So, I ended up giving Leah's lovely imprint a chance to begin establishing herself in my story. That'll be the second part of the chapter, it still begins with my favorite wolf.
And now to the story! Enjoy!
Chapter Three
I hadn't seen or heard from Liv since Wednesday when I almost nibbled on her ear. She wasn't at school on Thursday and I couldn't go on Friday because Ness needed me to go hunting. She didn't like hunting with anyone as much as she did with me, not even Jake, so, I always went with her.
Anyway, the point is, it was Sunday afternoon and I hadn't seen my imprint in three days, I was anxious to see her again. Each time I was away from her it felt like a part of me was dying over and over again. Ness, being the amazing friend she is, offered to take someone else hunting but I wouldn't let her; it was the main time I got to be alone with my best and closest friend. On our hunting trip, I put imprinting in the farthest part of my mind and enjoyed being with my bestie as much as possible. I loved it, except for the moments that I was completely blindsided by random thoughts of Liv, like: the way her eyes changed from different shades of hazel to brown all depending on her moods, or the way she would laugh at my dorky and –according to her– funny self, or the way she would give me half hugs just to tease me. The moment we got back to the 'Vamp Den' (a combination of Vamp Lair and Wolf Den we all agreed on calling our home), I sprinted up to my room, prepared my backpack, picked out my Monday clothing and anxiously waited for Monday to near.
Seth, Ness and Jake thought I was being ridiculous, so that's how I ended up at the mall, bombarded with stupid come-ons from stupid teenage boys. They were ridiculous!
"Leah, calm down a little. I think you almost made the last guy shit himself," Jake attempted to say without laughing.
"Fuck off," I grumbled as my moronic trio of giggling companions continued to tease me.
"Oh, LeeLa, you know we don't mean anything by it. Lighten up a bit," Ness giggled. She wriggled herself out of Jake's arms and wrapped her own arm around my waist and rested her head on my shoulder.
"It'd be funny to see the facial reactions of half those guys that hit on you if they were to pass by now!" Seth snickered.
"Why do you say that, Seth?" Ness prodded.
"My sis basically threatened some of those guys that she'd cut them up with a machete if they so much as looked at her funny and here you are, Ness, wrapping around her like her lez lover. I can guarantee very injured egos and slightly dark auras."
"Or those ass faces would make some perverted ass quips to piss me off, again," I said. Jake nodded with a slight snarl and possessive glint in his eyes as he stared at Ness.
"At least I'm her hot lez lover," Ness giggled, wagging her brows at me, throwing a playful wink at Jake. No way I couldn't laugh at that.
"Of course, no lez lover of mine should be anything other than hot."
"Leah?"
My heart skittered as Her voice floated in the air around me, caressing me with gentleness reflected in the way she said my name. A blush crept its way on my cheeks as I looked from my 'lez lover' to my imprint. There stood my other half, a slightly confused look in her eyes and barely noticeable tension in her facial muscles.
"Hey, uh hi, Liv," I stuttered out.
Ness stealthily removed her arm from my waist and settled back down by Jake's side.
"Hola, Olivia," she and Jake greeted in unison.
"'Sup?" my brother said.
A subtle awkwardness settled on our group as I motioned for Liv to sit next to me. She placed herself at a distance from me and kept shooting glances at Ness.
"So, what brings you to the mall?" I asked, looking at nothing other than my imprint. Her eyes were a dark hazel color which instantly told me she wasn't in the brightest of moods.
"I, um, tried to win the contest for tickets to a Katy Perry concert actually, and you guys?" She threaded and unthreaded her fingers nervously, looking down at her shoes as a scarlet tinge touched her cheeks.
"Tickets to a Katy Perry concert? No way! Where do I sign up?" my brother jumped up and rushed close to Liv, putting his face a mere two inches away from her. She was startled, leaning back, her blush intensifying for a moment. An instinctive growl, so low that only super hearing could pick up, rumbled in my chest. Seth blushed a little, moved away from her and then closer to me, whispering a small apology that only I could hear.
