Bumps In The Road / Paul Lahote

20. Tracker

Chapter 20

Will Mummy like the rebellious boyfriend? Or better yet, the magical boyfriend?

I think I may have stopped breathing. This is getting bigger than I thought. If this is Ryan he clearly knows Paul and I are supernatural. I really need to tell Paul, like now.

"Paul.." His eyes turned to me and I mustn't have done a good job of hiding my concern because I felt the car swerve off the road and come to a halt. His warm hand touched my knee and leaned closer.

"What's the matter?" I turned to meet his gaze and the worry in his eyes made my heart warm. The kind of empathy he was showing me was almost indescribable, but I could feel the utter strength of it.

"What if we get caught?" I shoved my phone underneath my thigh and looked back into his eyes, watching the worry turn into amusement. He leant over and pressed a quick kiss against my cheek, before pulling back onto the road.

"Well, if we sneak in and don't draw too much attention to ourselves we should be fine," a smirk lifted the corners of his lips. "First time missing school?"

"This isn't my first rodeo" I informed him, forcing a grin, hoping to defuse any tension.

"Then is there anything else wrong, I'm sensing a bit of fear."

"That's the fear that my mother will find out and lecture me about missing even a period." The entrance to the school filled the view of the windshield and Paul quickly found a park at the back, which I can't be too disappointed about since we did arrive very late.

We jumped out and walked towards the entrance doors. Paul swung his warm arm over my shoulders and pulled me into his side.

"Don't worry about your mum. Think about how nice it felt to sleep in." I scoffed. We walked into the crowded hall and weaved our way though the mass of teenagers to reach my locker.

"Thank god it's between periods" I muttered, pulling out my necessary books. Paul learnt against the locker next to mine and gradually leant closer and closer until his lips met my cheek and then jaw. I pushed him away with a playful smile. From the corner of my eye, I noticed a pretty girl with native Quilete features glare at me. I looked over at her, meeting her angry eyes and tapped into her emotions. I read anger, resentment and sadness. I tried to offer her a smile, which she didn't return. In response, she slammed her locker closed and walked off. With a frown I turned back to Paul, who seemed distracted by his phone.

"You right?" He asked, looking up from his phone. I swallowed the strangeness of that short interaction and wondered what had caused her to feel such intense emotions. I didn't even know her name. Maybe one of Paul's scorned lovers. The thought alone caused me to cringe with distaste.

"Yeah fine, I'll catch up with you later."

"I'll see ya soon, gorgeous." He sent me a wink and strode away to his locker. I made my way to the music room and found Embry sitting in his usual seat at the back. I sat next to him and placed my books on the desk with a sigh.

"Where have you been?" Embry wondered quietly, amusement twinkling in his eyes. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he thought we were doing.

"I slept in, Embry. Get your mind out of the gutter!"

"Okay, okay. Regardless, I'm glad to see you too getting on well."

"We aren't together-together, but I don't know there is something...comforting about being around him."

"You guys looked pretty official at the bonfire. Just missing the label, if you asked me" He teased, a smile on his lips.