I stand outside of Jacob's house with two small suitcases gathered in my hands. This is basically everything that I held dearest to me. Inside these suitcases were a ton of books, ones that I promised I would read during the summer. I loved reading it helped me escape life for a moment. My mother protested this is why I didn't have many friends. I didn't care however, friends could leave, books would stay with me forever. Whenever life would bring me down I would sit in a nook and read about the characters in my books, suddenly, life wouldn't seem so bad.
As a junior I felt as if my life was changing for the better. I had found some friends who seemed to appreciate me for me. I was no longer the tan, quiet girl, hidden behind her long locks of dark hair. People actually seemed to want to get to know me. I had even found love, well, what I thought was love. His name was Evan Peters. He was quite beautiful and didn't mind that I wouldn't text him because I was curled in a corner with a book. Everything seemed perfect until I heard his friend over talking with him about the bet they had against me. Yes, a bet, whether or not he could fuck me in the first two months that we were dating. I was nothing but a mere prize to him, a trophy in his gallery of women.
After that I kicked him in the unmentionables and we never spoke again. I soon realized that the people that I called my friends were only hanging out with me because of Evan and they slowly disappeared as well.
I began to become a hermit hiding out in the darkest places with a cup of tea and a book in my hand. Suddenly characters like Frodo and Mister Darcy became more real to me than the people that I called my friends. That is why my mother shipped me off to Forks to be with my cousin for the summer. She hoped I would become more social, little did she know I brought a plethora of books along with me.
I walk up to the steps of Jacob's house and knock on his door. I can faintly hear footsteps walking towards the door and I hold my breath. I haven't seen Jacob in quite some time. In fact, the last time I saw him I was in diapers and we both believed that the darkness could hurt us. The man that opened the door seemed to very much surprise me. He is quite tall with short brisk black hair that frames his face rather nicely. His two beady brown eyes seem to light up as he catches the smile on my face.
"Leah," He says with excitement. He engulfs me into an embrace. His hug is strong and it nearly knocks the wind out of me. I pat his back as I try to regain my normal breathing, when had he become so strong?
"Nice to see you to Jake," I muster out. "Jake,"
"Yes,"
"You're crushing me." He lets me go immediately and I have to bend over and rest my hands on my knees trying to contain my breath.
"Sorry about that. I don't seem to know my own strength now a day." I finally catch my breath as I stand up.
"It's okay. You can't help it that I'm as scrawny as I am." I tease.
I look around the big wooden house and place my hands on my rather small hips. "Looks like this place hasn't changed much."
"Yeah Billy hasn't done much sense his accident." I immediately put my hand to my mouth in shame I feel bad for bringing up the accident which left my poor uncle in a wheelchair.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean too—"
"No," Jacob says as if it truly didn't bother him. "It's okay.
He walks halfway inside the house and turns around to face me. "You coming in? I got to show you your room." I nod my head. I turn around and grab the latch of my suitcases letting it hit each bump as I bring it into Jacob's house. Everything seems just as plain as the outside of their house. It is quite obvious that there hasn't been a motherly touch in quite some time. We make it to a room that is pushed towards the far end of the house. "You ready for this?" Jacob says with a sly smile. He places his rather large hands on the door knob and turns to face me. I raise my eyebrow,
"Should I be scared?" He laughs.
"It is pretty awful it hasn't been redone sense you came here years ago." I roll my eyes.
"Don't worry I'm not picky Jake."
Jacob opens the door and I pull my suitcases inside the small room. He is quite right the room seems very outdated with no pictures on the wall. It's painted a grey color that reminds me of a mental institution. There is a small twin bed that is pushed up against the wall. There is an elaborately made quilt that rests on the top of it it looks very warm. The only other type of furniture that's inside is a small brown dresser and a chair towards the window. I immediately walk towards the window and take in the beauty of nature that is outside. I can see the mountains stand tall reaching up towards the clouds and the bright blue sky. I hear birds chirping outside and the grass swaying in the wind. I turn to face Jacob with a look of excitement on my face. "Can we go outside?"
Jacob and I lay side by side on the cool moist grass. My long dark hair slithers through the green lush like seaweed. Jacob has his hands wrapped under his head like a pillow while he looks up towards the sky. I have my hands by my sides as I catch each cloud.
"That one looks like a bunny, see it's fluffy tail." I say pointing towards a cloud.
"I don't see it. Are you sure you're not delusional. All this sun could be getting to you." He teases. I nudge him playfully with my shoulder blade.
"I could do this all day." I say closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. I could see why writers escape to the sanctuary of cabins in the forest. Something about places like this allowed a person to breathe and understand their thoughts.
"We can't stay out here long, we should probably get ready." My eyebrows scrunch together as I open my eyes.
"Get ready for what?"
"It's my friend Bella's birthday. She invited me to come and I'm guessing you have nothing to do. So you're coming with me." I sit up and stare down at him. He looks kind of funny with his eyes half-way shut and open.
