Dinners were eaten in silence. It was like the Ibarra family had exhausted every topic of conversation. Only that they never really seemed to speak to one another. It was more along the lines of them having so much that needed to be spoken out loud but none of them had the courage to do something as simple as speak.

There was a time when Paloma had been fearless about speaking her mind to her father. But Rodrigo's lack of response to her outbursts was exhausting. She had long ago learned that speaking to her father was pointless, and everyday it felt like she was losing Emiliano too.

The three Ibarra siblings used to be close. All of them different from each other but able to love one another unconditionally. Paloma had already lost Luciana and she wasn't sure that she could lose her older brother too. Sure, she spoke to Luciana on the phone every couple of days but the distance that had grown between them was undeniable.

"Liano it's your turn to wash the dishes." Rodrigo ordered, earning an annoyed groan from Emilano who slouched back in his seat.

"It's Monday. It's Paloma's turn." He argued, and Paloma couldn't help but be surprised that he was arguing against one of their father's orders. For the last five months it seemed that Liano saw no wrong in any of the words that came out of their father's mouth. "And I cooked today too."

"Your sister just got stitches."

Paloma gave her brother an innocent smile as she raised her bandaged hand. For once the injury did not seem incredibly terrible.

With another exaggerated sigh Emiliano stood and began to pick up all the dirty dishes from the table. Although she was still annoyed with her brother because of how he treated the Cullen's earlier, Paloma also couldn't help but feel bad for him. Once Luciana left all the responsibility had been placed on his shoulders.

Since then Emiliano became another person entirely. But he took on that responsibility without a single complaint and maybe he took those responsibilities too seriously for a teenage boy.

"Let me check on your stitches." Rodrigo suddenly ordered and Paloma reluctantly stood and crossed the room to where her father was waiting. As much as she didn't want her father's help, she also didn't want her wound to get infected. The last thing she needed was another set back to cheer practice. Or another awkward trip to the hospital.  "So how did this happen?"

Paloma remained quiet for a moment, not sure what the best way to approach this conversation was. Her initial instinct was to start a fight, all the built up frustration towards Rodrigo Ibarra slowly bubbling towards the surface but she knew better.

Watching as her father undid the bandages Paloma sighed at the memory of her own clumsiness and stupidity. "One of the beakers I was using in Chemistry broke. No big deal."

"Maybe we should get you into a different chemistry class."

Paloma initially assumed that her father was only joking, but one glance at the man's face made her realize that he was incredibly serious. A small laugh of disbelief escaped her lips and she shook her head. "That's so unnecessary."

"Things could have been much worse than a small cut." Her father muttered as he carefully changed the bandages. Rolling her eyes. Paloma couldn't believe the ridiculous turn that the conversation had taken.

"It was an accident. I don't see how it could have gotten worse."

Rodrigo remained silent. Like nothing else needed to be said.

Although it seemed impossible considering that she had never mentioned the fact, Paloma wondered if maybe this had anything to do with the fact that Edward was in that class. It was impossible. Maybe her father wasn't very fond of Dr. Cullen but that didn't mean that he would have any reason to hate his adoptive son. It made no sense.

Yet, she couldn't shake that feeling that maybe she wasn't entirely wrong.

"It must be difficult to work with someone you hate." Paloma said casually, though she knew that her father had immediately seen through her act from the way he too attempted to act innocent about the matter. It was a useless attempt and she knew it, but her curiosity was overshadowing her voice of reason. "You know... Dr. Cullen."

Her father didn't say anything as he cleaned around the stitches and bandaged her hand again. The silence felt more natural than talking, and Paloma just studied

"Part of life is existing with people you don't like." Rodrigo suddenly replied as he finished his work and walked out of the room.

There was an iciness in his voice that left Paloma stunned and turning her father's word in her head. His choice of words felt incredibly specific but she couldn't find a reason for his choice of words. And that only caused her to become more curious about her father and brother's increasingly odd behavior since moving to Forks.

Early mornings in Forks were exceptionally cold. Every outside surface was frosted over outside, the temperature dropping drastically overnight.

