I do not own Twilight
CH 8
Akeala's POV
"I'm posting this and tagging you," Leo said eagerly, showing me a video he took of me dropping into Axel's drained pool as we walked back to his house for lunch. We spent most of the week over there, me showing them some tricks and just skating around.
"Oh, cool," I said, my skateboard tucked under my right arm. "I didn't realize you posted stuff like that." I said thinking about how there weren't a lot of pictures of girls up there.
"You mean cool girls doing cool shit," he laughed, and I blushed uncomfortably. I rarely felt cool.
"Well, there's no girls up there at all," I said.
He shrugged. "There were. Well, really just one girl. One girl I dated for a while, but after we broke up last Christmas, I took them down."
I was surprised by my friendship with Leo. He was kind and refreshingly honest, unlike Devin who was always putting on airs. Leo made me feel comfortable. Comfortable enough to finally ask my burning question.
"Leo, what does phase mean?" I asked in a quiet voice as we walked back under the cloud cover. His eyes widened as he looked ahead. I could see that the question made him nervous, but I didn't understand why. It confirmed to me that he definitely knew something.
"Uh, what do you mean Keal?" he said, scratching the back of his neck, moving around his shaggy black hair.
"On one of the videos you posted. Will said he was going to phase… when you threw a water balloon at him…"
"Oh, I think he just meant he was going to be pissed. I forgot that was up there", he said, throwing me a smile as drizzle set in.
"But… it's just that I heard it before. When my mom was talking on video chat to my Uncle… before we came here. They talked about Omar phasing." He gulped at that. "And then… a few days ago at the barbecue, when I went to the bathroom I heard that Paul guy and my Uncle Seth talking about it again…"
He seemed nervous, his voice dipping down even though no one was in sight. "Did you talk to Omar about it?" he asked. I shook my head.
"I dunno, Keal. I think you should talk to your mom about it. It's not really my secret to tell."
"Secret?" I asked, confused. He shrugged but before I could ask anything else we were distracted by loud and intense shouting. Will and Ava screamed at each other on his front porch. It was my turn to gulp.
"You're mine, Ava!" he said, his eyes black, muscles bursting out of his shirt, the rain coming down heavier.
She scoffed. "Please Will, I don't belong to anyone," she said as she tried to shove him a box full of things.
"You do, and I don't fucking share." What a Neanderthal, I thought.
She became infuriated. "What about all the girls who have had to share you?"
"Fuck, Ava. Is that what this is about? Are you jealous, babe? None of them mean anything to me, baby, only you." He said, not shouting anymore, trying to touch her arm.
She scoffed at him and pulled away. "No, I'm not fucking jealous. Of course you would think that. This is about you treating girls like shit, me like shit, and thinking you can just get away with it Will."
"And so you go fuck Theo? My brother?" She rolled her eyes. Brother, I questioned in my head. At that moment, almost as ifnone cue, Theo's car pulled up.
"Mother fucker," said Will irate, Leo and I finally coming into his periphery just at that moment. He stared at me as Theo made his way to them. "Get her the fuck out of here, Leo. Now!" Leo grabbed my arm and pulled me away from his yard and towards my house. The three of them continued to squabble and went further back out of sight, but I could hear… was that growling? Howling?
"Are there animals back there?" I asked, in shock, my voice nearly trembling, the rain really picking up.
"Yeah," scoffed Leo, rapidly pulling me forward, his soaked t shirt clinging to his body, "it's not safe when they're like this." He nearly pulled me back the whole way in silence, my heart racing as it poured down on us. When we got to my grandma's I saw an unfamiliar brown truck parked outside. As we got closer I could make out the figure in the passenger seat as my mom. She was with the angry guy from Uncle Seth's barbecue. As Leo and I hurried out of the rain she got out of his truck.
Paul, who I couldn't even look him in the eye because he was so intimidating, noticed us first. He rolled down his window, chiding Leo to get in his car, but I couldn't figure out what Leo had done wrong.
Leo turned to me quickly. "I'm sorry you had to see this, Keal. I'll text you later, okay?" He reached out for my shoulder and I watched as my mother took notice when she walked up from the truck. Any awkwardness was replaced by fear as another deafening howl broke out, this one long and steady.
"Fuck. NOW LEO!" Paul boomed. Leo rushed into the cab as my mom made it to the porch.
As they drove off, I turned to my mother. "What is that noise?" I asked her, both is us soaked from the rain.
"Wild animals," she shook her head.
"But they seem so close," I said, pausing. "What were you doing with that man?" I asked, trying to meet her eyes but she was avoiding me.
"I got caught in the rain on my run. He just gave me a ride back. He's one of the guys I worked with when I lived here," she said steadily as she made her way into the house.
"When you were a camp counselor?" I questioned. "He doesn't really seem like a camp counselor type, mom." She shrugged her shoulders, as she checked in on my grandma who was still napping. Mom shut grandma's bedroom door and then got two towels from the hall closet, tossing me one.
"Go change your clothes Akeala," she directed me, but I wasn't thinking about being wet.
"Mom. You're not telling me something. What is going on?" She likely was listening to me, but I hadn't gotten her attention as she moved around the living room, headed to her room to change. "Mom," I said uncharacteristically loudly, but still not getting a glance from her. "Mom, what does phase mean?" I said steady and clear. Immediately her eyes, uncharacteristically distressed, met mine.
"Did Leo say that word to you?" She asked, trying to sound undisturbed.
"No," I said, exasperated. "I heard it from you when you were talking to Uncle Seth. And then again at the Barbecue, I heard Uncle Seth and that guy you were in the car with talking about it. I asked Leo and he wouldn't tell me, and said I should ask you."
She took a deep breath, reaching out to my wet arm. "Akeala. Take a shower and change, I'll take one too. I'll make some tea and we can talk about it. Okay?" I looked at her for a bit, but then nodded my head at the stillness of her words. There was a coolness to it that calmed me, but also an all knowingness that made me want to curl up in her lap like I did when I was six.
"Okay, mom." I said, still nervous about what we would talk about but also relaxed that whatever it was, she would help me handle it.
A/N: Next chapter we hear from a new character's POV. Who do you think it will be? Please review!
