Chapter 19
I belong with you, you belong with me
You're my sweetheart
I belong with you, you belong with me
You're my sweet —Ho Hey, The Lumineers
Jacob
Anger exploded inside me. "You dumb son-of-a-bitch!" I lunged forward, shoving Sam and jerking Leah out of his arms at the same time.
Leah garbled, slumping down into the sand. "Stop it, Jake."
Quil and Embry flew between me and Sam.
"He didn't do it, Jake!" Quil shouted while he and Embry pushed me back. "It's not his fault!"
"I didn't give her anything to drink, Jake. I swear I didn't," Sam said. "I didn't even drink anything."
"Well, who the hell did?"
Everyone's head snapped toward the girl they'd brought with them. Her name was Emily. She was the wild daughter of a wealthy attorney with a summer cabin in the area. I didn't want to talk to her, let alone see her.
I spent time with her the night I tore out of Forks, licking my wounds after Bella shot down my request for a drive with me, but went to a movie with Seth the next day.
"Someone," Sam said with sarcasm, tossing a mean glance at Emily, "took her to the bathroom. When she came back, she was acting a little buzzed. I asked her about it. She said all she was drinking was a Coke. I didn't realize I needed to check."
I cut a pissed glare at Emily.
"I didn't know this was her first time! She's the one who asked me for a mix," Emily said.
"I'm sick, Bella. Help me." Leah's posture was swaying and wobbling as Bella tried to get her to her feet. She couldn't stand up to save her life.
"Fuck!" I gritted my teeth. "You had no damn business bringing her here in the first place, Sam!"
Leah hit the deck again, dropping on all fours with her head bobbing above the ground, and puked. Sam fell to his knees beside her and lifted her hair into a ponytail. "I know. Don't you think I already thought about that?" The worried, remorseful frown on his face as he tried to help her had me halfway feeling sorry for the guy.
Emily told us Leah only drank one can of whiskey Coke. I was betting more than half the can be whiskey. Sam held Leah in his arms with her hair out of her face while she barfed all over the beach.
We were screwed. "What time is it?" I asked.
"Almost ten," Bella said.
"We have roughly two hours to sober her up." I bitterly laughed, shaking my head at the predicament I had gotten myself into.
Quil and Embry helped me make a small fire. Emily came back with two thin blankets. We made Leah lay down on one and covered her up with the other. She finally quit gagging and passed out. She slept with her head resting on Sam's thigh.
I became aggravated when Emily wouldn't go back to the bonfire. She was trying to be with Sam, sitting beside him, acting flirty as Leah lay comatose. I'd finally had enough of her and told Embry to take her somewhere, anywhere. I knew all he had to do was ask her. She was that kind of girl.
While we waited for Leah to sleep some of it off, Bella and I sat cuddled together, busy trying to come up with a plan that would keep us all from getting killed. I saw no way out of it. I was already preparing to face the music head on.
Bella was more optimistic. "We're going to need Jasper's help. We'll need to tell him what happened."
I pictured the rage on Emmett's face when he heard Bella came to the party with me. He didn't scare me. He couldn't take me in a fight. But I was positive he'd feel like I did when I heard Sam was trying to take Leah. I wanted to kick his ass and tell him to stay the hell away from her. She wouldn't become that girl who got stupid drunk and did something she regretted.
The way it looked. The minute Emmett's back turned, I took Bella out and to where she had access to alcohol—a place she didn't belong. While technically a correct assessment, the situation was innocent and unintentional. And if he didn't see it how it happened, then I'd get pissed at him.
He should know me better than that by now. I groaned.
"What?" Bella asked.
"Ah, just thinking about Emmett's reaction when Jasper tells him about it. It'll piss him off enough about us, even without adding I brought you out here. It just gives him more of a reason to object to you and me. But I'd rather have just him against me than Charlie and Renee. Which will happen if your parents hear about this party and Leah."
"Jasper won't tell him we came out here and Leah got drunk, if we ask him not to tell. He knows how Emmett can get."
Reassured by Bella's optimism, I pulled her close and settled in for the next couple of hours. During our wait, I ended up telling Bella all about the boxing match I lost in Mesquite. Unable to hide the painful emotions still lingering inside of me, I told her how hard I fought and how devastated I was when they announced the winner and it wasn't me. I didn't mean to come off sounding like a wimp. That was just how much I wasn't over the loss.
"That tournament is going on in Little Rock, Arkansas as we speak. It started Monday, and the finals are tomorrow. Man, I wish I could have been there." I sighed, then smiled as Bella reached for my hand and wound her fingers through mine.
