Monster

The boys were relentless.

If Dex wasn’t around Shiori it was Paul, she was always around one or the other. Ronnie was getting a bit sick and tired of the whole debacle of the boys that they had over her. “It’s clear who’s going to win your affections. Dex all the way.”

“Win my affections?” Shiori furrowed her brows as she nibbled on the sugar cookie on her plate. “When did this become a contest?”

“Since Dex decided to sweep you off your feet.” Ronnie replied with a ‘duh’ tone in her voice. It astounded her how oblivious her friend could be when it came to boys. The fiery glares that the boys shared were obvious and the victorious smirks were there when they got Shiori under their arm.

Everything was all too much for Ronnie. Watching her friend go back and forth between the two; the blond knew Shiori was lucky to have two guys after her like that.

“How’s Jacob? I haven’t seen him in a while.”

Ronnie shrugged her shoulders, “Hell I know. The stupid boy is still going after that Swan girl.” Shiori watched jealousy roll off of the blond’s back as the teen continued to rip her cookie into crumbs. It’s been a while since her best friend actually had feelings for a boy and slowly she started to show interest in Jacob all of a sudden.

“You should call him. Make some plans with him or something.”

“Don’t you think I tried that? He blew me off. Every. Single. Time.” She seethed. Her baby blue irises gone up in flames before an angry sigh left her red lips. “It’s gone a bit harder now that her precious boyfriend left the damn city. Now Jake has gone to console her…with his dick.”

“Oh, Ronnie. You know it’s not true. Jacob isn’t like that.” Shiori highly doubted that Jacob would do such a thing. Ronnie’s cynic mind always came up with the most outrageous things and she has done nothing, but torture herself.

“It can be.” Ronnie grumbled.

Shiori did think it was a bit strange that after hanging out with Alice a few more times after their initial meeting that they took off without warning. She didn’t get a text or any message saying that they were leaving, only the rumors of their father finding a better job somewhere else.

She didn’t think anything of it, but sadly Ronnie’s brain has been coming up with ways to burn Bella from taking all the attention away from her.

And she thought cookies would be able to settle her crazy mind, but it only fueled it. Shiori jumped at the pounding sound, her dark eyes wandered down in shock to see Ronnie slamming the cookie with her fist. “Ronnie.” She whispered. Grabbing the girl’s pale hand, interrupting the impaling of the poor cookie and the attention they now gained from the violent nature of her friend.

Her eyes shifted from around the room before she muttered, “Maybe we should get out of here.”

Ronnie didn’t say a word as Shiori lifted her up and escorted her out of the shop muttering apologies to the owner. Now out in the bitter cold of Port Angeles, Shiori looped her arm around the taller girl trying to soothe the teen girl who was obviously still seething about being stood up so many times.

“You know, no boy has done this to me before…make this feel this way. Whenever a dick wad stood me up, I always thought to myself, no problem. Just another asshole out of the way, but you know what I fucking thought whenever Jake backed out on our plans?” Shiori shook her head, letting the poor girl vent. “I thought, what the hell is wrong with me? What does she have that I don’t?”

Ronnie’s smoky eyes started to water as she bitterly laughed into the wind. “It’s funny how a guy can change the way you feel and think. One minute, he’s just some normal dweeb and then the next he’s making your heart race. You can’t wait to see him and he’s all you think about and when he stands you up, you feel totally incompetent.”

Shiori walked silently beside her as her mind started to reel about Paul. Did she think of those things while she was around him? It frightens her that it was Paul that went through her mind and not Dex. Glancing up at the sad girl beside her, she squeezed her hand in reassurance.

“Jacob will realize it soon enough.” The blue sad eyes peered down at Shiori who stayed hopeful. “I just know it.”

It worried her how much time and effort it took for Ronnie to actually fess up to something like this. With a stiff smile, Ronnie flicked her blond hair back from her face. “If not then fuck ‘em. I never needed Jake in the first place.” Her nose turned a bright red through the bitter cold air, she sniffled. They both knew she didn’t mean what she said; it would break her heart if Jacob didn’t see.

As they drove back to La Push and into Shiori’s driveway, both girls threw curious looks at one another when they saw Paul sitting out in the driveway. “What the hell does he want?” Ronnie grumbled.

Shiori silently pushed her way out of the car before she walked over to Paul in question. “Hey.” She whispered as she stared into his eyes.

“Hey.” He quietly replied back, “Can I s-”

“Why don’t you go back to your den, Paul? Stop harassing Shiori for once.” Ronnie butted in as she leaned on the hood of the car, ready to punch his lights out. If she could reach with his abnormal height, she would have knocked his lights out long ago. She crossed her arms sending a glare at the native who glared back.

