Two Thousand Times


A strange feeling lingered in the air as I sat, listening to the antique radio play tunes as I watched as he went about the kitchen, keeping busy, trying to multitask as best he could. The sight was quite amusing, and I couldn't help but feel content, as if the events of today hadn't even happened.

They did though, and as strange as it all was, I was fine. More than fine actually. I guess I just needed something to keep me grounded from all the chaos that had happened, and ironically enough, despite himself being one of the sources of chaos, he kept me calm.

I soon identified the strange feeling that I felt, and as I watched another poof of smoke rise from the frying pan, I realised it was stress.

Paul had been trying to fry fish for about an hour now, and each time he did, he ended up just burning the outside to a rock-hard crisp, and the inside was usually completely raw. How could I not feel the slightest bit of stress when the boy picked up the pan once more to dump another inedible slab of fish into the garbage bucket. By that point, the entire kitchen had been filled with smoke, and the fire alarm had beeped so much that I had to remove it from its case and place it into another room.

"I find your skill to burn anything you cook quite fascinating." I hummed, very amused by the sight in front of me.

He gave me a pout.

"I don't get it! Why does it keep burning so fast?" He whined, clearly miserable from how hungry he was.

"Okay well first, you should turn the dials down off max."

"But then it'll take longer."

"Paul, you've been doing this for an hour. If you tried to cook it normally you would've already been done eating!"

"Normal? Last time I checked, I'm anything but normal." He joked, but the face he made showed that he immediately regretted it. I was silent.

We still hadn't talked about our fight yesterday – or the fact that he was a werewolf for that matter – and while we both had been trying to avoid it as best as we could, we both knew we had to talk about it eventually.

"Seth, I…" His brow wrinkled as he tried to think of the words to say. "I'm really sorry about everything…"

I remained silent, so he continued.

"When I first… turned into a wolf, I was so freaked out." He faintly laughed, trying to find humor in the situation. "It happened so fast… There I was, coming down from my room after I had gotten ready for school, and my father simply looked at me and said 'Paul, can you clean up your dishes please,' and… I exploded."

His brow was furrowed, and I could tell he was finding it difficult to tell the story, so I gave him a reassuring smile. This seemed to give him a slight push.

"I remember my father telling me it was alright. He told me it repeatedly, but all I could do was stare down at the two paws that were now in front of me, and the furniture around me that I had practically destroyed when I phased." He then sighed. "After I got… up to date with what was going on, I joined Sam's pack. At the time it was just him and Jared, so there wasn't really much to do or any rules to follow… besides one."

I watched as his fist clenched tightly, which he then let out a large shiver.

"Sam ordered me not to speak a word of what happened to anyone who didn't already know, not even you. It made me so angry that it took me a solid three days before I managed to phase back."

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"Well… when we want to phase into our wolf form, we only need to get angry for the change to happen." He then laughed out loud. "That's the easiest part for me. I have the worst temper out of all of us. But when we want to phase back into humans, we need to feel happy. Understand now?" He shot me a glance.

"I think? So, you were so mad that you just couldn't change back?"

"Exactly." He then sighed once more. "Finding out I wasn't allowed to tell my best friend drove me mad, and when Sam realised just how bad my temper was, he ordered me to not even go near you. He feared that if I lost my temper when I was with you, you might get hurt in the crossfire." He then looked up at me with pursed lips. "That's how Emily got that scar."

It took me a second before I realised what he meant. "Wait, so Sam did that?"

I remember when I had first seen Emily after she got that scar. My father told Leah and me that she was attacked by a bear. I guess bears were the go-to thing when it came to hiding blame for the werewolves.

"Yeah… He didn't mean to of course!" He quickly added. "It's just that we can get angry so easily, and if it's not controlled well, then accidents like that happen."

"I tired keeping away from you, and after that day on the beach… it got really hard. Eventually Sam understood how being away from you was affecting me, so he allowed me to see you again only if I keep my temper under control. It was hard, but it was worth it for you."

I felt taken back for a second, surprised by the kind words, which I then gave a smile to try and cover up the fact that my face was probably becoming flushed.

"After the funeral, I knew that you were going to question what happened, and I just… I just wanted you to find peace until you learned about us." He was no longer looking at me. "So…"

I merely put my hand up to stop him. "Look, Paul… You don't have to apologize. I get it, alright." I sighed. "Let's not have that stand in the way anymore, okay?"

