Inspiration for this Chapter: Spirit Week! A week full of high school spirit. Actually, we didn't have this day that I made up in my head for the purpose of making my story more enjoyable to read, but we did have something like it:)

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MICHELLE'S POV

Paul seemed tense on the way to school today. His hands were clenched tightly over the steering wheel and he was grinding his teeth. I asked him 100 times what the problem was but he would just mutter "You'll find out soon enough" under his breath. He was making me kind of nervous.

This week at school was Spirit Week. Yesterday was paint the freshman day, where everyone ran around with a can of spray paint or a paintbrush and… well… painted the freshman. For some reason, nobody had told me in advance, so I had shown up to school in a white blouse and light blue jeans. I was instantly tackled by every member of the pack. I don't think I'll ever be able to get the pink spray pain out of my shirt. They went extra hard on me because I was the only Freshman in the "gang." Paul never actually participated in the painting, but he just laughed whenever I got sprayed.

I brought my knees up under my chin and wrapped my arms around my legs. I didn't like it when he was mad. He was driving insanely slow today like he wanted us to miss school altogether. When we finally did pull into the parking lot, it took some coaxing to get him to unlock the door.

"Come on Paul, we need to get to class," I pleaded.

"But it's so nice in here," he said.

"Paul! Just open the damn door!" I cried.

He sighed loudly, but unlocked the doors. He walked with me into the building, pretty much growling at everyone.

"Paul, what's the prob- OW!" I yelled, some sophomore had just kicked me in the shin.

"HAPPY KICK THE FRESHMEN DAY!" she screamed, running off.

Paul was fuming as I massaged my shin, but I was giggling. My old school didn't have fun stuff like this. I looked up and noticed the huge SPIRIT WEEK banner. I went off to my locker, narrowly avoiding getting kicked by Dan, a guy in my gym class. I got my stuff for first period and made my way to homeroom, but Paul was still following me.

"Paul, I'm going to be fine," I soothed.

He glared at everyone around me and then trudged off to his next class. I rolled my eyes and Seth ran up and kicked me lightly.

"Seth! And I thought we were friends," I muttered in mock horror.

He laughed and ran off. I sat down at my desk and my teacher stood up, "Alright people, I know this is an exciting day, but please remember to be calm."

We all rolled our eyes and tried to contain our laughter when another freshman received a pretty decent kick to the knee right outside the room.

By the end of the day I had bruises up and down my legs, but I couldn't get the smile off my face. Today was by far the funniest day I had ever experienced in school. When the last period bell rang, everyone went wild and started kicking every freshman in sight. Paul was carrying me over his shoulder so I wouldn't get kicked.

"Come on Paul, I'm fine," I giggled.

He finally set me down when we were at my locker.

"Jeez," I muttered, still giggling.

After my books were in my backpack, I was kindly escorted back to Paul's truck. Everyone was afraid to kick me when I was with him. Well, everyone except the pack. I had received multiple kicks from them during the day, light ones of course.

"Paul, I can't believe you!" I cried playfully.

"What?" he asked, startled.

"It's kick the freshmen day and you haven't even kicked me once even though I'm an open shot!" I teased.

He rolled his eyes, "It's just a silly game."

"It's a fun game. Come on Paul, you know you want to kick me," I said in a playfully seductive tone.

He laughed, but I swore I saw his cheeks flame up slightly. He got in the car quickly and I rolled my eyes.

"No fun," I grumbled.

"I'm plenty fun. I just don't want to kick anyone," he said smugly.

"Says the guy who punched Jake in the face for eating the last muffin."

He snorted, "But at least he did something to deserve it."

I just shook my head. We pulled into my driveway and I hopped out of the car.

"Ouch," I groaned.

"See why I don't like this day?" he muttered, picking me up and carrying me into the house.

He set me down gently on the couch and grabbed some ice from the freezer. He laid it on my bruised legs and I sighed in relief.

"The others would be appalled if they saw you right now, helping out a freshman," I joked.

"Nah, they'd understand," he muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"It means whatever you want it to mean," he said, sitting next to me and checking his texts.

I glared at him, but he ignored it. I wished he would give me a straight answer for once. Why wouldn't he just kick me? Everyone else was doing it. I know it sounded strange, but I wanted him to kick me. Because I wanted to prove to myself that he didn't imp- no. I was just getting my hopes up.

"Thanks for doing this, Paul," I sighed, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Any time," he whispered.

"Paul, I- I need to ask you something."

"Yes?" he asked slowly.

"I- you didn't kick me today. Even though everyone else was doing it, you didn't. And you're a pretty aggressive guy. And you were mad at everyone else for doing it. And when the pack was doing it, they were really careful around me, but they were leaving some pretty big bruises on the other people. And you just seemed so concerned. I mean, it's a good thing that you care. But it seems like you… well you're so protective and when you found out I wasn't eating, you went a little crazy. You always seem to know exactly what I'm feeling, and sometimes I feel like I know what you're feeling, too. So I can't help but wonder am I… did you imprint on me?"

He looked at me strangely, and I felt embarrassed.

"I mean, it's okay if you didn't. I was just wondering," I said casually.

"What do you think?" he whispered, looking me in the eyes with so much... love and adoration.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't speak. All I could do was look back into his big eyes. We just sat there for a minute, but I felt like it could have gone on forever.

"Yes," I whispered.

He smiled and nodded, "Well, I'm glad I got that off my chest," he said, totally ruining the moment.

I giggled, "So that's why you wouldn't kick me."

"Michelle, hurting you or even seeing you get hurt goes against every fiber in my being. I was debating whether or not to even let you out of the car today," he said, shaking his head.

"I'm glad," I whispered.

"Huh?"

"I'm glad I have you to protect me," I said quietly.

"I'm glad I have you to protect," he breathed.

I smiled at him, but heard my dad's car in the driveway.

"I'll see you later. Be careful on those legs," he said, kissing my forehead and running out the backdoor.

Dad came in fifteen seconds later, "Hey honey! What happened to you?"

"Kick the freshman day," I giggled.

"I see," he laughed.

"Do you need me to cook dinner for you?" I asked.

"Nope, I brought Chinese!"

"Yum," I giggled. I was absolutely giddy at the fact that I was Paul's imprint. I felt so… so safe knowing he would always be there for me. And I also had the smallest bit of a crush on him that I had been denying inside for the past month.