A/N: Hey. Here's chapter 2 of No Angel. I don't know if I warned you about the language in this story, but, like... it's strong. That being said, here's the chapter, which is clearly a bit longer than the one before. (Btw, if you're a real HalcyonSeasons stan and catch all the mentions to Static, holla at me.)

Enjoy.


2.

telling me that basically, you're not looking out for me
everything is true to me, never words where you would see


Life carried on as usual for Leah. She didn't see Jacob over the weekend. In fact, he kept quiet and didn't mention their kiss at all. The week went by slowly until the following Thursday, which was Leah's eighteenth birthday.

Right before homeroom, Jacob met up with Leah at her locker like they usually did.

"Hey," he greeted her as if he hadn't been basically ignoring her for almost a week.

She fiddled with her locker combination, not paying him much mind. "Glad to see you're back, I guess," she said sourly. "I thought you died."

"C'mon, Lee," he said. "Why would I die before your birthday?"

She opened the locker, and a couple of balloons, some party streamers, and a whole bunch of confetti came flooding out. She looked at the mess her locker just puked onto the hallway floor. Then she looked up at Jacob. Then she looked back to the mess. When she looked up at him again, she had an incredulous look on her face.

"Happy birthday," he said, flashing his bright, white grin.

She couldn't help but smile back at him, even if he was a fucking idiot for not acknowledging the fact that they kissed last Friday. "Cute," she said. "Thanks for that."

Leah suddenly got pinched really hard in her sides, causing her to nearly crumble to the floor. "Fuck, Rose!"

Rosalie laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world. "Happy birthday, baby girl," she greeted her.

Leah smiled wryly. "Thanks. So, you guys are gonna clean this shit up, right?" She gestured to the mess at their feet.

"It's your birthday, ma," Rosalie said. "You're the oldest so you have to take responsibility."

Leah rolled her eyes. When she looked back at Rosalie, she noticed that the blonde was staring somewhere else as she leaned against a neighboring locker.

Leah's eyes followed, and she realized that Rose was staring at the Cullens. Emmett and his weird younger siblings, Edward and Alice, along with Bella Swan, were walking down the hall. Emmett, the quarterback, walked with confidence and ease. He stood strong and tall. The others walked in an awkward, lanky crowd behind them.

Alice, short and less lanky, was the one that Rosalie hated the least. She found all the Cullens (plus Bella) to be weird, but Alice generally minded her own business and didn't seem to want to shoot up the school, so Rosalie didn't have a problem with her. Plus, Alice dressed nice—a little too nice for their small town, but still.

Rosalie had always hated Edward for how he had bullied Seth in the fifth grade, and she hated Bella by association. They were just so weird to her. That was her rationale for hating them. They were weird. She didn't know what was up with them. She didn't even want to know, but seeing her brother, Jasper, trail along with Edward and Bella like they were friends reinforced her hatred for them. She almost pulled Jasper out and asked what the hell he was doing, but Emmett broke her focus by nudging her and getting her attention.

"Hey, Rose," he said to her. He was cute, with dimples and dark, curly hair.

Rosalie smiled at him. "Hey."

Emmett nodded over to Leah. "Happy birthday, Lee," he told her.

"Thanks," Leah said sincerely.

Emmett gave Rosalie a slight squeeze in the arm. "See you later?"

"Later."

Emmett went back with Edward, Alice, Bella, and Jasper, and the five of them kept walking.

"Emmett is so fucking lucky he's not ugly," Rosalie said to Leah and Jacob. "I'll see you in homeroom, Lee. I'll be a little late."

She left, and Leah just gave Jacob a look once Rose was out of sight. "You're gonna help me clean this shit up, right?" she asked him, gesturing to the floor.

Jacob glanced around for a minute, really trying to get out of it. He suddenly saw Embry in the corridor. "Shit, sorry," he told Leah. "I gotta, uh… get last night's math homework from Embry. Ayo, Em!" He dashed away.

Leah sighed and cleaned up her birthday decorations, making her late to homeroom. Happy fucking birthday to me, right?


The first half of the school day passed by quickly, and before Leah even knew it, it was lunch time. She and Jacob got to the cafeteria before Rosalie did, and they sat down at their usual table with their lunch trays.

"She's late," Leah said. "That means she's meeting up with Emmett."

Jacob nodded over towards the pizza line. "It's Thursday. She's probably tormenting Edward again."

