M I S T A K E N
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, or any of the characters.
Enjoy.
18) my hurt sister )
I gave Sue Clearwater a forced smile as she left the house. As soon the door closed behind her, I laid my head down on the table.
"Seth's out with Collin and Brady," Leah grinned. "So we have the house to ourselves."
"Thanks for having me over," I mumbled into my palm, still a little sour about the morning's turn of events. Jacob had forced me into the car, refusing to tell me where I was going until I got there. Wordlessly, he had dumped me on the Clearwaters' front door and left.
"No problem, cousin," She stressed our relation, wanting me to feel part of a family. It had been two days since my family had been killed. Hoping to hear their voices, I had called Aki's phone late last night, as well as my Baba's and mother's cellphones. It didn't do them any justice, since I couldn't hear Aki's smile. Baba's accent was ruined over the frequency of the phone, and my mother's voice wasn't anywhere as warm as in person.
I asked Leah for the home phone and she led me to it, cautiously picking it off of the receiver and handing it to me.
"Who are you calling?"
I turned away from her, wrapping the curled cord around my wrist as I waited for someone to answer. I heard a breath on the other line. "Hello? Mrs. Neil! It's Ari…I'm safe, and I'm coming home soon," I had to pause to stop myself from breaking down. "Could you try to postpone the funeral? Just for a week – until I get back."
"Ari, where are you? Are you hurt? Don't be afraid to come home. Richard and I will gladly-"
The phone went dead. I turned to stare at Leah. Her face was blank.
"Cops could be tapping the phone," She told me simply, as if it explained why the world was round. I snorted.
"Cops tapping phones?" I laughed harshly, slamming the phone in its cradle. "How much TV do you watch?"
"Obviously you don't watch enough," Leah muttered. "Your picture's all over the news. Seattle's issued an amber alert. You have to stay hidden for now."
I nodded slowly, trying to reason with her words. She was right, of course. Leah gave me a worried look. "Jacob told me you haven't eaten anything."
I rubbed the back of my aching neck. I had stayed up all night, sitting down in the corner of Jacob's room, pressed against the hard wall. "I'm not hungry," I mumbled as Leah dragged me into the kitchen.
"You haven't eaten for days and you're not hungry?"
"I ate most of my cereal today," It was a lie, but I thought I could get away with it, considering Jacob had practically spilt the breakfast table in my lap when he lunged for me. I cringed in remembrance. Who knew saying something like: "It looks like a good day to hang myself," set someone off.
Leah frowned, but nodded. "Okay, let's forget breakfast. Want to go hiking?"
I agreed and helped her pack a picnic lunch for the both of us. I knew I wasn't going to eat any of it, but I amused Leah by packing enough for two. I waited by the door as she went to her room to gather a few things. She returned in less than five minutes with a backpack. She shoved me out the door.
Leah's idea of hiking was for us to take a long walk through the forest. By long – I meant miles. As humans. Despite my aching feet, I was glad to be in her company. She had lost her father not too long ago. Even though her situation wasn't exactly like mine, she understood my feelings.
"How'd you do it?" I asked her when she finally paused to tie her shoe. Leah looked up at me, confused.
"You used to mean the world to Sam. How are you able to deal with it?"
She smiled and stood up, continuing to walk. "I loved him with all my heart. I still love him, I still wish he would look at me the way he does Emily…" Her dark hair obscured her gentle face as she looked down. "There's still a place in my heart for him – and I'm glad he has Emily. I'm sore, but I just care for his happiness."
I kept quiet, musing over her words. Now it made sense that she tried to focus her thoughts on just one thing when we were phased, why she seemed like such a hard person. The fact was – she didn't want the others to know just how painful it was. She was trying to get over it the only way she knew how – like I was trying to get over my loss.
"Why do you ask?" Leah nudged me, her voice tinged with laughter. "Starting to like Jake, are we?"
I shook my head and started to bite my thumbnail. I didn't want to pursue any relationship with him. I didn't want to advance my life in anyway, feeling it unfair since I had no family to experience the changes with.
"I was just thinking… If Jacob and I ever become like Sam and Emily…" I knew he'd never forget about Bella. When Leah told me that she only wished for Sam's happiness, it reminded me of what Bella had told me when I met her. She had wanted me to make Jacob happy.
"I hope I don't imprint," Leah whispered, her voice seeming to speak to the forest. I thought she forgot I was walking beside her and felt as if I wasn't supposed to hear her words. "I was hoping since I was the only girl I wouldn't, but now that you're a werewolf and you've imprinted…"
"I wish I never set eyes on Jacob Black."
Leah picked a place to stop. It wasn't far from where I had come yesterday after my meeting with Bella and the Cullens. She spread her blanket across the ground and sat on it. I sat beside her and watched as she pulled clothes out of her backpack and stuffed it into the hollow of a tree.
"Brady caught me naked once," She laughed. "Sam gave him quite a bit of grief about it."
"Thank you, for everything."
"Hey," Leah grinned. "We're sisters now, okay? Someone's gotta teach you how to handle our bunch of dogs."
I smiled. It was a real smile – though I couldn't fight the feeling that my sudden state of joy wouldn't last much longer.
M'kay! That's two chapters… I'll try and update later today, since it's one AM right now. Please drop a review – the action's going to start soon, I promise! This fic'll be over before you know it! Anywho, please review. Thanks everyone, I'm three reviews from fifty and Mistaken's gotten over three thousand hits. Shweet!
--Blessed.