Twilight Fan Fiction ❯ In The Shadow Of The Sun ❯ Apologies and Invitations ( Chapter 11 )

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

Leina

Rain. Pittering, pattering... it’s calming. It makes me want to go back to sleep.

I cracked open my eyes, it hurting for a moment. Waking up was hard for me, as usual.

I pushed the covers off of me, sitting up in my futon-bed, folding my legs. I yawned while stretching my arms out in my pathetic attempt to wake up. Swinging my legs over the end of the bed, I nearly lost my balance when I set all of my weight down on my weary, Jello-like legs. I walked over to my phone, which was charging on my chest of drawers. Flipping it open, I looked at the time.

“Seven forty-eight... hm... right, we have school today,” I thought, remembering it was Monday.

I zombie-d myself over to my bathroom and quickly washed the sleep from my face. Drying my face in a towel, I happened to look in the mirror.

“Wow... I have more cuts than I thought...”

My left arm still had the deep scratch running down my forearm, paired with it’s equally lovely accompanying abrasions, though they were, for the most part, healed. I remembered that this one was from tripping back in gym class on Friday. Also, the tops of my biceps had faint bruises as well. Each one had a matching set of four on the outside, with one on the inside... just like a set of hands or something... I tried to remember how I could have gotten those.

“Must’ve just been a coincidence or something... I did hit a lot of trees running through those woods,” I told myself.

I saw that all of the scratches on my arms and face had, for the most part, healed. Except for one on my left cheek which ran from underneath my eye to almost my ear.

“Yet again, probably from the trees...”

I went further to inspect my legs. I lifted up my baggy sleeping-pants, rolling them up gingerly to mid-thigh. My knees had their usual multitude of bruises and scratches. This was quite normal for me... I couldn’t fly or be graceful like my other friends; gravity affected me more than most humans. My right leg was worse than the other one, though. I had a scabbed gash, about three to four inches long, on the side of my calf. It also had a bunch of bruises and abrasions running from my knee to my ankle.

“Ah... the car wreck,” I thought matter-of-factly.

I rolled my pant-legs back down, figuring I’d be able to hide most of the injuries with normal clothes, and quickly brushed my hair. Then I remembered: I had no more clean clothes...

I groaned, angry at myself for forgetting... again!

“I guess I’ll just have to borrow some from Leonna...”

I walked out of my room and down the spiral staircase, getting a little dizzy from the corkscrew descent combined with my tiredness.

“Hey, Leina’s awake! Hi, sleepyhead!”

That... would be Luna...

I sighed. “Luna... not in the mood...”

“Aw, but we made waffles for breakfast!” she said, obviously proud.

My eyes widened a bit. Leonna was taking a waffle out of a waffle-maker (I didn’t even remember buying that...), smiling pleasantly at me. She understood that I wasn’t exactly one to be messed with in the morning. Luna was grinning over at me, completely in character for her, with her mouth now full of waffles. She had a fork sticking out of her mouth.

“Please, Luna, tell me you didn’t just shove a whole waffle into your mouth,” Leonna half-pleaded.

Luna turned her head, her grin getting impossibly wider, nodding her head. “Uh, huh!”

I cracked a smile. “I always knew that girl had a big mouth,” I teased.

Luna looked back at me, and stuck out her tongue at me, knowing I was teasing.

“Ew, Luna! Stick that thing back in your mouth!”

She grinned, but complied with my demand.

I walked over and leaned on the counter. Leonna had a small stack of waffles on a plate. There was also an assortment of fruit in different bowls, syrup, butter, whipped cream...

My mouth started to water. I loved waffles, especially when they were home-made. I vaguely remembered my mother making them for us when I was really little. Plus, we couldn’t exactly take a waffle-maker with us on the road and just plug it into the nearest outlet. Sorry, folks, but tree trunks don’t have outlets! Luna has tried; it doesn’t work! So, obviously, we hadn’t had them for a while.

Leonna smiled at me again, practically reading my mind. “Go ahead,” she urged. “I’ve all ready eaten.”

I took a plate and set two waffles on it, then started cramming on my toppings: cut-up bananas, strawberries, blueberries, a little tiny pat of butter, a considerable amount of whipped cream on each, then topped it all off with syrup.

Grabbing a fork and knife, I took my breakfast over to the table. Luna was finishing up, what looked like, her fifth or so waffle. She had EVERYTHING on it... and I mean EVERYTHING. She had everything mine had, along with powdered sugar (though I couldn’t imagine Leonna let her have that), M’n’Ms, gummy fish, icing and, what I thought was, peanut butter... but you could never be sure with that child.

I groaned. “Luna... that’s disgusting...”

