Chapter 16 - Dose Of Truth

Paul's Point of View

I watched her stop at the end of the sidewalk, and stare at the house. Leaning over I placed my hand on the windowsill and sighed. She was going to kill me. She didn't realize how much power she already had over me. I'd be damned to let her know that, though.

"So that's Bella." My mother said, as she braced her shoulder on the wall, next to the window.

"Yes." I said, as I watched Bella turn and start walking towards her house. "How do you know about her?"

"I know, Paul." She said, as she lifted her hand and rubbed it lightly on my shoulder.

"What do you know?" I asked, turning to look at her straight on.

"I may not be around all the time." She said as she moved away from the wall, pulled out a chair, and dropped gracefully into it. "I have friends on the tribal council."

I snorted, and then shook my head to clear it.

"You look at her like Jared looks at Kim. Like Sam looks at Emily." She put her hands in front of her and began picking at her fingernails. "Even if it's not the same thing, you look at her like your father looked at me."

I sighed and moved to the chair directly across from her. "Mom..."

"She's you're imprint isn't she?"

There was no denying it with my mother. She knew me well enough to know whether or not I'd be bullshitting her.

"Yes."

"She's troubled though?" She asked, as she looked up into my eyes. Her head tilted a little to the left as she waited for my reply.

"She is." I raked my hand through my hair, and leaned back into my chair. "We messed up, Mom. I'm not really sure how to fix it. How to make things right."

"How so?" She asked, leaning closer.

"We were mean to her. Really mean."

"Paul." She whispered sadly as she lowered her eyes to the table.

"I know."

"You use to follow that girl around when you were little." She said, as she giggled at a memory locked in her head.

"No I didn't."

"Yes Paul, you did." She lifted her eyes back to me, and smiled. "You couldn't have been more than six or seven at the time, but I still remember it."

"Remember what?"

"One second." She said, as she stood and walked out of the living room. She came back moments later with a box wrapped in an old scarf. "Here." She said as she handed it to me.

"What's this?" I asked.

"You brought that home when you were nine." She said, as she nodded towards my hands. "You were so happy to have found it. You must have spent a week out there, digging holes all over First Beach."

"Why?" I asked, as I tried to remember.

"You said that you were going to marry her one day." She laughed.

I removed the old tattered scarf from around the box and placed it into the chair next to me. The old lunchbox had childhood drawings of hearts and butterflies. The scribbled words of 'Do not open' were written in black sharpie marker, across the top. A flicker of recognition dances through my head.

"This is hers." I said, as I ran my hand over the top. "She buried this."

"She did." Mom said, as she stood and moved to the coffee pot to pour herself another cup. "She was so upset that summer."

"Why?" I asked. Why didn't I remember?

She laughed and whispered, "boys." She sat back down at the table and wrapped both of her hands around the steaming black mug.

"You and her were inseparable." She said, as she shook her head again. "You're father and I use to joke about how you were both joined at the hip."

"With Izzy?" I scoffed.

"Yes." She said glaring at me. "With Bella."

"Mom, I think I'd remember if..."

"You obviously don't. You both sat at this kitchen table," she said as she rubbed her hand across the top of the table, "and put that box together. You three...Bella, Angela, and you, worked for hours writing your hopes and dreams on index cards." She finished as she nodded towards the box.

"Me?"

"Yes, you!"

"What happened?"

"The day that you were going to go hide that down on the beach, Jared came over and wanted you to go play football with him." She said, as she took a sip from her cup. "You had just started hanging out with the other boys."

"So, I went with Jared." I concluded.

"You did."

"Was she upset?" I asked, as I lifted a questioning brow.

"Devastated."

"Then..."

"Angela told her that she'd help her bury it. She told Bella that boys were stupid and not to worry about it. She told her that you'd be back. They even giggled together about how you'd be upset when they buried it without you." She laughed.

"The dream." I whispered.

"Dream?"

