Author's Note:
This is my first story I'm posting on here. Constructive criticism is welcome! I recently discovered a new found addiction to Paul so this is the result of my over active mind. Warning: There is Bella bashing in here. Sorry if it seems too intense.
I do not own Twilight, that belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I hope this turns out okay, enjoy!
'How about this! Let's go on a hike through the woods.' Gracie says as we wander towards the lunch room. 'Why?' I moan. 'It'll be fun!' she says. 'What about hiking is fun?' I look over at her and she huffs. 'Fresh air. Exercise. Hello?' she sings and I roll my eyes. 'We get fresh air all the time, this is La Push. C'mon, something fun.' I say. 'Hiking is fun.' she sniffs and turns away. I roll my eyes and one of my favorite boys walks up.
He should be my only favorite boy seeing as the other two abandoned Gracie, Quil and I for a cult full of muscles, tattoos, short hair, and steroids. Sam Uley would grab unsuspecting little boys and feed them something that makes them grow muscles on their muscles within a few weeks. No normal person can do that.
'Hiking is not fun.' Quil says, draping his arms over our shoulders. He was handling it pretty well, considering Jacob and Embry had been his absolute best friends. The five of us had all grown up together and now that Embry and Jacob had abandoned us for that stupid cult, Quil had been a little more downtrodden. Not as much as I expected, and I felt like he knew it was coming. But now, the group of boys were watching him like he was next.
He swore up and down he'd refuse whatever they had to offer, but I couldn't help but feel like that wouldn't happen. Embry and Jake promised they would, too. Jake had even cut his ties with Isabella Swan. That, however, we weren't upset about. I never liked the pale girl who looked like her face had been smashed in with an ugly stick.
'Hiking is a blast!' Gracie gasps, bringing my attention back down to the two. 'You're so weird.' Quil shakes his head and we all get in line for lunch. I should have brought my lunch, but I decided fifteen more minutes of sleep was a fair trade. Now, I was regretting my decision. The food wasn't really categorized as food.
I hear whispers erupt and realize the four must have entered the cafeteria. Before their complete transformation that didn't seem humanly possible, all four guys had been deemed attractive and targets for the more flirty girls. Now, they were untouchable attraction wise. Only the hottest of the hot were allowed near them, which explained why shy, rich little Kim Connweller was the only girl dating one of them. Jared, to be exact.
Once she started dating him, though, she was deemed unfriendly and therefore none of her old friends were willing to talk to her anymore. Who would give up their friends for a guy? Just one simple guy. Sure, Jared was hot. Like...really hot. But I was sure there were hotter guys out there that weren't on steroids, weren't part of a cult, and didn't make the poor girl choose between friendship and a relationship. The choice was easy, or so I thought.
It didn't matter; I would never know. Even if I had an interest in Paul (the only one I didn't know personally enough to categorize as a brother before this) he wouldn't ever have an interest in little old me. I was boring. I wasn't sleazy, how he liked them, and I wasn't nearly pretty enough.
The three of us finally get to the front of line and we pick out our food. I glance over at Embry and Jake, wishing for a split moment that they'd sit at our old table instead of their new one. Jake hesitated next to it, but a call from Embry had him scurrying back over like an obedient puppy.
I glare and grab my milk forcefully. Why couldn't he just break away again? Go back to being my goofy bff Jake? I drop into my seat and look over at Gracie who had a cautious look on her face. 'What's wrong?' she asks. 'I'm so tired of this shit. Who does he think he is splitting up a group of friends like that? It's not okay.' I huff. 'Calm down, my love. People grow apart as they grow older. Eventually, we would have gone to college and only texted once a day!' she says. I send her a harsh look and stab my fork into the innocent chicken tender. 'I hate you.' I mutter and she winces.
'Quil?' she asks. 'Nope. I'm just as pissed.' he mutters, taking a rather large bite of what appeared to be mashed potatoes. Gracie sighs and starts eating her vegetables silently. I play with my chicken tender, considering stabbing it some more or eating it and decide to take a huge bite. I was hungry. We eat in silence, all slowly letting the anger ebb away as we silently agreed to drop the subject for now.
