SMs, Characters.

I am so so sorry for the delay in updating, but RL has been very hectic.

Thank you for all the reviews.

Hopefully the next chapter should not take as long.


A New Day

BPOV

Another day of school, another day of people whispering and spreading false rumours. I was counting down the days until graduation and I could move into my cabin in the woods.

I parked my truck in the school car park and slowly made my way to the main entrance, taking a few deep breaths the closer I got preparing myself for another day here. I stopped in my tracks when Lauren and Jessica both walked out of the building, I could see them look around quickly before stopping in front me.

"Hi Bella, sorry Bella, bye Bella." They both said together, before almost running away towards the side of the building.

I stood still, breathing out slowly, almost not believing what I just heard. It was then that I could feel somebody staring at me, I turned around slowly and was shocked to see Paul and Sam both stood on the edge of the forest with their arms crossed against their naked chests.

I knew exactly what they had done. I glared at them briefly, as much as I didn't want them to do anything. It was nice to know that I would hopefully be left alone from now on in school. I then smiled at them, and mouthed the words 'thank you' before waving at them.

As I turned to walk inside, Angela appeared at my side.

"Bella, do you want to come and sit with Ben and me today?" she asked as we made our way to the door, I nodded a yes before turning around to wave to Paul again.

When I went to raise my hand I realised that they had already walked back into the forest, I followed Angela to our first class and was surprised to see that Ben had saved us both seats next to his.

"I'm sorry Bella; we didn't mean to ignore you. But I didn't want Ang dragged into all the bullying." Ben whispered just as the teacher walked in.

I understood why he would do that; Angela with her shyness would cope worse than me with all the whispers and rumours.

The rest of the day Angela and Ben stayed nearby all day, luckily I had every lesson with either both of them or one of them. At lunchtime Ben got us all lunch while Angela and I went to the library, people were still staring and going quiet when I would walk into the room so I didn't want to sit in a large room surrounded by every student of Forks.

As I walked out of school at the end of the day, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. As I walked towards my truck a tap on my shoulder stop me.

"Bella, we were wondering if you wanted to come to the diner with us to grab something to eat." Angela asked, with a big grin on her face. I wanted to tell them that I couldn't, but after spending the day with them and making sure I was not alone, I felt I owed them something.

"Yes, sure, but I need to go home first and let my dad know. I will meet you there about half an hour, if that is ok?"

"Ok no problem; we will save you a seat." Angela replied before her and Ben walked off.

I got in the truck, getting back to the house as fast as I could. I rang dad telling him my plans and asking for Billy's number as I had made plans to meet Paul. After I hung up I quickly dialled the number.

"Hello Billy Black."

"Hi Billy, its Bella, do you by chance have a telephone number for Paul?"

"Sorry Bella, but Paul doesn't have a phone. Would you like me to get a message to him?" Billy offered.

"Please, can you tell Paul that I'm going to be late getting to the beach today as I'm meeting some friends at the Forks diner."

"Sure Bella, no problem."

"Thank you Billy."

"Sure, I will speak to you soon. Bye." Billy replied before hanging up the phone.

I locked back up and got back into the truck, making it to the diner in record time. Angela and Ben had managed to get the booth near the back of the diner, leaving the seat so that my back was to the rest of the diner. It felt normal sitting here with friends talking about school and plans that Angela and Ben had for the next weekend, the diner was busy and loud with talking until the door slammed open.

The whole diner went quiet; I jumped in my seat when I suddenly felt a hot hand placed on my shoulder. I quickly looked up and was shocked to see Paul, shaking; I could see anger behind his eyes.

I knew we had to get out of here, but also knew that it would get the whole town talking about me again if I just left.

"Paul sit down" I whispered, low enough so that Angela and Ben wouldn't hear me. I moved over in my seat so he could sit down, he took my hand and squeezed it slightly as he stopped shaking.

"Angela, Ben I would like you to meet Paul, a friend from the Reservation. Paul this is Angela and Ben, friends from school.

After a few seconds the diner got loud again, I was sat trying to come up with a reason to leave. When once again the door opened and the diner went quiet again, Seconds later Sam and Jared were stood at the end of the table.

"Sorry Bella but can we have a word with you outside?" Sam asked, I nodded and then pushed against Paul to move.

"I'm so sorry, Angela and Ben, but it seems something has come up that I need to deal with. I will see you at school tomorrow." I said, before waving and following Sam out the quiet diner.

We walked in silence to my truck, before stopping at the bed of it.

"Paul, are you ok. Do you need to phase and go for a run?" Sam asked.

"What is going on?" I asked confused, to why the pack would come all the way to Forks.

I was met with a wall of silence, each of them looking at Paul and then me.

"Paul, it looks like Bella has no idea what is going on. We will leave you to it, and I will talk to you later tonight about ignoring me." Sam spoke, before him and Jared walked off.

"Bella do you mind if we go back to my place, I heard something today and I need to know if it is the truth. I will make us some dinner if you want, or we can talk and then you can come home." Paul asked, not even able to look at me.

"Ok, but I need to go home first and leave a note for my dad."

I seen him nod before he opened the passenger door and got into my truck. I drove home in silence, trying to work out what made Paul so mad.

"Bella stop over thinking, we will talk when we get back to mine, just in case I need to phase." Paul tried to reassure me.

I pulled into the drive, and walked inside leaving a note on the fridge. By the time I got back out to the truck, Paul was now in the driver's seat. I climbed into the truck and raised my eyebrows in question.