She shook her head, her lower lip sticking out a bit, just like a little kid. “No, it isn’t; it’s delicious!” Then, just to prove it, she shoved the whole last waffle into her mouth.

“Ugh... gross...”

I started in on my own breakfast, cutting it up like a NORMAL person. I put the waffle piece into my mouth, sighing with satisfaction. The sweet syrup mixed with the fluffiness of the waffle, and the tang of the different fruits... it was a momentary heaven for me. I continued to eat. Then I remembered something I was supposed to ask Leonna.

"Oh, Leonna? Do you have a pair of jeans or something that I could borrow? All of my clothes are dirty..."

Luna snickered. "You could always just wear your pajamas to school!"

I groaned, a small smile appearing on my face. "Yeah, right, nice try!"

A wicked expression bloomed onto her face. "I'm sure Edward would get a kick out of it-"

An uncontrolled blush rose to my face as the hypothetical scene played out in my mind.

"No... way... in hell..."

Luna laughed. "Emmett'd think it was a riot, too!" Then she saw my expression. "Uh... I'm gonna go upstairs and get ready...!" She hopped up from the table and practically flew up the stairs.

Leonna sighed, then walked over and took Luna's plate away and started washing it in the sink. "Yes, Leina, I think I have another outfit or two that would work... by the way, I bought you two jackets. You said you wanted one a while ago. They both should be upstairs in your dresser."

I stopped. "L-Leonna... you didn't have to buy two jackets for me... I can pay you back-"

"No," she answered strongly. "I bought them for you, specifically. Think of it as a 'congrats for not completely going crazy here and freaking out about everything that's happened' present!" she finished happily.

I rolled my eyes. "That's the longest freaking title I think I've ever heard," I mumbled, knowing she could still hear me.

Leonna laughed softly as the dried the plate, then set it back in its cupboard. "Are you finished yet?"

I nodded, scraping my plate clean of all fruit bits and syrup. I quickly rinsed off the plate, leaving it in the sink. She sighed, rolling her eyes at me, then we both started up the stairs to Leonna's room.

As I was following behind her, I looked closer at Leonna's clothes. She usually wore fairly practical clothes; a nice pair of pants with a presentable sweater or shirt. Today was no different. She wore light, almost white jeans with a fairly, form-fit, dark brown peasant top with bell sleeves.

I compared. I usually wore whatever was clean.

I never put too much thought into how I dressed. When I was walking next to a cute fairy girl and an attractive blonde were-cat who always had the local boys interested, what was the point? They would barely even think about looking at me when we were lined up for comparison like that. I knew that most of the attention would go to them, and I didn't mind that at all. I never liked being the complete center of attention. Leonna was passive about it, and Luna thrived in that kind of environment.

I started wondering what Leonna was going to give me to wear, imagining different possibilities from outfits I had seen her wear in the past. Key words for Leonna's wardrobe? Practical, casual, and still look good.

Leonna led me to her room. I sat down on the bed, yawning again. I still wasn't fully awake; my senses felt like they were being covered with stretched-out cotton balls.

Leonna finally seemed to find what she was looking for. She pulled out a pair of cerulean jeans with a washed-out look on the thighs that made them almost white there. She threw those at me, which landed on my head. Too tired to care, I just left them there, one pant leg covering one of my eyes. Next, she pulled out a white jersey-tank top with a big, plain, black cross on it. She tossed that on as well, then threw a thin, white double-belt at me.

Leonna turned around, grinning. "There, I think that should get you through the day..."

I looked the clothes over once more, grinning, and gave Leonna a giant hug. "Thanks, Leonna, you're awesome!"

She laughed. "All right, I know I'm awesome, now you better go get ready. We don't have that much time."

I let go of her, grabbed my clothes, and ran into my own room. I quickly stripped off my pajamas, throwing those in the direction of my bed. I pulled on the pants, happy to see they fit me correctly, and laced on the double-belt. Then I put the top on and looked in my bathroom mirror. I was surprised; everything seemed to fit me the way it should. The edge of the shirt came a little higher than I was used to, exposing two centimeters of my skin between the shirt and the pants... but for borrowed clothes, it was nothing to complain too much about.

Quickly brushing my hair, pulling it up into a ponytail, and applying little bit of faint, brown eye-shadow, I reassessed myself, believing I was appropriate for school. I pulled on a pair of old socks that I found at the bottom of my pack, then my shoes, then dumped everything out of my backpack. I started putting in things I would need for school: pencils, pens, lined paper, a small sketching pad, my cell phone...

Once I was done, I walked over to my dresser and opened the drawers until I found Leonna's presents. The one on top was a black, zip-up, fleece jacket with two vertical, zipper pockets on either side. The bottom of the sleeves were like a sweatshirt's, yet the jacket was very form-fit. I also discovered it had a removable hood, attached by a zipper. Simple, but it would do it's job.