'So, I hung out with Bella yesterday.' Quil says and I drop my fork and look up at him, my annoyance returning threefold. He winces and shrugs. 'I don't get why Jake loves her so much.' he mumbles and I push my plate away. 'Fuck it, Quil. Why did you have to bring that up now?' I order. 'Cause I felt ashamed.' he whines and Gracie sends me a harsh look. I pout and shake my head. 'Is she gonna steal you from us, too?' I ask, my voice dropping in concern. 'There's no way I could! You guys are a thousand times better than her!' he says fast and I smile. 'Good answer, kid.' I say and he smiles happily.
It wasn't until the next day that the three of us went semi back to normal. As normal as we could be while missing two of our best friends more than any of us would be willing to admit. Didn't Jake see how much it tore us up when Embry left? Wasn't he one of the ones who was really upset about him leaving?
I sigh as I walk from my car to homeroom. If I started thinking like this, I'd just get pissed off again. I, unfortunately, had the pleasure of having homeroom with the four. Gracie and Quil had a different homeroom and at the time were upset cause they felt like they were missing out on the awesomeness that was Jake, Embry and myself.
Now I felt miserable. It wasn't fair. I walk into the room and find the four laughing together. I drop into my seat that was as far away from them as possible and pull out my book, struggling to ignore the fact that Jacob and Embry had replaced us in their hearts. I can't help but glance over and notice Paul was, for whatever reason, looking at me, too. We catch eyes and I feel myself gasp and let my mouth fall open.
I had tunnel vision, only for him, and that felt weird. After what felt like hours, I somehow broke away at the world his eyes and mine had created and turned back around fast. That was weird and I didn't like it. I stare down at my book and fight the urge to look back at him again. The teacher walks in and I look up at him, hoping he'd create a distraction strong enough to keep my gaze from lingering.
As the teacher started talking about boring updates on the community, I could feel the want, no; the need to look back at him. As I was about to, the bell rang. I grabbed my bag and high tailed it out of there, heading to my first period.
I didn't have anymore classes with Paul, therefore that need wouldn't be there all day. I'd been strong for those fifteen minutes, but seventy minutes seemed like an impossible feat. I enter my math class and grab my homework, sighing a relief. How the hell was I supposed to feel about that shit?
Kim walks in and I realize Jared had walked to her to class. He kisses her gently and his eyes find me, a knowing look in them. I look away instantly and play with my homework. What the hell was up with these boys? Why couldn't they take the hint?
The first three periods of the day seemed to drag by and I was really looking forward to lunch. When Gracie and I met up with Quil after our study period, which we spent in my car, Quil knew something was off with me, but unlike Gracie, he was gonna say something about it.
'You look off. What's wrong?' he asks and I shake my head staring at the ground as I stood with them in line. I'd brought my lunch, so I wouldn't be buying this crap, but I sure as hell didn't want to sit alone where my eyes could...wander. 'Seriously, what's wrong?' he orders and glances back. His eyes narrow and he shakes his head, turning forward again. That could only mean one thing. The four steroids were standing behind us in line.
'Hey Jade.' I hear a soft voice murmur and I let out a soft breath and glance back at Kim. 'Hi.' I mumble and she smiles. 'Did you understand the homework in math?' she asks. 'Yeah.' I mutter and step forward again. 'It seems like a lot of work to do, doesn't it? More than usual?' she asks nervously. 'Why don't you guys go sit down? I'll get your food, Gracie. Make sure Jade sits down and gets some water.' Quil says sharply and I look up at him with a slight smile. He nods and Gracie does too. 'C'mon, Jade.' she says and we walk over to our table.
I glance back to make sure Quil wasn't doing something stupid and find damn Paul's eyes on me. I turn around fast and sigh, dropping into my seat and placing my bag next to me, just in case. 'Why was she talking to you? Isn't that a big no-no?' Gracie whispers. 'I dunno.' I mutter, unpacking my lunch. 'Really, though...what's wrong with you?' she asks, leaning in. 'Nothing. I'll be fine.' I huff.
'You've been off all morning. Are you still upset about Quil spending time with Swan?' she asks and I grimace. 'Don't...don't bring that up.' I sigh and she grins. 'So you are. It's not like he's planning on doing it again!' she says. 'I don't care.' I huff and poke around at my cold spaghetti. 'You do care!' she says and I glare up at her.
Quil sits and pushes a tray over to Gracie who smiles and nods. 'Thanks for saving her. What the hell is up?' Gracie asks. 'I dunno, but I don't like it. Avoid them.' he says. 'Right, cause I'm not already doing that, right?' I ask. 'Whatever, just do it!' he says sharply and I roll my eyes.
