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Chapter 92

Party Time - the Second

Leah

I stood in the doorway with Mom as Dad was trying to explain to Becky and Jake that while Becky would be staying with us for the time being, they would not be sleeping together in Jake's room.

The two of them couldn't quite understand it. I already did, though, after listening to Dad's explanations.

"When she's asleep, you're going to bed ... In YOUR bed, understand?" I heard Dad when I was on my way to my room.

"Okay," he got a dissatisfied response from Jake.

I chuckled and would love to know what Jake was thinking right now.

A few minutes later, Dad knocked on my door. He handed me my book, which I had left downstairs yesterday and was looking for.

"He hates me right now," Dad stated resignedly, pulling a deeply offended face.

"I thought so already," I chuckled. "And Becky?"

"Is a little more insightful. But just a very little bit."

"I will never hate you!" I clarified.

"Will you give that to me in writing?" he asked, arms folded in front of his chest, looking at me challengingly.

"You don't believe me?"

"You're far too young and impulsive to hold on to it forever!" insisted Edward stubbornly, bracing his hands on my desk where I still sat.

I took a pad and wrote:

Dad,

I will never hate you!

Monday, October 21, 2024, Saco

Leah

I handed him the note, which he examined with mistrust.

"I will remind you of this! ... Sleep well," he said and kissed me on the temple.

Edward woke me up much too early. At least that's how it seemed to me.

My resolve never to hate him wavered ominously. Well, after the run I was awake. Shower, breakfast, off to school.

I felt sorry for Jake. When he wasn't holding Becky in his arms, he was holding a schoolbook in his hands. His new schedule was pretty intense.

"Hello Jenny! Leah!", I then heard on the way to the cafeteria directly behind me an effort seductive voice.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance before we turned around.

"Hello, Chris," Jenny greeted him.

I just nodded.

I could not stand the guy.

Chris spoke to Jenny about a homework assignment. A good reason to continue on my way. As I rounded the corner and looked around again, I couldn't believe it. Jenny was leaning against the wall and seemed to be positively swarming Chris as he leaned toward her.

"Hey, Princess, what are you looking so mad about?" asked Emmett when I arrived at our table.

I looked around me.

"So, where's Brandon?"

"Letting off steam. He had a quarrel with Jenny," Jasper meant.

Involuntarily, I looked outside. As expected, Jake was sitting there with Becky.

Time, that Jake also took care of others again.

I took my tray and went to them.

"Hey, Jake. Let's switch places sometime," I said directly.

"What for?" he asked, puzzled.

"Bran and Jenny have stress and Bran is just letting off steam, Jasper says."

For Brandon, letting off steam meant being in the gym and taking out his frustrations on an innocent punching bag until he sprained at least one finger or his knuckles bled.

Jake still asked Becky if he could leave her alone, but she only said that she was not alone. And not made of porcelain!

"They've been arguing a lot lately," Becky commented.

I nodded and took a bite of my sandwich.

"I wonder if they'll still come this evening?" she then asked.

"Uh ... where to?" I asked puzzled with my mouth full.

"To 'Twilight'. Bran was supposed to call Jake yesterday to let him know. Didn't he tell you?"

"That must have slipped his mind," I gritted my teeth.

"Seven-thirty is agreed. Jason is dying to find this girl again," Becky chuckled gleefully.

"You seem to be really looking forward to it. Aren't you afraid? There's bound to be a lot going on, however," I marveled a bit.

"Yeah, sure I'm looking forward to it. It's too much hype for me here because they all stare at me and think of Mike as well. They whisper behind my back, look at me funny, and think I don't notice. That gets me down. And I'm only scared when I'm alone. But other than that, I'm pretty much the same as I've always been - apart from the last few quirks," she retorted.

I couldn't help but stare downright at her eye for a moment.

It was still covered by a very distinct green-yellowish sheen, but by the time of the wedding this weekend will certainly have healed enough that she can easily put make-up over it. On the hand, however, she still had a bandage on her hand.

