A/N: Yes, me. Are you surprised? Huh? Huh????

Disclaimer: Evil: What do you own related to Twilight, oh lowly sidekick of mine?

Me: Uh, four books, about a thousand posters and Leah and Edward.

Evil: WRONG! You don't own two of those.

Me: Well, I guess I can live with 998 posters…………

Evil: I mean Leah and Edward, you idiot. Jeez, why did I hire you anyways?

Me: Aw, shucks. Do I get to keep my plot?

Evil: Yeppers.

Me: YAY!!!!!!!! *rubs hands conspiringly* Today my plot, tomorrow the world!

Evil:*fondly* that's my girl……..

CHAPTER FIVE- A conflict of interest

On this day it's so real to me, everything has come to life
Another chance to chase a dream another chance to feel
Chance to feel alive

-Alter Bridge-Metalingus

I rubbed my eyes groggily, and moved my headphones away from my ears. And I instantly clapped my hand to my mouth.

"Mum!" I chastised after she quit staring at me creepily and walked over to my window. "You nearly gave me a………..you freaked me out, I mean."

She looked at me kindly, as if she knew what I had been about to say. I pretended I hadn't said anything at all, and sidled off my bed. My copy of Anne Rice's Merrick slid off the bed and hit the floor as my bedspread moved. I picked it up quickly and tossed it on to my desk. "Morning, Mum."

"Good morning, Leah." She turned away from the window and moved around the room, tidying up as she moved. She was the most energetic person I've ever known. "What are your plans for today?"

"Uh……" The most correct answer would be nothing. I had absolutely no plans. "I have some, um, laundry." This wasn't exactly a lie. The laundry had become a big issue since the whole yeah-I-know-I-turn-into-a-huge-wolf-when-I-want-to thing. There never seems to be any time, ya know?

"Good, good." She seemed distracted. "But what about college?"

I groaned. I knew it was some sort of ulterior motive that led her to come here. "Mum, I'm gonna live till God knows when. I'll have time for college after I get used to this."

She sighed. "But you shouldn't be wasting your time like this, Leah. I mean, Seth still has school, and Jake just graduated, so he won't have to worry about that yet. But you………..you haven't twitched since two years ago."

Ah, yes. Two years ago, back when I was a kind of bull's-eye for bad luck to try target practice on. Good times. "Well, I'm over that…Sam, at least. I'm just gonna stick around for a while." I said, lamely.

Till he graduates, that snarky voice said. Again. So that you can go stalker bitch on him.

Shut up, I thought. God, how many voices did I have in my head? No wonder I was such a train wreck.

"Okay, then." Mum sounded a bit assured than before. "Me and Seth are leaving, then. I'll be back at around five. Seth said he's dropping to Hayley's place after school."

I raised my eyebrows. "'kay."

She grinned. "I like her. She reminds me a lot of you when you were young."

I snorted. "My brother's dating a girl who reminds my mother of me? This I've gotta see."

She laughed, and left. "Be good."

*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)

"She's one of those girls, nothing but trouble." I sang way more loudly than was completely necessary. "Just one look, and now you're seeing double."

So maybe Avril Lavigne wasn't really my favorite artist, but One of Those Girls was pure genius.

I was musing on this and tugging along a bucket of dirty clothes when I vaguely heard the phone ring.

"Coming!" I yelled, and bounded downstairs. I skidded towards the phone. "Hello, Leah Clearwater here."

"Lee!" A familiar musical voice went. "It's me, Nessie!"

"Hi, Ness." I said, smiling a bit. "How're you? Why aren't you in school?"

She tsked. "You're a lot like Dad. I decided to have a day off. A bunch of my friends from Forks are coming over today, and I just wanted to know whether you-and the pack- could come."

I snickered. "Whether Jake could come, you mean."

"I meant you!" You've gotta forgive her for her unsubtleness. The kid's still three, after all.

I shuddered. I'm talking teasingly about my Alpha's relationship status with a three-year-old.

Sometimes I wondered whether we were all escapees from a mental institution.

"So, how're you?" She attempted. "I mean, we hardly could talk yesterday."

"Yeah, 'coz one of us was obsessed with a certain shape shifter. " I said, laughing. "Tell me, what does Jacob look like these days? He always seems to be disappearing in the direction of Forks, and I can't imagine why. Does he still have black eyes?"

"Aw, come on, Lee." Her voice went low. "Do you really think he likes me?"

I laughed outright at that. "Kid, he practically lives at your place. I'm sure it's not 'coz he likes the grand piano."

"I don't know." She really sounded worried. "I mean, he's older. And Dad doesn't really like him."

"It's not Jake that Eddie doesn't like. He's just an over-protective loser." I said, seriously. "And don't worry about the age gap. Jake next to never acts like he's over five. I mean, I caught him playing with Seth's old Teddy bear a few days ago."

