As of 05/05/2014, this chapter has been completely overhauled. I felt Leah should have probably been more angsty, so uh… yeah.
I don't own Twilight.
I'm Just a Bucket of Rainbows
Today was the dreaded date, the 20th of March. The start of new life, how fitting. I snorted. It was the final betrayal, Sam was starting his new life with Emily and leaving me behind (on the day that I had told Emily, all those years ago, was my dream wedding date. It was symbolic of a brighter future, of a happy family).
Rage shook in my veins and I fought to regain control. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts. I internally chanted.
If I didn't know Emily better, I would have thought she was deliberately trying to spite me, but she always was a dreamer. Who could blame hopeful little Emily for believing that her old best friend could put aside her feelings just to give her the perfect wedding? Ugh. She had originally wanted me to be the Maid of Honor - how deluded could you even get? Instead, I was going to be a regular bride's maid. I could just about stomach that.
Not so happy thoughts. I mused bitterly.
The weather wasn't sympathetic to my plight. If my life was some kind of movie, it'd be raining, hailing even, and there would be lots of lighting. The thunder would be crashing like a chaotic clang of cymbals and all of my internal monologue would be accompanied with an epic orchestral score.
However, my life wasn't a movie. It was perfect weather, the sun high, yet covered by fluffy looking clouds. Someone was also blaring out Hollywood Undead. My life was a not quite picture-esque gothic cliche. Ugh.
"Leah!" Mom called.
"Coming!" I yelled back.
I had to to look presentable. I had always been fairly bad at make-up, preferring to go without. I could remember one time when Emily had tried to teach me...
Keep it together, I mentally snapped at myself. Head in the game, Clearwater.
I skulked into the house, hands in my pockets and a scowl on my face, trying not to notice the memories of times long past that lingered, trying to taunt me.
"Leah?" Mom called softly.
"Here, Mom."
She turned around and smiled at me, "Go shower. You look awful."
I snorted, "Thanks, Mom."
When I finally got in the shower, the lukewarm water felt blissful against my overheated skin.
By the time I had gotten out of the shower, I realized the time. It was only two minutes before my baby sitter showed up. My life really was some strange gothic novel, wasn't it? The over-emotional shapeshifter being looked after by an empath vampire that looked like something straight out of an emo band magazine. Add some eyeliner, some skinny jeans and he'd be perfect for the role.
Though of course, being a Cullen, he showed up early. I heard a car pulling up in front of our house and assumed by the lack of heart-beat that it must have been a vamp. The one and only Jasper Hale, an empath, to make sure I kept my emotions in check. You'd think they'd have more faith in my ability to keep calm... Then again, I was known for my quick temper and apparent "depressive compulsions"... To quote a certain blonde doctor.
… I honestly wouldn't have faith in my ability to stay calm and in a balanced state of mind, why should I expect them to believe in me? Whatever, I would be too drunk to care by the end of the night.
I hurriedly dried myself and swore when I realized how long it would take for my hair to dry naturally. It had grown out so much since I'd last cut it, huh. Sighing, I grabbed my hair dryer and plugged it in. I amused myself with listening to my Mom trying to make polite conversation with a vampire while drying my hair.
"Nice weather, isn't it?" She mumbled.
"It's lovely," He replied politely. "You have a very nice home."
"Thank you," She replied somewhat awkwardly. "Have a seat, please. I'm going to go make sure Leah doesn't wear odd socks or something..."
He chuckled. It was a strangely pleasant sound.
"I can hear you, mother." I shouted down at her.
"Yeah, yeah." She tutted under her breath, walking up the stairs.
My hair was almost completely dry. Giving up on drying it any more, I quickly brushed it and then knotted it into a tight, curly bun.
Mom walked into my room, my dress in her hands. It was a simple, dark-red dress. It was cut just above the knees and had a heart-shaped neckline with flowy matching red chiffon hanging from the waist.
I dressed swiftly, and then flopped gracelessly onto the bed and waited for Mom to start assaulting me with make-up.
"Sit up straight, Leah." She chastised. Grumbling, I obliged and shifted irritably.
"Just hold still." She mumbled.
Once she was finished, I got up, looked in the mirror and almost swore, "Well, I'd tap me."
Mom tutted at me.
Feeling a rush of confidence, I grinned and went to leave the room.
"Shoes, Leah."
The smile dropped from my face. "I don't do heels."
"Leah, please..." She begged. For the good old times, her eyes pleaded.
"Okay." I said softly.
Mom gave me a watery smile. "I'm so proud of you Leah. And I know your father is too..."
She pulled me into a gentle hug and I began to tear up when a soothing wave of calm washed over me.
"I have your shoes here," Jasper drawled.
His presence brought a lightness back to the heavy atmosphere, maybe it was his powers, or maybe it was because he did look damn fine in a suit... Or maybe I always had a thing for Southern accents, leech or not. I shrugged it off.
I found myself grinning, I took the shoes from him and said, "Thanks, Goldilocks."
Once I'd slipped the shoes on, I did a twirl. "What do you think?"
His emotion thing must be pretty potent if it can turn me from Eeyore to Timon within a few seconds of being in a room with me. I thought with humor.
"You're..." Mom trailed off.
"Very nice-looking?" Jasper supplied.
I snorted, "Smooth, vamp."
"I try." He shrugged.
I sidled up to him and grinned wider. This was the perfect opportunity to irritate him. What would be more amusing than an opportunity to annoy one of those darling Cullens? "This is technically a date. You should feel honored. I'm pretty damn fine."
He gave me a sort of lopsided, tiny smirk, golden eyes glowing kind of mirthfully. My stomach did a strange, worried back flip. "We'd better set off."
The ceremony was going to be held back up on Emily's rez, so we'd probably show up late now, since my make up was so important. Jeez. It was growing uncomfortable in the car, the silence awkward as the leech drove us (way above the speed limit) to my doom.
Of course I wasn't exactly looking forward to the wedding, but for me to show up late as a bridesmaid... Emily always had been a perfectionist through and through. This would be unforgivable. Somehow, I found myself worrying that Emily would hate me. For showing up to a shindig I didn't even want to go to, a shindig that wouldn't even being going down if all this freaking crap didn't happen around me.
If the Uley, Clearwater and Black bloodlines didn't run so deep, if they didn't have that unnatural ability to purely fuck up everything around them just by getting angr-
My breathing calmed, and my shaking had stopped. I blinked. Had I been about to phase? In the car? I shot a look over to Goldie and he looked perfectly innocent. Normally, I would have felt riled up that someone had such an influence over my emotions, but I probably couldn't even conjure negative feelings in his soothing presence.
Feeling strangely grateful, I muttered a quick, "Thanks, vamp."
The silence felt even more awkward once I'd broken it. An agitated panic wound around in my gut and left me feeling vaguely nauseous and fearful. I wondered if I was developing some form of Sedatephobia. I reached for the car's radio and twiddled around with the dials nervously, no idea what I was even doing with it.
He turned his honey-colored eyes to me and said in a serene, soft voice, "It's okay, Leah."
Our eyes locked. His eyes were strange, warm, and they promised things will get better. A wave of calm swelled over me. My doubt stayed subdued, yet still present... but strangely, I believed him.
That was pretty difficult to write, but mostly because I procrastinate too much. I had to go back and edit all of my British spellings too... xD
