Lunch was over and Alex had to get back into the mindset of being nice to whoever she was sitting next to.

History was her favorite subject so Alex found herself rather eager to get to the room and learn. She was never against learning like a lot of other teenagers, in fact if she enjoyed the subject then school was never a drag.

Alex was around the third person to get into class, which worked well for her. Paul had already directed her in the way of this classroom – after he grabbed Alex's class schedule from her so that he could check to see if they had any classes together, they did both have gym tomorrow – so that saved the brunette time in getting lost.

She sat on the far right in middle row and innocently watched people file in.

Alex looked curiously to her left when someone sat down beside her. The boy had the same skin tone that Jared and Paul did, which was rather common in this town she realized. His full hair came to rest at his shoulders, with some of the chocolate locks pushed behind his ears. He sent her a boyish grin, dimples forming on both his cheeks which Alex found adorable. She smiled back.

"I'm interested to know how a new girl already has Paul Lahote falling at her feet," The boy spoke, it wasn't harsh like the sentence could have sounded but more curious.

Alex was dead confused however. She had already gathered that Paul could have many friends, his demeanor was rather tough and charismatic, and he was also built like an athlete would be. Paul was toned and muscular, Alex wasn't blind to it. "I'm not sure what you mean?"

"I'm Embry Call," The boy introduced himself. "You're Alex Santiago?"

The brunette furrowed her brows at how he already knew this fact. The only people she had introduced herself to was Katie in Chemistry and Paul, Kim and Jared.

Embry got her confused gaze right away. "Everyone saw you with Paul at lunch. It's been a long time since he talked to someone who wasn't Jared or Kim."

Alex tried her hardest not to be too interested in this topic. Her hands flicked through the syllabus her teacher had gifted her upon entering the class. She secretly pleaded that he would start the lesson as soon as possible.

"I'm not trying to sound weird," Embry got the small girl's attention again. "Just curious."

"I barely know him," Alex answered truthfully. She was just as clueless as Embry. "He just started talking to me at lunch. He seems nice."

Embry was the one who looked confused now. "I have known the kid for as long as I can remember and not once has anyone described Paul as nice."

This conversation had too much confusion in it. Alex was beyond lost and the girl simply shook her head. "How would you describe him then?"

"Arrogant, cocky, hotheaded," Embry answered quickly off the tip of his tongue.

Alex hadn't noticed any of those qualities when she talked to Paul. He seemed nice, confident and she was grateful that he started up conversation with her. Alex's stomach bubbled with a feeling she wasn't sure of.

Embry watched the girl as she processed what he was saying. He tugged some of his long hair back from his face. "Just be careful. You seem cool and I would hate for him to play you or something."

The brunette nodded her head, although she didn't think it was advice she needed to take. Alex had no clue how Paul was supposed to play her when they had only talked once. Embry seemed rather serious however, and the honest look on his face showed Alex that he wasn't simply trying to stir anything.

Alex had no clue who to believe now.

♡♡♡♡♡

"So, how was your first day? Give me the deets."

Alex scrunched up her face at the words of her brother through the computer screen. Her feet wriggled under the covers of her bed to warm them up. "Please don't say deets ever again. Details is a perfectly fine word."

Jordan rolled his eyes. "Fine, just tell me."

"It was okay. I still suck at Chemistry and Calculus. History was fun though – we are learning about the Pilgrims like we used to at Forks every god damn year."

"As much as I would love to hear you talk about the pilgrims – you know what I meant. I couldn't care less about academics. Did you meet anyone?" Jordan didn't bother tiptoeing around what he wanted to say.

Alex narrowed her eyes at the boy through the laptop. "Not everything in life is about being social."

"It is where I'm concerned. Tell me, hermana," Jordan whined slightly.

"Don't use Spanish to get things out of me," Alex replied. "That is what you need to do to Mama, say a few te amo's and you have her right in the palm of your hand."

Jordan didn't even dignify that with a response, he just simply looked at his twin sister with a look of waiting.

"Fine," Alex didn't take much to cave considering she was actually quite proud of what she had to share with her brother. "I met a few people. Paul, Jared and Kim. They seem really nice and I am rather proud of myself. I actually talked to them rather than just staring."

"Damn, girl. When I asked you to make friends I didn't think you would be good at it," Jordan joked knowing all too well that if this was an in person conversation then he would have been given a hefty smack by his sister. "I have been gone for one day and you are already taking my place as the social Santiago."

Alex scoffed at Jordan's exaggeration. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

The pair then talk about everything else that had happened. Jordan told dumb stories of his new teammates and friends – which of course he already had a bunch of. Alex told him more about school and also about the special treatment she had gotten from her parents since she is now the only child in the house.