"Um yeah, it's over by the food court. Apparently it's a food eating contest and there's another one that's strength based or something. I didn't pay much attention to the other one cause there's no way I could have won, even though there was a separate one for girls. I wanted those tickets though," she finished with a sigh. "I really love Katy Perry."
"Really? We do, too. Show us the way and maybe I could win them and we could all go," I said.
"That'd be amazing! Wait… you can only win up to four though."
"That's okay. I could win another four easily," Jake said smugly. Ness rolled her eyes as he began flexing.
"Or, I could," my brother added.
"I don't think a family member can win if another member wins," Liv told my brother.
"At least we have me and Jake to win." Liv smiled and threw her arms around me, making my heart stagger with happiness.
"Are you really sure that you wouldn't mind taking me with you if you win?" she asked quietly in my ear. I was pretty sure Ness, Jake and my brother could hear us but I still whispered back to her.
"Of course I wouldn't, you always make me so happy." At that my imprint's heart fluttered and she kissed my cheeks, which made my mind spin with desire and delight.
"Come on then, you guys have a contest to win!" Liv cheered, looking at Jake and I. She took my hand in hers and led us towards the contest booths. I noticed that her eye color had shifted to a light brown color which meant that her spirits were definitely higher than before. "Which one are you guys gonna sign up for?"
"We'll see," we answered at the same time. She glanced at us then at the booths.
"Okay, let's get you guys signed up!"
Thirty minutes later Jake already won the food eating contest so he couldn't compete in the other contest, which was to either last seven minutes in the ring with a pro MMA fighter or win, and winning the fight meant another 4 extra tickets. The people in charge of the contest set up a cage-like platform and surrounding bleachers in the parking lot that reminded me a lot of the Bully Beatdown stage. The situation itself reminded me of the show, with me as the bully and the MMA fighter as, well, an MMA fighter.
Either way, I decided I would rather go in the ring than show off my eating skills in front of my imprint.
"But, Leah, what if you get hurt?" Liv asked quietly as I finished some quick stretches. Slowly her caramel colored eyes darkened with concern to a droopy hazel brown. Her eyes wandered over the protective gear I was mandated to wear for the match. Her delicate hand briefly cradled my cheek, sending my heart galloping.
"I'll try not to," I replied with a soft smile. She nodded a little and chewed her lower lip in response, slowly pulling her hand away. With a grin, I pat her shoulder reassuringly before I stepped forward when my name was finally called to enter the ring. As I jumped onto the platform and entered the cage I could hear all the cat calls, wolf whistles and cheers the crowd offered up.
"Entering the ring from the right corner is, Miss Leah Clearwater!" the announcer boomed. Sheepishly, I raised my hand and gave the viewing crowd a wave. I could hear the distinct cheer of my imprint in the stands screaming out my name. A small blush appeared on my cheeks as I thought of a different scenario where she could scream my name.
"And entering the ring from the left corner is, Miss Aimee Walker!" The announcer's voice whipped my mind back to attention and I placed my focus on the task at hand. Aimee had blonde hair, cut in the same style as Alice's. Her blue eyes were striking, filled with so much passion that my inner wolf reveled in the possibility of a potentially good fight. She had a bit of height with muscle laden limbs and a thick torso.
"Shake hands," the announcer instructed. We stepped closer to each other, firmly grasping each other's hand through the provided gloves.
"Good luck," she offered in a slightly raspy voice.
"Thanks," I smiled. She gave a terse nod then walked back to her corner, I followed suit, walking to my own corner.
"Ready… fight!" the announcer boomed as a bell rent off.
Aimee went into a defensive stance, watching me with intense, predatory eyes. I fought off a smirk as I crouched into my own stance. The noise of the crowd blurred into a low hum except for the shouts and cheers of my imprint. I had to win, that was the only way to have my time with Liv out of school without her shit head boyfriend interfering.
"Great form," Aimee commented. A ghost of a smile played across her lips as she shifted her weight and beckoned me forward. "I'm sure this'll be good."
