The sparring happens nearly exclusively between the stone cold vampires. They clash and crack and smack together audibly, the harsh noises covered only by the incoming storm. None of them will touch her, so she settles in against a tree to watch pretty early on. The way Jasper moves, with surety and swift but brutal strikes, is enchanting.
Maisie doesn't notice when it starts to rain, though she does notice when the wolves all hunker down into the bushes. The vamps seem distracted by the rain. Water droplets splatter up against leaves and catch Rosalie's catlike gaze. It gets to be too much for the wolves and the vamps, and Edward calls an end to the practice. They're gone quickly, and the sound of nature returns like they were never there in the first place.
Most of the wolves slink off towards home, but Paul makes his way to Maisie. Jacob orbits around Bella far away from them. Paul lays down a good few feet away from her and looks off into the forest. She crawls over to him. His fur is soft, as she slides one hand down his back and leans against his massive shoulder. The dirt is damp beneath her, but the branches of the tree hang over them enough that there's some shelter from the rain. Paul is still carefully scanning the tree line.
"You're so nice to me." She says. Paul huffs, like that amuses him, and she scowls. "I don't know how to- "
She can't even phrase it, the way he makes her feel sometimes. He makes a bad day turn alright with a sideways smile sent her direction. He's handsome, and perfect, and why does he like her? She's not particularly beautiful, not like Venus' children. She's not particularly smart or kind or funny either. She wouldn't know loyalty if it bit her on the ass.
Paul shifts, his massive head settling in her lap. She sinks her fingers into the soft fur at the crown of his head before she thinks about how demeaning that might be. Paul doesn't seem to mind. He relaxes further and she continues.
For once, Maisie relaxes too. Her thoughts don't turn down the dark path that leads to her certain death at the hands of Diana's girls. She breaths in the cool forest air and listens to the rain patter.
When it stops raining, Paul rises. Maisie follows with a stretch and heads back towards the house. Paul dashes off through the trees, returning on two legs. He's more intimidating like this. He smirks at her, and she's struck with the urge to cradle his face in her hands. He falls in beside her, playing oblivious to the way her heartbeat stutters and her cheeks flush. She tries a smile back, hoping it doesn't look like the frail thing it is.
"Would you date someone terminally ill?" She blurts out before she can stop herself. It's an apt analogy. Paul doesn't hesitate with his answer, though he answers with a frown.
"Yeah."
She wants to take that as an invitation, into his life, his bed, his thoughts. Still though, the thought of him trying to fight for her holds her back. She keeps her own wants hostage inside her stomach, for his sake.
He doesn't push, just guides them back through the trees towards Sam's. Everyone else is gathered in the living room, so Maisie settles into the arm of the couch Leah is sitting on and Paul hovers close at her shoulder.
"An army of newborn bloodsuckers." Sam's voice is grim. His frown is perpetual, but it had gotten more severe. The boys seems tense, offbeat. Scared.
"Have any of you ever killed one of those things before?" She asks hesitantly. They all snap their heads towards her, like they'd forgotten her existence, written off like Emily.
"As a pack," Sam says.
"I totally killed that thing." Jared scoffs quietly beside him. Sam's frown gets pinched, as if he's fighting to keep it.
"Then you know you can do it." She says, making her way to the coffee table. She sets out a paper and crudely sketches the clearing with a pen. "Especially if you use your pack links against them."
They seem sufficiently motivated now, even Leah, who's base setting seems to be abject misery. She marks off a few landmarks and then starts tracing the best places to corner someone. "Get them here, or here, and someone can leap off of that rock if they start at the top out of sight. The wolves are to be surprises, right?"
They look at her strangely as she starts trying to remember the best places to retreat through the forest if necessary. She realizes she's chewing on the pen cap, so she spits it out and puts it into her pocket. "Oh, sorry, I know that's gross. Anyways, the best places to retreat will probably be here and across the stream zigzagged. We should put a few medics back beyond the tree line, just in case."
"No, Maisie," Paul shakes his head with a smile, "This is just really well thought out."
Maisie blushes at the compliment. She can feel it, and it's been awhile since her face had flushed with anything other than anger. It's a weird feeling, and she squirms and mumbles, "It's not anything from Athena's Playbook. They wouldn't spar with me so I made sure to note down some home game advantages, is all."
They let her stay in the loop after that.
