Twilight Fan Fiction ❯ In The Shadow Of The Sun ❯ Ego ( Chapter 10 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Leina blinked her eyes open. There was no glare from heavy sunlight. She sighed. "Must be cloudy... again!" she thought, exasperated with the lack of variety in the weather.

Sighing, she rolled herself off of her bed and onto the floor. Leina sat there for a moment, rubbing her tired eyes, then zombie-d over to check the time.

"Seven... forty three? GAH!" She moaned, closing her phone. "It's too early to wake the others up... but there's no way I'm gonna be able to get back to sleep..."

Leina walked over and started roaming through her clothes. "Great... my last clean pair..." she noted exasperatedly. She quickly stripped off her pajamas, threw them onto her bed, and got ready.

Once she was done, she gave herself a last look over. She was wearing her baggy, capri camouflage pants with tie-strings that came down to her ankles, paired with a deep purple tank top. She nodded, thinking she looked okay, then went down stairs.

Leina, still in a sort of zombie-fied state, slowly made her way over to the fridge. “Maybe we have something edible...” She opened the door and her eyes shot open in surprise, despite their tiredness. The whole refrigerator was filled with food!

“Right... we went shopping yesterday...” she remembered. “Jackpot!”

She excitedly started taking out a giant thing of food: eggs, a pack of sausages, milk, random vegetables... almost anything she could hold. Leina thought for only a moment, then started taking out pots and skillets to make breakfast.

Forty-five minutes later, Leina had a whole breakfast ready; enough for the three of them. She had made some scrambled eggs and omelets (more for Leonna and herself than for Luna), sausages (which had filled the ground floor with its savory aroma), toast, and a bowl of mixed fruit. She quickly fixed herself a plate, then sat down at the table to eat.

“Man... we still have that drive to La Push...” she thought to herself, moaning aloud as she gazed out the window at the view.

Leina thought about the group’s conversation back at Bootlegger’s yesterday. She really wasn’t sure about this dance thing at all... Dances and other forms of supposedly fun social interaction had never been Leina’s thing. She wasn’t good at meeting new people and just casually having a conversation with someone she had just met. She usually got too embarrassed or flustered to say much.

“Halloween might be my favorite holiday, but a party... it’s not worth it...”

A quick mental image of Edward wearing a classic Dracula-vampire outfit holding a glass of red punch made her laugh for a moment, then blush. His tousled bronze hair, immaculate pale skin, slightly blue-ish purple tint under his mesmerizing, golden eyes-

“No,” she thought, quickly stopping her own thoughts.

The way his mouth quirked up crookedly when he smiled at her-

Leina stopped herself again, shaking the thoughts away and shoveling more food into her mouth.

“But speaking of interesting expressions...” she thought, “Leonna sure did look a bit flustered when I talked about Jake yesterday... and Jacob had an even more interesting look on his face when I mentioned Leonna... he blushed as much as I do! Could they both...?”

She shook her head again. There was just no way! In all the years that she and Leonna had known each other, Leina had never seen Leonna be embarrassed by talking about a guy. Sure, she had said that a guy was cute or something, but usually she seemed not to be bothered by male company.

“Ugh... I think Forks is making us ALL lose our minds...”

Leina got up from her seat, quickly washed off her plate, then checked the time. “All right... time to wake up the others...” She jogged up the stairs and into Leonna’s bedroom first.

On top of the bed was a giant swirled lump of covers with a pillow poking out of the bottom, near the foot of the bed. A tan leg from mid-calf down was popping out of the bundle near the head of the bed.

Leina rolled her eyes, grinning. “C’mon, sleepy-kitty! Up ‘n’ at ‘em, it’s almost nine!”

The lump of covers twitched.

Leina walked over, patting the blankets. “C’mon, Leonna, we need to get crackin’... trip down to Jacob’s, remember?”

“L-Leina?”

“Yeah?̶ 1;

“I-... I’m stuck...” she pile admitted.

Leina’s eyes widened for a moment, then she burst out into all-out laughter.

“Hey, it’s not that funny! Now, please help me get out of this foul contraption!”

After much laughter, a hissing were-cat emerged from the covers, still unsure of whether to be embarrassedly mad or chuckle as well.

Leonna scratched her blonde, messy-haired head, her green eyes still sort of foggy from sleep. “I suppose I should get dressed now...” she yawned, looking down at her long, baggy t-shirt.

Leina grinned back. “Yup... I’ll go wake up Luna... you get dressed and then go down and eat...”

Leonna groggily nodded and turned to get ready as Leina left the room.
-----
Leonna looked through her piles of clothes. She had thankfully been able to bring more clothes. She was much better at packing efficiently than Leina (who shoved clothes into her packs on most occasions!). She pulled out a pair of board-short-cut jeans, then found a white t-shirt with two deep green and one orange horizontal stripes on the chest. She quickly put those on, her socks and shoes, brushed out her tangled mane of hair and her teeth. Then she grabbed her wallet and sunglasses. Sticking the sunglasses on her head, she gracefully left her room and went downstairs.

Now that her thoughts were cleared from their sleepiness, Leonna could smell the aromas of eggs and sausages. She quickly filled a plate, made herself a cup of coffee, then sat down and started eating.

