Ooh! I'd like to personally thank brankl1 for being my ever-so-faithful reviewer. After every chapter, you're always the one that gives me feedback on what you thought about it! For that I salute you. I'd also like to thank Syrena Swiftfor her review as well. You're so nice! I can't believe that you spent the entire rest of your day reading my story! When I saw your review, I couldn't stop smiling! My FACE started to hurt!
Okay, the last chapter was REALLY long. But I still hoped that you liked it, anyway! Coming up in Chapter 36: Teasha's secret is revealed!
Dun. Dun. !
~SashaFierce12.0
Chapter 36
Jazmyn's P.o.V.
"How was she?" Jacob asked Seth when he handed him Jayah. He grinned when he held her and threw her in the air, catching her afterwards. Jewel giggled her little head off.
"She was fine. But she's definitely not a morning person," Seth answered.
"Just like her mother..." Jacob chuckled.
"Speaking of her mother, where's Lee? She usually doesn't sleep in this late; even on Saturday," I said, walking over towards the couch where everyone else was. It was around 12:30, and Leah still hadn't come down yet.
"I unplugged the alarm clock so that she could sleep in," Jacob answered simply, and set his daughter on the ground next to Kyle.
"Well aren't you thoughtful?" Rachael teased him, rubbing her belly. Just then the door opened and Athena slid in, landing on her knees.
"It's Christmas!" she exclaimed, her arms raised above her head. "Wow! You guys have an awesome house!" She jumped to her feet and waved at everyone.
"Oh, no! Jazz's multiplying!" Emmett said with mock-horror. I kicked him, then yelped when it hurt me and not him.
"What are you, made of rock or something?" I exclaimed. Emmett just smiled and I scowled. Seth pulled me close to him and pecked my cheek.
"Hi! I'm Athena! What's your name?" Athena asked Emmett.
"Emmett."
"You're cute!" she said aloud. But then quietly she whispered, "But Brady's cuter. Don't tell him I said that, though."
"Hey, Brady!" Emmett yelled to the wolf over at the breakfast nook.
"Hey!" Athena crossed her arms. "You're not very good at keeping secrets."
"This is probably the first secret anybody's told him in a couple of years," Rosalie said, nudging Emmett with her elbow. Emmett kissed her cheek. "Yeah, yeah. Love you, too."
"Hey, Jake-" Leah walked down the stairs, still half asleep. All she wore was a lacey bra and panties, an open button up shirt over that. She stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide open when she saw how many people were in the living room. Emmett, Jasper, Embry, Brandon, and Malachi all let out wolf whistles.
"Ooh, Leah! Take. It. Off!" Emmett laughed. Rosalie punched him.
"It's not my fault you slept in," Jacob said quickly.
"Didn't you say something about unplugging the alarm clock so she could sleep in?" Alice asked. Leah crossed her arms and glared at Jacob.
"I didn't know how late it was! Here I am thinking it's still, like, eight o'clock. I didn't think that anyone was here! And now...Now the whole Pack has seen me in my underwear!" She shut the shirt. As if that made a difference. The black lace showed right through the light blue shirt. Seth covered his eyes and flopped on me.
"Way to scar me for life, Leah," he groaned. "Rated R!"
"Ignoring the testosterone happy boys...Where'd you get the lace, Lee? It's cute," I asked.
"Vicky's Secret, duh!" Leah answered. She twirled around then kicked her leg up. "On sale!"
"Leah! Are you running a house, or a strip club? Go put on some clothes!" Sue yelled from the front door.
"Yes, ma'am," Leah said, and raced up the stairs.
"Halleluiah," Seth sighed and sat up again.
"Poor Seth," Rachael laughed.
"Do you really think I want to see my big sister half naked?"
"I sure wasn't complaining," Malachi said. Everyone stared at him and Jacob growled. The new wolf smiled sheepishly.
"We're having a bonfire tonight, right?" Alice asked.
"Yeah. There's not supposed to be any rain today, so we're still gonna' have it," Sam answered walking in. Darren followed behind him. He gave a little wave and a small smile.
"Hiya, Mister Wolf!" Athena exclaimed. "Sorry for making you explode yesterday. From here on out, we're gonna' be the greatest friends ever!" She held out her hand and Darren shook it. Athena laughed then jumped on the couch next to Brady. Darren scrunched up his face and kind of held his nose.
"Something smells weird. Did you guys forget to change the kids, or something?" he asked. Everyone laughed, knowing that he wasn't used to the smell of the Cullens yet.
"Sorry. It's just us," Rosalie replied walking past him. Darren dropped his hand and grinned, looking her up and down.
"Forget about the smell, you are fine," he emphasized on the last word. Rosalie rolled her eyes and walked to the kitchen.
"Don't even think about it, Dare-Bear," I said. "She's taken." Darren groaned.
"Who isn't?" he threw his hands in the air in exasperation.
"I'm not!" Amanda answered. "I'm Amanda Clarissa Thail. Nice to meet you, Darren." She flipped her hair over her shoulder. Jared pulled her away and plopped her down on the couch next to her sister who was sitting on Brandon's lap.
"So you pretty much know everyone, yeah?" I asked.
"Not really. Just the guys from the shop," Darren replied, taking a seat on the floor.