We chatted boisterously and laughed.

Afterwards Alice and Lisa joined us.

We didn't see Jake for the whole break. He was even late for bio.

"How's Becky?" he asked immediately.

"Imagine … she's still alive," I rolled my eyes. While I thought it was pretty bad what had happened to Becky and could also understand why she was afraid of being alone, somehow, I thought Jake was slowly exaggerating. After all, Becky was no delicate egg. She had just proven that to me.

"When were you going to tell me we were meeting at 'Twilight' tonight?" I asked instead with raised eyebrows.

He stammered around.

He had apparently really forgotten about it, but actually didn't want to go anyway. He had given studying as a reason, which no one would doubt at the moment, but in truth he didn't want to go because of Becky. He was afraid of overwhelming her among so many strangers.

"Becky's looking forward to it, though!" I retorted.

Seeking help, he looked to Dad, who only nodded in affirmation.

So, at seven o'clock sharp we stood in the living room and listened to our parents telling us to have fun on the one hand and behave ourselves on the other.

Didn't one exclude the other? I considered, and Dad gave me a nasty glare. But I had not forgotten the last evening in that bar. Especially not the headache. I wasn't going to have another morning like that if I had to go to school.

We were about to leave - we'd pick up Becky on the way, too - when Jake's cell phone rang.

Even Mom understood who was calling.

Bran shouted angrily through the receiver. We also heard the reason clearly. Bran had just gone to pick up Jenny and found her in bed. With Chris. Ouch!

Quickly, Jake reached for the car keys.

I drove.

Jake was still on the phone. Or letting himself be yelled at.

I stopped at Becky's, who was already waiting for us.

She looked chic. She had managed to cover her eye a bit with makeup, so Jake's phone slipped from his ear.

He kissed her in greeting, of course, while it thundered on and on from the phone. Becky moved closer to the receiver, realized what was going on, and looked Jake in the eyes.

"He needs you more than I do today," was all she said.

Jake nodded awkwardly. Then he looked puzzled while I chuckled.

Becky got into the car.

That had been clear to me, but probably not to him.

We drove on to the bar.

"Bran. Don't do anything you'll regret later. I'm already on my way," Jake finally managed to say and hung up. "He wants to wait for Chris," he explained.

"Sounds familiar," I replied dryly, remembering Mike's appearance at the hospital.

"Me too!" said Becky even more dryly.

I had told her about it.

We gave each other a high-five, while Jake only stood there embarrassed. He still wished us a good time, meant he'd be back later, kissed Becky goodbye and drove off.

Jason and Lisa were already there.

We quickly enlightened them that we were apparently complete for this evening.

"I hope Brandon is okay," Lisa remarked, seemingly genuinely worried about him.

But a new break in our group was no reason not to be in a good mood.

Just like last time, a cocktail quickly stood in front of us.

Oh yes. Tuesdays were 'ladies night' here. Since Jake would be coming later, he could then also drive as punishment.

We girls clinked our glasses and pitied our 'cock of the roost'.

The fact that Jason was sitting at a table with three girls seemed to make him interesting to the rest of the female crowd. We picked out possible candidates for him, but none appealed to him.

Soon we got tired of it.

I paid a little more attention to Becky tonight.

I couldn't quite turn off Jake's concern for her in myself. But she was in a good mood and showed no signs of discomfort.

We gabbed and ordered Chicken Wings again. They were really good here!

Ben also even appeared. We nodded amicably to each other, he greeted our small group on the table and went to the other side of the bar.

I was so through with that!

I was considering whether I should perhaps treat myself to a second cocktail when someone entered the establishment. I didn't know him, but I couldn't take my eyes off him.

He must have been almost six and a half feet tall. Black, not quite short hair, which formed slight waves. Black eyes, but they did not appear gloomy at all. Caramel colored skin that made his face appear soft and gentle. A charming smile on his lips. A dark shirt nestled against an athletic torso. Wow ...

