Chapter Fourteen

Pretender

Paul

I'm a good pretender. I lie to Jacob, telling him the only reason I'm going is so he would have backup against the leech. Really though, I'm going to check on Kelsey.

Kelsey. She's in the kitchen when I get there. Her dark hair is pulled back into a long ponytail, and she's wearing some kind of jersey with the number 10 on the back. Beautiful, even in her casual wear.

"Kelsey?" I ask. She turns, turquoise eyes locking on mine.

"Hi, Paul." she says with a small smile. She continues scrubbing out the inside of a mixing bowl.

"What're you doing?" I ask.

"Making meals for the Clearwaters." Kelsey says with a sad smile. She grabs a rag and wipes the inside of the bowl out.

She starts pealing potatoes, her movements smooth and methodical. How is she related to the leech-lover again?

Jacob starts yelling about something. I don't blame him; it's hard to be in the house with a leech, it smells fucking horrible. Of course, I'd do just about anything for Kelsey Swan. Not that she knows it.

"You two wanna quiet it down in there?" She rolls her eyes and I laugh.

"Want some help?" I ask, stepping up to the counter beside her.

She nods. "Yeah. Can you cut this for me?" She hands me a package of bacon and a knife.

There's something kind of peaceful about cooking with Kelsey. We don't talk, we just move in sync, the silence saying more than empty conversation ever could.

Jacob strides in the kitchen just as the phone rings. And then, like a douche, he answers the phone at someone else's house. Like, what the fuck?

"Swan residence." A look of hate crosses Jacob's face. "No. He's at the funeral." Click.

"Jacob," Kelsey leans her hip against the counter, "what the fuck? Who was that?"

"The leech." My blood runs cold. I slam the knife down into the pack of bacon more angrily than strictly necessary, and catch Kelsey's concerned glance.

"You do realize that you didn't specify exactly whose funeral Dad was helping with?" she asks dryly.

"Oops." Jacob doesn't sound sorry at all. Kelsey just rolls her eyes.

"Oh no!" The female leech's voice carries through the house. Jacob and Bella bolt for it.

"here we fucking go." Kelsey rolls her eyes at the ceiling. "It's about to get overly dramatic."

She doesn't go to check it out, though. Instead, she just continues to cook as if nothing happened. And so I do the same.

"I have to go!" Bella yells. "We have to save him!"

"Save who from what?" Kelsey finally decides she can't ignore the dramatics any longer and goes to check it out.

"Edward. Alice saw me jump off a cliff, and she told Rosalie, and Rosalie told Edward, and now he thinks I'm dead, and so he's going to the Volturi to kill himself." Bell says in a rush.

"Whoa whoa whoa. What the fuck? This is toxic central." Kelsey shakes her head. "This isn't healthy, Bella."

"I don't need you to go all psychologist on me!" Bella yells. "I don't want to hear it from you."

"Whatever. Just know that Dad's going to be pissed."

"I don't care!" Bella yells.

"You should care. Haven't you put him through enough with your zombie act the last few months? And if you aren't walking around like Edward took your fucking brain with him, then you're doing something stupid." Kelsey says. "Go; I can't stop you. I'll do my best to clean up the mess you leave behind. As I always do."

Bella glares at Kelsey, as does the leech. I move to shield her from the leech, just in case she decides to go on the attack.

Bella scribbles a note for Chief Swan before leaving without so much as a goodbye to her sister. Kelsey sighs and rubs her temple.

"Dammit." she mutters, going to shut the door. "Selfish bitch." Then, "I need a latte."

"A latte?" I ask.

"Yeah. The Coffee Bean makes killer caramel apple lattes." She grabs her keys. "You coming?"

Kelsey's car is a little messy, but not too bad. I am able to gather that she likes hair ties; the things are everywhere. So are little bottles of hand sanitizer and packs of wipes.

She checks something on her phone before dropping it into the cupholder and pulling out of the driveway. She doesn't say much as she drives, just hums along to the radio.

The Coffee Bean is a small coffee shop with a few tables scattered around out front. As soon as Kelsey enters it, the girl behind the counter turns to start making her drink. She smiles at this.

"Hey, Lauren." Then, to me, "Do you want anything?"

She pays for our drinks, even after I offer to pay. She just laughs and tucks her debit card back into her wallet. I do, however, insist on carrying the drinks out to the car for her.

She messes with the device clipped to her belt before climbing back into the car and accepting her drink from me. "Thanks." She takes a long sip. "I needed this."

She cooks for the rest of the day. I help her as much as I can; I'm not a good cook. She actually lets me quality control some of the stuff before she packs it up.

"Can I ask you something?" I ask.

"Yeah. Shoot." Kelsey wraps tin foil over a casserole dish.

"How do you know how to cook? I know Charlie can't, and I've tried Bella's food. Does your mom?"

"Hell no!" she laughs. "Renee is hopeless when it comes to that stuff. I'm honestly not sure where I got the cooking gene from; I was adopted when I was a baby, so maybe my biological parents were cooks?" She shrugs. "Doesn't matter anyways."

So she was adopted. It explains a lot, actually. Her looks, which are nothing like her father or sister's, her reactions to things.

"You wanna help me lug this shit over to the Clearwaters'?" she asks. I nod and help her carry out several days worth of meals to her car.

In my room later that night, I think back on what I learned about her today. She loves caramel apple lattes. She's a great cook. She likes music while she drives. She's adopted. And she's single. Chronically so, as she'd put it.

I stare at the ceiling, letting my mind replay every moment we interacted. Every smile she'd shot my way, every laugh, every eye roll. She's perfect. Perfectly imperfect.

A/n: I'm so sorry for updating late; my school decided to make us do some surprise standardized testing. Ugh. OMG! We're almost at 100 follows! Ohmygosh! And the Paulsey bonding in this chapter was so fun to write. Okay, so here's the deal: if I get 43 reviews, I'll update on Saturday. If I don't get 43, I'll update Monday. Later!

Lauren.

Replies to Reviews:

Ginger: I'm glad that got fixed. And while I'm not quite sure which phone call you're talking about, as there are several in the story, I hope it was a good wow. LOL. I hope you enjoy this chapter too; please review and let me know.

Twilightfanjm: I'm so glad you love Kelsey's character! I love writing her. I hope you like this chapter too; please review and let me know.