The dance
The music was so loud I felt the beats echo in my chest as I laughed at Paul's attempt to playfully grind on me. With a quick glance around I saw everyone enjoying themselves, especially Ari and Ang who happened to be laughing as they danced ridiculously. My heart felt so happy even as the music slowed and Paul took my hand and spun me before grabbing my hips to sway to the slowed rhythm. I locked my hands behind his neck and stared up into his eyes. One more dance then back to the beverages. I thought to myself, relishing the closeness of the boy I had fallen for. "Alright guys and Ghouls! We are going to keep it slow for one more song and then it's party time again!" The DJ called out, slowly fading the music to another soft tempo.
"Okay babe, I have to dance with Ara, tradition demands it."
"Well who am I to stand in the way of tradition?" Paul smiled sweetly before giving me one final spin and parting from me. "I'll be by the punch if you need me." He gave me a flashing grin before threading through the crowd expertly. I made my way to Ari, who had already separated from Ang the same I had from Paul.
I landed my hands on her shoulders and we started jokingly swaying like we were at a middle school dance during a slow song before folding in and hugging like we always did. "Better than last year?" I asked with a smile.
"Absolutely." She grinned back, looking around at the decorations. "We outdid ourselves, I think it's time we go into retirement for this dance, maybe take over the Homecoming committee, they never do it justice."
"Please, hoco is the minor leagues!" I laughed, shaking my head and adjusting my mask as It pushed my eyelashes down and clouded my vision slightly. "We are going to maintain our control on the Prom committee, and then also take over the senior breakfast and graduation planning."
"Doesn't the admin office plan those?" Arabella furrowed her brow at me in the way she never realized she did.
Mischief filled my chest as I shrugged and evilly cackled my words out. "I'm not against corporate espionage if it looks good on my college applications."
"There has to be something in that punch, you're willing to go a tad bit further than I thought." Ari poked my ribs as she laughed along with me.
"Anything for a good college rec." I stuck my tongue out and flashed my eyes wildly.
"Okay, well as soon as this song ends I have to pee, so don't start your scheming until I get back okay?" Arabella smiled, and looked at me expectantly. At the same time the tempo picked up and we broke apart, I watched her mouth to Ang that she would be back before heading in the opposite direction of the punch table. I smiled as I headed back to Paul's side, my arms twining around his as I placed my chin on his bicep and looked up at him.
"Hey." He smiled down at me. "Do you think we could sneak off for a moment to talk?" My heart began hammering in my chest, suddenly worried that his version of talking was the same version that ended my previous relationship. "Not like that!" He seemed to read my face in that moment, understanding immediately that fear had raked my body.
"Oh, phew, okay!" I set my forehead against the same spot my chin had previously rested. "Yeah, I'm sure the freshman grunts won't mind watching the punch for a song or two, I've let them shirk their duties most the night anyway." I scanned the crowd for the Freshman Class President and flagged him over. "Hey! Paul and I need a break for some fresh air, watch the punch table please."
"Oh yeah! Take your time, my feet are killing me anyway." He smiled, I was pretty sure his name was Julian but I wouldn't put my money on it.
"Fantastic, thank you!" I took Paul's hand and began pulling him out the front door of the gym. I threw one last glance at the dance, my eye catching Angela walking a very green looking freshman towards the nurse's office.
As the door sealed behind me I laced my fingers with Paul's and began leading him out toward the cars to sit in mine. "No, can we be outside?" He seemed nervous, like he didn't want to look me in the eye.
"Oh, uh yeah, here we can sit over here." I gave a strained smile as I led him around the side of the school. My heart was pounding as my fear of the conversation renewed, and after a moment of walking we found ourselves at the forest's edge. The sky was low tonight, the clouds slowly sinking in on us like the air was being sucked out of a bag. Thin wisps of fog already curled low to the ground like sleepy tendrils. Paul finally stopped and sighed, seeming to search for words desperately.
"Gaia. I love you." My heart shuddered as he spoke, he slowly opened his eyes and then kept speaking. "And I want you to know, I'm a werewolf and I've imprinted on you."