“OW! GOD DAMMIT, LUNA!”

The sound of pounding feet coming down the stairs made Leonna sigh. “Can’t I just have one morning?!” As soon as Leonna saw the two, her eyebrows shot up.

“Do I even want to know?”

Luna was worriedly standing behind Leina, pale eyes wide with a mainly apologetic and remorseful look on her face. Though, one corner of her mouth kept twitching, as if it wanted to grin. Leonna didn’t blame it one it.

Leina stood there, eyes blazing with anger, fists clenched and hair standing on end. No... seriously... Leina’s hair was sticking straight up and out in all directions, as if someone had rubbed a balloon to her head.

“SHE FREAKIN’ ELECTROCUTED ME!”

Leonna and Luna both cracked a small smile.

“Leina, I’m really sorry-”

“IT’S NOT FUNNY!”

Leonna tried to set her face to “seriously-concerned,” but it ended up as more of a grimace. “What happened up there, Leina?”

Leina sighed and sat down across from Leonna, trying to flatten her hair out. A light blue orb of magic formed around Luna’s open hand, then disappeared, revealing a brush. She quickly handed it to Leina, who started away at fixing her hair.

“Well, I went in there just like I said I would... I tried to gently shake her awake. That didn’t do anything, so I tried speaking louder. She moaned, then stuck out her hand and electrocuted me!”

Leonna chuckled, then looked over to the guilty-looking Luna.

“I’m really sorry, Leina!” the girl started. “I was half-asleep; I barely knew what I was doing!”

Leina nodded, finally done making her hair attempt to obey gravity. “You’re forgiven... now just go up and get dressed to leave soon, okay?” she told Luna, nodding to the girl’s pajamas. Luna nodded, smiling again, then bounded up the stairs.

Leonna tried to suppress a chuckle.

Leina turned to her, glaring. “What?”

Leonna snickered. “You looked like a pin cushion...”

“GAHHHHHHH, no, not you, too!” she said, flicking some of Leonna’s cut-up sausage pieces at her.

Leonna smirked, picking up the pieces. “Hey, that was perfectly good food that you just wasted,” she said, throwing them away.

Leina grinned. “Why, thank you!”

Luna shot down the stairs. “FOOOOOD!”

Leina pointed to the counter. “Over there, Sparky!”
-----
Finally, everyone was finished and all dishes had been cleaned up.

“All right, everyone ready to leave?” Leonna asked.

Luna grinned excitedly. “Yup!”

Leina nodded. “Yeah... now, here’s the question: what car are we taking?”

Luna eagerly raised her hand. "MINE!"

Leonna shook her head. "No offense, Luna... but I'm not sure whether taking your Beetle will cut it..."

Leina raised her hand a little. "How about mine? I've wanted to take my new baby out for a spin for a bit for a while now..."

Leonna's eyebrows raised. "Your... Camaro?"

Leina smiled. "Yes, it'll fit all of us, has the cover and I really want to drive it!"

Leonna looked down. "Uh, I don't know..." she murmured. She was thinking about what had happened the last time Leina drove her Camaro...

"Please, Leonna? Can't we just take the Camaro? I'll be fine this time; nothing's going to happen," she said, practically answering Leonna's thoughts.

Luna looked back and forth from her two friends. "Pleeeeease, Leonna?"

Leonna looked down at the ground in silence for a moment, then nodded. "All right, let's take your car..."

"Yes!" the excited Leina shouted, letting out a fist pump and running over to get her keys, then sprinting out to the garage. Luna and Leonna followed, the former bouncing, the latter more of gliding.

Leina was sliding into the drivers seat. Leonna seated herself in the shotgun position, while Luna took the rear seat. Leina started the car, grinning at the sound, then pulled out of the garage and started driving. Leonna hit a button that closed the garage door behind them, then stuck the Velcro on the back of the button to the roof near Leina.

“Thought you might like this. I all ready installed them in the other cars!” Leonna explained, proud of herself.

Leina grinned and nodded. “Thanks, this’ll definitely help! Now... let’s see if I can find the way to La Push...”
-----
A little over half-an-hour later, Leina had finally navigated them to La Push. “See, I told you I’d get us here!” she bragged.

"Yes, but after two wrong turns and getting lost onto a forest path."

She glared at the smirking, blonde were-cat. "Yeah, but it didn't help that the hyper-child turned the wheel for me one of the two wrong turns and kept trying to drive over my shoulder... while shouting!"

Luna frowned, peaking up from between the front two seats. "I was not shouting! I'm singing!" she declared, then continued to sing in a foreign language.

Leina sighed, rolling her eyes. '

She pulled into Jacob's driveway and turned off the engine. Everyone hopped out of the car, and Leonna and Luna moved up onto the porch to knock for Jacob.

Leina locked the car and affectionately brushed her hand over the hood as she passed. She couldn’t wait until she could start fixing up her new baby!

KNOCK KNOCK!

“Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacoooooooooooooob!” Luna sang. “Time to come out and PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!”

The door opened and Billy Black was sitting in his wheelchair at the door in front of them. He looked up to see who it was, then smiled.