In between watching the vamps clash and upping her own training as much as she can while no one will spar with her, is school. Sam and Emily keep trying to push her to go. Nearly everyone else goes, including Paul. Maisie doesn't want to go to school. They'd no doubt stick a huge test in front of her face. She'd fail it, and they'd stick her in all freshmen classes. The past seven schools Camp Jupiter had set her up with had. It was a struggle before Maisie decided it was easier to just stay at Camp.
Paul asks her to bring him his lunch one day, he forgot it in the fridge, and it's very obviously a ploy to get her there. She takes him his lunch anyways, and brings a second for her.
The receptionist, a greying native woman, smiles kindly at her. "Paul told me you were coming. You go right on through, sweetheart. The cafeteria is the last building on the right."
Maisie makes her way through the buildings, feeling oddly reminiscent. She misses the bustling streets of New Rome. She misses wandering the fair with Jess and Liam, and the loss hits her like an arrow to the chest. Suddenly, the world seems bleak without them, like nothing will ever matter again. She had fled like a coward while her friends met their deaths.
A wall of sound hits her as she opens the cafeteria door. A hundred voices talking and laughing overwhelm her for a second, and then Paul calls her name from the back of the cafeteria. She makes her way there briskly, cutting the safest and quickest path through the pool of her peers. She has nothing in common with these kids, she thinks to herself, seeing a perfectly polished bottle blonde push at her bottom lipstick with acrylic nails.
There's a beautiful girl that Maisie doesn't recognize sitting under Jared's arm, and a pair of girls next to them. The third girl's hand is twined with one of Quil's under the table, though she looks notably younger, carrying that freshmen hollowness. Maisie lifts a hand to wave when the girl greets her by name.
She sinks into a chair with it's back to the corner next to Leah, sulking between Jared and Embry as they lean over the table to talk to each other. Embry makes room for her before resuming his perch across the table. Paul's lunch finds him, and Maisie sinks low in her seat as they converse and eat. Silently, she vows to herself that she'll never leave these people to doom, like she had Jess and Liam. Leah casts her a concerned look and steals half her sandwich. Even if that means making sure Leah has backup in this hellhole. Gods damnit.
The audio system crackles out three frankly horrifying tones. Paul barely hides his wince, but then they all start packing up and pooling their trash.
Paul heads over to the trash can while the rest of the boys pack up their stuff, Embry getting Paul's for him. Bottle Blonde meets him there, peeling a stick of gum out on her way, tossing the wrapper in the can after Paul dumps the tray. She says something to him, inaudible across the cafeteria. She redirects her gaze, only to find Embry looking at her sympathetically.
"He's not-" There's a measured pause, "They're not dating anymore. She just won't leave him alone."
Leah snorts, "They weren't dating, ever."
Maisie arches a brow as Embry sheepishly looks away.
"They're not hooking up anymore, then." Embry says.
"Why?"
"Uh, well-"
"I mean, I just don't understand why you won't come to my party this weekend, you and the boys are all invited." The blonde looks down at Maisie, slouched in her chair. Her lip curls in obvious distaste for a moment before she's flashing a bubblegum smile back at Paul. The pair seems to have made their way over to the table. Something ugly curls in her gut.
"Does no not mean no anymore?" She asks casually. "I mean, I'd hate to have to defend my every decision to a girl I was never even dating."
"So you're his new toy, then?" She flounces through her words, harshness minimized by the cheerful, matter-of-fact tone she's taken. Her lip curls in distaste as her gaze slides down Maisie's form, though she manages to disguise it in her smile.
"Shut up,-" Embry starts angrily, but stops when Paul lays a hand on his shoulder. Paul looks angry, so furious that his hands are shaking, but he looks to Maisie.
Maisie wants it. She want to be the new toy, the shiny girl on his arm, the one who he trusts and loves and- fuck. Nobody said anything about love, Maisie, erase that thought. But she wants it. All she has to do is choose it, and here, faced with this girl she doesn't even know, there isn't anything that could convince her not to take it.
A feral grin stretches across her face as she plunks her boots down on the table one after another, peering up at the other girl through her lashes.
"That'd be me." She gives Paul a softer smile, before returning her gaze to the blonde. "Except, I'm not a toy and no one gets to play me."
"Then what is so special about you, huh?" She snarls. Despite receiving glares from around the table, she seems to be confident.
"I guess it takes one to know one," Maisie muses. "And you just can't see it."
The girl splutters, unintelligible. She manages to get out a "Fuck you." before she stomps off. Paul slings his bag over his shoulder with a wide grin.
