By the way, in this story Paul is dating Rebecca, but never imprinted on her!
Jared pushed open the front door, and my dad and I followed closely behind him. The loud chatter abruptly came to a stop, and everyone's eyes were soon on me. The quietness seemed to last for what felt like years before a beautiful, dark haired woman pushed past a couple of the people to pull Jared into a welcoming embrace. After she let him go, she turned towards me and I couldn't help but notice the deep scars that ran down the side of her face and trailed down onto her neck. I quickly averted my eyes when she addressed me.
"You must be Scarlett," She said, pulling me into a quick hug. "We have heard so much about you. My name is Emily, and this is my husband, Sam." She placed her hand on the man beside her, who was equally as buff, if not buffer, than Jared.
I forced a smile and replied, "Hi, lovely meeting you."
I glanced around the room and was in shock by what my eyes were taking in. There were five other men who appeared to be giants as well. Did La Push have some weird workout club going on? Report to the gym or you don't get dinner tonight? I couldn't help but feel uneasy.
Jared led me past Sam and Emily to the dining room table they were all crowded around.
"Scar, this is Jacob, Embry, Quil, Seth, and Paul." He said, motioning towards each one of them individually.
I smiled and nodded at each one of them individually, and was about to give a "Nice to meet you," until my eyes landed on the one on the end. Paul, if I remembered correctly. This was my brother's best friend, the one who used to play hide and seek with us, and the one who seemed to live at my house for a couple of years. I hadn't made eye contact with him yet, knowing by the glimpse I got earlier that he was by far the most attractive there. The most attractive man I had ever seen, I think.
I hadn't made eye contact with him yet because instead of my eyes landing on his face, they landed on the girl's face who was sitting in his lap. She had light brown wavy hair and chocolate eyes. She had tanned skin and freckles peppered over her nose. She was pretty.
"Hi, I am Rebecca. I'm Jacob's older sister, and Paul's girlfriend," She said grinning, and holding out her hand.
I gave her a shy (I was feeling somewhat disappointed) smile and shook her hand. That's when I glanced upwards of her shoulder and made eye contact with him. He was nothing short of beautiful, and he sent off nothing but a mysterious aura. His hair was unkempt and I was dying to run my fingers through it. He had the slightest bit of stubble on his chin, causing him to appear older than he was. His baby blue shirt hung tightly around his chest, emphasizing his muscle tone. I had never looked at a boy and felt this kind of reaction before. I don't even know if I have given a boy a second look before. Was I going insane?
My glance hesitated on his chest, then my eyes hovered over his lips, then to his nose, and then finally, his eyes. He had emerald eyes, like me. They reminded me of the forest we were surrounded by. Green is my favorite color, and the forest is my favorite place. His eyes felt like home.
He tilted his head a little as he gazed back into my eyes, and I felt like I was dreaming. Neither one of us said a word, and the entire room was quiet. Too quiet. He didn't tear his gaze from mine as I noticed his jaw went a bit slack. I couldn't pull my eyes off of his as I watched shock, and a bit of something that looked like anger eventually flash over his face.
I felt Jared's body tense beside me and I saw Rebecca look wildly around the room, noticing everyone's attention was on us. I heard someone clear their throat and Paul stood up quickly, causing Rebecca to stumble off his lap.
I snapped out of my dreamy daze and backed up, into Jared. I felt his chest vibrate a little and it sounded as if a soft growl came out of his lips.
"Paul, come with me outside." He said shortly. "I think there may be something wrong with my motor and I was wondering if you could take a look at it."
His voice seemed to cut the air like a knife and I watched Paul clench his jaw, and I tried not to notice my knees growing weak as I watched. Paul pushed past Jared and out the front door, slammed it behind him. Jared followed closely behind.
No one had spoken yet, and I could feel Rebecca's glare burning into me. Had I done something wrong?
Seth was the first one to speak up and I could have sworn I heard someone breathe a sigh of relief when he did.
"So, Scarlett, have you been down to First Beach since you have been back?"
"No, not yet," I replied softly. "I actually just got back an hour or so ago."
Emily laughed melodically and intervened, "An hour ago? And they already dragged you out of the house? Sounds just like Jared and your father. Always in a rush," She shook her head and scolded my father jokingly. "Should have given the poor girl some time to rest."
My father winked at me and said, "She knows there's no resting in my house."
I rolled my eyes and chuckled. "Absolutely not."
"Well, Seth, the lasagna has about thirty more minutes in the oven until it will be finished baking. Why don't you take Scarlett down to the beach for a bit?" Emily suggested.
I looked at him nervously, not wanting him to regret speaking up about the beach. I didn't want him to feel obligated to escort me around to waste some time.
I was expecting to see a hesitant look on his face, but I was actually greeted with the complete opposite. He was grinning from ear to ear and said excitedly, "Sure I will! That is, if you want. I know this house can feel a bit suffocating at times." He joked.
Quil elbowed him in the side. "Only thing that can feel suffocating around here is you and your bad jokes."
Everyone laughed and Seth looked the slightest bit embarrassed. I guessed that Seth had a bad reputation for being the cheesy joke guy.
"Come on, we can walk there from here," Seth said to me, standing up. "It's not too long of a walk and the weather isn't too bad today."
I was happy to follow him outside, too eager to get out of the weird atmosphere inside of the house. They were nice people, but I had no clue why it was so tense and awkward, but I was not a fan of it.
We made our way onto the porch and what we saw in front of us was not a pleasant sight. Jared and Paul looked downright outraged at each other and seemed to be in a heated argument.