“Hello, ladies.”

Leonna smiled pleasantly back at Billy. “Hello, Mr. Black-”

“Please, you can just call me Billy,” he interrupted, waving his hand.

Leonna nodded. “Yes, sir. We came to see Jacob today, Billy.”

The older man grinned. “Jacob’s actually still upstairs sleeping... you girls can go up there and wake him up, if you want.”

Leonna’s eyes widened. “No, that’s all right, we can just wait here for Jake-”

Luna shot past Billy. “Thanks, Billy!” she yelled as she sprinted soundlessly up the stairs.

Leina and Leonna looked at each other, then turned to Billy. “Sorry about her,” they apologized in unison.

Billy only grinned and waved them up.

The two girls followed closely behind one another, then met up with Luna.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Leina whispered urgently.

Luna grinned. “Waking Jacob up!” Then she opened the door with out a sound, and slipped into his room.

Leonna sighed then nodded for Leina to move in. The two girls crept into Jacob's room as well, following Luna. Luna moved around to the opposite side of the bed, along with Leina. Leonna just stayed on Jacob's right.

Jacob was lying on the bed, face up. His tanned and toned chest could be seen before the light sheet covered it back up right above his belly button.

Leonna laid one hand lightly on his shoulder. "Jacob? Jacob, can you hear me?"

The sleeping boy shifted a bit, rolling over onto his side, now completely facing Leonna. Yet, Jacob didn't wake up.

Leonna looked up at Leina, unsure of what to do.

"Just talk to him again," Leina whispered.

"Forget that!" Luna said, jumping up onto the bed, causing Jacob to grunt from the sudden impact. "WAKEY, WAKEY, EGGS AND BAKE-Y, JAKE-Y!!!!!" she yelled, bouncing with every syllable.

Jacob's eyes flickered open blearily. Moaning, he put a hand to his head. "L-Luna? And L-... I must be dreaming again..."

Luna grinned. "You're not dreaming, silly! Get up, it's time to play!"

Jacob looked up, right into Leonna's green eyes, and his eyes shot open.

Leina snickered. "Well, I guess he's awake now..."

Jacob's head turned around, wide-eyed, seeing the three older girls in his room. His hands slowly crept down for the covers and pulled them up a bit. "What do you guys think you're doing?!"

"Billy said that we could just come up," Leonna explained.

"...so I said no, and then Luna just sprinted up and decided to wake you up herself..." Leina continued, frowning with her own explanation.

A small blush seemed to form on Jacob's tan cheeks. "W-well... thanks for waking me up... I think... But can you guys go downstairs? I need to kind of get dressed... then you guys can explain why you're at my house..."

Leonna nodded understandingly, while Leina just barely moved at all. Luna, on the other hand...

"Okay, Jake-y!"

The fairy skipped out of the room.

Jacob turned to Leina. "Someone needs to tell her how much I don't like her calling me 'Jake-y'..."

Leina smirked. "Will do, Jake-y."

The other two girls walked out of Jacob's room and went down the stairs. They followed the sound of the voice of Luna, who was apparently talking to Billy.

"So then Leina made us breakfast, and she woke up Leonna... and then she got electrocuted! Well... that was kind of my accident..."

Leina's eyes shot wider as she looked over to Leonna. Their expressions were the same: shock and horror at Luna possibly revealing their secret! The two rushed into the same room that the group had watched that movie less than a week ago.

Billy was sitting in his wheelchair, smiling good-naturedly at Luna, who was practically bouncing on the couch. Luna had a glass of lemonade in her hand (thankfully, it seemed that she hadn't spilt any on their furniture), and was slurping away at it between breaths while telling their morning-routine-story.

"It wasn't that bad, Billy!" Leina interrupted. "Luna probably just had a lot of static running through her, and I got shocked a bit, that was all!" She laughed, then shot Luna a look, trying to get the point across. Fortunately, Luna seemed to get the hint.

"So," Billy asked, "what are you girls planning on doing today?"

"We're planning on going shopping today... probably to Seattle," Leonna explained to Billy. "We were wondering if Jacob would want to come with-"

Just then they heard Jacob coming down the stairs and into the room. He was wearing a plain, dark blue t-shirt and a pair of baggy jeans that covered his feet so only his toes peaked out. He was smirking at them. "So you came here to wake me up to ask me to go shopping with you?"

Leina frowned. "Well, we had no intention of waking you up... and it's almost eleven, Jacob!"

He grinned back, then looked over to his father. "Dad, is it all right if I go?"

Billy nodded, smiling. "Sure, I think I can manage without you for the day! I'll try and get a hold of the Clearwaters and see if they want to do something for dinner..." With that, and a small wave at the girls, Billy rolled into the kitchen.

"So we're heading to Seattle?" Jacob asked.

"Yup!" Luna replied happily, still bouncing up and down on her seat.

Jacob moved over to a table, grabbing a cell phone and wallet, then stuffing them both into his pockets. Then he grabbed a jacket from a closet, slinging it over his shoulder. He winked. "Just in case... you never know around here... Bye, Dad!"

The group trouped outside, where a very light sprinkle had started. Jacob smirked over to Leina. "Told you."

