A.N. Here I am with another story for you. I hope you like it; I decided to move away from Embry in this story *tears*. Yes, it is very sad. But don't worry fellow Embry lovers; I have another piece of Embry pie coming out to you soon ;-) Anyway, this one's about Paul so I hope you love it!
Also, anyone wondering about all of my sequels, they are coming along. Since I've just finished exams I can write. Yay!
Happy reading

Summary: Bella is a highly functioning sociopath with no social skills at all who is oblivious to all things around her. So what happens when she crosses paths with the 'king' of La Push High Paul Meraz? Will she let him in? Or push him away? Paul/Bella, Bella/OC

Disclaimer: I'm only gonna say this once; everything but the story line belongs to Stephanie Meyer.

Bella paid extra attention to the eyes of the horse she was painting; they couldn't have been more than a centimetre wide on the canvas yet she made sure that they conveyed the feelings she wanted to put across.

"This one is beautiful too." Bella sighed quietly in annoyance and turned to the girl next to her; it seemed as if she was always around with that shy yet determined smile on her face.

Bella really couldn't understand her.

"Thanks…. Again." She answered; Qahla's smile grew to a point at which it was almost scary; Bella turned back to her painting without even returning the gesture.

Qahla's smile faltered a little but she exhaled and breathed through the pain…. Just as she always did.
"It's okay." She whispered; Bella noticed the odd tone in her voice and turned to her again.

"Your hair…. It's different." She stated as she finally took in the sight of the other girl; she looked so different to how she normally did.

Bella wandered why she bothered.

All signs of sadness drained from Qahla's face and her smile was just as bright as it always was.

"You noticed." She breathed; a crimson blush crept up on her cheeks and her hand brushed against the bottom of the elaborate side bun that she had styled on her head this morning.

Bella nodded.

"It's…. nice." Qahla's blush grew darker when Bella turned her attention back to her painting.

After around five minutes, class ended and Qahla turned to Bella again,
"Do you wanna go and get lunch?" She asked while packing up her things; Bella shook her head but never turned to the other girl.

"No, I wanna finish this." She muttered; Qahla dropped her things immediately and sat down. Bella's eye brows furrowed.

"You don't have to wait for me. You really don't." She wasn't trying to be offensive; she never tried to… but it always came across that way.

Qahla felt lucky that Bella hadn't even bothered to turn to her or she would have seen the tears that threatened to fall.

Qahla got up immediately and left, along with most of the other students. She didn't go to the cafeteria; instead she decided to call it a day.

Bella barely noticed.

"You're really good." She jumped, luckily stopping herself before she could make an unsightly mark on the perfect image.

"Oh…. sorry." The stranger apologised, Bella mumbled that there was no harm done before she put down her current brush and picked up a larger one.

She still hadn't bothered to turn around and address whoever was disturbing her this time.

"I'm Alex; I'm new here." Bella exhaled with irritation before placing the brush down in her wash pot and finally swivelling around on her stool; there standing in front of her was a Quileute guy about her age.

He had two shoulder length braids on either side of his head and a bandanna on the top; his left eye brow had a piercing as well as below his bottom lip.

He looked like he was rebelling against something. His body type was slim and he was of average height.

"Bella." She replied as she gave him a small smile; he smirked in response.

"That's a pretty name for a very pretty girl." He gushed.

"Is that so?" She replied dryly as she began to pack up her paint supplies since the moment had passed now. Bella stood up and his eyes widened.

"You're tall." He announced; she nodded slowly since she always got that kind of reaction, it was funny to her though since she wouldn't class five foot ten as particularly tall anyway.

Bella put the brushes away in the cupboard and placed the unfinished painting under the window in the far corner to dry.

"It is really good, you could be famous." Alex told her since his chat- up lines were failing miserably.

"Yeah well hopefully while I'm still alive." She murmured as she removed her apron and slung her backpack over her left shoulder; Bella turned to see him standing there- still. What?

Was he some kind of stalker?

She blinked and stared at him expectantly; it was obvious that he wanted to say something.

"Uh, could you tell me where the cafeteria is? It's just that I don't really know my way around yet…." He trailed off because of the awkward silence; she nodded slowly and tried to hide her annoyance.

"I guess you can go with me." She replied; his face cracked into a wide smile. The pair left the classroom and walked into the crowded hallway, it was overflowing with Quileute students.

Some fiddling in their lockers, others using their cell phones and the rest were just talking.

"Let's go." Bella murmured as she began to walk, dodging in and out of the crowds; Alex tried his best to keep up. When they entered the cafeteria; he noticed that some people turned around and stared in their direction.

"Do I have something on my face?" He asked Bella quietly; she shook her head and led him over to her table on the far side of the cafeteria near the back door.

"It's not you; it's me they're staring at." She told him as she sat in her favourite seat and propped her elbow up on the table.

"Why would they be staring at you?" He asked her.

"I dunno, they do it all the time." She shrugged; he gave her a small chuckle. He could see why they stared at her.

