Chapter 2. The Worst Goodbye's
The day turned to night and then to day again. My stomach started howling at me. I needed to eat, laying in bed for any longer would result in me shifting and hunting out of instinct no matter where I was. Ruining my Mom's house any more than Seth and I already had accidentally with our wolf strength, wasn't on my list of things to do before I go. I threw on some loose shorts and a large black T-shirt and rushed down the stairs. Not much left in the kitchen, Mom needed to go shopping soon, I'd leave her a grocery list before I go. I opened up and began to eat a bag of half stale bagels while I cooked the rest of the thick cut bacon on the stove. By the time I reached for the last bagel in the bag I realized I had almost burnt the bacon and turned the heat off and began to eat it straight from the pan. Too hungry to let it cool down, my body had decided to accept the fact that my mouth would burn, knowing that it could heal quickly once my stomach was full.
"Mom, I'm home! Sorry I stayed out late… and also all night, just dealing with some wolf stuff." Seth said as he entered the house. "I got the mail on my way in from town! Don't freak out but I think someone maybe paid off a bunch of our debt?"
"Let me see that!" I said as I snatched the opened envelopes. "You don't need to look at this shit Seth, why would you open this?"
"Relax, I'm not a kid anymore Leah! If I don't need to see it neither do you!" He said snatching them back.
"Seth. Give them to me." I ordered, holding out my hand.
Reluctantly he handed them over and I began to skim through them. Sarh was right, someone had paid off all four of my Mother's credit cards, a large loan my mother had taken out to repair our home after I shifted for the first time and destroyed half our living room, as well as our extremely late electric bill.
"Mom! Leah's reading your mail!" Seth yelled up the stairs.
"She's not here dumbass. Use your ears, do you hear anyone but us here?" I said, rolling my eyes as I skimmed through the mail.
"Well if I knew she was going to spend the night at Charlies I wouldn't have bothered stopping here." He was clearly annoyed with himself.
"Gee thanks little brother, I love you too." I said as I forced a smile in his direction.
"Whatever Leah… so am I right? Did someone pay off our bills? Who would've done that?" Seth said as he stepped toward the table where I had put my breakfast down.
"Don't even think about it. I made that for me, not you!" I snapped as he reached the chair I was about to sit in before he walked in. "And yeah kid it looks like someone paid off everything… Bella the bloodsucker must have dug into her husband's wallet. There's no way Charlie did this on his Salary and the money we got from selling Dads bar could barely pay for both of us to go to a four year college, not that I plan on going to college so you'll have all that money for whatever you decide to do. But yeah… that money definitely couldn't have covered all of this."
"What? You're not going to college?" Seth said in shock. "Wait, so does that mean… does that mean you're leaving too then?"
"Seems that way Seth. Mom's right. Can't walk around looking this good forever and get away with it and there's nothing here for me anyways. Not anymore." I said as I put the papers down somewhere my Mother would see them when she got home.
"So uh… wait." Seth was worried, his voice became frantic. "When did you decide this? Are you leaving soon? Where are you going? What are you gonna do for money? Have you told Mom yet? Jake? No one told me! Leah I-"
"Stop it Seth. Just please for the love of all that is good in the world stop it." I rubbed my temples. My hunger paired with Seth's endless questionnaire was starting to give me a headache. "You're gonna be off to school soon, Mom's got Charlie and Jake is off with his bloodsuckers and now it's time for me to go too. It's what's best for everyone."
"Everyone? Leah, what about the other wolves? Some of them are still just kids! What about Emily, the wed-"
"What about them? It's not my problem Seth. I can't worry about every kid that the Cullens friends forced to shift. That's Jake's mess to clean up, not mine. And what about her?! They have everything they need and then some. Emily has Sam. She doesn't need me, he doesn't want me and I don't need anybody!" I yelled back.
"Gee thanks big sister… I love you too." Seth said through tearful eyes. We had a moment of silence and then he was gone, rushing his wolf through the woods as he had the morning before.
"I'm sorry…" I whispered though he was long gone and wouldn't have been able to hear it anyways.
With tears falling I silently finished my food and cleaned the dishes that had piled up from the days Mom had spent with Charlie. My last chore. I really should have cleaned my room but as far as I'm concerned it's all garbage now.
For Mom, I left a note on the fridge right next to the grocery list I'd made. It was detailed enough so she knew I wasn't leaving forever, which felt like a lie but she would be heartbroken if I said otherwise. Last time I checked breaking my mothers heart wasn't on my list either. I told her that once I got to wherever I was going I would let her know I was alive and she could throw away my things if she wanted I wouldn't need them in the woods.
I packed a small bag filled with the clothes I had put on, which I very loosely tied around my neck. The temperature in my body elevated as my wolf burned through my skin and out of my body as I shifted and before I knew it I was sprinting into the woods away from everything and everyone I had ever known, alone and terrified.