I should clarify that this chapter is more of a re-edit. Not much has changed
Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyers owns all the twilight characters. _
Portland Oregon
I've been here for a couple of weeks now, and although I'm not living the American dream, I'm pretty content with what I have.
I don't live in a luxury apartment and I am a bit lonely, but no lonelier than I was in Forks.
I was walking back to my apartment with a few groceries.
It was almost a normal day. A bit cloudy, a few kids outside playing, but it wasn't quiet like usual.
In front of my apartment was an obviously frustrated woman screaming on the phone.
I noticed the smoke coming from her car and noted that it must have broken down on her right here.
She was tall, had long tan legs, and had a sultry Spanish accent that would make any man go weak in the knees. She was dressed in a designer suit and flashy jewelry. It was way different than the wife beater and gym shorts I was sporting.
"I have a meeting in an hour Louis," she yelled to the man on the phone, "and because you did a crap ass job on my car, I'm going to miss one of the most important deals of my life. "Do you know what I'm going to do to you if I miss this meeting?" She screeched to the poor man before hanging up the phone.
I watched her put her head in her hands, "Estùpido." She sighed.
I felt bad for her. There wasn't a mechanic for miles; she could call a cab, but who knows how long she would sit there.
I walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hi," I waved and moved my paper bag full of groceries to my hip, "I couldn't help over hearing your… uh… private conversation. The closest thing we have to a mechanic is a kid that works at the gas station," I pointed to the old rundown gas station down the street, "he's pretty young. He could barely change my tire." I shifted my groceries to my other hip, "I was just wondering if I could help you. I can drive you, you seem to be in a rush."
Her face lit up and she threw her hands around me.
It took me by surprise, I almost dropped the groceries in my arms.
"OH THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" she cried.
She pulled away from me and gave me an odd look.
"Oh, honey, your hot," she put her hand to my head, "Are you running a fever? You must be sick."
"Oh no," I shook her hand away, "I just..." I tried to think of an excuse, "run hotter than most people." I cringed at the lame excuse that everyone used and prayed that she would just let it go. "My truck is over there." I pointed, not giving her a chance to respond.
"My name is Marianna," she said as we got settled in the truck.
"Leah," I gave her a small smile.
"Do you live in those apartments back there?" She asked.
I nodded my head.
"It's quite cute," She said. I knew that she was just making conversation, "It's quaint."
"It's crap," I laughed, "but it's home at the moment."
We talked a lot during the car ride.
Marianna is from California, but she here on business for a month. She owns stores and shelters throughout the west coast. She's a very determined woman.
I told her how I just moved here from Washington and was still trying to adjust to the new environment. I hadn't even finished my sentence before she offered me a job at a local store that she owned.
"It doesn't pay much," she said as she got out of the car, "but it's a job. This is my way of thanking you for driving me."
I'd be stupid to say no.
She wrote down her number and waved to me as I drove away, and for the first time in forever, I felt like things were going my way.
I've been in Portland for a month and things were slowly getting better.
My job isn't too terrible. The people who came in were generally nice and liked to make conversation. Occasionally we did get the customers that were rude; my patience is always getting tested.
It's getting harder and harder not to phase, but at least my loneliness has gone away.
Stopping to help Marianna has been the best decision I've made since moving. She was my closest (and only) friend that I've made.
I was finishing bagging some groceries when Mariana pulled into the parking lot in her silver Mercedes.
Marianna has picked me up everyday around lunch time for the past three weeks. She takes me to nice restaurants that I can never afford. It was nice to go places that weren't my apartment or the store. Over the month, Marianna and I have made a very strong bond. People would never understand what interest I have in a woman in her mid-thirties, but Marianna is different than most people. She didn't push me to talk about my past and she had an addicting personality.
We were sitting in my favorite Italian restaurant. Marianna was being unusually quiet today.
"Mariana? What's wrong?" I asked.
She looked up from her Caesar salad.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"You've been awfully quiet today. You're all spaced out and distant."
She took a deep breath.
"Leah, my last day in Oregon is tomorrow."
"Oh."
I felt the sadness and loneliness start to take over me. I almost forgot what these feelings felt like.
Marianna was my only friend. She taught me how to survive in this city. When someone came into the store and caused havoc, she was the person who listened to me rant, or even ranted with me. Once I told her that I was feeling a homesick, and she came to my apartment with buckets of ice cream and movies.
"I'm really going to miss you." I tell her.
