The Rabbit was flying up the 101 northbound, rain splattering against the windows. Bella was sitting shotgun, Leah splayed in the backseat, with Jacob at the wheel.

They were listening to a mix CD that Jacob had brought from home. Leah had grumbled at first, but even she had no choice but to dance when the first song came on.

"YES!" Bella cranked the volume.

Jacob was dramatically singing along while driving, miming holding a microphone. "Maybe I'm just too demanding, maybe I'm just like my father, too bold. Maybe you're just like my mother, she's never satisfied..."

Bella whipped around and faced Leah in the backseat. "Did you grab the tickets?"

Leah grinned and flashed three concert tickets from her inside jacket pocket.

Bella relaxed and let the tones of the 80's pop hit move her body in her seat. "My mom LOVES Prince. She used to blast Purple Rain on Saturday mornings while she did yoga and I cleaned."
"Your mom made you clean on Saturday mornings?" Jacob demanded.

"No way. If it was up to her we'd have lived in a sty," Bella laughed.
Leah rolled down her window a crack and started to light a cigarette.
"Uh-uh! Absolutely not, not in my car." Jacob's long arm shot into the backseat to snatch the lighter out of Leah's hand.
"Eyes on the road!" Leah smacked his hand away.
Bella shook her head and laughed. She placed a hand over her heart, feeling it beating in her chest. She smiled wider and let her eyes slide closed.

Jacob dropped the girls off in front of the concert venue and circled the block, looking for parking. They were more than an hour early and the doors hadn't opened yet. They were moseying down the sidewalk when Leah caught sight of their reflections.

"Wait." She grabbed Bella's wrist to keep her in place while digging in her little backpack for the disposable camera she'd started carrying everywhere they went.

Bella rolled her eyes but waited good-naturedly while Leah pulled them in front of the tall reflective glass. She threw an arm loosely around Bella's narrow shoulders - she was so much taller than her - and snapped a picture of them. Leah's smirk was barely visible around the camera held in front of her eye. Bella grinned so hard her eyes crinkled, her own arm around Leah's waist.

Once Jacob caught up to them, the three of them walked arm-in-arm - Bella in the middle - looking for something to do to kill some time.

It had been a rainy fall, and the evening had a chill. They debated stopping in a little cafe for a cappuccino, but a neon sign caught Leah's eye.

"Psychic! Let's go get our future told."
"That's a racket, Leah. If you want to spend $20 to be told you'll die sad and alone, I'm taking donations," Jacob teased.
"I don't know. My mom used to read tarot cards, sometimes she made some eerie observations." Bella piped up.
"Of course your mom read tarot cards. That's the most Renee thing I've ever heard." Jacob snorted.
"I just want to hear the bullshit they pull out of thin air. Come on, it'll be a laugh." Leah was already towing them across the street to the tiny storefront.

A tiny bell jingled as the three of them slipped through the door. The dark blue velvet curtains in the window were obscuring a tiny front room, with bookshelves lining two walls. A tiny table set in the back right corner with two chairs had a small Tiffany lamp hanging over it, the only source of light in the room except for the neon sign throbbing purple in the window. Another floor-length velvet curtain obscured the way to the back of the store.

There was a small loveseat against the front windows. Jacob plopped down and tried to pull Bella down with him, but she resisted, instead turning to examine the bookshelves. They were piled high with religious texts, new-age and metaphysical books.

"Hello, my dears." A slight, dark-haired young woman peered at the three of them from behind the curtain. "Do you come for answers this evening, or for entertainment?"

Jacob and Leah sniggered, looking at one another. Bella rolled her eyes at them.
"Probably a bit of both," Bella replied.

The young woman smiled. "I'll be right with you, then."

"My dears," Leah murmured.
"This was your idea, Leah! Try to be open minded," Bella admonished.

The young woman entered the room, bringing with her the smell of incense. She held a silk pouch in her hand; her large green eyes carefully regarded the three young adults in her front room. She rustled in the pocket of her large skirt for a business card, which she handed to Bella.

"I'm Rose. This is my shop," the woman smiled.
"Bella. This is Leah and Jake." Bella gestured to her companions, who had both settled on the loveseat.

"Are you interested in a reading?"

"What does it entail?" Bella's cheeks had turned a light shade of pink.

