'Destiny'? Really?
Chapter 2
Meeting Paul
I do not own Twilight. I'm not smart enough to think up or find all those names and then the randomly changing plot…my brain would melt from all the work.
Dedicated to Jaime2772 for reminding me to update. And, of course, everyone else who has reminded me, but Jaime2772 was the one to get me to do it this time around.
Enjoy!
"Are you coming down any time this year?" Jacob called up the stairs.
I groaned. "No."
"Come on Rachel!" Rebecca urged. "It's not that bad."
"This outfit is way too...skimpy for my comfort level," I protested.
"How bad can it be?" Dad asked.
"Very bad," I replied.
"Oh, come on," my evil twin sister cried, impatient. "We have people to see, boys to snag."
"'Boys to snag'?" Tom repeated, aghast.
"For just Rachel, of course," Rebecca automatically amended. "No man can replace you." I pictured her leaning in and kissing Tom on the mouth, since that's what she was probably doing.
"Help! Save us!" Jacob pretended to plead. "Rachel! Only you can stop all this romance!"
"I'm going back to bed," I informed my small family.
As I turned to leave, Rebecca's voice drifted lazily towards me (evidentially done with her make-out session), "Don't make me call off our deal."
There was no way I would go through the torture of playing Barbie doll and not get my reward. I stiffened, scowled and marched down the stairs like a rebellious teenager. Rebecca was really rubbing off on me. As I entered the kitchen, I looked around. As far away from me as possible, there was a black stove that was built into the wall. Above that was a black microwave. Built in white shelves were to the stove's left and right, slightly clashing with the off-white paint that was on the wall. In front of all that was a circular, wooden, ancient table, with seven mostly un-matching seats in which my family sat.
My said family was currently taking in my 'new look'. My dark brown hair was down in waves, something very unusual for me. Rebecca had made me wear a plain blue baby-doll shirt that's neckline was a little too low for my standards, but not that bad compared to what most girls at my old high school wore. Then she had forced me into a jeans skirt that to just a little above my knee. Erg. But then she still wasn't done. My evil twin sister had stepped back and looked me over. According to her, something was not quite right. So she had located my jewelry box and went through its barely-used contents. The only thing that she decided was 'acceptable' for my outfit was a simple necklace with a dark green stone heart pendant. It 'matched my eyes', which wasn't surprising since it was first given to my grandmother by my grandfather because it matched her eyes. Then, according to her, I was complete. But 'next time' it would be better, since she had more experience now. Oh, joy. I returned my thought to my speculating family. Hopefully someone would disapprove and save me from this.
Dad shrugged and said, "It looks good on you, Rachel."
I grimaced and looked at Jacob for aid, knowing that Tom wouldn't be able to help me in this crisis. Jacob, luckily, was scowling at Rebecca. "She can't go out in that," he snapped, waving his hand vaguely at my attire.
"Why not?" Rebecca demanded, crossing her arms.
"It'll attract guys!" he cried. "That's the last thing she needs!"
Rebecca rolled her eyes and flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "Duh! That's the whole point! Rachel needs to get a guy. There is no way my little sister is going to remain single forever!" She said 'single' as if it were distasteful.
"You're only about five minutes older than me!" I reminded her fiercely. I was not her 'little sister'.
Both my siblings ignored me and glared at each other. "Okay," Tom thankfully interjected. "Peace, love, harmony. Rachel isn't going to wear that outfit anywhere out of La Push and everyone knows that Jacob is little brother. No guy in his right mind is going to approach her."
"You approached me," Rebecca pointed out, her annoyance at Jacob forgotten.
Tom shrugged. "Who said I was in my right mind?"
Jacob laughed at that. Trust Tom to level out the tension in the room. I loved having him for a brother-in-law. "Okay, then!" Rebecca announced to the room. "We're going to be on the beach, eating breakfast. You guys will stay here or go anywhere but the beach. We don't want anyone to think Rachel's taken."
Jacob opened his mouth to protest, but my amazing brother-in-law swiftly dived in; "Why can't I go? You're taken."
"Yes, but darling," Rebecca said, flipping her hair behind her shoulder again, this time on the other side, "if you were there, I'd look like the single one, not Rachel. Rachel just has this air of...maturity, as do you. Everyone'd think that you two were an item."
I grimaced. "Thanks Rebecca," I said sarcastically. "That's a lovely mental image. No offense Tom."
"Oh, I agree," Tom said, grinning.
"Okay; I know you guys like to chat, but aren't you missing something vital?" Jacob interupted, looking frustrated.
"What?" Rebecca asked innocently.
"Rachel is not allowed to date," he spat out the word 'date', "anyone without my permission."
"She already has one father," Rebecca said, annoyed. "She doesn't need two."
"You guys?" I said tentatively and was ignored.
"Fine," Jacob snapped back at our sister. "Go off and have fun. But I'm warning you. If something bad happens, you're to blame."
"Fine," Rebecca said smugly. "Let's go Rachel. I already packed our breakfast, so don't worry about that."
"Rebecca making breakfast is something to worry about in itself," Tom muttered under his breath and earned a soft (well, I think it was soft) smack on the head.
"Look!" Rebecca said, physically shaking me from my small nap. "Guys are coming."
Yawning, I sat up, stretched, unwound from the blanket that I was curled up in, and brushed off the sand on my legs and skirt. When I was done, I looked at what she was pointing at. Sure enough, a group of guys was slowly making their way towards us along the shoreline. Squinting, I observed, "Yeah. That's Jake and his friends, right?"
"Oh, right," Rebecca said with a sigh, then perked up. "And Tom's with them!"
She instantly lept up and skipped toward the group who had already stopped walking. "Tom!" she exclaimed.
