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Chapter 16

On Monday after school, Kim invites me over to Emily's to hang out with the two of them while the boys have their pack meeting. Initially, my reaction is to comment that just because my boyfriend's busy doesn't automatically mean I don't have other plans. But the truth is that it kind of does. I mean, I haven't really made any friends outside of the pack – which isn't really that odd considering there aren't that many other teenagers in La Push – and Leah is the only one who I really hang out with without Paul around.

And I can actually say that now because on Sunday we went to the diner in Forks to get milkshakes. Her treat, as an apology for spilling Paul's secret. She had insisted; although to be completely honest, I'm glad she did. At least everything is out in the open between Paul and myself now.

Anyway, my point is despite my initial hesitation, I quickly realized that I should start putting more of an effort in to getting to know Kim and Emily – sans Paul – since I now know we have the whole "being an imprint" thing in common. Plus I really like Emily, and Paul has assured me that Kim will be slightly less awkward and quiet once she gets to know me better.

After the final bell rings and we're released from our Quileute studies class, Paul and Jared have to rush to their lockers before going to meet the pack at their cliff-top meeting spot by First Beach. Kim had told me she would meet me outside the classroom, so I linger in the hallway, waiting for her to show up.

A few moments later, she arrives; we greet each other with smiles and then walk – unsurprisingly – in silence towards the school's exit.

I notice Paul at his locker, being cornered by Olivia. We make eye contact, and the look in his eyes screams "help me". Kim's looking at me wearily. She's clearly not a fan of Olivia either.

I shrug. "Come on," I say, walking up to Paul and Olivia. Doing my best to pretend that I don't realize they're in the middle of a – forced – conversation, I interrupt, "Hey Paul, I meant to ask, did you get my note this morning?"

Paul looks confused, slowly shaking his head.

Olivia just glares at me.

I smile at them both. There are some advantages to the whole reservation thinking that Paul is just my step-brother. "Oh, well, that Erin girl from Forks called. She said she enjoyed your guys' date and would love if you could give her a call back. She said you have her number."

It takes him a second, but I can see the lightbulb turn on in his head. He smirks. "Oh shit, thanks, Cass. I meant to give her a call back."

Olivia is indignant, though. "I didn't realize you were dating somebody, Paul."

"Well, I figured you would get that's what I meant when I said I wasn't interested anymore," Paul retorts in annoyance. I resist the urge to squeal in delight at his words. I've never been the jealous type, but there's something about Olivia that makes me want to throttle her.

Bashfully, I say to Olivia in mock apology, "I'm so sorry, Olivia; I had no idea there was ever anything between you and Paul. Otherwise I would've waited until you weren't around."

"Whatever," Olivia snaps, glaring at all of us – even Kim. She storms off, muttering under her breath, "Not even worth it."

Paul groans in relief. "Oh my god, Cassie, I owe you my life right now." The look in his eyes tells me he wants to kiss me, but thankfully his brain is still working and he realizes we're in the middle of a school hallway.

Laughing, I shove him playfully. "You're going to be late for your meeting if you don't get going, bro." I smirk at him. "Don't forget to give Erin a call back."

Paul winks at me. "Oh, I won't." Shutting his locker, he hurries off to the meeting.

I roll my eyes at him, trying to supress my blush. Kim and I begin our walk towards Sam and Emily's cottage.

"You know," Kim confesses to me, breaking the silence that had developed between us. "I don't know how you were so nonchalant about that. If Olivia had been hitting on Jared, I would've been so jealous. I probably would've cried."

Shrugging, I notice a few other students nearby also walking home. "Why would I be jealous of Olivia and my step-brother? Erin, on the other hand, she's probably a little bit jealous."

Kim blushes, and when we're away from the school and the other students, she exclaims, "I am so sorry I said that. I wasn't even thinking that there were other people around. Oh my god, you must hate me."

That's probably the most I've ever heard Kim talk, and it makes me feel terrible. "Oh god, Kim, no. Of course not! It was just an innocent comment. I know you didn't mean anything by it."

"Are you sure?" she whispers incredulously.

Nodding, I assure her, "It's really no big deal. It's a fucked up situation. Hard to keep everything straight." She still looks hesitant, so I send her a smile. We drift back into silence for the remainder of the walk, but it's much more comfortable than before.

"Hey girls," Emily greets us enthusiastically, when we arrive. She has cookies baked for us. Chocolate chip ones. We decide to watch a movie, and since it's my first time, I get to pick. This is foreign to me considering Ricki always gets to pick.

Emily has a fair amount of DVD's – although most of them are for kids. She explains that she has a three year old niece. I end up choosing an old one: The Princess Diaries.

We start the movie and begin chatting. "You know, I can't believe you threw a hairdryer at Jared!" I tease Kim. She blushes madly, making me laugh. During English class, I had demanded Jared to tell me whether or not it was true.

