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Chapter 3: Making Concessions; Paul's POV

First thing in the morning, I was told to meet Fr. Dominic in his office. So, I of course went to his office in a... timely manner. I flopped down in the chair opposite the desk and watched him watch me. This could not be good.

"Good morning, Paul. Now I know that your way of mediating is somewhat different from the rest of us. But I must implore that you do this the right way and not just send the poor souls off to the nether." Ah, now I know what this is about. Once again, Suze had to 'tattle' about my activities in the spectral world. I just don't see why I have to be bothered by their petty problems. I wasn't going to lose sleep like Suze and Jesse did just to help them find rest. Selfish, but I wasn't in the caring mood right now. I tuned out the good Father and thought about the night before. About the girl from the beach. There was something off about her. A defensiveness behind all that sarcasm. I also remembered the presence beside her. The man that watched her, as I had, and it had nothing to do with wanting to see her safely home. About the fact that the dog was not really growling at me, but at him.

Now the good father was talking about something else. The fact that the last ghost I had 'mediated' had apparently not been very... shall we say, satisfies with my services, was what had gotten him all hot. Apparently he just had to go and rat me out. I just nodded and agreed with what he was saying even though he must know that I didn't really mean any of it. I stood when he did and we got up to leave. "Now remember that, Paul. I know that you disagree, but it really is for the best."

As I turned, I heard a growl and looked up and saw the girl from the beach. I smirked at the dog.

"Sid Vicious. I see we meet again." This just elicited another growl and I saw the girl's brow furrow and then she blanched. Surprised, I guess, by the fact that I had reappeared. When she finally found her voice, she told me not to stand too close, the dog growling in emphasis. I smirked when she asked how my hand was. Well, the truth is, it hurts like a bitch, but it wasn't like I was going to admit that out loud. Any way after this little meeting, I excused myself as quickly as possible. This girl was having a strange effect on me. Making me want to know her story and figure it out. I shook my head and went to homeroom. Where she just happened to appear a few minutes later. Great. Now I had a vicious dog following me and a girl who seemed to hate my guts. I of course, just made a joke about it and let my peers take care of the rest. Kelly was once again being her bitchy self. I tuned her out and watched Becca stand and give her whole schpeel about being from Minnesota and not having an accent. Ha! She was a wild card.

Then she sat down and the class followed her movements. She blushed and stared unseeing at the ground. That was when I saw the presence again. I looked over at Suze and she caught my eye. We made a silent agreement to figure it out. This girl had baggage and it didn't look light, or at all friendly. When I turned back to her, I saw her shudder and heard the dog growl again. I don't know how because it was so low, but I did. His hackles rose as well. She patted his head and he laid it back on the ground, staying very aware.

I was caught up in it all that I didn't notice that it was time to go to first period. I stood and walked away. There was a little crowd of people following behind Becca. The presence was gone now and I felt a hand on my arm.

"Paul," Kelly called sweetly in my ear. Like I said, she didn't get the clue. "Are you done with your tantrum? Because I was hoping we could go to the Grill tonight, or something." She was stroking my arm and I shook it off.

"We aren't doing anything tonight, Kelly, so lay off it, alright?" I started to walk away from her again, but her hand tightened.

"What do you mean? How about tomorrow—" I cut her off.

"No Kelly, we aren't going to hang out. Look, I tried to do it lightly but you just didn't get it. This is me, breaking up with you." Then I pried her hand off of my arm and walked away from her shocked expression.

Becca's POV

As I walked away from homeroom, I felt like I was being watched and followed and not by my fellow peers. Chills ran down my back and I tried to paste a smile on my face as I met countless other people. As we sat down for lunch with CeeCee and her friends, a girl that I had in almost all of my classes, Suze, a boy named Adam( who I think is her boyfriend just by the way they talked to each other) and a few others. They started to ask me questions. CeeCee started in first.

"So, how long have you been in California?" I could feel her gaze on me.

I swallowed and answered her question.

"Um... I moved here last July. My um... cousin thought it was a good idea for us to move away from Minnesota and start new, I guess. My little cousins like it a lot though."

