Fucking Gravity

Chapter 9

I stare down at my phone, a bit numb and a slightly baffled.

Sent 11:58pm

UNKNOWN

Hey

..

Sent 11:58pm

UNKNOWN

I would really like to talk soon. Before I lose my nerve. Meet up tomorrow?

..

Sent 12:02am

UNKNOWN

Oh, this is Leah

I shift on the edge of my bed, feeling stiff all over. My body winces at the protest in my side. I don't actually remember getting the new cluster of bruises, but my dad went far easier than I was expecting. It feels like he might have thrown me into a table, though. My ribs are discolored again, in the shape of a perfect straight line like a table's edge.

My fingers hover over the keys, thinking of a response. There is a vague memory of a conversation in front of my house last night. I think she offered to let me in on the secret the next time we hung out? Is that what this is?

I'm not really surprised that Leah managed to get my number (it's Kim's doing no doubt). Unlike last night, confusion worms its way into my consciousness. Why would she let me in on the secret? It can't just be because of her crush.

After another moment of hesitation, I quickly save the number and shoot off a response.

Sent 8:04am

You

Tomorrow today or tomorrow tomorrow?

I watch the notification almost instantaneously turn from delivered to read and I raise my eyebrow. The three little dots appear and disappear three times, and I huff a laugh, immediately regretting it as it stretches my ribs. I clutch at them, holding my breath until the spike of pain ebbs and then exhaling much more cautiously.

My phone vibrates, and I look down at the response, still holding my side.

Sent 8:06am

My New Friend/Stalker?

Either. Whenever you're free

..

I bite my lip and glance toward the door.

Sent 8:07am

You

9 okay?

..

Sent 8:07am

My New Friend/Stalker?

Yeah!

..

Sent 8:08am

My New Friend/Stalker?

I'll swing by and pick you up

I set my phone down on the bed beside me with a sigh and look despondently around the room. My room is kept neat to the point of paranoia. Not because messiness bothers me, but in the off chance that my father decides to come into my room for some reason or another. The clean room started just toward the end of Elementary school when his punishments started getting more severe.

I've always dreaded his punishments, but what child liked getting walloped by their parent? It wasn't until latter that I realized that the growing punishments, and the severity of them, wasn't normal.

The first time he went off is when I learned that I should hide it- shouldn't talk about it. A group of kids were talking about the punishments their parents gave them for misbehaving and I showed off the bruise on my hip where he kicked me the night before. A teacher overheard and pulled me aside. Explained that what I was saying was a serious accusation, and asked if I really got the bruise the way I said.

The school called my father.

A social worker stopped by to visit.

He charmed them and explained that, I actually got the bruise by clipping it on the table running away from him after being grounded.

And when they left, I learned to not talk about it. It was a lesson I wasn't likely to forget.

I push myself to my feet and go about collecting clothes for my shower, and then almost collide with my dad as I open my bedroom door. He steadies me with one hand, already dressed and ready for work.

"Hey there, Fay," he says lightly, in a good mood. "You got plans today?"

"Gonna hang out with Leah Clearwater for a bit. Maybe get a head start on homework for next week," I say, shifting uneasily.

"Alright, well, don't burn yourself out," he says pleasantly and continues on to the kitchen. I lock myself in the bathroom with another sigh, knowing that he should be gone by the time I get out.

The shower helps relieve some of the stiffness in my bones, and by the time it's time to go, I'm moving around much easier. I don't even wince as I bend down to collect my bag from the ground.

Leah knocks as soon as it turns 9:00, and I wonder how long she's been waiting at the door for as I pull it open. She offers a wide grin that sets me on edge. It looks a bit hysterical.

"Um, hi! Fay. Good morning."

"So far," I say slowly, pulling the door closed behind me. She shuffles down a step, and I follow, clutching a backpack strap. "So, where do you want to do this?"

"Oh, um, right. Okay. Uh.." She looks wildly around, looking like a paranoid, first-time, criminal. Her eyes settle on the tree line behind my house. "Follow me."

I can't help raising my eyebrows as she leads me away from the street and into my backyard. She makes for the trail I've often walked, looking entirely like she intends to lead me further into the trees.

I stop just before the tree line, and it takes her a moment to notice that I'm no longer following her.

"I'm not following you into the woods, Leah," I say, kind of regretting agreeing to this. This is something I'm going to regret finding out, isn't it? Would it be better to know, or just go on ignorant? Kim is okay with it, so it can't be too terrible, right?

Then again, there was that time all those months ago she hid out in my room for an entire weekend, completely freaked.

Leah takes in my mistrustful unease and sags a bit. "Right. Baby steps," she murmurs, and glances around again. If she's looking for privacy, she's got it, even without guiding me who knows where into the wet Washington wilderness.

Leah doesn't come back toward me, where I remain plated at the edge of the trees. She keeps the distance of several yards and stares at me helplessly.

"Okay, so." Both hands come up to clutch at her choppy hair. Everything about Leah right now is a red flag. I have enough nerves on my own without her mounting anxiousness affecting me. "Um. Okay, it's probably best if I just show you."

Her hands drop from her hair as she seems to come to a decision. Then she's undoing the button of her pants and unceremoniously kicking them off while I gape dumbly. When she reaches for the hem of her shirt, I whirl around. It goes against every good sense to turn my back on the girl, but the overwhelming, flustered, panic overrides it.

"What the fuck, Leah?" I grit out, burying my mortified face in my hands. "Is- is this some sort of sex thing? Or are you all nudists or something, or what? Because you really don't need to show me. Words are fine."

There is more rustling of clothes that makes my face burn and my back tense.

"I kind of do," she says, and she sounds embarrassed. "Just… look."