I wasn't sure what response Paul was going for, but me bursting into laughter didn't seem to be the one. Despite his expression I spoke through the laugh, "Paul! What are you talking about? You sound crazy."
"I'm serious Gi, I've been trying to tell you this since the summer." He sounded desperate, almost pleading.
"Paul, what do you mean you're a werewolf?" I shook my head, the laugh dying in my throat and my face dropping. My god he's gone clinically insane.
"Just, let me show you." Paul said as he began to pull off his costume.
"Paul!" I began laughing, almost nervous in nature, he dropped his Batman costume to the ground with a soft thud and looked at me seriously. "Put your clothes back on, it's cold!"
"You won't believe me any other way." He tipped his head down, backing up, and slowly growing taller right before my eyes. I stared in shock at the boy I loved, where now in his place stood a humongous wolf. He stared at me for a moment, his eyes seeming to look into my very soul, then suddenly his head whipped to the side, so I slowly peeled my eyes from him to follow his sight line.
"Angela!" I heard Ari's voice call just as my eyes landed on the scene unfolding just to my right. I made eye contact with Arabella just as soon as Edward flew in at an impossible speed to stand just a few yards away from them. When Ari turned her head back toward Angela she seemed to jump slightly before her voice carried uphill to meet myself and wolf Paul. "Edward no I've got this." Just then Edward began to run, but it was even faster. "NO!" Ari yelled as she backed away from him, but he was almost directly beside her. I felt the dewy blade of grass beneath my hands and realized I was now on the ground and unable to move.
"I'm not allowing you to be near him when he's like this." Edward growled out, I was in shock at what was unfolding before me. My heart thundered in my ears and I heard Paul let out a soft growl. At that same time, the rest of the Cullens came around the corner.
"Edward!" Rose scolded, she still held the school camera in her hands and she seemed to want to kill Edward, also seemed very capable of doing it.
"Arabella?" My voice shook as I tried to process what all happened in the last ten minutes.
"Son of a bitch." She screamed as she gripped the sides of her head. "AHHH!" She let out the vocal release before she spun to face Edward. "You just made it all so much worse!" I couldn't see her face anymore, but I knew her body language well enough to know she was on the verge of a full blown meltdown.
"Ara…" Jasper said cautiously.
"I want you to leave. Go home." Ari's voice was low, a controlled tone that made my back stiffen just to hear. It was so commanding I almost did it myself despite the instructions not being for me to follow. Just then she turned and faced Paul, the Cullen's leaving as fast as they had arrived, all but Edward now gone. Ari's eyes seemed to glow with their own light as she spoke, her face stern and focused. "Go, turn back to human in private, and finish what you just started here. Do it properly though. Get Sam." Paul began to obey almost immediately, leaving me sitting in the grass as she snapped back around. I watched her squat in front of Angela, who had fallen to a crumpled and crying mess with her back against the wall, and began speaking to her in a softened and loving version of the tone she had just been using. I couldn't hear the words that were being said, and it didn't matter because soon after she began speaking Paul touched my shoulder gently.
"Gaia, come on." He said with an equally gentle tone. When I didn't move I felt another pair of hands gently lift me. When I tore my eyes away from Arabella, I saw Sam and his solemn eyes. Paul was running ahead, grabbing my bag from the spot I had stashed it in the gym. By the time Sam reached my car, Paul was already starting it up and helping Sam slide me into the back. There seemed to be a lot of unspoken communication between the two, especially once we pulled up to our destination. I had recognized the turns and stops we made as well as the length of the journey, despite laying down so low I couldn't see anything out the windows except the black sky, I knew we were at the reservation.
My suspicions were confirmed when the person who opened the door near my head was Leah, her big eyes sad at the sight of me. I could feel I was in for a long night, and it somehow only kept getting longer. "Come on honey, I've got you." She said after a moment of hesitation. Leah gently pulled me from the car and led me inside her and Sam's house, inside of which stood more than just Sam and Paul. Leah and Jared sat at the kitchen table with concerned looks on their faces, wrought with sympathy.
"Guys. I don't think she can handle this tonight. She just needs some sleep." Paul's voice finally spoke after such a long silence. They all seemed to respect his wishes, and Paul led me to the couch where I crashed down and curled in on myself. Paul gently covered me with a blanket, and just as he began to walk away, I caught his wrist and pulled him back to me. I wasn't sure how I felt yet, but I knew I needed someone to hold me.
