Lemon Water // Paul Lahote

seventy three

Serena

"Serena! Are you excited for the dance on Saturday?" Bailey screamed as I approached her in the parking lot Monday morning.

"Dance? What dance?" I asked her, confusion all over my face

"The spring formal!" Birkley exclaimed, "I planned basically all of it because I'm president of the student council!"

"Yeah! Laken asked me this morning!" Bailey exclaimed, pulling a bear and a sign out of her backpack to show me.

"And Callum asked me too!" Birkley added, pulling out her own invite

"Are we supposed to have dates?" I asked them as we walked into the building

"You don't have to! A bunch of people just go in groups with their friends!" Bailey said

"Yeah! But what about Paul? I think that he would ask you? He's like in love with you" Birkley told me

"Paul's been out of town all week and won't be back before the dance" I lied easily, "Maybe my brother and his friends would want to go"

"You could always come with us!" Bailey said

"I don't really feel like being a fifth wheel, thanks though. I'll see you in math Bailey?" Birkley and I walked together to homeroom, where we then had to split because of our new assigned seats, which were alphabetical by first name, putting us on opposite sides of the room.

"Hey, Serie! You going to the dance Saturday?" Seth exclaimed, "Sam let me have the night off so I can go!"

"I'm not sure, Seth, I've never been to a dance before. Plus Bailey and Birkley have dates"

"We could go together! That way we both have dates!" He said, his face lighting up like he made the best new invention.

"Really? Are you sure? You don't want to go with someone else?"

"I don't like any of the girls in my grade, Serie, plus, you're my friend so it wouldn't be awkward!"

"That would be great, Seth, thanks!" The teacher quieted everyone after that because we were basically on probation due to some kids trashing the room while they were gone last week. After that happened, everyone was pulled into the principles office to give their statements on what happened to get the story straight. Apparently, the students had broken the computer and needed to pay for the damages.

Later that day, I was standing on the lacrosse field in the pouring rain once again. We only had practice today, but after Fridays game we were going to be running a lot of Hail Mary's. We didn't even have our sticks or our padding on, just our practices uniforms and cleats. Today was going to be absolute hell. Looking across the pitch, I saw Embry with a grim look on his face.

I felt bad for him. Since I'm being hunted by these stupid vampires, someone was always watching me to making sure I was safe, and he was always stuck during practice. This meant that he was often stuck sitting in the rain for two hours watching us do the same thing over and over again. "Ladies! You guys were terrible on Friday! Honestly it was a shameful performance! You guys have been playing together for three weeks now, you should be better than this! There will be changes for Thursday's game! Do not get comfortable where you are!"

We ran the entire practice, as expected and one girl ended up getting pulled after she tweeted her knee in a funky way when turning because she slipped in the mud. After she got hurt, the dynamic of the practice shifted. We weren't running because we played bad, we were now running to learn how to play in these conditions so nobody else got hurt. 

By the end of practice we were all dying of exhaustion. We ran close to thirty Hail Mary's before coach called us to mid field, "Your teamwork is terrible. For tomorrow practice you will not be wearing any team gear or school logos. If you can't act like a team you will not look like one. you're picking captains tomorrow. Maybe some leadership will help you out. You're dismissed"

"That was brutal," Embry said when I approached him

"Yeah it was. I'm going to grab my stuff quick then we can go" I told him but I was cut off by a howl. Embry's head darted towards the woods, "Go, I can get home safe myself"

"I'm not supposed to leave you alone"

"Embry they need you. Paul can't help so they're down a man. I'll be safe, I promise"

"Can you wait in the locker room? Until I get back please" He countered an I nodded, "It'll be quick, I promise"

He left for the woods and I hustled inside. Most of the team had rushed into the locker room to get their things already, so it was basically empty when I got there. I had no clue how long he would be gone for, so I decided to clean up.

It was reaching an hour since he went out and I was long since left alone. I already showered and dried off, as well as completed my homework for the night. I had nothing left to do and I was growing concerned. My fear only grew as the door creaked open, but no other noise followed. 

My fear increased when I saw a flash of color out of the corner of my eye, a slight breeze following. I whipped around when a locker slammed shut. Luke.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned him, trying not to show my fear.

"Oh you know, just passing through when I smelled a snack unprotected by her keepers"

"They are not my keepers. I can help myself just fine"

"Really? Then why are you always so helpless when we meet" he grabbed my throat and lifted me from the ground slightly. 

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into" I gasped

"Your friends are busy right now, Riley's got them handled for the moment"

"You don't scare me" 

"You should" he threw me on the ground after this, then kicked me in the ribs, sending me sliding into the wall. 

I got up quickly, not showing the pain I'm in. "Is that all you've got? Really? No wonder why you didn't make the football team"

"Now you've done it" he growled.