Usually Paloma wasn't one to wear many layers, but since moving to Forks she found that she wasn't able to step outside most days without at least two. She couldn't stand the cold, it made it difficult for her to even think straight because it was all she could think about.

"It's freezing." Paloma complained as they came to a stop at her locker. No matter how many layers she had put on that morning she just couldn't seem to get warm.

"Really?" Saira questioned. "It's only like 53 degrees today."

Looking at the girl in disbelief Paloma shook her head as she removed her thick knitted gloves. Instantly it felt like her fingers were going numb from the cold as she attempted to open her locker. "Yeah, it's freezing."

Kennedy, who still wasn't too pleased with Paloma's injury not allowing her to attend cheer practice for the next couple of days, wasn't feeling too compassionate. "Then maybe moving to Forks wasn't the best decision."

"Wasn't my decision to move to the coldest and wettest place in the continental US." Paloma replied with a sigh, once again finding herself missing the warm California weather that she had fallen in love with.

"Well I'm glad you did." A new familiar voice commented, causing all three girls to jump.

"Alice?" Saira voiced, making no attempt to hide her surprise. Truthfully Paloma was also startled not only from the surprise of Alice Cullen approaching her but it was like the girl appeared out of thin air.

"Hey." Paloma greeted slowly as she looked around the hallway. She wasn't entirely sure who she was looking for, but she did feel relieved in knowing that it was just Alice who had approached her.

Alice seemed completely unaware of the odd look the three girls were giving her, as she looked down at Paloma's hand with concern. "How's your hand? When I saw what happened I knew it was going to scar."

Paloma couldn't help but continue to feel stunned. Alice acted in a way that made it seem that they had known each other for years and not like they had only ever talked once. But maybe that was just the kind of person that Alice was, even if the Cullen's were known for being antisocial and reserved.

"It's fine. Still hurts. But fine." Paloma replied, earning a bright smile from Alice who couldn't seem any happier to hear her words.

But that happiness was gone in an instant as a distant look came over her face. It was a look that Palmoa recognized. Because it was the look that Alice had when she first saw the Cullens in the library on her first day.

Meeting Saira and Kennedy's worried eyes, Paloma realized that she really didn't know what to do. She went through every possible explanation to what could be happening to the girl but nothing really made any sense.

But the sound of Alice's name coming from somewhere down the hallway had all four girls turning their attention to Edward Cullen who was walking towards them at a rapid pace.

Edward came to a stop in front of them, momentarily meeting Paloma's eyes before returning his attention to his adoptive sister. "Come on Alice."

Alice looked down that hall, and Paloma followed her gaze to find that Emiliano was quickly walking in their direction. His face was absolutely consumed by fury.

And without another word the two adoptive siblings walked away, a worried expression on Alice's face as they disappeared in the crowd of students. Everything seemed to be happening so fast that Paloma didn't even have any time to register the fact that Emiliano had now made it to her side. Both of his hands in tight fists.

Ignoring Saira and Kennedy Emiliano stepped between them and his sister as his wild eyes met hers. Instantly Paloma felt embarrassed at the scene her brother was causing in front of her friends. "Why the hell were they talking to you?"

For once Paloma found herself at a loss of words as she looked at her older brother in shock. She was finding it difficult to process what exactly had happened. Not only her brother's reaction but also the way that Alice and Edward reacted. Almost like they expected for this to happen.

"Come on." He ordered as he took a hold of her arm and guided her away from her friends and into the nearest empty classroom.

It wasn't until the door had closed behind them that she realized just how tight her brother's grip on her arm was. When she tried to pull her arm away his grip only tightened. "What the hell is your problem Liano?"

"Answer the question."

"I don't see what's wrong with them talking to me."

"Stay away from them. Stay away from the Cullens." Emiliano replied, seeming unable to control his anger.

"You do realize that you're acting fucking psychotic right?" Paloma replied as she pulled her arm from her brother's grip. She had never seen him act this way and truthfully it was frightening her. It was like he had become someone else entirely.

With a heavy sigh Emiliano began to nervously pace in front of her. Almost like it was the only thing keeping him from completely losing control of his emotions. "Palomita. You don't understand."

