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A Twist of Fate: Dark Fate
Chapter Thirteen
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Kim's lagging pace was growing irksome to Kami, especially with their growing audience in the cafeteria. She was only delaying the inevitable as Leah seemed forced to align with each stride her troublesome sister made. Looking to expedite Kim's approach, Kami did what was necessary. At the upsweep of Jared's dark lashes, Kami dared to graze the pad of her thumb across the smooth, heated surface of his eyelid. It was a swift motion, so swift that Kami must have imagined he leaned into her touch versus being frozen in shock over her actions. Again. "An eyelash," she explained in a flirtatious voice before she pushed together her lips and blew away her non-existent excuse to touch him. In his direction.
As she predicted, Kim appeared at a breakneck speed. Yes, Kim was livid. It was just bonus points that Kami could easily tell Kim was mortified as well.
"Thanks for joining us, Kiki. The final reveal can only occur when all important parties are present." Kami clucked her tongue as she reviewed Kim's muddy brown eyes, murky with too many emotions. "I mean, it just is a skosh lackluster if I would have to repeat my speech another time."
"I don't want to talk to you!" Kim hissed before cowering behind Leah, once again. Kami rolled her eyes. Apparently, she needed to step her false bravado in knowing the 'problem' up a notch.
"Did you think I wouldn't figure it out as soon as I got it here? You running away only lead me to the conclusion faster, Kimmy. You, no-" Kami whipped her body around to serve a dirty look to each tall, mother-fucker at the lunch table. Even Paul. "All of you are fucking blind fools to think I am this ignorant. Once Jared tagged along for my runaway special yesterday morning, how could I not know?" Wide eyes, parted mouths – no, the coined expression 'alarmed' didn't even begin do justice to describe the faces of Jared and his friends. And this was how Kami learned that she had been wrong before. Her and Jared's conversation after she puked up schnapps and her first breakfast did not yield a puzzle piece. Instead, he handed over a letter to solve the Wheel of Fortune Puzzle.
One letter, 'F'. To solve the whole puzzle.
F_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ F F
FUCKING BLUFF
Kami stumbled to re-balance herself on her heels after a forceful shove of hands on her back. She bit her lip to prevent herself from smiling. The set up was much too perfect, she couldn't even dream it to be possible. So perfect that she failed to notice the abrupt appearance of Jared at her side. Not the foot or two apart they had been earlier.
"Hey," Kami spun effortlessly on her heels to face Kim (in front of Leah this time), "at least the shove is preferable to the knife in the back you already put in there." Kim's eyes flashed. Kami smirked at her sister, brows flicking up in challenge.
"Me?" Kim wailed, rage now brewing in her dark, makeup free eyes.
"Kim," Jared called to her sister. But his voice was low, a warning edge to it. Or perhaps stressed. Cleary, Kami assumed he was upset. After this assumption, she did a double take of Jared's close proximity to her. And not her sister.
Oh no. Kami was not going to let Jared swoop in and save the day. Not in this rare chance she had to confront her sister. She angled her neck and shot Jared a threatening glare that promised him hell if he intervened. But she wasn't confident that he would backdown. Because he didn't even take notice of her. His mouth narrowed, his lips folding into themselves as if he was using forced restraint to prevent himself from saying something he could not take back. His chest puffed out, similar to a predatory stance in Kami's mind.
"If I stuck anything in you, it was only because I was using the same knife you stuck in my back first," Kim seethed, the planes of her cheeks beginning to coat themselves in a flushed hue. Kami only allowed herself to contemplate Kim's words for a brief few seconds. Hiding her collection of new knowledge under a mask of sleek aggression. Never letting her dismissive eyebrows break from their slanted posture or the tension of her over-glossed lips loosen from a sneer of disbelief.
"Oh, go cry me a river you delusional, brat," Kami mocked in a flippant voice.
A howl of amusement pierced the tension between the twins, and Kami passed a glance over her shoulder. Paul offered a subtle nod of approval. Kami paused on Jared when she intended to redirect her attention to Kim. She was struck with by his guilt-ridden, dark eyes. Then the way his throat bobbed, as if swallowing some important news for both twins to hear.
And what Kami could not deny to herself…that she was haunted by the look in his eyes.
Then the entire student body in the cafeteria erupted into a panic. Not because they felt the same thing as Kami though. No. The fire alarm erupted, booming its high-pitched squeals of warning into the cafeteria in unison with flashing lights on the walls. Amidst Kami's momentary confusion, Kim was whisked away, and she noticed there were three particular parties absent in her immediate surroundings.
Jared, Kim and...Seth. Little Clearwater perhaps the likely culprit of the current distraction Kami assumed. Because the timing of the fire alarm was too uncanny to be a pure coincidence
"A verbal takedown doesn't count," Paul purred into Kami's ear as he strolled by her with Quil. Embry and Jake were nowhere to be seen now either. Or Leah!