Tom lifted his head a grinned happily at the sight of his wife. I took my eyes of them, slightly because I was envious at what they shared, but mostly because they should have a little privacy. Instead I turned my attention to the rest of the newcomers. They were all men, though some of them might have been boy. Slowly I stood and began to walk toward the little crowd. The group was beginning to separate. The younger-looking men, who I presumed were young teens, stood mostly together, laughing loudly and shoving each other. The men who were probably actual men looked slightly more serious in another group, but were also laughing and joking around. I recognized a few faces in the latter group. Among them was my brother, standing in a circle with a small clump of friends. "Hey, Jake!" I called out.
He looked up, along with the rest of his friends. The men went back to their conversations after a quick glance at me, except for the guys talking with Jacob. I approached them, smiling. "Rachel," he greeted me, an unknown emotion in his voice, his face strained.
"Are you alright?" I asked in concern.
He shrugged. One of his friends quickly stepped in. "Rachel, I haven't seen you around lately. Have you graduated yet?" It was Sam Uley, someone a barely knew from my high school years.
"It has been awhile, Sam," I replied cheerfully. "And, yes, I have graduated, finally."
"You two know each other?" Embry, also in the small circle, said, surprised.
"Yeah. We graduated together." I grinned. "Don't you remember? You were there." His expression was blank. "Susan Curt sat next to me," I prompted mentioning the name of one of his past crushes.
Recognition filled his face. "Oh, yeah," he said, laughing.
I looked at my brother, wondering what he was doing during the small exchange. His glower was fixed on one of the men across from him. Glancing that way I saw Paul, who I remembered from the bonfire. Paul, instead of staring back at Jake, was gazing at me. Next to him, Quil watched Jake, a weary expression on his face. I wondered what was going on, but I knew better than to ask. "So," I said somewhat awkwardly, "I better get going. Dad's expecting me soon and since Rebecca's occupied," I gestured at the making-out couple to our right, "I will be able to escape. It was nice seeing you guys again."
I turned to leave, hearing a few 'byes'. Slowly I made my way across the beach back to my house. The sand was hot on my bare feet, reminding me of my sandals I had left near the breakfast basket. With a sigh and a good-natured smile, I walked over to the area where the objects lay. Bending over, I picked them up, cradling the basket to my chest with one hand and holding onto the straps of the sandals with the other, refusing to wear them. The warm sand between my toes felt too good. It was rare for it to be warm in La Push.
"Hey! Rachel!" I heard a voice shout from behind me.
It was Paul. He jogged up to me, a nervous expression on his face. "Hey," I greeted him friendlily.
"Can I walk back with you?" he inquired anxiously. "I, um, well Jake told me to talk to your dad about something and since you were going I thought that I might go with, you know, for companionship sake. Though if you don't want to I would completely understand."
He was rambling. I quickly stopped him; "Yeah; it'd be nice to have company."
The poor guy sagged in relief. "Thanks."
As we began to walk, I felt him examining me. I could hardly blame him; I had done the same thing at the bonfire. Though there was something about his expression that was a little off. I didn't know what it was, but I had a feeling it had something to do with why Jake had attacked him at the bonfire.
"So how old are you?" I asked. "All you guys seem to look the same; I can't really tell anymore."
"I'm twenty-three. You?"
"Twenty-two. I guess you were in the grade above me," I reasoned. "That's probably why I don't remember you."
"Wait," Paul said, considering something for a moment, "didn't you say you graduated with Sam?"
"Right. I skipped a couple grade-school years," I explained, shrugging. "I wanted to go to college as soon as possible."
"Wow. You must be really smart then," he mused, sounding impressed.
I laughed. "I'm more of a bookworm. I absorb most of what I read. And I had absolutely nothing else to do except for studying."
"No boyfriends then?" he guessed, surprised again.
"One," I admitted, "and he didn't last long, thanks to Jake."
"He didn't approve?"
"Yeah...and I guess I can see his point. Owen was a little on the creeper side."
"Owen? Owen McGraiden?" Paul asked.
"Yeah. You know him?"
"He was in my grade," he said with a smile. "That guy was a little weird. He left Washington right after he graduated and moved to Alaska or something."
"Alaska," I shuddered. "That place is way too cold."
"You don't like the cold?"
"I like the cold, as in the temperature here, but not the really freezing temperatures. I get cold way too fast."
He chuckled at my grimace, and then commented, "We're here."
I looked up. "Oh, right. Well, it was nice talking to you. Thanks for walking with me."
"It was my pleasure."
I examined my home with a smile. Every time I saw it, a feeling of warmth swept through me. I had been gone way too long. Slowly we walked into the house. "Dad, I'm back and Paul's with me," I called out into the kitchen. My dad wheeled himself into the living room, which we were in, smiling brightly. "Hi, Rachel, Paul."
"Paul wanted to talk to you about something," I said as I made my way to the stairs. "I'll be in my room if you need anything."
A/N: Okay. I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really sorry for taking so long to update. Just an FYI, if you haven't already realized this, I am prone to get into writer's blocks a lot. And when I write 'a lot' I mean A LOT. So sorry. But I suppose that isn't much of an excuse, especially for this chapter since it has been written for about two months, I think, and I haven't updated because I keep forgetting. Thanks you Jaime2772 for reminding me!
Oh, and now I have a solid excuse for not updating this coming year. School is starting. And school means schoolwork and a social life. I am no longer the hermit I was this summer. Then again, it won't really affect my updating habits….Sorry again!
I hope you people like this chapter! I wanted Rachel to actually meet Paul and not see him. I hope he isn't too out of character. I'm still trying to figure out how guys' minds work, to no avail. Oh, well.
And if anyone has any pointers on getting out of writers blocks, they would be greatly appreciated!