Author's Note: Ok guys, I'm not going to lie, this chapter was a tad bit longer than I originally planned, but I hope you guys like it. I just want to stress again, how bad I want you guys to reply. Also I have a poll on my profile. Please try to answer it, kays (:
Disclaimer: Still don't own anything but my imagination
Dedication: caleb's babe for my second review, this you is all yours(: thankss
Playlist:
Kindly Unspoken- Kate Voegele
West Coast Friendship- Owl City
Get in Line- Ke$ha
Natural- Selena Gomez
Emotion~ A (strong) feeling of any kind
The next morning I woke up to the alarm clock on my phone. I threw it across the room, but five minutes later it went off again, and this time it was my mom's ringtone. I groaned and rolled out of bed. With a sigh, I answered the phone.
"Cassandra Adea, you have school this morning! You can't be throwing your phone around. Wake up... and if you break your phone, you aren't getting another one." Then with a hasty, I love you, she hung up.
My mother knew me too well.
I shook my head, and looked in the mirror. I still felt like crap, but I looked a little better. And thinking about seeing Paul today made me smile.
I took another shower, and looked through my closet. I choose a green Abercrombie top over a white tank top, and low waisted dark wash 579 jeans with black Uggs. I had time so I painted my nails a pretty bright green. I fingered the necklace my mother gave to me when I was a day old.
It was an emerald pendant a little bigger than a dollar coin, on a silver chain. It was a precious jewel and the only color that was the exact hue of my eyes. Something I had never found before. There were shades close to my eye color, but none the exact same. Today I put half of my hair up, the shortest part of my layers. I crimped it, my hair reaching just under my shoulder blades. I left my thick side bangs down leaving them to swoop perfectly over my eyelashes. I put on my silver hoop earrings and my diamond studs. I had silver bangles on my right wrist and my silver and white cuff watch on my left.
I grabbed my bag, an energy bar and my keys and drove to school. It wasn't raining today, and it was only a little cloudy. I was at school in ten minutes. There was about fifteen minutes until the bell rang, and as I walked up the small schools steps, I noticed everyone staring and whispering to each other. I would have to bet that they didn't have many new students in the beginning of the year. But hey, there's no time like the present. I located the office quickly and got my schedule, then went in search of anyone I knew.
The school had two open courtyards, and in the middle of the one right outside the cafeteria I found Jacob and his ragtag bunch of oversized boys. Jacob, Embry, Quil, Jared with Kim, Seth…and Paul. Seeing him very nearly made my heart stop. He was just as breathtaking as I knew he would be. The others were laughing and joking around, but Paul was just staring off looking forlorn and weary. I didn't like seeing him like that at all; it made my eyes want to tear up. But I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and when I opened them again, Jacob was looking right at me, glaring at me meaningfully with his eyes. I looked for Paul, and saw him walking away and went outside. He didn't see me. At Jacob's gesture, I followed Paul, keeping out of his line of vision until he got outside. There weren't many people out here; it had gotten a little cloudier and cooler since I woke up. Paul was leaning against the wall, his eyes closed, his head angled up toward the sky.
I came up to him slowly, not sure how to proceed. I noticed faint bruises under his eyes like he hadn't been getting much sleep. I bit my lip and reached out to him. His hand flashed up and caught mine in a tight grip, and I couldn't suppress my squeak of surprise. Paul's eyes shot open in surprise and his grip on my hand immediately softened. He looked at me incredulously, emotions flickering on his face. I saw surprise, awe, sadness, relief, anger and other emotions I didn't yet recognize.
"Cassie." He breathed, and I couldn't contain the elation that ran through me. Forgetting myself, I threw my arms around him and laid my face against his strong chest. It felt so right to do, like utter belonging.
He sighed, and wrapped his arms around me, holding me close to him and rubbing soothing circles into my back. "You shouldn't be here. This shouldn't feel so…right, having you in my arms like this," he murmured, his chest rumbling again with the vibrations. I had missed that.