Leah turned, and that was what exactly Rose was doing. In the pizza line, Rosalie purposely shoulder-checked the hell out of Edward, who already looked naturally angry. He got even more angry, and she decided to fuck with him even more.

She shoved him hard, but in a way that almost made it look like it was on accident, and his tray of pizza came flying back into his dark blue shirt. Greasy cheese and marinara sauce stuck right to him. Then she "accidentally" dropped her carton of milk, which burst as it landed on Edward's shoes. His anger was replaced with genuine shock as if this didn't happen every Tuesday and Thursday, anyway.

"You bitch," he said.

She gritted her teeth and shrugged. "My bad, Columbine," she said, which caused everyone around them to start snickering as if that was even funny.

Bella, who stood next to Edward the entire time as this happened, finally spoke up. "Hey, don't call him that," she told Rosalie, her voice weak and barely audible.

Rosalie just gave her a look that would have buried her immediately if looks could kill, and Bella backed off. As Rosalie walked back to Jacob and Leah, Bella said something to Edward that nobody could quite catch.

Rosalie set her tray down next to Jacob and sat across from Leah at their circular table. Rosalie was an actual, full-fledged bully, and while everybody was used to it, it killed Leah to watch it all the time. It killed her even more to be her friend, but she decided that being friends with a bully (and basically condoning her ugly behavior) was better than being bullied herself.

"That was kinda harsh, Rose," Leah said quietly into her limp French fries and meatloaf.

Rosalie heard exactly what she said. "What was that, Lee?" she asked, testing to see if she would question her again.

Leah looked up. "I said that was kinda harsh," she told her, her voice stronger. "You didn't have to spill milk on his shoes like that."

"Yeah," Jacob agreed, actually taking Leah's side for once. "That was fucked up."

"I just dropped it," Rosalie said. "I didn't know it would break. And, anyway, it's funny. He won't do shit about it, and neither will his weak bitch of a girlfriend." Rosalie's eyes found Edward and Bella sitting at a table on the other side of the cafeteria, near the back. Edward and Bella were just so weird. They were the kind of couple who spent the entirety of lunch staring at each other.

"I just don't know why you're so worried about them," Leah said. "That's it."

"I'm not worried about them at all," Rosalie retorted. "What, are they your new best friends now? 'Cause you can go join them if you want."

"I didn't say all that."

"Then don't worry about it."

Still, though, Rosalie's bullying of Edward and Bella was excessive. Charlie Swan, Bella's father, had been spending a lot of time around Sue (Leah and Seth's mother) since Harry had died. Charlie was basically family and so was Bella, by extension. Leah being best friends with Bella's bully made her look like an asshole, but she couldn't do anything about it because she would rather have Rosalie as a friend than anything else, especially an enemy. Leah was going to take Rose's word, though—she wasn't going to worry about it.

Jacob, however, kept worrying about it. "Doesn't Emmett get fed up with how much you mess with Edward?" he wondered aloud. "I mean, that's his brother."

"Edward's adopted," Rosalie said. "Emmett doesn't like him that much. And, anyway, me and Emmett aren't even dating. I just give him good head, so I can see why he'd pick me over his brother."

"Fair enough." And the conversation was effectively dropped.

They sat in silence for a while, but as the lunch period got closer to the end, Rosalie's entire face lit up. "Leah," she said excitedly.

"Yeah?" Leah asked glumly, disgusted by her meatloaf.

"I'm taking you out tonight."

"For what?"

"Um, for your birthday?"

Oh, duh. "It's Thursday."

Rose rolled her eyes. Then she had her classic mischievous smile on her face. "It's my baby girl's eighteenth birthday, so you know we have to fuck it up."

"I mean, yeah, I guess."

"C'mon, don't be like that. Be excited."

Leah put on a fake smile. "I guess!" she said enthusiastically. "What time should I be ready?"

"We'll be at your place at, like, nine-thirty. Right, Jake?"

Jacob nodded. "Yeah."

Leah was so confused.

Rosalie started to get her stuff together. She stood up, and before she left, she asked Leah in her soft, sultry voice, "Wear something cute, okay?"

Leah narrowed her eyes and cocked her head. "Bitch, I'm poor."

"I meant cute for you."

Leah pursed her lips. "Alright."

Rose smiled. "I'll see you guys later."

She was already gone by the time Leah replied, "Later."

"Could you please tell me what's going on?" Leah asked Jacob.

"Nah, I'm sworn to secrecy."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" she asked bluntly. "You know I hate surprises."

