Ch.35- Mashed Potatoes
*Author Note:
Dear readers, I have changed the skin colour of both Chase and Isaac to be tan, just like Jayy. I have done this to hopefully be able to make the story a bit more interesting for you to read. That is all from me, and please continue reading my story. Thank you*
The silence in the room is deafening as Paul and I stare at each other. He moved himself from the end of my bed and sat down beside me. I wonder how he isn't on his patrol right now, maybe Sam let him off or let him switch with someone else. I also wonder who carried me to the nurse's office, since all I remember is a warm hand touching my cool arm, which could have been anyone; human or not. My eyebrows push together in thought, as I think about what to say first, or if I should say anything at all; my fingernails itching at my palms. My eyes glance up to Paul's and it's like he can read me like an open book, like he's reading my soul, knowing me from the inside out, but if he did then he would realize how broken I've felt and the pain I've gone through, but he doesn't.
"What are you thinking so hard about? "Paul asks curious, finally breaking the silence that was between us. I'm tempted to bite my lip, as a nervous habit of mine, considering Paul has made me nervous loads of times, but almost always in a good way; the type that can lead to butterflies in your stomach. My eyes cast themselves down, to the side, and then back up to his as I try to calm my nervous ticks.
"How do you know if I'm even thinking of anything or anything specific? "I fire back at him, causing him to let out a small chuckle at finally getting me to talk or to even react.
"Well, besides the hint that you just gave me, I know because I know how you are and you in general. Your eyebrows always push together like that when you are thinking hard on something. You almost always bite your lip out of being nervous, deep in thought, and especially for certain other reasons." Paul explains, a small smile on his lips as he casts me a wink near the end of speaking. My eyes widen a fraction in surprise before they go back to normal, as I wonder what I should say next. Paul has a look of patience on his face as if he is willing to wait years or wait until I'm ready to talk. I take a deep breath on clear my mind.
"It's just that I don't know where to begin. I also have questions for you as well. "I comment to him and he raises his eyebrows in curiosity at what possible questions that I have for him.
"I suppose that we could start with the questions you have for me and work our way from there. "Paul says thoughtfully, considering that would be easier on me so that I can build the confidence to confide in someone. I smile at him, nodding my head in agreement.
"Yeah, that would work better. So why aren't you on patrol right now? "I ask him and as soon as the words are out of my mouth, he almost gives me this exasperated look as if I offended him, which I hope I didn't, but it wouldn't be the first time.
"Are you saying you don't want me here? "Paul says, acting offended, but I can see the twinkle in his eyes that he gets whenever he's trying to cause trouble and bug someone. My eyes widen, going along with his act since I don't mean to offend him.
"No, that's not what I meant. You know I want you here. "I respond back quickly, and his lips form a huge smirk. I look at him in confusion.
"Oh, so you do enjoy my company then? Although, it must be more then just my company. "He smirks back at me, causing me to glare at him briefly, then roll my eyes in response.
"Well, at times, it certainly isn't your ugly personality. Egotistic, perverted bastard." I retort back, the beginning of my sentence is full of sarcasm, but Paul just ignores that comment, letting it just roll off his shoulders.
"I'm not even going to reply to that. Anyways, the reason that I'm not on patrol is because Sam allowed me to switch with one of the younger wolves, after he saw you passed out in my arms. I'll have my shift later on tonight or sometime during the week. So what other questions do you have for me? "He replies back. Yeah, of course, he won't reply back to that last comment because he knows it's true.
"Do you know who carried me to the nurse's office? "I question and he shakes his head no.
"No, everyone was hoping that you could tell us. We went searching for you and found out from both a fellow student, a teacher, and the nurse herself, that some mysterious person had carried you to the nurse's office and then disappeared. I would actually like to have maybe thanked that person for that act of kindness if I knew who they were. "Paul answers, and a deep frown goes across my face, considering I have no clue on who this person is, but I know that those who care about me and myself, appreciate this person for what they did. I almost can't help but to wonder if this person paid the student, teacher and the nurse to keep quiet. As my mind drifts in and out of different thoughts, my nose picks up the sweet scent of ham being cooked for supper. My stomach let's out a small growl of it's own, reminding me of how hungry I really am, causing Paul and myself to let out a laugh.