A face appeared in my view, whereupon I realized I had looked rather silly. Downright rapturous.

"When did you become single again?" asked Lisa chuckling, blocking my gaze.

"Long enough!" I stated and clumsily pushed her aside, but the guy wasn't standing there anymore.

I let my eyes wander around the establishment, but I couldn't find him anymore.

Too bad.

I went to the counter. The bar was pretty full and the waiters today completely overwhelmed. I waited patiently until the bartender had worked his way to my side.

"Sorry. I've misplaced my phone number, can I borrow yours?" I suddenly heard a calm but incredibly deep voice right by my ear.

I laughed vociferously.

I knew that saying. Who didn't know it? It was so bad that it was already cool again and I had never expected in life that someone would really try to pick someone up with it.

I turned around, continuing to laugh, and looked into an equally laughing face.

The guy from before!

"I'm sorry about that line, but I couldn't think of anything better."

"No worries," I was still laughing, but our laughter was slowly dying out.

"I'm Marcus," he extended his hand to me.

"Leah," I griped. A warm firm handshake. I liked that.

"Since we're already at the bar ... can I buy you a drink?" asked Marcus cautiously.

I nodded.

With two non-alcoholic 'Rainbows' in hand, we made room at the bar and looked for a quieter spot, whereby my friends smiled encouragingly at me.

Grinned was perhaps the more appropriate description.

"You go to a bar and don't drink? That's unusual," he noted curiously as we stood in a wide alcove , set with a shelf all around us, on which we placed our glasses.

"Neither do you, however."

"One can't surf that well with a hangover," he explained.

We talked for some time whereby I kept looking at Becky from time to time.

Jake's mindfulness was somewhat contagious.

Like me, Marcus was also a senior. He had a few days off unplanned. One of the graduating classes had had some fun in chemistry, mixed up some ingredients in an experiment, and the school had been closed by the fire department for the rest of the week. Allegedly because of the dangerous fumes, Marcus, however, rather believed that it was due to the disgusting stench.

I laughed vociferously and asked what kind of attempt that had been.

That sounded like something, that I would definitely have to do sometime.

He didn't know, but he would check.

Ammonia spontaneously came into my mind. Perhaps mixed with sulfur.

In any case, he used those days to visit his aunt and older sister here in Saco, since he could get to the Saco Bay for surfing faster from here than from Portland, where he lived.

We got along really well, so I also told some things about myself.

High school, sports, my friends at the table next to us, who were grinning now as before.

A waiter had managed to bring us more drinks, however.

I was fascinated by his voice. So deep, somehow soothing at the same time, and it came on vibrating slightly in my head. I didn't want him to ever stop talking.

It was quite noisy in the bar, so we kept leaning in to talk to one another.

As a wolf, I didn't really need to do that, but I had noticed his smell. Absorbed was more like it. I couldn't really describe it, but the image of walking into the sunset forced itself into my mind. He appeared so strong. That somehow made me totally jittery.

Again and again we touched. A simultaneous grab for the crackers that stood on the shelf. Through the crowd we were pushed to each other. A hand on my waist or arm to make room for someone. My hand on his arm when I said anything. His incredible gaze went to my wrist and his fingertips followed. He stroked over my bracelet with the little wolf.

"Pretty," he noted, lifting his eyes again. "Like you."

I smiled a little sheepishly.

"Thanks. My dad made that one."

"He seems to be an artist," he continued and let his fingers circle around the pendant on my skin.

Whoa! How that felt!

"He died before I was born, unfortunately."

"I'm sorry about that," he murmured, affected, and withdrew his hand.

I sighed inwardly.

"Don't be. I have a super mom. And now a quite cool Dad ..." I began to cheerfully tell a bit of everyday life. Cool, huh...? I chuckled at the pun. "What actually brought you here today?" I asked.

"My cousin Claire said the place was total crap. I wanted to convince myself of that."

"How did she come up with that?" I asked indignantly.