I was being completely honest. It took me some time to understand everything he had done, but I did get it. He really was just trying to keep me safe, and all the lies he had spoke were only meant to protect me from the horrid truth. More so, even if he had told me everything, he would have just made himself sound like an utter fool. After all, who would believe that their father's death was caused by a vampire, and their best friend was secretly a werewolf?

Paul seemed surprised by my words, but a slight smile crept up onto his face. "Okay." Was all he said, and I couldn't help the smile that soon spread across mine.

I do have questions though." I keenly added, which made him lift an eyebrow.

"Shoot."

"Okay, just… don't promise to laugh or anything, alright?"

"No promises." He flashed me a toothy grin.

I shook out my stiff arms, wondering even if the most basic question would be too silly.

"So… full moons…?"

"No." He was already trying to suppress a smile, which made me reach across the counter to smack his arm. This made him start giggling.

"Anyways…" I then thought as to what the next question would be. "Do you… kill vampires?"

This seemed to surprise him. "Yes, actually… How'd you know?"

"Well I didn't really. But vampires and werewolves are sworn enemies in fiction, right?"

"Correct."

"Is it dangerous?"

"What?"

"Hunting vampires… is it dangerous?"

This seemed to make him pause, and almost immediately I felt myself begin to worry.

"No." He shrugged it off as if it were no big deal.

I was unconvinced. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. I mean, we rarely come across them anyway, but when we do, there's too many of us for it to even fight back."

"But if you came across more than one-"

"It'll still be fine. You don't have to worry about a thing." He cut me off.

I still felt worried, but arguing might've only led to a fight, and I didn't want it to come to that again.

I was about to ask another question, but Paul's stomach rumbled loudly, which he then embarrassingly wrapped his arms around him.

"And I guess that just about wraps up twenty-one questions." I chuckled, walking over to the freezer to fetch out two bags of fish. Placing them in the pan, I watch Paul make a grumbled look as I turned the dial down on low, which made me let out a soft laugh.

"Patience." I said. He merely rolled his eyes before sauntering over to lean on the counter next to me with one arm.

The feeling that overcame me felt nostalgic, as it felt like it had been a while since me and Paul had casually hung out as friends, but more so with no secrets between us. We knew each other once again, and there was no doubt nor confusion. It felt right.

Much to Paul's complaining, I was able to fry the fish relatively fast, which I might add looked just as great as my fathers. He had taught me his famous recipe when I was younger, so I was surprised after all this time that I had remembered every detail. I sat and watched as the boy devoured everything in less than a minute, which brought a question to my mind.

"Hey, so you're stomach now being a massive blackhole, is that a werewolf thing?"

"Yupphurs." He replied, chunks of fish flying out from his mouth in the process.

"Wow, okay, I asked for the news, not the weather." I laughed while brushing the chunks off the table, which made him give a food-stuffed grin.

After Paul's little chow fest, I picked up his plate and brought it over to the sink to wash.

"You'd make an excellent house husband, you know that?" He said, sneaking up behind. I nudged him while giving a grin.

"Only for you."

It was an obvious joke, but this seemed to put Paul off. His's hazy eyes were staring into mine, and I felt myself lean back onto the counter next to him, raising a brow to question the kind of look he seemed to be giving me. He didn't seem to acknowledge it; his eyes still boring into mine as he licked his lips. The confidence he always seemed to radiate no longer was there, and instead he looked afraid – of what exactly I didn't have the clue. His propped-up arm shifted, allowing his body to turn more towards me; his forearm brushing up against mine, and I only shivered as I felt that of electricity run through me from the contact alone. His face was closer to mine now, and I felt myself lean in ever so slightly, the heat off his body already hitting me in intense waves.

I gulped, feeling as if though the atmosphere had changed rapidly. Paul didn't seem to notice it – or anything for that matter – and continued his staring contest, which he was winning by a long shot. His whole body shifted closer and was now practically touching mine. I stared up into his face, wondering what was happening, because I knew for a fact that something was happening.

His eyes were telling me something, but the question was what? I felt his hot breath hit my face in rhythmic patterns, which only made mine grow shallower.

His brow was furrowed, and it looked like he was asking me something. Asking permission for something, and though I didn't know what it was or what to say, I felt myself nod.

His hands were now gripped on to the counter on either side of me, and I watched as his Adam's apple bobbed from him swallowing hard, before his face began leaning in, closer and closer.

But the sound of the front door opening made me jolt, and Paul jumped away, clearly shocked as well.

"Paul, are you home-" Paul's father had walked into the doorway, only to stop as he caught sight of me. "Oh, hello Seth. I didn't know you would be here."

