Dusk till Dawn | Paul Lahote ✔️

Chapter 8

Being in constant fear was never a good thing.

I was always looking over my shoulder whenever I wasn't in La Push. Whenever I was out I always had a wolf with me - usually Leah, as she volunteered if it wasn't Paul or Embry. They didn't exactly trust the vampires to take care of me while we were out, which I didn't blame them for as neither did I.

Although blondie and I, I think her name was Rosalie, did have a mutual understanding. Which said a lot for the situation that I had found myself in.

"Elaine, c'mon! You said you wanted to go shopping for a new date outfit, nows the perfect opportunity!" Bella pleaded as she rounded on me. Alice and Rosalie had wanted to go on a shopping trip, the latter had wanted me to go. Bella had been begging me nonstop since the trip had been in planning stages.

Ever since Edward had come back we really hadn't been on talking terms. The tension was high in the house, and dad could tell though thankfully he didn't really try to make us talk to each other.

"Didn't dad say he didn't want us to go to Seattle?" I told her flatly, making her wince. "And what happened to Edward being 'Oh don't worry Charlie, I'd never send Bella to Seattle'." I mocked, putting the quote in air quotes.

"I'd be with Alice and Rosalie," Bella shrugged, indifferent with the situation as I huffed. Ever since the Cullen's return it had always been about her. She never put any thoughts into her head about how she could be hurting the people around her, or if the other person was busy. I still had college things to do in order to graduate early, and she always waved me off when I reminded her of that fact. "Rosalie never wants to hang out with me. She only wants to hang out with me because I told her I'd try to get you to come along!" Ah, that was it. I understood now. She just needed me so she could try and bond with the blond vampire who didn't like her very much.

Shrugging, I poured myself a glass of coffee. "That doesn't sound like my problem, Isabella," I stated, using her full name for emphasis - making her wince. "I'm not here to help you bond with Edward's family. Besides that, I am fairly certain Paul would not want me to hang out with them either way." Not that I needed permission from Paul in the first place who I can or cannot hangout with, but he was a good excuse to use for not wanting to go shopping with Bella and the vamps.

Scoffing, Bella crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "Since when do you need permission from Paul?" She sneered, calling out my bullshit.

"Isabitch, she said no. Get a grip," I heard a familiar voice, making me grin as I turned to see Leah striding inside - Destiny in tow. Destiny was giving me a raised eyebrow look as I shrugged indifferently. "You ready?" Leah turned to look at me, ignoring Bella all together - who huffed, leaving the kitchen like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Perfect timing babe," I chuckled at her fondly, giving her a smirk as I turned to Destiny. "I see she roped you in too, huh?"

"So that's Bella?" Destiny tilts her head to the side in question. "Jessica talks about her sometimes when I visit. She's incredibly jealous of your sister," she mentions off-handedly with amusement in her eyes. Jessica Stanley was her younger sister, and a classmate of Bella's.

"Couldn't imagine why..." I trailed off, rolling my eyes at that news.

Destiny scoffs with a chuckle. "Your sister is popular with the boys, and she's dating Edward Cullen, who was unattainable until Bella showed up. That's enough for a seventeen year old girl to be jealous for," she concludes and I ahh'd, nodding my head. That would be enough to make someone jealous, at least from that perspective.

I couldn't imagine living here my entire life and suddenly someone showing up and taking all the spotlight, even if Bella didn't want the spotlight to begin with.

"So why was she begging you?" Leah made a face as we walked out to her truck that was parked by my car.

"She wanted me to go with her, Alice and Rosalie to go shopping. Rosalie only agreed to go if I went," I shrugged, not knowing why either when Leah made a face.

"Interesting..." Destiny pursed her lips, not really understanding what was going on. While she did know about the wolves and vampires now, with Leah having told her the other day, she was still behind on a lot of the lore. We'd have to have a sleep over some day so that I could get Destiny caught back up.

It felt nice, hanging out with Leah and Destiny for most of the day. Having girlfriends again after trying to fix the Bella mess was nice, and not having to deal with that any longer was the greatest feeling in the world. While it took Edward and his family returning to get Bella out of the rut she was in, and her personality did do a complete one eighty from where it was - I was grateful that she was no longer depressed.

Though that also left other people she left behind feeling like shit.

"What's wrong with Jacob?" I asked with wide eyes as I watched him animately talking to Embry and Quil on the beach.

"I don't know," Leah shrugs, striding over to the three boys - Destiny and I following after her. "Yo Black, Ateara, Call!" Leah calls out to them, Jacob whirling around when he hears her voice. "What the fuck is going on?" She demands, placing her hand on her hip in a sassy way.

Jacob's eyes found mine and I winced at the fire that resonated in them. "Did you know Bella plans on becoming a vampire?" He gripes, making my eyes widen at the news. She had not told me about that, though I wasn't surprised. All she seemed to care about was her perfect vampire family. At my reaction, however, Jacob nods - pleased with himself. "I didn't think you did," he grunts out, stomping away from his two friends.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I turned to look at Quil and Embry - who seemed to be done with Jacob's attitude. "Bella's planning on after graduation to turn," Embry supplies, and I pursed my lips at the new information I was being given. I wondered if she had ever planned on telling me this, or if I was just once again cleaning up her mess when she leaves.

"That's coming up quick," I mentioned, sighing. No wonder Jacob was so upset about the situation at hand. If I wasn't already numb to Bella's actions up until this point I'd be more upset about it too.

Though for me, I was starting to get used to the disappointment that Bella was turning out to be.

I was tired. Tired of Bella using everyone around her to get what she wanted. Tired of it all. I was ready for everything to go back to normal, where I could just hang out with my friends without the worry of Bella starting some new drama with Jacob. If that meant Bella was out of our lives, than so be it. While yes, I did wish that we could just all live in perfect harmony, I knew that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. And with Bella's upcoming nuptials, well, I had a feeling that this was just the calm before the storm.

And I was going to be in the cross-fires in more ways than one.