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CHAPTER TWENTY: IT ENDS WITH US
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A FEW DAYS CAME and went where not much happened in La Push. The sudden normalcy was off-putting for Maggie, whose anxiousness seemed to get worse with every day that nothing happened. She got up, had an awkward breakfast with her family, went to school where the most riveting part of her day was getting glared at by Hayden. Then she came home, or went over to Emily’s just to avoid the sting of Zeke’s silence. Sometimes, she’d stay with her or Paul, or come home late enough that nearly everyone in her house was asleep. Being the insomniac she was, she’d stay up half the night, then get up running on fumes the next morning just to repeat that same painful cycle.
Everyone else seemed unbothered by it. Even the pack, who would’ve once been concerned that Victoria was nowhere to be seen, seemed to find relief in a few days off. They spent their afternoons lounging at Sam's and Emily’s, or kicking a football around at the beach. And when one of the kids in the grade above decided to throw a bonfire, they were practically jumping at the chance to go.
Which was how Maggie found herself sitting on the sand as day dipped into night. Much to her surprise, Wren and Everett had no problem with her staying out after dark. Mae put it down to her uncle’s trust in the pack; he knew that none of them, especially Paul, would let anything happen to her. Still, Wren had tried to ask Zeke to go with them. Despite her usually observant nature, their aunt was completely oblivious to the sudden fractured relationship between her niece and nephew. She expected, with the recent reveal of Zeke’s boyfriend, for them to be closer than ever. Of course, that just wasn’t the case, so much to Wren’s confusion, Zeke made an obvious excuse and retreated to his bedroom, refusing to come out until Paul was in the driveway waiting for Maggie.
Like usual, it hurt like hell, but with days of fights and silent treatment spilling into weeks, she was slowly beginning to give up.
What was the point of resisting something when she knew the outcome already?
“Hey, do you know where Kim is?” she asked when Paul returned to her side with two red cups of obviously spiked soda.
Maggie had looked for the girl when they first arrived, but where Maggie had expected her to be at Jared’s side like she nearly always was, Kim was nowhere to be found. For a second, she panicked, her mind presuming the worst, but reality came crashing back when she realised that there was no bloody way Jared would be content with partying if he didn’t know his girlfriend was somewhere safe.
“I think she’s picking up the new girls,” Paul shrugged, just as Embry sat up grinning like a lovesick puppy. “Aw, Call, is your crush here?”
