Layla's Pov
After many drills later. A loud pop silenced the gym. The gym halted and some of the girls screamed at the sudden noise.
Elu and Jacob squared up with one another on the court with a flattened basketball at their feet. Collins slipped between them along with one of Elu's friends to separate them.
"Alright, break it up. We'll start a new round. Accidents happen every day." Coach waved everyone off to regroup.
"Elu check with Embry to start the next round. Jacob, take five and grab some water."
The girls continued their scrimmage while I slipped from the crowd with my excuse of finding the restroom.
Instead, I passed the bleachers and the bathrooms to follow Jacob. Why I was checking on him, I wasn't sure.
When I rounded the corner the water fountains were empty where. Wasn't this where he was supposed to be?
The double doors to the soccer fields were propped open. I approached the red metal doors. What was I doing? I argued with myself.
Why check on Jacob when we weren't even friends? I continued to step forward anyways.
He could be dangerous. I hovered behind the double doors in my internal dilemma.
One of my hands pressed on the lever. Maybe, I shouldn't. I removed my hand and prepared to turn back for the water fountain.
The door moved on its own knocking me in the head. Not hard, but sure enough for a bruise.
"Ow." My hand flew up to my forehead. I heard the door swing close.
"Layla? Shoot. Are you alright?" Jacob's hands covered my own gently removing mine to assess the damage.
"I'm good." I touched my forehead again and looked at my fingers to make sure I wasn't bleeding.
"Stupid." He hissed under his breath. "What were you even doing?" He lectured me. Shame filled my chest.
"Nothing." I turned on my heels to hide in the girl's bathroom I passed. He was right. I was being stupid.
The damage wasn't real damage. It would bruise, but that was my fault for loitering blindly behind a door.
The bell rang echoing loudly against the subway tile walls. When I headed out for the girl's locker room Jacob was gone.
I didn't expect him to wait, but I was curious to know what made him so upset before. Guess it didn't matter now.
"Hurry up Moon you'll be late for your next class." Coach Kell called out to me when he saw me crossing the court.
The day passed seamlessly as teachers bogged down on their lesson plans, and passed out their first rounds of homework, killing off any sense of summer that remained.
I was getting used to the lay of the land and the faces I memorized started introducing themselves so I had names to place them. Among the girls I met, I seemed to get along most with Andrea and a girl named Tiffany, Embry's sister. Although I didn't know it was his younger sister until lunch hour when I had sat down with her. Tiffany's friend, Paige, that was nearly attached to her hip seemed to be indifferent towards me. I didn't blame her. I was the foreign object in her story and most people don't like spontaneity.
I listened to them conversate while I ate. "Ms. Tate retired." Paige started out. "Finally." Tiffany rolled her owl-sized black eyes.
"Who?" I asked. "A whacky old bat who only taught the same two plays over and over." Paige scoffed turning back to her friend.
"They hired a teacher from out of state who is taking her position. Rumor has it he's worked in Hollywood."
"That's great!" Tiffany's brows arched in interest.
"Are you both in drama?" Living where I did, I had friends who were aspiring models and actors. If Tiffany was serious about either I'd be happy to reach out to them.
"I am," Tiffany admitted apprehensively. "I like helping out with behind-the-scenes stuff." Paige followed up.
"Cool." I went back to my food feeling like an intrusive third wheel.
"Oh great, look who's coming over." Paige made a face at the pack of boys accused of being in a gang during gym. Tiffany groaned as well.
The guys seemed to have uniformity about them. Moving almost in sync as they claimed the table near ours. I noticed how they almost wore the same things too. Dark wash jeans, belt, black or grey shirts with a cropped haircut. Some of them seemed to be growing out their hair, but the symmetry was uncanny. I looked around for their average counterpart peers to compare them. Sure the guys at this school were taller than most, given genetics, but none were quite as built or intimidating in stature.