"Yea! Introductions!" I exclaimed and moved Seth so I could stand up. I cleared my throat dramatically and stood on the coffee table. "I, Jazmyn Gabriella Stefani Young, would personally like to welcome you to our family!" Darren smirked and everyone else laughed and rolled their eyes. "Well, you already know me..." I pointed to Seth. "He's my boyfriend, Seth. Aside from...Recent events, he's usually the best boyfriend a girl could ever have!" Seth grinned and I made a heart with my hand.
"Move along, Jazz!" Paul said. I stuck my tongue out at him.
"You already know Paul, but that's his imprint, Rachael. And in her belly are the three most beautiful children ever! Aaron, Adam, and Arielle. They'll be born in December! Can't wait for that! Oh, and that's Brady...You know Athena. And that's Collin. He imprinted on Teasha, one of my best friends!"
"Aww, really? I'm one of your best friends?" Teasha cocked her head and grinned. I nodded.
"And that's Amanda, she has a twin sister named Ashley. That's Brandon. You know Embry...Ooh, and that's mi hermanita, Syanne! And Kim and Jared...Who else..." I turned around to look through the rest of the room. My face brightened when I saw the Cullens all camped out in the kitchen. "And over there we have Camp Cullen!" I giggled at my own joke. The Cullens looked up at their last name being called. "Man...Sometimes I crack myself up...That's Rosalie-"
"Ooh...Rosalie..." Darren whispered. Rosalie rolled her eyes and gave Emmett a long kiss on his lips. She looked at Darren pointedly after that. He only held up his hands in defense. "I get it. But that won't keep me from flirting though."
"Creep," Rosalie muttered.
"ANYWAY!" I yelled, getting everyone's attention. "The big guy's Emmett, and the other one next to him is Jasper. Sitting next to Jasper is his girlfriend, Alice."
"She's so tiny!" Darren laughed. Alice cocked her head.
"I'm not tiny," she looked down at herself. I rolled my eyes and continued.
"In the kitchen, we have Esme and Sue. They come here as an excuse to cook," I said. The two ladies turned around and waved. I twirled around so that I was facing the piano. "And on piano we have Edward and his girlfriend, Evangeline." Edward stopped in the middle of his song to turn and wave. Evangeline smiled.
"Hello," she said.
"Carlisle's...Somewhere...But other than that, those are all of our vampire friends!" I gave Darren jazz hands.
"Cool," he said.
"Am I forgetting somebody...? Oh, yeah! Sitting on the easy chair is Quil. Where's Claire? And Aunt Emily?" I asked, looking around. The door opened and Emily came in. She waved. "Ha! There you are! That's my Aunty Em. But you can call her Emily." Claire came skipping in, wearing a biker jacket and aviator sunglasses.
"Claire is in the building!" Quil laughed, and held out his arms. The little girl jumped into them. I pointed to her with my thumb.
"That's Claire," I said. Darren nodded.
"I know." Claire hopped out of Quil's arms and took off her little backpack. She crossed her arms and slid her glasses to the top of her head.
"I need my daily dose of lovin'," she announced. Everyone in the room, including me, turned to look at Emily. She slapped her face. "Can we play some Elvis...Pwease?"
"Didn't I tell you?" she exclaimed. Sam laughed and crouched down to Claire's level.
"Why don't you read some of your books? We can listen to the King later." Claire nodded and hopped onto Quil's lap. She dumped all the books from her backpack out.
"I got all books about the King. Read them ta' me," she handed Quil a book. When he began to read to her, I shook my head and looked around again.
"Hmm..." I gestured towards the two babies playing happily on the floor. "That's Kyle and Jayah. Aren't they cute?" Darren nodded and smiled at the two. Kyle bit into his teething ring, gnawing on it. Jayah looked around and flashed everyone a toothless grin, then she went back to examining her spoon.
"Is that it? There's no one else I have to meet, right?" Darren asked.
"Wrong!" Leah announced, and came downstairs. She still had on the button up shirt; she was wearing a pair of jeans and a black tank top now, though. "I'm baaack!"
"Oh, joy," Seth said sarcastically. Leah looked at him and bit her thumb, shimmying her shoulders as she did so. Seth stuck his tongue out at her.
"Are you guys related?" Darren asked. The two stared at each other.
"Unfortunately," muttered Seth. Leah cocked her head.
"Aww, love you, too, Baby Bro."
"Don't call me that in public."
"What? Baby Bro? Baby Bro, Baby Bro, Baby Bro, why don't you want me to call you Baby Bro?" Leah asked. Seth growled.
"I liked you better when you were upstairs and not down here."
"Well we're in my house, anyway. And if you want to keep coming here, I suggest that you keep your comments to yourself." She crossed her arms and stalked towards Jacob, swaying her hips the whole way. Seth smirked and shook his head.
"So...Who's that?" Darren asked. "I saw her yesterday, but I never caught her name." Leah was eating some grapes and she waved.
"I'm the beautiful, sexy, smart, generous, talented-" Seth coughed loudly at that part. Leah threw one of her grapes at him, which he caught in his mouth.
"Gooooaaaallll!" I shouted with my arms in the air. I jumped onto the couch next to him and he grinned at me.
"As I was saying; talented, drop-dead-gorgeous-"
"She's Leah," Jacob finished.
"Hey! I wasn't done!" Leah shoved a handful of grapes into Jacob's face.