"She was here a few weeks ago and got to know a boy. They hit it off so well that she gave him her phone number. But he never got in touch. My cousin is very vindictive about that!"

"Is this guy named Jason, by any chance? ... Jason Seymore?" I raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Um ... yes ... How do you know that? Do you know him at all?" he now asked pretending to be cross.

"There he is ... We're here just for your cousin!" I smiled at him.

After Marcus didn't seem to know what to make of it, I enlightened him about how Jason had lost the number during my alcohol disaster last time. And how he had been here regularly since then, at least briefly, to find she again.

"Sounds like force majeure," he smiled, searching out the phone number and writing it on a napkin.

He turned to Jason and held it in front of his face from behind.

As if spellbound, he looked at the number and the name above it, grabbed it and stood up as if in a trance, not letting the numbers out of his eyes.

He apparently wanted to call her right away, but Marcus asked him to wait until tomorrow to do so. He would first explain the circumstances to her so that she would not hang up again immediately.

"Have you tried it?" he asked at some point after Jason had regained his composure and we were back in conversation.

Surfing, he meant.

"'Tried' is the right word. I fell in the water more than anything else," I admitted.

"It all depends on the right teacher!" he murmured to me meaningfully, with a look in his eyes that couldn't be missed.

"And you think you're the right teacher?" I inquired with played doubt.

"Would depend on a try," he meant and looked at me indeterminately for a moment. "You jog regularly, so you definitely have enough stamina ..." he tapped his fingers lightly on my cleavage to indicate my lungs, "... through volleyball sufficient strength ..." his fingertips drove along my arms and took my hands.

He gently twirled me around until I was leaning with one side against his body and his arm was around my back and his matching hand was at my waist.

"Surfing is a matter of body balance. I think you're made to master it perfectly," he whispered, and he looked at me with a look I couldn't break away from.

Did it suddenly get hot in here?

"Do you feel like dancing?" he asked.

I nodded.

He took me by the hand and led me to the small dance floor.

I took a deep breath on the short walk there.

I liked dancing a lot. I wasn't particularly good at it, I moved more intuitively to the music, but I really enjoyed it. And Marcus seemed to feel the same way, too. He wasn't bad, but he was no more professional than I was. A fast song. He hadn't let go of my hand, even held it tighter. Another brisk song followed, but then I heard slow tones. Behind Marcus I saw Lisa, who just sat down again and gave me a thumbs up.

Her work!

I looked at her critically.

By my hand, Marcus pulled me to him, one arm wrapped gently around my waist as I lifted my head and looked directly into his black eyes. Unable to move.

"You don't want to stop dancing yet, do you?" he asked softly.

"No," I muttered, placing my hand in his against his shirt and the other on the back of his neck.

Just as my fingers moved over his hairline at the nape of his neck, his stroked over my back. So, we swayed in the dreamy sound of the music without taking our eyes off each other. Everything around us blurred.

I never wanted to leave here again!

His strong arms wrapped all the way around me and gently pulled me against his body so that any air between us disappeared.

I closed my eyes and deeply inhaled his scent as my face rested against his shoulder.

I directed my mental thanks to Alice, to whom I had to owe my top today. The fringed T-shirt hung only on two thin straps and otherwise left my shoulders absolutely free. Just above it I felt his warm breath and tenderly soft lips drove very gently over my skin. An indefinite warm glow in my chest seized me. I turned my head a little and felt the warmth of his skin against my mouth. Our cheeks were against each other and the soft lips moved on. When our cheeks detached from each other, we looked at each other. I threatened to fall into the rich black of his eyes ...

My cell phone rang.

I blinked and it was as if someone had turned on the music and the people around me again. The music had quickened again and there was jittery, happy dancing around us, however we were stuck in our posture.

At least until the ringing. Great.

Offended, I pulled the phone out of my pocket.

The idea of being a single child certainly had its charms.

"What?" I asked indignantly. I felt so disturbed right now!