I didn't need any more coaxing; my wolf moved my limbs gracefully across the platform and initiated the fight. Surprise temporarily painted her features before the fighter recovered and smoothly dodged the blow. We continued on with the graceful dance of lunging and dodging for about five minutes, until I got bored. When the announcer gave the final minute warning, I struck out as fast as I could without using my supernatural speed. I caught her in the back of the knee, throwing off her balance and sending her stumbling. Before she could regain her balance, I pounced, throwing her down under my body. She struggled beneath me and would have gotten out of my pin if not for my wolf instincts, which kept me in complete control.
"Aimee, down for the pin!" I winced a bit from the loudness of the announcer's thunderous voice. He dropped down next to me, smacking the mat as he began to count down.
"Three… two… one!" I heard my imprint scream. I slowly rose to my feet, taking off my glove and leaning down to offer help to Aimee.
"That was pretty fun," I said.
"You're a great fighter, ever think of going pro?" she asked as she took my hand. I smiled at her, about to answer but got distracted when Liv ran up to me and kissed my cheek.
"You were magical!" she praised, kissing my cheek again. My whole face got hot and I knew I was blushing so badly that my ears were probably red too.
"Nah, fighting is just in my blood," I responded bashfully. I glanced at Aimee and saw her smirking at me before she turned and walked away. Liv just laughed and wrapped her arms around my neck, smiling directly into my eyes.
"Then you have magical blood." As her words left her lips and wrapped around me, a small shiver ran throughout my body. Her face was so close and her lips were a breath away…
"I do," I murmured, my gaze locked on her lips.
"Leah! That was great!" Ness squealed. My sense snapped back to me and I slowly and awkwardly pulled from Liv. I thought I saw a flash of disappointment cross her face before I turned my face away, hiding my own evident discontent.
"Thanks Ness," I mumbled as she threw an arm around my shoulders.
You need to learn control, wolf girl, she whispered into my mind the moment she made contact with me.
"I love her too much," I whispered softly as I walked away from my imprint to claim my tickets. This needs to work, I thought determinedly. This will work.
Olivia's POV
It was Sunday, just a little after noon and I was wandering the mall without purpose. As I passed classmates in the stores or food court, I was only able to muster a weak hello and empty smile which earned concerned gazes and worried questions. A small sigh would leave my lips each time I walked away and was out of earshot; I didn't want people to notice my sour mood. My boyfriend, Nathan, was too busy with football practice to pay any attention to the sadness that seemed to settle so comfortably in my heart since Wednesday.
"Hey there, Livy," Miranda, my cousin, greeted me as I stepped up to the Orange Julius counter.
"Hey, Miranda," I mumbled in reply, looking up at the smoothie menu that hung overhead.
"I suggest the Piña Colada, its pretty damned good." I turned my gaze to her, a small but genuine smile pulling at my lips. Her bright green eyes danced with amusement as she turned away from me, preparing my smoothie.
"I never agreed to it, Randy," I said, watching her move about behind the counter.
"I know ya, Livy, we have similar tastes." She tossed me a grin over her shoulder, shifting her attention from the blender to me, which turned out to be a mistake. The lid moved, which caused bits of piña colada to splatter across my cousin's navy blue work shirt and tan cargo shorts, a small amount in her dark hair. A loud squeal erupted from her, causing laughter to spill from my lips, drawing attention from the other people in the vicinity.
"Am I going to have to pay for that?" I asked between giggles. She shot me a glare before flipping me the bird, wiping at her clothes with a small towel in her other hand.
"Shut up," she grumbled once she wiped off the majority of the piña colada. I smiled, my irrational sadness temporarily easing its squeeze on my heart as I watched my cousin whip up another smoothie for me.
"Thanks for this," I said, almost wistfully, knowing the sadness was sure to return in a matter of moments. She lifted a delicate brow as she handed me my drink, her green eyed gaze locked on me, making me to fidget.
"You okay, sweetie?" Her soft tone and worried eyes urged me to confide in her. "Is it that Norman kid?"
"No," I replied, the corner of my lip curving up ever so slightly. My cousin's adamant dislike for Nathan was something that always amused me. "And its Nathan, Randy, not Norman."
"Whatever, that ass isn't worth any drama either way. So, what's my little cousin so bummed about?"