"Okay. Smart...Maybe. Generous...I'll be nice and say 'yes.' Beautiful..." Seth looked Leah up and down.
"Duh!" Jacob laughed. Leah kissed his cheek.
"Sexy...? I'm not even gonna' answer that one," Seth continued.
"Then let's have Jacob answer it!" I exclaimed, clapping my hands. Jacob looked Leah up and down. He grinned. "I'll take that as a definite 'yes!' Drop-dead-gorgeous...Sorry, Lee. But I take the trophy on that one." I flipped my hair and winked.
"Talented is where I draw the line," Seth finished. Everyone in the room laughed.
"Hey!" Leah crossed her arms. "I have talents."
"Name one," Seth said.
"I'm a good mother," Leah bent down and picked up Jayah. "Plant one right here, Jay," she pointed to her cheek. Jayah leaned forward and touched Leah's cheek with her lips. "Mwah!" exclaimed Leah.
"Isn't that cute?" Alice said. "Oh, and she's a good dancer!"
"Compared to you!" Jasper laughed. Everyone stared at him. This was the first time that we'd heard him laugh since...Well, ever. "You've got two left feet. Now, the twins," he gestured towards Ashley and Amanda, "They're good dancers."
"Because they have training," Leah said, and set Jayah down again.
"Yeah, what she said," Alice interrupted. "But I still think that she's a good dancer."
"Thanks, Ally. And that's more than one, it's two!" Leah added. Seth rolled his eyes and Leah laughed. We spent some more time getting to know Darren. We-meaning me, Athena, Syanne, and Kim-teased him some more, though. But throughout this whole time of talkativeness and laughter, I noticed that Teasha was really quiet. I kept stealing glances at her, and noticed that her eyes kept switching from blue to brown and then back again.
It was kind of creepy.
"Hey!" Claire suddenly shouted. She ran to the middle of the room and climbed onto the coffee table.
"Hay's for horses," Athena laughed.
"I gotta' question!" Claire continued, ignoring Athena.
"Shoot," replied Rachael, she rubbed her belly.
"How do babies get borned? Qwil won't tell me," she said. It got kind of quiet and awkward, no one really wanting to answer her question. I looked at Quil, who smiled sheepishly.
"The stork...!" Rosalie finally said. Claire pouted.
"Liar, liar, pants on fire! I 'ready know that I was borned out of a china!" she crossed her eyes, making her point. I snorted a laugh, others following me. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, Claire," Paul laughed.
"Listen, you really wanna' know how babies are 'borned?'" Darren asked. Claire pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head and nodded eagerly. "Come sit on Uncle Darren's lap. Story time!"
"Oh, no..." Sam groaned and walked away. Claire made herself comfortable on Darren, and then turned so she could hear him.
"Well...You know that the baby is about to get 'borned' when he starts to dance in Mommy's belly."
"Babies can dance?" Claire asked. Darren nodded.
"Yep. And then, they do a back flip and land upside down." Claire's mouth hung open.
"Whoa..." she breathed. Darren nodded again. I sat next to Seth trying not to laugh. I couldn't believe that Darren had come up with a supplement to the real story so fast. And Claire was believing every word of it.
"So then we have to take Mommy to the hospital so the baby can dance himself out of her tummy."
"Do the Mommies scream? That's what Leelah did." Claire pointed at Leah who started laughing.
"Sometimes..."
"Uh, you'd be screaming, too, if you had to squeeze a head the size of Jake's through your-"
"OH-kay!" Seth shushed her. "I thought we already had this conversation!"
"And I thought I already told you to keep your comments to yourself! So, uh, turn around, Baby-Bro, and listen to the story." Seth growled, but turned around.
"Aww, it's okay, Sethy," I cooed, then kissed him.
"Anyway, back to what I was saying. So the mommy and her husband go to the hospital so that the baby can be 'borned.'"
"They can get borned at Jakey and Leelah's house!" Claire said. "That's where Jewel got borned."
"Sorry to burst your bubble, CeCe, but not every woman in La Push is going to deliver a baby on my bed," Leah said sympathetically.
"Oh, okay," Claire nodded.
"As I was saying, when they get to the hospital, the mommy does all the work while the daddy is just there for moral support."
"You got that right," Leah muttered.
"Hey! No comments from the peanut gallery!" Darren snapped. Seth turned and smirked at Leah. I patted his leg and giggled.
"What's 'more sport'?" Claire asked.
"Moral support," Emily laughed. "That means that they're just along for the ride."
"Where they going? In Sammy's trick?" Claire cocked her head. Emily laughed again.
"No. It's-"
"It's like being a cheerleader," Athena said. "Like when my mom was giving birth to my baby brother, Peter, my dad was just standing there cheering her on...How'd that little thing go? Oh! Push him out, shove him out, waaaay out!" The whole room burst out with laughter.
"He actually did that?" Kim asked. Athena nodded.
"He's just weird like that," Athena said with a grin. Darren turned back to Claire.
"And then, pop!, he's born! Right out the china! Story time's over," he pushed Claire off his lap and stood up.
"Thanks for the story! Now Qwil gets ta' tell me whenever I want!" she skipped back to said werewolf who frowned.
"Oh, joy," he muttered. I started to applaud Darren and some of the others followed suit.