I immediately loved it. I slipped it on, zipping it up to the base of my neck, loving the feel against my skin. I looked in the mirror again to see how it looked. I actually looked pretty good. A small smile crept to my face, then I looked at the next one.

This one was a tan trench coat. It would come down to my knees when I wore it. It had matching buttons up the front, a pocket on either side, and a tie-belt. I slipped that one on as well, just to see how it would fit. The fabric was sturdy, and seemed like it would do its job against Fork's wet weather, but felt a bit lighter than it should when I wore it.

Happy with my new jackets, I took off the trench coat, slinging it over my shoulder. I grabbed my backpack, then went down the stairs.

Leonna was sitting at the table now, finishing up her last mug of coffee. She turned, then saw I was wearing the black jacket. "You like them?"

I grinned at her. "Of course! They're perfect, Leonna. Thanks."

She nodded a quick "you're welcome," then went back to finishing off her coffee.

"Hey, where's Luna-"

"HERE I AM!"

I turned just in time to see Luna sky-rocket-slide down the spiraled banister, landing perfectly on her feet at the bottom. Luna was wearing a light blue tank-dress with dark gray lace on the straight neckline and the pleated edges. She had pulled her moonlight hair into two high pigtails, which fell straight until they hit her shoulders, where they gently spiraled. Each pigtail had a white and gold daisy tucked into the base, and I had a feeling they weren't fake. I looked down at her feet. She was wearing a pair of white sandals which crossed up around her ankles.

I frowned, gesturing towards her shoes. "Luna, you know it's raining outside, right?"

Luna smiled. "Of course, silly!" she answered, either not understanding or acknowledging my point.

I tried again. "Your feet are going to get all wet."

She shrugged. "Only from the rain falling. I can just focus my magic on my feet and barely hover so I miss all of the puddles."

I stared at her, mouth open wide. She said it so casually. "Man, wish I could do that..." I mumbled.

Leonna got up, coffee finished, and turned to us. "So, which car are we taking today?"

Luna and I raised our hands at the same time.

"How about mine?"

"But you got to drive yours yesterday!" she complained.

I turned to her, grinning. "But my car isn't a convertible," I pointed out.

Luna's lower lip stuck out a bit. "But we can put the top up! Pleeeeeeeeeease, Leonna!" she begged, her hands folded together.

Leonna turned to me, a weak smile on her face. "How about we let her drive today?"

I sighed. "Okay... but you're paying for my medical and psychiatric bill afterwards..."

"YAAAAAAAAY!" Luna shouted, grabbing her keys and running out into the garage.

Leonna and I followed behind. Leonna and I helped Luna put up the top to her Beetle, then I sat in the back while Leonna took shotgun and Luna took the drivers seat.

I shuddered, preparing myself for the ride.
-----
Leina

Shoving the lock on the door and throwing the door itself open, I collapsed onto the wet pavement.

"Sweet, sweet, solid ground!" I cried out, wanting to hug the cement beneath me.

Luna popped out of the drivers seat. "Hey, it wasn't that bad!"

“My life just flashed before my eyes!”

Leonna got out of the passenger's seat, looking quite a bit shaken herself. She was just better at staying vertical than I was. "Luna, sweetie... you almost drove off of the highway... and you knocked over about four garbage cans... not to mention the squirrel you almost tried to chase off of the road and into the forest."

She helped me up; both of us were still shaking. Let's just say that, besides all of the listed, Luna had habit of driving sporadically, from really slow to pushing 100 mph. And smooth turns weren’t her best driving skill...

Just then, Leonna tensed. I turned around to see a car trying to park in the space next to our car, where Leonna and I were standing. Leonna growled quietly, defensively, then seemed to see who the driver was. Her face calmed, and I tried to focus. I then realized who the car belonged to.

The silver Volvo sat partway in the parking space, waiting for us to get out of the way. The driver looked amused at our expressions, one of his eyebrows raised in a questioning look, a playful, crooked smirk forming from his perfect mouth.

Edward Cullen rolled down his window and leaned out a little bit. “Excuse me, ladies, but might I park here?”

I saw Leonna roll her eyes at him, but she nodded. I was still a little woozy from Luna’s driving and almost getting hit... again! She helped transfer me out of the parking space, and the Volvo slid in flawlessly.

“Luna!” a high, musical voice called out.

“That must be Alice,” I thought blearily, trying to snap myself out of my surprise.

I nodded to Leonna, saying I could stand on my own now. She returned my nod and let go of my arm.

