Chapter 4

Sadnecessary

Sadnecessary is what you promise me

All I can do is to follow the tears

Deep down the hollow is what you promise me

All I can do is to follow

Mirror, mirror

Who's the happiest

Is it the lover or is it the beloved

And mirror, mirror

Can I blame you for this

When heartbreakers come around

'Are you fucking kidding me?' I can't help but think to myself as I try to navigate this stupid school.

You'd think because it was so small, it should be easy to find my away around. But oh, no, nothing is every easy for me. My schedule says the room numbers, but from the looks of it, all of the paint faded off of so none of the rooms are marked.

Leah, the interpreter, is supposed to meet me a few minutes before my first class, if I can ever find the damn thing.

I startle when I feel someone tap me on the shoulder.

I turn to see a girl, older than me but not by much. She has that toned, defined muscle all of us girls can only dream of having, and a perfect complexion. But the slightly pinched look on her face ruins it.

I'm about to motion that I'm deaf, but then her hands start moving.

"I'm Leah. You're late," she signs to me, a scowl on her face.

I raise an eyebrow at her. "I'm also new, and these buildings don't have any markings, so cut me a little slack, okay?"

She eyes me for a moment, but then the scowl on her face fades and she shrugs one shoulder.

She starts steering me in the direction of the first class, and I realize I was going in the completely opposite direction.

"Where'd you learn to sign?" I ask.

Leah looks over at my hands as I sign, then responds. "Learned when I was in high school a few years back. Wanted to learn a language, and my mom's a nurse so she suggested ASL. The school didn't offer a class so I learned on my own."

I nod in response. "People-" I stop, not wanting to offend her. But then I think that maybe everything offends her, so I decide to continue. "People don't seem very nice here."

For the first time, I see a small smile on Leah's face. "You just don't look like anyone here, I guess. But in my opinion, nobody here is nice to me either."

"What do you mean by that?"

She smirks. "You're just a paleface, is all."

I breathe out a laugh. "I'll try not to take offense to that."

"You can if you want to," she shrugs.

We look at each other for a moment before laughing.

Leah had stayed with me through all my classes. Usually interpreters get a break in between, but she just stayed.

Leah pats her stomach dramatically as we walk to lunch. "I'm starving."

"You ate in between every class!"

"So?" she signs back. "The mental stress of being back in this hell is making me burn more calories."

I'm too busy laughing at the disgusted face Leah makes as she signs to notice the huge figure standing by the door to the cafeteria, so I end up running into it.

I can't help but let out a grunt on impact. In my haste to get away, I end up tripping over my own shoe and almost fall backwards, but a hand reaches out to steady me.

The heat of this person's hand is scorching on my skin, so much so that I flinch away from the touch and take a step back.

I fling the hair out of my eyes in irritation, then look up and groan. Out loud, I'm sure.

"Thanks for that reaction," Paul says, a small smile on his face, seemingly not offended.

I have trouble reading the last word on his lips- he has really really nice lips- but I figure it out when I realize that 'reaction' fits better than 'traction'.

"You know each other?" Leah signs and speaks at the same time, her voice incredulous.

I shake my head no at the same time Paul signs yes.

Leah looks at us, her usual scowl on her face. "So? Which is it? Yes or no?"

"Kind of both?" I sign, uncomfortable.

I sneak a peek at Paul to see him staring at me. His gaze is almost palpable, tangible, and the emotions in his reddish-brown eyes are overwhelming.

I look at Leah to see her eyes narrowed on us both.

"What do you want?" Leah asks him, her tone harsh.

Paul doesn't seem fazed, as if he's used to it.

"I was..." He has a look on his face, like he's coming up with something on the spot. "Waiting for someone."

"Who?" Leah snaps, and I can feel the tension in the air between these two. They certainly do butt heads.

"Just drop it, Leah," he seems to hiss back at her, before glancing at me.

Caught looking at him, I quickly drop my eyes.

I clear my throat in a very obvious way, hoping to get Leah to stop with the interrogation.