"Well, since it sounds like you are hungry and smells like supper is almost done, we can continue this conversation downstairs, while we wait for the food to be done. "Paul comments and I throw my legs over the side of the bed, my feet dangling a few millimetres off the floor. As I take a deep breath to get ready to stand up, Paul let's out a small chuckle. My eyes glance up to him, noticing that he is standing a few feet in front of me and waiting for me to move.
"What? What's so funny? "I ask him, raising my eyebrows and then I push myself off of the bed, getting dizzy for a few seconds, but stabilizing myself. I see a flash of worry go across Paul's face, but then he goes back to smirking at me, trying to lighten up the mood more. My eyes start to narrow into a glare, trying to challenge him more to say what he finds hilarious.
"Nothing, nothing at all... Shorty. He remarks, snickering to himself and a flash of confusion is on my face until the hamster on the wheel in my mind begins to turn and everything clicks into place as I notice the huge clue.
Between my height and Paul's height there is at least a foot difference. I've always been one of the shortest people amongst my friends as well as family, and Paul's laughter doesn't help the matter. I roll my eyes at him and walk forwards, hitting his arm purposely with my body as I let out a huff of annoyance. I almost lose my balance in doing so, but I steady myself and open my bedroom door with Paul's fits of laughter looming after me. I take the stairs two at a time, moving as quickly as I can, but as I do, I can't help but to notice that for every two steps of mine, Paul takes twice that amount due to his long legs; even if he was close to the same pace as me, I would still be tempted to trip him. Although, at the same time, I do enjoy being short and having a tall boyfriend.
I believe that all, or most of, the imprints have that in common with each other. Paul reaches the bottom of the stairs before I do, but once I reach the floor again, I walk straight to the kitchen, ignoring him altogether. I hear people in the living room and once I reach the kitchen, I see most of the females making supper, or sitting down chatting among each other. Paul's footsteps retreat to the living room, away from me so that I can't use any weapons from the kitchen on him if he decides to continue teasing me. Glancing around the kitchen, I also see a few stray guys, like Chase plus Jayy and Isaac, either sitting at the table or trying to help the girls cook. I move myself to the island counter space that is in between the stove and table, standing directly across from Emily.
"So mom, do you need any help with supper?" I ask her, surprising her and almost everyone else in the kitchen with the sound of my voice as well as the fact that I called her mom. She smiles at me and I smile back at her, as everyone goes back to their conversations, happy to see me back awake.
"No, everything is already taken care of and almost done cooking. Go sit down at the table with the others."She instructs me, shooing me away from the area, as she shakes her head from side to side, while continuing to cut up vegetables for a salad and dip trays. I nod my head in understanding defeat and take an empty seat next to Kim. I see Jayy sitting across from me and can hear the chit chat of Isaac helping Chase with some sort of food item on the stove.
"I see that Chase is overcoming some of his fears." I comment towards Jayy and he smiles, obviously proud, considering Jayy is an older brother figure. Ever since Chase's family died from a kitchen fire, he's been avoiding anything cooking or baking related, but it looks like he's trying to conquer his demons with the help around him. From the stories I've heard and occasionally from personal experience, I know Chase is fantastic in the kitchen.
"Yeah, Emily was looking for volunteers and Isaac coaxed Chase into helping out as long as Isaac was right there. It's really great."Jayy explains proudly and excited. I smile big, nodding my head in agreement.
A yelp of surprise is heard from behind me and I hear Isaac scolding Chase when he almost burns his hand, causing Chase to whine like a child. I catch myself before I can start laughing because I don't want to ruin the moment and think it's cute. Pretty soon after their little moment, all of supper is completed and Emily is just organizing the places where everything goes in order. Laughter is heard from the living room, causing me to roll my eyes because Paul likely told everyone else about before; he's so lucky that he isn't near me. Kim elbows me in the side, trying to get me to talk and I know that I can't keep my mouth shut for much longer due to the bubbling annoyance that fills me.
"Awe, why are you so annoyed? You barely got down here."Kim asks me and I let out a huge sigh, trying to calm the feeling of annoyance down so it doe's turn into anger and force me to change into my wolf. I look over at her, making sure to focus my attention on her or anything else beside the laughter that I hear in the other room.