"Hey, Leah. How's Becky doing?" asked Jake, who would probably succumb to a fatal accident at the hands of his sister in short order.

"Flirting with a cute guy!" I replied venomously. I wasn't even lying about that. Strictly speaking. She was sitting with Lisa at Jason's, and the two of them were pretending to make mooneyes at him in order to keep a very pushy girl off his back.

"WHATTTT THE ...?" yelled Jake, and I held the phone away from my ear.

I rubbed over my ear briefly.

Could wolves become deaf?

"Don't yell, I get her for you."

I strode the few steps over and handed my cell phone to Becky, who immediately left the noisy bar.

"Do you have a brother?" I asked Marcus as I stood with him again in our alcove, but not taking my eyes off Becky through the large windows. It was pitch black outside. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't like it that much.

"No. Two sisters."

"Do you want mine?" I asked him and he laughed.

"I'd say my cousin lied to me. I think this little bar has something ... Especially the people here are very nice," he said and looked at me again, while he put his hand on mine, which rested on the shelf.

Our fingers playfully caressed each other until they finally intertwined.

Something moved in the corner of my eye ...

Just the door.

I really had to pull myself together to keep paying attention to Becky. I quickly glanced at her again, but she was still on the phone with Jake.

"You're very concentrated on this girl. All evening ... May I ask why?"

"Yeah, right. That is Becky, my brother's girlfriend. He has to take care of a friend today. Whose girlfriend - or should I say ex-girlfriend - was in bed with someone else. That's why I'm looking out for her a little bit," I explained.

"She's not a little girl, however. Is your brother such a bully that his girlfriend can't go out and have fun without him?"

"Jake may be overdoing it a bit right now, but he's not a bully. Something really bad happened to Becky last week. Since then, we've been a little sensitive when it comes to her."

Marcus nodded, but didn't ask further. Instead, he asked who the other girl at the table was and I told him about Lisa.

Suddenly, he yanked me along by the hand. He had almost dislocated my arm.

I was considering an appropriate comment when I realized outside the door what had prompted him.

Becky was being hit on by a guy who seemed to have had too much to drink.

I cringed when I saw Becky.

This was not the confident girl I knew. The guy had just talked at her wryly without touching her, but Becky just backed away. With wide open eyes and was trembling.

Marcus pulled the guy right away and I took Becky in my arms.

That alone seemed to calm her down. Maybe it was my body temperature that reminded her of Jake.

Marcus hurled some insults at the guy, waited for him to really leave, then turned to us first, but kept his distance from Becky.

"Thanks for your help!" muttered Becky, trying to regain her composure.

She succeeded quite quickly.

She smiled gratefully at Marcus and extended her hand to him, who then introduced himself.

"What did Jake say?" I asked.

"Brandon is drunk and he's staying with him tonight so he doesn't get into any mischief. He was going to call Edward to come pick us up right away."

"Can you manage the night without him?" I asked cautiously.

"Well, sure. Nothing can happen to me with you guys and Jake can't just take care of me around the clock," she almost laughed at me again.

Lisa and Jason were looking for us and came running out to us. But Becky downplayed everything quite nicely and went back inside with the two of them.

It was already quite cool out here, but I didn't mind that anymore and so I stood still outside.

Afterwards, a few words from Becky sounded in my head: right away.

In disbelief, I looked at my watch.

It was already close to eleven. That meant, in other words, Dad would probably be driving off soon. Damn!

"If I had to speculate, I'd guess she's ... been roughed up pretty bad. Unless I'm completely misinterpreting something," Marcus stated questioningly when the others had arrived at our table.

I nodded.

"That explains your attention and her exaggerated reaction to what really just silly sayings are ... How is she coping with the situation?"

Without calling the rape by name, I narrated, after he told me, that it had also happened to the sister of a friend. But it had already been a few years ago. She had hidden from the world for a long time and had also not told anyone. Until she had a nervous breakdown.

"She seems very strong!" he noted approvingly.