"You're a fuckin' miracle worker, Maze." He says, "I'll walk you out."
"Don't swear at your girlfriend." The youngest girl snaps from a few seats down.
"She's not my girlfriend, yet." He says. She rolls her eyes, turning to Maisie. She holds out a delicate looking hand, "I'm Claire."
"Maisie. I've got a filthier mouth than Paul does, trust me."
Claire giggles and flutters her lashes at Maisie. "Me too. But he still shouldn't swear at you. It's not polite to treat your lady friends that way."
"And if I don't like the polite sort of type?" Maisie asks, voice slinking low and husky before breaking into a giggle.
"Then you have my number." Leah leans up next to her for a second, arms crossed to push her boobs up, much to the howling laughter coming from Maisie and Claire. The flirting is fun, playful in a way Maisie hasn't felt for a while. It's clear that none of them mean it, except maybe to the boys who look horribly confused.
Sexy. Seductive. Maisie pouts her lips and tries her best, "I'll have to take you up-"
She dissolved into giggles with the rest of the girls, a failure. That's not a bad thing to be in a cafeteria, though. Leah's phone buzzes and Kim has sent her a video, the frame zooming from Leah's cleavage to Paul's face. It sets them all off on another peal of laughter, though it gets interrupted by the bell.
Paul and her split down a separate path back towards the front office. He shuffles along awkwardly beside her until she says, "You know we were just kidding, right?"
"Leah only wishes she liked girls." He sounds utterly confident about that, like he'd literally been in her head, but also terribly bewildered.
Maisie chews on her bottom lip for a second.
"Flirting with girls is fun because even if they are queer they never expect you to follow up on what you say." She admits quietly.
"Oh." He's quiet for a second before he says, "Hey, no pressure here either, okay? Flirt all you like."
"Yeah? What else can I do all I like?" She asks bumping her shoulder into his.
He splutters, ears turning bright red. "What?"
"Can I..." She hums, "Oh, can I kiss you?"
His gaze drops to her lips, pace slowing.
"Not now," She giggles, "We're walking."
He catches up quick, resuming his pace at her side. He casts a charming smile her way, "Any time."
He opens the door for her when they get to the front office. She passes through with an arched brow until the receptionist sends him a stern look. "Oh good, I told you, you ought to have met her here as well as walked her to her car. I guess only one of those trips gets you a kiss at the end."
She turns her sharp eyes to Maisie, "Boys like him don't deserve presents like that, you know."
"Meemaw, please stop." Paul winces.
"You walk that young lady to her car now, young man." The woman gives Paul a stern look.
"Oh," Maisie pauses, "I don't know how to drive. I walked."
"You walked?" Paul asks, peering off through the forest. The high school, while relatively close to the house, was still eight or nine miles.
"I.. jogged?" She says. She's always been fast.
"Hell, Maisie." He shakes his head in disbelief. "I'm going to drive you home."
"You don't have too." She tells him, "I made it here, didn't I?"
"Sure, but you shouldn't have to walk home." He's adamant. "Plus, now I have an excuse to ditch math class."
It's sweet, so she clambers up into the passenger seat of his truck. He fiddles with the radio awkwardly as Maisie settles in. It's not a far drive to the house, but Paul fills it with idle chatter. He walks her to the door, lays a hand on her shoulder. It's warm and big. She might fall down.
It's been a while since someone has so much as brushed a against her, and when his thumb starts in a slow circle, a shiver runs up her spine.
"You okay?" He asks, brows squished together.
"Yeah," She rumbles our, voice clouded. After clearing her throat she says, "Yeah, no. I'm fine."
He says nothing, disbelief on his face. She hates to see it, so she leans forwards, arms wrapped around his neck as she plants her nose in the juncture where it meets his shoulders. He's frozen for a second, but quickly wraps his arms around her before she can skitter away.
"Hey, Maze." He chuckles a little. His nose brushes against the top of her hair. For the moment, at least, she feels warm and safe.
He lets go. The air is cold, but Paul has to get back to school. Maisie resolves to join him sometime soon.
Sooo I'm not dead! Special thanks to Alera33 for telling me the text was wonky. Honorable mentions to CRazyduck0000, jaclynencizo, and everyone else who has commented asking for an update. It's like twice as long as other chapters so, go crazy go stupid? I aged up Claire because: because. Questions, comments, concerns? Tell me it's trash if that's what you think, hate welcome lol.