"Something wrong?" I asked them after my assessment. Paige looked to Tiffany for her to speak, but she held a mouth full of food.
"They call themselves protectors." Paige lowered her sarcastic voice to a whisper. I leaned in scooting my chair closer.
"Um, why? Are they like a gang?" I whispered back. Tiffany laughed and took a swig of her water.
"Sort of? Tiff can tell you more." Paige leaned back enough for Tiffany to join in our little huddle.
"I hope not, but it seems more like a fraternity than that." Tiffany bit her lip contemplatively. "The signs are there." Paige edged.
"Yes. Embry is doing better... than he has been." Paige saw my confusion and decided to take over.
"He used to sneak out all the time, and have these major mood swings before the growth spirt." She waved her fingers in the air figuratively.
"Then he ran off with Sam Uley, a guy who'd already graduated our school at that point."
"Paige-" "It's true. She can hear it from you or the rest of the school." She defied.
"I guess so. It's true. Sometimes I find his bed empty at night. And the time they ran off the Maca drug dealer my mom about had a heart attack. He's been grounded ever since, but that hasn't stopped him." Tiffany shrugged uncomfortably.
"I'm sorry. That must be hard." I offered my sympathy. My older brother Zach was a troublemaker like that. He never joined a gang, but things with him had gotten so bad my parents had actually agreed to ship him off to a boarding school abroad. I haven't seen him since last fall and all his letters had been less than inconstant. My lips tugged down in a worried frown.
"Yeah, sometimes I feel like he's changed so much I just don't know him anymore," Tiffany spoke with finality closing the topic.
A chair scooted back hitting the back of mine. "Sorry, Layla." A boy my age with a happy grin apologized.
"Hi, Seth." Paige waved briefly. I've never seen her so friendly before.
"Oh, hey Paige." He greeted before turning to me. "I got to get in line. Need anything, Layla?"
"No. I'm good." I tried to place where I had met him before.
"Seth Clearwater. We have English together." He re-introduced before taking off towards the lunch line with most of the guys. I turned back to the girls.
Tiffany was shaking her head at Paige whose eyes trailed after Seth with slightly rosy cheeks. Against her fair freckled skin, the color looked pretty against her amber eyes.
"So what's the story?" A coy smile spread across my face. "There's no story!" She defended.
"Just an unrequited crush." Tiffany giggled. "He seems nice. Why don't you talk to him?" I questioned.
"I do." "Not really." Tiffany outed her.
Paige tucked a misplaced sandy strand of hair behind one ear. "It's not easy. He doesn't see me like that, and on top of that he's getting roped into that too." She gestured to the table next to us full of the gang's lumpy backpacks.
Then the back door opened letting a cool gust of wind in from the outside. I raised my head to see all six foot seven of Jacob ducking under the door frame to get into the room. As he strode by tables the students quieted and whispered. His intimating stoicism wasn't just imagined then.
"Then there's Jacob Black. Ugh, I wish Seth wouldn't look up to him so much. He's changed just as much as Embry, and almost worse than Sam."
"No, more so." Tiffany glared down at her plate. It seemed as though she didn't just blame this Sam person for her brother's undoing.
"Jacob Black," I repeated quietly to myself. Just then his eyes locked on me as if he had heard me.
My breath caught in my throat, and I struggled to escape his gaze. Worse than a deer in some headlights I felt my face becoming hot. I reached for my water bottle. It was empty.
"I'll be right back." I stood up to refill it and almost ran into him in the process. He stepped back and looked as if he were going to say something.
"Sorry," I stated breathlessly and rushed to the fountain. My heart raced nervously. What was that? Was I now scared of him after a few pieces of gossip?
I heard his table erupt with laughter a moment later. I screwed the top back on my canister.
On my way back it seemed like several of them were looking over at me. Tiffany and Paige seemed to be scowling at them in return.
I headed to the table to gather my things. Hiding in the library felt like the best option for me now.
It seemed Jacob had taken Seth's seat and that's what Paige seemed irked about.