"That was marvelous! Simply marvelous!" I exclaimed in a British accent. "Take a bow!" Darren laughed and did as I told. I nudged Seth. "See, Sethy? That's a bow. You should be taking notes." Seth frowned, so I kissed him. "Olive you," I said when I pulled away. Seth smirked.
"Olive you, too." I pulled him down so that his head was on my lap. I instantly started to mess around with his hair. "You have magic fingers," Seth sighed.
"I know. That's 'cause I lotioned them with fairy dust," I replied. Seth stared up at me and crossed his eyes.
"Ha, ha. Jazz's got jokes." I yanked a couple of hairs out of his head, making him cringe. "Ow...Hey, that was my favorite piece..." I sprinkled them onto his face. "Wow, thanks."
"Anytime, Sethy-poo, anytime. Do you condition?" I asked, running my fingers through his hair.
"Uhh...Is it weird if I say 'yes?'"
"No!"
"Then, yeah. Rinse, lather, repeat."
"Ooh! I should try that!" I laughed. Seth smirked and closed his eyes. "Aww, tired?"
"Duh. I usually sleep in to this time, but some people like to wake me up at nine in the morning."
"Really, who?" I asked, with a grin.
"Don't play dumb."
"No matter how sexy I look when I do it?"
"...Okay. Play dumb." I giggled and tweaked his nose.
"Hey, guys!" Collin suddenly yelled over everyone's noise.
"Oh, great. Is Darren telling another story, again?" Brandon groaned. Darren put his hand to his heart in mock hurt.
"I am highly offended," he squeaked dramatically. Leah threw five of her grapes at him.
"What's going on, Col?" Amanda asked.
"Nothing with me. Teasha has an announcement." Teasha nodded stiffly.
"Oh, my gosh, she's pregnant. Collin, how could you?" I screeched.
"What? No!" Teasha screeched back. I laughed and stuck my tongue out.
"I know. I was just playing with you."
"Oh...It's important, but nothing like that. We might wanna' go to the backyard though, 'cause this is pretty big."
"Yeah. Gigantic," Collin added. I pushed Seth off my lap and pulled him up. Then I pointed towards the back door.
"Onward!" I shouted. Everyone filed into the huge fenced in backyard. Leah and Syanne held their children, Jayah asleep and Kyle playing happily with his mother's short hair. Claire leaned coolly against Quil's leg, her glasses covering her eyes again.
"How big is this?" Rachael asked once she'd sat down. Teasha looked at Collin, then back at everyone else.
"Super big," she muttered. Then she took a deep breath. "Guys, vampires and werewolves aren't the only things out there. You remember when I disappeared a while ago?" She got a few nods from us. "Well...I was...I was going through a change."
"Like when we're about to phase for the first time?" Sam asked.
"Or when someone gets turned into one of us?" Evangeline asked.
"Yeah...Something like that. But, long story short, I'm...I'm a...I'm a phoenix." She clamped her hand to her mouth like she'd just blurted something bad.
"You're a what?" Athena asked. Teasha closed her eyes. Then she caught on fire. Someone screamed, but stopped when the flames cleared and a beautiful reddish orange bird stood in its place. It had gold tipped wings and a white chest. The bird was the most gorgeous thing that I'd ever seen, and it reminded me of some of the mythical creatures that I used to take my time coloring in my books.
"Wow! Pretty!" Claire exclaimed.
"I'm a phoenix," Teasha's voice repeated from inside my head. "It was better showing you than telling you." Athena yelped.
"Tell me you guys are hearing what I'm hearing!" she took her hat off and wrung it around in her hands. Replacing it back on top of her head, she shook Brady so hard his teeth started to chatter. "Tell me!"
"Yeah, we hear it," Edward said, always the calm one.
"It's okay, guys. It's just Teasha," Collin said simply.
"Yeah. Quit freaking out, guys," Teasha said from in my head. "It's not like I'm a drop-dead-gorgeous bird with gold tipped wings and fiery orange eyes," she continued. "Oh, wait. I am." She giggled, and from the bird emerged a little coo. Almost like a pigeon, but more sing-songy like a dove.
Is it just me, or did that come out weird?
"You're so pretty..." Kim breathed. "Can I...Can I touch you?"
"Way to be a creeper, Kimmy," Jared muttered.
"I'm choosing to ignore that," Kim retorted.
"Go ahead," Teasha answered. She walked forward and Kim patted her head.
"You're so silky!" Kim laughed. "Gorgeous..." Kim pulled away and leaned onto Jared, still watching Teasha.
"I knew, even before you all told me, about shape-shifters and vampires," Teasha said.
"I knew that you knew," Seth said.
"But there's more to it than that," Teasha continued.
"Yea! Story time!" Alice exclaimed. Teasha cooed and opened her wings, revealing just how magnificent they were. Suddenly, the world around us burned away. We were in the forest, leaves floated around us and the trees danced in the wind.
"You all have told the legends about the bird born from the ashes, right?" Teasha asked. I looked up, trying to remember a story about that.
"I might of heard about it somewhere..." Sam said. "What about you, Jake? Billy's usually the one to tell the legends."
"Maybe..." Jacob replied.
"Whether you heard about it or not, it's true."
"Obviously," Darren snorted.
