The Ateara household was only slightly bigger than that of the Clearwaters. Leah smiled, smelling the weed as she approached the door. Quil's mom didn't care.
She knocked on the door, and Joy Ateara, Quil's mother, answered.
"Hey," she said, trying to smile, "Is Quil home?"
Joy nodded. "He's upset though."
"Could I come in?"
Joy stepped aside, and pushed the door open further.
"Thanks." Leah knew the way to Quil's room. She knocked hard on the door. "Hey, Quil?" she called. No answer. "Quil!" she shouted, and banged hard on the door. She tried the handle, but it was locked.
"I'm afraid he's sulking" said Joy. "Can I get you something to drink?"
Leah shook her head. "Thanks, but no. What's he so upset over?"
"His friend won't talk to him."
"Embry?"
"That's the one."
Leah nodded. "I talked to him a while ago. He had some nasty bug. I guess I'll go see if I can talk to him. Maybe bring him around."
Joy nodded. "I'd appreciate that" she said.
Outside the house again, Leah hugged her black leather jacket closer to herself. It was starting to drizzle.
An idea came to her, and rather than take the five minute walk home, she went around back of the house. Sure enough, Quil's window was open. She peered inside. He was lying on his bed, left arm covering his eyes, right hand holding a joint.
Noiselessly she hopped onto his sill. "Yo, asshole" she said.
He let his arm fall to his side and looked at her. "Do you mind?" he asked. "I'm trying to think, bitch."
She cocked her leg as though preparing to kick him in the face again. He moved. His enormous body seemed to fill the room. "Cut it out" he said.
"What's up? Embry's mom said he's better now. Why won't he talk to you?"
Quil glared at her.
"What? What did you do to him?"
"Nothing, damn it."
"Well something, obviously."
"Leah, go harp on someone else."
Leah made a show of pouting. "Oh, don't be like that" she said. "How about this? I suck your dick for a joint. I know you wanted me to earlier."
"I said shove off!"
Leah's eyes narrowed. She dropped into his room. "Quil," she said, "talk to me."
"Like you want to hear" he said.
"I sure as hell am curious."
He glared at the floor. "Embry's hanging out with Sam."
Danger, danger, danger. Leah sank to sit on the bedside. "He what?"
Quil sat on his floor and took a puff on his joint. "Just what I said. He's got new friends, and suddenly I'm not good enough for him any more. Jake's all I've got left now. That and some bitch who only likes me because I give her weed."
She threw his pillow at him. "You'll always have this" she said, stung.
It hit his head and flopped to the floor. "Yeah, how comforting." He sighed, long and loud. "Now Jake is sick" he said.
Leah raised her eyebrows. "Really?" she asked. "I hope it's something terrible."
"It is...I think it's what Embry had."
Leah seethed, with her eyes open wide. Quil's smoke was getting to her. "You mean right before..."
"Last thing we knew about him. Billy won't let me in the house." He looked at her sideways. "The same thing they all had before they started hanging out with him."
Ice flowed under Leah's skin, and for a moment time itself seemed to freeze as she listened to her heartbeat.
She shook her head, attempting to rid it of the fear inside. "Ok, I need a joint" she said.
Quil pulled a roll out of his pocket, and shoved it under his pants.
Leah got onto the floor next to him and unzipped his fly. His dick was bulging against his boxers. She got it out through the slit, and the joint came out with it.
She wrapped her hand around him and started rubbing. He sighed and smiled.
She leaned down and kissed it. It was already very firm. It also smelled like sweat.
"Don't you ever take a bath?" she asked, without taking her head away.
"Not often, no."
"Figures." She took him in, and slid down until her nose scrunched against his jeans. He tasted worse than he smelled.
"Oh, that's good," he said.
At least Sam was usually clean she thought. Then again, if he hadn't been...I don't think I could do this now. She slid off and looked up at Quil. "Keep smoking" she said.
He frowned. "Why?" he asked.
"Because I said so, dumb ass."
He shrugged and took a puff as she went down again.
When it was done, she put the joint in her pocket, and went to the bathroom to wash her mouth out. Joy did not seem remotely surprised to see her again as they passed in the hall.
In the bathroom, she put a finger in her throat, pushed hard on her stomach, and heaved Quil's essence into the toilet. She rinsed her mouth with hot water from the faucet, and spat it into the sink. The taste was still there.
She went back into his room. "Got a light?" she asked.
He offered one, and she puffed until it took.
"Thanks," he said, "I needed that."
"You're welcome," she mumbled around the roll in her mouth, "I needed this."
The room, already hazy, began to fill with smoke as the two huffed out their troubles into it.
Finally, probably hours later, Leah sighed and got to her feet. Their joints were long gone, but the feeling lingered. "I should go" she said.
"Wait," said Quil, reaching under his bed. He pulled out an old shoe box. "Take this" he said.
Leah frowned and lifted the lid. "All of it?" she asked.
"You earned it. And also...also I thought I might try quitting."
Her eyebrows rose. "Quitting?" she asked.
"Yeah. I mean...I think I may need to. Before I can't"
That brought a frown to her face. "Then keep a couple so you can ween yourself off, ok?"
"Yeah" he nodded, looking at the floor. "I guess you probably won't want me around anymore, if I'm not giving you this shit" he said.
The taste of his dick came back into her mouth, and her gorge rose. "Probably" she agreed.
Leah was reaching for the tea, when she decided to go for coffee instead. She needed something with a stronger taste than what she had just come from.
The marijuana was stashed under her bed, and she had work to do.
She sat and jammed to an inaudible beat as water ran through the coffee maker. When there was enough for a cup, she poured it into her mug and carried the prize into her room.
She put the cup on the nightstand and lay on her bed. She turned on her CD player and pretended to do her homework.
The family car pulled in, and she looked out. Her parents were back. She turned off the music and went to meet them. Only then did she realize that it was almost five in the afternoon.
"Leah, are you going somewhere?" asked her mother.
She looked down, and found that she had not taken her jacket off. She took the moment to do so and hang it up by the door. "Where were you?" she asked. "You weren't here when I got back."
Harry groaned. "I had a doctor appointment" he said. "I give them an inch, just the one inch mind you, and they walk all over me. Trying to tell me I've got a heart problem. Maybe they'd like a look at my liver next."
Leah groaned. "Whatever, just don't die or anything."
"I'll be fine" he promised.
"Good." She went back to her room. Her coffee was done, and most of her homework still wasn't. She was in danger of falling asleep when the phone rang. She rolled over to listen as her father picked it up.
"Hey Charlie" she heard him say.
She stared at the ceiling as her father explained everything that had happened during his time at the hospital. She could feel the origins of a bad headache inside her. Her CD player had cycled all the way through Natasha Beddingfield's Unwritten, and was beginning again.
Then the conversation turned to Jacob Black, and Leah stopped the player. She raised her head and held very still.
Mono, she snorted. Right, I don't think so. More like Bud Asshole's Disease. Next thing I know he'll be hanging out with the support group. Maybe it makes your balls fall off, and that's why it only affects boys.
As the phone conversation wrapped up, she shoved her homework onto the floor. This can be slept on, she decided.