I rolled my eyes before looking away, wrapping my fingers around the cool styrofoam cup that held my smoothie.
"I don't even know, Miranda. I mean, Wednesday I was pretty good, nothing dramatic really happened. It was just another day. But then Thursday rolled around and I felt sick, so I missed school and Friday too. At about noon on Thursday, a steady, dull pain just began to take over my heart. It was a heartbreak ache. It hasn't gone away since. If anything, it's gotten worse," I finished in a voice barely above a whisper. I closed my eyes, keeping my face turned from Miranda, determined not to let her see the pain in my eyes that returned along with the heartache. There was a soft creak and bang that came from the counter and before I knew what was going on, my cousin's arms were wrapped firmly around me. My eyes shot open in shock. Miranda Lillian Sanchez rarely ever held anyone that wasn't her mother, sibling or girlfriend.
"Livy, are you sure it's not that Nathan guy? If it is, I'll kick his ass, honey." I pulled away a bit to turn in her arms and face her, meeting her concerned gaze with my own steady one.
"Miranda, that's sweet, even if violent, it's still sweet, but, Nathan isn't the problem. I don't know who or what the problem is which makes it more of a problem." I rested my forehead against her shoulder, a shudder of pain running down my spine.
"You know what always helps me during random bouts of gloominess?" she asked, pulling her arms from me. Lifting my face from her shoulder, I shrugged.
"I don't have a clue."
"I enter contests that I had no clue about until the last minute!" She gave my shoulder a squeeze before running behind the counter again, rummaging through a stack of papers. "Found it," she declared, holding a bright pink flyer. "Check it out."
"What is it?" I asked as I cautiously reached over the counter and took the paper from her hands.
"Read it and find out."
Rolling my eyes at her, I began to read and felt my eyes go wide. It was advertising an 'underground' competition sponsored by Capitol Records to promote Katy Perry in the area… and it was being held in our mall!
"When the hell did this happen?" I squeaked.
"We just got the notice today. They began hanging these up at around 6 this morning," she answered, pointing at the piece of paper in my hands.
"She's absolutely fantastic! I gotta check this out, come with me?"
"Sorry, short stuff, I can't. I'm on duty here but go on, win the tickets and take your absolutely fantastic cousin with you!" she said, raising her voice in a playful mockery of my voice.
"Oh shut up," I laughed, rolling my eyes. An easy smirk decorated Miranda's face as she began to wipe around the counter, quietly dismissing me. "Later, Randy!" I said as I left, sipping my smoothie and feeling better than I had in a while.
Making my way to the information center of the mall, I saw large crowds gathered around four booths. The crowds surrounding the two booths on the left consisted largely of females and a sparse amount of guys and those to the right vice versa.
I managed to wriggle myself between a bunch of girls, without spilling my smoothie and found myself in front of a stand with a sign that read 'Women's Challenges'. I looked behind me and found many sharp glares and heard a few choice curse words directed at me. I felt my cheeks go read before I turned to the woman attending the booth.
"I'll just be a second. I just want to know what the challenges are, if you wouldn't mind telling me."
The woman offered up a sympathetic smile before reaching behind her for a briefcase. She took out a slip of paper, gave it to me, and then called out, "Next."
I squeezed my way through the crowd once more, my cup nearly breaking under the pressure I added as I lifted my arms to maneuver my way between the bodies.
"Fuck," I mumbled as my piña colada began to dribble out of a crack on the bottom of my cup. Wiping off the creamy liquid on my shorts after tossing my smoothie, I began to read the paper.
Apparently there were four different competitions and each one gave three different people to win. The two for women both gave me no hope. I was to either sign up for one of three food eating competitions or sign up to fight a professional MMA fighter.
"Not gonna happen," I said dejectedly. Sighing, I began to walk back towards the food court, hoping to hang out with my cousin, but ran into someone even better.
She was yards away and all I could really make out was shoulder length black hair, a white shirt and possibly blue jeans, but I knew it was her. I felt an involuntary smile settle itself on my lips as I walked towards her. The closer I got, the more my smile grew. By the time I got close enough to hear her, I felt pinpricks of displeasure jabbing at my heart.