"I'm going to miss you too. I know that I've only known you for a month, but you've become important to me." A sad smile forms on her lips.
I was taken back by her statement.
I'm important to her?
I smiled, "You're important to me too."
"My husband is flying down today and I want you to meet him. I'll pick you up when your shift at works end."
I nodded my head to let her know that I understood. There's no use in arguing with or turning down Marianna. In the end, she always wins.
9:00 couldn't come fast enough. I was getting anxious to leave the store and finally meet Christopher. Marianna always had a hilarious story about him and his goofy antics and I was excited to meet him.
I was closing up shop; Marianna and Christopher were to be here at any moment.
I was busying myself by counting the last of my register when the bell above the door rang and three men walked in.
"Sorry guys, we're closed." I said, not looking up from the money.
One of the men says something to me, but I wasn't paying attention.
"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" I say looking up from the money.
"I said give me all your money."
The man is holding a gun to my face.
Are they fucking kidding me?
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" I yell in frustration. They were all tall and built. I'd honestly be very intimidated by them if I was the normal human, but I'm not.
"Give me all of the fucking money and you won't get hurt." The man with the gun said.
I put my hands on my hips and scoffed at them.
"You guys are the dumbest men I have ever met in my entire life! You guys didn't even think to put on masks! How do you know that this place doesn't have security cameras?
I didn't know if the store had cameras or not; I honestly hoped it didn't. What would the police think if I get shot and the bullets bounce off of me?
I put my biggest "you don't fucking scare me" bitch face on and stared at the gunman. On his arm, there was a tattoo of a heart with "mom" in the middle.
A momma's boy, seriously?
"Do you want me to hold her down Rick?" The one beside the gunman says.
"And he just told me your name! Is this your first robbery?" I raise my eyebrow at Rick.
"Look lady, I don't wanna have to shoot you." Rick says.
"I don't think your mommy would like the fact that her little Ricky is going to shoot an innocent lady."
His eyes widen.
"And I should just warn you now, that if you touch, attack, or shoot me. I'm personally kicking each of your asses." I narrowed my eyes at them, "Try me."
"Hey," The skinny one at the door yells, "Just knock the bitch out and take the money!"
The big one then lunges towards me and tries to grab my waist, but I'm already two steps ahead of him. I grab the bat that I keep under the register and break it over his head. He falls to the ground unconscious.
I hear a gun shot ring out. I feel the bullet hit my arm; it feels like someone threw a pebble at me.
I look up to see the man at the door with his gun out.
This fucker shot me!
I feel myself start to tremble but I'm too angry to try and calm myself.
I head over to the skinny one at the door.
Rick is too in shock at the sight in front of him that he doesn't even move.
Skinny tried to run, but I grabbed him by the neck and swung him towards the wall. He landed with a loud thump, and sat there.
I felt my trembling start to turn into giant shakes.
You've worked too damn hard for this Leah. You can't phase. Think about your baby.
I sat in a corner and started to focus on breathing.
"Oh my God, Leah!" Marianna screamed while running to me.
"Stay back!" I yell between breaths.
I hear some more footsteps when it hit me. The smell. The smell that I knew too well.
Werewolf
I stopped my breathing to find the source of the smell.
A tall, muscular, Spanish man stood in front of me. His long hair was pulled back into a ponytail. His eyes were wide as if he was amazed. He must have figured me out too.
Christopher is a werewolf.
"Keep breathing Leah," Chris tells me firmly, "don't do anything else until you know for a fact that you have calmed down. Dear, go call the police"
Marianna nodded her head and grabbed her cell phone.
I go back to breathing for five minutes. When I was positive that I was calm, I nodded my head at the couple to let them know I was okay.
"Oh honey!" Marianna threw her hands around me. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"I was closing up the store, when Ed, Edd, n Eddy over there tried to rob me."
Marianna, still holding me, asked "What's wrong with him?"
She pointed to Rick, who was still in a comatose state.
"I don't know." I lied.
She gave me a "I know that you're lying, but I'm going to get it out of you later" look.
The police came in. I had to give a report (obviously leaving out the shooting) and said that Christopher was the one who knocked the other two out.
The ride to my apartment was eerily quiet.
I wanted to ask Christopher all types of questions, but I was unsure if Marianna knew about him or not.
When I opened the door to my apartment, Marianna casually walked in and took her usual seat on the couch. I sat down quietly on the floor and Chris sat next to Marianna.
Chris took a deep breath and looked at his wife.