"We can do several readings. I think we'll want to stick with... the Rider-Waite deck." Rose had gently passed her hand over Bella's. "For you, free, if your two friends want a reading as well?"

Bella raised her eyebrows at Leah and Jacob.
"Sure." Jacob shrugged. He nudged his now-silent companion.
"Yep." Leah nodded.

Rose guided Bella over to the small table and pulled a deck of tarot cards out of the silk pouch. They were the width of a typical deck of cards, but the cards were longer. Rose shuffled the deck with deft, quick fingers.

"What are you looking for, Bella?" Rose asked. "What do you want to know, and why do you want to know it?"

Bella cleared her throat. "I'm not sure." She bit her bottom lip. Her hands were clasped, held between her thighs. Jacob watched her intently. Leah stood up and turned her back turned on the room, looking at the books.

Rose spoke while she shuffled. "Tarot uses a mixture of symbolism and historical and cultural knowledge to communicate complex ideas. It's less so a means of direct divination. I like to think of it as... sort of a guided meditation or introspection," Rose's voice was quiet and rhythmic. She closed her eyes. "It's a process of asking questions and finding answers, guided by chance and Spirit."

Bella nodded. Jacob leaned forward, elbows on his knees, waiting to see what Bella's cards would tell her.

Rose dealt three cards.

"I'm doing a simple three-card draw here. This," she touched the card on Bella's left, "represents the past. This, the present." She touched her long finger to the card in the middle. "This card represents the future."

Bella nodded. Rose turned over the card on the left.

"Hm. Seven of Cups in reverse." Bella looked at the card, upside-down to her. The seven yellow chalices held symbols she didn't understand - a snake, an olive branch, a red-rimmed figure obscured.

"You had many choices before you, but your choice was either made for you, or you were overwhelmed and were unable to choose yourself," Rose murmured thoughtfully. "A loss of agency."
Bella swallowed hard, then wore a small wry smile. Jacob's eyes followed her arm, only barely resisting snaking around her middle.

Rose flipped over the card in the middle.

"Hm. The Moon."

The card was two canine figures - one domesticated, one wild wolf, both howling up at a huge full moon. They stood on either side of a riverbank.

"This card is one of the Major Arcana - indicating a strong mystical force. The Moon is associated with the occult, with the supernatural. It's about the interplay between this world that we occupy, and the world that is inaccessible to us, but that we sense coiled up around us..."

Bella just nodded. Leah was watching out of the corner of her eye.

Rose moved onto the final card. "The Queen of Pentacles." Rose had a small smile playing on her lips. "This card depicts a strong feminine presence. She is master of her realm - no housewife, but a woman who can work her magic in the background, holding tight to her responsibilities to the world she loves. This lies in your future."

Rose sat back, looking at Bella's face as the girl gazed down at the cards. "Do you have any questions? What do you feel?"

"I feel... Confused by this card." Bella touched the Queen of Pentacles card, indicating her future.
Rose almost giggled. "I told you that in your present moment, you are straddling the line between the seen and unseen worlds, and you are confused at the images of strength and power in your future?"

Bella blushed. "I suppose... when you put it that way, I understand." Jacob had come to stand behind Bella and gently rubbed her arm.

"I think it's my turn, Bells." Bella thanked Rose and went to stand next to Leah at the bookshelf. Leah whispered something in Bella's ear that made her laugh. She relaxed.

Jacob leaned back in the chair Bella had just vacated.

His huge frame belied the boyish, almost-shy look he had now, looking at Rose as she smiled lightly and shuffled the deck.
"How about you, Jacob? What are you asking, what are you hoping to learn?"
Jacob shrugged. "Guess I want to see my future. I mean, I know it's that I'll be a ladies man of epic proportions, Don Juan of the west coast..." Leah chortled and Bella rolled her eyes. Jacob grinned at Rose.

Rose didn't look up from the cards as she laid out three in the same positions in front of him. "The same three positions here - past, present and future."

Rose turned over the first card.

"I see. The Fool."

"You sure that's not in the wrong spot? I'm pretty sure that's Jacob every day of his life." Leah supplied helpfully. Jacob snorted.

Rose shook her head lightly at Leah. "The Fool isn't necessarily a pejorative. But it does indicate an inexperience in life, an optimism that is informed by youth and beginners' luck."