"I quite like the only child life," Alex joked after she told Jordan the story of their mother bringing home pizza for dinner since their dad was working late and it was just the two Santiago girls home. This was unheard of for Camila, she barely ever ordered the greasy takeout. "It is pretty good. Do you have to come back for Thanksgiving? I was thinking that if you didn't then maybe abuela would give me extra love too."

"Hey!" Jordan exclaimed. "You can't do that to me. Grandma likes me more than you, she would never betray me like that."

"She won't like that you left me, your lonely little sister, all by myself in a new place. I can't wait for her to roast you at Thanksgiving, no pun intended. She doesn't even like the holiday that much so you know abuela will be on a rampage already."

Jordan shook his head in disgust at Alex. "What happened to you being all cute and mushy to me at the airport? We're womb buddies. Don't forget that."

Alex only smirked at the computer screen. "Being social has changed me."

"Damn right it has, and I hate it. Go back to being a hermit, Lexi."

♡♡♡♡♡

There was a honk from outside the Santiago household and it was this noise that made Alex sprint through the hallway to get to the front door.

With her bag strapped on her back and her converse on, the short girl ran out to the dusty station wagon waiting on her driveway. Both her parents had already left to work after Alex informed them that she no longer needed a ride to school, Kim was going to take her.

The Santiago parents were both slightly surprised at the mention of a new friend, but they were happy for their daughter nonetheless. She was doing a lot better without Jordan then they thought she would be.

"Hop in, short stack. We still have to pick someone else up."

Alex narrowed her eyes slightly at the nickname, although she knew it wasn't coming from a mean place. Her small five-foot-one height had never bothered her. "Who else are we picking up?"

Kim started to back out of the driveway with a smirk pulled taut on her lips. "Paul."

"I thought the boys hated you driving them," Alex stated as she did up her seat belt.

The brunette shrugged in the drivers seat. She knew exactly why the Lahote boy wanted to ride with Kim and Alex. There were specifically two reasons; the first being that Paul was already looking for as many reasons to hang out with the new girl as he could, the imprint was in full affect. The second reason was that he wasn't entirely happy with the system Kim and Alex had come up with, a big thing about imprinting was ensuring the safety of that person and Paul didn't think Kim's driving would keep Alex safe at all.

Of course Kim wasn't allowed to tell Alex any of that, it was Paul's job. So the teen simply said, "Maybe he doesn't want to be left out of our car chats."

"Can I ask you something about him?" Alex found herself asking Kim before it really joined up in her mind.

Kim tried not to grin. "Go ahead."

"How would you describe him if you had to?"

Embry's description of the tall boy was completely different than what Alex's own assumptions. She needed a third party opinion. It also confused her a little as to why these thoughts had been plaguing her mind since her conversation with Embry had happened.

"Odd question but I won't ask," Kim looked at the smaller girl to her right before continuing. "He's a sweetheart really, he's super kind and honest. Hotheaded would be another word I would use, but that's not really his fault."

Hotheaded was the same word that Embry had used.

"How would you describe him?" Kim countered back.

That question took Alex by surprise. "I barely know him."

"So?" Kim questioned while taking her eyes off the road for a quick moment to glance at Alex. "First impressions are a thing y'know."

"Okay.." Alex thought to herself for a second so that she could get the right adjectives. She truthfully hadn't spent a lot of time with Paul, but there was already something that stood out to her. "Kind would be the word I would use. He was the first person who actually approached me at school rather than just staring. He also seemed genuinely interested in what I was saying which I liked."

Kim knew all that information would be something that Paul would love to know. The girl didn't want to interfere in the imprint bond though. She knew what it was like to feel a pull to someone, it happened to her and Jared after all. Paul and Alex would eventually make their way to one another, in their own time. "Kind is a good word for Paul."

It only took another five minutes for the girls to roll up to Paul's home. The muscular boy was waiting at the end of his driveway and fist pumped in the air at the sight of the car in his view. Alex shook her head slightly at his actions.

"Thank god you are here," Paul said as soon as he hopped in the backseat of the car. "Alex, I was worried that Kim the terrible driver had already crashed you both into a tree."

Alex turned to face the boy, the gleeful smile on his face instantly mirroring on her own. "I'm alive and well. Risky move for you to join in on the fun."

"Couldn't have Kim killing you on your second day, I'll protect you."

"My hero."

Alex quickly decided that she didn't care what Embry had told her yesterday. Paul was kind in her eyes and she knew she was right about it.

Her impression of him was all that really mattered to Alex.

♡♡♡♡♡