Bella was beautiful. Her hair was long, chocolate coloured and straight; her face was a very pale for a Quileute but that was due to her mother Renee who was Caucasian.

Her long eyelashes framed her chocolate brown eyes and brushed against her high cheek bones.

"I guess they think I'm weird." Bella shrugged. They sat in silence for a while.

"I'm gonna go get some lunch." He told her as he placed his backpack on his chair and got up; she nodded and pointed him in the direction of the cafeteria 'food'.

Bella rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes briefly; it had been a while since she had talked to someone other than Qahla face-to -face. She never had been a social person so she was sure that her behaviour was nothing short of impolite.

Interacting with people had never really been her 'thing' though, she had always kept quiet and to herself; that was exactly how she liked it. She didn't need friends to make her happy.

"I don't even know what this is." He grumbled as he came back with a tray full of slop; Bella made a face. There was no way that it qualified as food. Alex pushed the tray away from him in disgust and shivered.

"Whatever… tell me about yourself, I-if you want to?" Bella encouraged while scratching her arm nervously, she was actually trying…. But then her mind wondered as he answered her question; it was official, Bella Swan had the attention span of a goldfish.

"…But I'm pretty sure I said all this at the beginning of Art Class when Ms Hyatt told me to introduce myself." Her mind snapped back to earth with those words.

"You did?... Are you sure?" She asked incredulously even though she hadn't heard a word he had said.

"Yeah but you were already painting, you weren't really paying attention." He shrugged; she nodded slowly, not knowing whether to apologise or ask him why he noticed all of that.

"How come you could do that anyway? Paint something totally different to the assignment, not to mention the fact that your stool and easel were far into the back of the classroom away from everyone else's." This guy was observant.

"The teachers here have given up on me; whatever happens I always end up painting what I want anyway….. Even in math." She told him; he laughed at that even though it wasn't a joke.

Suddenly, his laughter was the only thing that could be heard in the cafeteria; Bella hit him and nodded her head over to the entrance where Paul Meraz and Jared Thail stood.

Alex frowned as he watched the two boys walk over to a table, one of them raised his head to the rest of the students and nodded; just like that, the chatter and laughter entered the cafeteria again. He turned back to Bella who looked thoroughly annoyed.

"The one with the stupid grin, that's Paul Meraz, self-proclaimed king of this school….. And that's his imbecilic sidekick Jared." She introduced in a bored tone; Alex raised an eye brow.

"King?" He clarified; Bella nodded. Lame. It's not like they were living in High School Musical or something.

"Yep, I heard his dad's supposed to be some kind of big shot business man in Dubai; apparently, he paid a large 'donation' to the school so Paul can never ever be kicked out, none of the teachers ever say anything to him. He goes around beating people up like it's a sport or something; if you step on his toes, he does things that make you drop out of school of your own free will. He's also a man whore; he sleeps with anything…. Especially now he's all buff or whatever….. And Jared, well Jared's just his best friend; the Thail's and Meraz's have been friends for two generations or whatever… or so I hear." She explained; he nodded, so this Paul person was one of those types.

A spoiled rich kid.

The two of them sat in a comfortable silence after that; Bella's head rested against the wall and she closed her eyes.

"I'm gonna dump this crap." Alex told her after a while; she looked to where he about to go but before she could say anything, he had walked straight into trouble.

That 'crap' was now all over the 'king's' crisp white shirt; Bella shook her head and stood, knowing this this wouldn't end well at all. The whole place went silent.

"I'm sor….." Paul exhaled angrily and held up his hand, cutting Alex off completely.
"Watch where you're fucking going!" He roared over the silent cafeteria; every eye in the place was trained on the scene unfolding.

Alex blinked and he tried to apologise again.

"Who the fuck are you, anyways?" Paul asked as he stepped forward so they were chest to chest.
"Alex, it's my first day." Bella was impressed that he was standing his ground.

Paul swore under his breath before grabbing hold of Alex's collar and pulling him up to his level.
"That's enough." Bella ordered as he pulled his fist back; it stopped mid-air.

"Don't get involved Bella." Jared spat at her; she looked at him before pulling a handkerchief from the back pocket of her overalls and wiped at her face.

"Was spitting all over me really necessary?" She asked seriously; gasps filled the cafeteria and Jared pulled his head back a little in shock.

Paul hadn't moved his eyes away from Alex yet.
"Leave him alone Paul." She advised; he turned to her, looked her up and down and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, well, well Bella Swan; who even knew you even had a voice?" He asked, earning some sniggers.

"Leave him alone." She repeated, not letting anything shake her confidence.

"What are you gonna do, Swan?" He asked as he held Alex a little higher.

"Me? I'm not gonna do anything; it was a simple request." She told him; keeping her cool like she always did. Slowly he lowered Alex's body to the ground; his eyes never left hers.
Bella watched as Paul walked a full circle around her body before stalking off. His face was hard as stone.

"You okay?" Bella asked as she tried to help Alex from the floor; he nodded and wiped down his clothes.
"Thanks." He told her; she shrugged.

"Yeah, well."

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