Out of the few people I shared my aspirations to—she was the only one who believed me. Of course, they all listened, but I doubted they truly thought I would accomplish the goals I had set for myself. To most of our parents and the adults around La Push, boxing was just a supplementary activity that kept us kids out of trouble in our small, tedious community. There was no actual future in it. And Ben, who once had the potential for greatness, was reduced to a has-been. An unsuspecting babysitter filling our heads with pipe dreams.
When we were young, Bella was the first person to ask how we performed after a boxing match. She was the first person to call us for results when we stayed in another town during a tournament. She gazed at me with such intensity, hanging on to every word, whenever I ended up talking about my hopes for the future to her, re-capped a boxing event, or mentioned which one of the older members of our club Ben set me up to spar with and how well I did against them.
I loved the affectionate way she looked at me during those ordinary times. It was why I needed to talk to her the day of my biggest loss. I didn't think anyone else would understand the magnitudes of my desire and determination to succeed, not even old Ben. He believed I could, just not that I would. Still, he had high hopes for me. I tried not to take his lack of faith in my dedication to heart, understanding that at his age, he had already seen too many young, wasted talents come and go, including himself.
Bella pressed into me and kissed me on the cheek. I noticed the beautiful, adoring gaze I almost forgot was right before my eyes again, comforting me. "Look at it this way, Jacob. After tomorrow, you'll know who you'll beat next year."
I grinned, realizing that had I been in Little Rock, I wouldn't have been with Bella. "Well, if tonight's my consolation, then I guess it's okay I lost."
She smiled a rosy smile. Drinking in her beauty, I gulped before touching my lips to hers and admitting to myself I was a goner. Falling deeper with every moment that passed.
Two hours passed like the snap of a finger. "We're on our way, Mom. Jake'll come inside when he drops us off. He needs to talk to Jasper about next Saturday's boxing match. Can you put him on the phone?"
Once he answered the phone, she said, "Jazz, say nothing. Just listen."
Bella summed up everything that happened, then gave Jasper instructions. "Distract Mom. Get her to stay in her bedroom until I come and get you. You need to help Jacob get Leah upstairs and into my room without her being seen."
Bella listened for a moment, then sounded irate. "I don't know how. Make something up, Jazz."
She skipped in her seat. "Oh, I know. Tell her you're having girl problems, and you need her help. She loves stuff like that. We'll be there in a few. Call her in there and keep her in there! Oh, yeah, take some of Mom's scented candles up to my room and light 'em first... You'll see."
She hung up the phone and turned to me. "I'll keep Mom busy until you guys get Leah up the stairs. I know she's eager to hear all about my night." Our eyes met. "Don't worry. She'll be happy."
"I'm not worried." Renee always gave me the sense she'd be happy if Bella and I got together.
"It's a good thing Dad's working the night shift this week," Bella said, as we rumbled into the driveway.
I helped Leah out of the car. She stank like stale booze and was dead weight heavy. Just the simple knowledge that we would have to carry her inside and up the stairs to Bella's room to keep her from stumbling made me tired.
"Holy hell, she reeks," Jasper said, laughing and reaching his arm under hers to take her by the waist. "Now I understand the candles."
Leah opened her eyes, woozy, and noticed Jasper latched on to her. She let go of me and flopped her arms around Jasper's neck, sputtering into his face. "I love you, Jasper Swan."
Jasper and I whipped our eyes at each other, shocked. "What the hell?" Jasper asked.
I chuckled, listening to her drivel. "You're the hottest guy in the entire school... in the entire town of Forks... in the entire world. I love you, I love you, I love you."
"Sh-" His face glowed bright red.
I couldn't take it. I covered my mouth with my hands and ignited with laughter.
"Shut up, Jake! Let's hurry and get her into the house already."
Jasper placed his fingers over Leah's mouth to keep her quiet while we both lifted her up to take her inside. She kept moving her face away from his hand, slurring at him how much she loved him. Tense-jawed, he whispered back, "I love you, too. Now be quiet!" We carried her up the stairs.
By the time we reached the room, embarrassment was flooding out of his flaming ears, and he was sweating.
I couldn't stop my muffled laughter. "Better shut her up with a kiss, Jazz."
He shot me an angry glare. "Knock it off, Jake! She's wasted."
We set her on Bella's bed. She rolled over, babbling about the spinning room and mumbling Jasper's name.
"Yep, and she's all yours until Bella gets up here." I snickered as I left the room.
