Joel lives in a cute 4 bed roomed house. It's…nice. He showed me to the spare room. My room. I love it instantly. It's got white walls, with green curtains. Moss green. Brown quilt. It reminds me of the forest.
There's a knock on the door. I open it to find Joel and a girl of about 16 or 17 with copper hair and a big smile.
"I'm Lizzie. It's nice to meet you." She stands next to me. "We're pretty much the same size; you can borrow some of my stuff if you want. Joel said you didn't have anything-," Joel blushes slightly and tries to hit his sister around the head, but she merrily prances out of his way "This is so typical Joel. He is such a sucker for a pretty face."
Pretty? Me? I don't know. I used to think I was, when I was younger. When I was with Sam I thought I must be beautiful. I felt beautiful. But then he imprinted on Emily, and even though she's so scarred he loves her more. He thinks she's beautiful even after the mauling he gave her. I still thought that maybe I could be pretty, but then I joined the pack and learned the truth. Sometimes I was hot- like when I burst out of my clothes- but most of the time I was just Leah, Sam's stupid ex-girlfriend who couldn't get over him.
Well, now I'm going to.
"Leah?" asks Lizzie, concerned. "Are you ok? You kind of zoned out there"
I shake my head to get rid of my thoughts and paste a smile on my face.
"I'm fine. Could I borrow some clothes?" I.e. underwear. Lizzie gets the code and leads me to her room. Joel gives me a small grin as if to say sorry about her.
Lizzie's room is not what I expected. It's painted bright pink, with posters of cars and rock bands all over the walls. A red guitar is propped up in between a rack of DVD's and a bookshelf, although half the books and DVDs seem to be littered all over the floor along with magazines and clothes. But the best thing in there is the huge wardrobe.
"Tada!" she announces opening the door with a flourish. Wow. She has a hell of a lot of clothes. My jaw drops open.
"I know right?" she says grinning. "I spend pretty much all my money on clothes. Drives my mom mad."
I'm barely listening. I need to change.
"Kay, so underwear is there…don't know what'll fit you, we can buy stuff if you need it…oh and I don't mind what you wear."
She dances out of the room, grabbing a magazine on the way out and closes the door. I'm alone again.
I borrow a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt. Lizzie's a little smaller than me but they fit quite well. Figuring she won't mind I borrow her brush and use it. I badly need a shower, but that will have to wait for now.
Mom. I need to let her know I'm ok. I'll have to find a way to sneak out and phase.
There's a knock at the door.
"Leah? It's Joel. Er…my mom's home."
I get it. I need to meet her.
I nervously follow Joel down the stairs and into a homey kitchen, where a woman is whirling around putting shopping away.
"Hey, Joel honey how was your day? I got the ingredients you wanted, there in that bag there and- oh. Who's this?"
The whirlwind stops and looks at me.
"Mom this is Leah. Leah, this is my mom."
"Hello sweetie, you can call me Sharon. Where are you from?"
She begins to put the stuff away again as I answer.
"La Push."
"Oh, I've got a cousin who lives near there, in Forks. Joel call Lizzie for me."
"LIZZIE! MOM WANTS YOU!" Joel bellows. Sharon swats him around the head.
"I meant go get her, I could've done that!"
Joel slouches out and Sharon smiles back. I smile back shyly.
"So how long you planning on staying?"
"Erm, well I'm not sure." I mumble. "I can go-,"
Sharon snorts "Stay here as long as you like, Leah, doesn't make any difference to me. Tell me, how old are you?"
"Twenty." And I will be for a long time.
"Same as my Annie." She pauses and looks at me. "Don't ever feel pressured to leave if you want to stay Leah ok?"
Lizzie breezes in. "Yep?"
"You need to ring Grandpa to thank him for your birthday present, it's been three days! Also have you got any homework? Where's Joel gone? I told him to get you, not get lost."
"I'm here."
"Right, well I'm starving so get dinner on, I've got to nip next door. Lizzie, ring Gramps."
Joel rolls his eyes as his Mom leaves and Lizzie does too.
"Sorry, she's very…"
"I like her." I interrupt. "And Lizzie. You've all been so nice to me. But it's alright you can reassure your mom I won't be here for very long."
Is that disappointment on his face? Surely not. He doesn't even know me. Just my ego running riot.
"Where are you headed?"
I shrug.
"You can stay as long as you like you know. My sister, Annie, she lives in Australia now, she wont be back for ages. Mom misses Annie, I think she'd really like for you to stay." His words come out in a rush.
I can't help but smile. He smiles back and begins to prepare the chicken for dinner.
I like him. He's really nice. And kind and friendly. But no imprinting. Damn it.
The food is nearly ready when I remember that somehow I have to let the pack know I'm ok. More than that I'm doing great. How can I escape?
Dinner is fun. It makes me feel a little homesick, the way Joel, Lizzie and Sharon are. Not for home now, but for the way home was when dad was still alive, before Seth and I joined the werewolves. I miss Dad, I miss Mom. I even miss that happy little punkass Seth.
Later Lizzie lends me a pair of pyjamas and I close the door to my room and sit cross legged. I hear Lizzie's light turn off, I hear Joel playing his music softly, and I hear Sharon fall asleep in front of the news. I suppose this is it.
I silently open my window and drop down to the ground. I must look mental running down the streets in baby pink, slightly-to-short pyjamas, barefoot, hair still wet from my shower. I don't care.
I run into the woods until I can no longer be seen. I take of the pyjamas- I can't go ripping them to shreds- and take a deep breath. I close my eyes and concentrate.