In the morning I woke to see Paul had gently removed not only my mask, my fake eyelashes too, and now slept with me face first against his chest. After a little more glancing around, I saw used makeup wipes and deduced that he must have cleaned my makeup off me too. I felt so incredibly loved in the early morning light, and curled tighter in as I wound my fingers into his. I pulled in a deep breath as I began to slide myself backward off the couch, until Paul's arm tightened around me and he nuzzled his face in further. I glanced up to his face, earning a sleepy smile and small peck on the forehead from him. "I need to change." I mumbled into his chest, not wanting to leave the warm embrace. I picked my head up as I began to spin in his arms, I started to wonder where we were until the memory of last night filtered back into my happy little bubble. My breath hitched and I started pushing away from Paul, glancing around to see that my phone was plugged in and resting on the coffee table, a change of clothes resting next to them.
Paul's eyes snapped open and he started trying to soothe me as I continued trying to free myself with ragged breaths. He had just gone from nearly asleep to wide awake in a matter of seconds. I pushed further away and fell from the couch, Paul's hand being the only thing that stopped my head from connecting with the coffee table. I scrambled up from the floor and backed away from the half naked wolf man. "Gi, you're safe, I promise." His words eased me a little before Sam cautiously emerged from around the corner, also half dressed.
"Gaia, just take some deep breaths." Sam raised his hands like I was the one who could turn into a wolf. "Paul, let her change and we can explain over breakfast." Now Sam spoke in an authoritative tone that had caught me by surprise.
"Sam you can't just t-" Paul started in anger before being cut off.
"PAUL!" He shouted, stopping even me from disobeying. "That's an order."
"Yes. Sir." Paul said in a bitter tone I had never heard him use. With that I swept my phone and the spare clothes up and walked down the hall Sam had just come from. The bathroom was the door at the end of the hall and once I was in there I dropped everything in my arms into the sink and placed my hands on the counter. Counting my breaths I closed my eyes and focused for a moment, only letting the facts pass through my mind. Paul is a werewolf. Edward and all his siblings are… the flash? Ari wasn't surprised… is she in charge of them? Go Ari. The Junior Justice League has taken over my town… wild. I sighed and started to remove my Catwoman suit, peeling the costume away from me in disgust before pulling the items from the sink to splash my face with water.
As the water woke the rest of my senses I was able to take deeper, more fulfilling breaths. Finally I looked up at the mirror to myself. Staring back at me were my familiar brown eyes, round face, tanned skin, and brown hair. The facial expression I wore almost made me see the resemblance between my mother and I, but the dominant traits of my father stifled the thought immediately. I stepped back again and began dressing, glimpsing at my phone to see the twenty two texts I had received through the night.
Mom: Hey honey, emergency call off in the station, I will be here another night. Call if you need anything. Xoxo
I typed out a quick text to my mother to reassure her that I would be fine on my own for another night, then moved on to the next set of texts, which happened to be the largest concentration.
Yearbook GC: Did anyone see where Gaia went? -Angela
Outside with Paul -Ben
Thanks -Angela
Any1 hve spr batries 4 cam -Eric
Rose might -Ben
cnt find her -Eric
She went outside a few songs ago -Ben
Mayb she went home nobdy out hre -Eric
I didn't see her out there? Did she leave her camera? I can take over. -Angela
Arabella should have an extra in her car if she didn't -Ben
Too bad we just broke up -Angela
WAT -Eric
EXCUSE ME!? -Ben
You guys she is in the group chat please. It was mutual, but she did go home with her car, and she has the notifs for this turned off. -Angela
Sorry, I went home and I took the camera. I will bring it back to school on monday. My deepest apologies. -Rose
Dont sweat it rose we found some spare batteries that Gaia stashed in the money box. -Ben
Any1 se3n G -Eric
Didnt Ang find her? -Ben
She wasn't out there. -Angela
Weird. She never ditches these things. -Ben
I struggled through all of Eric's texts like I always did, why he refused to use the slide part of his slide phone I would never know, it wasn't even like he was the only one who didn't have an iphone or one of the new Droids. He was still rocking his intensity slide 2, but insisted on using the T9 keyboard like he still had a flip phone. I rolled my eyes and cringed slightly as I saw Angela lying about seeing me out there. How Ari had managed to get her on board baffled me, and then I froze and scrolled back up. My eyes caught on the words and my entire body went cold. "Too bad we just broke up." I was in utter shock and the fun I was about to poke at Eric about either learning how to type better on T9 or using the full keyboard died on my fingertips. I immediately closed the group chat and moved over to the final text on my phone, which happened to come from the person I wanted to text the most.