Alice went over to Luna and gently hugged her while the rest of the Cullens were getting out of the back of the car. I was trying to focus more, shake away my tiredness, so I tried to look at the Cullen’s outfits and faces.

Alice was wearing a black, pleated skirt with dark gray leggings and matching black Ugg® boots. She was wearing a long, silver rain coat, with a dark gray top that matched her leggings peeking out from underneath.

Jasper was the first to get out of the back of the car. He went over to Alice, subtly holding her hand. He was dressed in a nice pair of tan pants, a black button-down shirt. Its collar was peaking out from a sleek, tan raincoat.

Emmett was next, wearing a white t-shirt underneath a white, hooded, pullover jacket. He was wearing a pair of nice-looking jeans.

Then he helped Rosalie out. Her blonde hair was looking as perfect as ever, including the rest of her outfit. She was wearing a simple, yet elegant-looking white, button-down shirt that showed off her gorgeous figure. The top was paired with silver-gray slacks, and a gray raincoat on top.

Then, Edward himself was in front of me. I tried not to concentrate on his face. Quickly looking, I saw he was wearing black slacks, a dark blue, button-down shirt (which was not tucked in at all), and a gray raincoat.

“Leina?” his own soft, musical voice said.

I made the mistake... again... I looked up.

His expression was a combination of two main emotions. One was concern. Was he worried about me? What for? The other was amusement, which showed in his brilliantly gold eyes. The rational part of me, which was being forced to the back of my mind, reminded me that all of their eyes were gold; it was because of their hunting habits. They got darker when they were hungry, and they had obviously fed fairly recently.

The irrational part of me, which seemed to be in control right now, didn’t care. His eyes still seemed unique, and only this pair could feel like they were smothering me completely, forcing rational-Leina to take an unwanted vacation.

“Argh... stupid vampires... stupid eyes...”

“Leina?” he said with a bit more urgency.

I focused now. The whole group was looking at me, probably thinking I was psychotic or something.

“I’m fine,” I told them. “I’m still in recovery mode from Luna’s driving.”

The majority of the group laughed, then started to walk towards the school. I soon realized that my pants were almost completely soaked from my upper calf to the bottom edge. I groaned, realizing again that it was still raining, and put up my hood. I tuned into their conversation for a moment. Leonna seemed to be talking to them about something happening on Tuesday.

That dimly rang a bell, but I couldn’t be sure. I was still sort of foggy-brained from the atmosphere of the rain and my now-apparent lack of sleep.

“I’ll just have to sleep during Biology and Study Hall-”

“Leina, did you not get enough sleep last night?”

I turned, surprised, to see that Edward was walking closely at my side. Not close enough that he was touching me, but a bit closer than the usual distance he seemed to keep from people.

“Um... I thought you couldn’t read my thoughts...” I mumbled.

His head tilted, then elated realization spread across his face. “I can’t... but I’m correct?”

“I guess so,” I admitted. “I don’t know why I’m this tired; I thought I got a good bit of sleep last night...”

Edward laughed. “Well, I think you got more than I did.”

I smiled, laughing as well at his joke.

“I don’t know... I mean, I don’t remember having nightmares or anything...”

He shrugged. “You looked peace-” Then he stopped.

My eyes flashed over to his, wide with shock. “He didn’t...”

“You weren’t... at my house last night... were you?” I asked hesitantly and quietly so Luna and Leonna wouldn’t hear.

He looked at me. Guilty, I decided. He looked like he was silently trying to plead with me.

“I was only there for a few minutes...”

“Did you break in?”

A small grin appeared on his face. “I didn’t break anything.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s not what I meant... great, now I have a vampiric stalker...”

Edward’s expression darkened a bit. “I was not stalking you, Leina; please don’t categorize me with those... people,” he finished as if he wanted to use a different word for them. “I was trying to make sure you were all right. Luna was obviously too occupied with something else in her room for me to see, and Leonna was dreaming about something for Tuesday night. I couldn’t check with anyone to see... I knew you were going to Seattle, and I figured you’d probably get into some kind of trouble there-”

My expression changed from reluctantly curious to defensively angry. He had been spying on me!

Edward immediately started back-tracking. “I only wanted to make sure that you or Leonna or Luna... or your friend, Jacob, I believe it was... hadn’t gotten into any trouble.”

My expression turned blank as I tried to process everything he had just told me. So, he had been worried about me. That was all. He had been worried about us.

I decided I couldn’t be angry at him for that. That’s what friends did, right? Worry and care about each other. He was just being a good friend... right?

“Can you forgive me?” he asked quietly.

I nodded. “Sure.”

He seemed comforted by my answer. How strange... Did he really care that much about what I thought of him?