"U-uh, hi Chris." I said, not letting my eyes meet Paul.

"Don't worry, I'll be out of your guys' hair right quick. I was just heading to bed anyway." The man said, taking off his jacket to hang over one of the chairs and then getting a can of pop out of the fridge before fleeing up the stairs.

It was silent.

Did Paul just try to kiss me? No… No, that's not possible, I thought.

"You uh… wanna watch a movie?" Paul asked me, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

"S-sure…"

I trailed behind Paul as he walked into the Livingroom. I hopped onto the loveseat in front of the massive tv, and I watched as Paul kneeled by a rack filled with DVDs. He picked out Die Hard, which wasn't a shocker. Paul's love for that movie was unmatched, and how he watched it repeatedly was beyond me, but it was just one of the quirks that I adored about him.

Paul sat down next to me, and I felt my body lean towards him ever so slightly. Whatever spark that I felt when he brushed up against me in the kitchen, I wanted to feel it once more. And as if he was reading my mind, Paul's arm wrapped around me and pulled me in towards his heated body, though he almost seemed hesitant to do so. My face was tinted red yet again, and I wanted to slap myself for making my feeling so obvious, though Paul had always been a little dense in that department, so he didn't notice all the little things I was doing which made me look like the high school boy in love that I was.

"The heat that radiates off you; is that a werewolf thing?"

"Yup." He whispered, his eyes not glancing away from the movie.

I couldn't pay attention to the screen, and while usually it would be because I just didn't care for action flicks, at that moment it was because I was in a trance from the way Paul's hand mindlessly rubbed circles on mine. I snapped out of it at times, like when Paul let out a deep chuckle, or when his head turned ever so slightly to peak down at me.

There was something between us, but I couldn't guess what it was. My mind of course begged me to think that it was something romantic, and while I knew it was just false hope, there was a part of me that thought just maybe…

Paul let out a loud yawn. "Man, that movie will never get old."

"Whatever you say." I rolled my eyes, smiling up at him.

He gave a mock-offended look. "Seth Clearwater, are you telling me you don't like Die Hard?"

"Oh, I did the first time we watched it together, but you know, after the next two thousand times, it kind of got a bit dull." My smile was wider now.

"Two thousand times, eh? I must be like… the best Die Hard fan there ever was then, huh?"

"No contest."

He gave me his famous cocky grin, before quickly hopping up off the couch. I couldn't help the slight disappointment that followed. He yawned once again.

"Wanna head to bed?"

I hesitated. Did I want to sleep in Paul's bed? I mean, he had slept in mine so many times I couldn't count, but I felt that somehow this was different. As if it meant something else.

"I uh… I think I'm just going to head home." I mumbled, not meeting his gaze.

"Oh." He sounded disappointed. "Okay."

"I'll see you tomorrow?" I questioned, trying to lighten the dampened mood by giving a warm smile. It didn't work.

"Yeah, sure."

He walked me to the door while helping me get my still slightly damp coat on.

"Do you want me to drive you?"

I shot him a questioning look. "Then how would you get home?"

He paused before giving me a look. My eyes widened for a second, understanding what he meant.

"Ah, right... no, I think I'll be okay. Really."

"…Okay."

There was a pause, and almost immediately it felt as if though we were going to continue what had happened in the kitchen, but I knew that my heart wouldn't be able to handle such things, so I simply said my goodbyes and headed out the door. Paul watched from the doorframe as I got into my truck and drove off.

I had taken my time getting home, and by that point, the reality of what had happened that night hit me in full force. My mother had spotted me when I walked in through the door, and obviously looked like she wanted to talk about the events that had happened today, but I ignored her and sprinted up to my room in what probably looked like panic, locking the door behind me. My mother of course followed, bagging on my door to ask me if I was okay. She probably thought that I was taking all the things with werewolves horribly, but that wasn't even close.

The question popped into my head the moment I had gotten into my room.

Did Paul mean to kiss me back there? And why would Paul want to kiss me? He likes someone else. Whoever this… imprint person was. I must have been seeing things. Paul liking me was just simply impossible.

Right?

That night, I knew I had to distract myself from thinking anymore about the situation, so I ended up finishing the last bit of school work that I had to pass in.

The past month I've taken a break from school. My father's passing had hit me hard, so for the first two weeks I didn't even show my face in school. When I finally came around to it, I merely went in at lunch time to collect all the work that I had missed – with Leah I might add. I found it strange, as when I told my mother that I wanted to head to school, she freaked out, and I didn't have any clue as to why. But, with enough persistence, I was able to convince her to let me, but only if Leah came along as an escort.