Arabella: How are you?
My mind was blown by her text, she was so incredibly timid that I wanted to march over to her house and force her to have an impromptu therapy session on her window seat. How she had managed to break up with the person I had seen her fall for so quickly I didn't understand. I couldn't help but blame myself, was it my fault? Did they have a fight over what Angela would have witnessed? I wanted to just take her shoulders and shake her until she stopped being so selfless that she put other's well being over her own. I would rather her get into a fight with everyone else than end her relationship for the sake of my sanity. I quickly clothed myself then began furiously typing as I slowly walked down the dark hallway towards the kitchen that smelled like pancakes and bacon.
Me? How are you? I saw the gc -Gaia
The gc? -Ari
The yearbook one. Are you okay? -Gaia
Oh I left the chat at some point last night lol -Ari
Lol? Are you okay? -Gaia
So youre not mad at me? -Ari
Why would I be mad at you ari? -Gaia
For not telling you about everything. The guys talked to you didn't they? -Ari
No. I just woke up and they are in the kitchen. -Gaia
Where are you? -Ari
Sam's I think? Why? -Gaia
Tell Sam I said it's okay to tell what he saw. -Ari
What he saw? -Gaia
Mutually assured destruction doesn't apply here. tell him that. -Ari
I'm not following. -Gaia
It will make sense. Promise. Now I gotta go, dad busted Edward in my room this morning and I have to pretend to be grounded. -Ari
I had reached the doorway of the kitchen but stood frozen as I reread the text three times just to make sure I did in fact read what I thought I had. I could see that Sam, Leah, and Paul were staring at me where I had stopped, but I couldn't pay attention to them with the implication of Ari and Edward being together looming over my head.
WAIT WHAT -Gaia
I will explain monday. I am grounded for the weekend. -Ari
I have SO many questions. -Gaia
I sent the text that I knew finished off the conversation then looked up to the three in the kitchen. I was at a loss for words at first, but finally I shook my head and my mouth chose for me. "What the fuck?"
•••
I sat with my legs crossed on a large boulder as I watched the waves crash against the shore. The sun sat low in the sky and my mother had texted me multiple times asking when I would be home, but I just couldn't make myself get up from the spot I had crashed down after running out of Sam and Leah's house. They had explained it all, that the Cullen's were immortal vampires, that they were shapeshifters that were tied to the wolf specifically. That Arabella was human but had the ability to control the actions of others. Leah explained what being imprinted on meant for me, explained that Sam had imprinted on her, and while that bit didn't freak me out the idea of Paul being tied to me whether he liked it or not did.
Paul assured me he didn't mind having imprinted on me, but the statement felt more obligatory than I thought he had meant. All of that wasn't what made me run from the house to the beach. What had caused me to run was realizing why Arabella and Angela actually broke up. It really was my fault. I had been the cause, no matter how indirectly, for the death of Ari's happiness. If I hadn't brought Paul to the dance then Angela wouldn't have ever seen him transform, the Cullen's wouldn't have run out there, Arabella would have never had to make Angela break up with her.
"Gaia?" Arabella's voice carried to me in the wind and when I turned to look at her I saw the whipping red hair part around her face and revealed that she had been through the ringer since I had last seen her. "Sam called me. Paul had to patrol." She said it so nonchalantly that I was almost taken aback until I remembered that she spent virtually her entire summer here hanging out with the pack.
"Hey." I said hoarsely. I had spent the first two minutes out here screaming into the wind and letting it carry my voice across the sea to destinations unknown.