"But it does, Paul. It does feel right, it feels perfect." I whispered against his chest, closing my eyes contentedly. Then I stiffened slightly, "You aren't mad at me, are you?" I asked, remembering seeing a flicker of anger in his expression.
I could feel, rather than see him frowning. "I could never be mad at you. If anything, I'm mad at myself…letting myself get close to you like this-" I tried to cut him off.
"Paul," I warned.
"I'm dangerous-" He tried but I pushed away from him. Now I was angry.
"No! How can you be dangerous when being with you makes me feel like this? And how when you aren't with me, death feels like a better option?" I saw him wince at that, but he needed to know the truth.
"I know Cassie, I'm sorry. But that's why I can't be with you… I can't stand causing you pain, Cassie, I can't." He looked so tired.
"You don't cause me pain, Paul. And you need to realize that." The bell rang then, and I didn't know where my first period class was. "I have to go." I said, not wanting to leave his side for a second, even if I wasn't happy with him right now. He looked down at me with an expression so tender it made my heart pound in my ears.
"What?" He asked when I started smiling.
I shook my head. "I can't be mad at you… I just can't." I sighed and closed my eyes, relishing the wholeness that I felt inside of me now. When I opened my eyes, Paul had this torn look on his face, like he was struggling with some kind of decision.
It was my turn to ask, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked backing away slightly.
"I'm wondering whether I should kiss you or not." Paul was still gazing into my eyes, his voice quiet his expression calculating.
I was stunned. I must have heard wrong or something.
Right?
"Paul?" I was nervous; he must have been joking right? I bit my lip, not knowing what to do next. The look on his face was so adoring it made me blush.
"You're so cute." He reached out and brushed my cheek with the back of his hand. I had to look away.
"We really have to go to class." I tried, pulling him by the hand and into the school. He intertwined his fingers with mine. His hands we so much bigger than mine, and so warm too. I showed him my schedule:
World History
Quileute
English Literature
Geometry
Computer Applications
Adv. Biology
Gymnastics
Paul grinned, "We have first, third, fourth and sixth period together." I couldn't help but be happy. He walked me to class and as we entered, I saw Jared sitting near the window, looking forlorn.
"What's wrong with him?" I asked Paul, I didn't like people sad.
"Kim has Geology first period; he doesn't like being away from her." Paul shrugged and went to sit down while I went to the teacher. Her name was Mrs. Risley and she was nice. I got to sit with Paul and Jared. They were comparing notes; Mrs. Risley was putting grades in the grade book so she said we had a free period today.
I talked to Jared about Kim. It seemed to make him happy, and a glazed look come over his face, and I played with Paul's hands learning their contours and relishing the warmth. I copied their notes as I watched Jared and Paul interact with each other. They were just like brothers.
Paul walked me to second period, but we didn't have that class together. It made me sad, that he had to go, but Paul caught my look. "It's going to be fine." He said softly.
"Paul… I know nothing about the Quileute language. I haven't studied it since I was a kid. I'm going to fail." I pouted.
"No, Pretty Girl, you won't. I'll help you. Plus, Kim has this class with you. You won't be alone. I promise I will be right here when the bell rings." He bent down to give me a kiss on the cheek and he whispered something soft in my ear. It was Quileute, of that I was certain, but I didn't know what it meant. He looked at me, and then he walked away.
I walked into the classroom, meeting the teacher, one of the elder's wives' I think. She seemed nice, but when she started teaching the class, I was instantly lost. She spoke in rapid, fluent Quileute and even though I tried my hardest to keep up, I don´t think I was doing a good job.