The four guys walk past our table and I turn my face away as they do. Of course, that took a lot of work as my eyes apparently were consistently searching for Paul. How come that had to happen to me? How come ridiculous crushes had to pop up out of nowhere? It wasn't fair. I finish my spaghetti and watch Quil and Gracie chat about better stuff than what I was thinking about while starting in on my pudding.
'Hey, we should go shopping.' Gracie says, nudging me with her foot. I look up at her and shake my head. 'You know I don't like to go shopping like you do.' I say. 'Because you're poor, but I can pay for a few outfits.' she says. 'It's not because I'm poor!' I say, sending her a nasty look. 'It's because I just don't like to try on a whole bunch of clothes that make me look more awful and only end up buying some crappy sweater that I know I'll never wear.' I glare and she smiles.
'You look hot in everything.' she says. 'Shut up.' I groan and Quil shrugs, bumping shoulders with me. 'It might make you feel better, you never know.' he says. I send him a look and he chuckles. 'What?' he asks. 'Not you too.' I say, annoyed. He laughs again and puts his arm around my shoulder, tugging me into his chest. 'I'll come too. To hold your guys' bags!' he says, making his best butler voice. I look at Gracie again who nods with a big grin.
'Fine. But only for a few hours!' I say. 'Yes! Tomorrow, I'll pick you up.' she says. 'No, I'll pick you up. I'm driving, cause I'm the man!' Quil says and she throws a french fry at him. He catches it in his mouth and I laugh and clap softly. He bows his head and winks over at Gracie. She rolls her eyes and I finish my food, in a better mood. Maybe Quil was right. Maybe some shopping would make me feel better.
'Ready, mademoiselle's?' Quil asks as I hop into the backseat of the car. She'd been picked up first. I stretch out in the back seat and sigh. 'If we must.' I say. 'Feeling better today?' Gracie asks. 'Still feeling a little...off, but it might be because Kim randomly started talking to me yesterday.' I say.
And because the thought of Paul gives me shivers and I've been picturing his eyes in my head since homeroom yesterday. I think to myself.
I give myself an annoyed shake and look out the window as Gracie and Quil chat. He finally gets to Port Angeles and we all get out at the mall. I pull my purse over my head and the three of us head inside. It didn't take long for me to be tired of this, and I think Quil felt the same, but Gracie was having a blast. She was ready to go into another strong smelling store when an even better smell hit my nose. The pretzel stand was a couple feet away.
'I'm gonna get a pretzel.' I say. 'Yum! Me too!' Quil says and Gracie waves us off, heading into the store. We share grins and head over to the pretzel stand. 'Feeling better?' Quil asks as we pay and sit down, devouring our glorious food. 'My mood has shifted, but it's more towards annoyance at letting you two assholes talk me into this. Plus, who shops at these stores?' I ask. 'Gracie.' he says.
'She's a twig! No normal sized woman shops there.' I say. 'We'll convince her to find a store suited for women and not little girls.' he grins and I roll my eyes. 'Nice wording, I'm impressed you didn't dig yourself into a ditch.' I say. 'Me too!' he says and I glare. He gulps and takes a huge gulp of his lemonade.
We sit in silence, waiting for Gracie to come back out. And she did, soon enough, with three more bags added to her five. 'Quil, didn't you say you were coming to carry the bags?' she asks. 'How do you even buy so much shit? Do you have space in your closet for this?' he asks. 'I've gained some weight so I needed to buy more my size.' she shrugs. I shake my head and Quil takes the one bag I have. 'There, I'm doing my job!' he says and walks away.
I can't help but chuckle as Gracie pouts. I take a few of her bags and she sighs, thankfully. 'Where to, next?' she asks. 'It's your shopping trip.' I say. 'No, it's ours. What about Aerie?' she asks. 'Their stuff doesn't fit a figure like mine, Gracie.' I say. 'Oh, then let's wander around until you see something you've gotta have!' she says and we did just that. Except, I didn't find anything I had to have.
She drags me into a store and I mentally groan. Not another one. I look around and realize all the mannequins were not size zeros. I blink surprised then slowly start wandering. They had some cute stuff. Lots of cute stuff. I couldn't help but feel a bit more interested. After examining all my favorite items, I was ready to leave. I couldn't afford a forty dollar shirt or an eighty dollar dress. I'd come back after I became rich.
