Preventive • Paul Lahote •

Chapter Fourteen

Maddison ran through the reservation, her mind muddled with thoughts about tan skin, soft lips, callous words, and the arrogant man that embodied all of those things. The fact that Paul had the audacity to place his lips on Maddison's was enough to make her fume, but him being able to run off without an explanation made her even more frustrated. To be perfectly honest, she was not even sure who she was more frustrated at: Paul or herself.

On one hand, she was furious at Paul for taking a piece of her without her consent. While it wasn't exactly something she didn't want, it still doesn't mean he had the right to just kiss her like that; with anger and passion, yet with a subtly that she never thought the brute of a man would be capable of.

On the other hand, she was furious at herself. She knew that Paul was impulsive, always had been, but she should not have enjoyed the repercussions of his impulsiveness so much. Maddison should have been able to be forcefully kissed, and still remain unphased enough to clear her mind. She shouldn't be thinking about him, about it, and she damn sure shouldn't have enjoyed it so much. Because, even for as rushed and sudden that it was, she can't deny that she wanted it to happen again. It was not like how she always pictured it, slow and sensual, but there were still fireworks. While those fireworks may have been a result of her fury, she couldn't deny them, none the less... and that's what really frustrated her.

To top of her perfect day, as she broke through the clearing that led to her house, she saw a beat- up Chevy truck parked in her driveway, and she only knew one person that drove a truck like that. As Maddison approached the front porch, she did her best to extinguish the anger that was bubbling just under her skin. Letting out a deep breath, she locked eyes on the Swan girl that was casually sitting on the steps.

"Hey, um, Maddison."

Maddison simply looked at the Swan girl that was planted in front of her home, with an unimpressed expression. When Bella did not speak again, Maddison rolled her eyes and made to walk past her. If Bella did not want to state why she was sitting on her porch, she was not going to waste time with small-talk to find out. As Maddison made to walk past her, Bella grabbed her wrist to keep her from passing. Maddison whipped around quickly and threw a glare at the Swan girl that would halt even Sam's gang members in their steps.

It was no secret that Maddison and Bella were not the closest of friends. The girls had hardly got along during their youth, and after hearing about Jacob's brief relationship with her- and how quickly he changed afterwards- she did not have the best opinion of the socially awkward girl.

"Sorry," Bella stated as she quickly released Maddison's wrist. Her eyes nervously flickered down to her feet before she glanced back at Maddison through her lashes. "I, um. I was wondering if you had heard from Jacob, recently."

Maddison resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She knew it wasn't exactly a stupid question, but she really felt like throttling the girl for asking it.

"No."

Turning on her heel, prepared for the conversation to be over, Maddison crossed the front porch and to the door. Just as her hand settled on the door knob, however, Bella's voice resounded with a worried urgency.

"Wha-. I just haven't heard from him, and you're his family, and I was wondering if you would come with me to check on him."

Maddison turned to face the Swan girl and saw a genuine look of concern of the pale girl's face.

"He doesn't want to be bothered. Not by me, not by you, not by anyone."

Her reply was laced with bitterness, and she could feel the anger growing as tears began to form in her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was have a heart-to-heart with Bella Swan about how her own family had abandoned her.

Bella's eyebrows drew together, and her lips puckered, in what Maddison assumed was to be pity for her, but she couldn't be sure due to her blasé attitude.

"I just... I know that he is keeping secrets from me. Being distant, weird, and saying things that don't exactly make sense, and I figured that either you would know, or that you would want answers too."

Bella's words struck a chord with Maddison, who dropped her hand off the door and turned to give Bella her full attention. Her face was drawn together, an unattractive look but one that showed that she truly cared about Jacob and what was happening. If Maddison had to admit it, she cared too. She knew secrets were being kept, she knew that all of her friends were joining a gang, she knew that the boys all seemed to change over-night, but she did not know why.

Maddison looked over Bella, the car, and then the direction of the Black household in the distance. The boys had been meeting there, and she also knew that the whole gang would probably be around at this hour. Letting her blue eyes clash with Bella's brown, Maddison gave a subtle nod of her head.

"Fine. But, when we get in a fight with them, don't act so surprised."

"Them?"