About twenty minutes into the class, something hit my foot. I looked down and saw a note on the ground. I looked around and saw Kim smiling at me with her big brown eyes. I picked up the note and unraveled it, there in a scrawling girl script was:
Hey, I notice you looking a little lost. It's ok, this is like third year Quileute and it's pretty hard for a beginner. She's talking about the legend of the wolves today; she's mostly just been doing lectures and having us take notes, seeing if we understand what she's saying. For most of us, this is a blow off class. We all are fluent in Quileute, but I'll help you in any way that I can (:
Kim
I smiled. Kim seemed really sweet and sincere, so making sure I wasn't caught I quickly scribbled a response:
OhMaGee thank you so much. I used to know the language, but I haven't studied it in a while, and had no use for it in Dallas. I promise it won't take long for me to catch up.
We exchanged letters the rest of the period and when the teacher gave us free time the last fifteen minutes in class, Kim came over to my desk. She was nice, and went over all of the notes that she took with me. They were written in a mix of Quileute and English. "You can write notes in either language, but when I right everything just kind of comes out in whatever language it wants to come out in." We conversed the rest of the period and she told me that I could come over after school if I wanted to and she would go over the language in more detail with me.
I smiled and thanked her, and when the bell rang, we walked out of class together. Paul and Jared were waiting for us, right outside of the door. I watched as Kim went straight into Jared's arms, and he kissed her all over her face as she giggled. Then I saw Paul right in front of me, and he had all of my attention. I didn't know what to do though… we weren't like Kim and Jared who were obviously in love. We were just friends, weren't we? It felt like we were more, but I couldn't know for sure since we just barely knew each other. He sensed my apprehension and came forward, wrapping his leadened arms around me. I instantly relaxed in his grip. And we sat like that for a few seconds until he pulled away and took my hand, leading us to our next class.
English Lit had to be the most boring class on the planet since Shakespeare held no interest for me, so I wasn't too happy about going to the class. But if Paul could come with me, I would do anything. Even suffer listening to a teacher drone on and on about the tragedy that was Romeo and Juliet.
The teacher, Ms. Nadal, had put me on the opposite side of the classroom as Paul. In-between sneaking glances at him I tried to study the Quileute notes Kim had given me. All of my other classes would be easy compared to a language that I hadn't spoken since I was twelve.
Every time I glanced up to look at Paul, he was looking back at me, his eyes intense. It made me blush and I had to quickly look away. I took my hair down and shook it around me, hiding my face from him. He made me so nervous. I spent the rest of my time messing with my hair, and tuning in and out of the conversation. People kept looking at me curiously. I hadn't noticed them before since I had been focusing all of my attention on Paul.
I couldn't keep from sneaking occasional peeks at Paul though, and more often than not, he was looking my way too. I heard a sound coming from my right and when I looked over a boy was smiling at me.
He was cute… I guess. He looked taller than me, but nowhere near as tall as Paul or Jacob. I would say he wasn't even as tall as Seth. His hair grew a bit long, past his ears, and his eyes were a dark brown. He had a nice bone structure also.
I had noticed that ever since I met Paul, I compared every guy I met to him. It might have been shameful. but I couldn't help myself. Either, they didn't have Paul's eyes, or his hair. They weren't tall like Paul, didn't have his muscle. They didn't have his heart or his kindness… and if by some weird chance, I found someone I couldn't find any fault with then it would just be simple. They just weren't Paul.
This guy seemed charming, so I offered him a smile. Looking toward Ms. Nadal, I noticed that she was in her own little world seeming to be reading more to herself than to the class. There were people texting and passing notes all around the classroom. Paul was talking to some girl and a guy that was around him, but his attention never strayed away from me for long I don't think.
"You're the new girl Cassie, right? I'm Gabe." He smiled at me showing off his straight teeth.
Braces.
I nodded at him, smiling politely. "Yup, that'd be me." I told him, pulling my hair over my left shoulder and turning my attention to Gabe.
"Cassie huh? What's that short for?" He asked, tilting his head.
"Cassandra. My mother named me after her best friend... she died about three months before I was born." My mom always told me stories of Cassandra Davis, and I even had her picture on my nightstand. She would've been my Godmother.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Gabe's demeanor fell slightly. But then he perked up again, and focused on something behind me for a second before meeting my eyes once again. "Hey, I saw you with Paul before school this morning… is there something going on between you two?"