"Anyway, a long time ago, when the first ash birds migrated here, the spirit warriors used them. They 'bred' us, like we were an endangered animal in a lab. They used us to defeat the cold ones, forcing us to use the fire inside us to burn them. That's not what we're all about. We're like pacifists, so we don't like to fight. But they forced us, on risk of putting our families to death." The world changed and now the forest was burning. A group of vampires came running past us, ignoring us as if we weren't there. A large group of werewolves came stood snarling on a big group of rocks, about ten birds-the same color and size as Teasha-were flying around behind them. Suddenly they caught on fire and dipped down on the vampires, burning them. When the vampires started to run away, the phoenixes stopped and turned towards the werewolves. The dogs only snarled at them, gnashing their teeth and growling menacingly. Even though they looked reluctant, the phoenixes chased after the vampires.
And burnt them to crisps.
The fires were uncontrollable and the whole forest was burning. The scene changed to a small village. Then we were looking into one of the little huts. A mother stood cradling a small girl. She looked up, and I saw that she was Teasha's mom. One of the children, a little girl, looked up, too.
It was Teasha.
She looked so scared, and fat tears rolled down her soot covered face. There was another person, a teenage boy-it had to be Isaac-laid on the floor, writhing in pain. Teasha's mom whipped her head towards him, just as he burst into a pile of ashes. Mrs. Kidd rushed towards the opening of the hut, trying to close it. But it ripped open, and a man stalked inside, heading for the ashes. He stopped and stared at it. That's when the ashes burst into flames and out popped a small phoenix. It looked like Teasha, only smaller. The man held out his arm, and the bird hopped onto it. He started to leave. I watched as the small version of Teasha followed him and latched onto his leg. The man kicked her off, and then he was gone.
The world faded back into the Jake and Leah's backyard.
"My dad...He hates you all. He thinks that all shape-shifters are the same. After that happened all those years ago-"
"Sorry to interrupt, but how long ago was that?" Edward asked.
"As of August the twentieth, I'm three-hundred fifteen," Teasha's voice said. "I was just a little girl, and I stopped aging when I was fourteen." Everyone was quiet. "But my dad, he's never trusted your kind since then. The Cullens...He just feels really bad for trying to kill your kind. But you guys," she looked at all the wolves, "He'll never forgive your kind. He's even reluctant just to talk to you. My mom's a forgiver. She loves you, and she's the one that suggested that I tell you about me...About us. My dad doesn't know anything about it. Mom promised to work on him," she gave a short laugh. "But if he thinks that he can keep me locked in that house, he's mistaken. I can't think of anyone better to hang with than you guys."
"Aww...We love you, too, Teasha," I said. "Now, you're really pretty and all when you're a bird, but could you change back?" Teasha cooed and caught on fire again. Then she stood as a human in front of us, wearing the same white dress she'd had on before.
"How do you do that? Every time I change back I'm naked," Syanne asked. Teasha shrugged.
"Dunno. It's just a pain because your clothes smell like smoked ham afterwards."
"Ooh, smoked ham! I could really go for some of that," Malachi laughed. Teasha laughed a little with him.
"So...Now you know my big secret. The first time I burned was about a month ago."
"Is that why you were gone for so long?" Brady asked. Teasha nodded.
"I was still trying to control my fire. It was really hard to put on clothes without accidently burning them." She rolled her eyes, then looked at me. "About your clothes..." I held up my hand.
"Save it. I'll just raid your closet as payback." Everyone started heading back inside.
"So...What cool phoenix powers do you have?" Paul asked. "Obviously, the ability to communicate with us even in your Tweety form."
"I like Tweety!" Claire raised her hand. Quil pulled her onto his shoulders.
"I know you do, Claire," he laughed.
"I'm Tweety now?" Teasha crossed her arms, but smiled. Collin pulled her close. "But, yeah. Oh, and I can pull you in to flashbacks, like I did before. And...My eyes change color depending on my emotions." I turned to Seth and crossed my arms.
"Ha! I win! Let's go, Sunshine. Sing," I put my hands on my hips and waited. Seth and I never bet with money, we bet with songs. A couple of weeks ago, I made a bet that Teasha's eyes changed color according to her emotions. He said that it was just the lighting.
"Ugh, you always win," he groaned. Leah clapped her hands.
"Is he gonna' give us another performance?"
"Kinda...C'mon, Seth. Let's hear it. And make it sound good," I said. "Serenade me with your beautiful voice."
"At least I don't have to dance this time," muttered Seth. "Okay. Everyone got their cameras rolling? 'Cause I'm not gonna' do this again."
"Wait!" Leah yelled. She went and got her phone, turning it onto a video. Everyone else did the same. "Okay. Go." I smirked as Seth started to sing.
"I've got sunshine, on a cloudy day. When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May,"he sang.
"Yeah, baby! Sing it!" I laughed. He crossed his eyes at me, but continued.
"I'd guess, you'd say: what can make me feel this way? My girl..." I danced around.
"My girl...My girl!" I did the backup part.
"Talkin' 'bout my girl!"
"My girl!" I pointed at him.
"Ooh..." Seth grinned at me. "Am I done?"
"Aww...I like it when you sing. It makes me feel all fluttery inside," I pouted playfully.
"Me, too. You sing so good," Teasha said.
"Thanks," Seth flashed her a grin. We all laughed again, but it was cut short by the sharp ringing of the doorbell. It rang three more times, then a whole bunch of banging on the door followed after it. I backed away into Seth, noticing that Teasha was doing the same.
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Leah yelled. She opened the door, revealing Teasha's very angry dad.