"I still can't believe that I did it." She laughs in embarrassment.

"Well, I think it's hilarious!"

"I still can't believe how well you took it," Emily tells me, impressed.

I roll my eyes. "I literally called him psycho and stormed off. I wouldn't say that's taking it well!"

Giggling, Emily exclaims, "That was about the wolf thing. Not the imprint thing!"

Kim nods, and I gasp. "How do you both know about everything? You can't read his mind!"

"Well, no," Kim admits. "But Jared and Sam can, and they'll tell us anything we ask them."

"They will?" I ask, curious. They smile knowingly at each other, like I'm missing something. "What? How do you make them tell you anything you want?"

"The Imprint Card," Kim informs me simply.

"The Imprint… what?" I exclaim in confusion, no longer paying attention to the movie.

They both burst out laughing. "That's what the boys begrudgingly call it," Emily explains. "Basically, they just can't tell us no. They try. But if you persist, they'll eventually tell you whatever you want to know or do whatever you're asking them too."

"That's… useful. But poor them."

"Not that we use it that often!" Kim interjects. "I swear, we try not to take advantage of it."

Emily smirks. "But sometimes it comes in handy."

We burst out laughing. I bet it does. Sam comes home around when the movie is ending, but the rest of the pack doesn't come over. Apparently Jared and Paul are the ones on patrol this evening, so Kim and I stay and eventually end up watching the sequel before calling it a night.

Kim suggests we do it again sometime soon, and I agree enthusiastically; I actually had a lot of fun. I also suggest we do it some time when the pack isn't having a meeting so Leah can join. Kim agrees hesitantly, but Emily seems to really like the idea, looking wistful.

I really need to ask Paul what the story is there, because there's some obvious tension.

I eat leftovers from what Peter and my mom had for supper when I get home, before heading upstairs to my room. Grabbing my laptop, I snuggle up in my bed and watch some Netflix. Might as well make it an Anne Hathaway marathon kind of night. Because obviously my Trig homework isn't important.

I must drift off to sleep somewhere in the middle of Ella Enchanted, because it's about a half hour later into the movie than I remember when my ringing phone wakes me up.

It's Paul, and it's nearly midnight.

Shutting my laptop and setting it on my bedside table, I answer my phone, "Hello?"

"Hey, is Erin there?"

I can't help but giggle. "Babe, it's late. What do you want?"

"Our parents are fast asleep," he informs me. I can practically hear the smirk on his face. "Come cuddle."

Rolling my eyes, I'm already out of my bed. I make sure to shut my door as I leave and shut his as I enter. Sliding into his bed next to him, I ask dryly, "You just want to cuddle?"

"Imagine," Paul chuckles, capturing my lips in a heated kiss.

…

I let out a groan for about the tenth time since we got onto the highway fifteen minutes ago, seconds away from throwing my phone out the window of Paul's moving truck. It's Wednesday and Paul and I are heading to Port Angeles straight from school. I've been googling all of the stores in Port Angeles on my phone that could possibly have a good wedding gift for Mom and Peter.

So far, I've found nothing. "I don't even know where we should go to look!" I complain in defeat. I'm already in an anxious mood for this trip because I decided not to mention it to Ricki. It's not even that she would expect me to hang out with her if I said I'd be in town; it's just that if she knows then she's going to ask about what we did. It's bad enough keeping Paul and I a secret from her. I don't want to start lying to her about it too. Not that omitting the truth is much better, and it's making me feel super guilty. "What did you get them again?"

Paul grins over at me. "I told you: I'm getting them a cow."

I roll my eyes. "Paul, seriously."

Laughing, he replies, "They've been talking about how they want to finish the basement and have a bar down there. So I went looking for one and found an l-shaped one for a sweet price. It's hiding in my closet, but there's a picture on my phone if you want to see it." He nods towards his phone sitting in the cup holder.

He's one of those few people who don't have a password on their phone. Not that mine of 1-2-3-4 is really that hard to crack…. I search for the picture in his gallery, ignoring the embarrassingly horrible pictures he's taken of me. "Oh my god!" Suddenly, I have an idea. "I could get bar stools to go with it!"

Paul chuckles, shooting me a look of mock pity. "I know you were more concerned with watching me turn into a wolf last time you were down there, but there are literally bar stools in our basement already."

"Fuck!" I curse, throwing my phone into my lap.

He reaches across the cab of his truck, intertwining our fingers. "You could always get them alcohol to fill it," he teases.

I squeeze his hand in excitement. "That's a great idea!"

"Cass, babe," – he glances wearily at me – "I was kidding. We're not even seventeen; we can't just go buy a shit ton of alcohol."

I frown. "Yeah," I admit, "but I may be able to get my dad to buy it for me."

Paul looks at me dubiously. "How?"