"Supper is done everyone!"Emily yells out, almost making me jump a foot and just as she yells that out, the front door bangs open due to the people who were out on patrol coming in, laughing about something that must have happened. I hear the others get up and start heading to the kitchen to get food, but I try to have my attention remain on Kim.
"I'm annoyed because I know exactly what Paul and the others were having a good laugh over. They were laughing at how much of a height difference there is between myself and Paul. It was what he was snickering about just before we came downstairs."I explain to her and she smiles, trying not to laugh, but nodding her head in understanding at the same time.
"Awe, are you still a little bit mad, short stuff?"Paul coos at me, making me want to hit him over the head with something really hard, as he walks in and takes a seat next to me.
Everyone sits down at the table, where they want to sit and dig into their food. I gather some food onto my own plate. I see Sam and Emily sitting at the front of the table, Sam watching us like a hawk as well as giving both Paul and myself a glare that says to calm down and not do anything reckless, while Emily gives me a gentle smile. I take a deep breath to calm down, as I focus on just eating my meal, using the time I'm given to come up with a smart comeback. I see a couple of the Pack and band members snickering and just waiting for something big to happen. While other members are eating their food and keeping their own conversations going, but still eavesdropping on what could be going on with Paul and I.
"Yes I'm still mad at that. Although, do remember that you shouldn't piss off a short girl, like me, because they are cute, adorable, ninjas of death who are at the perfect height to punch you in the balls since they are bad-ass like that. You also know that I'm not afraid to either."I say, making that comeback and he rolls his eyes at me, chuckling to himself.
"Yeah, yeah whatever helps you sleep at night, little one." He retorts back, making me give him a death glare, since I don't like that nickname. A few members at the table laugh to themselves, finding our bickering amusing, as they try to hid their laughs with a cough.
"Just remember that when it comes to the Creator creating people, he only let's things grow until they're perfect and it seems like some of us didn't take as long as others." I snap back at him in the heat of the moment, knowing that even if I hint at him not being perfect, I'm only lying to myself.
"Also remember who you usually sleep next to at night when you aren't at your own home."I continue and everyone laughs at how quick I am to retaliate, as Paul goes speechless at not being able to come up with anything yet. He continues eating his food and I could almost swear I saw a pink tinge to his cheeks as he stuffs his mouth.
"On, you just got burned by your girlfriend! Do you need some ice and a band-aid for that burn?"Connor remarks, laughing and his Canadian accent is thick in his voice.
"Shut up."Paul growls out and then takes a deep breath to calm his anger; the hand that I'm not eating with rests on his leg to help him calm down or distract him, which happens in a mere matter of seconds.
"Yeah, you were right, they still do act like an old married couple."Sam mutters to Emily, and she nods her head, letting out a giggle. He smiles adoringly at her and she smiles right back.
"Mmm, man alive, who made these delicious mashed potatoes? They are to die for and really heavenly."Mitch exclaims, almost making me laugh due to the fact that it looks like the potatoes are coming out of his mouth as he speaks, plus I know how his love-hate relationship/friendship is with Chase, who made the potatoes. Mitch is right, though, the potatoes are like little, fluffy clouds that melt in your mouth.
"I did." Chase answers and Mitch's dark blue eyes widen in surprise, having briefly forgotten about Chase, his own room mate, being able to cook or bake at all.
"Damn. Here, I was thinking that the only white stuff you could make or had in you was the semen that came from your nuts."Mitch bluntly says, causing most of the people at the table to almost spit out their food out of surprise or sheer shock of his honesty for those that don't know him well enough. I see some people holding in their laughter, myself included.
"Mitchael! Mitch!"Emily and Jayy both exclaim at the same time, causing everyone that was holding in their laughter to let it out and then we all calm down.
"What? It's true."Mitch comments and I see that Chase's face is bright red, but whether or not, it's from anger or embarrassment that Mitch said that, I don't know.
As I look around the mostly packed table, I notice that besides Jacob's normal spot, the only other empty spot is the empty seat next to Embry, meaning that Scarlett is missing. Seeing an opportunity to change the topic, since everyone else doesn't know what to say, I take it.
"So where is Scarlett?" I question, looking around the room at everyone and then go back to eating the food on my plate.
"She's over at the Cullen's place, something about wanting to spend some quality time with her cousins." Embry answers, and I can tell that he is a bit sad and annoyed that she is over there.
