III. Unconditionally and Irrevocably Done with this Bullshit
As soon as the bell rang, I shot up to my feet, ready to get the hell out.
"Leah," my teacher called, stopping me in my tracks. I watched in despair as the rest of my classmates shuffled around me, out of class.
"Yes, Mrs. Littlesea?" I forced through gritted teeth, turning back and bouncing on the soles of my feet, restless. I knew I should've ditched.
"I noticed you didn't vote," she said, gesturing towards the small cardboard box sitting at her desk, where everyone else had dropped in a slip.
I shrugged. "You pick one for me, then." I couldn't care less about choosing the next topic of discussion for American History. But Mrs. Littlesea was one of those adults who gave off hippie vibes and wanted us to have deep, meaningful discussions about the state of the world. Boooooooring.
"That sort of defeats the purpose, Leah," she said with an expectant sort of look on her face.
I scowled and stomped back to her desk. Picking up a copy of optional topics, I ripped out the last one on the list, crumpled it, and tossed it into her precious box.
I had reached the classroom door, so close to sweet freedom from her academic terrorism, when she stopped me in my tracks once more.
"Oh. And Leah?"
"What?"
"Detention."
I spun around. "For what?"
"For failing to do your schoolwork. Again."
I glowered and stalked out of her classroom, fuming. Ugh, that bitch. She actually expects me to do her crummy homework?! What a waste of time!
By now, the halls had emptied and there was no one to block my way to the cafeteria. Which was slightly disappointing. Slamming a few heads together would've been a quick way to let off some steam.
By the time I reached the lunch room most of the tables had been usurped. Not that it mattered in my case. As soon as I dropped into the chair beside Embry, Jacob jabbed a finger in my direction and demanded, "What are you doing here?!"
"Just shut up for a sec," I muttered, scouting out the table in the very back corner, which had been taken over by Sam and his clones.
It was so obvious, now that I knew the truth. It was insane how much my own ignorance had blinded me.
Jared, once a puny-looking sophomore, was near-identical to Sam, not just in his added height and muscle-mass, but in his behavior. He carried himself tensely, with an air of power coiled in his rigid muscles.
As usual, one of them was absent. Today, it was Paul. Despite that, I knew he would capture the same likeness.
And amidst Jared and Sam, nearly concealed between their large frames, was a little sophomore girl. Kim, I believed her name was.
I nearly gagged, when I noticed the way Jared gazed at her―like he was a split-second away from falling at her feet and worshiping the ground she walked on.
Imprinting is such BULLSHIT.
Unable to stand looking at them for a moment longer, I turned back to the idiot trio.
"Quil," I said sharply.
He jumped in his seat. "Y-yes?"
"I need you to do me a favor," I said. Before any of them could protest on his behalf, I continued, "There's a chance you might get to chat with your precious cousin, if you do."
"Quil, don't do it! It could be a trap!"
"Aww, but what if it isn't?"
"Are you sure we can trust Leah?"
"I'm still here, boneheads," I snapped.
"I'll do it!"
Jacob and Embry groaned in despair.
"Good. Borrow your grandpa's car and pick me up after detention."
Before they could argue with me, I jumped to my feet and stalked back out. I didn't need to look, to know that Sam's eyes had strayed in my direction once again.
It was after detention, when I was standing near the steps to the school's entrance, that I heard an achingly familiar voice call my name.
"Leah."
Every tendon in my body grew rigid, shoulders jerking up and fingers curling into white-knuckled fists.
When I didn't acknowledge his presence, I heard him step closer, until he towered at my side, the heat of his skin warming me from his proximity.
"Leah," he repeated softly, with such affection, I could feel my heart being ripped open once more.
"What do you want?" I snarled, keeping my gaze locked forward.
"Leah," he repeated again, almost regretfully, and then continued, "you need to stay away from Jacob and Quil."
I whirled around, my face twisted with incredulous fury. "The hell I will!" I snapped, head nearly craned back to meet his eyes. "Where the fuck do you get off on telling me what to do?! You have no right, Sam! No right."
I cut off my tirade when a hot pressure suddenly formed inside my throat.
"I know." Sam heaved a sudden sigh. "But this is bigger than both of us."
I sneered. "Save it."
Although that did raise the question of who was next, didn't it? Isabella hadn't said, but I had the feeling she knew exactly when each of us was damned to join the tribe's wolf pack.
The beeping of a car horn jolted us back to reality.
