I skipped through the parking lot after school still elated with my discovery. What a day! The sky was bleak, the snow had melted into dirty muddy water, and my feet that were cold in my shoes were probably going to freeze in this weather. It was a perfect day in Forks!
It was all I could do to keep from singing. I couldn't even wonder why Edward couldn't read my mind. Who cares? He can't! My secrets were safe with me. I wondered if that was why they were staring at me in English. Or maybe Jasper had told them about the bizarre, extremely high strung girl he sat next to. Still high from my victory I hopped to the Celica that was parked outside the lines in my haste to get to school in the morning.
I whistled my way into the car and slammed the door closed behind me. The mess I made was still there, but for once I was up to cleaning it up. I went home and parked in front of the garage at the top of the slope.
Rain was sliding down it, I danced up the pavement rocking my hips to the rhythm of a childish mocking tone.
"Edward can't read my mind, Edward can't read my mind." I sang as I pulled up the garage door where I was guessing the car cleaning stuff was. As soon as I looked up, I resisted a scream.
Or at least I thought I did. I guess that piercing sound that hit the air was me.
"Sh!" the stranger hissed. The looming figure ran up to me and clapped a hand over my mouth. My eyes hit the black piercing eyes at once. I didn't relax. The long black hair and Native American round face were unfamiliar to me. It wasn't Sam and he was too big to be Jared. His clothes stretched across him in an unattractive way, like he was literally bursting at the seams.
I quivered, but it wasn't because I was cold. No, suddenly I was uncomfortably warm, and I knew exactly why.
"Cammy, its me," said a voice that was almost familiar, but it was off. I had to guess.
"Paul?" I asked, muffled by his hand. He released me, my mouth still warm from his touch. He nodded, his boyish charm shown by the awkward quickness of his nod. It was Paul. I hadn't been able to tell at first. The light in his eyes had turned to cold like volcanic stone. I took a step back and looked at him. "What happened to you?" I gasped.
"Something weird," he answered panicked. He looked up and down the street as though to look for anyone watching. "Listen, I'm not supposed to be in Forks at all, but neither is Sam. This was the only way I could think of losing him. I think he's slipping me drugs!" He uninvitedly took my hand, mine so delicate in comparison, and he pulled me into the garage to escape the rain.
"What are you talking about?" I asked jogging to keep up with his strides.
"What do you mean what am I talking about? Look at me! I woke up naked in the woods like this in the morning! I had an overnight growth spurt of six inches! I'm huge, I'm hot, my thoughts are... well they're confusing me. And where did this six pack come from?" He pulled up his shirt and pointed to a well toned body underneath the sheer clothing. I raised my brows, unable to remember what he was asking all of the sudden. "Sam's got it in for me. He's been stalking me the past week. Him and his little sidekick, Jared! Out of nowhere I became giant like them? No, they must have done something. I don't remember ever leaving the house last night, but I woke up miles away! And..."
He paused and his nose crinkled.
"And you smell bad?" he said questionably. I frowned.
"I took a shower this morning, thank you very much," I said. Then I forced myself to focus at his impatient look that was not kidding. I made myself composed, putting on a straight face. This was serious. The last of my triumph disappeared as I began to take in the symptoms of Sam's "drug."
Unwillingly I stepped toward him and rested my hand on his forehead. Paul's eyes followed my hand as I had to balance on my tip toes a little bit to keep myself from making a Nazi salute just to reach him. His forehead was burning much more than it should be.
"Paul, I don't think that Sam drugged you," I whispered. Paul's eyes returned to me, concerned.
"You know what it is?" he whispered back. The rain was pounded a little harder, droning out our voices. I nodded for him to follow me as I got the materials needed to clean out the car. He followed me into the front seats, through the passenger side.
"It's not a good idea for you to be here in Forks," I said over my shoulder. He was holding the door open as I scrubbed away all traces of my make up accident this morning, then the mud from yesterday. I scraped the dried chunks of mud from the floor onto the driveway.
"You're starting to sound like Sam," he said taking the rag from my hand. "And I'm not going back to him or Jared or any Quileute land at all." His black eyes pierced through mine, making me suppress a shudder. "Whatever is happening to me..." his voice trailed off as he shyly looked at the ground. "I want to stay near you. Maybe I can hide somewhere around here until whatever this is passes through my system." He met my eyes again and now they were scared, pleading. I didn't have the heart to tell him that turning into a werewolf was not like getting the flu. You can't just get over it.
"My aunt and uncle..." I said shaking my head. Paul immediately tensed, ready to defend his idea.
"I won't get in their way at all. They won't know I'm here. I'll just sleep in the garden shed," he said. I frowned.
"The leaky garden shed?" I asked in disbelief. "You'll get cold." He shrugged like it was no big deal.
"It's not that cold," he said. I nodded slowly.