Leina stuck out her tongue.

"So who's driving?" he asked, turning to Leonna.

"Leina."

"W-wait, Leina's driving...?"

"Yes," Leonna answered, "why?"

Jacob glanced at Leina. Her lips were pressed tightly together. Both knew what the other was thinking. Jacob knew that Leina didn't want to talk about what had happened the last time he had seen her driving. Leina knew that Jacob was talking about that time... when she had almost hit him.

Jacob shrugged, entering a "tease-Leina" mode. "Oh, no reason... I just don't know how good of a driver Leina i-"

Right then, he saw the car. Well, technically, he had seen it before, but it was like he had seen it for the first time. His eyes grew wide in awe and almost reverence at the vehicle.

"Well, I suppose he was too occupied last time by the question of my mental health..." Leina thought wryly.

Jacob moved over to the car, rubbing the hood. "What year is this?"

"A 1968 Chevy Camaro," Leina answered, walking over to stand next to him.

"It's... beautiful..." he mumbled with an almost religious-like tone.

"Thanks," Leina grinned, "You can help me fix it up, if you want!"

Jacob's eyes flashed wider with surprise down at Leina. "R-really?!" he asked, clear excitement in his voice.

Leina nodded. "Yeah... I mean, she definitely needs a new paint job... and a new interior wouldn't hurt..."

Jacob grinned. "How's she drive?"

Leina's expression was a mirror of his. "Amazing, like you wouldn't believe!"

Luna sighed aloud. "Too much car-talk; let's go!"
-----
It was about one 'o' clock when the group finally made it to Seattle. They had taken a short detour to a McDonalds for some quick lunch before getting inside the city limits.

"So, what do you guys want to find first?" Leina asked, still paying attention to the traffic.

"I say cell phones... that'll take less time deciding so we'll have more time to look for costumes," Leonna answered from the back seat.

"That's just like her," Leina thought, "Always the practical one..."

"Yay, cell phones!"

"Works for me," Jake answered, still going back and forth from watching the road to the steering wheel.

He'd been practically hyperventilating over how awesome Leina's new car was, commenting on a bunch of pluses for the car, and other ideas of how to fix it up.

"Oh, that engine sounds good..." he almost moaned, "A little work and it'll make car-lovers cry..."

Leina rolled her eyes. "Okay, Jake, I'm glad you like the car, but I think you're getting more attached to it than I am... and believe me, that's sad."

Jacob shot her a slightly apologetic look.

Leina kept scanning the streets in an attempt to find a phone store. At last, she turned onto Union Street and saw a Sprint Store. She quickly parked and the group got out of the car. Everyone seemed to be glad to stretch their legs.

They walked into the store. A couple of people were all ready there, with quite a few clerks busy.

Leina turned to the other two girls. "All right, guys, what do you want?"

Luna's head tilted in confusion. "A phone, obviously... that's why we came here, Leina!"

Leina rolled her eyes. "Yes, Luna, I know... but what kind of things would you want your phone to do?"

Luna's face practically lit up. "I want it to flip or something, I want it to be colorful, I want it to play music, I want it to take pictures, I want it to-"

"Have a GPS?" Jake joked, causing Leina and Leonna to burst out into laughter.

"Hm..." Leina started looking at a few phones.

A saleswoman with straight brown hair pulled back into a ponytail saw and came over. "Hello, can I help you?"

Leina smiled a little bit at the woman, trying to be polite. "Yes, actually. Both of my friends are trying to find a phone. She has an idea of what she wants in the phone, just not which ones fulfill her requirements.”

The woman nodded. “What would she like the phone to do?”

“She would like it to have some color to it, have music and pictures, possibly flip and we would like it if it had GPS navigation as well...”

The woman thought for a moment. “And... any price range you were thinking of?” she asked, clearly taking into account that they were teenagers.

Leina shook her head.

“Please follow me.”

The woman walked over and picked up one. “This is the Rumor® by LG... it comes in a few colors: white, green, blue and black. It has a built-in camera and can hold and buy music, GPS, and you can access the web. It doesn’t exactly flip, but it has a sliding keyboard.” She demonstrated for the group.

Luna’s eyes lit up. “THAT’S AWESOME!” she cried out, grabbing the phone and doing it a few times for herself. “But this model is black... you said you have blue, right?”

The woman smiled. “Yes, we do.”

“Does it have sparkles?”

The woman chuckled a bit. “Unfortunately, no... not many of the phones have sparkles.”

Luna shrugged. “Well, it has just about everything else I want... I’ll take this one!”

The woman smiled, her perfectly white and straight teeth gleaming. “Now, you said that another friend is trying to find one?”

Leina nodded over to Leonna, who stepped up to the plate. “Yes, I am,” she replied, her voice as calmly pleasant as ever.

The woman seemed taken aback by how mature Leonna seemed, then smiled back. It was hard not to. “Is there something specific you want the phone to do?”

Leonna thought for a moment. “Not really... just camera and music, really... texting is nice, as well...”

“Well, we have a few like that,” the saleswoman said, walking over to another part of the store. “We have this one, the M300® by Samsung.”

