacob and her dad that she'd try.

Seth promised he would keep her from her studies as much as possible.

Briar was grateful for Seth.

The boy in question pulled his hair back in a bun, glancing at her as the scrunchie slid off his wrist. "Nervous?" He asked with a gentle smile.

They'd grown up together. Briar's dad had two main friends when she was growing up: Charlie Swan and Henry Clearwater. With Bella in Arizona most of her life, and her being three years older than Briar anyway, she was drawn to Seth. Leah, his older sister, was five years older than the pair, so they automatically spent all of their time together.

From mudpies to dress up to dirt-bikes and hidden forts; Seth and Briar were two peas in a pod.

And when Briar told Seth she'd be leaving Forks to "find herself" in Virginia, he immediately joined in. Leah offered to come with them, but she was enrolled in school in Seattle, and Jacob told her to stay put. Keep an eye on things.

Instead, Jacob took the two to Mystic Falls, and the Cullens — repaying a debt for Jacob literally saving baby Cullen's life — purchased a small three-bedroom home for the teenagers. Jacob got a job at the local diner until he could get a job at the local mechanics.

Seth and Briar both signed up for jobs, too, to help pay the bills.

(Money wasn't free, especially not for three kids that grew up on the reservation with single parents.)

Briar worked at the Grill with her brother, but Seth found a job at Scoop's, the local ice cream shop.

He looked absolutely adorable in the little pink hat they gave him, and his dimpled smile prompted Briar to take at least twelve pictures.

"I'm all good," Briar shook her head, answering Seth's question. "Feels weird, though. Things are like...normal."

"I keep expecting to see a Cullen waltzing around," Seth grinned. "I like the sun. It's a nice change of pace."

Briar laughed at his words, nodding as they waited behind someone in line at the office. She couldn't see his face, but his brown hair was cut short and styled like some television star hero. She liked his leather jacket — it was real, she could smell it — and his boots were authentic, too.

Rich kid.

Seth and Briar exchanged a look, thinking the same thing as he turned around. Briar glanced to his face, noting the sculpted jawline and thin lips. He was tall, too, taller than Briar, but he had to be a few inches shorter than Seth.

He was cute, for sure, but his eyes were covered by dark sunglasses.

She looked away as the receptionist called them forward, handing the middle-aged woman her and Seth's paperwork.

"Perfect," the woman looked between the two. Briar noticed the nameplate read 'Susan' with all floral embroidering. "Your schedules are here," she handed them back the necessary paperwork and extra sheets of paper. "And a map. It's not a big school, but some Freshmen get lost. Normally, I'd have someone walk you to classes, but since there's three new students, we decided to void it. Your locker combinations are written at the bottom of your schedule, the sign out sheet for your gym wardrobe, Seth," she looked to him directly, "is at the bottom of your stack. Just have your guardian sign it, but Briar, since you've already done your prerequisite, you've been given art as requested. If you have any questions, the faculty are happy to help. Thank you for attending Mystic Falls High School and have a great day."

Briar nodded in response, Seth offering a bright smile, the pair turning to leave.

"I have History first," Briar informed him as they left the office. "You?"

"Same," Seth beamed at her. The pair checked schedules and fist-bumped, noting they only had two classes apart. "Let's goooo, Beth remains undefeated."

"I still think we need a better name than that," Briar shook her head. "Shire is cooler," she argued. "We're like Frodo and Sam."

"I'm Frodo," Seth said immediately and Briar snorted.

"In your dreams," she scoffed. "You're definitely Sam. My loyal compadre."

Seth sighed, then looked thoughtful as they eyed locker numbers for their own. "Do you think Sam and Frodo banged?"

"Definitely," Briar answered immediately. "We won't bang," she added quickly.

"I think I'd rather drink gasoline," Seth replied easily. "Chug, chug, motherfucker."

"Seth Clearwater, watch your mouth," Briar chastised, eying the school. Some students stared at them, some looked unbothered. It looked like an average high school. "You still have a baby face, such language is inappropriate for these cheeks." She teased, squeezing his right cheek. He frowned, shooting her a half-glare.

"I'm going to sell your first born to Rumpelstiltskin."

"Do that, and I'll burn your house down for insurance claim."

"It'll all go to Leah," he countered, stopping in front of one of the grey metal lockers. "And she'll use it all for school, so who really wins?"

"The underdeveloped communities she'll be fighting for as a lawyer," Briar quipped.

Seth frowned, putting his combination in, but let out a frustrated sigh when he couldn't get the numbers. "Dammit, B, hold this," he plopped his papers onto her hands and put the combination in again with two hands, smiling in success at it opened. "Clearwater clears again."

"You're so lame," Briar shook her head, handing him back his papers. "My locker is a few down, hang on, okay?"

Seth nodded, going through his backpack and shoving some of Leah's old school supplies inside and Briar headed to her own locker. She stopped in between a brunette girl and a dark-skinned girl, both chatting away.

"Hi, sorry," Briar waved awkwardly. "My, uh, my locker's right there, if I can just squeeze in."

The girls looked startled for a moment but moved aside.

"Sure, sorry," the brunette apologized. "I'm Elena, this is Bonnie."

