Early Imprint [Book 3] ✔️

11 • Flirtatious Ways

QUIL'S POV

Teenagers are weird. They're secretive, brooding, moody, and nervous. Thank God I never acted like that when I was a teen. And teenagers have the most incredible mood swings. I discovered that Claire could go from laughing and carefree to angry and embarrassed all in the space of a second. And everything embarrassed Claire.

For example, a few months ago, I had taken my imprint down to La Push for the week. It had been her winter break from school. She was a freshman now in high school. You'd have thought that she would have wanted to spend her time off hanging out with her friends. Nope, she had decided that she wanted to spend the week at Sam and Emily's instead. The day I had gone to pick her up, we had laughed and joked the entire time we were driving back to La Push. When we got to Forks, Claire had asked if we could stop by the drug store because she had wanted to get a magazine.

Sure, no problem, right? Much to Claire's horror, she had realized that she'd forgotten her money at home. I had offered to buy her purchases for her. She had immediately said no at the same time that I had glanced into the shopping basket she was carrying. Under the magazine, I saw that she had grabbed some "feminine products." Claire's face had gotten redder and redder. I had felt so horrified myself that I threw my credit card at her and quickly ran out of the store. The rest of the car ride to Emily's had been uncomfortable to say the least.

Claire had also become a baffling enigma. When she wasn't crying and getting sappy over some stupid commercial, she would laugh at everything I said and would toss her hair a lot. I didn't get it. Some of the things I said weren't even that funny, but she would laugh anyway. And she was always touching me. One day she was running her fingers up and down my arm while we were watching TV together, and she had said something that had made my heart drop.

"You're skin is always so hot. It's been like that for as long as I can remember." Claire had remarked, her fingers making circular patterns on my skin.

As I wasn't about to unload the full story on her as to the exact reason why my skin felt so hot, and I was unable to lie to her, I told her what I liked to call "evasive" truth.

"Yeah, it's genetics; there are a few of us who are Quileute that run naturally high temperatures," I had told her before adding, "Hey, do you need anything from the store? Tampons or anything?"

It had been a dirty move, but it made her stop asking questions I wasn't ready to answer. She had turned a bright red color and stopped touching me before replying stiffly that she was all set. I had been even more embarrassed than she'd been. I hated thinking of the "T" word almost as much as I hated thinking of the "P" word.

The constant touching wasn't the only way she acted differently towards me. She called me everyday and would tell me all about school and the dramas that accompanied teenage life. Things like, her friend Ashley getting a big pimple right before the Winter Formal dance, or her friend Amber breaking up with her long-term boyfriend. Claire had even reluctantly admitted that her best friend, Lindsey, had a crush on me.

"Do you think she's pretty, Quil?" Claire had asked somewhat forlornly.

"She's not as pretty as you," I had replied instantly.

"But would you ever date her?" Claire had pushed.

"Honey, I can assure you, I'm not interested in dating a 14-year-old." I had informed her.

Silence had greeted that response before Claire changed the subject and started talking about something else. Claire never mentioned any guys she was interested in herself. I often wondered why. Was she too embarrassed to talk about guys with me?