Bella cleaned her brushes in the Art Room sink.
Then her phone began to ring and she instantly knew who was calling; there was only one person who had her number.
"Why are you calling me, Paul?"
She rolled her eyes though he couldn't see her.
"Whatever, what do you want?"
He grumbled under his breath before answering.
"I want you to meet me at my… boss' house after school."
She didn't fail to notice the stumble in his sentence.
"Why?"
"I'm finishing work early and I'll need to eat so I thought it would make sense to go straight there." Plus, I wanna introduce you to the pack.
He left out that part.
So then, a couple of hours later, Bella found herself standing awkwardly in Emily Young's kitchen with her back against the sink.
She could hardly hear herself think over the shouts and laughter of the pack in the living room.
She watched as the scarred women chopped, sliced and diced away at the food on her chopping board.
Bella was sorta amazed.
"You don't cook very often, do you?" Emily guessed; Bella shook her head.
"I like noodles in a cup….Oh wait, I can make cookies." She amended. Emily turned to her and smiled with only the good side of her face.
"Really? Perhaps you'd like to make some; you know, for the guys." Emily suggested very tentatively; her voice was so quiet, it was hard for Bella to hear what she was saying.
"Nah, Paul says they're shit." She responded; Emily laughed and thought about just how suited Bella was to her imprinter.
At that moment, Paul stepped into the kitchen, the breath caught in Bella's throat.
She watched as his chest muscles flexed as he walked.
He smirked cockily.
He knew he was all that.
Paul grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it.
She looked away in embarrassment.
"You ready to go?"
She shook her head and pulled her hand from his.
"I thought you needed to eat."
He shook his head this time. Yes, he was hungry… very hungry but he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.
"Nah, I'm okay."
Emily laughed quietly as she slipped out of the kitchen to give them some privacy.
Bella smiled up at Paul and nodded her head.
Then she found herself being yanked outside onto the dirt road.
"Paul….Paul!"
He turned to face her with curiosity on his face.
"Huh?"
"You're pulling me."
"…Sorry."
He scratched the back of his head as they walked together this time.
"If we walk through these trees we'll end up at the beach."
Bella raised her eyebrow.
"I thought you said we should never go into the forest."
"Not 'we'. You. It's fine as long as I'm with you… But the order still stands with you're alone." He corrected himself.
Bella stopped and looked up at him with an incredulous expression.
"Order? Really Paul? So now you're ordering me around." She crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly.
He exhaled tiredly.
"I'm asking you."
She unfolded her arms and moved a little closer to him; looking away her cheeks flushed red.
A little later….
"Hey Paul…" Bella murmured as they walked across the shore.
"Yeah Bella?"
"How did Emily get those scars?" Paul stopped in his tracks and he turned to her.
She was a little frightened; he looked so serious.
"She was attacked by a bear up in the mountains." He told her mechanically, almost as if he didn't want to.
Bella's eyebrows furrowed as she thought about Emily's ruined face.
"I disagree." She concluded.
Paul's head recoiled a little.
"What?"
Bella wandered why he was so shocked.
"Well, a bear paw resembles a human foot in shape, as in the length of each digit diminishes as you go along, right?"
She waited for Paul's nod of understanding before continuing.
"On Emily's face, the middle scar starts higher than the rest… so unless that particular bear was deformed, it sounds pretty unlikely. I'd say those look more like wolf scratches."
Bella watched for Paul's reaction; he stiffened.
She noticed.
"What do you think, Paul?"
She turned to fully face him.
He stared her down for a while as if he was trying to figure her out.
"I don't know, how about I tell you another time…. Say tomorrow at four, I'll meet you here?"
Bella's eyebrows furrowed again.
"But it's Saturday tomorrow and the project isn't due for another week."
She was confused.
Paul leaned into her ear and whispered;
"I know."
She slithered out of his embrace and shivered a little.
He did things to her body that made her uncertain of herself.
"Are you asking me out on a date?" She asked, wanting to clarify.
"Isn't it obvious?"
"I'm not going."
Paul's face pulled into a huge grin.
"Of course you are…. Huh?"
Bella chuckled at his incredulous expression.
"You heard me, I'm not going."
She replied as she began to walk away from him.
Thoughts?
Please tell me what you thought of it.
Thanks for reading.
PLEASE no flames.