I open my mouth to tell her in no uncertain terms that I'm most definitely not going to look, when there is a heavy weighted thud behind me. My body reacts before I can remember why I'm not looking, spinning to face the noise.

A surprised, fearful, cry falls from my lips, and the shock literally knocks me off my feet. Wooden legs don't work quick right, and I trip backward. My first thought is, oh my god, that giant mutant wolf ate Leah.

It's the grey wolf I saw all those weeks ago, only now silver in the daylight without rain darkening its fur. My next thought isn't so much a solid thought at it is a stream of them, whirling, spinning, starting, stopping, trying to process just what it is that's going on.

The wolf bends, crouching low to the ground, ears flat against its head, as if to look as unthreatening as possible (which is terribly ridiculous because the mere size of the animal is a threat all in itself- even crouched).

When my brain actually starts working, it remembers the stories I grew up hearing- the stories I just heard again last week- and notices that the wolf is crouched directly where Leah was last standing, notices her pile of clothes neatly folded under a tree, notices the weary intelligence shining in it's god damned gold flecked eyes.

Adrenaline aches in my veins as my mind spins and whirls and screeches and starts again for minutes on end, all coming back to the same impossible conclusion.

"What the hell?" I finally breathe deeply. "What the actually fucking hell? God damn it, Leah!" The wolf's ears press further into her skull as she flinches. "Who the fuck tells someone something like this like you just did? There are so many better ways! Like, what the fuck?! Just- change back or whatever- I can't yell at you one sided like this."

As I climb back to my feet, seat of my pants wet and muddy, the monstrous wolf shrinks and folds in on itself until there is just a naked Leah crouching in the shadows of the trees. As she stands upright, without a shred of modesty, I tilt my head back to resolutely train my eyes on the thick clouds above.

"Well, how else are you supposed to tell someone?"

"How about a little warning? Like, 'Hey, you know the stories about the shifters and cold ones? They are real and I turn into a giant ass wolf. I'm going to show you now, okay? So don't freak out.' How about like that? And can you please put some clothes on?" I bit of hysteria creeps from my voice.

"Oh, sorry." There is only the smallest of relief when I hear the rustle of clothes again. "And- it's not like I've ever told anyone before." When the sound of movement stops, I cautiously lower my gaze back to the girl (the wolf-girl). She still stands at the same distance, just staring at me. Her expression is unreadable, now, but her gaze is so intense I can feel it under my skin.

More calmness settles my nerves the longer I exist and breathe- the shock settling my subconscious to this new reality. I'm probably going to freak out and dissect this new world later, but this might be my only chance to get information.

"Why did you tell me, Leah?"

She rocks back on her heels and threads her fingers together. "Kim said that I should just be up front about it. That you'd react better to finding out now, rather than if I waited until you liked me better. So, as soon as it looked like you didn't hate me…"

"But, why tell me at all?" I press. There is an inkling, suspicion circling my mind- the stories freshly seared into my brain. It makes my heart thud erratically in my own ears.

"I- well…" Leah rocks side to side a moment before creeping slowly closer. There is a cautionary, distrustful, instinct to run, but I hold my ground. Against better judgement, I stay. She pauses once she's close enough that I can see the shape and contractions of her blown pupils. "All the stories are true, Fay. And I've… Well, I don't think it's much of a surprise to hear, but I like you. A lot. So… you can do with that what you will."

Brave. She's brave. More than I ever was.

I swallow, feeling the pressure of Leah's happiness- her whole future- resting on my shoulders. I'm not strong enough to carry that, whether I felt the same or not- how can anyone? How can Kim?

There's a quote, I think. Something about two broken things not being able to fix each other? Or is it, two broken people make a whole? Maybe they are both quotes, or neither of them are, but the first one resonates better.

"What do you want?" I ask, far calmer than I feel. This is not the way I thought this weekend was going to go.

Leah's brow creases in concern. "Whatever you're willing to give me."

It's a good answer. Too good to trust. But it's not the one I'm looking for. "No, what do you want from life? Next year, we're going to be seniors. What happens after that?"

"I… I don't know," she looks down at her hands twisting themselves together.

Two broken people can't fix each other.

"When I graduate next year, I've leaving. I'm going to college, and I'm probably never coming back. What do you want, Leah? To stay here, a Protector, forever? You told me you hate fate, destiny, duty- what the fuck does that even mean when you just accept it and go along with it? If this isn't what you want, what is? What-"

"I want to leave!" She snarls, fists clenching and eyes flashing. I stagger a step back, remembering Emily's scars. Was is really a bear, or did one of these so-called Protectors do that to her? Leah takes her own half-step back, clearly fighting control. "I want to leave too- be the first in my family to go to college- make a life outside the reservation. But I can't, so what's the point talking about it?!"

"The only reason you can't, that I can see, is because your grades, frankly, suck."

Two broken people can't fix each other, but maybe we can try.

She gapes at me is disbelief. "I'm a wolf. I've been 'chosen' to uphold the honor and duty to protect the-"

"Now you sound like those old geezers." She stares at me, silently, with an intense, fixated, gaze. It looks lost, and sad, and I sigh. "Look, Leah, they might drill it into your head that it's your duty, but the only one holding you back, is you. The only power the elders have, is influence here on the reservation."

Her body seems to slowly sink into herself, and she folds her arms across her stomach in a show of vulnerability. It amazes me how she so willingly lets me see it, but, then, I'm her imprint, aren't I? Her 'soul-mate?' The 'gravity holding her to the earth?' Gods, what weird supernatural shit did I get myself into? I should have walked away, before I ever let Kim talk me into going to that stupid bonfire, shouldn't I have?

I completely ignore the way my pulse stutters each time the 'but I like you. A lot,' plays in my head. It's not a good idea.


A/N: So... Now she knows... What happens next, I wonder?

Please review, let me know what you think!

~Silver~