10 Years Later - mid-June
To any student, it had to have been some sort of punishment to run around the edge of the school property on the hottest day of the year, nevermind it being the last day of school. But Leah Clearwater couldn't handle being cooped up indoors and being surrounded by teenage emotions and hormones any longer. So, she sent her entire class of sophomore and junior boys on a run.
It should have came as no surprise to the students. Leah's reputation as the small tribal school's physical education teacher was that she was tough, not just in marking but in her demands. But at the end of the day, she brought out the best of her students and she loved her job.
They were all aware of her hasty marriage and subsequent divorce to her husband nine years prior. With a population of just a little more than 200, it didn't take long for her story to travel through the reservation grape-vine. Of course, everyone had their own assumption as to what could have happened between the couple and the rumours began. It was her students' conclusion that her ex-husband must have left her in order for her to be consistently in a bad mood. But for those who really knew Leah, they simply recognized it as her defensive strategy. Throwing herself into her work and investing her time into her students and family became her coping mechanism. Yet no one would ever call her out on that in fear of getting their own heads chewed off.
With her sunglasses over her eyes, she smiled as she heard her students groan and complain as they ran. She didn't know what there was to complain about. The tribal school property wasn't all that large and it was beautiful day. Besides, summer vacation was in less than a twenty minutes. Nothing could ruin her day.
Leah's mind went over the various plans she had for her summer; taking Jacob and Jo's youngest son, Liam and Seth's daughter, Hannah to the zoo in Seattle, dragging Sarah Black from her father's garage and force girl time on her no matter how much the 13 year old complained, shopping in Port Angeles with her Mom and Jo and simply relaxing on the porch with a good book. None of her plans involved guys. Family was important to her and for the first time in a long time, she was content.
She hadn't phased in over eight years and with it, tossed out any chances of imprinting. At first, Leah was relieved that that portion of her life was left to her own decision. When she had met Mark around the same time as when Liam had been born, she thought that the man could do no wrong; he was perfect. So much so, that she married him in a quick civil ceremony in Port Angeles, much to Sue and Seth's disappointment. Ignoring their opinions, Leah had moved out of La Push with Mark and only after a month, realized that he had been cheating on her. She could feel that insatiable anger rise up her spine that she hadn't felt in years. Although her return to La Push and divorce to her husband had been a surprise, Sue, the pack and the elders, welcomed her back. It wasn't long after that that she applied for a vacant position at the school and had been working there ever since.
Even though Leah's position at the school was just a job, she knew it was so much more. She could still sense that inner wolf within her feel protective towards the children of the pack. Her eyes would instinctively search them out, ensuring that they are safe and well. Although it was only Quil who was actively phasing, which he had done in order to keep himself young to grow old alongside Claire, the pack still existed in human form and included the next generation despite the kids being completely oblivious to the legends being real. A large part of Leah wished that she had made better decisions and would be able to watch her own child interact with the kids who were now teenagers. But for now, she was happy simply being Auntie Lee, not only to Seth's 4 year old daughter, but also to Jacob and Jo's kids.
Near the beach where the school was situated, she could see as Nate walked along the property while his classmates would run past. Squinting her eyes, she noticed him watching a group of students sitting beneath a tree surrounded by their book bags. Leah recognized them as a few of the graduating seniors and a couple junior girls, including Liz Uley.
She knew that although the Uley and Black families were friends, it was rare that Liz and Nate were seen together at school. Liz had her friends and Nate has his own. They simply grew apart as they got older.
Leah grew concerned when she saw Nate stop walking and bent over at the waist. There wasn't much that scared Leah, but remembering the boy at seven years old gasping for a breath had scared the shit out of her. At the same time, she knew that he hadn't had an asthma attack since then. Jacob and Jo, as well as Billy Black and her own Mom had been deligent to make sure that he kept up with his medication. Their fear was that if a vampire came onto their land, that the next reaction could be worse than the first.
Leah turned her nose up into the air and took a deep breath, catching any astringent burning scent that may have come their way. She relaxed slightly when she didn't notice anything unusual. So, she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted towards Nate.
"Come on, Black! Your grandpa can move faster than that in his wheel chair!"
A smile came to her face as she watched Ryan Lahote come running up beside his cousin and elbow him in the side, and quickly teased saying he was too slow causing Nate to chase after him.
Suddenly feeling competitive, the pair raced side by side along the perimeter, passing a few other students before coming to slow down beside Talon Uley who had locked himself at a good pace. With Ryan on one side and Nate on the other, the three boys suddenly raced ahead, keeping up with each other until they came around to where Leah was standing.