"Yes, she is. And what she may lack in strength, Jake makes up for in love and affection. He guards her like a treasure without Becky forgetting who she is herself," I confirmed buried in thought, looking at Becky through the window. She had become like a beloved sister to me in the few weeks. Edward suspected the reason for this was the wolf connection between me and Jake. Jake's love for Becky was so intense and final that I empathized with it as a wolf and a sister.

"That's exactly how it should be," my hand was taken, with which Marcus turned me around to face him. "One must carry his girl on hands without constricting her. Reading her wishes from her eyes without watching her all the time," he whispered in his incredible deep voice as he studied my eyes.

I almost chuckled when I remembered our spin-the-bottle from last Friday. The inconspicuous observations, as Jake had called it, which were more like stalking.

But Marcus' eyes held me captive.

"And what do my eyes tell you?" I could mumbled just then.

An arm gently wrapped around me and slowly pulled me towards his body.

My hands were on his upper body. I felt the distinct muscles under his shirt.

But also, something that I could not easily identify now. Something little ... hard, where actually should be about one of his nipples.

For a moment he looked at me. He savored the moment. Waited for my silent consent. And then his lips laid themselves soulfully on mine.

The time stood still. Our tongues got to know each other carefully and shyly until they arrived in a playful dance.

It felt so ... so ... so incredibly good. This interaction completely confused me. The strong arms that held me gently. His masculine smell. The taste of his lips. His racing heart that I felt under my hands.

A loud throat clearing interrupted us after ...

No idea. In any case, it was too short.

I looked past Marcus.

There was Edward leaning against his car, looking not necessarily pleased now.

Marcus followed my gaze.

"You're not going to tell me that's your boyfriend now, are you?" asked Marcus, a little intimidated by Dad's gaze, but without letting go of me.

"No. That's my dad," I mumbled, immediately biting my lower lip.

"Your ... what?" he asked way too high, promptly letting go of me and turning to Edward, somewhat aghast.

The latter's gaze became a touch eviler.

"Complicated story," was all I said.

"That story I'm tensely curious about, though," he turned back to me, probably to avoid Edward's piercing gaze.

"I can imagine," I muttered, chiding just myself for introducing Edward as my father without thinking. After all, I didn't really know Marcus.

My jacket was still inside, so I went to get it as well as Becky, Lisa, and Jason. With the latter it was agreed that we took them with us.

"He's hot though," Lisa indicated to me and I knew she would demand a detailed report tomorrow. Just like Alice!

I rolled my eyes.

"You still owe me!", Marcus stood in front of me on the way out.

I drew my eyes together skeptically.

"Your phone number," he smiled dazzlingly and held his cell phone out to me.

"That's right. You had misplaced yours!" I chuckled and saved it in his phone directory.

As a farewell, I received a light kiss on the lips, with a subsequent provocative gaze and the promise that he would call tomorrow.

Then I left, but looked back at Marcus, who had followed me outside. He smiled idolatrously and waved.

Preferably I would have stayed there, but Dad would surely have objected to that.

"Yes, I do!" he grumbled inhumanly quietly. "Well, did you have a good time?" asked Dad immediately in normal volume as we approached the car.

"Absolutely!" Becky first clarified so there was no doubt at it.

But I gave Dad a quick mentally replay from earlier when she was struck dumb and how she looked doing it.

He nodded.

During the drive, I thought about Marcus.

How handsome he was. How nice he was. How good a kisser he was. At the memory of it, I licked my lips. Somehow, I was craving caramel now.

"Why have you been looking so cross?" I asked Edward on the drive after we dropped Lisa and Jason off at home.

"I'm your father, that's my job!" he just returned.

"What was he thinking?" I asked.

Maybe that was why he had looked that way. Maybe his thoughts were not as nice as he had actually seemed to me. Nice? Understatement of the century!

Dad remained silent.

"Do you still have the note from the other night?" I then wanted to know.

"Of course!"

"Give it back to me!" I demanded.

Dad just laughed.

Thank you for reading!