"How are you feeling?" She asked as she walked up to the boulder and climbed up next to me.
"A little shaken. Still have a lot of questions… you?" I turned my eyes from her to the ocean again, a deep yearning to sail into the unknown screaming inside of me.
"I've certainly been better." She nodded for a moment before sighing. "I read the letter last night."
"Wow, you just didn't have enough chaos after the dance did you?" I teased, earning a playful elbow in the ribs. "So how did dear ol' birthgiver wish you a sweet sixteen?"
"By telling me that Alice Cullen is actually my Great Aunt." She said without cracking a smile.
"Haha, seriously Ari." I studied her face for a moment and felt mine drop. "Oh my god you're being serious."
"If you want to read it and see the picture, it's in my room." She nodded, her eyes still fixed on the crashing waves. "Oh and I have a concussion. Angela and I broke up and she doesn't remember what happened outside yesterday, courtesy of me of course. My dad found Edward in my room this morning because he stayed the night because of the concussion, but it wasn't the first time he stayed while I slept. Oh and the real reason Edward and I broke up is because he lied about the car crash. I almost died because of a vengeful bitch who discovered immortality and was mad that her boyfriend tried to kill me and got killed by Jasper and Edward instead." Her words rushed like she had been holding them in, and in some ways she had. "Oh and when Sam went missing, yeah I was the one that found him. I was the first person that found out he had officially turned, he was in my backyard when I let out Maddie." She nodded and then sighed like it was a relief to let it all out. "That's the tl:dr of everything since the Cullens moved into town last year."
I realized my jaw had literally dropped while she spoke. "Arabella." I whispered.
"It's okay. I can handle this." Her voice shook just barely, and my heart shattered.
"You don't have to… you shouldn't have to." I whispered, unsure if she could even hear me.
"I shouldn't, but I do." She wiped a stray tear from her cheek before it had the chance to roll past her cheekbone. "I can't dwell on it right now because then I will fall apart, and that isn't an option."
"You can't just shove your feelings down forever." I spoke loud enough I knew she could hear me.
A smile played on the corner of her mouth before she sighed. I could see the weight of the sky pressing down on her shoulders like she was Atlas. Arabella would never give herself the chance to set the weight of the world down, no matter how many people tried to willingly take the burden. She had sentenced herself to a punishment for a crime she never committed. I watched her for a moment longer before her voice finally cracked out of her tired form with a half hearted smile flavoring the edges of her mouth. "I can try."
•••
For several weeks after the dance I found myself watching each member of the Cullen family, finally noticing the slightly off things they did. Some movements were a little too perfect, it was like watching uncanny valley as I slowly realized that they were a little less than human in their perfections. The thing that threw me off the most was the little imperfections in their appearances that seemed to only add to their overall perfection. The most jarring discovery was the wide range of eye color that they all displayed throughout that time. I knew the diet was essentially bunnies and bambi, but it still sent a shiver through my spine to think about.
Ever since my discussion on the beach with Arabella I made it a point to be around her more, staying the night with her every time one of our parents wasn't home for the night. I watched my best friend slowly retreat into herself, and every second of it broke me a little more. She got a job at the local library and I convinced Paul to spend days there with me studying while she worked. Edward was also looming around more now, but more at a distance that made me unsure if Ari even noticed him watching her. Somehow her grades never slipped, but I started to suspect Edward had something to do with that too. I had only seen her cry one time after the beach, and that was the day she told Alice she wanted to see the information about her mom.
Alice gave me a copy in secret, telling me Ari needed someone who knew it other than just her. When I opened the folder I realized that Alice had gone out of her way to give me additional notes for context, and even with the context I couldn't fathom what Ari must be feeling. The folder revealed that Ari's birth mom Ally didn't die until Ari was fourteen, but that she had died in a long term psych ward from a heart attack. When I looked further into the folder I found the admissions papers for Ally Brandon, the reason was listed for "vivid hallucinations and delusions of seeing the future." They had admitted her when Ari was only a year old when she had been found wandering the streets of her hometown barefoot mumbling about "the people who live forever taking her baby" and attempting to break into a house. According to a note written by Alice, this house she was attempting to break and enter was apparently the house that Alice had grown up in.