Gracie had been watching me the whole time and somehow didn't argue when we left. We headed to the car after getting Quil two more pretzels and were on our way home. Gracie was on her phone in the back and I wondered why she was so quiet.
Once I was dropped off, I realized just how exhausting shopping was. It didn't make much sense. I drop into my house and hear my brother upstairs, messing with his guitar. I grin slightly and walk up the stairs then drop on the beanbag in his room, listening silently.
'What's wrong, kid?' he asks. 'What do you do when you like a girl?' I ask and he glances back, both eyebrows raised. 'You like a girl?' he asks. 'No, I want to know what you do when you like a girl.' I say. 'I talk to her.' he says. 'Every time?' I ask. 'Well...sometimes I observe her from afar. Adore her beauty.' he says and I raise an eyebrow up at him. 'Isn't that...sort of stalker ish?' I ask.
'What you have to realize, my dear baby sister, is that us guys are not as brave as we lead you to think. Behind all that bravo is a goofy little brat scared to death of being turned down by this goddess we adore.' he says. 'You sure have a way with words, Brent.' I say and he shrugs, going back to his guitar. 'So, how long does it take for you to ask her out?' I ask.
'Depends on her scale.' he says. My eyes narrow and he laughs. 'Not like that. How much I like her, how attractive I think she is, how much more attractive she's becoming as I observe her. Some girls grow on me fast. Like, one second they're invisible and then all it takes is one thing and I'm addicted to her; like a drug.' he says. 'So, guys are a lot like girls.' I statet. 'We're only human, Jade.' he chuckles and picks a the guitar. I sit back and watch him.
'What if a girl likes you? Have you ever had a girl ask you out?' I ask. 'Plenty of times! I say yes every time. It's worth giving everyone a chance, right? Wouldn't you want someone to give you a chance?' he asks. 'Yeah...' I say slowly and he winks. 'Why the sudden curiosity?' he asks. 'I dunno. It came out of nowhere.' I say. 'You don't have a crush on Quil, Jake, or Embry do you?' he asks and I throw a pillow at him, laughing.
'Ewe!' I cheer and he chuckles. 'Okay, just had to check.' he says and we hear the door downstairs open. We share smiles and hop out, racing down. 'Grandma! Grandpa!' I cheer and launch myself into my grandfather's arms. 'Jade-bug!' he calls, hugging me tight. 'What a flight.' Grandma sighs, hugging Brent first. We switch grandparents and I hug my grandma close.
'How's California?' I ask. 'Warm and sunny. You sure you don't want to move there with us? You could get a lot of vitamin D into those pores.' she says. 'Call me crazy, I like the rain.' I grin. 'Crazy.' she counters and I stick my tongue out, but grin. I was looking forward to this since I'd left them in July. I'd only been there for a week, and they were only here for four days, but I was gonna make the most of it. I loved my grandparents.
'Hey kids, wanna grab their bags?' mom asks, stepping in. 'You got it!' I cheer and run outside. 'Put some shoes on!' dad calls and I wave him away. 'Too late, gotta run!' I say and grab a few bags then go to run back. I feel my feet slide in the mud and let out a girly yelp as I hit the ground. My grandparents, parents, and brother all look over and burst out laughing.
I pout and Brent runs out and holds his hand out. Instead of taking it, I grab a handful of mud and throw it at him. His eyes narrow and he leans down, grabbing his own slab. I yelp again and struggle to get up, feeling an awful lot like Scooby-Doo, and scramble around the car, avoiding his shot. I laugh and grab some more mud and throw it at him.
'Cheater!' he yells and I feel the mud plant itself in my hair. 'Hey! You don't mess with a lady's hair!' I throw more and soon it was an all out war. 'Okay, okay!' dad says, walking down the steps, chuckling. I grin and go to grab a bag when dad snatches my wrist. 'No way are you touching anything but the floor and a shower. Go.' he says. 'Yes sir.' I grin and head inside, nudging Brent as I went. We race up the stairs and I stick my tongue out as I trip him and hop into the bathroom. He grins, amused and nods. 'I'll get you back.' he says. 'Looking forward to it!' I snicker and shut the door.
First chappie is done! Hope you enjoyed!