"Good hustle, boys!" She exclaimed before calling Nate over towards her.
Breaking off from his cousin and friend, Nate turned and jogged towards Leah and came to a stop in front of her, his chest heaving from exertion.
"How you doing out there today?"
Nate nodded, and stretched his arms over his head. He smiled brightly, so much so that Leah couldn't help but see Jacob in his smile.
"Great."
"Really? Cause it looked like you were struggling out there."
Nate shook his head and casually glanced around as a group of students ran past where they stood. Leah knew the teen well enough to know that he was avoiding her eyes.
"I'm fine," he insisted. "I was just taking a quick break."
Leah wasn't entirely convinced and by Nate's tone, she could tell that there was something else going on.
"You took your medication this morning?"
Nate chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Mom reminded me to take those nasty herbs that Old Quil always gives Grandpa for me to take. I'm starting to think that Old Quil has been taking some herbs of his own, if you know what I mean."
Leah snorted and nodded. "They're supposed to help your breathing."
"My breathing is fine," he argued. "It's always fine."
"Good!" She exclaimed, with a smile. "That means they're working."
"I don't know why everyone is so paranoid when I haven't had an asthma attack since I was like 8," Nate stated. "I've outgrown most of my allergies, and I'm sure that my asthma is a thing of the past."
Leah crossed her arms. "Fair enough. But that still doesn't explain why you weren't keeping up with the group."
Nate sighed, feeling Leah's piercing gaze waiting for him to answer.
"It wouldn't have anything to do with those kids by the trees, would it?"
Nate's head suddenly lifted and surprise filled his eyes. He turned his head, looking to see the small group of students sitting far across the school property from where they stood.
"You can see them from here?"
"You'd be surprised. I have eyes everywhere," Leah commented cheekily with a smirk.
"So which one is it?"
"Which what?"
Leah crossed her arms, a mischevious expression on her face.
Now that Seth was married, she could no longer tease her brother about the girls who would watch him from afar or the ones he'd be interested in, yet wouldn't be interested in him. As happy as she was for Seth when Charlie introduced him to Amanda Whitehead from the Forks Police Department and they had begun dating, she no longer could tease him in that way. Being that Nate was now seventeen, Leah found that it was the perfect time to tease her younger cousin about girls, dating and the lack of it. In all honesty, she loved him and was simply looking out for him. To her, Nate had such a soft heart compared to most guys in his grade and a quiet demeaner. He wasn't the tallest in his class, nor was he muscular. He was much like Jacob had been years before the shape shifting gene had been turned on, yet she knew that Nate had his admirers within the younger grades. By inheriting Jacob's bright smile and eyes along with Nate's lighter complexion thanks to Jo's background and wavy mop of chin length hair set had him apart and made him unique within the tribal school.
"Which girl were you watching?"
Leah watched as her cousin's face flushed red. Nate showed his emotions on his sleeve as much as Jacob had at that age.
"Just please don't tell me it's Liz Uley..."
Nate's head shot up at the mention of her name.
"What?! Oh my God!" He exclaimed, visibly shocked before he chuckled. "Liz is like my sister. That is just so wrong in so many ways!"
Leah held up her hands apologetically.
"You know what? Don't tell me then! I don't want to know. Sometimes I think you're too young to be thinking about girls. Just don't get your head so full of them that you have no room for anything else in there, got it? You've got one more year before university. You don't want any distractions messing that up."
Nate chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, Aunt Lee. Mom and Dad give me the same spiel. You'd think they're wanting to get rid of me or something."
"Nah," Leah replied. "They want the best for you. Neither of them were able to go to university and we all want you to succeed."
Nate sighed audibly. "I know, I know. But it would help if I knew what I want to do for university."
Leah put her hand on Nate's shoulder. "You have a good couple of months before you have to apply. No pressure."
Nate snorted. "No pressure, huh? It's just one of the biggest decisions of my life."
"Don't sweat it, kid. You'll be fine."
"Thanks Aunt Lee."
"You know that it's Miss Clearwater at school, bud," she stated, just as Ryan came running past again and poked Nate in the side.
"Let's go!" He exclaimed. "We've already lapped you!"
Talon laughed as he raced after the pair.
It wasn't too much longer before the bell rang, signaling the end of another school year. Leah called her class inside to get changed and to get ready to leave for home.