I heard Seth mumble an "Oh shit," under his breath as he raced back into the house. I stood there, shocked, as I saw Paul shove Jared and send him flying backwards.
"It's not my fault," He roared. "You know I can't help it. You think I want this?" He yelled furiously.
"I don't care what you want, it's not happening regardless!" Jared screamed back.
Paul began to tremble and got closer to Jared. I sensed he was going to hurt Jared terribly so I went running down the steps and off the porch, into the yard beside the both of them.
Deciding that I wouldn't let Paul beat Jared to a pulp, I quickly intervened without thinking.
"Hey!" I called out, using my best assertive voice. "Cut it out, what the hells the matter with the two of you? I thought you were best friends?" I accused, angrily.
Jared looked at me with a frightening look and Paul was still trembling, looking past me, sending a murderous look at Jared.
"Scar, go back in the house." Jared muttered through clenched teeth.
I looked at him onerously and spit out a sarcastic laugh. "No." I said defiantly.
"Same old Scarlett," Jared mumbled, his words dripped with anger.
"Jared, you better get her out of the way," Paul said with a trembling voice. "I mean it, Jared! Get her out of the way!" He roared again, scaring me a little. I was shaking myself now, but trying my best to hide it.
Before Jared or I had the chance to respond, the front door flew open and my dad and the rest of the boys came flying out of it. Sam collided into Paul screaming incoherent words, dragging Paul around to the back of the house. I barely made out a "You can't ruin this," and a, "Don't be this stupid," come from Sam's mouth. The rest I couldn't even comprehend.
Jared stormed past all of us and into the woods. I guess he needed time to calm down. What could have caused this? I was completely dumbfounded.
I could tell how embarrassed Emily was by the look of pity on her face. The boys all appeared to be filled with unease and I even caught Jake massaging his temples. I glanced at the flutter of a curtain in the front window and caught Rebecca spying out from behind it.
My dad came up behind me and put his arms around me. "Listen to me, Scarlett. Don't do that again. Do not get in between anyone when they are about to fight? Are you listening? Especially not Paul."
I nodded at him and didn't say a word. To be honest, I wasn't listening. I was still trying to piece together what had just occurred.
What could possibly make them mad enough to almost hurt me in the process? I have never seen Jared act like that before. It frightened me.
Everyone eventually retreated back to the house, leaving Seth and I on the porch still.
"You still up for the beach?" He asked, half-heartedly. I could tell he was trying his best to lighten up the mood. He seemed like an alright guy.
I smiled politely at him and replied, "Yeah, sure. That would be great, actually."
He smiled at me sympathetically and nodded his head towards the road. "Come on, then," He said.
We were quiet on our walk there, but it was not awkward. I think we were both just too busy pondering other things. I was thinking about how my mom probably would be arriving home from work soon. How she would come inside, notice my car was gone, and assume I was at one of my friend's, or maybe work. She would come into the kitchen, wondering what she would make for dinner. She would have an idea of something and heads towards the fridge to make sure she had bought it at the store the week before.
Then, she would read the note I left her. The one that read, "Mom, I am leaving. Don't come looking. I need escape. Maybe after I am gone you will find the love you used to have, but decided to let go. Until we meet again."
It pained me, a little, to think of leaving my mom alone. I didn't expect to feel this way, but I could barely help it. I loved her - just not enough to take care of her. I was the child. Why wasn't I being taken care of? We had just made it to the beach and we were making our way closer to the water.
Seth interrupted my pitiful train of thought by saying, "So, are you happy?"
I whipped my head around to look at him, surprised by his straight-forwardness. No one had ever asked me that before.
"What?" I asked, confused.
He looked a tad taken back by my reaction and stuttered a bit, "Uh, I-I, mean, like, happy you moved back here?"
I laughed awkwardly. "Um, yeah. Really happy, actually. I've missed this place quite a bit. Portland was cool and all, but didn't really compare. I missed the homey feel of this place."
"Yeah, I bet. I couldn't imagine ever having to leave here." He said staring at the ocean, in a daze.
We walked a little further and eventually plopped down in the sand, on a blanket Seth had brought. I told Seth a little more about Portland and how I had spent the last few years there. I told him about my two best friends, who were also my neighbors. I never understood how I lucked into that.
He told me everything I had missed in La Push (I was not shocked to find out it wasn't much), and we laughed at old stories of Jared. I enjoyed his company.
We were silent for a couple minutes, appreciating the blissful moment the waves were bringing us. Then my stomach rumbled, growling like thunder. I felt my cheeks turn pink at the embarrassing noise, and Seth chuckled.
"Want to head back and get our hands on that lasagna?" He suggested.
I smiled at the thought of hot food and happily agreed.
As we made our way back, I couldn't help but ask Seth the question that had been burning on my mind the entire afternoon.
"So, Seth," I started. "What was up with Paul earlier?"
"What do you mean?" He asked quietly.
I could tell he was playing dumb on purpose.
"Well, when he looked at me, he acted like he saw a ghost. Then Jared became so angry and rushed him outside, and everyone was acting so strange…"
Seth cut me off then. "Look, Scarlett, that's just Paul. You'll learn that soon enough. I don't think it had anything to do with you, so don't worry. Him and Jared get into brawls all the time. Seriously, don't sweat it. It's no big deal." He told me, quickly.
I rolled my eyes and didn't answer back. We were quiet the rest of the walk back and made our way into the house. There was laughter and chatter, and the atmosphere didn't seem tense anymore.
We were welcomed back warmly by everyone – well, almost everyone.
Paul was gone.