I see Paul and Leah turn towards something behind me, and see Seth strolling up with a huge smile on his face.

He waves when he sees me, and I sigh.

I look over at Leah and sign quickly, hoping Paul still only knows the alphabet so I can say it without anyone knowing. "I met that kid the other day," I sign as I watch Seth walk in our direction. "Watch out, he's way too happy to be sane."

I'm half-joking and half-serious, but I must be funnier than I think I am by the way Leah doubles over in laughter.

Seth reaches us, and his smile is even bigger as he watches Leah laugh.

Leah is too busy laughing to notice Paul's confused look at our one-sided convo, and then he looks at me with those eyes of his. Why are his so special? We all have eyeballs, but his are way too attractive!

"What'd you say to make her laugh like that?"

I shrug sheepishly and look away from him, blushing, not wanting to admit my comment about Seth and even more embarrassed by Leah's reaction.

Seth finally reaches us, and angles his body so he's facing me. Now all three of them are facing me. It was almost intentional, since I now have a perfect view of their hands and faces if they talk.

"Hey, Leah," Seth says brightly. "Hey, Kota, Paul."

I groan and cover my face before looking back at Leah. "You know him?" I sign, mortified at what I said. They must be friends or something.

Leah laughs one more time, wiping her eye.

I notice she doesn't speak out loud as she signs to me. "Kota, he-" she stops, laughter taking over, before continuing. "-he's my brother."

She starts laughing immediately when she sees my face.

"Can someone clue us in? You're doing it too fast." I see Paul's lips move. I quickly start shaking my head at Leah, hoping she doesn't reveal what I said about her goddamn brother. But then I register his last comment and frown in confusion. Doing what too fast?

"Nothing you need to worry about, Paul," she snickers into her hand after she signs.

"C'mon Leah, please tell us," Seth says, or at least that's what it looked like he said. And the way he's scrunching his face looks like he's whining.

"You'll find out soon enough, I'm sure," she replies, back to scowling.

I'm staring at Paul now, and he looks resigned to the fact that he won't find out what was so funny.

"Let's just go eat," he mutters, face pitiful. When he glances at me he seems to brighten up just a bit, and grabs Seth's arm to drag him away from me and Leah and towards the cafeteria. He gives me one last smile, like a parting gift.

He's gifting me that perfect smile right there on his beautiful face.

Leah and I start walking in the same direction, trailing behind the guys.

"God, I hate him," Leah signs suddenly.

"Paul? Why? I mean from what I know of him, he's rude sometimes, but not hate-worthy."

"Sometimes. But it's not really that. It's mainly just because we're kind of the resident hotheads here, so we clash a lot. Plus, I've been spending way too much time with him lately."

I hesitate, not wanting to cross a line, but then I remember how many lines Leah's crossed in the handful of hours I've known her. "Why're you spending time with him if you don't like him?"

Leah seems to deflate. "It's complicated. But lately he's been asking me to tutor him, so it's even more time spent together," she rolls her eyes.

I can't hide my shock. "Really? But I thought you worked full time?" I sign, referring to our earlier conversation.

Leah chuckles a bit. "Not tutoring like that. It's weird, he came by a few days ago and asked me to teach him ASL, actually. Said he needed language credits or something before graduation."

A/N: I am currently writing from a place of misery. I just received my night retainer, and I have to wear it Every. Single. Night.

So yes, I am looking for sympathy here lmao

Sorry for the short chapter, just wanted to give you guys a little nugget. Lunch with Paul and the guys next...

But anyways, I can't believe this story. Really. I just wrote it on a whim and came up with it, thinking it would be another one of those unknown stories I write, but you guys ACTUALLY like it!

Insane.

I love you all.

Please let me know what you think of this chapter!

-M

PS- I've been thinking of doing another fic, just not sure if I should do an Edward/OC, Jasper/OC, Emmett/OC, or just another Paul/OC. I love the wolves so much and hate the vampires SM wrote but there's so much interesting stuff I can do with vampires: the history, the characters, the way it effects relationships. Just wanted your opinion on which one to do!