THE WHITE SUN AT MIDNIGHT | J.BLACK

[6]

Hayden Christensen

as

Ryland Miller

"Uh, hey, Bells. Can I talk to you?" Paige whispered to her sister, who was lying on her bed back at their house. Bella nodded and sat up so Paige could sit down next to her.

"Um, so what do you want to talk about?" Bella inquired, and Paige sighed.

"About . . . . before. With the whole werewolf thing and vampires and . . . . yeah." Both girls stayed silent for a while until Paige broke the intense staring. "Look, now you know why I've been acting so weird. I'm in the midst of my transformation, just like how Jacob was. I understand if you look at me differently."

Bella let out a breezy laugh, which confused Paige, and said, "I'm not going to look at you a different way just because of some wolfy gene you have. But you could've told me."

Paige nodded. "And you could've told me that your ex-boyfriend was a vampire," she shot back, and Bella gave her a look that said she had a point.

"Okay, so now we both got our deepest darkest secrets out. Now we can continue with our day, right?" Bella questioned, and Paige giggled.

"Yeah, I guess. But I still don't fully understand the whole vampire thing. The pack didn't do the best job explaining it," Paige added, and Bella spent the next half hour explaining everything about the Cullens that the Uley pack had missed. Next, it was Paige's turn, and she didn't explain the werewolf thing because Jacob had covered that. She told her sister about her father and tribe back home, about the shape-shifter gene passed down for generations.

By dinner time, they knew everything about vampires and werewolves alike. Paige could not believe that her own sister used to date the species that killed her father. But, she refused to tell anyone about how her father died. That's the one thing she will never tell Bella, especially now that she used to snog a bloodsucker.

~:*:~

The next day at school, Paige and Bella sat down in their usual spot in the cafeteria near their friends. Bella was having a small conversation with Angela, and Paige got up and went to the salad bar. She was putting some lettuce in her bowl when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.

The blonde turned around to see a boy with brunette hair and blue eyes. Paige looked at him with a puzzled and weirded out look. "Um, can I help you?" She asked awkwardly.

"Yeah, uh, I was um . . . . just wondering if you wanted to ya know, erm . . . . go out with me?" The boy stuttered

Paige narrowed her eyes at him and said, "I'm sorry, no." The boys turned even paler than he was, which was hard to beat.

"But you barely know me," he whispered, trying to take away some of the stares at him.

"Yeah, so?" Paige snarled.

"Well, can't you give me a chance?"

"I don't feel like giving you a chance. I'm not interested."

"Well . . . .--"

"Hey, buddy." The boy whipped around, and Paige looked around him to see another guy. He looked a little older than the boy trying to seduce Paige and had dark blonde hair. And unlike Paige's, which had highlights, his was close to a solid color. He had a mild tan and a freshly shaven face with a sharp jawline. "She said she's not interested," the other boy spat, and with no hesitation, the boy scurried away in fear.

Once he was out of sight, Paige looked back at the boy with a broad smile spread across her face. "So, you still scare guys even after all these years?" Paige interrogated, and Ryland's lips perked up.

"Missed you too, Lovely," Ryland said sarcastically and leaned down since he was almost a whole foot taller than her and wrapped his arms around Paige in a hug. Paige giggled in his ear, which made him grin to himself.

"What'cha doing here?" Paige asked once the two friends broke the hug.

"Well, I was visiting my family but then remembered that you're stuck here, so I thought I'd stay a little longer. I'm staying till the end of the school year," the blonde said and smirked down at Paige.

"That's great. You can meet Bella and Charlie and --" Paige started.

"Wait, is this the famous Bella you were talking about before you left?" He gasped dramatically, and Paige snorted.

"Yeah, my half-sister. She's really nice, and I think you'll like her. She's actually right over there." The Claymore pointed over to Bella and her friends, who were all laughing. The only person who didn't seem to be enjoying the social interaction was Bella, who was looking at the table in disinterest.

Ryland and Paige glanced at each other, and Ryland said playfully, "she looks fun." Paige shoved him softly. The warning bell for class then rang, and everyone in the cafeteria started swarming towards the exits so they wouldn't be late.

"Come on, we better get to class," Ryland worried, and Paige nodded.

"What class do you have right now?" Paige questioned.

"English," Ryland shrugged, and Paige squealed, causing him to jump.

"Me too! Yay!" The girl exclaimed, and they went through the exit to get to English class. Paige completely forgetting about her half-prepared salad.

~:*:~