Preventive • Paul Lahote •

Chapter Five

○○○Chapter Five○○○

"Mom, you need to do something."

Maddison looked down on her mother, who was practically dead and lying on the sofa. The woman had taken Casen's death hard, but so had Maddison. The blue eyed girl resisted from rolling her eyes at her mother, while she continued to stir the woman.

"I'm doing something later... Go to school, Maddison."

Doubting her mother's words, but satisfied that she had at least had the ability to be woken, Maddison listened to her elder and grabbed her school bag from where she had set it next to the sofa.

As she was leaving the house, Maddison paused in the doorway and turned to her mother who was still lying on the sofa. She could only see her back but the shaking form told her that she was awake and already sobbing again.

"I'm leaving, mom." She called, her heart breaking for the women before her. "I love you."

She paused, and waited for a reply. When the only response was more tears, Maddison turned on her heel and started the walk to school.

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"Maddison!"

The brunette turned with a smile on her face as her three best friends quickly approached her. Quil, Embry, and Jacob seeming all too happy to have caught her leaving school.

"What do you losers have up your sleeve today, are you going to prank the gang, put tacks on Martin's chair, or convince Jake to ask out Bella?"

The group of boys let out tense laughs as they all sidled up to Maddison and Embry threw his arm over her shoulder.

"We were actually going to see what you wanted to do. It's been a while since we've let you call the shots, pale face."

Quill's remark lead to Maddison reaching across Embry to give the boy that was on his right a good smack across his head. The sly grin that played on her lips didn't cover up the annoyance that was in her eyes, though, and all of the boys knew that the hit was not just playful in nature.

"I told you guys before, I'm fine. It's been three weeks... We all just have to move on."

"That doesn't mean it's not going to hurt, Mads. We just want to make it hurt less."

Maddison acknowledged Embry's comment by shrugging his arm off of her shoulder and walking in front of the trio. Turning around, she opened her arms in a dramatic and frustrated manner.

"Well, I'm fine. And to prove it, we're going to jump off the damn cliffs."

"Mads."

The scolding voice of warning that she expected to come from the trio at her crazy idea, came -instead- from another behind her. Whipping around Maddison was met with the concerned and scolding eyes of Paul Lahote. His broad frame was covered only by a thin white singlet and a pair of ragged cut off denim shorts that caused Maddison's breathe to catch. His appearance, however, could not distract her from the disapproving look that was on his face. His deep brown brows pulled together in concern, and she couldn't help but to be mad and attracted to him all at once.

The conversation came to a halt, as well as the groups feet, as they all waited with baited breath to see what would occur between the blue eyed girl and the tanned boy before her.

"It's dangerous. You should go home."

Maddison rolled her eyes at Paul's blunt statement and crossed her arms over her chest. Her defense was up, and she was not going to let Paul, the boy that had abandoned her, treat her like a small child receiving a scolding.

"The cliffs aren't that dangerous. We used to jump off of them together all the time, so stop being an annoying, also unwanted, wannabe parental."

"I wasn't talking about the cliffs."

Maddison's brows drew together at his cryptic language. Before she could question what he meant, his head was turning towards the woods with a pensive expression on his face. His whole body becoming rigid and tense at some unknown force.

"Just go home, Maddison... All of you."

With those last commanding words, Paul took off running towards the Res tree line at a speed that was almost inhumane, leaving Maddison's confused and angered blue eyes to follow.

"Wonder how far up his ass that stick is permanently wedged."

Embry's comment broke the bewildered silence that had overtaken the small group. Maddison's mood had been ruined by Paul's presence, and while the boys laughed at Embry's comment she could only find herself forcing a small smile.

"So, to the cliffs?" Jacob encouraged as he noticed Maddison's downcast eyes and the way that she was forcing herself to keep up the pretense that she was listening to what the boys around her were saying.

"Actually," Maddison began as she glanced towards the direction that Paul had just left. Her eyes wondered among the green pines before looking back at the faces of her three best friends, all of whom were obviously noticing her change in mood. "I think I'm just going to go home to check on my mom... She still isn't handling things very well."

All three of the boys gave Maddison that look, the one she hates so much because she knew that it was the face of someone who felt sorry for her... she was tired of all of those looks.

"Yeah, tell your mom we said hey! We'll just have to go to the cliffs another time, maybe convince Jacob to bring his new beau Bella."

"Yeah," Maddison forced a smile at Quill before turning away and walking home... Just like Paul had told her to.

As the three boys watched their friend walk towards her home, all of them had a frown on their faces.

"How long before she stops listening to him like he is a God?" Embry asked with a scowl taking over his face at the idea of the gang member that was ruining their friend's happiness.

"Until she stops loving him like it's her religion."

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