I concluded that she thought that I might not have been ready to return, and that I might have broken down crying at any second. She wasn't wrong.

Ever since then, Leah had been retrieving my homework amongst other things. Occasionally I went with her much to my mother's dismay. She also didn't forget to remind me that the school on the rez had finally opened back up, and all the students who had been transferred to Forks returned there – well, besides myself of course. I told her I wanted to stay where I was, and this made her almost lose her top.

I figured that my mother would no longer need to worry about me having a breakdown in the middle of a class as it had been over a month since my father's passing. I decided that I would go to school the next day.

I was doing the last formula for precalculus when I felt my eyes become heavy, so I quickly finished up before tossing the book onto my desk and shutting off the lamp. I fell asleep repeating problems over and over in my head to distract myself from thinking about Paul.

I was driving on a road – where it led to I hadn't the clue. Immediately I recognized I was dreaming. I looked to my left to see Paul. He had the passenger side window down, and he leaned onto it, staring straight ahead and looking at peace. My eyes remained on him, but my steering stayed perfectly straight, and I simply sat back and watched. His face turned towards me, and the smile he wore was brilliant. The boy leaned over across the truck, and I then felt his lips press to mine. It was a simple yet passionate kiss – one that made me get butterflies in my stomach, and I couldn't help but let out a giggle as he pulled away. It felt so casual and right.

"I imprinted on someone." His voice was barely a whisper.

I wanted to ask the very question that had been bugging me. Who did he imprint on? But as I opened my mouth, I said nothing, as I was too afraid of the answer I would get.

He spoke, but his voice sounded wrong. It mimicked my sister. "Imprinting is like… when you first look at them – look right into their eyes – you know they're the one. And then suddenly, it's no longer your own two feet that are keeping you on the ground, but instead, it's them. Like if your whole world shifted from under you."

I felt my brows furrow at this. "So, love at first sight?"

"You could say something like that." His voice was his own again.

Suddenly, Paul disappeared from the passenger side, and as I turned to stare out the windshield, I was no longer on an endless road, but instead, facing the rocky beach of La Push. Laughing met my ears, and I found myself turning to look out the window where Paul once sat, and I saw him.

Sam Uley was walking out of the woods, his face as stern as ever, and behind him was Jared, and then Embry, and then Paul.

Paul was laughing a laugh so lighthearted, and I felt my heart skip a beat when I heard it. The figures disappeared once more, and I found myself glancing out the side and back window, wondering where they could have gone. That's when I spotted the person standing outside my door.

I felt like I was suffocating.

He was looking down at the ground, his face so full of pain and sorrow, and I couldn't help but shout the words that came next.

"Paul, look at me!" I shouted out, and I watched as his eyes met mine.

For a second, there was nothing. Paul's angered gaze was on me, and I watched as his expression slowly melted to confusion, and then to fear.

He looked as if his whole world had shifted from under him.

I felt my ragged self gasp for air as both of my arms pushed me off the pillow that I lay face down in. My breaths were quick and panting, and my arms were violently shaking to the point where I was concerned that they might snap off, but none of that seemed to bother me as one question slammed into my head.

Did Paul imprint on me?

"Oh god…" I groaned, putting a hand to my head and feeling how much it was killing me. I sat up in bed, putting my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. "Okay, Seth. Just… think this over."

Was it really that crazy to think that Paul had… imprinted on me? I didn't have any reason not to believe such a thing, but I also didn't have any facts to back anything up. I did remember Paul telling me that they had never really them before he imprinted, but I also remember not being fully convinced, and if it was a lie, it wouldn't be the first he told in the last few months. But still, even if Paul had imprinted on me, why wouldn't he have told me?

My thoughts began racing around, trying to find some explanation, until I thought back to what had happened two days ago, and what mysterious item I had found.

The journal that revealed all the secrets Paul had kept from me. One entry floated back to my brain, and I remember how Paul described how he was scared that I would hate him. At first, I assumed he thought I would hate him because he imprinted on a guy, but I reckoned I misunderstood.

Maybe he thought I would hate him because he imprinted on me.

Would it truly be foolish to believe such a thing? Or was it just myself overthinking. The second one seemed plausible, but I wanted to believe that I really wasn't overreacting.

I let out another groan, falling back onto my pillow and trying my hardest to let sleep overcome me so I would no longer have to think about it.