“Ronnie…can you wait inside please?” Shiori continued to look up at Paul sensing that something was wrong. The blond only scoffed as she inched forward towards the two before pretending to shake the thick neck of Paul when she stood behind him before stomping into the house. Once she was inside, she asked what was on his mind.

“Shiori.” Paul started as he placed his hands on her tiny shoulders; they easily enveloped her upper arm too. He shifted a bit before he started again, “I know this might sound a bit crazy, but it would put me at ease if you stayed in for the rest of the night.”

Shiori furrowed her brows in confusion, “Stay in? I can’t do that. I have a few oth-”

“Can’t it wait until tomorrow?” He pressed.

“Why?” Shiori needed answers. She couldn’t just cancel her plans because Paul wanted her to stay inside for no reason. “I can’t cancel my plans with Dex.” Paul rolled his eyes as he muttered something under the lines that the bastard could wait.

“There’s been an animal sighting around here and it would put me at ease if you just stayed inside.”

“Then I’ll just avoid the woods.” Shiori was being stubborn. For some reason, she felt a little bit more headstrong than what she should have been. The girl couldn’t stay in because of a dangerous animal being sighted in the woods, “The animal could be miles away from here now.”

Paul’s nose flared, he tried to stay calm as he stiffened. “Trust me when I say it’s still here. Cancel all the plans you have for today and stay in the house.”

The teen girl was at loss of words as she sighed and caved in. “Fine. I’ll stay in, but only if you promise you will go straight to your house and stay in.” The small confident grin on his face didn’t soothe her as he told her that it would be fine. The teen boy watched Shiori walk into the house before he ran into the woods happy to know that she followed his instructions.

Once she opened the door, Ronnie was on the other side. “What gives?”

Shiori shrugged, “Paul said there was an animal sighting around here and we should stay indoors.” Ronnie scoffed.

“Whatever. They’ll probably catch it by tomorrow. Does your mom have anything in the fridge?” Before Shiori could answer, she watched the blond raid through their fridge and took a few containers out; dumping a few portions onto the plate she set before her. Shiori couldn’t shake the feeling that Paul always wanted her within his sight or indoors recently.

It was strange.

Spending the rest of the afternoon in the house like Paul recommended, Ronnie persistent nature started to resume when she wanted to drive home to get her movie collection.

“You can’t go out there!”

“Why not? It’s completely safe. I didn’t hear anything while we were here and no offense, but your movies suck. I need my porn!” Shiori blushed furiously as Ronnie ranted about there wasn’t a good quality sex scene in any of the movies she owned.

“Can’t you wait until tomorrow?”

“No.” Shiori’s arms were wound tight around her torso as she was dragged towards the front door. Pressing her feet onto the floor, she compromised.

“If you stay, I’ll let you into the liquor cabinet.”

“Sold!” Ronnie perked up as she steered clear of the door and into the kitchen with the poor frazzled girl behind her. Shiori sighed as she sat in her room with her friend, bottles in line with two shot glasses in front of them. The blond kept pouring shot after shot, nudging one closer to her mouth. “C’mon Shi. Drink up.”

Shiori glanced at the glass for a bit before taking a shot of whiskey down her throat. It wasn’t uncommon in her household to drink, but getting drunk was something her parents never condoned and with her Asian background she couldn’t hold her liquor. With the next few shots, she was completely drunk as she lay down next to Ronnie as her eyes threatened to close.

“I was thinking…to make it easier on everyone and to ease the heartache, you and I should get together. If we were lesbians there wouldn’t be a love triangle between you, Dex, and Paul or me battling my inner girly instincts on making Jake mine after he abandoned me for that no excuse of a cunt. If we loved each other, the world would be a better place. Don’t you think?” Ronnie rambled as she touched Shiori’s face tenderly.

The tiny girl just laughed, “My parents wouldn’t condone lesbianism, Ron. I think I would be disowned.”

“Aw, fuck your parents. They are so uptight anyways…where are they?”

“Dad is at work as usual and mom…I don’t know where she is.” Shiori sighed before she rolled onto her side mumbling she had to use the bathroom.

“Don’t break the cycle, Shi! Resist the pee!”

Once the girl was on her knees, her vision started to become impaired, things started to become fuzzy as she lifted herself up on her feet. What these girls did out of boredom completely shocked her. Leaning on her dresser, she gazed out her window as she was entranced by the moonlight.

Shiori stared at the white orb in awe before she looked down into the darkness. She saw something rustling in the bushes before it completely went away.

“Whataya see, Shi? Oh my God, look how big the moon is!” Ronnie pointed out in awe. “Big…” She whispered before she groaned and started to mope mumbling about the boy that she has completely fawned over. Shiori didn’t pay any attention as her eyes continued to focus on the one spot, swearing she saw something.

Fur was it?

Or maybe it was just that wild dog she kept seeing around. Shaking her head, she stumbled across the room and fell on the bed, completely out of it.