"Understand what?" She asked, beginning to feel some of her brother's contagious desperation. As far as she knew Emiliano had no reason to hate the Cullens. And she was sure that nothing they could have done would have warranted this kind of hatred that her brother was displaying.

"Just... for once can you just do what I'm asking you to?"

Paloma shook her head in disbelief as she walked away from her brother not willing to play along with whatever was going on with him. She wasn't one to blindly follow orders. Especially when they were given to her the way that her brother just did. Like she was a child that didn't know any better.

Shakespeare.

Paloma found that she had lost track of all the times she had been forced to learn about Shakespeare in her English classes. Every new school that she went to she always found herself coming in at the time where they were learning about the playwright. And she wasn't sure how many more times she could learn about the man before she went insane.

And as Mr. Mooney told the class about how they were about to start reading Romeo and Juliet, the collective groan from most of the teenage boys in the class was expected. A sentiment that Paloma shared considering that this was going to be the third time she was going to have to read the play. And not to mention that she truly hated the story not understanding the stupidity of the two young lovers.

But she found that she couldn't focus much on the teacher's lecture. Not when all she could think about was her brother and Edward Cullen. It was especially difficult to think of anything else when Edward was in the same room, his presence completely overwhelming. Paloma had spent most of the class fighting the urge to not turn around and look at him.

When she finally gave into that temptation and slowly turned her head, she instantly met his eyes. It was like he had been waiting for her to turn, like it was something that he expected. And now that she had met his honey colored eyes, she found it difficult to look away.

Ultimately it was the school bell that came to her rescue as the annoying sound snapped her attention back to the teacher who was dismissing the students who were already out the door. Slowly Paloma began to pack up her belongings watching as all the students slowly began to exit the classroom.

To her surprise Edward also didn't seem to be in any rush to leave. Although Emiliano's warning was still the only thing that she could think about, she chose to ignore it as she approached Edward's desk letting her book fall on the wooden surface with a small thud.

She stood at the other side of the desk unsure of how willing he would even be to speak to her considering that he had ignored her this morning.

"What the hell is going on between you and my brother?" Paloma whispered very aware that Mr. Mooney was still in the room, setting up for his next class.

Edward raised a single eyebrow, looking at her intently. It was the same look he gave her in the hospital. Almost like he was trying to see right through her. The intensity in his eyes causing her heart to beat just a little bit faster. But that intensity was gone in an instant as he offered her an easy smile. "I don't think I know what you're talking about."

"Why does my brother hate you and your siblings?"

"I think only your brother knows that answer to that." He replied as he stood, and suddenly she realized just how much taller than her he was.

Although nothing about his demeanor gave away that he knew anything, she suspected that he did. Edward Cullen seemed like the kind of person that was an excellent liar. "From the way you reacted this morning I think you know the answer too."

"Sometimes we don't know why we hate people. We just do." Edward replied as he walked around the counter so that now there was nothing standing between the two of them. Paloma almost had to fight the urge to take a step back from the sudden intensity in his eyes, but she knew that was the reaction that he wanted. "Sometimes we don't have control over what we feel."

Paloma was very aware that he knew what the real answer to her question was. But the answer he gave her created more questions than answers. "Emiliano says I should stay away from you."

"Maybe your brother is right. Maybe you should stay away from me."

Paloma smiled as she picked up her textbook, seeing Emiliano and Edward's warnings as a challenge. They both were being dramatic and ridiculous and she wasn't the type to take orders from anyone. "I've never listened to my brother."

Walking out of the classroom Paloma still felt dissatisfied with how little she knew about what was going on with her brother. As much as the scenes he created angered her, she couldn't help but feel worried about him too.

Emiliano was always the one that was in control of his emotions. The one who never got fazed when things got tough. He never once complained about the instability in their life.

And Paloma knew that it was their father that caused this change. Whatever was going on with her brother had to be due to something that Rodrigo did there was no other explanation. His dislike for Dr. Cullen and not Emiliano's hatred towards the Cullen siblings couldn't be a coincidence.