My blaring alarm woke me from my sleepless slumber. Groggily I got up from the bed, looking out the window to see the sky as foggy as ever. I stumbled over to my closet, picking out a brown shirt, jeans, and a light green jacket just in case if it began to rain.

The steamy hot water beat off my back while I thought to how nervous I was about returning to school. I didn't even let myself think back to what I had came to realise last night.

My mother had already left, so I spent my morning alone at the kitchen table, slowly eating cereal as my eyes began tracing the pattern in the doorframe of the kitchen, until finally I couldn't take it anymore. I almost broke the bowl by tossing it into the sink carelessly and made my way to the porch, grabbing my bag and keys before opening the front door and locking it behind me.

The drive to school was tedious, as I had no way to distract myself besides trying (and failing) to play the license plate game all by myself on a road where almost no cars traveled on. I couldn't help but sigh as I reached the outskirts of Forks. After driving up a hill, I was met with the sight of the high school, and felt a wave of happiness, as I had successfully not thought about the thing I didn't want to think about.

The school hadn't changed, and I found some relief in that. I was met with the brisk morning air as I stepped out of the truck, and I made I way into the crowd of people that were by the steps heading up to the doors. Maneuvering around them all was difficult, but eventually I had made it inside. The first thing I did was go straight to my locker, as I knew that there was no way in hell I was going to remember what my classes were.

It took me a good ten tries with my locker combo before I was able to guess it right to my relief. I really wasn't in the mood to go back out into the cold to walk two minutes to the administrator's office just to get a flimsy code.

When I close the locker door, I was met with the face of a tall figure – one who was staring right at me.

At first, I did a doubletake. The very first thing that caught me off guard was how pale this person was, and strangely beautiful. His hair was a reddish-brown color, and was styled up. He looked like a model that you would see in a magazine. But soon enough, I quickly put a name to the face, and remembered that the person I was staring at was a Cullen.

I found it strange, as I distinctly remember Dr. Cullen and his family moving away back in September, so it made me question why they had returned.

I also remember how much my father had despised the Cullens – for whatever reason.

The Cullen boy was giving me a look that I couldn't identify, but I shrugged it off, turning around and making my way to photography class.

The teacher, Ms. Cherny greeted me with a warm smile, saying it had been a while since she had seen me, and then of course asked me if I was doing okay (and using the classic sympathetic head-tilt might I add). I responded coolly before taking a seat in my usual desk. Angela Weber waved at me, and I returned the gesture with pleasure.

Photography class wasn't too eventful. I had already studied all the things that Ms. Cherny was teaching, so I was left to gaze out the window, trying exceedingly hard not to think of anything.

Lunchtime soon came around, and while I contemplated eating out in my truck, I quickly dismissed it, figuring it wasn't worth the trouble. I bought myself a greasy pizza with a soda and roamed over to an empty table. The first thing I did was reach into my bag and haul out a book to read. It was Dracula – the copy I had bought that time in Port Angeles. I'd been meaning to read it, as I had already finished Frankenstein in April when I had been moping around.

I clicked opened the drink can, before settling in and wanting to enjoy the serenity to come.

"Seth!" Someone called out.

So much for that.

I glanced up, looking around to see who had called my name, only to lay eyes on both Angela Weber and Ben Cheney, along with all the people they sat with – one of them being Bella Swan, and the other as the Cullen boy I had recognized this morning. Ben began gesturing to come over, patting an empty spot next to him to tell me to come sit with them, but feeling slightly unsociable, I merely waved him off, only to mouth the words 'thank you anyways'. He expressed an understanding smile, along with a sympathetic head-tilt.

I was extremely appreciative of the invitation though and was glad that my disappearance for an entire month didn't seem to affect our friendship.

Reading Dracula was… an experience – especially since I had found out very recently that the existence of such a being was real, which began to turn my stomach slightly, but not because it was possible I was in danger, but from the fact that Paul and Leah would be. I know Paul said hunting… vampires wasn't dangerous, but if the pack is hunting them then they're not harmless. The fact of how big the wolves were eased my worry quite a bit.

But there was still something at the pit of my stomach telling me something was wrong. I casually glanced around, not looking at anything in particular, but something caught my eye. The pretty Cullen boy's eyes bore into me. I felt stunned as I began to question what I had done to make the boy upset, and just as fast as my gaze landed on him, it shot right back down to the book in front of me. Moments later I glanced back up, noticing he no longer was staring.

The sound of the bell made me almost jump out of my seat, and I quickly packed up my books before making my way to my next class.