"How long have you been blind?" I winced. This last question came from Adam who yelped the moment the words left his mouth. I assume that he got boxed in the ears for his tactlessness.

"No. It's okay. I'll answer that. I'll have to answer these questions eventually. I had... an accident about a year ago. You know, severe head trauma. The result was that I lost my sight. They say that there are certain surgeries that might be able to, to fix my eyes but they are all trail surgeries and might not work. There is a very high chance that they would yield negative results anyway and insurance doesn't pay for them. It's okay, though. I have my eyes." I patted Auggie's head. I said all of this calmly and matter-of-factly. I had answered this, and questions like this, so many times in the past year that it no longer fazed me that much. The table was quiet for a moment before Suze spoke up.

"Auggie seems... well-adjusted to people." I laughed at that. Knowing what she was implying.

"He has space issues. Paul just happens to be so unlucky that he invaded that space. He is pissed because he saw it as a threat. My cousin worked with him, but it didn't do much because Auggie likes him. You can't teach a dog not to respond to a threat." With that the conversation moved to safer ground. Like plans that Friday to go to a place called the Clutch, which they said that I was coming to. They did it after every break in school that they had, apparently. I didn't have a choice. I was going. While this was going on, I felt a chill run down my spine and felt a rumble start in Auggie's chest. It was low and only I knew what it meant and that I was the only one who could hear him.

I sat and idly listened to the conversation and tried to keep my cool as I felt the cold shudder rush through me. I gripped Auggie's leash harder and breathed out slowly. I could make it through the rest of the day, I told myself, and there will be no mishaps. Until Paul came and sat down at the table with us, that is.

Paul's POV

Not being one for punctuality, I planked down at the table, 10 minutes late to lunch, with Suze and the others who stared at me for a very long and disturbing moment. I felt/saw Becca tense as the table shuddered under my weight as I landed next to her.

"Slater," Adam said in greeting. I nodded to him in acknowledgement. But then he just kept looking at me and I realized that he was probably wondering why I was sitting with them in the first place.

"Avoiding a nuisance." Not mentioning that there was another right next to me staring at Becca. I made a point of looking over at Kelly who was talking wildly and emotionally to her D & K trolls who were glaring over their shoulders at me. I stared them down until Suze's voice broke through.

"Wow, those are some powerful glares you're getting, Paul. What'd you do, break her heart?" Our relationship had, somehow become platonic in the months since Jesse woke up in the hospital. Easy and friendly; strangely comfortable, even with Jesse. I smirked at her question, knowing that it was rhetorical, and didn't answer. I gave her a meaningful look though, and she narrowed her eyes slightly in the direction of the presence beside the lunch table, clearly trying to tell me that we had to do something about it. I shrugged. There wasn't exactly anything that we could in front of the whole student body and I wouldn't do anything anyway, I don't think. I turned to look down at Becca in time to see her shiver. I felt the strange urge to wrap my arm around her, but didn't for two reasons. For one, why would I want to? And second because of the dog staring at me, for once not growling at me but at the presence beside us. I wouldn't trust that thing if my life depended on it. And instead of just staring at her, I decided that I should probably say something.

"So, how is your day going? Sid Vicious hasn't massacred anyone in the student body, has he? I don't think that that would look too good on his record, which, by the way, is getting lengthier as the day goes on. Kelly seems to be on a rampage about this one." I was rewarded with a soft smile. A snort from Adam and a wicked laugh from CeeCee. She at least was warming up to me a little, but that was probably on account that Suze had told her the whole story about the love triangle. Suze just looked at me and rolled her eyes.

"Fortunately, he has not killed anyone yet. He is waiting for the opportune moment when the locals will least expect it." She paused. "Is it really wise to sit this close to him?" She wasn't flirting. I could tell the moment I looked at her, concern creasing her face with slight anger swirling in her eyes as well. Which made me look down at the dog. He pulled back his lips, revealing his teeth, but did nothing else. Just continued to glare at the Presence, whose presence was starting to get a little creepy.

