Defining Normal | EMBRY CALL

Frayed

Kim's quiet, too quiet, her eyes fixed on the road ahead as she drives away from the Rez. Lex wants to say more, wants to ask questions, but the silence unnerves her. Finally, Kim releases her breath in a laboured sigh that says more than words ever could - this is something big, something heavy, and Lex is right to feel nervous.

"Sometimes...people connect in ways that we can't explain. It doesn't make sense. But I know how you feel. When Jared and I first spoke, and I mean really spoke, everything changed - it was like someone was seeing me for the first time. Jared's changed me, and I know that sounds weird, but it's true. When he looks at me, everything is different, and everything is okay."

Lex says nothing. It makes sense when she looks at Kim and Jared - there's something off about them, something too perfect in their synchronicity. Their hyperawareness of each other, the look in Jared's eye, it's more than a typical relationship. Their interactions are both sweet and unsettling in their intensity, and though Kim seems content, Lex can't help but feel an undercurrent of unease.

"It makes sense for you and Jared, I guess. Embry, though? I don't know him. Why...why would he care? Why would he notice me? It doesn't make sense." Lex shakes her head as if trying to shake the thoughts loose. Her temples are beginning to pound with the tension she refuses to let herself express, and all she can think about is not losing her lunch on Kim's dash mats.

"Just let yourself feel. Get to know him, give him a chance. Sometimes things are better left unexplained." Through all this, Kim's eyes remain focused on the twisting roads heading into Forks, as if she can't bring herself to look directly at Lex. She feels like she's not getting a real answer, and Kim's cryptic speech does little to calm her frayed nerves. The women sit in silence for the remainder of the drive, with only a curt goodbye passing between them as Lex exits the beater. And as she curls up in bed that night, Lex can't help but release a muffled scream into her pillow. There are many things that bug Lex. Top of the list: lies.

Monday rolls around, and by that point, Lex's temper has faded and she feels bad for how she reacted to Kim - it wasn't her fault that Embry was acting strangely, and all Kim had done was try and be her friend. When she settles into her usual seat beside Kim for their lecture, she attempts to apologise for her behaviour, but Kim won't have a bar of it.

"Don't be like that. There's nothing to apologise for. The guys are weird," Kim says, rolling her eyes. And just like that, they're back to normal, and the tension that lives low in Lex's belly lessens slightly. The more time she spends with Kim, the more Lex realises how alike they are, like two sides of the same coin. Kim is smart, like ridiculously smart, and she has this incredible way of explaining things that just make even the strangest of things make sense. For once in Lex's life, she's feeling awe, and not intimidation, and she thinks that it's a real testament to Kim's warmth. Lex is so comfortable around Kim that she even agrees to come for lunch with her and some of the men she met on the weekend - something that she absolutely would have not done when she was back in Beaver - and for a moment, things really are looking up for Lex and her social life. And just like clockwork, she's brought back to earth, noticing Embry's instantly recognisable figure sandwiched between Quil and Jared at the lunch table.

It's comedic, really, the way Lex stops in her tracks as Kim continues forward, their linked arms resulting in an awkward jerking motion. Kim follows her eye-line, letting out a small giggle.

"Oops. Guess I should have mentioned that," she says, beaming her trademark angelic smile. She takes stock of Lex; her wide eyes, mildly freaked out grimace; and squeezes her elbow gently. "It's okay. It's only lunch. Please come."

For a moment, Lex considers saying no, retreating to eat alone in the library. She makes the mistake of glancing over at the guys, noticing the way Embry's shoulders are so tense and stiff, how Quil and Jared are speaking to him with faces that are far too serious for the college cafeteria. It's strange, but she feels the urge to head over to the table and see if he's okay. And so she does, taking quick steps across the caf with Kim following a beat behind her. She almost loses her nerve as the guys look up, but Kim's quick to swoop in with a blast of chatter about their morning classes that Jared's all too willing to participate in. Lex takes a seat on the cool metal bench beside Kim, attempting to arrange her face into the most normal expression she can muster. Thankfully, nobody comments on her strangeness, and the guys are perfectly welcoming. Quil is especially friendly, telling her in great detail about their studies. He's finally finished a long explanation of how to complete some kind of repair - honestly, she'd zoned out five minutes ago after mistakenly expressing interest in some topic he mentioned - when a particularly mischievous smirk spreads across his face.