"I have some stuff in the library to take care of. I'll catch you guys later."
"Sure." Tiffany seemed to understand but seemed a little saddened by my sudden departure.
"I'll see you guys later," I assured her slinging my bag onto my back.
I stepped through the narrow space carefully dodging an array of chairs. A boy from their table obliviously pushed out his chair to get up.
The back leg caught my foot and I fell forward. I braced myself upright on someone's shoulder and gripped the table countertop.
"Watch it, Collins." Another called across the table. A hand rested on my lower back as I pulled myself up.
"I'm sorry." I looked up to see which one I bothered. I froze to see Jacob's face inches from mine. Quickly averting my eyes I shoved myself off apologizing again.
My time in the library was short-lived. By the time I calmed myself down and knocked out some class work it was time for biology. Where I'd see him again. I groaned.
The bell rang and I picked up my pace only to be made late with my lack of directional awareness. I also blamed the inescapable gossip bouncing around in my head right now, that seemed to be making too much sense.
I stopped short in front of the class to see every space taken, except the seat next to Jacob. I walked the perimeter of the class to get to my window seat not wanting to risk tripping into him again. His eyes followed me along with Embry's who was grinning ear to ear like the Cheshire cat.
I kept a neutral face while I greeted Elu who seemed happy to see me. Meanwhile, Chayton leaned back in his chair ignoring my existence. I wondered if Elu told him about my attempted prank.
I pulled my chair far away from Jacob and leaned towards the window. Thankfully today wasn't an interactive lesson, but a lecture followed by note-taking.
Elu managed to take the time to flip a note back on my desk. Curiosity got the best of me so I opened it.
How about that tour? Andrea is still down. I glanced up at him discretely scribbling a response then passed it back with a flick.
I never said yes to those plans. Btw, what's up Chayton's butt? Elu chuckled to himself waiting for an opportunity to pass it back.
You also never said no. I told him about the prank. He'll get over himself. How about it then? I held on to the note since the teacher turned back around from the board. The lecture became too important so I forgot about the sidebar conversation completely. When the bell rang Elu had to remind me.
"Oh." I handed him the paperback and left the room. On the way to math class, I felt Jacob and Embry hot on my heels in the hall.
Because of my fast pace and Jacob's long legs, we were the first ones to reach geometry.
"You and Elu seem chummy." His husky voice startled me when we sat down. I was so used to him not speaking.
"Sure, I guess. I don't really know him though." I shrugged not thinking anything of it. I didn't feel any excitement to follow through with Elu's offer to show me around. Even with Andrea there who I did like. I kind of wanted to explore on my own first. You know take in the sights without some local watching me gawk at everything ordinary to them, or bothering them when I'd pull over every five seconds to take pictures for my friends back home.
Jacob seemed somewhat discontented behind me despite my answer.
"How's your head?" He mumbled to me. "Fine," I spoke curtly. Was he rubbing it in, or was he actually concerned?
I heard a snap of his pencil behind me. Then a piece of it rolled past me. I bent down to pick up the runaway fraction and knocked heads with him.
"Ouch." I hissed under my breath. He recoiled away from me perturbed again.
I set the broken fragment on his desk, then added one of my spare pink mechanical pencils from my purse.
"This might help," I whispered gently as class began. I didn't want to disturb him more than I had today.
The rain tricked around me in cool needles as I held my arms tight against my core from warmth. This sweatshirt wasn't all that conducive for this weather. I shivered on the curb waiting for Syd to pull around the parked busses. I shivered again flagging him down behind the buses.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jacob and friends looped around Embry's white ram truck. But Embry was stuck on the steps with his sister arguing.
I felt a pang of guilt hoping our conversation at lunch didn't have anything to do with it.
"Ready kid?" Syd opened the passenger side from the inside and then jingled a pair of my spare car keys.
"Yes!" A true smile flooded my face and I eagerly jumped in.