Nate walked out of the school to see both his siblings standing around the front entrance. His eye quickly caught Liam as the ten year old boy had his head down, playing some hand held video game while Sarah leaned against the brick wall, ear buds in her ears and a book in her hands.
Ignoring his sister, Nate walked up to Liam and quickly covered his eyes with his hands.
"Hey! I can't see!"
Nate chuckled and even Sarah glanced over, a smile on her face as she pulled out the ear buds.
"I think that is the point!" Nate retorted before he pulled back his hands and began to walk out to the parking lot. "I could have walked by and you'd not even notice. Uncle Charlie would have to come all the way back here in order to pick you up."
"I knew you were there," Liam argued, as he ran forward to catch up with his brother and sister.
"Sure you did," Sarah chuckled. "Your eyes haven't moved from that screen in your hands for almost five minutes."
Liam scowled. "How do you know? You just walked out."
Sarah laughed again. "I've been standing here watching you since I came out to wait for Nate five minutes ago!"
Nate joined in the laughter with his sister.
"Either way, you just ruined my game! I have to start the level all over again," Liam stated, shoving his video game into his back pack as he walked with Nate and Sarah.
The siblings walked up to the old red Rabbit that Jacob had redone a few times over since he had been young. The front passenger door protested as Sarah opened it and she winced.
"Yeah, yeah," Nate said, seeing the complaint on his sister's face. "It needs some oil."
She shook her head.
"Some?"
Liam climbed into the backseat as Nate turned on the engine. Again, Sarah winced.
"Seriously Nate, this car is sounding horrible," she told him. "You must have missed an oil change or something. If you'd let me take a look..."
"Oh, hell no!" Nate exclaimed, while putting the car into gear before he drove it off the school lot. "You are not working on this car. It's the only one I have. Dad gave it to me to use for the time being and I don't have enough savings yet to buy a new one. I'm busy enough saving for college."
Sarah scoffed, rolling down the window to cool off as they drove through La Push. "I've seen this engine. It isn't too complex and you know that Dad taught me enough to be able to find my way around under the hood of a car. Uncle Embry, Quil and Dad are probably all too busy working on client cars whereas I'll look at it right away and I'll do it for you for free, and not because you're my favourite big brother."
Nate momentarily glanced her way to see the excited and smiling face of his sister looking back at him. He shook his head adamantly.
"Uh uh, no way! The problem with you and cars is that, you'll start with something simple, like an oil change and by the time you're done, the entire engine is rebuilt and I'd be without a car for months. It's the summer and I'm going to be working at Aunt Sue's restaurant. I need a working car."
Sarah rolled her eyes.
"Your lack of confidence in me is insulting."
Nate scoffed, as Liam leaned forward from the backseat and glanced to Nate on his left and Sarah on his right.
"You know, Sarah," Liam began. "He has a point."
"Oh, shut up."
With a smile and without saying a word, Nate held his right palm back towards Liam, which he enthusiastically high fived while Sarah leaned forward to turn on the radio.
When they pulled into the parking lot at Sue's restaurant, it wasn't too busy. The evening rush of dinner was still a few hours away. Nate pulled the car up into an empty spot alongside Charlie's cruiser before the three climbed out of the Rabbit. Charlie must have seen the car pull in and was making his way out of the restaurant to meet them.
"Hey Uncle Charlie!" Liam exclaimed, walking towards him as he tugged his back pack over his shoulders.
"Hey pal," Charlie said, with a wry smirk. He ruffled his hand through the ten year old's hair. "You ready to go?"
"Yup! Can I sit in the backseat like you just arrested me?"
Charlie chuckled and unlocked the car. "Be my guest. Just don't get too comfortable back there. I don't ever want to see you in the back of a cruiser on any other day."
He paused and looked up at Sarah. "You stickin' around here or comin' along to hang out with the guys at your Grandpa's?"
Sarah smirked. She knew exactly who the 'guys' consisted of - Billy Black, Charlie Swan and her little brother. To her, it didn't sound like too much fun but it would be much more enjoyable than hanging around the restaurant waiting for Nate to finish his afternoon shift. In the very least, she could have fun exploring her Dad's old garage on her Grandpa's property. Her Dad still had quite a few interesting tools and things that he stored there.
"I'm coming along," Sarah replied, as Charlie nodded.
"You've got shot gun," he stated, as Sarah walked around the cruiser to climb into the passenger seat.
Liam was already in the back, enjoying the fact that he was in the backseat of the police car when Charlie turned to Nate.
"Your Mom is picking them up later when she's done at the office, right?"