"I had a dream... not long ago..." I said as I sat back up and gripped the lunchbox. "I had a dream that I was down at the beach. Angela and Izzy was there, and they were talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up. I hid behind the tree. They didn't know I was there."

"Ah." Mom said, as she reclined back into her chair. "You were so upset that they went and did that without you."

"I was?"

"Yes." She said laughing.

"What happened?"

She gazed at me for a few minutes. Silently going over what she could tell me and how. Her mouth opened and shut three or four times before finally settling.

"You decided that summer, that boys were easier to be around than girls."

"Seriously?" I asked, laughing.

"Seriously."

"Then how did this get here?" I asked as I pushed the box towards her.

"That night... the night that you came home from playing football... you didn't say a word. You ran right into this house; ran over to that junk drawer over there," she said as she pointed to the drawer, "and grabbed a flashlight."

"A flashlight?" I asked, lifting a brow.

"You were determined to find that box." She said, as she nodded to it. "And you did." She said, chuckling. "You found it a few days later. When you brought it back here, you begged me to wrap it up and keep it safe."

I sat there quietly for a few minutes absorbing everything I had learned in the last hour. Why didn't I remember?

"Are you going to open it?" Mom asked, pulling me from my own mind.

Was I? Did I want to?

"I don't..." I started. "I don't think I should."

"What are you going to do?" She asked. "About Bella?"

I sighed and leaned back into my chair. Momentarily happy from the distraction.

"I don't know." I said, as I rubbed my temple. "She's friends with Kenda now."

"Ouch."

"You're telling me." I said, laughing. "They're on the warpath. They've been pretty brutal at getting their revenge on everyone that was cruel to them."

"I'm liking her more and more." Mom laughed. "Has she gotten you yet?"

"No." I said. "But, I know that she will."

"Are you scared?"

I laughed. Really laughed. "Me? Scared. Hell no."

"Language." She said pointing her finger at me. "And you're a liar. You may be able to pull one over on everyone else, but I'm still your mother."

"What do I do then."

"Be patient." She said, as she stood and walked to the sink, depositing her empty cup. "Get to know her. She'll come around eventually."

"Yea." I said, as I stood up and pushed the chair under the table. "I'm going to go lay down." I said, as I turned to leave the room.

I needed to think about... well... everything.

"Paul." Mom said, before I had the chance to walk through the door.

"Yes?"

"Don't forget this." She said. She walked across the room and handed me the small metal box. She reached up and lightly patted my face. "You're still a good boy." Then she nudged my face to the side and laughed. "Even if I'm the only one who can see it."

I laughed and then turned and walked out of the room.

When I made it to my bedroom, I opened the top drawer of my dresser and laid the box under a few t shirts. Sighing, I closed it softly.

Lifting my arm, I grabbed my shirt from the back of my neck, and pulled it over my head, and threw it onto the floor.

Backing up, I fell into the bed, and put my arm over my eyes.

I had a lot of thinking to do. A lot of planning.

Bella's Point Of View

I still felt the tingle in my lips when I woke up. I hated myself for liking it. I hated that he could kiss like that. But, I needed to keep my head in the game. I couldn't let it sway me. I'm way to far in. To deep.

I'm terrified that if I allow myself to get any closer to him, then everything I've been working towards would fall apart. I can't let that happen. I won't let that happen.

I owed it to myself and to Kenda.

Sighing, I climbed out of bed, and ran to the shower. After scrubbing, and then re-scrubbing, I got out, dried off and then wrapped a towel around myself. I wasn't too worried about my appearance this morning. I didn't care. Dressing quickly in boot cut jeans and a black tank top, I dressed quickly. Stopping next to the door, I slipped on my flip flops, and grabbed my bag off the floor.

Opening the door with a loud bang, I made my way to the kitchen. Breakfast was ready when I entered the room, and I wasted no time in sitting and shoveling the scrambled eggs down.