The day passed by, and I was soon back on the road to the rez. I considered today to be a success. Sure, I wasn't really that sociable with anyone, nor did I pay much attention in most of my classes, but the good thing was that I could see myself getting back into the habit of going to school everyday, and there really wasn't anything holding me back.

Sure, the whole werewolf thing was a big change in my life, but it didn't directly affect me – yet anyways. Billy had said that it was possible I would soon join the others. How that was going to happen, I hadn't the clue. I didn't really feel any different, so I couldn't see how it was possible, but maybe there weren't any indicators for when I would become one.

Or maybe fiction would become reality, and I would need someone in Sam's pack to bite or scratch me and wait for a full moon, though ironically enough, that was unlikely. Paul had already dismissed most of what I thought a werewolf was as fiction. Plus, there was the obvious fact that they didn't really look much like fictional werewolves either, because if I wasn't mistaken, werewolves usually were bipedal, but these real ones were quadruped. Everything I had learned in fiction really was nothing more than fiction.

Though no matter how hard I tried distracting myself, soon enough my thoughts had made a full circle and were now back on Paul.

I couldn't come to a conclusion on the whole imprint thing. Hell, I didn't even know if I wanted to come to one, as I feared that the truth would just disappoint me, but I knew I had to confront him soon enough – if I could find the nerve to do it.

My automatic and mindless driving soon came to a crashing end, as my eyes quickly caught something jump out on my side of the road, and I let out a loud gasp as my foot slammed down onto the break.

My body flung forward onto the wheel, and then slamming back onto the seat. I let out a long groan, rubbing my chest as my eyes adjusted to what was in front of my truck.

Panic mode switched off and almost immediately anger bubbled up. I practically ripped off the seat belt before shoving my door open and jumping out.

"WHAT THE HELL!" I screamed at the large wolf in front of me. It let out a breath as it's long eyes eyed me up and down.

Its fur was a light shade of brown, though much darker around the eyes – almost like it wore a mask. It turned to trot back into the woods, and I almost immediately began to follow, not caring if a vehicle drove up behind me. As I was about to enter the treeline, a boy with copper skin appeared in front of me.

Jared Cameron.

"Jared, what the hell was that?"

"Sorry, needed to talk to you is all." He shrugged.

"Talk to me?" I asked. Was it a common werewolf thing to jump out into traffic and try to cause accidents? "What are you doing jumping out in the middle of the road? Do you have a death wish?"

He chuckled at this. "Oh please, if either one of us was getting hurt in that situation, it would be you by a long shot."

"Okay… Well what do you need to talk about?"

"We were out looking for you."

"We?"

"Yes, the whole pack."

"Why?"

"Your mother called Sam. She said you hadn't been home for hours and was worried you ran away, freaking out about the whole wolf thing."

Of course, worrywart Sue, always making mountains of the molehills.

"Oh… well I'm fine, really." I assured.

His eyes narrowed at me. "Whatever you say." He hummed, beginning walking back into the woods.

"Where are you off to?"

"Letting the others know you're alright. You should get back home."

And as fast as he came, he was gone again. Unsurprising though. Jared was never really a people person. I sighed, turning around and fleeing back to my truck.

Soon, I turned into my driveway, and almost immediately out came my mother. I hopped out of the truck.

"Seth Clearwater, where have you been?" She demanded to know, hitting my arm with a rolled-up newspaper.

"Ow?"

She gave me daggering eyes.

"I was just at school, it's no biggie."

The face she made upon hearing this looked like she has just witnessed me shooting someone.

"S-school?" She practically yelled.

"Yes?" Now I was confused. Why would she be mad about this? Was me learning a bad thing now? "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is you never told me!" She seemed unreasonably upset.

"And?"

She hit me with the paper again.

"Stop hitting me!"

"Seth, if you were returning to school, you should have told me!"

"Why?"

"Because Forks high school is not safe."

Not safe? Did something happen while I was on break? From as far as I could tell, absolutely nothing had changed. Everything had been just about the same as it always had been.

"Hey." A voice spoke, and I immediately let out a shout, jumping back next to my mother to look at the figure who had snuck up behind me.

Paul. The first thing I noticed was that he wasn't wearing a shirt – how unsurprising.

"Where have you been?" He questioned, looking just as worried as Sue.

"I was just at school."

He seemed taken back by this, and his face grew serious. "You were at the high school?"

"Yes? Why is that such a big deal?" I felt myself laugh awkwardly, looking back and forth between the two.

Paul seemed hesitant to speak, but when he did, his voice was low and cautious.

"Seth, there's vampires at school."