That took me by surprise, and I didn't really know how to answer. I snuck a glance at Paul from under my lashes, and we locked eyes. I had a certain feeling that he knew what had just been said, as I saw a certain understanding in his stunning eyes. I grudgingly turned back to Gabe.
"Well, kind of. We're not dating or anything, but we're a little closer than friends I guess… I'm not really sure. Why?" I was uncertain as to what I should have said, but it was a little odd that he asked.
"Well I don't know. Paul isn't the sort of guy that someone like you should hang around, that's all." Gabe said, seeming a little uncomfortable.
This annoyed me, "What do you mean 'he isn't the sort of guy'?" I asked my voice slightly icy.
Gabe caught the tone of my voice, and seemed caught off guard. "Well he has a sort of reputation around here. He's sort of a short fuse. I just wanted you to know." He looked past me, and paled slightly. But I was too far gone to look and make sure Paul was behaving himself, knowing that he could probably hear us.
"Well thank you for your concern, but I can handle myself and I'm more than sure that Paul would never hurt me. And as for the 'he's not the sort of guy' for 'someone like me', I'm sorry Gabe, but you don't know anything about me so you can't make those kinds of statements." The bell rang at that moment and I gathered my things and walked out of the classroom aggravated beyond words.
I was walking around the halls now, having no idea where I was. And just when I was beginning to get really frustrated I felt two arms wrap around me from behind and I stiffened slightly… these weren't Paul's arms, although they were familiar.
"Hey Cass, calm down, it's just me." Jacob's voice was soothing. He dropped his arms and came around to the side of me.
"Sorry, I'm not in a good mood right now." I replied, letting out a deep sigh.
"What happened? I thought you talked to Paul this morning, isn't everything ok between you two?" Jacob's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Well yeah, we talked, but why do you think that just talking to him would make everything all better?" I challenged.
"Let's just say, I know Paul ok. And don't you need to get to class? Do you even know where your next class is?" Jacob asked, changing the subject fast even though it was true.
"No I don't know where my next class is, so if you could be so kind as to show me the way." I said sarcastically, tossing my hair behind my shoulders. I still couldn't believe the audacity of Gabe. Like I couldn't handle myself.
When I walked into the classroom, I immediately went to the teacher. Coach Blackwell seemed nice enough and let me choose my seat. Not seeing Paul, I took a seat in the back, and looked out of the second floor window. It had begun to rain and I watched the small droplets land on the window and slide down.
It took me by surprise when I felt someone sit down beside me, and when I looked over to see Paul I instantly smiled. I seriously couldn't help it, even though I was mad. "Sorry I didn't wait for you after class," I said not knowing what else to say. I was almost certain that he had heard the conversation between me and Gabe, but I don't know what he thought of it.
"I already told you," Paul said, holding my gaze, "You never have to apologize to me, about anything."
"But Paul," I didn't understand that. It's not like I was always right, but I guess it was like how I could never be mad at Paul…not really anyway.
Coach had started class then, so I couldn't say anymore. I did give him a look that said we would talk about this later though, and he smiled at me, taking my hand and kissing it once again holding his lips there longer than necessary, which made me blush.
All through class, I kept thinking about Paul, and having him next to me made me so jittery. I took the time to admire him through the thick fringe of my hair. I still couldn't believe how built he was, or how tall. I could barely contain the will to lean over and kiss him. I had never felt this strongly about anyone before, and this was all freaking me out. Coach Blackwell had given us equations for the class period, which was also our homework. We had already gone over this at my old school in Dallas, so it was pretty easy for me. I just lazed my way through it. Glancing over, I saw that Paul was doing the same, not really focusing on his work.
I felt a vibration in my back pocket, and checking to see if Coach Blackwell was watching, I silently took out my phone. It was a text message from Kiera.