Swallowing down the final three gulps of orange juice, I stood and watched as my mother grabbed all of my dishes and hurried them to the sink.

"Bye mom." I said, as I grabbed my bag off of the floor, and walked towards the door.

"Have a good day, Hon." She said, with her back still towards me.

Angela's truck pulled into the driveway, as I opened the door, and I walked quickly over to it.

As I turned in my seat to throw my bag into the back, something shiny caught my eye. I couldn't help the laugh that eruppted from me.

"What the hell are you doing with that?" I said, as I pointed towards the glittery object.

"What?" Kenda said, with a serious expression. "I thought I'd make it official." She held up the strap and flicked it a few times. "He is a dog for fucks sake."

"How the fuck..." I started, as I was still trying to wrap my mind around the mental image. "Can you keep a straight face, when you say shit like that?"

She smirked and stuck her tongue out at me. She placed the leash back onto the seat and turned to look out the window.

"I brought something for Jake, too." Angela said from beside me.

"What?" I asked as she lifted the middle console and pulled out a bag of dog biscuit shaped cookies.

I raised my eyebrow in silent question.

"For when he's good." She said like it was obvious. "Mom made them for Sheba. They're peanut butter... I think." She said, as she lifted the bag to her nose to smell. "She didn't like them though, so mom said I could find someone at school who had a dog to give them too... win, win in my opinion." She finished as she tossed the bag back into it's compartment.

"You both are insane." I said, chuckling again. "You have no idea how much I needed to laugh though. Thanks."

"Why?" Kenda asked, as she grabbed my headrest and pulled herself forward. " What happened?"

"I went to apologize to Jared." I said sighing. "He was at Paul's. I felt bad for the way everything went down."

"What happened?" Kenda snarled.

"He kissed me." I whispered, as I wiped my forehead.

"What a fucking prick." Kenda yelled as she threw herself into the back of her seat. "I should have known he wasn't good enough for Kim. What a douche. I should go ... "

"Kenda, calm down. I wasn't talking about Jared."

"But you said..."

"Paul!" I yelled. "Paul kissed me."

"And?" Angela said, as she looked in her rear view mirror at Kenda.

"That's it. He kissed me and I left."

"Was it good?" Angela asked, wiggling her eyebrow suggestively.

"Ugh."

"He's going to use that." Kenda piped up from the back.

"What?"

"Did you know that he apologized to me? That night that you decked him. He wanted to talk to me, and he apologized for all the shit that he put me through." She said quietly.

"You believed him?" I questioned.

"Does it really matter?" She said. "It's in the past, and I don't know, it feels good not to hate him anymore. That weight was pushing me down... holding me back. It was time to let it all go."

"Are you out then?" I asked, a little saddened at the thought of losing her in the middle of almost completing our goal. But, I understood.

"No." She said smiling at me through the mirror that was above my head in the visor. It'd become a habit to pull it down to see who was talking in the back. Eye to eye. "I told him I was behind you one hundred percent. Nothing's going to change that. My thoughts just shifted from revenge to fun and games."

She uncrossed her legs and then crossed them again. She seemed, almost, nervous.

"He likes you, Bella. He feeds into your temper. When he gets a rise out of you, you fight back. You're playing right into his hands, and I don't even think you realize it."

"He infuriates me." I said, as I looked out the window. "I'm his imprint anyways, right? I can't help but think, that if I wasn't his imprint, then he wouldn't have looked twice at me. That's just the way it is, right? That's how it works."

The car was parked and I hadn't even realized we had made it to school. My vocal thoughts died down to a low simmer.

"How long have we been sitting here?" I asked, as I turned to look at Angela.

"A while." She smiled, as she reached over to pat my leg.

Reaching into the back to grab my bag, my door was suddenly swung open.

"Morning beautiful."

"Shit." I whispered, as I turned to face a chuckling Paul.