"Ugh no. I don't want to go." Jacob places one of his hands over his eyes trying to keep the sun from shining inside of them.
"Why not? Honestly, I don't want to go either." He sits up and runs his hands through his hair getting all the wet grass out of it. "I hate her boyfriend. He's a total ass."
"Seems like someone is jealous." Jacob rolls his eyes.
"You don't understand. He doesn't even know Bella, I've known her forever and he's just not right for her."
"And you are?" Jacob crosses his arms around his chest.
"Okay Dr. Phil sense you're such a pro on relationships what about you? Do you have any lucky bachelors in your life?" I sigh getting up and stand. I wipe the dirt and grass off of my blue jean shorts. I stand up and stretch trying to regain the feeling inside my muscles.
"Course I have tons of guys inside my life." Jacob stands up as well and rubs his hands together.
"Yeah, their names are Ben and Jerry." I kick him in the shin. He screams in agony as he gathers his leg into his arms.
"What the heck was that for?" I toss my nose up to him in triumph crossing my arms around my chest with pride.
"You forgot that I use to beat you up when we were kids. If you keep talking that way I may have to remind you of our childhood." I walk into the house with Jacob not following too far behind.
"I don't even know what to wear," I say as I stare at my reflection in the mirror. I am trying to stand up tall but my small frame doesn't seem to want to cooperate. I toss my long black hair to the right side of my body and it falls just below my chest. I run my hands through it trying to give it some type of volume but it is no use. I look down at my black v neck shirt and shorts with my sandals. This is nice I tell myself. Jacob comes into the room and takes in the back of my reflection.
"You're thinking way too much into it." He says as he sprays himself with cologne. I turn around and notice that he's wearing a nice shirt with ripped blue jeans exposing the athleticism of his body. I wrinkle my nose at the smell of his scent.
"Are you wearing axe? Yeah, someone's thinking about getting laid tonight." I tease him and he rolls his eyes in annoyance.
"You're mad you don't have a boyfriend to wear axe for you." I cross my arms and raise both of my eyebrows.
"Oh yea, so angry that a chauvinistic pig won't sweep me off of my feet and tell me how 'hot ' I am." Jacob comes towards the small mirror that I had brought from home in my new bedroom. He checks his hair in the mirror picking at it.
"Maybe the problem with you is that you talk too much. Maybe you should stand there and look pretty like most girls." I raise my hand to smack him but he moves away rather quickly he knows my tactics. "Oh c'mon I'm kidding. I think it'll be fun tonight. I apologize a head of time if we get thrown out of the party." I sit down on my bed and look at him with confusion.
"Why would we get kicked out?" Jacob sighs.
"You see the Cullens and I don't really get along. It's a long story I don't want to bore you to tears." The Cullens. The utterance of their names make me think of some rich family from a season of 90210.
"Explain to me later?" Jacob nods.
"Yeah, another story for another day. But, for right now we got a party to crash."
I get off of Jacob's motorcycle and run my hands through my hair trying to straighten out all the knots from the wind. I stare in utter awe at the masterpiece that is their house. I have never seen anything so lovely in my entire life. I turn to face Jacob who has walked towards me.
"Can you say loaded much?" Jacob rolls his eyes,
"They've always been show offs. Come on," he says as he begins to walk up the driveway. I follow like a lost puppy behind him. I can hear the faint echo of music from inside the glass windows. I want to touch this house slide my finger against the cold glass. But, a part of me feels unworthy to even touch it. It's so stunning as if it weren't even real but a picture inside a magazine.
We get to the front door and instead of knocking or ringing the door bell Jacob simply opens the door and walks right in. The music is louder now. Some rock song is playing and I feel completely lost. I am in another world now and I desperately want to hide under a rock. There aren't that many people inside the house and the ones that are look around my age. Some people are huddled around in circles talking amongst themselves. I immediately feel like how I did when I first became a freshman in high school knowing no one. I wish I had the courage of Elizabeth Bennet. I wish I could walk up to a random person and start talking to them with confidence. I don't, I simply follow behind Jacob like a dog in search of its owner. Jacob stops and I nearly crash into the back of him. He turns backwards and gives me a what are you doing ? Type of look.
"Sorry," I say he should know that I've always been quite clumsy. I look at him trying to figure out why we stopped. "So is this your thing? Awkwardly stopping in the middle of a crowded room?" I say feeling way to close to the person in back of me. I begin to stuff my hands inside my short's pocket. The music is way too loud it hurts my ears.
"No," Jacob says and he motions that he wants me to lean in closer so that I can hear him. I do as I am told. "See the girl right there." He motions to a small pale girl with dark hair that seems to clash with the opaque of her skin. She is wearing an emerald colored dress and her hair falls in small ringlets to her shoulder blades. She isn't wearing any makeup but it seems to work well for her. She is standing next to a taller slender woman with a brown pixie cut. This girl looks as if she just walked out of an Elle Magazine with her designer clothing on. I immediately feel self-conscious. "Come on, let's go and say hi." I shake my head protesting.