Hey C, what class do you have?
I texted her back telling her that I was in geometry, and she replied asking about Paul. I quickly closed the text not looking to see if Paul had seen the text or not. I replaced my phone in my back pocket, but it kept vibrating. Kiera wouldn't stop until I gave her an answer. I tried to ignore it. After about five minutes I just turned my phone off. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Paul try and fight off a smile. I scowled and continued to work on my math, completing all fifty equations.
I laid my head down on the desk that I shared with Paul, moving my thick hair away to the side. I looked out of the window, and a few minutes later, I felt Paul's hands stroking my hair methodically for a few minutes. He lured me to sleep with his soft caresses.
I woke up when the bell rang, not twenty minutes later. I combed my hair out of my eyes and gathered my things. Paul walked me to the lunchroom. It was big and bright with tables outside in the courtyard. I got in line and bought a burger and a salad. Paul got four hotdogs and about a pound of fries. He led me outside where I saw the other guys and Kim all sitting together, looking excluded from all of the other students. We walked over to them and sat down. Kim, who was sitting across from me, grinned.
"Finally, a girl in the group." She giggled and ate a few fries. We conversed about the Quileute homework that Mrs. Crow gave us. "You should really come over today. I really don't want to be alone." She made a face at Jared, who gave her an apologetic look.
I looked over at Paul. I don't know why I felt like I should check in with him first. I had wanted to spend some time with him today. "I have to work with Sam today." Paul told me, and when my expression fell, he cupped my face with his warm hands. "Tomorrow though sweetheart, I'm all yours." He smiled at me when I blushed and looked away.
I could feel everyone else's gaze on us though and turned to my food. I ate my salad and half of my burger. I watched the boys as they once again ate like famished wolves. I caught Kim's eye again. "Sure I'll come over today." I told her, and talked the rest of lunch laughing over the boy's antics. I offered Paul the rest of my burger, but he refused.
"You need to eat it, Cassie." He told me sternly.
"But I'm not hungry." I admitted, my voice was kind of whiny but I was full.
He glared at me with his intense eyes. I sighed and keeping my eyes on him the entire time, I took one more bite and passed the rest on to Seth, who gladly ate it without a second thought. The look Paul gave me was less than happy and I smiled slightly at him.
"Do you want me to say sorry?" I asked him batting my eyelashes. He gave me a long-suffering look and I couldn't suppress the urge to grin and lean over and kiss him on the cheek. When I pulled back the expression on his face made me laugh, and I got up to throw my food away.
Gabe cut me off as I was going back to the table. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier, but I was just worried."
I looked around, but couldn't see Paul or any of the guys from where we were. "Ok…" I said giving him a questioning look. And what was I supposed to do with that piece of information? Tell him I forgive him and that everything would be ok? I was the kind of person to hold grudges.
"It's just, I like you… and I would like to get to know you more if I could… maybe I could take you to a movie this weekend?" Gabe looked so hopeful, but my heart already belonged to Paul. He could see the refusal in my eyes. "You said Paul was just a friend." He said his lips turning down in a slight frown.
"Well yeah, we are just friends, but I really like him. I'm sorry Gabe." I said, and I did actually kinds of feel sorry for him.
Gabe's expression grew dark. "Do you even know him? He's dangerous Cassie, him and the other's. They act like they're doing good for the Rez, but they aren't. Paul is just going to use you." His voice dropped slightly. "I'm the one that's good for you. I'll treat you like you should be treated." His expression scared me, but I was more annoyed by his putting Paul and the others down.
I knew Paul and the others could be dangerous, they looked like it. And that day when Leah came over, Paul had reacted scarily, his eyes turning feral. Even Jacob had said that Paul had anger problems. But since I had met him, everything he had done has drawn me in; he had given me no reason not to trust him. I also knew that if Paul saw Gabe corning me like this, he wouldn't by happy after seeing him react to Leah like that.