"Let's go." He said as he reached in and grabbed my bag from me. "You wouldn't want to be late for class."

"What are you doing, Paul?" I asked, as I ignored his hand that he was offering to help me out of the truck.

"Standing here." He said, looking down at his feet.

"I can see that, prick. But why here?"

"I was waiting for you."

"Why," I asked as I lifted an eyebrow.

"Do I have to have a reason?"

"You're not going to leave, are you?" I asked, defeated.

"Not likely."

"Ugh." I groaned.

"Hey, Bella." Embry said, as he walked up to stand next to Paul.

"Embry." I said in greeting, as I tried to hold back the smile, threatening to break free.

"What are you hiding, Bella?" Paul asked, when he noticed.

"Watch." I said, nodding towards Kenda.

"Hey Embry." Kenda said, as she walked up to him and threw her arms around his neck.

"Mmm Kenda." He replied with a smile, as he nuzzled her neck.

"I got something for you." She said, as she pulled away and reached into her backpack. "It's nothing big."

She handed him the small bag, and he smiled as he opened it.

His smile instantly dropped to a frown as his eyebrows screwed together.

"You hate it!" Kenda cried, as she reached for the bag.

"No...no." He hurried, as he lifted the bag above her head. "It's just... surprising... I'm surprised."

"Are you sure?" Kenda asked.

"Um. Yea. Why this though?" He asked, shaking the bag.

"I wanted you to know that I accepted the imprint." She said, batting her eyes at him."

"A leash?" He asked, raising his brow.

"Mmm, yea." She said, as she wrapped her arms around his neck again. "You're going to be on a short leash around me, Em."

"Are you like..." Embry said, as he shifted from one foot to the other, "expecting me to wear this?"

"Not right now." She winked.

Kenda grabbed Embry's hand and started walking towards the front door of the school. "I'll see you later, Bella," she yelled over her shoulder.

Laughing I replied, "don't do anything I wouldn't do, Kenda."

"That doesn't leave much, B," She said, throwing her head back in laughter.

"Bitch." I gasped.

"Love you too, honey."

The bell rang, and I realized that I was still standing next to the truck. Hell, I was going to be late.

"I have to get to class." I said, as I grabbed my bag from Paul and began walking towards the door.

It only took a few moments for me to realize that Paul was in step next to me.

"Paul?" I asked, as I side glanced at him.

"Hmm?"

"Your class is in the other direction. You wouldn't want to be late."

"But, I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise." He said, as he swung the door open and waved me through.

"What's that?" I asked as I walked briskly to my first period class.

He followed me in to the classroom, and as I moved to take my seat, he walked up to the teacher and handed her a note. Her eyes moved over the small paper for a fraction of a second before she lifted her eyes and dragged them across the room.

A moment later, she pointed to the empty desk in front of me. He nodded his thanks, and then strolled to the desk, and eased himself into the seat.

What the fuck?

"Paul?" I whispered, as I poked him in the shoulder with my pencil.

He didn't turn to look at me. "Bella?"

"What are you doing?"

"Filling my head with any and all knowledge that this fine establishment is providing." He retorted.

"Paul..." I growled.

He turned in his seat, and captured me with his penetrating eyes."I switched some of my classes around."

"Why?"

"That's a good question, Miss Swan."

"Do you have an answer?" I asked back quickly.

He didn't answer.

"What classes did you switch?" I tried, in a different direction.

He reached into his pocket and handed me the paper that he had previously showed the teacher. It was a schedule. A new schedule. And it pissed me off.

"Why the hell does your schedule match mine now, Paul?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Oh it does?" He smirked. "I didn't realize."

"Sure you didn't." I said, throwing the paper back at him. "How did you manage to do that anyways?"

"My guidance counselor is on the tribal council." He smiled.

"Ass hole." I breathed, which only caused him to laugh.

