Get to know Dae a little better in this chapter, she's a little difficult in the beginning, but I think you'll warm up to her. Let me know what you think of her and Paul!
{Dae POV}
The sky was clear, oddly enough, on the way to school. I groan out loud as I realized I might see those big guys from the beach there. Their faces looked young, but they were tall and muscular, so I'm sure if they're even in school at all. I am not looking forward to seeing Paul Lahote. He was probably the most irritating, because he actually wanted to talk to me, when the others just moved on, apparently turned off by the little white girl with the temper. I parked my car in the school lot and enjoyed the rare sun as I walked to my first class. Geometry. The worst part is that I'm not starting school at the beginning of the year, I'm starting halfway through. It's my third day back in La Push, and I've already missed the first several weeks of class.
To my utter dismay, two of the big guys were there. They smiled at me from the back where they lounged. They looked nice, in a menacing way. I half-smiled back at them. However, I was glad Paul wasn't with them. I decided to keep my distance and sit towards the front.
I only saw Paul once during the day, and he looked directly at me, but made no signs that he recognized me. Good. Maybe he got the message and will leave me alone. We don't have any classes together either, which I've realized rules out the possibility of being conveniently partnered on a project.
I don't see him, or have any weird encounters for the next couple of weeks, and get no special treatment from the other monstrous kids, who tend to get in trouble often due mostly to their clowning around in class. I had all but forgotten about Paul when I was browsing the library, looking for something to read in my copious amounts of spare time. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something big and brown. I glanced over to see him there. Pretending he didn't know I was here. I don't know why he's so... Hostile. Like he wants to talk to me but resents the air that I breathe. He was friendly enough on the beach, I wonder what changed. He stayed for a few seconds more, then walked briskly around the corner. I continued my search. This library has some interesting titles. "Swashbucklers," "Down the River and Back Again." "Shadows of the Moon." It looked like about wolves or something. I added it to my already massive stack of books.
I got so carried away reading it that I let out a yell of surprise as the lights went out. Why would the lights go out? I was sufficiently freaked out by the book and the mood that it put me in, so you can imagine my yelp as I ran into something hot and hard. Get your mind out of the gutter. It's a person. He apparently heard me and came to see if I was okay? The jury's still out on that one.
"Hi?" I ask, trying to figure out if it's someone I know.
"Hey. Um. You okay?" Damnit, it's Lahote.
"Yeah sorry. Just kinda caught me off guard." I say crossly.
"Must be a power out, it's dark outside, too." He gestured to the large windows with raindrops sliding down.
"So... I guess we're kinda stuck here? How long do these usually last?"
"About half an hour usually. Sometimes more. You okay? You seem kinda... Majorly freaked out."
"I was reading a freaky book, and it felt real for a second there."
Paul looked at the book in my hand, although how he could see anything in the darkness is beyond me. He snorted in disgust.
"Shadows of the Moon? Come on."
"What, you've read it?"
"Read and regret it. It's one of the worst books I've ever read."
"It's basically every teen drama ever."
"Exactly, I don't know why anyone would buy it. Apparently, it has a huge Tumblr fan base, though."
"You have Tumblr?" I find this unexpectedly hilarious. He scoffed.
"Of course not. A friend of mine has it. She uses it literally all day every day. It's ridiculous."
"Huh... Okay. Well, what now?"
"We wait."
"And just hang around until the lights come back?"
"Do you have somewhere else you need to be?"
"Yeah, my phone died and I need to pick up my mom from work."
"Well then, you planning on taking those books? Because the register won't be working and you can't take them without checking out."
"Crap, you're right. I'll wait then, but only half an hour."
"Okay."
"My name is Daenarys, by the way."
"I thought you said it was Amy."
"I did. But it's Daenarys."
"Why would you lie?"
"You're a gigantic man, randomly talking to me on the beach. Why would I give you my real name? I didn't even know if you were in school, you look like you could be 25."
"Huh. Okay, I guess that makes sense."
"I haven't exactly had the best experiences with men. So yeah." Stop, Dae. Stop now. Don't tell him anything else.
"What do you mean? Did you have a boyfriend or..."
"No, never had a man in my life for more than a few minutes before the cops would get there."