"Daddy, I-" Teasha didn't have a chance to explain before her father came in and yanked her arm. He started pulling her out of the house. "Stop! Stop!" I ran out of the house with them, skidding to a stop on the porch.
"Mr. Kidd-"
"You're not going to associate with them anymore, Esquteasha!" he yanked open the door to their car while Teasha stood frozen to her spot. Mr. Kidd pointed to the open door. "Get in."
"No," Teasha hissed. Her dad's eyes widened, and mine did, too. I would never have the guts to argue with a guy as scary as him.
Mr. Kidd blinked. "What?"
"I said, no! Daddy, they're different. Times have changed since then! They'll never take advantage of us," Teasha said.
"I don't...No, I won't believe it," her dad said back stubbornly.
"Fine then. Don't. You can scream and holler at me all you want. But I'm not leaving them," Teasha crossed her arms. I mentally cheered.
You tell 'em, Teasha!
"Then I'll kill them all so you'll have to leave them!" her father yelled furiously. I kind of backed away.
"Then you'll have to kill me, too!" Teasha yelled back. Her father's eyes widened and Collin ran forward.
"Teasha..." he breathed. Teasha looked up at him love and hurt in her eyes. Collin reached out and touched her shoulder, only making her dad more angry.
"Don't you dare touch her!" he yelled, and grabbed his wrist. Collin yelped and staggered backwards, clutching his wrist. Mr. Kidd punched him, and Collin grabbed his face, then fell to the ground, unconscious. Teasha and I screamed, then crouched down beside him. His arm was burned badly, and his cheek all the way down to his jaw line was scorched. Teasha squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them. She turned to look at her father, fire in her eyes.
"Why did you-"
"No more questions, Esquteasha," her dad cut her off. "I don't even know what you see in this kid, anyway. He's a shape-shifter! He'll only bring you pain and suffering. Just like he brought to us."
"But Daddy I-"
"You're coming with-"
"DADDY I LOVE HIM!" Teasha screeched. It got quiet, and her dad leaned forward as if he didn't hear her.
"Come again?"
"I...I love him," Teasha repeated. I looked back down at Collin and held his head in my hands. He was already started to heal himself, but there were still going to be scars.
Teasha's dad laughed half-heartedly. "What could you possibly know about love?"
"Enough to know that I couldn't ever...I wouldn't ever leave his side. And Daddy, it's in the way he looks at me...The way he talks to me and says my name. I know he loves me, too." Mr. Kidd staggered backwards, as if hit by something heavy.
"In love...With a shape-shifter," he whispered.
"And I'm not ashamed to say it," Teasha said bravely. Her dad's eyes flashed red again.
"Fine. Stay here and love him!" her dad yelled. "You're a traitor to your own kind, Esquteasha. That's just what you are!"
"I don't care! I'd rather be one, anyway!" Teasha screamed. Her father shut the passenger seat door and then opened the one for the driver's side.
"Don't expect us to be at the house if you want to come home!" he yelled, then slid into the car. He started it quickly, then screeched off just as fast through the forest. Teasha stared after him, then her hands flew to her mouth. She stifled a sob, looked down, then back up at the way her father had left. Tears started to flow down her cheeks, and she looked down at Collin. Sniffing, she rubbed his forehead, then laid on his chest.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered. I looked sadly at the two, then at the scars on the side of his face and his arm. Teasha sat up and rubbed his face. "Please wake up. Please. Please. Please," she begged. As if hearing her, Collin opened his eyes. "I'm sorry, C," she whispered.
"S'okay. I'd probably do the same if it were my daughter, anyway," Collin joked quietly. He sat up slowly and looked down at his arm. It was bright red, and looked like it hurt a lot. "It'll get better. It doesn't even hurt that much, honest," he said, obviously trying to make Teasha feel better.
"No. It's not. He burned you...Because of me," Teasha said.
"It's not your fault," I soothed. "You were following your heart." Teasha rolled her eyes and smiled in spite of herself.
"That's what's always getting me into trouble these days." Collin shakily stood to his feet, Teasha and I supporting him the whole way. "This sure wasn't the way I expected my confession to go." I stared at her. She was really going to joke at a time like this? She smiled sheepishly at me. "Sorry. I tend to joke when things get weird."
"No kidding," I said sarcastically. We helped Collin walk back to the house.
"Guys, really. I can walk on my own, you know!" he said.
"It's not their fault that they're worried about you," Sam said. "You just got severely burned...And then knocked out!" Collin nodded.
"Oh, yeah...Hey, since you guys are helping me and all, you think you can make me a mango smoothie?"
"What?" Teasha asked.
"No way!" I exclaimed. Teasha and I both let go of him. "Make your own!"
"I was just kidding..." Collin rubbed his neck. Leah dragged him over to the breakfast nook.
"Sit," she commanded. Collin sat. Leah immediately began to touch around his face, then started checking his arm. She touched the burn on his wrist lightly. "Does this hurt?" she asked.
"Not really. It just stings a little," Collin answered. Leah went back to his cheek.
"This is the one I'm worried about," she said. She did the same type of touch to it as she did to his arm. Collin sucked in a breath and squinted his eyes a little. "It hurts, I know..."
"Is it...Bad?" Collin asked. I watched as the rest of the burn healed, but a huge, ugly mark was left. Leah bit her lip, and Teasha covered her face with her hands.