"Don't go," Kami begged, surprising not only Paul but herself with her request and her small hand clinging to his muscled forearm.
Paul sketched a brow. Feeling no need to point out that it was a mandatory requirement with the students and teachers amassing at the proper exits. He knew Kami was at least that smart. So...she was talking about something else. He waved Quil on as he awaited her response, understanding they had mere seconds before a teacher demanded they follow emergency procedures.
"Let me skip with you," she mouthed silently, aware of their public audience.
Paul threw a wolfish grin at Kami before leading her to follow the other students. "What makes you think I am?"
"Because at the lunch table you had this expression that screamed I am over this day."
Paul and Kami wedged in with other congregating students to file out the double doors to their freedom.
"That's my standard expression. Drop the day part though."
"Ah, so the male version of a resting bitch face."
Paul barked a joyous laugh. "Didn't realize you had the time to notice me so much during your...confrontation? Piss poor way to start a fight. You should have come out with fists flying and see where it landed you."
"No. That's mindless. For the audience, you have to offer a proper build up. Otherwise, it's just a standard fight between sisters. I had to let my villainous reign stand the test of time."
"Which one are you copy-catting?" Once on the precipice of giving Paul a withering glare, Kami squinted as her eyes adjusted to the rarities of a sunny day as she finally exited to 'safety' of outdoors with Paul and other students. They followed the masses to congregate in the empty spaces of the school's parking lot.
"Depends on the day," she remarked airily. Then her eyes trailed the faces of the other students her and Paul passed by. "No, scratch that. My mood. I like to think of myself as a nice blend of them all."
"Hate to break it you, sweetheart, but you're not the villain in this story."
Kami closed her eyes for a split second, her chest unbearably tight. When she opened them, she loosened a breath. Not bothering to face Paul when she responded. "...I know. But pretending is easy. Facing reality, that is more difficult. So, I'll play pretend as needed."
"Also, it's obvious you don't know shit." Kami stiffened, resisting from submitting to offering a little nod as acknowledgement despite the amusement in Paul's gruff observation.
"Proving there is something to know though. That's my point. And I will find out what drove Kim to this Mr. Hyde alter ego," Kami said with a calm, even voice. "Paul, I have never seen you with a girl at school. Does your girlfriend not go here?"
For a heartbeat, Kami could have sworn up and down that Paul just looked like someone who had been punched in the gut. Then he recovered to an out of place polite smile as he answered, "Mmmm, nope. I like the older ladies. She is a college girl." She must have been blinded by the sun she was not accustom to in the dreary state and imagined his initial reaction to her question.
Kami cackled. "She must be a saint to handle you."
Paul shrugged up his shoulders and Kami wasn't sure if that was an agreeing shrug or not. It was a bizarre response. But Kami wouldn't push. Instead, she wanted to blurt out her own problems for once. For someone to lend an ear. And if it couldn't be Leah (she would descend into that rabbit hole later), she thought Paul could be considered a suitable backup candidate. Daresay, a potential friend- no, ally.
"Kim stopped talking to me less than a week after her and Jared became boyfriend and girlfriend. At first I thought it was-"
"Wait." Paul hastily interrupted. "I don't think you should talk about this with me."
"Okay. Sure. Sorry if I was getting too deep or personal on you there," Kami replied in a biting tone. Sarcasm as obvious as telling the difference between night and day.
"Oh, bad girl Kami on display now. You know, a villain backstory is a pivotal point in the story. The understanding of why. I don't think it's the time to reveal that yet."
"I thought I wasn't the villain?" Kami snarked.
"I like playing pretend too." Paul winked and Kami hated that she was infused with such a forgiving mood from a wink. Like he was distracting her from something bigger. And for one, tiny fraction of a micro-second, Kami dared to think how lucky his girlfriend was.
"Have any tips for a villain on the rise?"
But as Paul was replying to her, his words did not register in her brain. No instead, she found her full attention on Jared and Kim. A couple hundred feet across the school parking lot. The crowd parted like the red sea so she could witness their heated discussion from a distance. And in what seemed like a brief moment after her fixed attention, Jared had turned in her direction.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Not the good kind though. It must have been from the disapproving look he cast in their direction. At her.
"-and that about covers it," Paul finished speaking and then stopped. Kami stopped with him. At the edge of the parking lot. With a majority of the students blocking them from attention of the teachers asking for organization and roll call.
"Sorry, I missed your hot tips." Kami tilted her head in Jared and Kim's direction. With a few students now blocking the direct line of site to the 'happy couple'.