Nate nodded.
As much as Jo enjoyed baking, the monotonous of the repetition in creating cookies and muffins each day would have nearly drove her insane. She needed the interaction with people and the excitement of variety. Although Jo had been offered to work part-time alongside Emily Uley with Sue at her restaurant, when she realized how little organization there was at Jacob's garage, she ultimately became the manager. Between her and Jacob, the garage ran smoothly; he in the garage itself, and her in the office portion. Her general knowledge of cars and parts from when she worked at the auto wreckers many years ago once again came in handy. Jo took care of the bookkeeping, and appointments, and ensured that customers were satisfied while they waited. They were the things that weren't Jacob's strongest suits.
As Nate turned to walk towards the restaurant, Charlie continued.
"Uh, Nate, I was doing some thinking," he began, causing Nate to look back at him. "Since you and Sarah and Liam are going to be staying with us for a few days this coming weekend while your folks are away, I was wonderin' if you were wantin' to come fishin' with your Grandpa, Old Quil and me. We could have some sort of male bondin' time while Sue takes Sarah and Liam with a few of the rez kids to the fair in Forks."
Nate stared at Charlie in confusion. As far as Nate was aware, his parents weren't planning on going away. While Nate tried to think of what was going on, Charlie took his hesitation as Nate silently not wanting to go.
"But, if you're not wantin' to come..."
"No, no, I do," Nate quickly interrupted. "It's just...I didn't know Mom and Dad were going away."
Charlie nodded, running his hand along the back of his neck.
"Yeah, seems like they're finally using that anniversary gift that Aunt Sue, your Grandpa and I gave them last year."
Nate thought back, recalling how excited Sue was to give his parents the three night stay at a hotel in Seattle along with tickets to go to the top of the Space Needle. Knowing that he would be in charge of the house while they were away, he remembered encouraging them to go the following weekend, but of course, they were busy. They were always busy but at the same time, Nate had a suspicion that they simply didn't like leaving the reservation for too long.
For as long as Nate could remember, he could not recall a time where his Mom and Dad were away on their own from La Push for more than a day. Even when his younger sister and brother were born, they had remained on the reservation to be close to their children. He found it odd but always chalked it up to the fact that they were home-bodies. So, to find out that his Mom and Dad were actually going to be gone for more than one day was exciting, except for the fact that it appeared that his parents had arranged for Uncle Charlie and Aunt Sue to baby sit.
But, he was seventeen years old! He didn't need a babysitter! He could look after Liam and Sarah. Hell, he drove them to and from school each day and would watch them until one of his parents would get home from work. And there were the countless council meetings that they'd be attending where Nate would have to stay up late at night while Liam and Sarah slept. But again, they had never left the reservation. It wasn't like he wasn't responsible enough.
As that thought raced in his head and his offence grew, he tried to think back to perhaps a time when his Mom and Dad had mentioned going away, but he came up with nothing.
"They never mentioned it," Nate told him.
"Well, it probably slipped their minds. You know how busy they can get," Charlie said with a shrug. "Either way, your Aunt Sue and I are looking forward to having you guys over."
Nate forced a smile onto his face while Charlie climbed into the car before Liam leaned forward, asking for confirmation about what he had just overheard outside of the cruiser. With a sigh, Nate turned and headed towards the restaurant door.
When he arrived, the restaurant was pretty bare. Nate hadn't said much after he had arrived, much to Sue's concern. But he brushed it off, saying he was tired when in actuality, Nate was trying to figure out in his mind how he'd be able to get out of staying over at the Swan's. As much as he loved his Aunt and Uncle, he couldn't help but decide to approach his Dad the next time he saw him and try to convince him that he'd be able to look after his siblings at home.
As the hours of his shift moved into the dinner hours, the restaurant entrance became a revolving door with people coming to dine in while people stood around waiting to pick up orders to take out. Sue was busy, walking back and forth between the kitchen and the front desk, while her employees worked hard to serve the patrons that were staying for the dinner rush.
With an apron around his waist, Nate quickly turned to head towards another table when he felt himself bump into someone.
A/N - To anyone who knows my writing style, I like to set the stage with characters, events and conversations that may have something poignant to the plot later on. That being said, this isn't just a filler chapter. And...the next part is nearly complete. After some editing, I should have it published by Thursday...more reviews and I'll have it as soon as tomorrow. ;) So, you know what to do.
For those who have reviewed in the past, thank you so much. I appreciate your thoughts, suggestions and comments.