Simultaneously, our heads swiveled to catch sight of Quil leaning across the passenger seat of his grandpa's car, towards the open window. For once, he didn't wear one of his easy grins. Instead, his expression was oddly flat, eyes darting between myself and Sam.
"Leah, you ready to go?" he called.
"Fuck yeah. What took so long?" I demanded, unable to completely conceal the relief leaking into my voice.
"Leah. Don't," Sam warned me one last time.
Without looking back, I flipped him the bird over my shoulder. "Eat shit, Sam."
Wrenching the passenger door open, I jumped in and slammed it shut. "Step on it."
Quil didn't waste a second and immediately peeled out of the lot, leaving Sam in the dust.
I collapsed back against the seat, digging the pads of my fingers into my eyes. "Fuck," I hissed.
"Uh, Leah?" Quil piped up. "What are we doing exactly?"
I heaved a sigh and dropped my hands. "Right," I recalled, "We have to swing by my place first. I still have Isabella's truck and I need to return it."
"Oh! So you need me to give you a ride back from Forks," Quil realized, cheering up once more. Likely at the idea of getting to see Isabella again.
I scoffed. "Yeah, exactly that, Quil."
"Cool!" he grinned.
"Yeah, very cool."
I rolled my eyes when I realized Quil took no notice of the mocking tone in my voice. Idiot.
Unfortunately for Quil, there was no one home at the Swan residence. Which was just as well. I didn't need his nosy ass within earshot while I interrogated Isabella.
It wasn't until later that night, after dinner, that I was able to get ahold of her over the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, we're a little overdue for a conversation, aren't we?"
"…Yes. Can you give me five minutes to call you back?"
"Yeah, yeah. Make it quick."
Just like she'd said, she called me back within minutes.
"Sorry, Charlie can be a bit nosy," she explained, later. "I'm in my room now. What did you want to know, exactly?"
"Everything, obviously," I scoffed.
"Alright…" she hesitated, before launching into a much more detailed explanation than she'd been able to provide the first time around, until I became intimately acquainted with Sam and his pack.
"That's…a lot," I admitted, a little taken aback. I still couldn't quite wrap my head around the fact that Isabella also had weird, supernatural abilities. "Do a lot of people have powers, like yours?"
"Not really," she admitted. "It's extremely rare, but not impossible. I do know of a few other cases though."
"Huh. Is that why you got involved with the Cullens?"
"Sort of. They definitely noticed I had strange abilities. I guess getting involved with them couldn't be completely helped, but now that I'm dating Edward―"
"You're what?" I hissed. "That is so wrong! He's basically an animated corpse!"
"Well when you say it like that…" she trailed off, laughing nervously.
"It's sick," I reiterated, nose wrinkling with disgust. "Anyway, there's something else I wanted to ask."
"Shoot."
"Who's next in line to join the shifters?" If I still had another year, it was likely that some of the others would join before me.
"It shouldn't be any time soon, but I believe Embry is next."
It took a moment for me to process her words. "…Embry isn't Quileute."
"About that…"
I stood stock still as she explained Embry's situation regarding his father, blood turning to ice when faced with the reality that Embry was someone's brother. We just didn't know who.
"That's―"
"Leah."
I whirled around, nearly becoming entangled with the phone cord when I caught my dad entering the kitchen. How long had he been home? I could only hope he hadn't heard anything incriminating.
"We need to talk."
"I have to go, Isabella. I'll talk to you later," I said, hardly waiting for her response, before I hung up the phone.
"What is it?" I said warily, watching as my dad took a seat at the kitchen table.
He heaved a tired sigh. "Sweetheart, what are you doing hanging around Jacob and Quil? I think―"
"Sam talked to you?! What the hell, dad!"
"Leah―"
"No. I am not listening to this," I snapped. "You are the absolute worst!"
Ignoring his call for me, I swept away from the kitchen and out the back door, slamming it shut with enough force to rattle the frame. I stalked down the steps, skin nearly vibrating with rage.
As soon as I reached the treeline, I screamed and slammed my fist into a tree. It formed a neat crater.
I exhaled a sudden gasp, bruised hand dropping back to my side.
"I fucking hate it here."
A/N: Leah just can't catch a break. She's gonna have it rough for a little bit, but I promise it will get better!
Also, I didn't edit this, so let me know if you catch any weird mistakes. And let me know what you think of the chapter please! :)
In Reference to A Body of Water and Bones: Chapter 26.