Leonna looked down at the phone. “Hm... do you have anything with a slightly different style casing?”

“Well, there’s the MOTORAZR® by Motorola... that has more of a rectangle look. Not as rounded...”

Leonna looked at it, then a phone next to it caught her eye. It was a black one with an external display screen. “What is this one?” she asked quietly.

The woman smiled. “That is Sanyo’s KATANA® LX. It has the music and photos... plus texting capability, GPS as well, voice-dialing and it comes in three colors: Liquid Graphite, Pacific Blue, and Elegant Pink.”

Leonna picked up the phone, holding it in her hand. She opened it up, and examined it. “This one... in the Pacific Blue, please.”

The woman smiled. “Of course, I’ll get those right away.”

The group paid for the phones, set up service, had the phones activated and then went back to the car.

“Those phones looked pretty cool,” Jacob commented.

“Oh, yeah! I love mine!” Luna said, happily. “I might have to put sparkles on it myself, though...”

Leonna grinned. “I like mine, too... easy to work with, it seems.”

They all piled in. Leina and Luna sat in the front, while Jacob and Leonna took the back. Leina thought about this momentarily, but then shrugged it off. If those two actually did like each other, then there was nothing she had to worry about, right? Right?

“Sure... just the fact that Leonna might end up having to reveal the secret...” she thought, remembering that Jacob didn’t know.
----
Leina looked out the windows, still trying to find a costume shop. A good many shops were decorated with Halloween skeletons, fake-black cats and other Halloween decorations. Some had Halloween sale signs and talked of deals for candy and decorations.

Finally, she found what she was searching for: a place called W. Alter Ego. She snickered when she read the sign, then went over to park. The windows displayed a bunch of mannequins dressed up in various Halloween costumes, and the store looked a little dark on the inside.

“This place looks pretty good,” Leina commented as she parallel parked.

Jacob looked at the place she was gesturing towards with her finger. “That one?” he questioned. “Looks a little... dark...”

Leina rolled her eyes. “It’s for Halloween, smart one.”

He laughed. “True.”

The group got out and walked into the store. Leina’s nose was met with the faint scent of incense and candles. The store was actually painted black, with lights and other decorations around the place. There were racks upon racks of costumes.

She sighed. “All right... let’s get this over with...”

Leonna and Jacob started walking down one aisle, so Leina followed. Luna looked at them. “I’m going to go look over there... I see some sparkly costumes!” And with that, she left on her own search.

Leonna turned to Jacob.

“So, Jacob, I don’t suppose you have any plans for Halloween night?”

“Well, my dad might make me give out candy to the kids... but that’s not a definite thing yet. Why?”

“Our school is having a Halloween party, and we wanted to know if you wanted to meet us there. It might be fun...”

Leina snickered. “Yeah, more fun than giving out candy to random kids!”

Jacob rolled his eyes at her, then turned to answer Leonna. “Well, I’ll try... but won’t I need a ticket or something?”

Leonna nodded. “I can buy one for you when we get ours... I just have to get one extra. I’ll wait outside for you and then give it to you at the party.”

Jacob shrugged. “I-I’ll think about it...”

Leina noticed that Jacob’s face was turning red. She turned to look at Leonna a bit, and saw that there was a small pink tint to her cheeks.

“Of course... they do like each other... or they just got simultaneously hot...” she sighed, then started looking through the racks of costumes. Jacob and Leonna followed suit.
-----
Leina groaned, sighing again. "We've been at this forever!" she wailed.

Leonna rolled her eyes. So far, only she had been the only one to find her costume. It was a girl's pirate costume, complete with mock-swords and a pistol. She was an extremely happy were-cat, and was now making an honest attempt at helping Leina and Luna find their costumes... and they weren't making it easy...

Leonna saw a bit of blue satin. She pulled the costume off of the rack. It was a Renaissance princess costume, with a lace-up front and a matching chain-link headpiece.

"What about this one, Leina?"

Leina looked at the costume. One of the corners of her mouth twitched up. "Eh, maybe... unless I can't find anything better..."

Leonna sighed a breath of relief. It was the best comment she'd gotten out of Leina all day! "At least you have one possibilit-"

"Hey."

The two girls turned to look at Jacob. He was holding a small, white package.

"What's that?" Leina asked warily.

"I think it might be perfect for Luna... where is she?" he asked.

Leonna walked around to the next aisle, where Luna seemed to be debating between a sparkly Tinkerbelle costume and an angel costume. "Jake thinks he's found something for you."

Luna's head shot up, grinning. She dropped the costumes, then sprinted around Leonna to Jacob and Leina's aisle. Leonna followed.

Jacob had taken the costume out of the package. It was a white, sleeveless, zip-up dress with a few triangle points at the edges and a few bits of sparkles on the fabric. The bottom of it would come to Luna's knees, while the upper point of the cut would come to her upper thigh. It had some light blue designs, feathers around the collar, and a blue hood.

"What do you think of this, Luna?"

Luna's eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets. She ran up to Jake, taking the shining dress out of his hands to look at it. "What is it...?" she asked in awe.

Jacob looked at the tag. "It's a white mage costume."

She looked up at him, confusion written on her face. "What does that do?"

