Lemon Water // Paul Lahote

thirty eight

Serena

I was lost. I thought I knew which way my house was but I must have taken a wrong turn or something because now I'm in the middle of nowhere with virtually no cars passing.

The rain made the already dark world harder to see, and the cars that did pass splashed up muddy water on me. I turned back around to try and retrace my steps but it seemed that every way I look is just another dead end in this stupid town.

It was nearing 11 now, meaning I had been walking in the rain for over an hour now, and I was freezing. Giving up hope I went to a nearby bench and sat down, pulling my legs to my chest.

"Paul? Jared? Can you hear me?" I called into the night, hoping that one of them was near and could take me home. "Guys? I need help!"

A short yip told me that one of them was near where I was. A few minutes after the yip was heard, Paul walked up to me from the woods.

"Serena, what are you doing out here?" He asked me

"I got lost on my way home, I must have taken a wrong turn or something after I left Lakens because now I have no clue where I am and this is basically the middle of nowhere!"

"Serena this is just the outskirts of town, besides, I thought Laken was going to bring you home?" He must have noticed the look on my face change, "what happened? You can tell me"

"We we're working on our project and we were getting along so well!" I cried, "We have so much in common and by the end of the night we we're doing g more talking and laughing than working! He kissed me, Paul, twice! And then he asked me to be his girlfriend and I was so dazed by the emotions I was feeling that I said yes! I knew I should have said no, I should t have even let him kiss me in the first place, it just felt right! But it wasn't right, Paul, he was doing it for a dare! He got dared to kiss me and get me to go out with him! I'm so stupid!"

"Listen, you're not stupid, Serena, you made one silly mistake, and I'm sure Laken wasn't making it easy for you to say no, was he?"

"I guess not, I mean, he said I had sauce on my face from pizza and he wiped it off but there wasn't even sauce on the napkin! And towards the end of the night he kept scooting in closer and closer!" I cried

"It's ok sweetie, it's gonna be ok, Lakens a poor excuse of a boy, now let's get you home"

"Carry me? I'm tired"

"I suppose" he tried to scoop me into his arms but I stopped him

"No, I want a piggy back ride, you're warm and I'll get more of it if more of us is touching"

"Alright, hop on"

I cheered, wiping away some tears even though it was useless with the rain still pelting us. I hopped onto his back and wrapped my arms around his neck, laying my head on his shoulder and closing my eyes, "you wouldn't mind if I fell asleep, would you?"

"No, go ahead, you'll be home in 15 minutes" he replied and I nodded, drifting to sleep quickly.

I woke up to the sound of a heavy door closing, "oh thank God you have her!" Embry exclaimed from somewhere but I couldn't tell where since I kept my eyes closed, trying to fall back asleep.

"I found her out by the Germos house, she said she was walking home when she took a wrong turn somewhere and couldn't figure out how to get back" Paul said quietly

"How did you know where she was?"

"She called out for me and Jared, she said she needed help and the bond just pushed me to get to her as fast as possible"

"Thank you, Paul, for finding her and getting her home safe"

"It's my job, she's my imprint, if something were to happen to her I don't know what I'd do"

"I can take her now," I was brought down from Paul's back and transferred into different arms, Embrys arms.

"Do you know what happened? Why she walked home I mean"

"I think she needs to tell you that on her own"

"Thanks, Paul, now get back to patrol before Sam has us both running doubles" Embry said. I heard the door open and shut again before Embry started to walk away from the entryway.

"What the hell am I gonna do with you, Serena? Moms at work and you're soaking wet but I don't know if I should change your clothes or not. Screw it, I'll just not look"

I felt myself being placed onto my bed before I dozed off again, only remember the sound of Embry digging through my dresser drawers.

I woke up to the sun shining right into my face. Glancing at the alarm clock I saw that it was 9:12 in the morning, but being a Saturday we don't have school.

I walked out into the kitchen to find Embry and saw him sitting at the table. "Embry?" I asked quietly

"Yeah, what's up?"

"He lied to me"

"Who? Who lied to you?" He asked, getting up and walking to me

"Laken! He lied to me! He-he kissed me and asked me to be his girlfriend and told me all kinds of things that night that made it seem like he like liked me but he doesn't! He lied to me!"

"What did he do, Rena?"

"It was for a dare! All night he was getting to know me and saying things about how much he liked me but it was all for a stupid dare to win him some money at the end of the school year!"

"That fucking dick!" Embry yelled, storming out the front door

"Embry, wait!" I called after him, "where are you going?"

"To teach that piece of shit a lesson!"

"Don't leave me" I pleaded with him

"I'll send Seth over" he said before disappearing into the woods.

I walked slowly back into the house, tears welling up in my eyes. I went back into my room and shut the curtains, making it much darker in there. Closing the door and flipping the lights back off, I got under my cover and faced the wall, quietly crying to myself because of how stupid I am.