"I guess for you it isn't," I said. I didn't want to tell him no, even if it seemed like the right thing to do. I should tell him to go home, that Sam could help him more than I could. But I couldn't.
Paul reached out and steered me toward the house.
"Come on. Deb and Bob went out. Let's go inside," he said. His warm hands rested on my shoulders and gently turned me toward the door. I fished in my pocket for my keys. I pulled the screen door open and unlocked the dead bolt.
We walked through the kitchen. I immediately took of my shoes, and looked to make sure he was doing the same. I hung up my coat. Paul ruffled his hands through his long wet hair and shook his head like a dog, much to my amusement. I wanted to smile.
"Listen Paul, I would love to hide you here, but sooner or later someone's going to find you," I said. I turned around and led the way into the living room.
Thump!
"Ow!" I whipped my head around and saw Paul rubbing his forehead as he ducked under the doorway. I smiled faintly. "Debbie will never know," he went on. He sniffed again. "This whole house reeks. Its smells sweet, like..." He paused to think. "Like someone was trying to fry carmel in a frying pan and they burned it."
This caught me by surprise.
"What?" I said.
"It smells sickenly sweet. Like cough syrup or something," he said. He looked at me puzzled. "You don't smell it?"
Sickeningly sweet, I thought to myself.
Vampires. In my house. They had been curious about me. I chalked that up to my lists of reasons not to keep Paul around. I saw an unnecessary battle between a young werewolf and whichever Cullen was going through my things.
Then fear struck me. What if they had found the books? Now I had to get Paul out of the house.
"Sam will eventually find out you're here," I argued quickly, glancing at the door.
"How? We're not allowed to go to Forks without permission," Paul pointed out.
"Yeah. The same goes for you and yet here you are," I retorted. Paul blinked and then smugly smiled.
"I'm not important enough to him to break the rules," he said sitting on the couch near where I was standing. He suddenly reached out and tugged my arm, an offer to sit. This gesture had more force behind it than either of us expected. I fell over his lap, beside him. He didn't seem to mind that my legs were lying across his. I resisted a blush and pulled my legs into a cross-legged position.
He must have seen me get flustered at our touch. His smile was contagious again. I was losing ground, slowly allowing him to persuade me. I quickly shook my head. No, he couldn't be here if there were vampires here. My smile fell to a flat line. I couldn't look him in the eye.
I was going to have to get the big guns.
"Paul, I can't. There's a reason that your tribe doesn't want you in Forks," I said. Paul's smile fell. My heart sank. I felt like I'd just kicked a puppy. That description was too appropriate. I looked away from him.
It was obvious that he was in denial about what was happening to him. Sam had probably tried to talk to him already.
"It's a silly superstitious reason," Paul growled. With that I was convinced. Paul knew what he was. For once, I was not intimidated by a supernatural creature's intense gaze. This was Paul after all, the nice boy from the beach.
So I took a deep breath, readying myself to be abrupt.
"I can't hide... a werewolf in the house," I said quietly. Paul stiffened. I looked up at him. Waves of worry were coming off of him. I swallowed hard. Paul jumped up to his quickly, scowling down at me.
"Did Sam tell you to tell me that?" he asked furious. "Because I told him, that's stupid! I am not a werewolf!"
"I haven't talked to Sam since I was with you yesterday," I said defensively. Paul snorted. He picked himself off the couch and started to pace. He was impossible not to watch, his undersized clothing stretched and pulled, allowing me to see the tendons and muscles that moved when he walked.
"There's no such thing as werewolves! I'm not superstitious like the rest of them," he said. I blinked at him. He looked at me for a response. When I just stared he started to get frustrated. A shiver ran through him that made him shake. His hands opened and closed restlessly into fists.
He reminded me that I needed to get him out of the house. He had to be convinced so he knew that he really was breaking the treaty by being here.
I stood up and walked to the bathroom. Paul watched me curiously. I came back with a thermometer I'd found this morning while searching for deodorant. Paul didn't question me as returned to the room and immediately stuck it in between his lips. He was quiet for a moment, then the thermometer beeped. I took it out and read it.
"108.6," I reported. He stared at me. "You should be dead, or at least unconscious, at that temperature, Paul!" Raising my voice only agitated him. He suddenly curled his lip and snarled. Familiar anxiety returned. Both of us staggered in shock. Paul looked down at the floor and self consciously cleared his throat.
"But that's impossible," he said quietly. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, well, welcome to Twilight!" I snapped before I could stop myself. He looked confused, then he looked worried.
"What should I do?" he asked ignoring my outburst. He looked scared, like a child. A pang of pity hit me. I didn't want to kick him out. I wanted so bad to keep him, to make him my own personal werewolf. I could teach him to get along with the Cullens, and fight alongside them instead of against them.
But this was definitely Paul, the moody werewolf who will jump for the jugular first and ask questions later. Somehow, he was simultaneously the Paul from the beach. I was torn. I'd worked this hard to keep Twilight according to story. Paul wasn't supposed to live in Forks, he was supposed to be one of Quileute werewolves.