Jacob shrugged. "I'm not sure... I think it can do magic and stuff..."

Luna grinned. "Cool! I want this one!"

Leonna smiled. She was glad that her hyper friend had found a costume she liked. Now... all she had to do was find one for...

"Leina...?"

While they had been watching Luna examine her costume, Leina had seemed to disappear. Leonna whirled around, trying to find Leina. She tried to suppress the panic that was growing inside. "Where... is she...?"

She started jogging around the store, through aisles. Eventually, she saw her at the other end of the store, staring up at a wall with pictures of costumes. Leonna walked over. "Thank goodness... there you are!"

Leina didn't answer.

"What's wrong?"

Leina shook her head.

"You looking at something?"

Leina's right arm slowly raised, pointing at a picture. Her head rotated and Leonna could see her expression. It was one of absolute mischief... and she was excited about it.

"I found... exactly... what I want!"
-----
Luna's head lolled on the back seat of Leina's car. She was so tired... it was almost five 'o' clock, and she hadn't eaten in a while... but the need-for-sleep was winning.

"Don't worry, Luna, we're almost to Jake's house," Leonna assured her, practically reading her thoughts.

"Good... 'cuz, Jake? I think I'm gonna crash on your sofa..." Luna said.

"That's fine... Leina, can't you just pull over and let me drive the rest of the way?" he pleaded. This had been going on since they had set off to leave Seattle.

"No!" Leina repeated. "Maybe later... if you're good!"

Jacob humphed, then looked out side own window.

Leina pulled into the Black's driveway and stopped the engine. The group practically tumbled out of the car from exhaustion and tried to drag themselves over to the house.

Jacob opened the door for them then walked into his kitchen. On the counter was a scrap of paper. Slowly, Jacob picked it up, trying to adjust his eyes to read the paper.
Jake,
Went over to the Clearwaters' for dinner. Should be back around eight.
Jacob set the note down, then walked back into the living room. Leonna was slouching back onto the couch with Luna laying down on it. Leina had just collapsed onto the floor, laying face-down, looking kind of dead.

Jacob snickered, then walked over and started poking Leina's body with his foot.

She grunted. "Ugh... Leave me alone, Jacob..."

"Hey, I'm tired, too, Leina... give me some floor space! It's my house, after all!"

"No!"

With that, Jacob collapsed on top of Leina. Leina's eyes widened as a giant gust of wind escaped her lips. Leonna and Luna started laughing hysterically.

"Jacob, get off of me!"

Jacob laughed. "*Heh*, no way! Not until you move to give me more floor space!"

Leina struggled under Jacob's weight, making him laugh all the harder.

"Sorry to interrupt, truly, I am," Leonna said, disrupting, "But shouldn't we get some sort of dinner started? It's close to dinnertime, and I know that we won't make it back home in one piece without nutrition!"

Jacob, still grinning, sighed. "I guess you're right... Leina, I'll come wrestle and beat you later." He lifted himself gingerly off of the poor, squished girl.

Leina turned her head enough around to glare at him. "Yeah, right, you will!" she said, sarcastically.

Leonna eased herself off of the couch. Luna bounced up, wobbling just a bit.

"Hey, can I help?!" she asked eagerly.

Jake and Leonna looked at each other. Jacob shrugged. "Sure," Leonna answered, "but limited, 'kay? We don't want burnt dinner... that makes it take longer..."

Luna nodded her head, then excitedly ran off into the kitchen, followed by Leonna and Jacob.

"I'll stay here," Leina moaned as the others left her to lay on the floor.

She moved herself onto the couch, then laid down, staring up at the ceiling.

"This weekend has seemed so long..." she pondered. "Finding out about the Cullens, going and playing tennis, our trip to Seattle with Jacob... So much has happened..."

Then the thought fully hit Leina. "No! We have school tomorrow!"

How were they supposed to settle back into the normal swing of things, like school? Especially after a weekend like this one... School was just so... mundane.

"And I should totally be used to things like this by now..." Leina thought, scratching her forehead, absentmindedly.

A slight blush came to her face. "I'll have to see him tomorrow... for two, whole classes... I wonder how he feels about us knowing the secret... his secret..."

Flashes of images filled her mind. The first time she met Edward; back in History class on the first day... after her face had met the ground... him looking down at her, hand outstretched, offering to help her up. Edward smirking after offering to let Leina share his seat at lunch. Edward looking down at her, angelically worried, as he carried her to the nurse's office after she had collapsed in gym. Edward apologizing to her in her bedroom, lightly touching her cheek-

"Wow... I really need to stop this... I think I'm scaring myself..." she admitted to herself. "He's just another boy, Leina, just like- ... okay, not like all the other guys... he's an exceptionally striking boy-... well, maybe not 'boy'... vampire... argh!"

Leina shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts out of her head. She suddenly felt her whole body go a bit heavy... she full weight of her tiredness hitting her. Slowly, her eyes started to droop, and then she slipped off into the cool shades of sleep.
-----
"Leina? Come on, Leina..."

Leina felt herself waking up a little bit. Well, she was somewhat conscious. She could hear who ever was trying to wake her up.