I shrug. "As long as he believes me when I say it's a present it shouldn't be a problem. Besides, he's a lot more liberal than my mom, and he uses stuff like this to compensate for never being around."

Paul frowns, rubbing my back sympathetically.

I roll my eyes. "No, it's fine. Works out well for me most of the time." Gently, I turn his face away from me. "Now watch the road!" Pulling out my phone, I select my dad's number. He'll still be working since it's only a bit past four, so maybe he'll be more willing to cooperate since he wants to get back to work. "Hey, Dad. Are you busy?"

"Hi Andy." He hesitates. "No more so than usual. What's up?"

"I have a small favour to ask," I say tentatively. Besides a few texts, I haven't actually talked to my dad since I called him the weekend before last. I feel slightly guilty for only calling him because I need something.

Unsurprisingly, I can hear papers shuffling through the phone. "Sure, sweetheart, what do you need?"

"So Paul –" I begin.

"Who?" my dad interrupts in confusion.

I groan, trying to avoid using the word step-brother. "You know, Peter's son." When he doesn't really reply, I exclaim in exasperation, "Peter, as in Mom's fiancé!"

Paul is smirking; I swat at him playfully.

"Of course. I know who Peter is."

Rolling my eyes, I bite back a snide remark. Sure you do, Dad. "Anyway, Paul got Mom and Peter a bar for their wedding gift, and I was thinking about getting them stuff to go in it. Like you know, just the typical stuff a bar should have. But obviously I can't go buy most of the stuff, so I was hoping…."

I hear him snort through the other end of the phone. "You want me to buy you alcohol?"

"Well, that and other bar stuff. Plus I'll give you the money obviously."

"Cassie, just because I'm not around much doesn't mean I'm stupid."

"Dad, I swear, that's all I want it for."

"Andy, come on. Your mom already hates me. We don't need to push the envelope."

"Dad," I whine. "Seriously, I'm not trying to trick you."

He doesn't budge.

I sigh. Time to take desperate measures now. "Look, I'm nearly seventeen. Do you honestly think I've never been drunk before? If I wanted this for my own personally use, believe me, I could get it without asking my father."

Paul bursts out laughing at my words after a short struggle to supress it.

Dad remains quiet, clearly pondering my words.

"Please?" I beg, wishing that stupid imprint card could be used on my dad.

He sighs, mumbling under his breath how he's going to regret this. "How much do you need and what kind?"

I do a celebratory fist pump, grinning at Paul widely. "Um, one second." Covering the speaker of the phone, I ask him, "How much did you spend on the bar?"

He raises his eyebrows in amusement. "Why?"

"Because I have to spend as much as you do so I can be an equally awesome child!"

Paul snorts. "You're ridiculous." But, he tells me and I repeat the amount to my dad. "And my dad likes Crown I think," he continues with a smirk, answering my dad's second question that I had forgotten about. Wolf hearing comes in handy sometimes.

"And Crown Royal and like any kind of decent flavoured vodkas." My mom has the alcohol tastes of a teenage girl, which has always come in handy for me. "But can you get like mixers or liqueurs or whatever else goes into a bar besides hard liquor. I don't know what that would be."

My dad laughs. "Let's keep it that way," he jokes in evident relief. Which shocks me because he's the one that Ricki and I usually called to pick us up when we got too wasted at a party to go home without getting caught. Again, he's way more liberal than my mother. "I'll take care of it on my way home from the office. Are you going to be able to pick it up? If not, I might be able to find some time before the wedding to come drop it off, but I'm not completely sure…."

"No, that's totally fine. I'm actually almost to Port Angeles now. Paul and I have some… um, errands to run, but we could pick it up before we head back home?"

"Sure, that should work. As long as it's after eight."

"Oh it will be after eight," Paul jokes too quietly for my dad to hear, waggling his eyebrows at me suggestively.

I stifle a giggle before replying to my dad. "Yeah, that works. Thanks so much Dad!"

"You're welcome, Andy," he says hesitantly. I hear voices coming from his end of the phone. "Look, I have to get back to work, but I swear to god if I find out this isn't for their gift…."

I laugh. "Dad, I promise!"

"Okay, okay. I'll see you tonight, Andy."

I hang up in relief. We're pretty close to the Port Angeles exit now. I lean over and peck Paul's cheek. "Guess we'll have more time for our first 'unchaperoned' date," I jest lovingly.

Paul smiles at the idea, but quickly it turns into a grimace. "Yeah, but now I have to meet your dad."

Chuckling, I pat his knee. "Don't be silly. He thinks you're just my soon-to-be step-brother. He's not going to interrogate you!"

"You sure?" he asks hesitantly. He look so nervous; it's adorable.

"Yes!" I exclaim dramatically. "Now where do you want to eat? I'm starving!"

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think! I have exams over the next week or so, so I'm not 100% sure how long it will be until the next chapter, but it shouldn't be too long!