"I'll never forgive him..." she whispered. She leaned onto my shoulder, and I did my best to comfort her.
Collin stood and walked quietly to the bathroom. He closed the door behind him, and I heard it lock shortly after. Teasha sniffed and looked at the bathroom door.
"This wasn't supposed to happen..." she whispered. "Guys...I put you all in danger. I-I didn't know that my father would do that. And now...He's gone and hurt one of the people closest to me."
"It's fine, Teasha. We still love you," Amanda said with a grin.
"Yeah. What kind of people would we be if we didn't?" Ashley added. I hugged my friend.
"Aww...Hugs!" I said, and squeezed her tightly. Teasha chuckled a little. "We're family, Teasha. We'll always love you." I looked at everyone as I said this.
"I love you all," Teasha said quietly. She looked down, then back up sharply as Collin came back into the room. Teasha wriggled out of my grasp and ran to hug him.
"It looks terrible, I know," Collin whispered.
"I still love you," Teasha whispered back. "Even more than Oreos." Collin laughed.
"Oreos? Really?" he laughed again.
"That means she loves you a lot," Emily said. "You know she went through all three packs of those things that I had at my house? And then she came back and asked for more!" Teasha smiled sheepishly.
"It's like my Achilles' heel," she replied. Everyone laughed at her comment. "What is it and thinking with you people and thinking that everything I say is so darn funny?" but she laughed, too. But then Darren had to go and ruin the moment. He raised his hand.
"Are we still having a bonfire tonight?" he asked. Everyone stared at him.
"Just gotta' go and ruin a moment like that, huh?" Rosalie asked. "Really?"
"I just wanted to know! I mean, all this sh-" he looked at Claire and the two other babies in the room, plus at Leah's hard stare. "Bad stuff just went down, and I wanted to know if we were all better...?" he winced, as if waiting for someone to hit him.
"Nice save, Dare," Leah nodded and walked to the kitchen. "And...I guess we're still gonna' have one."
"Teasha? Do you think that you can share some of your phoenix legends when we're there?" Edward asked curiously. "You don't have to if you don't want to, I'm just curious as to what stories you have." Teasha shrugged.
"I'll share what I know...Which isn't a lot. There's really not much to tell," she answered.
"What about from the beginning?" Collin tried. "We're all dying to know what happened in the long-lived life of Teasha." Teasha crossed her arms.
"I'm not that old!"
"Teasha, living through three centuries is pretty old," Jake said, picking up Jayah.
"Shut up, Jake," Teasha retorted. "Angie's older."
"Oh, yes. I am older. We might have crossed paths in the past, perhaps?" Evangeline asked. Teasha shrugged.
"Dunno. Maybe."
"I can't get over how cute you were!" Kim squealed. "I know it was a horrible flashback, but you were so adorable!"
"Thanks," Teasha rolled her eyes. "But I prefer not to look back on my childhood."
"Sorry," Kim said.
"It's okay."
"Anyway, Teasha! What other cool stuff can you do?" Athena asked, jumping on the couch. She turned upside down, her head where her feet should be and her feet where her head should be. She rested her hands on her stomach, holding her hat. I laughed and sat the same way next to her. "Ooh! Trend setter!" Athena exclaimed. The guys rolled their eyes as we laughed. "Back to you, Teasha!"
"Umm...I can control fire...?" Teasha said.
"Ooh, for real?" Athena squealed. Teasha laughed.
"Fo'rizzles!" She snapped, and a mini fire appeared on her fingers. Everyone clapped.
"Great, Teasha. Just don't burn my house down, 'kay?" Jacob asked. Teasha blew the fire out.
"Anything else?" Jared asked.
"No...I think that's pretty much it," Teasha shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't think so," Quil said. "How about the ability to live forever?"
"Well...That's only when I renew myself."
"What do you mean 'renew yourself?'" Edward asked.
"Every few months, or however often I choose, I go through a...I'd rather not explain it. But then I burst into a pile of ashes, and emerge as a newly refurbished phoenix. The last time that I did it was a couple of weeks ago. But it was the first time in a long time that I've done it. That's why it came without notice and I got sick that one day."
"But how come you were wearing glasses and your hair was shorter?" I asked.
"Because, I like the way that glasses make the world look...And I liked my hair when it was shorter. It grows longer when I get renewed, and I actually like it."
"So...This renewal is like a period?" Kim asked. "It comes every once in a while, and you feel crappy when you go through it, but all 'renewed' when it's finally over?" Teasha and the rest of us girls laughed.
"Yeah. I guess you can think about it like that!" Teasha laughed some more.
"This conversation has taken a weird turn..." Malachi said awkwardly.
"Sorry. Of course, you boys wouldn't understand any of that," Rachael cocked her head and smiled smugly. The guys all shook their heads.
"But...Yeah. It kind of snuck up on me on that first day of school. I didn't realize what was happening until I got the body aches. But now I've learned my lesson...Don't wait too long ever again!" Teasha laughed.
"So...How often do you have to...Uhh...Renew?" Leah asked.
"Every few weeks, I guess."
"That is DEFINITELY like a period!" Athena exclaimed. Me and all the other ladies agreed. "You gotta' go through it every few weeks...Brings pain...And then it leaves you more beautiful and refreshed than ever...But then you gotta' go through it all over again." Athena sighed. "Which reminds me...I need to go but some more tampons. Mine starts in a few-"
"TMI, Christmas!" Jared waved his hands in front of her face.