He started to get his stuff together so he could leave. "It'll be fun," he told her. Then he made his voice super high, mimicking Rosalie. "Wear something cute, okay?"

She threw a French fry at him. "Shut up."


At 9:27 that night, Leah was messing with a mostly-dry tube of old mascara, trying her hardest to make something out of nothing. But when she looked in the mirror—truly gazed at herself—she realized she didn't even need it. She had big, brown eyes with glints of hazel, framed by thick, long lashes. Her hair fell down her back in dark brown waves. With some clear lip gloss and hoop earrings, she was fine just the way she was. Her "cute" outfit was cute (for her). She wore a pale pink top that accentuated her cleavage, leggings, her old Converse, and a black jacket that Rosalie had gotten her for her last birthday.

Leah was eighteen years old, and she was feeling herself.

Jacob and Rosalie arrived at her house on time that night, and when Leah realized where they were heading, she got annoyed.

"You really didn't have to make it into a surprise," Leah said from the backseat. "I've had, like, all of my birthday parties at First Beach."

"Who said we were taking you to First Beach?" Rosalie asked her, turning from the passenger seat.

"Second Beach sounds cool, too, I guess," Leah said sarcastically.

"Shut up, Lee. God."

Jacob drove just past First Beach and parked in a gravel lot just away from the main lot. There were other cars around, too.

The three of them got out of the car (and Leah's confidence plummeted once she saw Rosalie's outfit, which was a simple black dress that hugged her curves), and they walked for a while through the woods, following the sound of deep, rhythmic bass. They ended up at a decent-sized log cabin deep in the woods, and Leah could already smell the weed.

Rosalie locked her fingers with Leah's excitedly. "Happy birthday, baby girl," she said with a grin. Right as they entered, everyone in the warm, packed cabin cheered. Leah was rained with happy birthdays and great to see yous by various classmates and Quileute kids she'd grown up with. She didn't know everybody, but everybody knew her.

The music got turned up, and Rosalie and Jacob brought Leah to the kitchen, where Rosalie handed Leah a plastic red cup. "Here's to you, baby girl," she said. "Drink up."

Leah sniffed it. Her nostrils burned. It was about three shots of straight vodka and it smelled like nail polish remover. Rosalie waited for her to chug it, and while Leah was kind of a hard bitch, she had never gotten drunk before. She was a bit of a lightweight, but she didn't let Jacob and especially Rosalie know that.

Leah was already half-gone when Quil Ateara, under the stage name Delinquent V, hopped up on the small stage in the living room. He had speakers and equipment and DJ table all set up. Nobody was paying a lot of attention to him and his DJ, Embry, but everybody was vibing with his music. Leah didn't know if Delinquent V's music sounded better because she was kind of drunk, but he really was good live, like how Jacob said. He had a West Coast sound with southern influences, but his rhymes were smart.

The birthday party doubled as a house show, and Delinquent V really brought the house down during his set. He ended up capturing everybody's attention, and some people even knew his songs.

Quil was just finishing up a banger when Rosalie took a hit of a fresh blunt and then offered it to Leah. Leah hadn't smoked weed before, either, but again, she wasn't going to let Rosalie know that she couldn't hang. Leah took the blunt and put it between her lips, already disgusted, but she lit the end of it and took two half-assed hits while trying not to cough. She passed it back to Rosalie, who took another hit and passed it to Jacob, who was on her other side.

"Hey, motherfuckers," Quil said into the mic. "I wanna dedicate this next song to a very special girl in here."

"What the fuck?" Leah asked loudly, turning to Rosalie. "I don't even like Quil like that."

"Maybe he has a little crush on you," Rosalie replied.

"This is for the baddest bitch at Forks High," Quil said. "Rose, this is for you."

Wait, Leah thought.

Then Quil went into a chill song with clever lyrics. It was about Rosalie, since he was apparently still in love with her, but he mispronounced her name as Rosa-lye in order to rhyme.

Bitch, what the fuck? Leah thought.

The crowd went wild for the song, and some people even rapped and sang along with Delinquent V. Leah, at first, couldn't believe that Rosalie had stolen the spotlight from her on her birthday, but when she thought about it, she really could believe it.

Leah got out of the crowd and went back to the kitchen to pour herself another drink. She ended up staying in the kitchen for a while, talking with Paul Lahote, a guy she and Jacob had known since they were kids and who she hadn't really seen around since last year, right before he dropped out.

Paul was leaned against the kitchen counter, charging his cell phone right next to him. "Happy birthday, Lee-Lee," he told her smoothly.

