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FIVE; SECRETS REVEALED

     JARED WAS ACTING as if the world was ending. He had taken Penelope into the woods, but they had been there for more than a hour and neither said a word. Penelope was patiently waiting for Jared's explanation, and Jared was scared out of his mind.

     Paul and Embry came around a few times to check up on him, and he could hear their snickers from a mile away. Penelope was sitting on an old tree stump, her chin cradled in the palm of her hand.

     Penelope cleared her throat. "Jared, it's almost time for dinner."

     "Right, right." Jared nodded his head, ceasing his frantic pacing.

     "You're scaring me," Penelope said, her eyes running over his trembling state. He immediately kneeled down and took her hands in his.

     "Pen, I never want you to be scared of me, okay? I know kissing you wasn't right in that particular moment, but I'm so terribly sorry for doing that to you. I never want to make you feel that uncomfortable again." Penelope was staring straight into his eyes, as if she was looking at his soul. Jared was laying everything on the table for her.

     "Jared, whatever it is, I promise I'll listen."

     He sighed, standing up. He had never felt so nervous in his whole life, and Penelope's reaction meant everything to him. "You know, a lot's changed since you ended up in your coma. The Cullen family moved here, and it caused some of the people on the reservation to alter their personalities. We — me and the rest of the guys — are not the same teenagers we were before. We have responsibilities now, Pen."

     "What kind of responsibilities? Like getting a job?"

     Jared chuckled dryly. He took a few steps back, ensuring he wouldn't hurt her. "I'm about to show you something really odd, Pen. I need you to be open-minded."

     When he began tearing off layers of his clothes, Penelope's eyes widened and she quickly averted her gaze. However, her attention was brought back when Jared transformed into a large wolf. For a few seconds, Penelope could hear her heart thumping so loudly in her ears. Her initial shock was brushed off and she stood up, slowly walking over to brown wolf.

     Jared laid down on the ground, showing his compliance and dedication. So far, Penelope was reacting the way he wanted her to. No shouts of terror, no fainting, and no running away.

     Penelope stroked his head, and Jared was surprised to see her lips curve upwards into a small smile.

     "Hi, Jared."

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     "Jake, your sister's crazy. She didn't freak out at all! We were at least expecting for her to pass out," Paul boomed, entering the Black household. Embry was right behind him, humming in agreement.

     Jake looked up from his spot on the couch. "So he finally did it? Where's my sister now?"

     Paul hopped over the couch and took a seat beside him. Embry mimicked his movements. "With him at Emily's. Apparently, Penelope thinks us being shapeshifter is the 'coolest thing to ever exist.'"

     Jake chuckled. "What do you guys expect? My dad's been telling those stories since she was little, and it's not like she forgot them throughout the years. Frankly, Jared being a wolf should be the least of her problems. She needs to focus on school."

     Embry scoffed, leaning over to stare at his friend. "And who are you to tell her what to do about school? You barely attend yourself."

     "Shut up, Call."

     The front door swung wide open once more, and in walked Penelope, chatting quickly to her soulmate. Jake rolled his eyes. "That's crazy, isn't it? Don't you ever go to bed and think about all the possibilities? It's actually amazing!"

     "Penny, you have to start your homework soon."

     Penelope greeted her brother with her hands on her hips. "And who are you to tell me what to do about school?"

     Embry snickered.

     "Just go finish everything before dad gets back home."

     Penelope huffed and kissed Jared on the cheek before leaving. The boy blushed, cheeks flaring into a bright red. He joined his pack on the couch. The television was playing some old black and white movie, but the pack was more concerned about how everything went with Jared. So far, Penelope had taken their shapeshifting abilities the best out of all the imprints.

     "Did you tell her?" Paul asked.

     "The hell? Of course."

     "No, you idiot," Embry sighed. "Did you tell her about the imprint?"

     Jared's face dropped. "Oh. Well, I thought about telling her after I shifted back, but she was too elated. I had a feeling speaking about the imprint bond would only scare her away, and she's taking everything well at the moment. I wouldn't want to ruin that."

     Jake laughed. "Coward."

     "At least I'm not in love with a girl who's in love with a nasty bloodsucker."

     "Shut the hell up."

     "Jared!" Penelope's voice echoed throughout the house. Jared was immediately up on his feet, rushing towards her room. Embry muttered under his breath about how whipped he was.

     Their attention diverted back to the television screen, but it was obvious that it was far from their minds. "So," Paul clicked his tongue. "How do you think the school's going to react to Penelope?"

     "Not well," Embry responded for Jake. "Those vultures will find any sort of gossip to latch their claws onto. Penelope returning to school after several years? That has to fill the number one slot for months."

     "And what are we? The guys on steroids are number two?"

     "A very distant two. When that girl returns to La Push High, no one's going to leave her alone, Jake."

     "We'll see."

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     Jake hated to say it, but Embry was right.

     Penelope was hounded with questions as soon as she set foot into the hallways of La Push High. Jared tried his best to divert them, but it was as if Penelope was a famous pop star and everyone wanted to take her picture.

     He was forced to separate from Penelope for one class out of six, and that class would become her ultimate downfall.

     There would always be everlasting cliques in high school. Penelope had yet to learn where she would fit in, but some girls in the class were determined to discover her personality. Jake never liked some of the girls from the grades above him, mainly because they made assumptions way too quickly and presumed the worst in people. However, Penelope was their newest target. She had become a victim to the system of high school bullying.

     "Penelope, is it?"

     Penelope was simply unloading her bag, taking out a notebook and pencil, even though Jared advised it was worthless. No one could follow along to the fast pace of the math teacher's lectures.