"Wha-oh. Woah. I'm... I'm sorry." He muttered under his breath angrily before speaking again. "I would never do that to you. I don't know why anyone would ever do that."
"Yeah. Twice."
"Twice? Where did you live?"
"Where haven't I lived?"
"Do you ever give straight answers?"
"No."
"Hey, that's a start."
I snorted.
The silence was deafening, and I leaned against the wall and slid to the floor.
"I've moved around a lot, last place I lived was Michigan. Before that was Colorado. I'm here living with my mom and uncle now."
He sat beside me.
"Where's your dad?"
I snorted at his blunt question.
"Never had one."
"You never- what?"
"My mom was... Assaulted. Got pregnant with me. Never saw him again."
"Wow. That's so-"
"Mhm. Anyway, what's your story, picket fence life with mom and dad waiting for you to get home, cooking dinner and reading the newspaper?"
"Nope, I live with my aunt. My mom is gone most of the time on business. She couldn't wait to get off the res and 'get a real job.'"
"Dad?"
"No idea. Probably in jail again. He's been in and out my whole life."
"Huh. We're very similar." I frown. Why would I say that?
"How 'bout that."
We didn't say anything else before the lights came back on. I stood and stretched. Paul stayed on the floor and watched me.
"So... Enjoy your reading, I guess."
"Wait, your aunt is Ava?"
"Yeah."
"She's our neighbor, Jay is my uncle."
"We're next door neighbors. Well well well..."
"Yeah, who could've guessed."
I turned and went to check out my books, and dashed through the rain to my car. Mom will probably be waiting with the girl, and be talking her ears off about how worried she is.
I was confused as to why Paul will be so hot and cold around me, like he's bipolar or something. It was distracting me as I brushed my teeth for the third time this morning before getting irritated at myself and pulling on my boots with more force than necessary.
I got through school without any incidents and pulled into the driveway just before dinner.
"Hey, Uncle Jay, I'm home!"
"Hi, Dae, uh, could you give me a hand?" I dumped my stuff in the hallway and went into the kitchen.
"Sure, what-" I cut off seeing him covered in cookie dough up to his elbows.
"Uncle... Uncle Jay, what the heck are you doing?" I managed between my laughs.
"You seemed a little... Irritable... Lately, so I was going to make cookies, but then I remembered that I can't bake. But it was too late by that point. You gonna help me?"
I threw my arms around him.
"You're so good at cheering me up. Of course, let's get some in the oven."
After devouring half of the cookie dough and baking the rest, Uncle Jay and I cleaned up the kitchen and went our separate ways. I'm so much happier with him around all the time, he lightens everything up so I find myself laughing when normally I would be moping in my room.
The only thing that I'm not completely fine with these days is the Paul situation.
What is his deal? First he's nice and I'm rude, then he's rude and I'm rude, then he's nice and I'm nice... and now what? He's rude and I'm nice? He ignored me in school again today. If he's going to push me away, I'm not going to try. He needs me, I don't need him. I just won't give him any more of my time. He doesn't deserve it.
{PAUL'S POV}
She wandered from tree to tree, climbing on rocks, trying to find me. My stomach twisted at the sight of her. She was lost in the middle of nowhere because that's where I left her. She fell several times, cutting, scraping or bruising her small frame. Her dark eyes were filled with tears. Her lips were bleeding from her constant biting. Her pale face was stained with dirt, blood and tears. Her jeans were ripped from the last time she fell, and her pretty blouse was snagged. But all that was nothing, nothing at all compared to what I knew was going on inside. And know it was because of me. And if she was in pain, I was in pain, only 10 times worse. It was my mistake, and I tried to fix it, even if it hurt me more than her. Better a little pain now than a whole lot later. Still, it took every ounce of control I had not to go running back, sweep her off her feet, kiss her bleeding mouth and brush her bedraggled hair from her face, carry her to safety. Every ounce. That left no power at all to block out the pain, and I cried out, the stabbing pain returning to burn me from the inside out. It made my knees buckle and I fell in a crumpled heap to the ground.
I woke up with a start as my dream-self hit the rocks I'd been watching from.
I can't let this happen. I can't let Daenarys into my life.