"Hey, Paul," she said. "I didn't know you partied."

"It's a family party," he said, shrugging. "Gotta come out and show support."

"I guess. Have you seen any vodka around? I'm still too sober for this." In reality, she was crossfaded as hell, but she thought she could still keep drinking. She had a good sober face, too.

"Not vodka," Paul replied. "I was about to do some tequila shots." He nodded towards a bottle next to him. "No chasers, though."

"I don't need a chaser."

"Oh, shit," he said, widening his eyes in mock surprise. "I didn't know you were down."

She rolled her eyes. "Can we do this already?"

"Okay, okay. Damn." He poured them a couple of shots, and they went at the same time. Leah had really underestimated the importance of chasers, especially with tequila, which tasted like a deadly combination of rocket fuel, piss, and regrets.

Leah would have stayed with Paul for longer, but Jared Cameron, another guy she had grown up with as basically siblings, came into their little corner of a kitchen.

"Yo, Paul, I need my charger back," he said. He turned to Leah quickly. "Happy birthday, Lee-Lee."

"What percent you on?" Paul asked him.

"Boy, if you don't give me my damn charger—"

Leah giggled and promised Paul she'd talk to him later. She then went back out to the living room, where Quil was just finishing up his song about Rosalie. Leah squeezed through multitudes of people to get back to Rose, and by the time she got there, Quil had hopped off the stage while another local SoundCloud rapper who nobody knew started to hype up the crowd.

Quil wrapped his arm around Rose. "What'd you think of the song?" he asked her, an impish grin on his face. He was so proud of himself.

"That's not how you pronounce my fucking name," she replied, "but it was cute."

"I did that to make things rhyme better," he said.

Rosalie smiled at him. "Yeah. Alright." She turned her attention back to Leah. "Let's go get some more drinks," she said, grabbing Leah's hand in her own.

Leah, who was definitely faded now, just nodded and went with her back to the kitchen, where Rosalie found more vodka and began to pour them drinks.

Leah drunkenly leaned against the counter. "I have to pee," she said tiredly.

"Then go pee."

"Will you still be here when I come back?"

"Yes, I will, baby girl."

Leah wasn't sure where the bathroom was, but she pushed through people to search for it. It ended up being on the other side of the house, and she had to wait a few minutes to finally use it. Once she was done, she made her way back to the kitchen, where Rosalie leaned against the counter near the sink, making out with Jacob.

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

Leah was disgusted—absolutely, undoubtedly disgusted—but she couldn't bring herself to look away. It was like a freeway pile-up that just kept piling, and piling, and piling. She saw everything. She saw Rose's hands in his hair. His hands all over Rose's ass. Their tongues colliding. It would have been kind of hot on literally any other pair of people.

Leah had never been dating Jacob. A kiss didn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things. But for Jacob to make out with Rosalie—who already had a boy toy and plenty of other boys lusting after her—was too much. Way too much. Leah's stupid, little crush had been squashed, just like her stupid, little feelings.

I need better friends, Leah thought. Preferably ones who aren't human garbage.

Suddenly, Edward and Bella squeezed past her. Bella managed to step on her foot, the klutz. Leah knew they hadn't been invited to the party, but she didn't say anything. At this point, she didn't care. She couldn't bring herself to give even an ounce of a fuck.

Sometime later, Leah was sitting on the couch and passing around a bong between herself, Quil, and Embry, when Rosalie came up to her.

"Have you seen Emmett?" Rosalie asked her urgently.

Leah just shrugged. "I don't know," she said over the music. "I don't really give a fuck, either."

"Don't be like that, Lee."

"Be like what?" Leah was so surprised her voice got higher when she was intoxicated. "You don't care for Emmett like that."

"You don't know what we have. I just need to find him."

"Then go fucking find him."

"You need to chill out."

"No, for real, Rose," Leah said aggressively. "Go find him. Just don't ruin my birthday even more."

"Excuse me?" Rosalie demanded.

"You're kind of a hoe," Leah told her. "I just don't know why you're so concerned with where Emmett is when you have every guy wanting you. You have Jacob wanting you."

"It's not even like that."

"I bet the fuck it's not."

And for the first time, Rosalie gave up on Leah. She just shook her head. "You know what?" she asked her. "This is the last fucking nice thing I do for you."

Leah's eyes followed as Rosalie disappeared into the crowd.


A/N: I don't have a specific schedule for this story with school and all, but stick around. This story is only gonna be 6 chapters long.

Thanks as always,

HS