"Hm... I think that's Leonna..." she thought momentarily, her eyes still closed.

Then she smelled the food. It was a warm smell, sweeping through most of the house, coming from the direction of the kitchen. She could pick out some of the scents: a warm scent that she believed were noodles, an herbed smell of chicken...

"Mmmm..." she sighed, sniffing. "That smells good..."

The voice chuckled. "Well, if you wake up, you can have some."

"But this feels too good... how about you just feed it to me?"

The voice laughed again. "Good try. If you don't take it, I'm sure Luna would love to eat your share-"

Leina's fair blue eyes flashed open, searching around the room. Leonna was leaning over her, a tiny smile on her beautiful, tan face. She seemed to be holding something. Leina slowly sat up, scooting into a sitting position on the couch, scratching her head drowsily. "That mine?" she asked, pointing with her other hand.

Leonna nodded, handing her the bowl. "Be careful, it might be hot."

Leina took the bowl gratefully, then looked down at her dinner. It was a bowl of penne pasta with bits of grilled chicken, peas, and a mushroom-cream sauce.

"This looks really good... You and Jake made this?"

Leonna grinned, proudly. "With a little help from Luna." A look of concern and caution spread across Leina's face. "Don't worry, I watched her the whole time... she stirred the noodles."

Leina grinned, then started to eat her dinner.

Jacob and Luna walked in, sitting down with Leina and Leonna.

Jacob smirked. "So Miss-Sleeping-Beauty finally woke up?"

Leina frowned, blushing. "How long was a out for?"

"About an hour."

Her eyes widened. "Are you serious?!"

The rest of the group started laughing hysterically at Leina's expression, causing Leina to blush a little. The room slowly fell silent as the group finished up their dinner. Jake, finished with his dinner, looked around the room in the empty silence.

"Um... hey, guys, do you want to go down to the beach for a little while? I mean, I know you have to start heading back, but-"

Leonna grinned, finished herself. "That sounds like a brilliant idea, Jacob."

Luna slammed her bowl down, arms raised. "All done; energy restored! Beach time now!"

Leina looked down at her half-eaten dinner.

"You can take it outside with you, if you want," Jacob offered.

Leina nodded her thanks, then the group stood up to go outside.

After a short walk down the road, the group came to the beginning of the sand to the beach.

Luna threw up her hands again. "I see dolphins, I swear!" She started hauling her butt down to the water, sand flying in her wake.

The rest of the group followed, chuckling at her eagerness.

Leina looked around and saw a half-circle of logs with a fire pit in the center. She walked over, sat down, and started eating her dinner. Jacob followed her over to the logs, while Leonna went over to the edge of the water, watching Luna play in the water.

"So... about your car..."

Leina sighed, a small smile appearing on her face. "I knew he'd start this again before I left..."

Jacob looked out at the water, the sun starting to set. "You could bring it over to my place on weekends or something... if you want to. We could work on it together."

Leina looked over at him. "Um, sure. That'd be nice, Jacob. You could come over to our house on some weekends and we could work from there, as well... you might have more tools than I do, though!" She laughed.

Jacob laughed as well. "Most likely... yeah, you could come over one weekend, and then we switch the next one! You could bring Luna and... " he blushed, "Leonna over as well."

Leina looked closer at Jacob. Though his tan skin hid most of it, she could see the faint blush on his face. She turned and looked at her friend, who was still standing at the edge of the water.

"So... what do you think of Leonna... exactly?" she asked quietly.

Leina could hear Jacob's small, quick intake of breath. "Wh-what do you mean?" he questioned just as quietly.

"What do you think of her... your relationship with her... any other way you want me to put it?" Leina replied, smiling a little over at him.

Jacob was looking over at Leonna. She was calling over to Luna, trying to tell her not to swim too far.

"I-... I don't know..." he started, now staring down at the ground. "At the very least, I'd like to be friends with her..."

Leina smiled and, a little awkwardly, patted him on the shoulder, like a big sister would. "If you like her, I think you should go for it... and trust me; I've known her for a while."

Jacob turned to her, a small smirk on his face. "What, you're trying to give me a go-ahead?"

Leina shrugged. "Something kind of like that..."

Jacob laughed. "Well, that's one test I've gotten through."

Leina snickered. "But you've been warned; my others will be harder!"

The two laughed as they watched the sunset, Leina finishing up her dinner.

Leonna walked over, dragging a grinning, but sopping-wet Luna by the arm. "What's so funny?" she asked once she had gotten there.

Jacob blushed.

Leina grinned. "Oh, nothing... I'm just embarrassing Jake!"

Leonna sighed. "You know, you shouldn't do that to new friends."

"Eh, I think he can take it..." She turned to Jacob, a mock-innocent look on her face. "Can you take it, Jake-y?"

Jacob grinned back competitively. "Yeah, I think I can take the heat."
-----
Leina rubbed the towel against her wet hair, trying to dry it out a bit before heading to bed. She had on her cotton, red-plaid pants and her black tank-top, and had just finished taking her shower. She sat down on the black futon, still trying to dry her hair.