"You don't know where I live; it will be easier if I drive." Paul answered before reversing back out of the drive.

The drive to La Push was quiet, neither of us spoke. I still had no idea what was going on or why Paul stormed into the diner the way he did.

When Paul pulled up outside a house on the other side of the Reservation I was speechless, his house was so different to the other houses in La Push. This house had an extra floor added on to it, while most of the houses on the Reservation are more like cabins.

My passenger door suddenly opened and Paul held his hand out to help me out of the truck. I took his hand and climbed out of the truck still staring at the house.

"My dad built this house for my mom when they got married; he liked to be different, so it makes sense that his house would be different and stand out from all the other houses." Paul explained as he led me to the front door.

When he opened the door in to the living room, I was surprised how bare it was; the walls were painted a cream colour and were bare. The room consisted of two sofas and a medium television and a slightly bigger stand.

"Would you like a drink?" Paul asked as he led me to the nearest sofa.

"No I'm fine, Paul why were you angry at the diner?" I asked, as he took the sofa opposite the one I was sitting on.

"I was sat on the beach, waiting for you when Jacob Black showed up and told me that you had left a message with Billy."

"Yes I did, I didn't want you sat on the beach waiting for me, when I was going to be late." I explained.

"That was not the message I got, Jacob told me that you had told Billy. That you had decided you didn't want anything to do with me, and that I was not to come near you."

"He was lying; I need to go see him. I don't understand why he would say that." I spoke, raising my voice in anger, standing up at the same time.

"You need to just leave him be, I will tell Billy at the next bonfire. Jacob is close to phasing for the first time; he is also a teenage boy who seems to have a crush on you."

"That is not an excuse, and I won't forget about this. Is that why you stormed into the diner?" I asked, sitting back down.

"Yes, I wanted to hear it from you." Paul answered, sounding slightly embarrassed.

"Paul, if I didn't want anything to do with you, I would tell you myself. Next time if you ever get a message like that, please don't believe it unless I have said it first."

"Ok, I'm sorry, I was just so angry. If it helps, we have now realised that Sam's Alpha orders don't work if he tries to stop me from seeing you."

"Is that an imprint thing?" I asked

"Yes, it must be, Sam sure is pissed though. He is not used to being ignored when giving out orders." Paul chuckled, and I could see the amusement in his eyes.

"I wouldn't over use it, I don't fancy Sam on my back." I smiled.

"I thought we could have steak for dinner, if that is ok?" Paul asked, as he stood up.

"That is fine, do you want some help?" I offered.

"No but you can keep me company in the kitchen, I'm used to doing everything so you would probably get in my way."

I followed Paul into the kitchen, and like the living room it was bare apart from the necessary equipment needed. I pulled out a chair from the table and sat down, and watched silently as Paul prepared and cooked dinner.

Dinner was delicious; every part of it was cooked to perfection. When I told Paul this he would clam up and change the subject.

"Every other weekend the pack and imprints get together for a cook out and just to chill out with each other, the pack take in turns running patrol but we all crash at Sam's and Emily's. It's happening this weekend and I wanted to invite you." Paul spoke, once we had finished eating.

"Paul I don't want to be centre of attention, for being the new imprint. I don't want to be the new toy." I mumbled the last part, forgetting that he could hear me no matter I tried to be quiet.

"Bella, you will never be a toy to us, the pack and imprints just want to get to know you and become your friend. There is no pressure, if you don't want to go that is fine. Nobody will think any less of you."

"Can I leave it this time? But next time I will come, just give me time. Don't change your plans, still go. I'm sorry if you wanted me to go." I asked, not able to look at his face.

"Bella look at me." Paul said, causing me to look up at him. "Don't apologise Bella, we understand that you have been put through a load of shit and need to get over that. I just wanted to give you the opportunity to get to know them."

"Thank you Paul, for understanding."

"Forget it; maybe we could do something instead. Get take out and watch some movies or something. Not a date or anything, just friends doing something." Paul offered, getting up and putting the plates in the sink.

"I would like that Paul."

By the time we had cleaned up, I realised how late it was and had to get back in time to do my homework. Paul drove me back to Forks in my truck. We send goodbye, making plans to meet up the day after tomorrow. I watched Paul from the porch, as he walked into the forest. Taking one last look over his shoulder has he vanished into the dark forest.

It was then that I realised, the cruiser was not in the drive and the lights were off inside, I unlocked the door, and walked inside turning on the lights as I made my way through the house. The phone suddenly rang causing me to jump and the sudden noise in the house.

"Hello" I spoke, answering the phone.

"Bella, where have you? I have been calling you all evening." Dad suddenly yelled down the phone.

"I'm sorry dad; I thought you would be home when I got back. I left a note on the fridge that I was going to a friend's house for dinner."

"Oh right, sorry, I just got worried. I'm not going to be home tonight, I've had to go out of town overnight. So make sure you lock the doors and windows ok."

"Of course I will, will you be back tomorrow?" I asked.

"Yes, Bella, I need you to come straight home from school tomorrow. I need to talk to you about something important." Dad suddenly said, it was then that I realised he sounded so tired.

"Ok, that's fine, I will come straight home."

"Will goodnight Bella, keep safe. If anything happens ring the Blacks or Clearwater's, their numbers are on the notice board."

"Ok, goodnight dad." I replied before hanging up the phone.

I quickly done my homework, before getting ready for bed. I looked at out my window, and jumped when Sam stepped out before stepping back into the darkness of the forest. I got into bed, falling asleep almost instantly the moment my head hit the pillow.