Jacob's face hardened as he regarded the vagabond depicted on the card, looking up at the perfect blue sky as he was stepping off a cliff.

Rose turned over the middle card. "Your present. Ten of Wands." The figure carried 10 large staffs, hunched over. "You are burdened with too great a responsibility. I believe that the transition from this-" she touched the first card lightly- "to this, must have been disruptive at the least. I can see that it is a heavy responsibility that you carry." Jacob huffed and peeked at Bella. She gave him a smile.

Rose flipped over the final card. "The Star." She bowed her head as she let her eyes close for a brief moment, as if in prayer. "You are where you are meant to be. Leadership suits you, Jacob. It is the convergence of your physical and spiritual power. It is hope, bright and shining."

Jacob laughed now, a small bitter guffaw. "So, everything is going to be alright? Sure, sure."

Bella shook her head and walked over to push his hair out of his eyes.

Rose spoke as she collected the cards.

"You have a strong spiritual energy, Jacob. Do you have spiritual belief?"

Jacob shrugged.

Bella rubbed his arm. "He's the future leader of the Quileute tribe in La Push."

Rose nodded, smiling. "He needs more people like you surrounding him, who believe in him."

Jacob shook his head, laughing more genuinely now. "You're just saying nice stuff so I tip you better, lady." He pulled some cash out of his back pocket for Rose, anyway. She slipped it into her silk pouch.

Bella touched Leah's arm softly. "You're up."

Jacob pulled Bella down onto the loveseat with him. This time she did not resist and leaned easily into his side.

Leah sat in the now-vacant seat, not looking at Rose. Her previous bravado had disappeared, and she almost squirmed in the seat; her tall frame was hunched, with no sign now of her normal straight, proud posture.

Rose shuffled the cards, regarding Leah quietly. Finally she asked, "Leah, what do you seek?"

The girl shrugged, not speaking.

"You're very closed off. Just know that there's nothing I can say that you won't already know." Leah snorted, but finally looked up at Rose's hands as she dealt the three cards.

"In the past..." She flipped over the first card. "Three of Swords."

The card depicted a huge, red heart, stabbed through with three silver blades; there was a torrent of rain all around.
Leah's eyes flew up to the ceiling, tensing in her seat.

"I take it this one needs no explanation." Rose moved onto the middle card. "Present. Two of swords." The card depicted a blindfolded woman, holding two blades crossed over her chest. She knelt by a body of water, beneath a crescent moon.
"So much moon imagery..." Rose breathed to herself. "This indicates a choice before you, a crossroads. But, she's not panicked - she's meditative. She hasn't been blindfolded against her will. She's waiting to strike. She's empowered."

Leah looked at this card with slightly more interest. Bella pulled herself off the couch and stood over Leah's shoulder.

"Almost looks like you, Lee. Before you cut your hair..." Bella lightly touched Leah's shaggy hair, growing out from her shorn pixie cut. Leah sighed.

Rose touched the third card. "Your future." Leah took a deep breath in.

"Ace of Swords. Triumph." Rose said it so simply, so surely, that Bella's face broke out in a grin.

Jacob stood up, stretching his arms up to the ceiling. "Feel better, Leah? You'll crush your enemies, see them driven before you, hear the lamentation of their women..."

Leah rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She hesitated for a moment, then looked at Rose. "Triumph how?"

Rose smiled. "What battle are you fighting?"

Leah almost scowled.

Rose nodded. "Ace of Swords can mean a great, forceful win - in love, in battle, in opportunity. It's a card of triumph, simply put."

Everyone in the room nodded.

Leah thanked her quietly and put some cash into her hands, then turned to her companions. "Come on, the doors open in 20 minutes."

Bella thanked Rose again for their readings. The three of them stepped out into the cool night, quiet. After a moment, Bella spoke up.

"All of our readings had really optimistic futures."
Jacob snorted. "Seriously Bella, they just tell you that so you tip them more."

"Right. Jacob Black, God Emperor of La Push. I can just see it now." Leah rolled her eyes.
"Yeah. Can you see Leah beating the odds, in love or in war? Let's be realistic here, Bells."

Leah shoved Jacob's arm and he shoved her back. Bella shrieked, dodging them both, as the three of them continued laughing into the night.

Behind them, the psychic switched off the neon light in the window.