I blushed. I tried to push the red out of my face, but couldn’t; I could tell from the heat in my face. I zipped up my jacket a bit more.

Ding! The first warning bell rang.

Emmett grinned. “Well, we better all get to class like good students, right?”

Luna and Leonna grinned back at him. I did, too. It was hard not to with Emmett.

Emmett, Rosalie, Leonna and Luna all separated from the group. They waved their goodbyes, then started walking quickly (at least, for a human) towards the gym. The group of us still remaining kept walking, the rest talking about an upcoming Government assignment for the juniors. Jasper soon broke off from the group, heading towards his senior History class, giving Alice a rare, brief smile.

Edward was still walking next to me. It was almost unnerving... was I like some fragile thing to him that needed looking after? That idea almost made me growl. I was not fragile... I could look after myself if I had to-

"...So when you get your test today, Leina, just don't be too surprised, okay?"

I snapped my head up. "Huh, what?"

Alice rolled her eyes, sighing. "You weren't paying attention at all, were you?"

I smiled apologetically. "I have a lot on my mind right now..."

Edward seemed intrigued by that statement, as if he’d love to hear all of the things that were on my mind. It was probably really frustrating for him, not being able to hear my thoughts like everyone else’s. I was secretly very happy with that.

Alice sighed again, but smiled. I was forgiven. “Well, here’s my class; I’ll see you both later, okay?”

She practically danced off. Her movements were so connected, you couldn’t really separate them into different movements.

Edward seemed to chuckle at me as I watched her. I turned to him.

“What?” I asked defensively.

He shook his head, still chuckling to himself.

I sighed. “So, what’s your first class?”

“Art, actually... that class is a little less boring than the others...”

Leina laughed. “Well, I guess after you’ve gone through the classes before, they probably get pretty boring.”

“Yes,” he agreed, “especially when you can hear what the teacher is thinking...”

I smiled up at him, my bad mood almost forgotten.

“You have Biology.” He said it like a statement.

A suspicious look crossed my face. “Did you check Leonna’s thoughts?”

Edward smiled that crooked smile, and my knees felt exactly like they had this morning: like Jello. It took all of my self control to keep myself vertical and coherent. “Only a little,” he replied impishly.

I rolled my eyes, a light blush rising to my face. Then I saw my class. “Well, I’ll see you later?”

He nodded, confirming my question. “In Government, at the latest.”

I could feel his topaz eyes watching me as I turned and walked up to the building. I turned right as soon as I got to the door, and waved a small wave to him before I went inside.

I sat down in my seat, taking out a notebook, pencil and pen. I started doodling on the edge, not fully aware of what I was actually drawing.

He had visited me last night... while I was sleeping... what did that mean? He said he wanted to make sure that I was okay, that I was safe... did he think that something would happen to me while in Seattle? What could-... okay, there were a lot of things that could happen to me. With my luck, anything could happen from me tripping and falling down a manhole to almost getting hit by a car. I suppose, when I thought about it, one would have a reason to worry.

I sighed aloud, resting my head in my hand, closing my eyes, trying to think of his motive. It was times like these when I wished I had some cool magic power that would make him tell me, like his mind-reading.

But why? Why did he care for me like that? Was it just because he felt some urge to protect me because I was not as physically strong as him? Or was it because I was the only non-magical person who knew his secret and accepted it? Was it because I was more of a possession to him? Or because he honestly wanted to be my friend?

“Um, hey, are you okay?”

I looked up and realized that I had been so wrapped up in my own personal drama that I hadn’t even noticed that the seat next to me had been taken.

A boy about my height stared at me with plain, green eyes. He had kind of spiky, messy light brown hair. I saw he was wearing an almost mustard-colored t-shirt, displaying some band I had never heard of, with worn-out jeans (I had a feeling those were authentic scratches, though, with an honest cause behind them) and a pair of worn-down, black Converse. He was smiling at me, friendly.

I smiled a little bit back. “Yeah, I’m fine. Still just adjusting to my new schedule and all.”

He nodded, still grinning. “Yeah, I know a lot of people like that; not exactly a morning person?”

I nodded back. “What about you?” I asked, trying to make simple conversation to keep me away from my thoughts. I’d have enough time while taking notes to think of Edward’s true reasons for his behavior.

The boy’s grin widened. “I’m sort of both. I can stay up all night if I have to and be wide awake in the morning. And that’s without any kind of energy drink!”

I believed him. He seemed to be a naturally energetic person... just not quite as sugar-high-hyper as Luna was.

“My name’s Austen, by the way. Austen Murphy.” A small bit of red escaped onto his cheeks. “I guess we’ll be Bio partners...?” He said it like a question.