"Of course, no lez lover of mine should be anything other than hot," Leah said as she grinned at Renesmee.
"Leah?" I managed to say. My throat felt tight as my heart squeezed painfully. Renesmee had her arms all over Leah and for some reason that bothered me. I didn't want it to show though; it wouldn't make any sense to feel that way to her, especially if it didn't make sense to me.
"Hey, uh, hi Liv," Leah said, her cheeks darkening a little. The rest of her group offered up a small hello once Renesmee returned to the side of one of the guys, Jake I thought his name was. In return I nodded to each, a half smile tugging at my lips to take off the bitchy edge I felt I was exuding. When I looked at Leah again she patted the vacated area next to her, her dark eyes asking me to take a seat. I obliged, keeping myself at a distance, not wanting to sit where the bronze haired girl had.
"So, what brings you to the mall?" my raven haired friend asked, her voice soft and calming.
"I, um, tried to win the contest for tickets to a Katy Perry concert actually, and you guys?" I replied hastily, not wanting to look like a loser for going to the mall, by myself, with absolutely no purpose.
The other guy of her group, her brother?, pounced like a lion, asking about the tickets. I explained and after a bit of discussion, they decided to compete. I didn't doubt their chance to win, they were an intense bunch, except possibly Renesmee, and I had all the faith in the world that Leah could do absolutely anything.
Before I knew it, I was a part of a cheering crowd under the grey sky in the mall parking lot, screaming for Leah. I jumped and flailed my arms, my heart skittering each time it looked like she would get hit.
I couldn't understand my body's reactions whenever it concerned that girl. Each time I tried to think of it, my thoughts would trail off and I wouldn't be anywhere near an answer. Just as I began to get a small amount of control over myself, Leah pinned down her opponent and the announcer was doing the countdown. Just like that, I went wild again, shouting my head off, counting along with the roaring crowd of possibly two hundred people.
"One!" we all yelled, declaring Leah the victor of the match. My body jolted with excitement, I had to go congratulate her. I skillfully wove my way between the mass of bodies, working my way closer to my amazing friend.
"You were magical!" I gushed when I finally reached her. Going on my tippy toes, I placed a small kiss on her cheeks. She looked as fluid and graceful as a dancer during her solo performance, it was beautiful to watch.
"Nah, fighting is just in my blood," she whispered in response, her cheeks taking on a slight red. I laughed, feeling excited and giddy, wrapping my arms around her neck, looking up into her dark irises.
"Then you have magical blood."
I felt her shudder against me, her eyes darkening ever so slightly.
"I do," she breathed, her gazing leaving my eyes… to rest on my… lips?
I could feel her gravitating closer, feel her sweet breath washing over my face. I didn't know what to do, how to feel. I was conflicted, frozen with confusion. She was my friend, rapidly close to gaining the title of best friend. Her body heat wrapped around me tighter, her lips hovering over my own. I braced myself. I waited to see what would happen; and then- nothing.
"Leah! That was great!" Renesmee said, her perfect voice ringing in my ears. Then like magic, cruel magic, Leah's eyes cleared and she pulled away from me. I thought I saw a hint of disgust, of regret pulling at her facial features before she looked away from me. Blood roared in my ears as I saw them walk away from me, not once glancing back. Renesmee's bronze curls swayed along with Leah's dark locks, tangling themselves as Renesmee moved her arm from Leah's shoulders to her waist.
My stomach clenched angrily, the urge to throw up rocking throughout my body as bile rose in my throat. Tears stung at my eyes, but I refused to cry, I wouldn't. I wouldn't throw up. I wouldn't hurt.
In that moment, the ache returned with a vengeance, constricting my heart so much that it hurt to breathe.
I knew why then.
I knew who was hurting me.
It was Leah Clearwater.
Leah Clearwater, the girl who confused me...
Hope ya liked the glimpse into Olivia's mind. The main POV I'm going to stay with is obviously Leah, but I might change it up with someone like Olivia again and maybe even Seth? Not sure what I'm going to do. Please leave a review, its always a good thing to spur on my creative juices (: Let's hope the next chapter isn't much of a hassle!