LPOV
Ya know, before this whole werewolf fiasco, Paul and I used to be friends. Best friends, actually. We still are, to an extent. The pack members take us being at each other's throats all the time as hatred. It's really us giving each other reality checks.
We even had nicknames for each other. I often called him Moonshine and teased him mercilessly, saying that he was the product of his parents and a bottle of moonshine. In return, I was Maple. Sweet when with the right thing, but nasty with something stupid. Like maple syrup. You know: sweet on pancakes, but really gross on a hot dog or something.
I remember when I told him what moonshine really was. We were 8th graders, and he didn't speak to me for a week because he finally understood why I called him Moonshine.
When Sam first broke up with me for Emily, Paul was the first one I turned to. He told me he was going to beat Sam's ass for hurting his Maple, for breaking my heart and leaving it in the dust for my cousin.
And then he phased for the first time and started following Sam around. God, I was so hurt. Here was my best friend walking behind Sam like some…lost puppy.
But when I phased, Paul was once again at my throat. I returned the favor, being as cynical and bitchy as I could be. Everyone believed, honestly believed, we hated each other.
That's not true, though. Paul Meraz is and will always be my best friend.
PPOV
You wanna talk about Leah? Maple? You wanna know me what she is to me? She's my best friend, my sister, my buddy, my Maple. Yeah, I know, we practically bite each other's heads off when we're together, but that's what makes our friendship so…real.
Lee came to me when Sam broke her heart. Not Emily, because she broke Maple's trust. Me. Personally, I've got no clue how to comfort girls. So what I told her was that Sam was gonna have a new ass hat soon. I'd made her laugh for the first time since it happened.
Our friendship isn't like that fake shit Jacob had with albino leech-loving Bella Swan. No, this was real. No fake love or friendship here. I mean, would Jake and Bella not speak to each other for a week because Swan had told him what his nickname meant.
Moonshine. Maple's always called me Moonshine. It wasn't until the eighth grade that I finally asked her what the hell Moonshine meant. I didn't speak to her for a week after she told me it was homemade booze.
But still. Maple…Maple can be a bitch, and cruel, and downright nasty when she needs to be. But underneath all that, when she's in the right mood and Jacob's not pissing her off, she'll always be Maple Syrup. (Tell her I added that, and you'll be getting an ass hat.) And sometimes, when it's just us alone and talking in the forest like we used to, sometimes, she'll get that sparkle in her eyes that was there from before Sam, and she'll smile genuinely, with her teeth flashing and it lighting up the world.
And no matter what shit life throws at us, I know one thing. Leah will always be my best bud.