"Uhh... I think that it's okay for the moment." Strangely, I think that he was okay with the fact that I was in the line of fire, in the way of the Presence. He was pretty smart, almost to the point where I wanted to pat him on the head. Almost, but not quite. Then CeeCee spoke up again,

"What is he looking at?" staring at the place where the dog was fixated on.

"Who knows," This was Becca. She was obviously used to his behavior by now and her next comment proved that. "He always acts like this; hyper aware of his surroundings. Especially when we are in public around a lot of people." She leaned down and stroked the top of his head and he leaned into it slightly, putting his head at a strange angle as he kept his eye on the Presence. Then the nuns were ushering everyone out of the courtyard letting us know that class would begin in five minutes. I looked at Becca as everyone started to move around us. Once again I felt the urge to wrap my arm around her and suppressed it. Getting up, I started to turn away when CeeCee asked what class she had next.

"Sociology," she replied from the top of her head. She had probably spent a good deal of time memorizing her schedule for today. CeeCee winced.

"I have Economy," I sighed inwardly. I couldn't let her not have a guide to class.

"I'll take you. I have that class next, too." CeeCee raised her eyebrows at me but said nothing along the lines as to what she was really thinking in that devious mind of hers.

"Well, that works out. Enjoy Soc. It's not so bad. I took it last year. I'll see you in Calc!" She touched Becca's hand that held her dog's harness and then walked off to class. I stood there for a moment before moving into action. First, though, I called my trusty sidekicks and Thug One and Two to get rid of the Presence at least until school got out and I could get rid of him for good. They came and stood by the dead guy and then grabbed his arms and left. Auggie immediately relaxed and began to lower his hackles and I stepped closer to Becca, wanting, for some reason to be near her. I saw her shoulders loosen up as well. I wondered if she could sense him on some level.

I was just about to say something when her cell phone went off. She rolled her eyes, obviously already knowing who the caller was. She held it up to me so I could read it out loud. I looked at her for a moment and then took it from her. It was a very hitech piece of equipment. I managed to open the message and read it to her.

" 'Becca, can't pick you up til 4. Shane has to work late and the girls get out at noon'." She sighed when I finished. "Do you need a ride home? I can give you one..." the look the past over her gave me the chills. There was fear in her eyes. She didn't want a ride from me. But then the look was gone, making me think that I hadn't really seen it. She smiled a little and said,

"Um... okay," she started to walk forward. And I walked up beside her, Auggie pulling her at my pace so he knew where he was going. She seemed to want to get awayfrom me.

"Hey, where you going? I thought that I was supposed to be leading you!" I joked. She looked a little sheepish, but said nothing else as we approached the class room. We were the last in the hall way and class had already started. I touched my hand to her arm to guide her to a stop. I turned to her and with a smirk, said,

"Are you opposed to doing something after school? Or are you planning on going straight home?" she turned toward my voice and stared into the place where she probably though my face was and just continued to stare. It makes a guy uncomfortable, if you know what I mean. I squirmed and then rambled on, losing my cool, "I mean, I will just take you home. Auggie will be there to keep an eye on me and all." I took her hand and placed her phone on her palm and continued, "I'll meet you at the gates at 3 if you still want a ride." I opened the door and escorted her in to Sociology and to a seat in the back. I was surprised and happy to notice that the whole time, Auggie hadn't growled at me. I think our relationship was shaping up into being something good. Then I took my seat and waited for the day to end.

I could kick myself for suggesting she go on a date with me. She was obviously not interested and thought that I was some kind of pervert because her dog hated my guts. But try as I might, I found my gaze land on her more often than not. I wanted to know her story, what she was so afraid of. As soon as we were dismissed from class, I got up and left, seeing CeeCee in the doorway. The day went slowly and as I walked to the gates at the end of the day, I felt a slight pleasure to see that Becca was waiting there for me to take her home. Maybe things weren't looking as bad as I thought they were. I smiled to myself and walked towards her and Auggie. The smile faded though when I noticed the Presence had returned and he did not look happy.


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