"You were right, she is a wolf. I owe you $10." He says.
My eyes widen in shock.
"I'm always right!" Marianna shouts victoriously.
"Marianna!" I stated, "How could you not tell me that you knew?"
"I only had a hunch. Plus I couldn't just flat out ask you!"
She is right.
"How did you know?"
"Your skin is burning! And plus every time you get angry, you start to shake. I know werewolf signs anywhere honey." She shrugged her shoulders, "I was going to wait until you were ready, but you were taking too long. So I brought my husband."
I nodded my head in understanding.
I let out a long sigh. This day has just been emotionally and mentally exhausting.
"What's wrong sweetie?" Marianna asked me.
"Nothing, It's just that-"I begin my rant, "The bastard SHOT me. What if I phased and killed them or worse killed my baby!"
Whoops, that wasn't supposed to slip.
"You're pregnant?!" Mariana yelled.
She pushed herself up from the couch and walked towards my bedroom. I could hear her shuffling around and mumbling to herself. All I could make out was "A baby" and an occasional "Dios mio ".
Christopher and I glanced at each other and went to go see what Mariana was doing.
Mariana was taking the few things I had in my room and putting them in my duffel bag.
"What on Earth are you doing?" I asked.
"What does it look like? I'm packing for you."
I stared at her with a dumbfounded look on my face.
"And where exactly am I going?"
"With us." She says casually.
This woman is nuts!
She stops working and looks at me. I guess she thought that I deserved an explanation.
"Years ago, Chris and I started a women's shelter," she started to state, "Because of all of our hard work, connections, and donations, the shelter has become bigger. Almost the size of a moderately sized college campus. We take in battered women with children, young teen girls on the street, and pregnant women who have nowhere to go. We help you get your life together so that you and your children can have a better future."
I stared at her.
"Thank you so much Marianna, but there are women out there who need this more than me."
She keeps packing.
I look at Chris and wave my hand towards his wife; I give him a pleading look.
"Help." I ask.
He goes into my room and starts helping Marianna pack.
"This is not the help I was meaning!" I shouted in frustration.
Marianna looked at me with a fierce look in her eyes.
"Leah," she stated, "You have only a little amount of time before this baby comes. You can't think of just yourself. Do you really want to raise a baby here? In a dangerous neighborhood? The only thing you have in this apartment is a dirty couch, and old mattress, and pizza rolls. You work nights, you ran away from your home, and you're the only one here that can raise this baby." She places her hands over my stomach. "Let us help you. We can help you with birthing, the first few months, keeping calm!" She gives me a pleading look. "Please, I'm begging you."
I look at her eyes. They're filled with worry and concern. This is why I grew attached to her. The harsh criticism and the love that she gave me. She was like my mother.
"Okay." I say giving in.
Marianna squeals with delight. "You're going to love it there. And I have a big surprise for you when you get there!"
Santa Cruz, California
The plane ride was absolutely terrible. We had extreme turbulence, add that to my morning sickness and you have a very pissed off Leah.
We drove for about two hours before we arrived to the shelter.
When we arrived I was absolutely amazed. It was like a neighborhood filled with different types of buildings and playgrounds. This all started because two people have hearts of gold.
We arrived at a building that looked like a giant dorm.
"Because we have so many people, many have to share rooms." Mariana said. "You're going to love your roommate."
"What's she like?" I ask.
"You'll see." She says with a grin. "She's actually apart of your surprise."
The building is very nice and homey inside. It's designed to be simple and comfortable. We take the elevator to the 4th floor.
I stare at the hall in awe. There is a lounging room with a flat screen and a computer room.
We walk down the hall to a door. Jazmine Sullivan is being played on the stereo.
Chris unlocks the door and slowly opens it. There is no one inside.
"E!" he yells. "Come meet your roommate."
A door, which I assume leads to the bathroom, quickly opens and a short teenage girl comes out.
She's short, and has a smooth ebony skin color and almond shaped eyes.
She has a confused look on her face and I start to get self concise, when I notice.
She smells like me. She's a wolf too!
Her face quickly changes from confusion to excitement. I'm just as excited and hugged her.
"Oh my God! I thought I was the only one!" I cried.
"Is she the surprise?" She yelled to Chris.
He nodded his head.
She lets go of me and walks to Chris and Marianna.
"You guys are amazing." She hugs them.
"We're going to let you get to know each other. E, get her set up for us please." Marianna says.
She ushers her husband out of the door and gives us a little wave.