I nodded, smiling just a little. Then, Mr. Banner came in, and the class started.
-----
Leonna

“So do you hunt, Leonna?”

I cracked a small smile at Rosalie. This wasn’t the first time I’d been asked that question in my long lifetime, but it was the first question she‘d asked me all day.

“No, not really... I usually stick to human food. Only if I haven’t eaten in a while, then I’ll have to resort to it... but I like the adrenaline rush more while hunting. There isn’t any adrenaline rush while walking to your pantry to take out a jar of peanut butter!” I joked.

Emmett, Rosalie, Luna and I had been pretending to be playing a game of Knock Out here in gym class. While we took turns shooting, we had been talking and asking each other questions about our kinds. I knew a decent amount of information about their kind, but most of it had been passed on through other people. A limited, basic amount of it was from experience.

“So, you all hunt in the area, yes?” I asked, interested to learn about their own hunting habits.

Emmett nodded. “Yeah, but not too close. We wouldn’t want to diminish a population!” He laughed, while Rosalie just looked at him, seeming a bit bored with the subject of the conversation. Emmett took a shot and sunk it, like always.

“How often do you guys go hunt?” Luna asked as she missed her own shot, frowning up at the hoop.

Emmett chuckled. “Eh, often enough... two or three weeks usually works, but, well, with your friend smelling the way she does...” He dropped off meaningfully.

I understood completely. Leina’s scent was completely unique. Never, in all my years, had I smelled anything quite like her. Her scent was hard to explain to a human. Usually, they concentrated on one scent at a time, recognized them one at a time. Us “super-natural beings” could smell different hints of things within one scent. In Leina’s case, the most dominant scent was similar to lilacs. But that was only about twenty-five percent of it. The rest was a mix of things, hard to pick them all out, but possible if one concentrated on it long enough. There were other scents, more wood-type scents. Her scent was almost a contradiction to itself. Part of it calmed you, like a cool breeze. The other part of it made your blood boil, wanting to possess this thing yourself. Either way, it made you want to smell it, but not feel the aftershock.

Emmett was basically telling me that, because of how appetizing Leina smelled to the “magical kind,” he and his family needed to go hunting more often. I was glad that, at the very least, they were doing that in order to help keep Leina safe.

Rosalie shot, making hers, then turned to me, ball in hand. “We’re hunting tomorrow, actually.”

I felt an expression of disappointment spread across my face. “Aw... so you’ll be gone that whole day?”

Emmett shook his head. “Naw, we’ll just leave right after school tomorrow... Edward says he really doesn’t have to go, though, since he hunted on Friday-”

Emmett stopped short, seeing the new, hostile expression on my face. Remembering that day actually did make my blood boil, wanting to burst and transform into one of my more comfortable, cat forms. The way we had confirmed what the Cullens were was not the way I wanted to.

Images of Leina’s hopeless, then desperate expressions flashed through my mind, and a low growl rose up in my throat.

“Watch it, Leonna...” Luna warned, uncharacteristically serious.

“Sorry,” Emmett mumbled. “I didn’t mean to tick you off.”

I shook my head quickly, trying to shake the feeling out. “It wasn’t your fault... chance just wasn’t our friend that day...” I started to go back to my original point. “The reason I asked was because I was thinking of having a small Halloween party. Just your family and mine; eight of us total.”

Emmett turned to Rosalie, who seemed to be debating whether the idea seemed good to her or not. I saw an eager grin on his face. “Well, Alice wouldn’t let us pass up the opportunity to go to a party, right, Rose?”

Rose looked like she agreed, though her expression didn’t change much from its usual calm state. “No, I don’t believe she would... we could possibly hunt tonight instead...”

Luna started shooting ideas out for party games, decorations and other things while Emmett commented and Rosalie listened, nodding on occasion.

“I wonder how Leina’ll react to this...”
-----
“I can’t... believe... she did this to me...”

Leina stomped down the sidewalk on her way from Art to History, spraying water from the puddles on the ground. Leonna had told her the whole story of how and when she got her idea for having a small party on Mischief Night.

“There’s no way I can get out of this party, too...”

“I can’t wait, a party! It’ll be so much fun! We’ve never had a party before!” Luna gushed, skipping next to Leonna, who was walking quickly, trying to catch up with Leina.

"Great... now along with having to dress up and go to the school one, I have to host one as well!"

Leonna caught up to Leina. "Leina, please don't be upset with me! I asked you whether we were doing anything, and you said we weren't!"

Leina sighed. "Yeah... but I didn't think you'd be inviting people over for a party..."

She turned to Leonna. "No, I'm not really mad... stressed is a better word for it..."

Leonna gave her a sympathetic smile. "You know the people who are coming."