"Jake, I don't know. I don't think that will be such a good idea." I fumble over myself as he grabs my hand and brings me closer to Bella and her friend. As we get closer Bella's pale face lights up and I know it's not because of me but Jacob. The tall sprite looking girl sighs under her breath and I can hear her mumble to Bella,
"Who invited the dogs?" Before I can be offended or say something witty back Jacob is embraced into a hug from Bella.
He is quite tall against her small body. She is swallowed whole in his embrace. She closes her eyes and rests her head on his massively muscular shoulder.
"I'm glad you actually came." Her voice is a lot huskier and lower than what I had expected. They both break of out each other's embrace and he puts his hand on my shoulder. All eyes dash towards me. I feel my heartbeat drum faster. As the pixie-haired girl stares at me I swear her eyes take on a deeper darker hue.
"This is my cousin Leah." I smile waving. It's stupid I know but I cannot think of anything else to do or say.
"Hey," Bella says "I'm Bella. This is Alice." I turn towards Alice and she isn't looking at me anymore but the lower part of my hair.
"You have really long hair." She says almost as a way of an observation. I fidget with my hair pushing it towards the side of me.
"Thank you?" I'm not sure if it's a complement or an insult. She can hear the hesitation in my voice and she shakes her head,
"I mean it's lovely. I wish my hair were longer now. Jasper insists he likes it cut short though. Oh Jasper is my boyfriend, he's standing over there." She points towards the kitchen.
I turn to look at a young man with a nice dress shirt on. His hair is quite wild and he looks as if he's very uncomfortable. I have slowly noticed that all these people living in this house are unnaturally pale. I mean yeah, I know Forks is pretty gloomy sometimes, but is there never any sun? "Where are you from?" Alice asks me she seems harmless like a little fly gliding through the air. Yet something tells me there's reasoning behind her mindless banter.
"Chicago," I say feeling a little weird. I hate feeling like I'm being interviewed.
"Why did you leave?"
"Alice," Bella says "sorry about that. She asks a lot of questions." I shake my head and smile.
"Honestly, I don't mind."
"See," Alice coos. "There's nothing wrong with some good harmless small talk."
"a huh," I respond rather to swiftly. I feel awkward and my gut wrenches.
Before anything else is said Alice screams,
"Watch out," before I can respond or move a drunk boy rams into me spilling all his red colored drink on my clothes and hair. He looks at me in shock while I stand there completely soaked. I feel disgusting and oddly very sticky.
"I am so sorry." The guy slurs. He tries to touch me but I wince away. Alice glides over towards me and gives the boy a ruthless look.
"I'm so sorry are you okay? Here, I have changing clothes upstairs in my room." Before I can protest she grabs my arm and I am moving through the crowd of people. I turn around to tell Jacob but he seems occupied with Bella they both are starring at each other and it creeps me out.
We go up a flight of stairs to a quieter floor. There is a lovely glass window as we get up the stairs that overlooks the forest. I want to stand there for a moment and become in awe of its beauty. She brings me to another room and as she grabs the door knob it opens and a tall rather pale young man comes out. His hair a tousled bronze that falls perfectly along his chiseled God-like features. His liquid topaz eyes stare at me and I feel as if I shall lose my breath entirely. I immediately feel embarrassed about how awful I must look with my hair sticking to my face because of the alcohol poured on me. Alice smiles and the boy give me the weirdest look one I cannot decipher. He too is quite fair but something looks dynamic about his face.
"Oh, Edward there you are." His jaw clenches. "This is Leah," she extenuates my name and it makes me feel very uncomfortable. I bite my lower lip.
Say something Leah don't look like a complete and utter dumbass.
Something about him draws me in as if I have known him my entire life. The way he stands so tall like a majestic mountain or the way his eyes fall upon me.
"Hi," I muster out and it sounds breathless I curse myself. Edward gives Alice a weird look and I cannot see her face. His eyes finally dance back towards me,
"Welcome to our home. Glad you could be here to celebrate Bella," I can tell he wants to say something else but is being polite.
"She's Jacob's cousin." At the mere utterance of Jacob I can hear a low growl in the pit of his throat.
"Seems fitting," he mumbles and I feel crestfallen. I want to say something rude back towards him but I'm too hurt to shocked at why he is being so rude to me. "If you'll excuse me." He mumbles and he walks past me as fast as a speed of lightening. I turn my head and watch him as he leaves and walks down the stairs in a rushed hurry.
Thank you to everyone who commented and favored this story! I am pleased with how it is going! I have a great idea in my head and I seriously cannot wait to share it with you all. I fairly like this pairing. I love writing as Edward and I hope I do him justice. Please give me more feedback. As a writer I love to know that people are just as eager to read this as I am to write. Enjoy!