"You need to have other werewolves show you how to live," I said. He looked sad.
"I don't want to leave," he said, his voice low. I smiled a little at this. He looked up shyly. "I want to stay here."
"You have to. This doesn't mean we can't hang out. I'll still come to La Push. You can show me all the cool stuff werewolves can do," I said forcing my cheerful expression. He didn't look comforted. Whatever denial he'd been in was now over. He swallowed hard and ran his hand through his hair.
He blinked rapidly as he averted his eyes, and then he met my gaze. We stared at one another for a moment, the air intensifying between us.
In a quick sudden movement, I was pulled into a hug. Paul's warm arms wrapped around me pulling me close to him. He held on as long as he could, gently rocking. I let him hold me. His muscles slowly began to relax. I allowed my body to unwind to, melding into him. I breathed in the woodsy scent of him. My heart ached.
I was so stupid. I didn't want him to let go.
Then the keys turned in the lock. I heard Aunt Debbie's voice echo through the kitchen. I stiffened and started to squirm out of the hug. It only made Paul cling to me harder. Footsteps came into the living room. I rolled my eyes to myself knowing what they were thinking as I was being hugged by this oversized teen.
"Um..." Aunt Debbie said. Paul's arms dropped abruptly. My skin was chilled without his exaggerated warmth. I spun around. Aunt Debbie, Uncle Bob, and Sam stood in the living room. Paul's shoulders slumped. I felt my heart throb.
Sam looked disapprovingly from me, back to Paul. His gaze settled on Paul.
"Come on, Paul," Sam said gently, but authority rang through each syllable. "Let's go home." Paul was instantly obedient. My aunt and uncle watched as Paul walked across the living room.
"Sorry for barging in on you," Paul murmured to my aunt. Aunt Debbie smiled politely.
"It's alright, Paul. Hurry home. Your family is worried sick," she said. Sam led the way to the front door and opened it. Paul turned to give me one last sorrowful look. It was such a pathetic look, like a dog you couldn't adopt staring back at you from behind a chain link fence in an animal shelter. It was completely stupid that my eyes almost started to well up.
"Be safe," he said to me. I shivered at the familiar words. Sam was beside him holding the door for him. Paul pushed past him. He was gone. The living room was suddenly much colder without him. Sam looked at me with a pointed look, forcing me to return to the situation at hand.
"You coming with the other kids to First Beach this weekend?" he asked. His dark eyes scrutinized me.
My heart thudded. He wanted to talk about the book that he saw. The only thing that was stopping him from hanging around and interrogating me was the fact that Aunt Debbie and Uncle Bob were also in the room and we lived in enemy territory.
"I'll be there," I promised. He nodded.
"I'll see you there then," he said. He turned to my aunt with a warm smile. "Thank you for helping us out, Debbie." Aunt Debbie smiled warmly.
"Anytime, Sam," she said. The door closed. Aunt Debbie looked at me. Uncle Bob's eyes went from me, to her. Then he quickly excused himself downstairs to the basement where his office was. I took a breath and dropped my eyes, readying myself for a lie.
"I didn't know he wasn't supposed to be here. Paul seemed really upset," I said looking up to see if I was at all convincing. Aunt Debbie sighed.
"That's alright. Paul, on the other hand, is going to get quite a talking-to. Sam was livid, I can't imagine how mad his parents must be," she said either accepting my lie, or choosing to ignore it. She walked into the kitchen and started the water in the sink to get the dishes going. I followed her, my steps dragging from the former conversation echoing in my mind.
I leaned against the counter to watch her.
"Yeah. I was going to let you know that a group of friends and I were going to First Beach this Saturday. Is that okay?" I asked. She peeked over her shoulder.
"I'll need my car that day," she said.
"That's okay. We're taking some of the other kids' cars," I reported. She agreed, smiling. With that done I rushed a little more quickly than necessary to my room. Now to make sure that the invading vampire hadn't found my books.
I had brought Twilight with me to school today, as usual. Eclipse was in a box in the closet where the other books I'd brought were being stored, New Moon was next to the heating vent drying from its fall in the puddle yesterday.
New Moon was what I was worried about since I left it out in the open. It was right where it should have been, next to the heating vent. I picked it up, and heard a ripping sound as I did. Apparently the plastic sleeve had melted to the metal. I smiled, relieved despite the fact that my beautiful cover was now ruined. But if someone, even a vampire, had tried to move it, it would have been ripped before.
I sighed with relief and collapsed on my mattress with an exhale. Keeping this secret was hard. My thoughts drifted back to Paul. It wasn't just hard, it was heart breaking. Who knew what the werewolves had been going through during the beginning of Bella's stay in Forks?
I hurried up and gathered the Twilight books together. It was getting too dangerous to leave them around. I was going to have to hide them.