Fucking Gravity

Chapter 7

"I'm kind of surprised Kim got you to come." She shoves half a burger into her mouth, and my eyes take in her several plates protectively scattered near her in a way that would be difficult for thieves to steal any. The amount of food she has is impossible for any one person to eat (unless that person is one of those huge people participating in some eating contest).

"Kim says I need more friends," I say, turning my eyes away. The strategic hoarding makes sense. I watch Seth sneakily snatch one of the burgers off of Embry's plate, and the boy yelps, trying to hide the rest away, only for Jacob to snatch one from the other side. Embry snarls, hunching over his food stash and angrily stuffs a hotdog into his mouth, side-eyeing the remaining food on his neighbor's plates.

My lips twitch against my will.

"And we are to be your new friends?" Leah asks curiously, and I reluctantly turn my attention back toward her. She's already on a new burger.

"No. Well, I don't know. I just don't want to lose her. She's my best friend and I don't know if I'd win if I forced her to choose between me and you guys."

Leah frowns with a bit of ketchup on the corner of her lip. "Why would you make her choose?"

I shrug, feeling uncomfortable again. I feel like she's choosing every time she wants to spend time with them over me, and I know how pathetic and insecure that sounds.

Leah wordlessly holds out her plate out to me in a sheepish offering. My smile feels more like a grimace as I accept a chip from her plate, even though I still have some on mine- but when her lips twist up, my own smile starts to feel a little more real (because there is still ketchup on her face).

"For what it's worth, I think she'd choose you," she murmurs softly. "She loves Jared but…she loves you, too. More, I think."

Her words are more comforting than I'd expect coming from anyone other than my best friend.

"Hey, it looks like they're starting," Kim says, peeking out from around Quil. Little Claire is in his arms now, passed out and drooling on his shoulder.

I glance around and notice that something is going on. The others have stopped fighting over food and are now looking toward the elders. They sit across the fire closest to the cliffs with the black sky a backdrop behind them. Like the tables and mountains of food, I can't fathom how they got Billy Black and his wheelchair up here.

Embers spark and float into the air, the pop of fire drowning out the wind and sea. Almost as if even nature heeds to these men, the breeze quiets too, leaving only the crackling of the fire.

Quil Atera Sr. is the oldest person on the reservation, and he sits across the fire like a regal king or wizard surrounded by floating, glowing, ash. When he starts to speak, it's easy to believe that mother nature would quite to listen to what he has to say.

I remember listening to him as a child as he told stories and myths to the children on the reservation. No matter how many times he'd tell it, we'd never get bored. He just has that story teller voice that captures audiences.

Even now, years after the last time I heard the stories, I remember them well. Whenever we'd play Cold One and Protectors, I was only ever allowed to play the cold one. The other kids would never let me play the protector, and I eventually stopped trying to join in. Kim didn't like the game much anyway.

Quil Sr. goes through the myths from spirit warriors, Taha Aki, discovering the cold ones, the third wife, and then the Cullens (the good vampires) and the resulting treaty. He also talks about things I've never heard about. Details of a protector (a shifter) such as their raised body temperatures, their bound duty to the tribe, an imprint which becomes a wolf's entire world.

By the time the old man finishes speaking, the fire has burned down to smoldering coals and he's harder to see through the dark. A shadow moves toward the pit, stirring ash and adding more fuel.

The movement and tapered off words break me out of my trance and I turn my head. I jump, meeting Leah's gold flecked eyes which are already staring at me.

"What did you think?" she asks softly as the others around us start getting up and moving around again, gathering trash and talking mutedly together.

I look down at my plate, realizing I hadn't eaten a single bite since the story telling started, but I don't feel very hungry. My stomach turns a bit, but I can't for the life of me figure out why I suddenly feel nervous.

"I don't really like these stories," I reveal.

"Why not?" Leah asks, sounding completely surprised.

"Ask Kim," I shrug, unwilling to go into my childhood woahs. She doesn't go off to ask Kim, though. She places a hand on the log between us and leans against it, using her shoulder to prop her head on as if holding it up is just too tiring.

She catches my eyes again, and I can't look away this time. Her eyes are lidded slightly in lazy comfort as she gazes at me from her tilted angle. She looks at me like I'm the most interesting thing around, and an old flush (that I thought I was over) crawls across my cheeks.

"I don't really like the stories very much, either," Leah says, and it's my turn to be surprised. "They are interesting, sure, but they talk about birthright and duty like that's all that exists- like it's the only option. What if one of the wolves don't want to be a protector? Why can't they talk about that? Also, the stories are a bit sexist don't you think? Yeah, it happened a long time ago and all old-time patriarchy and all that shit, but the power is actually literal in this. They only talk about the men having magic and stuff, why is that?" Leah huffs, and I can't help thinking that it's completely adorable.

"I'm not sure," I say, tasting laughter on my tongue, and the other girl narrows her eyes in my direction. It doesn't make me uneasy this time. Her glare is far too playful, and her lips curl slightly on both ends. She bites her lip in an effort to stop the twitching smile.