"Gabe I understand where you are coming from, but you can't change the way I feel about Paul… I'm sorry." I said hoping some change would come over him, but the look in his eyes made me change my mind fast.
"No! You can change how you feel about him. I already told you, he's just toying with you." His brown eyes turned sinister, but that could have been my imagination. Just when I was about to get desperate, the bell rang and I escaped from Gabe, running into Paul on my way out of the cafeteria. He looked confused and slightly worried. He caught me from running him over.
"Cassie! Where were you?" He saw the look on my face and then his face turned serious. "What's wrong, Cassie?" He caught my face in between his hands and made me look at him; I noticed his hands shaking lightly. I remembered the last time his hands started shaking.
"Paul I'm fine, I promise." I tried to calm him, reaching up on my toes and looking at him with a pleading eye. I placed my hands on his arms, feeling him calm under my touch. I thought back to what Gabe had said about Paul just using me. In reality, the thought had never crossed my mind. When Paul and I were together like this, it was impossible to think of anything but how connected I felt to him.
Paul was still looking at me in a very concerned matter so I put on a big smile, and tugged on his arm trying to move him. "Come on, I don't know where my next class is." I told him. He looped his fingers thorough mine and I couldn't help but flush.
My next class, Computer Apps, I didn't have with Paul or Kim… but I did see Jared and Gabe. My heart sank as I saw that the only available computer was next to Gabe. It was a small consolation seeing that Jared was sitting right behind Gabe. I gave Jared a small smile and took my seat after talking to the teacher Coach Collins who was also my gymnastics coach.
I snuck a peek over at Gabe, who was scowling at nothing in particular, and my stomach clenched uncertainly. Here we were doing a PowerPoint Presentation, but at Trinity High School, the school that I had come from, we were already on Access. I sighed and got to work, not looking forward to being in this class. I let my hair be a curtain between Gabe and me and spent most of the class period tense, not liking him beside me. It was made even worse that I wasn't able to be with Paul.
I sighed constantly.
I glared at the clock more often than not, thoroughly convinced that it was mocking me, making me suffer this hour-long period slowly, each tick of the second hand seemingly more agonizingly slower than the last. The way that each tick seemed to echo Paul's name…
Tick…Paul.
Tick…Paul.
Tick…Paul.
When the bell finally rang, I nearly jumped out of my seat and ran for the door. As it was, I just barely contained myself. I exchanged a few words with Jared as we walked to the door together. He commented on my stiff posture the entire class period and I wrote it off as stress. He gave me an odd look, but then caught Kim in the hallway and promptly forgot I existed. He was so in tuned with her, it was endearing.
I saw Paul waiting for me at the end of the hall. I smiled at him, relived. He seemed equally happy to see me too, which made me happier. We walked to our Advanced Biology class and took a seat beside each other, near the front of the room. The teacher Mrs. Tietjen didn't seem native Quileute as her skin was lighter than the rest of ours. She went over the class syllabus with me. The class seemed easy enough to me, so I settled into my seat and listened as Mrs. Tietjen lectured us on the molecular biology of a rafflesia flower. Well, I halfway paid attention. The rest of the time I concentrated on Paul's leg right beside mine underneath the table.
We did book work the last thirty minutes of class, and I tried my hardest to concentrate on my assignment. With Paul in more than half of my classes, how was I ever going to pass this year? That thought had me thinking about how I was going to spend an entire year with Paul before going off to college. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to be, although I wanted to help animals. Wild animals. Ever since I was young, I had loved all kinds of animals, they fascinated me and I wanted to learn how to heal them.
The class period was over faster than I thought it would be, and I walked to my last period of the day with Paul by my side. We parted at the entrance to the girl's locker room. "I'll wait for you here after gym, ok?" He said, making it a question and searching my eyes as if to make sure it was ok with me.
I grinned and nodded, giving him a hug before walking into the girl's locker room and getting dressed out. Without Paul to distract me, I noticed the stares more, as I put my hair in a bun and clipped my bangs out of my face, following the other gymnastics girls down to the gym. The coach introduced me to the team which consisted of twelve girls. The smallest team that I had ever been on.