Leina sighed. "That really doesn't help..."

"I was thinking we could go shopping later today for decorations and food and all... I mean, we'll be the only ones needing it, but still..." She started listing different things that they would need for the party. "But I promise, all ideas will go through you first, okay?"

Leina sighed. "All right..." she agreed reluctantly.

"All right, guys, I'll see you later!" Luna interrupted, having come to her Biology class.

Leonna and Leina gave her a quick parting wave, then Leina continued. "So, who'd you invite?"

Leonna shifted nervously. "Um... the Cullens..."

Leina's blue eyes practically bugged out of their sockets. "Th-the Cullens?!"

Leonna smiled hesitantly. "Yeah... they're kind of our first group of friends. I thought it might be nice to have just a casual, hang-out 'party' with them..."

Leina pressed her fingertips to her temples and take slow, big breaths, trying to calm herself down. Why should she have to get so worked up over this? She had spent almost all of Saturday with the family... so why was she so stressed?

"Well, I'll be helping to host a party... no pressure there at all... and let alone who the guests are... yeah, no reason to freak out at all!" she thought sarcastically.

Finally, they got to Building 6 for History. The teacher wasn't even in the class yet. Leonna looked over at her seat next to the unhelpful Richard and gave Leina a pleading look before she sat down next to the boy. Leina headed to her own seat at the back corner.

Yet again, the same snickering boy from her first day stuck out his foot. Leina hopped over his foot, letting her back foot step on his own foot. She saw the boy's eyes widen in a bit of pain. Leina turned to him, bending down to whisper in his ear.

"You might want to not stick your foot out in the aisle like that... people could get hurt."

The boy seemed to nod. "Sorry," he muttered.

Leina heard a soft chuckling coming from her corner of the classroom. She looked up and walked over to her seat.

"Hey, Edward."

Edward snickered again, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "Way to make an entrance, Miss Saxen."

Leina nodded, allowing herself a small smile. She sat down in her seat, putting her tan jacket on the back, and took out her thin pad of paper. She took out a pencil and continued shading on the first page again.

"This'll help me stay rational, instead of just saying whatever comes to mind... He seems to have another superpower: making you tell the truth...” Leina thought wryly.

“May I see?”

She looked up. Mistake, again. His eyes were piercing into her own. Then she realized, he was asking for her notebook. She actually didn’t want to show him this... but his eyes made it too hard. His expression made it almost completely impossible.

She pushed the pad over to him, coloring a bit, watching his reaction. All through the day, Leina had been doodling all over that page. In the bottom, left-hand corner was a small tree-scape, as if the viewer were rushing through them at a high speed.

The bottom right corner had a side-view of a Camaro. There was a girl in the drivers seat with her mid-length hair blowing behind her from the apparent speed of the car, eyes closed in a look of jubilation. There was another car drawn near it, probably equal on the invisible road. This one looked different; more sleek and modern. It had slightly darker shading than the Camaro, and had a very different driver. This one was a boy with his short-messy hair blowing back as well, looking over to the driver of the Camaro with a matching look of happiness on his face.

Above this corner, mid-right side was a group of clouds with four, lightly shaded, beams of light shining down on the speeding drivers.

A moon was pictured in the top right corner, stars shining around it. It seemed as if the artist was looking up at it, because there was a circle of tree branches haloing the night sky.

The left corner had a spider web drawn on it, with a strand of web in front coming down into a drop of some liquid. It was darker than the other, smaller ones around it which fell down the page to disappear behind the tree-scape.

In the center was an eye that stared up at the viewer from underneath its lashes. Perfectly drawn and shaded eyebrows perched overtop. One could see every detail and hair in them and the eyelashes. There was a small bit of unusual shading underneath the eye, but it didn’t take away from the brilliance of the picture.

Leina watched as Edward’s topaz eyes widened when he saw her drawing. His finger traced absentmindedly over the moon, just lightly enough so it wouldn’t smudge Leina’s shading. He quietly cleared his throat.

“Leina... this is... exquisite...”

A strong red blossomed onto Leina’s face as she stared down at the fake wood grains on the desk. A strand of hair fell its way out of her ponytail and she pushed it back around her ear.

“It’s not that good...”

Edward shook his head. “Yes, it is. Trust me, Leina, I’ve lived... let’s see, about six of your lifetimes...” he said quietly, eyes still fixed on her sketch. He finally looked up after a minute. “You have a gift for this.”

Leina’s color brightened. “Not really... I was just drawing to pass the time during class... I wasn’t consciously drawing, really...”

He looked back at the drawing. “Then I can’t image how wonderful it would look if you were conscious while drawing...” He pointed one pale finger at the top right corner. “The moon and night sky... when was this from?”

