Citlali Cadwell has her life together. That's until her boyfriend of three years, Embry Call breaks up with her with no reason at all, at least that's how she saw it.
After a while she realizes he will never be the same person, he's changed, but she...
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Citlali stopped following her brother when she realized that they weren't at the same bonfire Maddie had talked about.
"Cit, come on." Nolan walked back to her when he saw the nervous look on her face. "They're my friends Cit, and I want you to meet them. There's more to them than just rumors."
"I never believed those rumors." She admitted, her eyes still on the group behind her brother.
"Than what's the problem?"
"I'm nothing like you. What if they think I'm weird and don't want me here. What if they just don't like me?" She asked remembering about the fallout Jacob and Quil had with Embry. Although the same thing basically happened to her and Embry, she was still scared that they all could be hostile like him.
"Shut up." He laughed shoving her. "Of course you're weird, but so are they. Besides, they've been wanting to meet you."
"Oh." She frowned. "Why?"
Nolan sighed frustratedly. "Come on." He wrapped his arm around his sisters back. "They're going to love you, trust me." He assured her as he led her to the fire. "Guys, this is my sister, Citlali. Fair warning, she's weird." At his words, Citlali's eyes widen in embarrassment as she tried to hide her face by turning around, facing the parked cars.
Immediately, Paul was up, jogging towards the girl with the biggest smile. "Hey, I'm Paul." He casually side hugged her. "We met the other day."
"Yeah, I remember." She nodded trying to ignore the hug she just received, but she liked it. The warmth and care that came with it. But she was soon hugged and welcomed by the rest of the guys so really, she didn't think too much of it.
"Where is she?" Came a new voice. It was then that two girls where being led out of the house by Sam Uley towards her. "Hi, I'm Emily, Sam's fiancé."
"Cit-"
"Citlali, we know." Emily Young hugged the girl. "Sorry, I'm a hugger but It's so good to finally meet you."
"Uh-Likewise." Citlali smiled making things get very awkward especially since this was the first time she's heard of her. Soon the other girl introduced herself as Kim, Jared's girlfriend, a girl she had seen around school before.
Before she knew it, Citlali was dragged into long conversations, keeping warm by the fire. She often caught Paul watching her which confused her, but never the less, she ignored it and continued talking. It wasn't until, everybody quite down that she looked up to see that Embry had shown up and was now walking towards her making Paul get nervous, but jealous more than anything.
"Hey." Embry took a seat next to her making her stiffen in place. "Look, I just wanted to apologize. I've been a huge dick to you and you don't deserve that. No one deserves that. I want you to know that, I still love you. I still care for you, but I had to let you go for your own good. I won't bother you anymore, Cit." He added before pulling the girl in for a hug and leaving the group again for the rest of the night.
Citlali watched him disappear into the forest very confused. Had Paul done something like he said? Most likely she decided and than focused back on the fire. She was glad he said what he said. That he was finally moving on, but she was confused as to why he said it was for her own good.
"How's it going?" Paul decided to sit beside her before Embry tried to come back, But he knew he wouldn't. It was the only excuse he could come up with so he didn't feel like a loser.
"Just cold and sleepy." She responded shrugging as if it was no big deal. The girl was no longer sitting on the log but on the sand resting her back against it for support.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Paul smiled down at her, moving closer to keep her warm without making it obvious.
"I'm probably going to sound so lame, but I don't like parties, get togethers, social gatherings, whatever one calls it."
"What do you like to do?"
"Stay home and be in bed." She answered earning a chuckle from Paul.
"Believe it or not. Before I started hanging out with the guys, I did the exact same thing. I'd stay in, watch movies all day. Have a solo fat fest."
Al Citlali could do was laugh. "Where have you been all my life?" She joked realizing that they had something common.
"Admiring from afar." Paul admitted making the girl freeze. This was something he'd never told anybody, at least not until he first phased because after that, everything was there for everyone to see once they were able to read each other's minds. Since the day he first moved to town with his father he has had a crush on the girl, and frankly, he would've done anything for her and still would.
"Hey, we need to get going." Nolan walked up to the two not realizing that he walked into an awkwardness of dead air.
"Yeah." Citlali stood up following her brother but paused and turned around. "I'll Uh- I'll see you around Paul." She gave him a small smile and hurried after her brother.
That night, she stayed up for hours. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do about the situation but there was this feeling of joy and excitement that came when she thought of Paul. Then the moment she'd think about his comment, she couldn't help but wonder what she would have done if she had known back then. There was no denying that he's very attractive, anyone could see that, but when her words of telling Maddie that she isn't going to date came to her mind, she couldn't help but blush because she'd date him in an instant.