"Shut up, Jare. It's not like we all don't hear about that once in a while," Jacob rolled his eyes. Leah threw some of her grapes at him. "You know what? Can we just go back to talking about Teasha being a bird? This conversation is getting weird." He stole a grape from Leah's bowl.
"So...What happens when you..." Jasper cocked his head.
"You really wanna' hear about that?" Teasha scrunched up her face. Jasper nodded. "Okay. It starts with headaches and body aches. Then my skin turns all flakey and pasty white." She shuddered at the thought, as if seeing it on her skin right now. "But the worst part would have to be losing my hair. And it doesn't come out little by little. It all comes out like, poof! It's kind of like a bird losing its feathers. So...When I'm all ugly-"
"You could never be ugly," Collin said to her. Teasha grinned and kissed his cheek.
"...As I was saying...I burst into a pile of ashes. Pfft!" I laughed. Teasha was so good at sound effects! "And then...I reemerge as a beautiful phoenix. The bird born from the ashes! And that's pretty much the end!"
"I wanna' see you explode into ashes!" Malachi exclaimed. I took the pillow off my stomach and threw it at him. "Hey...!"
"Trust me, you don't want to see it!" Teasha shook her head. "It's pretty gross. Like something off the end of a cigarette. Yuck!" She made a face. We all laughed, ignoring the ringing phone.
"Yes, guys! I'll totally walk the laboring forty feet to get the phone. It's not like I'm PREGNANT or anything!" Rachael said sarcastically. The house filled with 'thank you, Rachael's' and 'we love you, Rachael's.' I laughed and shook my head. Rachael answered the phone, her hand resting on her back. "Hi, Carlisle, how are you? Yeah, we're good...Oh, really? I didn't know he...Okay. I'll tell him. Bye!" she hung up the phone and turned to Malachi. "Guess who just had a baby?" she squealed. I flipped off the couch and frowned.
"Who? The only pregnant lady I see in here is you." Rachael crossed her arms and looked pointedly at Malachi again.
"Mal, Obadiah's here!" Syanne exclaimed. Malachi looked at Rachael.
"For real? Like, you're not joking?" Rachael shook her head.
"Just born...Ten minutes ago. But...I don't think you should be calling her Obadiah..." Malachi blinked.
"What do you mean...?"
"Are you really that stupid?" Athena screeched. "Your mommy gave birth to a girl!"
"Oh...So then it's Bethany. Cool. Gonna' have to repaint her room, though. I don't think she'd appreciate a blue, boat-themed bedroom," he said. He sat back like nothing was wrong. I stared at him.
"Malachi...You're MOM just had a BABY! You're LITTLE SISTER! You don't even seem that excited," I crossed my arms, and he shrugged.
"I'm just...Not that stoked, is all," he shrugged and looked down.
"Something's bothering him..." Amanda said.
"Yeah. Definitely," Ashley added.
"Quiet time! I think Mal needs to soak in that his baby brother is a sister," Athena looked at everyone.
"I don't need to soak it in. I know she's here. Can't change it now, it's inevitable," he muttered. He looked back at Rachael. "...And she's healthy? Not...Dead or anything?"
"What? Not that I know of. Where are all these ridiculous questions coming from?" Rachael waddled back over to sit next to Paul. I didn't miss the look that Syanne and Athena gave each other.
"Take a breather, Mal," Athena said quietly.
"Yeah. It's different this time," Syanne added.
"I'm missing something here," Seth whispered to me. I nodded and watched as Malachi stood and walked out of the house. "What's wrong with him?" Seth asked louder. Athena and Syanne looked at each other again.
"His mom's last pregnancy was a girl," Athena said. "Bethany." She grinned and looked up. "I remember seeing her in the hospital the first time."
"Yeah. She was so precious," said Syanne. "But...She didn't survive the night. And died."
"She would've been three today," Athena said quietly. She looked up again. "Malachi loved her even before she was born. Sure, he loves all his siblings. But there was just something in his eyes every time he talked about how his mom was doing. It tore him up when she died."
"So now he just wants to make sure everything's okay. Going through something like that...I mean, I know firsthand...But still," Syanne looked out the window.
"Poor Malachi..." Ashley whispered. "I can't imagine anything like that.
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I was walking home with Teasha after the bonfire, and we were giggling up a storm.
"Did you see the look on his face?" Teasha laughed. I nodded and collapsed onto her shoulder.
"Oh, my gosh! He was so freaked out!" I managed to choke out between my giggles. Rachael had faked going into labor as a dare from me and Teasha. "He looked like he was gonna' pee his pants!" I laughed harder. Paul had frozen up as Rachael faked labored breathing. Finally, she burst into laughter and confessed.
"I just wished we had gotten that on video!" Teasha laughed. But suddenly she stopped. My giggles died out slowly and my smile faded.
"What's wrong...?" I followed her eyes and stared. A single suitcase sat on top of a big row of stairs leading up to a door. Teasha stifled a sob and collapsed into my arms.
"I can't believe it..." she whispered. I shook my head. I couldn't believe it, either. The door and stairs were the only things left standing.
Teasha's house laid in a pile of ash behind it.
Review. That is all.
~SashaFierce12.0