Gymnastics had been my life since I was two years old. I loved to flip around, and from age eleven to fifteen, I had actually been homeschooled so I could do gymnastics more. I was currently a Junior Olympic gymnast and if I pushed myself harder I could possibly become an Olympic Gold Medalist. But I don't think I would like all of the publicity, so I just stayed at the level that I was at and hoped for the best. Maybe someday I could own my own gymnastics gym, and train other little girls to be Olympic champions.
I trained on beam today, my weakest event. with three other girls, Emily, Nancy and Samantha. They were all Level 7 or lower, not much competition for my Elite Level 10 status, but they were all nice to me, and we conversed. Sam was the first to bring up Paul, "I saw you and Paul today, are you two dating?" I quickly shook my head no, hopping up on a beam and did a few full turns before I was ambushed again.
"He's so cute. He gets angry a lot, but I think it just makes him look sexier." Emily said, stretching her long legs more. She was facing the ground, so she didn't see the grimace on my face. I didn't like other girls talking about how sexy Paul was. I quickly did two back walkovers so the other girls wouldn't see my face.
It went like that for most of the period. The girls kept asking me all of these things about Paul, the answer to most of them being no. It was then that I realized I didn't really know much about Paul. It took me by surprise. I felt like I knew everything about him, but in reality, I knew virtually nothing.
I was still thinking about that when I walked out of the girl's locker room later finding Paul exactly where he said he was going to be. I smiled and went over to meet him. He walked me to the front of the school where the other boys and Kim were all lounging around. Kim smiled when she saw me. "Hey, Cassie." She said from her spot beside Jared. "Ready to go?"
I nodded. "We can take my car." I said pulling the keys out of my purse.
"Alright, I'll be there in a minute." She said winking to me and turning back to Jared talking to him in a low voice. He leaned down and kissed her on the nose which made her blush and look away.
Paul walked me to my car and opened the door for me. I looked up at him, not happy about leaving him. He noticed and bent down to brush his scorching lips across my cheek. "I'll come over to see you later ok?" he said brushing my hair behind my ear. I nodded and leaned into his embrace, letting myself give into him for a few never-ending seconds. He was so warm. I held on to him tightly, not wanting to ever leave his embrace. He let me go and looked me deep in the eye before walking away. Kim came over and hopped into the car cooing over how beautiful it was.
I drove to Kim's house, which was on the other side of the school further away from my own, and parked in her empty driveway. She talked to me while we drove, mostly about the math homework, which I happily told her I could help her with. "Thank God," she said, getting out of my car, "I am so terrible at math." I laughed at the expression on her face. I could tell that we were going to end up being close friends.
She opened the door to her dark house, turning on lights as we made our way into the kitchen. "My parents work late Monday through Wednesday, and my little brother Harris usually spends time with his friends after school, so most of the time it's just me." She explained, throwing her stuff on the kitchen counter. Her house was small and comfortable looking, the kitchen a mix of soft reds and browns. We ate snacks of apples and peanut butter and Doritos before she started teaching me the Quileute homework that Mrs. Crow gave us.
Like I thought, I caught on quickly, mostly just needing someone to refresh my memory. Then I helped Kim with her math. "You and Jared look so cute together; I just wanted to let you know."
Kim laughed and then blushed. "Thank you." She said, looking down.
"You two look like you've been together for years… how long have you been together?" I asked.
"Three and a half months." Kim said easily, and I nearly gaped at her. They had been together for almost four months and they looked so in love already… I had had relationships that lasted almost a year, but I had never felt the way that Kim and Jared obviously felt.
"You and Paul seem to be getting really close. You don't know how much you've changed him." I had heard that so many times, but Kim seemed so sincere about it, her big dark eyes soft.
