Lemon Water // Paul Lahote

forty three

Serena

"Ok, that's enough! I'm driving home!" Sam exclaimed when I put the car in park.

"What? Why? I wasn't even bad!" I replied, turning off the truck.

"Weren't even the bad? You almost drove off the road, failed to stop at a four way stop with other cars waiting, almost hit a poor old lady, and went up the curb when turning! It was bad!"

"It was not! There was no stop sign, the lady was not in a crosswalk, the curb came out of nowhere, and I was swerving to avoid all of the frogs in the road!"

"Give me the keys"

"No! I'm driving home!"

"Serena! I'm not dying today!"

"You won't! I promise!"

"If you swerve once I'm taking over, now go get your markers or whatever you need"

I thanked him and took the money from his hand, running inside the store that I visited a few weeks ago for the first time. It took me a long time to find the school supplies section, having to read the signs above the isle almost six times before I found it, but eventually I did.

I was looking at the different options of colored pencils when I heard my name being called. I looked down the aisle to the left where Laken was walking towards me.

"Can we please talk?" He asked

"We have nothing to talk about" I replied, picking up a 36 pack of crayola pencils.

"Please Serena! I was wrong! I'm sorry! I was and idiot and nothing can make up for that but please, here me out!"

"Just because you're a part of the pack now does not mean that we will be friends" I said before walking away.

"Please!" He called, "I imprinted on Bailey!"

"What? How? You're not even allowed to go back to school yet" I said after I turned back around

"I was in the woods, trying to clear my head and she was going for a walk. We made eye contact and I just knew but I had to get out of there because I started to loose control. I need your help"

"I don't know what you want me to do"

"I need you to help me control it"

"Be in the woods behind my house at midnight, don't tell any of the guys because they would end me if they found out I snuck out"

"Thank you so much, I promise I won't tell anyone"

"Get out of here before Sam catches you in here" I told him and he nodded, walking out of the aisle and out the side entrance.

I brought my pencils up to the checkout and handed them to the cashier, collecting the change when he was done. I began walking towards the exit when mom came up to me.

"What are you doing here sweetie?" She asked me

"Oh, I needed colored pencils for my project that's due tomorrow but Sam and Emily didn't have any so Sam brought me here. What time do you get off?"

"I get off at 8, why?"

"I just have something to ask you about when you get home"

"Why don't you ask me now? I'm on my break"

"Can I play lacrosse? Tryouts are tomorrow after school and coach thinks I'm good enough to play"

"I don't think that's a good idea honey"

"What? Why not?"

"I don't want to see you getting hurt. Besides, you've never played before this week and it's a lot harder then PE. How about you sir this year out and we'll talk again next year?"

"I want to do it this year, all of my friends play"

"We don't have the money for you to play"

"There's team gear! All I need to do is get cleats but Birkley and Bailey said that I can use some of their old ones this season in case I don't like it"

"We will talk when I get home. Go work on your project" I nodded and walked back to the truck.

I handed the pencils to Sam and started the truck, buckling my seatbelt and pulling out of the parking lot.

"You ok kiddo?" Sam asked me

"Yeah I'm fine"

"What took you so long? You were in there for like 20 minutes"

"Oh, I ran into mom and asked if I can play lacrosse but she told me no"

"I don't think lacrosse is a good idea either" Sam told me

"What? Why? Why are you all against me?"

"Me and your mother being against you is not everyone"

"Not just you! Embry and Jake and Quil and Paul all think it's a bad idea too! Why can't you guys let me do something I want to do?"

"Because we want you to be safe. You were held captive by those psychopaths for 15 years, they're not going to let you get hurt again"

"Well they didn't do a very good job the other day, did they?"

"Serena-"

"I'm done talking" I looked straight ahead at the road and listened to Sam sigh heavily. We spent the rest of the ride in silence and when we got back to his house I went straight inside to grab my things.

"Where are you going sweetie?" Emily asked me as I was packing my bag

"Somewhere where my feelings actually matter" I told her, leaving the house.

"Serena get back here!" Sam yelled as I was walking out of the yard

"I'll be at my house by curfew" I said, continuing to walk away.

They didn't end up following me like I thought they would which allowed me to walk to the woods near the school and find the old treehouse that I found a few days ago.

I climbed up the ladder and closed the hatch behind me, dropping my bag on the ground with a loud thud. The treehouse was creaky and full of dirt, but as far as I know nobody else knows about this place so it's basically mine.

I took my project out of my bag and jumped right into working, barely even noticing when the sun began to set. When I finished, it was nearly dark outside and after checking my phone I found out that it was 8:30 already.

I packed up my stuff quickly and hustled down the ladder, jumping down the last few rungs. The walk back home was at least 20 minutes long, and it will probably be longer since it's dark out. I took the path that cuts through the woods to take a few minutes off my time, and couldn't help but notice the pair of glowing eyes that were following me.