Arabella had cried as I held her, mumbling that she was going to lose her mind just like Ally and that it would only be a matter of time at this point. "That won't happen Ari. I promise." I spoke so fiercely, I truly believed that I would find a way to help her stay sane, even if it meant I would lose my mind in return.
One night when I was laying in Paul's room with my history textbook open in front of me I just placed my head in my hands and started crying. He was there in a matter of seconds holding me and hushing until I stopped. "Babe whats wrong?" He wiped the tears from my cheeks and looked deep in my eyes.
"I just wish I could take some of this burden for Ari, this isn't fair to her." I sobbed, resting my head on his shoulder and twisting my limbs around him as I listened to his breathing and tried to match my own to it.
Edward's POVI watched Arabella slowly waste away after that first day of November, watching from a distance after she asked me to give her some space. I had seen her go through the grieving process with our relationship, even though she didn't know I was there, but this one had the added layer of unfinished and complexity. She had been very sure of herself nearly a year ago when she left me in my driveway, but now she was stuck thinking about what happened between her and Angela. "She will be okay. I promise." Alice smiled at me reassuringly as I sat in the driver's seat and watched Ara pull up into her regular spot and sit in the car with an empty mind, no music, and stare at the brick of the school building for a few minutes before getting up to go in. "Just give her until after thanksgiving." Alice patted my shoulder and then stepped out of the car and danced her way into the building with Jasper throwing his arm over her shoulders.
Thanksgiving. I thought to myself. I can make it another week.
That week proved to be much more challenging than I anticipated after Alice handed over the folder of paper that brought Ara more pain. I had yelled at Alice in front of the entire house just to earn a tongue lashing from Esme and a mental one from Carlisle. Nobody in the house was pleased that Gaia was now also privy to the most closely guarded secret in town, but they all admitted that it was only a matter of time considering her relationship to Paul, and Paul's status in the pack.
The first Monday after Thanksgiving I ran into Ara as she made her way through the parking lot, heading opposite of the school. "What are you doing?" I asked as I jumped from my car and saw her determined expression. Her mind seemed blocked to me, the thought having been decided upon while I wasn't listening and now she was just acting on impulse.
"Woods." She grumbled against the cold.
"Ara there is two feet of snow!" I caught her arm and looked down at her leggings and toms. "You aren't even wearing your boots today."
"What?" She looked down in shock. "Shit, I meant to change these." Ara shook her head and then started walking toward the woods again.
"No, I can't let you walk through thigh deep snow like this." I pulled her back by her bookbag before she could sink her first foot into it.
"Like you would ever let me walk through it in the proper gear." She scoffed and pulled against my grip like she could make a break for it.
"A fair point. Just tell me where you are trying to go?" I tried not to laugh at the image of her full blown sprinting and not achieving even an inch.
"No." Ara said sternly, her cheeks now red, though I couldn't tell if it was from the strain of trying to flee or from the determination to not tell me.
"Arabella." I scolded, tossing her over my shoulder. "You know how this works. Truth or car." I suppressed the smile as she squealed, one by one I would pull the emotions out of her.
"Fine! No heights!" She kicked futility until I set her down. "I wanted to go to that clearing you found last october." She mumbled, eyes cast to the ground. My heart hadn't beat in nearly a hundred years, and yet still it felt as if it had shuddered to a stop.
"You would never make it to that clearing alone, and besides it is too cold for the clearing, it has three feet of snow in it and the stream is rock solid." I reasoned with her, though I wanted nothing more than to whisk her away from all the insanity.
"I just really don't want to be here right now okay, but dad notices when my car isn't here because he insists on driving by on his lunch break or on his way to work." Ara groaned, crossing her arms and looking at the ground, her voice dipping lower as she spoke.
"Isn't the sheriff's station in the opposite direction?" I knew the answer, yet the implication was enough to pull the question out regardless.
"Yep." Her voice was bitter.
"Here, let's just go to my house. You can catch up on assignments and relax there if you want." My chest tightened as I watched her debate it, then finally she nodded her head and we loaded into my car, that was when emotion number three came out of Arabella and graced her face.
She was relieved.