"Man, this week has been just packed with surprises..." she thought to herself. "Finding out about Edward and the other Cullens... Jacob's possible crush on Leonna... Halloween coming up..."

Leina sighed, laying back onto the futon, staring up at the ceiling. She had basically agreed to go to the party, but she was still skeptical about it.

"I'll most likely end up making a fool of myself... somehow..." she thought bleakly. "... and embarrass myself in front of the whole school... why couldn't I just stay home?!"

A soft knock on her bedroom door interrupted her internal rant. Leina sat back up, head tilted slightly in confusion. "Come on in..."

The door opened slowly, and an uncertain Leonna stood in the doorway.

"May I come in?"

Leina grinned. "Sure! Have a seat!" she answered, gesturing to the futon.

Leonna smiled and came in, closing the door behind her, and sat on the opposite end of the futon, facing Leina.

"So, did you get Jacob's number?" Leina asked casually.

Leonna nodded. "Yes, we exchanged numbers before we left... did you get his?"

Leina shook her head. "Naw, I figured I could just get it from you!" she answered, grinning.

Leonna smiled back. "Of course..." She dropped off into silence, distractedly biting her lower lip, as if she wanted to say something else.

"What is it, Leonna?"

Leonna looked up at Leina, her blazing green eyes searing into Leina's cool blue ones. "First of all, what do you think of Forks?"

Leina thought for a moment, then shrugged. "It's nice. Actually, it's better than I thought it would be. I mean, I could go with a bit more sun-" Leonna grinned at that, " -but the area is nice, and the school seems fine. I think we've settled in pretty well!"

Leonna nodded. "I think so, too... we have friends here."

Leina grinned. "We usually don't have too many extra ones of those, now do we?"

Leonna returned the look. "No, I suppose not! But... speaking of our new friends..." Her voice turned serious again. "What do you think of them?"

Leina paused for a moment again. "Leonna, why are you asking me all of this?"

Leonna shook her head. "Just answer the questions, please... I'll explain in a minute or two."

Leina shrugged. "Well, let's see... Jacob's nice; I have fun hanging with him and messing with him! Um... Emmett's pretty funny, a good guy... kind of like an older brother... Rosalie, I don't know her very well yet... Jasper doesn't talk too much, but seems like he'd be fun to hang around... Alice is a lot of fun. She seems like she'd be a lot of fun to hang out with as well."

"And then Edward...?"

Leina looked down at the sheets. "How to explain this...?"

"Well, he seems like he's a good friend; he seems to honestly care about people... He might be someone I could get close to... as a friend!" she said, starting to back-track a little. "But... I don't know, it's like he has some weird power over me... does he do anything like that to you?"

Leonna shook her head. "Not really... most of their kind are very influential, though. A part of you wants to accept them no matter what."

Leina nodded. "I see... is it just because I'm human, then?"

Leonna looked down. "I don't know yet... But, my point here, Leina, is that you need to make sure you don't become too blinded by Edward."

Leina's head tilted, clear misunderstanding on her face. "I don't get what you mean... you're saying I shouldn't trust him?"

Leonna sighed, then started to speak again, clear urgency in her words. "Well, kind of... the humanistic part of him, sure, you can trust that part of him. But you always have to remember: he is a vampire. That part of him is always thirsting for your blood and wants it. Your scent is... intoxicating to most of us that can smell it."

"So... I smell kind of like a drug?" Leina asked, chuckling, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Leonna cracked a small smile again. "Yes, a bit. It makes some of our rationality leave us if we aren't careful. Edward is very good at controlling it, I'll give him that. Most of the Cullens are, as far as I can tell. But, please, just remember... you have to be careful with him. And also... remember, you can't get too attached to him. They don't stay in one place for long; neither do we..."

Leina nodded. "All right... and I'll be careful..."

Leonna sighed. "Good... thank you..."

There was a momentary silence while the two girls let what was just said sink in.

Then Leonna seemed to remember something. "Oh, do we have any plans for Tuesday night?"

Leina thought for a moment. "Um... not really... that's the day before Halloween, yes?"

Leonna nodded eagerly. "Yep!"

Leina paused. "Mischief Night..."

Leonna thought for a moment. "Yes, I suppose in the American calendar, it is! So, we don't have any plans for that night?"

Leina shook her head. "Except for homework, nothing else... why? Are you planning a movie night or something?" This was a common way for Leonna to ask for something like that.

Leonna grinned impishly. “Something like that...” She leaned over, giving Leina a kiss on the cheek. It was another thing that Leonna did. Her kind always did that. It was so like a cat, Leina almost had to kick herself from stopping the urge to laugh. But, that was just Leonna. Leina had mostly gotten used to it. It was just a form of greeting for Leonna.

“Good night, and sleep well!”

Leonna got up from the bed with simple elegance, smiling at Leina, then left the room.

Leina got up quickly to shut the door and turn off all of the lights. The room seemed pitch black while her eyes had to get used to the darkness. She laid there for a while, just wanting to become even more tired. Then, she could hear the light tapping of rain on the roof and her window outside, becoming a strong shower.

The rhythmic pattern of the rain became calming to Leina, and slowly her eyelids started to droop more and more. She rolled over to her side, waiting for sleep to claim her.