When Paloma retuned to her bedroom to finish getting dressed for school she realized that there were something on her vanity that had been moved around. Although Paloma was far from a clean person, in fact her room tended to be more dirty than clean, it didn't change the fact that she always knew where her things were and how she had placed them.

And the thing on her vanity had undoubtedly been moved. Immediately she was filled with rage knowing that it had to have been her brother as their father had left early in the morning for the hospital.

"Emiliano did you go through my stuff?" Paloma yelled as she walked down the stairs, wondering why he would have any reason to go through her things. She hadn't had to fight with her siblings about her things getting stolen since Luciana left them to go to school.

Paloma was ready to begin a fight with her brother but she froze at the bottom of the stair as she took in the state that her brother was in. "What happened?"

"It's nothing I slipped." Emiliano brushed off as he took a bite from his toast. But it was more than a broken arm there were scraps across his right arm and a bruise forming on his cheek.

Paloma took a couple more steps towards her older brother trapping him by the chin and forcing him to look up at her. Up close the bruising looked so much worse and she could see his failed attempt to cover it up with makeup. Her makeup which was a terrible decision as she had a darker complexion than him. "How?"

Emiliano turned away from her and shrugged. The action only made Paloma angry, because she simply couldn't understand why he couldn't tell her what happened. When she had gone to bed last night he was fine, meaning that he had to have snuck out late at night.

"I slipped hunting." He suddenly stated, his voice void of any real emotion though it was clear that whatever happened affected him in some way. Liano's left hand shook a little, almost like he was scared. "t tripped on a branch, it was steep and I tumbled down a clearing. I'm okay."

A lie. She knew that it was a lie.

It was impossible for him to have gone hunting in the middle of the night. The lie itself was ridiculous. But she couldn't question it, there was no point. They would simply end up fighting. And Paloma was so tired of fighting with her brother, so once again she chose to accept the lie like an idiot.

The cafeteria was buzzing like usual, and Paloma found that she was getting a headache from all the sounds surrounding her. Everything seemed to overstimulate her in the worst possible way and she could feel her walls slowly begin to crack because she was sure that the slightest of inconveniences would cause her break down into tears of frustration.

Paloma silently picked at the food on her tray occasionally listening in to Kennedy complaint about the trip to Seattle she had to take with her mom.

"Is this about you know who?" Ken questioned as she dared a single glance towards the Cullen's table. They were all seemed to be whispering between each other as they picked at the food in front of them. Edward although also picking at his food was only looking out the window with a sour look on his face.

Maybe Edward did have something to do with Paloma's own sour mood, but it was so much more than that. Whatever was happening with her brother was getting more serious. Emiliano was many things but he was not clumsy, he had never had never broken a single bone in his body before. And the fact that he had no story to go along with the injury simply made no sense.

"No." Paloma muttered and it was the truth. Although Edward somehow had taken a hold of her thoughts, she also wasn't one to get too attached to a boy. Even if this was the first one that confused her. There was simply too much happening in her life for insignificant drama that wouldn't matter in a couple of months. Because although she was content with the friends she had made at Forks she still had no desire to stay for much longer.

She felt as Saira took her hand giving it a tight squeeze. She knew they were only trying to help her, they were trying to understand what troubled her. But Paloma simply wanted to be left alone to her thoughts. There were so many questions that she felt that she would never get the answer too. So many things that were being hidden from her.

It felt like she was slowly losing her mind. Maybe there was nothing going on at all and it was all in her head. Maybe Emiliano really had slipped and fallen. Maybe Edward was like every shitty guy out there and was only playing with her feelings. Maybe it was all in her head and she created a whole fantasy.

"I'm just worried about my brother." She admitted taking her hand back. Saira and Kennedy both looked at her expectantly writing for her to continue, but there was nothing else to say. Paloma didn't know anything, only that something was very wrong. But how could she tell them about some irrational worries without them thinking that she was crazy.

Both girls must have sensed that there was no point in pushing Paloma for an explanation as the three of them then went on to eat lunch in silence.

When the bell rang telling them that lunch was over, Paloma stood without a word and headed out of the hallway to her locker. It wasn't that she needed anything other than some time alone as he simply let time slip by. She had no doubt that to all the students rushing to their next class she must have looked insane. Standing in front of her open locker with her eyes closed.

But the feeling of having everything slip by around her brought her some kind of peace. Like if maybe she just chose to stand by and watch life slip by then everything would be better. That she wouldn't have to feel hurt because she was chasing to simply not get involved.

"Paloma." The sound of her name snapped her make to reality, to maybe it was the sound of his voice. Whatever it was, now that she knew he was there she couldn't help but feel the anger and frustration take over again.

She hadn't even realized that she had been crying until she opened her eyes again. Quickly she wiped away the few tears that had made their way down her cheeks before closing her locker to met his honey colored eyes.

"What do you want Edward?" She questioned making no attempt to hide her annoyance, he had clearly seen her crying so there was no point in attempting to hide anything. Paloma only wondered why he ever thought it was a good idea to approach her when she was like this.

"Are you okay?"

"Obviously not." She replied as she turned away from him walking down the hall. If she currently couldn't even stand the idea of being beside her friends, she definitely didn't want to be anywhere near Edward. She simply wanted to be alone and away from anyone who could cause her more worry and pain.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, and Paloma suspected that even he didn't know what it was that he was apologizing for.

Was it that he knew he had been playing with her emotions? Did he know that she was waiting for him to ask her for the dance for so long that she turned down other offers just waiting for something that deep down she knew was going to happen? Or was he simply sorry that he interrupted her while she was crying?

"Just stop this. Whatever this is." Paloma said as she turned towards him, glad that the hallway was empty. She would have been horrified if anyone had seen her slight outburst. In truth, she didn't even know what she was saying the words both slipped and were stuck in her throat. "If you...If you don't want...."

If you don't want me?

Was that really a door she wanted to open? Or words that she wanted voiced out loud?

Of course not. It was embarrassing, and she didn't want him to know that she was desperate to know what it was that he felt towards her. It had to be something. Or why else did he seem to seek her out so much?

Knowing that there was no point in continuing the conversation, Paloma turned away from Edward again and began to slowly walk to down the hall. She needed to get away, her brother was right he was bad for her. All her was doing was hurting her even if it wasn't Edward's intention.

Just like Emiliano didn't intend to hurt her. Or her father. Even Luciana. It wasn't their intention but they all hurt her just the same.

They left her feeling light a flightless bird trapped in a gold cage unable to escape her own emotions. Like she had no right to them.

And she couldn't allow them to keep her trapped any longer.

A/N: The last two chapters are my favorite and I cannot for you to read them. I know it has been a while but life has been kind of busy. Hoping to update as much as possible before my new semester for school begins.