Love Is Flower Like

Chapter 4

Edited 05/25/21

"Can we talk?" Paul asked Meadow. She searched his eyes, wondering why he wanted to talk to her in the first place. She questioned him with her eyes, and as he stared straight into her own, he seemed to understand. He sighed and gestured for her to sit down with him. She sat opposite him, placing her hands on the table in front of her. He mimicked her position, only it was more relaxed; she was tense from his approach, her back rigid and her eyes lowered towards her hands.

Meadow waited for Paul to say something first. It was pointless to ask him what he wanted when he was just going to tell her anyway. Why waste her energy trying to conjure up some courage to talk first? Besides, she wasn't sure the words would come out as smoothly as she'd like. Air would catch in her throat and prevent her from finishing her sentence. She silently cursed whatever eternal being there was for allowing her to be so incompetent around males.

"Your name's Meadow, right? Meadow Black?" he asked her. She nodded her head and remained quiet. She focused most of her attention on calming her beating heart.

"I'm Paul. Lahote. We're in the same math class," he continued when she kept her mouth closed shut.

Meadow remained silent. He wasn't asking her any questions and was stating known information. She glanced up from her hands and looked at Paul, wondering if he was going to tell her what he wanted with her. She still had to get Jacob, Quil, and Embry home and needed to get dinner for her dad. She looked back down when she realized he wasn't going to say anything. She wondered when Leah was coming back with the bill and the rest of the food.

"Look," Paul started, "I know we don't talk and we're not exactly friends, but I want to get to know you."

"Why?" she asked. Why would he be interested in getting to know her? It was exactly as he said. They didn't talk. They weren't friends.

"Because you're -" Paul stopped himself and seemed to be searching for an answer. A different answer, Meadow deduced.

"Because you helped me. With the ball," he said lamely. His eyes moved about in a way that made it seem as though he was nervous. Meadow studied his behavior and realized that he was lying to her. She didn't know what to make of it. She didn't even know the guy, so she shouldn't have been so upset that he lied to her, but for some reason she was.

"You're lying," she said confidently. It didn't surprise her that she said it valiantly; she didn't like liars. She stared in his eyes and saw a storm brewing in them. He was upset, she deduced, but not exactly angry.

"I'm not," Paul said convincingly.

"I don't like liars," Meadow said offhandedly. At that moment, Leah came back with the bill and the rest of the food. Meadow thanked her and gathered everything together. She stood up. She grabbed her purse and threw it across her body, making sure it was in a comfortable position before she scooped up the boxes of food in her arms and turned to pay at the counter so she could leave. She smiled at Seth, Sue's son, as she approached the counter. She gladly gave him the money and told him to use the money left over for a tip. She pushed open the building's door and started walking to her car. She could see Jacob simmering in the front seat and Quil looking worried in the back seat.

A hand wrapped around her arm. She stopped and looked at the perpetrator. She should have known it would be him. Her heart pumped fast in her chest, though her face betrayed nothing. Paul smirked at her. His eyes said he was frustrated. She ripped her arm out of his possession and glared at him. She didn't like being pulled like a rag doll. Paul put his hands up in defense and managed to look sheepish.

"Okay. I lied. But I wanted to talk to you without coming on strong," he said as he used one of his hands to rub the back of his head. "I just. I mean, I. Well, you- and the ball was-."