𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝘼 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙙 ━━ Embry x Reader x Paul

XI

By the time Y/N gets to school, the sun is shining brighter than ever, not a cloud in sight. Many students are lingering around outside when Y/N gets off the bus, the parking lot alive with conversation. She weaves around the many groups heading straight for the front door. As her hands wrap around the sun-warmed handle, a voice calls out to her. It's quiet, one she hasn't heard in a long while, but recognized instantly.

Y/N turned around to watch Bella Swan as she quickly walked after her. Her old group of friends watch her curiously as she too weaves in and out of students. Their surprise is justified since they haven't heard her speak much since the vanishing of the Cullens. She seems to be doing better, however, since Y/N remembers seeing her sitting with them at lunch the day before.

"Hey, Bella," Y/N said, not knowing what else to say to the girl. They've never spoken in the short time she had returned to Forks, besides in class, when they had to hand something to each other. Or, more commonly, when Bella would trip and knock something off her desk, since in most of her classes, Bella was seated next to or near Y/N.

"Can I talk to you? For a minute?" Bella replies, slightly out of breath. From this close-up, Y/N can see the ever-growing bags under Bella's eyes, making her look sickly when paired with her pale skin. Y/N agrees, following after Bella as she leads her towards the tree line, away from their gossip-hungry classmates.

"You're friends with Jake, right? He talks about you a lot," Bella starts, looking expectantly at Y/N for a response. The shade cast by the trees worsens the look of Bella's bags, making her eyes look almost sunken into her head.

"Yeah, we grew up together," Y/N replies, though she didn't have to. From the way Bella sounded when she asked, she already knew the answer, "why?"

Bella shifts slightly, her awkward nature winning over her determination slightly. She takes a breath before pushing forward, "Then you must know what's going on with him."

Y/N lets out a sigh, cursing Bella for her never-ending curiosity, "I don't know-"

"I know you do," Bella cuts in, far more assertive than Y/N thought she was capable, "before we went to the movies Jake was complaining about you hanging out with Embry after he abandoned you guys for the 'cult.'"

"Bella-"

"And then!" Bella rushes to continue, once again cutting Y/N off so she couldn't stop her, "he disappears. Just like Embry and the others did. And I know you know where he is. And why he's not picking up my calls, and claiming to have mono."

Bella stares Y/N down, fire burning behind her tired eyes. Y/N knows where this is coming from, having been so freshly abandoned by Edward and his family, Bella is trying to hold onto whatever she had left. With a sigh, Y/N tries to cover the packs' tracks.

"Jake hasn't been talking to me since Embry started talking to me again." Not completely a lie, which Y/N hopes is enough to convince Bella, who is starting her down, "I haven't seen him at all. I'm sorry, Bella, but I can't help you."

Knowing this wasn't the end, Y/N quickly makes her escape, walking as fast as she can to the school while trying to not look like she's running away. Bella doesn't follow after her, just watches as Y/N turns the corner towards the main building of the school.

Once she's out of view, she pulls out her phone to send a quick warning to Paul and Embry. She gets responses almost immediately but doesn't have time to respond as she pushes her way through the front doors of the school. Many students have moved inside and are standing around their lockers. The large groups leave barely enough room to get to the stairway at the end of the hall.

Right next to the stairwell is her first class of the day. A supply teacher is standing at the front of the class, looking disinterested by the students already in the room. In front of her is a large stack of papers. The teacher calls out to Y/N as she walks by, her hand held out expectantly."No phones allowed during the test," she adds on, and Y/N can barely contain her eye roll as she hands it over, the phone lighting up with another text as she does so. The class is nearly half full as she walks down the middle aisle to her desk towards the back. Some have their notes open and are cramming in a bit of last-minute studying, while the others are goofing off with their friends.

The substitute doesn't seem to care much about what the students are doing and is instead sorting through the notes that were left for her. The first bell rings, and slowly, students start to file into the classroom.

The substitute puts the notes left for her aside to hand out tests and take phones as the last of the class arrives. She exchanges with the last student just as the second bell rings, signalling the start of first period. Everyone quiets as the teacher explains what's needed on the test, writing down equations on the board for them to refer back to. With that, she tells them to begin, settling back in her chair.

Y/N stares down at the three-page test, cute little beakers and test tubes around the title. With a long-suffering sigh, Y/N grabs her pencil and starts on the first question.

---

Surprisingly, Y/N was able to avoid Bella for the rest of the day. The boys were messaging her between classes after she was stopped that morning by Bella. At first, it was about what Bella wanted, and then it was little things, like how Y/N's day was going and vice versa. Or random questions that Y/N and Paul would ask each other to get to know each other better.

Her phone has been going off for the last couple of minutes. She was finishing up the last of her work in her free time before school ends. The phone vibrates against her leg again, and with a sigh, Y/N puts aside her work to check her phone. From what she sees from the most recent message, she didn't have to scroll up to see what story Embry was telling.

[Embry]: and then she tried to tackle Jake off of Quil, knocking them both over and down the hill

[Embry]: Jake broke his arm. Y/N broke her ankle

[Y/N]: I don't know why you love that story so much, my mom kept me locked in the house for days after

She sends the message off quickly so that she can cram in as much work as possible before the final bell rings. Her phone goes off again, but she ignores it as she punches in her equation into her calculator. She jots down the answer with a relieved sigh, scanning the sheet to make sure she got every question before putting everything away. The library is relatively empty when Y/N takes a look around, spotting Angela sitting off int the corner with Jessica, huddled close and whispering to each other.

The final bell rings just as Bella wonders into the library, walking over to her friends. Thankfully, she doesn't notice Y/N sitting by her self, letting her slip away unnoticed. Y/N makes a pit stop to her locker, trading her math homework for her English assignment. Following the flow of students out the doors towards the busses, Y/N loads onto the bus to make her way home.

As the bus leaves the school parking lot, Y/N watches Bella come out of the front doors of the school alone. She's digging through her orange backpack but can't seem to find what she's looking for. As the bus turns onto the main road, Y/N turns her attention to the trees lining the side of the road. There, in trees, is a face covered in shadow, and all Y/N can make out are the deep, red eyes staring right back at her.