"Um," I say, dragging my eyes away before I can do something embarrassing (like stare at her lips). Everyone else is getting ready to leave. All three tables are broken down now, Quil is rocking a sleeping Claire, and Kim is walking around with a giant trash bag, staring at me. Her expression is impossible to see at this distance, but I imagine it to be slightly smug.

Leah and I are the only ones still sitting around the fire, which hasn't yet been doused.

"It looks like everyone is getting ready to leave," I comment. The elders are already gone, along with half of the Specials. I wonder if the old geezers are being carried off the mountain like kings.

"Looks like," Leah sighs before moving to collect her empty plates. She gently takes mine as well, but she lingers once she stands up. "Hey, uh, let me know if you decide that you want me as a new friend after all, okay?"

She looks so hopeful and sincere, that I have a hard time remembering why I've become so weary of her. "Okay," I say softly, and watch her give a jerky, self-conscious, nod before finally picking her way over to Kim. After dumping the trash, Leah takes the bag from her and waves her in my direction.

Kim hurries over quick, a wide grin splitting her face.

"So, how'd it go?" she asks eagerly, and the enthusiasm just wants me to clam up and shut down.

"Fine," I grunt, holding my hands out. She immediately grabs onto them and pulls me to my feet. I shiver under her cold touch. I had almost forgotten how chilly it's gotten. After sitting in front of the fire so long, and sharing Leah's body heat, it now seems like the warmth has drained away from me.

"Just 'fine?'" Kim presses with a knowing smile that aggravates me (and she knows it aggravates me- that's why she does it). She gives me a few pokes to the bruised ribs (not knowing that they're bruised) for extra annoyance.

"More than fine," I relent, scowling as I push away her prodding hands. "Better than you are being right now."

Kim laughs and stops her assault to link her arm with mine. "Okay, fine. Thank you for trying."

I sigh again, wondering if I ever really had a choice in this. They are in my life one way or the other. They'll be either in the periphery or directly in front of me. At least with them directly in front of me, Kim will be too.

"You girls ready?" Jared asks, appearing behind Kim and casually slinging his arm over her shoulder as if he can't be near her without touching her in some way.

"All ready," Kim grins at him, standing up on her toes to place a kiss on his cheek. His face becomes somehow even more love-struck.

"Then let's go," he says and leads the way down the mountain (which is even more nerve wracking than on the way up).

…

I hover in the doorway to the Chem classroom, staring at all the empty seats. My eyes linger over my usual desk before glancing at the one closest to me uncertainly. Someone's backpack bumps into me as they try to squeeze into the classroom, and I quickly shuffle out of the way.

I drop down at the desk closest to the door.

The other students file in periodically, only sparing me a glance before going about their own lives. When Leah steps into the room, I watch her eyes automatically looking toward my table in the back before drifting to her own in what looks like disappointment. She freezes when she spots me.

A kid runs into her back from her sudden stop, but instead of pushing through the door like what happened with me, the kid shuffles backward nervously to wait patiently.

Leah slinks forward slowly and lowers herself onto the stool beside me, never taking her eyes off of me.

I drop my gaze just to the right of her head so that I don't have to look her in the eye directly. "Fantasy. I like fantasy books mostly, but only the ones with a strong female lead or support character that doesn't fall over themselves for love. Actually, I don't tend to really like ones that have a strong love interest- the books really should focus on the magic, they aren't supposed to be romances," I ramble slightly, only able to stop because a massive grin splits Leah's face, pulling my attention to it.

Shit. I thought I was over this.

"So, yeah," I drop my eyes to the desk.

"So, you're anti-romance. Got it," she says, and I can hear ironic laughter in her voice.

"I'm not anti-romance per say," I defend. "Just anti-stupid romance that depicts love as the end-all-be-all- that makes it seem like you can get over anything as long as you love someone. Just love isn't enough."

How are we suddenly talking about love before our chemistry class? This is my fault, isn't it? Is it too late to go back to avoiding her? She seems far too amused by this turn of conversation.

"What, like trust?" she asks, propping her elbow onto the table and slouching her fist into her cheek. Her whole body is turned toward me, showing that I hold all of her attention.

"No, like… Not being smothered by that love. In all those stories there is the hero and whoever the hero falls in love with and then, suddenly, the hero gets to dictate everything the love interest does in the name of 'keeping them safe' or some other crap. Her voice gets drowned out and smothered, and suddenly there isn't two people, it's the hero and the equivalent of their affectionate pet."

"I get the feeling you've thought about this before," Leah comments, and I glance up to see her raised eyebrows.

So, what if I have? I shrug. "Some flaws can't and shouldn't be overlooked just because you love someone."

"Have any experience with that?" Leah asks, voice turning more serious rather than conversational.

"Class is starting," I tell her, turning my attention to the teacher.

It's a terrible change of topic, but she lets me because the teacher really has stood up to start the introduction of a new lab. One thing that I'll give Leah credit for: even though she doesn't care about her own grades, she doesn't try to distract other people from theirs.

A/N: So, they're getting along a bit better now... Don't worry, there is still lots of conflict to come. I think this particular story is going to tackle a bunch of problems I imagine can come with impriting.

Thanks for reading; please review!

~Silver~