"I'm sure that she'll be back soon." I assure him and he nods his head, a small smile appearing on his face. I turn to make eye contact with Sam as a question pops into my head.
"So all the time that the pack left me alone was due to the fact that you didn't want me to get hurt like you hurt Emily once, right?" I ask him, and he nods his head to say yes. Then I turn my eyes towards Jayy, as Leah sits beside him, and make eye contact with him as well.
"I assume that the band members kept away from me because they also didn't want me to get hurt as well?"I question Jayy as well and he nods his head too.
I finish eating the rest of my food and stand up, walking to the kitchen sink and filling it with warm, soapy water. I scrub any leftover food off my plate, as if I could get rid of the remaining pain that was sketched on my heart from when everyone left me. I put my dish on the dish rack and dry off my water wrinkled hands, steadying myself and my mind. I walk into the living room and take a seat on the leather love seat; not having enough energy to really want to climb the stairs to my bedroom to finish Paul's and I's previous conversation plus everyone deserves to have me open up to all of them, or at least all that are in this house. Soon enough, all the members of both groups get done eating and follow my lead in washing their dishes, then come inside the living room; sitting down either on the furniture or on the carpet flooring. Paul takes his usual seat next to me, our knees touching each other, but I push down any fears I have to move away,trying to face my fears like Chase did, since that was really encouraging for me.
"So why did you ask those questions suddenly and out of the blue?"Jared asks me, obviously curious by my sudden interest in questioning Jayy and Sam. I take a deep breath, trying to organize the words in my mind, so that they come out the correct way that I want them to.
"Well, those questions have had me itching for answers and I wondered as well." I answer, not giving my full answer quite yet, keeping my guard still high. The silence that follows my answer is full of sudden understanding and agreement.
"Okay, if this is just a conversation involving questions and answers, I have one. How did Jayy become leader of your group, or rather the Shifting Forms band?" Embry questions the group, making us give side glances to each other, causing us to giggle nervously.
"I suppose it was a silent agreement between all of us. He seemed like the only one that could get a group of misfits, like ourselves, to calm down and focus on the task at hand. He's always had patience for us and would always be willing to help us. Scarlett, Jayy, and Jaclyn are the main three leaders actually, but Scarlett acts more like a mother figure and Jaclyn acts more like a sister figure; he also stops them from tearing each other apart when they fight. Jayy has more control over everyone, not trying to say that he's a control freak because he isn't much of one, but he can be a tiny bit at times." Hillary comments and we all laugh a bit, including Jayy whose wearing a soft smile on his tanned-native face.
After our laughter has died down, the silence hangs in the room for a few minutes, as if there was a sword hanging above everyone's head that would drop down on us if we broke it. As my eyes scan and search my friends and family for some kind of yearning, a question that has been burned into my conscious from the swirl of emotions in my very being, mainly the white hot anger that I used to have, wants to spit out of my mouth; the question a clear as day reminder of my inner demon and the desperate need for me to prove him wrong in every way possible, but it could very well lead to the opposite if things don't go according to plan, which in my case hasn't always happened in the correct way.
"Hey Playa, you okay?" Mitch questions, snapping his fingers in front of my face, making me blink rapidly and try not to look like I was really spaced out too much.
"Yeah, it's just that I have a lot on my mind. I mean did any of you guys think or even consider the fact of how much I was being hurt already? How abandoned I felt when you all left me? I thought you all knew that I was smart enough to solve things? I mean I did eventually, but it hurt a lot; I cried myself to sleep at night, after each and every one of you disappeared out of my life, or avoided me like the plague. I also want you guys to earn more of my trust back, even if I've forgiven you, but I'll never gonna forget what happened." I comment, seeing that some of the huge group still feels shame and guilt over how terrible the events all played out.
"We didn't know. We honestly really didn't." Seth whispers, making me hear the tears in his voice and eyes.
"We understand that, but first, you have to put some trust in us and allow us to gain your trust back; we can help you with whatever you are facing. Otherwise, we can't build our bonds of friendship stronger together." Jayy reasons with me and this time, I'm the quiet one in the room.
* This is the latest chapter so far that I have completed. Please leave me a message or comment about what you enjoyed or would like to know about the story or the characters themselves. I may not be able to update for a bit but I would still love to hear from my readers. *