     The girl standing before her had long, dark locks and copper toned skin. The scene before Penelope was one of a horrible, bad production, unskilled teen drama. Two other girls were standing right behind her, one on her left and one on her right. They looked oddly similar to the main girl, as if they were attempting to copy her style.

     "Yeah, it's nice to meet you." As a sign of kindness, Penelope outstretched her hand for her to shake.

     Oddly enough, the only person taking the class with her was Paul. He was currently skipping school to run patrol. Penelope had no one there to defend her, or at least save her from the trouble that would come.

     The girl shook her hand as if she had never seen the gesture before, and Penelope blushed from embarrassment. "You're dating Jared Cameron, right?"

     Penelope didn't mention how the girl failed to introduce herself. "Dating?" Penelope scoffed. "No, me and Jared are just friends."

     "For now," the girl mumbled sarcastically under her breath. Her two sidekicks giggled. Again, this was a terrible remake of some disastrous teen drama. "Anyways, I wanted to give you a warning. Jared's going to try and get you to the back of the school and seeing as you've missed all of your middle school years, you probably wouldn't know when a guy is taking advantage of you or not."

     "The back of the school? Isn't that where the band room is?"

     The girls bursted out into loud snickers. Penelope's face was full-on red now, and she wanted to go home.

     "No, silly," the girl recovered from her laughter. She waved Penelope off, and Penelope hated the way the girl talked down to her. It made her feel useless and dumb. "The back of the school is where all the couples make out. I've had my fair share with Jared Cameron, and so have my two friends right here."

     She didn't understand why, but the girl's words felt like Penelope just got stabbed in the heart. It stung more than it should've, and the image of Jared focusing all of his attention to someone other than her was saddening. Penelope had gotten used to his devoted actions since the day she met him, and as selfish as it sounded, she didn't want him acting that way with any other girl.

     "Jared wouldn't-"

     Another round of laughter. "Penelope, most of our class know who Jared is. Half of the girls have kissed him on that wall behind the school. I'm only warning you, sweetie, because I care about who he hurts next. I've experienced the pain and suffering afterwards, and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone." She scanned the classroom before calling on another unfamiliar face. "Tara! Come here and explain to Penelope how good of a kisser Jared is."

     The next conversation was dull. Penelope couldn't hear a word Tara was saying, but by the way the other girls reacted, she knew it was meant to hurt her. How did they know? How did they know Jared meant so much to her? Penelope had suddenly come to the realization that she might've liked Jared. But when he kissed her, was it different than kissing those other girls? Was he just doing it to add another name to his list?

     Penelope felt like she was suffocating. The bell rang, and the girls disappeared from her sight and into their seats. When the teacher showed up and saw Penelope was still standing, her features turned cold.

     "Miss Black, would you care to join my class or leave because you're wasting our time?"

     Penelope chose the latter.

     After class ended, Jared stood outside waiting for her until he realized the whole class had emptied the room. He frowned when he saw Joy approaching him, a smug look upon her face. Contrasting her name, Joy was not pleasant to be around at all. Before Penelope had awoken from her coma, Jared met a lot of girls and kissed most of them. Joy was one of his usual suspects and she was gorgeous, but she was also extremely possessive.

     "Looking for your girlfriend, Jared?"

     He knew that tone in her voice. His eyes narrowed. "What have you done with her, Joy?"

     The girl shrugged mindlessly. "Just opened her eyes so she could see the obvious truth."

     Jared could feel his temper flaring up. "What the hell did you tell her, Joy?"

     "About our previous encounters. Oh, and about your previous encounters with Tara, Jessica, Hayley, Tiffany, Madison, Annabelle, and-"

     Jared ran down the hallway. His nerves were kicking in, but he had to tell her. He had to tell Penelope that he loved her so much that his heart skipped a beat whenever she was around. He loved her so much that he was constantly thinking about her every minute of the day, and dreaming about her when he was asleep. He loved her so much that he was willing to sacrifice anything, everything, if she asked him to. He should've told her about the imprint. He shouldn't have let Joy manipulate Penelope's mind.

     It was all his fault and now, Penelope was so far from his reach.

     He ran until he reached Penelope's home. He was sure that when Jake didn't find the two entering the cafeteria together, he would immediately call a search party for his lost sister. Jared was in deep shit with him.

     "Penelope!" He called out, opening the front door. He continued to call out her name, searching every inch of the house.

     He didn't find her until he opened the doors of her closet. She was sitting there, sniffling softly as fresh tears ran down her face. Jared's heart broke in two.

     "You're awful," she whispered. "You're so horrible. You kissed me. You kissed me like my mom used to kiss my dad and then what? I go to school and find out you've kissed every girl there too? You're awful, Jared Cameron. Just awful."

     Jared paused. He had heard the words before — from his old friends, from his past girlfriends, and from his parents during a heated fight — but when Penelope said it, it struck him like a bolt of lightning. He could hear the loud thumping of his heart in his ears, as if the organ couldn't believe it either. He had gotten the most gorgeous, precious girl in the world to crumble and Jared deemed himself as the worst person in the world.

     "Pen, whatever Joy told you-"

     She stood up from her spot and stepped into her room. She was standing close to him now, and Jared could see the splatter of tears laid across her cheeks.

     "Please leave." It was the nicest statement she could muster without actually yelling at him.

     "Pen-"

     "Jared, I'm not kidding around with you. Please leave my house."

     "And when will I see you again?"

     Penelope bit her lip. "I don't know, but I can ensure you that I won't be returning to that school."

     Jared's forehead creased as his mood dropped immensely. He took a few steps back before completely retreating from Penelope's bedroom and eventually, out of the house.

     Penelope felt like she could finally breathe.

shooooot guys i've published so many fanfics lately it's hard to keep up with them