"He's really good to me." I admitted, feeling a huge pang of loneliness suspiciously close to my heart. Kim and I talked for a little longer, lounging in her yellow and white room. She was so sweet and seemed to love Jared with an undying passion.
Her little brother Harris came in just about the time it was getting dark. He was thirteen, with short dark brown hair. His eyes were more of a caramel color and his eyelashes seemed tipped with a lighter color. He was adorable. We heard him in the kitchen, and then he settled in the living room to watch TV.
Around six thirty, I noticed that it was getting a little dark and starting to rain, so I told Kim I had to go home. We embraced, and then I drove home turning on my headlights and windshield wipers. The rain had picked up and it was becoming really heavy. I came home and ate some spaghetti, then called my mom to tell her all about my day as I washed my few little dishes.
She wanted to know everything about my day, asking about any friends that I met and if the classes were hard. I told her I needed help in Quileute. "Oh yea, I forgot you stopped when you got older. I still remember most of it. You grandmother would have disowned me if I told her I forgot our language." She laughed and I suddenly missed my mother. I wasn't going to breakdown and start crying, but when I got off the phone with her I made sure that she knew that I loved her.
I had a missed call from Auntie, so I called her back, and was once again bombarded with questions about my day. I laughed and told her the same things that I had told my mother while I was finishing up the rest of my homework. When I got off the phone with her though, I turned on my music, playing Naturally by Selena Gomez. I turned it up really high while I danced around, changing into a small white tank top and black boy shorts, then going into the den for some sweet tea that I had bought and put in the cute mini fridge.
I was still dancing around and singing when I came back into the room. I turned in a circle and screamed, almost falling against the door in shock. I placed my hand on my chest, trying to calm my beating heart.
"Paul!" I squeaked in shock. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. Paul had been sitting on my bed looking at me with a warm expression. But when I had screamed he shot up and rushed toward me at a speed that was way too fast for any normal person. He stood in front of me looking down at me with a troubled expression.
"Cassie? Its ok sweetheart, just breathe, it's ok… I'm right here." He pulled me to his chest and I fell into him gratefully, listening to his heartbeat and matching my breaths with his. "I'm so sorry Cassie." He whispered against my hair and I smiled, looking him in the eye.
"Never tell me that you're sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for." I was fine; he had just given me a scare. But the look that he gave me when I said that nearly made my eyes water. No one had looked at me like that, not even my own mother. It was like I held a place in Paul's heart no one else could have.
I wanted to kiss him.
It would be so easy; all I would have to do was reach up on my toes and angle my head just right. I bit my bottom lip, wanting nothing more than to give in to temptation. It was too soon though; I would have to wait…
I realized that he was wet again, soaking wet. "Paul," I chastised him, letting go of him and going to get a towel to dry him off with. I didn't know why I insisted on drying him off myself other than the obvious reason of being close to him. He also let me, but he never took his eyes off of me the entire time. I couldn't meet his gaze for long. Once again, he was only wearing pants which were very tempting and I couldn't help but ask him, "Why aren't you wearing any clothes?" I realized that that came out wrong and closed my eyes and groaned. I was about to start apologizing when I was cut off.
Paul was shaking, but he wasn't mad… that much I could tell and then I saw his face. He was trying to hold in laughter. That made me mad, "Don't laugh at me!" I shrieked, throwing the towel at him and trying to fight off a smile at his expression. I turned my back on him, "You are so frustrating." I tried, but I knew he wasn't buying it. I squeaked and tried to move out of the way when I felt Paul's fingers on my sides. I was so ticklish it wasn't even funny. I turned around and started attacking his sides. His laughter was so uplifting; I couldn't help but have this bubbly feeling inside of me.
Paul made everything feel so natural...
Yeah, sure it was a Cliffie, but this chapter was hitting close to fifteen pages and it was going way past where I wanted it to be… Plus I'm going to need a little bit of encouragement if you want me and Winged and Dangerous (my amazing Beta) to get these chapters up faster. It's all up to you guys.