She laughed. "Hey, can you talk it over with Dad? I really don't want to tell him that y'all are coming over again."

I grinned at the Southern-ism. "Uncle Jazz's getting to you, huh?"

She didn't reply. I heard a clatter as the speaker on her end hit the floor. I tapped my foot lightly on the ground and hummed the chorus of Blackbird.

His voice was so unexpected that I nearly dropped the phone myself. "Hello, Leah."

I gripped the phone tightly. It freaked me out, how much his voice affected me even over the phone. I was God's example of pure pathetic-ness. "Hi, Eddie. What's this I hear about your kid becoming a party gal?"

He laughed, a low, flowing sound. "I'm beginning to wonder whether I've let her with Alice for too long."

"Gee, d'you think?" I asked, sarcastically. "Maybe we'll know for sure when they open a women's clothing store together."

He sighed dramatically. "The times are a-changing."

I snorted. "Yeah, you can slightly tell when a half-vampire kid asks you to smooth things over about a party with her fully vampire dad, so that her shape shifter soul mate can come over. Any questions?"

"So that's what this is about." He said. I heard the smile in his voice. Wow, that's new. A vampire, coming out of depression. Real headline material.

"So, are all the human invitees three?" I asked, grinning. "I'd feel out of place."

"While your Alpha will find where he belongs." He added, jokingly. "No, the invitees are fifteen."

"Fifteen?" I pretended to choke. "I'll have to work hard. Any boys?"

"Yeah, a few." He sounded cautious.

I bit on a nail thoughtfully. "Jake's not gonna like that."

"A bit of competition won't hurt him." He didn't sound like he would have liked Jake not to go through the trouble at all. "He's becoming too cocky."

"You sound like my Mum." I said, disgusted. "She raised two wolves."

He began laughing. After a while, I joined him.

"Come early." He said, suddenly.

I gulped. There was a note in his voice that was dangerously hard to resist. "Uh, alright."

"See you then."

"Yeah. Bye, Eddie."

I hung up and wondered why the world was changing so fast.

*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)

"I couldn't sleep I had to listen, to a conscience knowing so well." Jake seemed to think that he was singing. I checked the rear-view mirror, to see whether Seth had cut a quick escape through the windows. Nope, he was still there. He probably was paralyzed into immobility. "That nothing comes from indifference, I look inside of-"

"DAMMIT JACOB YOU CAN'T RUN PATROLS WHEN HALF YOUR PACK IS DEAF!!!!!!!!!!"

"Come on, Leah." He actually stopped singing. I uttered a quick prayer of thanks. I believe, I believe. "That song is classic. I mean, you, of all people, should appreciate a solid Alter Bridge number."

I breathed deeply to calm myself. "Jake, you're a nice enough guy. Sure, I wanna murder you on a daily basis, but 'nuff said. You see, there's a horrible truth in life, and that's that some people can sing, and others can't. Myles Kennedy can sing. You can't. Simple as that."

"Go sis." Seth said, weakly. His voice sounded a bit muffled, like he had a nosebleed.

Jake seemed miffed. "Here we are." He pulled over.

We jumped out of the Rabbit. "Good job, Bunny." I patted the car. Jake normally gets pissed no end when I call his car that, but now he just floated over into the Vampy household with a love struck expression on his face. I rolled my eyes.

"LEAH!!!!!" Yelled the Spawn of The Woman Who Should Be Eaten Up By Godzilla. "How are you?"

"Same old, same old." I said, watching as she tried to ignore Jacob. "How's everyone else I saw yesterday and the day before and the day before that?"

"They're fine." She was too busy pretending like she just saw Jake to actually pay attention to what I said. "Oh, hi, Jacob."

I felt pretty happy with all the going-on's. "D'you know that cute girl who lives near Jake's place? I nearly invited her, 'coz she's so nice, but I guessed that I should probably ask you guys first. I bet Jake wouldn't have minded."

Seth appeared to be choking. "Dry…throat." He gasped.

Nessie was talking with Jake. "So, what's your neighbor's name?"

"What neigh- oh." They walked off, Jake describing the numerous charms of the fictional Cindy.

I laughed.

"Now that," a voice said, in amused tones, behind me, "is almost evil."

I tensed. I could feel my nails digging into my palms.

"Am I supposed to be glad that you kept him away from my daughter, if only temporarily, or should I be angry because you made her feel jealous?" The musical voice continued. The pitch was low, and my spine tingled in response.

He finally walked into my line of sight. The sun caught his bronze hair, making it glow like a sort of halo.

He was too beautiful. My instincts were screaming at me to run, to run and never look back. It was his beauty that terrified me. Yet this was also the place I most wanted to be.

I grinned. Going against my instincts was what I did best. "A conflict of interest, I think that's called."

A/N: Yeah, so it's decent. Thanks so much for all the positive reviews to that last crappy chapter. Sorry I couldn't update, I had house play practices. PLEEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!