Briar froze. "Elena Gilbert?"

The girls exchanged a confused look.

"Yeah," she responded slowly. "How do you know my name?"

Briar moved the papers to one arm and offered her hand in greeting. "Briar Black, I'm your cousin. We met once at my mom's funeral."

"Oh!" Surprise filled Elena's face and she took Briar's hand. "Yeah, I—I forgot, sorry. I didn't realize you were moving here."

"Fresh start," Briar shrugged, smiling at the other girl. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," the girl smiled. "I'm Bonnie."

"I'm just gonna..." Briar pointed to the locker again and squeezed in, twisting the lock for the combination.

"So, are you here permanently now?" Elena asked curiously. "You...no one from your family came to my parents' funeral, so..."

Briar's eyebrows shot up. "Grayson's dead? Shit," she offered a sympathetic smile. "That sucks. I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"You weren't invited?" Elena asked in confusion, exchanging a look with Bonnie.

"Yeah," Briar slipped her necessary things in the locker and readjusted her bag. "Gilberts are racist," she shrugged, walking away and meeting back up with Seth, who slung an arm over her shoulder.

"History versus the Shire, who will win?"

"God, you're embarrassing."

—

"Once our home state of Virginia joined confederacy in 1861," their teacher, Mr. Tanner, lectured. "It created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia northwest region had different ideals."

Briar wrote a note on her piece of paper, glancing to Mr. Tanner, before sliding it onto Seth's desk next to her. He snorted, stifling it as a cough, giving her a disbelieving stare.

'Jasper would love this guy, yeehaw go southern racism' she'd written.

It was true.

"Then Virginia divided in 1863..." he continued, and Briar let out a breath, already bored.

Why had she promised Jacob she'd try in school? It wasn't like she'd be their older sisters. (Not that either of them talked the girls who abandoned their family after high school and were never heard from again.)

She was totally cool getting a GED and working at a bike shop forever.

Distracted, her eyes slid to Elena, observing her cousin for a moment. It felt weird to call her that, considering they were nothing more than blood. She was pretty, and Briar could see the resemblance. She and Jacob both had dark eyes and hair, but that was also strong on their father's side.

Considering her Quileute tribe were more family than her mother's blood, she felt a little guilty for labeling Elena as "family" straight off the bat.

Briar was all for loyalty, and she hoped to know and understand Elena — and her brother, John? Jason? Briar forgot his name, but she hoped it wasn't Jacob (that would be awkward) — more, but she wasn't going to hold out hope.

She noticed the guy from earlier —  who, judging by the looks of other students, was equally as new as Briar and Seth — staring at Elena, smiling softly to himself. Briar raised her eyebrows in amusement. They'd make a cute couple. He was prettier without the shades on, and Elena was an inherently pretty girl.

As if sensing her gaze, the boy turned his head and green eyes met brown, and Briar's heart stopped.

She'd always heard of imprinting.

Leah had derailed her entire high school career over it because of Sam Uley's connection to Emily. Briar always hated the idea of imprints because of what it had done to Leah, but she couldn't deny the love between Sam and his imprint.

Nor could she deny it between Paul and her sister — despite her and Rachel not being on speaking terms, she'd been happy to see her find love in someone as amazing as Briar's ex-boyfriend — but she didn't think it would happen to her.

It was a legend.

Something rare and unpredictable.

The Ancestors chose it for wolves, hand-picked soulmates based on the very essence of one's truest self and placed them together.

And it wasn't always romantic. Sometimes it was platonic, and sometimes it was just companionship.

But she'd always been told that she would know when it happened.

And fuck, fuck, fuck, she knew.

The pretty-faced, green-eyed boy with a slight furrow of his brow — as if he could feel something too, but that was totally impossible, right? they didn't know each other and he was definitely not a vampire, he'd have golden eyes or red eyes or freakishly pale, sparkling skin — looked at her and her breath sped up.

And then the visions came.

Like an ocean against the shore, Briar was hit by wave after wave with visions. Laughing and shifting in front of him, watching his face light up when she showed him a piece of paper with a big red letter on it, swinging on a swing set late at night, stargazing and pointing the sky — Briar tried to look away, tried to stop this stupid connection from taking her future from her, but she couldn't bring herself too.

She saw something else, blonde hair, dimples, but it was murky and then gone a second later. There were cats and bunnies — all of those other stupid fucking forest animals that Briar absolutely detested because they were so cute she wanted to puke — and then there was a wedding arch and a sunset and Briar finally tore her gaze away, fighting back tears.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Seth tapped her arm, then pointed to his chest, alerting her of the distress signal she was putting out. As a pack — Jacob was the Alpha, Seth, Leah, and Briar his pack — they were all capable of feeling one another in stressful or life-threatening situations.

Or, like now.

Seth's eyes lit up when she mouthed 'imprint' and he grinned, giving her two thumbs up.

Briar shook her head, letting her forehead drop to the papers in front of her.

Fuck no.

—

ahhhhhhh first chapter you guys are already so in love with this i'm so excited it's so fun i love baby b she's so cute and angry hehehehe we met stefannnnn and he's her imprint ofccc so hopefully you guys liked the first chapter! more coming soon and they'll be longer <3