The Twilight Series belongs to S. Meyer, no copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing with the characters.
If there was one thing Leah was looking forward to it was graduation. It may be six weeks away but it didn't matter—she was doing what the rest of her classmates were; counting down. Counting their days to freedom.
Her plans for after graduation weren't overly exciting either. Graduation was simply another step into adulthood. Not that she was ready to leave the safety of childhood but nothing truly lasted forever.
Time seemed to be unsure whether it was going to move at a snail's pace or race to the finish. Glancing around the small classroom, she wondered how many of her peers felt the same way. Their small community was similar to others around the country.
There weren't enough funds, teachers, or room to allow the grades to be separated. She had unfortunately gone to school with the same peers since she was five. Every other year there was a slight change as they moved forward. Though the pattern remained the same—she was a senior this year which meant her classes were shared by junior students. Last year, when her boyfriend Sam was a senior—it had been the two of them in the same classes.
Physical education was the only class that the four grades intermixed. While smaller classes for their general courses made sense—gym was simply a requirement for graduation. A placeholder if you will.
She listened with half an ear as the teacher discussed congruence and parallelism. Her gaze sweeping across the room; it had come to her attention in the past few weeks several of the young men of La Push had experienced sudden growth spurts. Even Sam hadn't been spared.
It all seemed to happen overnight. One day Sam was just a few inches taller than her and now she had to crane her neck to look into his eyes. It wasn't just the height and muscle mass either that she found peculiar it was the personality transplant. And he wasn't the only one.
Her eyes flickered to Paul Lahote; in the past month, he had become the resident ladies' man. She hadn't noticed much change in Jared Cameron but then again, he had always been quiet. Paul's laugh was easily picked out of a crowd—loud and barking. Depending on the person it was directed at, it could even take on the feeling of mockery.
The teacher continued to drone on and her mind wandered; her thoughts centered on Sam. They had been together for over two years and despite her feelings she wasn't sure about taking their relationship to the next step. She loved him—he loved her but she still wasn't sure.
She knew from their conversations she wouldn't be his first but he would be hers. It needed to be special. Memorable. It was a moment in time that she wouldn't be able to change once it happened. Her mom had given her the talk years ago and as such, she had started taking the pill nearly a year ago and also had a box of condoms stashed in her nightstand drawer.
The pill was courtesy of her mom. As a nurse, Sue didn't want either of her children's futures dimmed by the precipitous arrival of a baby. This year would be the first time her younger brother Seth would have to suffer through the talk. The thought of her baby brother being ambushed brought a smile to her face. It was a yearly tradition—though even that wasn't the best word to describe it—maybe torture was a better choice.
The condoms had been given to her by her dad. Harry didn't do well with the fact his daughter was growing up. Even worse was the fact she had a boyfriend and was in love. More than once the porch light flickering on had broken the two young lovers apart while they said goodnight.
It was shortly after New Year's when her dad approached her. Red-faced and nervous; his hands shaking slightly as he gripped a white plastic bag that she recognized as a bag from the grocery in Forks. The bag looked like a lifeline—the only thing keeping her dad together.
He brusquely asked her how things were with Sam. His single question she understood as something more than what he asked. It was the message behind the words that had her blushing with him. The uncomfortable conversation between the two of them continued until finally he tossed the shopping bag her way before running out the door.
She caught it without really thinking about why such a strange dialogue had occurred. Her curiosity was piqued and opening the bag, she saw the black box inside. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment and she wailed for her mom. Sue's reaction was much more subdued than Leah's; she simply chuckled and kissed her daughter's cheek.
"Honey, he just worries about you. You'll always be his baby girl and the fact you're growing up and he can't stop it—it drives him nuts. Just stick them in your room, just in case."
So she did exactly what her mom said and put them in her nightstand. She even went so far as to put a few in her pocketbook. She wasn't sure if and when it would happen but it was better to be over-prepared.
The bell ringing pulled her from her memories. She gathered her belongings and got ready to go to her last class—gym. It had taken years but finally the tribal school had figured out it made more sense to have gym at the end of the day versus the beginning. For too many years both genders were late to their next classes as they waited to take a shower and change.
While she had never been big on taking extra time to style her hair and put on layers of makeup but it was frustrating to get ready each morning; only to have all the preparations be for nothing. And Mr. Alto had been the gym teacher for as long as she could remember. He was a stern task master and expected everyone to participate to their full potential.
For the most part, all of them did. His face was a permanent shade of red which would deepen to a rich ruby color with pulsating veins that jutted forth when he was angry or upset. He appeared moments away from a massive coronary and none of them wanted to be the reason for it.
They were given the requisite ten minutes to change into their gym clothes. It was the longest period of their day. The extra time needed to ensure they wouldn't be late to catch their bus home.
Today the gym had been divided. One side was for them to play basketball and the other field hockey. Though he wasn't picky about which one they selected; they all knew better than to stand around and debate.
Glancing at the other students, she saw it was a pretty even mix of who was choosing what. Jared and Paul selected basketball and as she looked at the other students standing on that side; she decided against that. That left field hockey. She walked over to the garbage cans that held the plastic hockey sticks and grabbed one.
Mr. Alto was impatiently tapping his foot as the students came from the locker rooms and glanced around. As she stood there waiting for everyone to pick; her attention was drawn to the beginnings of an argument. Quil Ateara, Jacob Black, and Embry Call had just entered the gym.
Three more people she noticed who seemed to be going through the same weird growth spurt. It was illogical to attribute these changes to puberty because the majority of students were developing at normal rates. The ones she had noticed-well, if she didn't know better she would think they were all on steroids.
Embry was the tallest of the three, though Jake was a close second, and what Quil didn't have in height he made up in mass. He was by far the beefiest of the three. Their personalities had changed too. She only noticed it because occasionally the three of them came over to play video games with her brother.
"Damnit, Jake," Embry swore. "We always do what you want."
"Then don't. I don't ask you two to follow me around like a pair of puppies," Jake retorted back.
"What the hell? We're friends-maybe I'm stupid but that means we do stuff together," Quil attempted to soothe the irritation of his two friends.
"Shut up, Quil. I don't need you coming to my rescue. I'm perfectly capable of kicking Jake's butt if he needs it."
The three of them looked moments away from starting a fight with each other. And it was over basketball and field hockey no less. Mr. Alto looked pissed but she noticed there was an underlying fear in his face. As she glanced back at three boys, she understood why.
She could feel it; the threat of violence. It was like waiting for fireworks to start. The fuses gathered and ready to be lit. All it would take was a little spark. She racked her brain trying to remember if these two choices had ever been offered before or what their individual preferences were.
Thinking back she realized that Embry had always been the tallest of the three. And she remembered him playing in the basketball league every summer. Her brother Seth had participated too when he was younger. Embry's mom hadn't always been able to bring him to the games so the Clearwaters had helped out.
The decision made she walked over to them, hockey stick grasped firmly in hand, "Knock it off, you three." She smacked Jake on the back of the head as she told him, "You should apologize to them but you can do that later."
She bit her lip to keep from laughing at their shocked expressions. "You," she said poking Embry in the chest with the stick, "over there," finishing her statement as she pointed to the basketball court. His mouth gaped open as he stared at her in shock.
"Go," she commanded and watched as he turned, running to where she had directed him earlier.
Her gaze locking on Jake and Quil and she raised a brow. The two of them scurried over to the can where the hockey sticks were kept, grabbing one and joining the other students. She was oddly pleased with herself and couldn't contain her smile at a job well done.
Mr. Alto's voice breaking through her satisfaction, "Thank you, Ms. Clearwater."
FF_8756144_2 12/2/2012 1:04PM