The teacher cleared her throat, and I glanced up only to notice her glaring at me. I nodded my head in apology and sighed. When she turned her back to the class to begin writing the assignment on the board, I lifted my knee and accidentally, on purpose, hit the back of Paul's chair.

I was mad. Livid, really.

By the time class ended, I had realized that I was so angry at the new circumstances, that I didn't pay attention to anything that the teacher had said. The page in my notebook that I had opened, remained empty. I hadn't taken notes. Nothing.

"Ange?" I asked groaning, as I flipped the notebook closed and pushed it into my bag.

"Yea?"

"Can I copy your notes? I drifted off, and couldn't... focus."

She glanced at Paul and then smiled at me. Traitor. "Sure, I'll come over after school tonight. You can copy what I have."

"Thank you." I swung my backpack up onto my shoulder, and headed towards the door.

"Why are you so distracted, Bella?" Paul asked, as I tried to walk past him.

"Don't try to give yourself any credit, Paul."

"I don't believe you." He said next to my ear, as he placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me down the hall.

I moved away from his warm touch. "Don't let your mind wander, Paul. It's way to fucking small, to be outside all by itself."

He laughed and then moved closer to me. Again. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, Bella. That's... hurtful."

"Don't waste your breath waiting for an apology."

"Come on." He said, as he placed his hand back on my back. "We're going to be late to Trig."

I stopped in my tracks, and turned my head to look at him.

"You never told me why you changed your schedule, Paul."

"You want the truth."

"Did I give you the impression that I wanted you to lie to me?"

He smiled, and then took another step towards me. It was a dance I was becoming all too familiar with. With his step forward, I took one step back. It continued until there was no where else to go. The combination lock on the locker behind me, that was now digging into my hip, was conformation of that.

"I realized something last night." He said, as he leaned closer, and placed his left hand on the locker next to my head.

"What?" I asked, not daring to look into his eyes.

He lifted his right hand and placed it under my chin. He lifted slightly, until my eyes met his. "That's better." He whispered, as he took his fingers from my chin, and mimicked his other hand.

I was...trapped.

"I realized, that it's going to take a lot of work. I want to be on your good side, Bella." He said leaning in, and whispering into my ear. "If it takes me having to be in all of your classes, to be a little bit closer..." he pressed his lips, lightly, just under my ear, "to give me a little more hope," the tip of his tongue tickled my chin, "that one day, you can forgive me." He lightly kissed the corner of my mouth.

I was drowning. I wanted to move. I...couldn't.

"Why are you doing this?" I pleaded.

"I know you feel it, Bella."

"No." I said. It sounded weak, even to my own ears.

"You can only fight for so long." He said, as his warm breath fanned across my cheek.

"Why?"

"I need too." He said.

It was quiet. So quiet, that I almost didn't hear it.

He dropped his hands from his position on the locker, and with one last look, he turned and walked down the hallway.

My breath was ragged. I stood there, for what felt ages, trying to gain focus on my surroundings.

He was getting under my skin. The carefully erected barrier, that I had built, so long ago, started crumbling.

Shaking my head, to clear the fogginess that had taken over, I lifted myself off of the locker, and started walking towards class.

The bell rang seconds after I walked through the door, and I hurried to sit in my designated seat. I didn't need to see him to know that he was there. I felt his eyes on me.

Ignoring him, I reached into my bag and pulled out my book.

I kept telling myself that he would lose interest.

But there was one question that I couldn't answer. That I didn't want to answer.

Did I want him too?

The rest of the day was uneventful. I managed to ignore Paul. Well, as much as I could.

When the final bell rang, I rushed to get out of there.

"You ready to go home?" Angela asked, as I climbed into the back seat.

This day was hell.

"Yea. I have shit to think about." I said.

"Okay." She said pulling out of the parking lot, in the direction of my house.

"Bella? Are we still on for tomorrow?" Kenda said.

"Of course." I replied. "Sam wont even know what hit him." I said laughing.