"I know. Otherwise, you would be blushing by how I just reviewed the most fail proof way to ensure the female orgasm by these fingers," Paul wiggled his fingers at Kami, similar to her greeting in the cafeteria when the lunch period had begun.
Before Kami's mind could even comprehend the full impact of what he just revealed, her hand was making contact with this bicep. Not in brute force. No, the slap was light on Paul's defined arm. Playful. Perhaps...flirtatious? Worrisome.
Kami dipped her out-of-control hand into the front pocket of her skirt and acted like it was an act between new friends who ragged in each other. Nothing more.
Absolutely nothing more.
Paul was a taken man and despite her bad girl mindset earlier, Paul was a no-go for flirting even during this temporary stint in La Push.
"You hit like a girl," Paul mocked, presumably looking rather interested in Kami's intended follow-up actions.
"One. I am a girl. Two. I lightly tapped you in good fun with your sick sense of humor. Three. Don't say that expecting me to be insulted. I can show you many things I can do like a girl that-" Kami pinched together her no-good flapping lips when it was revealed her tongue was a fucking two-faced bitch that couldn't control itself from flirting with a hot dude. A hot dude who was on her side and had an interesting sense of humor.
"Care to finish?" Paul crooned, a taunting smile tugging at his lips.
Kami whirled her head around not so subtly as she looked for her exit strategy. "Oh no!" Kami feigned, selling her best possible shocked expression to Paul after she found it. "I just locked eyes with my teacher next period. Damn, can't skip now. Have fun playing hooky, Lahote," Kami rambled before booking it to the nearest mass of students. Blending in to lose Paul and regain her dignity.
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Author's Note:
This was difficult to write. I was really stuck on what I wanted to reveal with this initial confrontation. But I knew it was too soon. So, it is a dabble in the right direction, or at least the direction I am taking this story. ~ pixelephant
Review Responses from each chapter reviewed since chapter 12 that was posted~ THANK YOU each for your review(s)! They helped me write this chapter cuz I was struggling!
Guest (ch12): Glad you love Kami's current depiction! =D
Guest (ch12): More is here& I hope you liked it :D
Kyr (ch12): Glad you got a good laugh this chapter! Great comparison about the coin. I may use that analogy later in this story for twin stuff! & thank you for writing on behalf of Inspiration. I was wondering why I was be left out in the cold. I really needed the juju! Your reviews were a nice X-Mas present and helped push me on to figure out what happens in this chapter to write! ( Dec. 24, 2020. Just before midnight. Pixelephant finds gingerbread cookies and coquitos by her computer. She stuffs her face and reminds herself that there are people out there who enjoy reading what she write so she should just do her best and not get in her own head :D )
Kyr (ch11): Oh yeah Kami was ready to roll in this chapter! I think when she has the full context of the 'whys' she has been enduring she is going to be calling out a A LOT of things. I haven't thought much yet brining Emily in this story yet. But may for Leah's arc in this story. And Seth…will have his moments of doing what is right in the future.
Guest (ch11): Kami is 'a go!'
Guest (ch10): thank you!
Kyr (ch9): Shnapps you very much!
Guest (ch9): thank you!
Kyr (ch8): (A) agreed! Whatever she is pulling cannot last forever. (B) haha fair point! I havne't decided what weight that theory will carry over into this story yet tbh. (C) homeboy is not being smart. He will learn his lesson. EVENTUALLY. Especially with other competition to the 'imprint' that is supposed to be 'his'. (D) great insight! I too wonder how he didn't rock the boat or felt complacent :(
Guest (ch8): I am glad you love this character! The theories are still just those three but I am still trying to figure out what other possibilities there could be!
Kyr (ch7): I always wonder how often people read author notes are just skip over them? Haha it is always nice when I got confirmation someone took time to read my random thoughts lolol This story will not be favorable for mom/sister. Also, the pack will have to come to terms with somethings on the perception of the 'imprint'. Good points about 2021! I will double strap on my seatbelt for this ride :O
Guest (ch7): haha I love that!
Kyr (ch6): haha I like your hot take on Jared's thoughts on Kim after Kami showing up. I am kinda-sorta figuring out how to write that in here.
Guest (ch6): I wonder this too lol and paul is really growing on me in this story!
Kyr (ch5): I am glad her and Leah started something in this chapter! It will grow well in future chapters when the right set up occurs. And totally agree, sometimes you have to go through tough time to get the good ending. That surely is what is going to occur in this story!
Guest (ch5): thank you!
Guest (ch4): Yay DrA-mA!
Guest (ch3): It was because of that angsty chapter I was like ooooh shit, I got to try writing more of this. Even though it took me 11 months to continue it lol
Guest (ch2): thank you!
Guest (ch1): Thank you for giving this alternate story a shot and loving the original