Leina looked harder at the wood grains. “Um... Friday... the clearing... that’s how the night sky looked to me, surrounded by the trees...”

That seemed to take him by surprise. “You remember that small detail...?” he asked in wonder. She nodded in reply. “What does this symbolize?” he asked.

Leina looked over, head still facing down. He was pointing to the spider web. She brought her own finger over to point things out as she talked. “See, there are three main strands... that’s Leonna, Luna and me... then there are eight intersecting ones, that’s you and your family, plus our friend Jacob. The one leading down to the rain? See how it has a bunch woven together? That’s all of us coming together... even though we’re different...” She blushed again. “Anyway, the rain is, duh, because of how rainy it is here in Forks!”

Edward chuckled a bit.

“All right, class!” the teacher called out, entering the classroom. “I have your test scores in, please, if you have to talk, make it quiet while I pass these out.”

Edward and Leina sat in silence for a moment, then Edward interrupted, speaking a little quieter than before.

“The view of rushing through trees?”

A small smile came to Leina’s face. “What I was seeing while you were running in the forest on Saturday.”

Edward smiled that wonderful, crooked smile of his, also remembering. Leina saw out of the corner of her eye and her own smile widened a bit.

“The eye?”

Leina blushed again. “Your’s... the way I see it... when you look at me...” She was sure her face was brighter than a neon sign now.

Edward quickly looked at her, trying to see her expression while she said that. He couldn’t see much, except for the fact that she was blushing. He felt his throat grow dryer with thirst, and he silently scooted his chair an inch away from her, still angling a bit towards her. He couldn’t understand her expression, or what she was thinking at all. It frustrated him, not being able to understand, even with his gift.

He turned back to the sketch, his own eye, staring back at him, almost like a mirror would. Her skill was remarkable, especially for it just being an inattentively-drawn sketch...

Turning his attention to the final part of the drawing, he pointed to it. “What is this?”

Leina turned now, her color more normal now, helping the burning. She grinned. “My car.”

“Is this you?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so... I wasn’t really paying attention to it...”

Edward nodded. “It looks like you... and is this my car?”

Her grin intensified. “Yup, that’s the Volvo!”

“And I’m driving it?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes... I drew us racing.”

Edward chuckled. “I better be winning.”

Leina laughed. “Naw, I drew us even.”

Edward laughed softly, nodding. “Good compromise.” His thoughts now turned to what was above them. “The clouds... and the light... does that symbolize something as well?”

Leina’s face grew calmly serious for a moment, as if she was trying to control her response. Edward blinked in confusion, trying to understand her reaction, still being unsuccessful. Then she smiled a little.

“Yes... it’s my family-”

“Miss Saxen? Your test... good job. A bit more studying, and you could’ve had a perfect score.” The teacher handed Leina the test.

Edward was still processing Leina’s answer to the cloud and beams of light. “Her family... meaning, she believes they’re up in heaven... she drew her family watching us driving cars... Let’s see, she does seem to have a bit of a fear of driving fast.” He smiled. “That would be the reason for assuming the fetal position while in my car... but it seems, in the picture, that she’s driving just as fast as I am... so does that mean that she wants to get over her fear and drive fast again?”

Leina’s face lit up. “Thanks, sir!” she replied, interrupting Edward’s thoughts. She reached for the paper, making the sleeve of her black jacket rise up.

Edward’s eyes widened. He could very clearly see a long, healing cut on her left arm with a bunch of smaller cuts around it. It made him extremely uncomfortable, though it wasn’t because of the thoughts of her blood.

“Is this from... last Friday...?” he wondered, his eyes still glued to her arm, though the injury was covered up now. Images of what had happened on Friday ran through his mind, from that torturous Gym class, to her finding him feeding in the clearing, to later at her house as he helped to bandage up her wounds.

Edward cleared his throat quietly. “Leina... your injuries from Friday... and Leonna’s... how are they?” he whispered, the pain and remorse evident in his voice.

Leina tugged her sleeve down more, even though the injury was hidden. “Fine! Leonna’s perfect, as always... and mine are good; they’re all healed up.”

Edward rolled his eyes. “I saw your arm... they aren’t fine... can I see?”

Leina shook her head. "We're in class... not the time or place for this!" she whispered urgently.

His voice adopted an even more stubborn edge. "Please...?"

Leina heaved a big sigh, then subtly shrugged her jacket off, revealing her bare arms.

Edward's tawny eyes flickered over to see, then grew dramatically. He turned his head slightly, so he wouldn't draw attention, to see them in better detail.

Her left arm still had the scabbing indent running down the outside of the forearm, along with a bunch of other small scratches which weren't as noticeable. Edward remembered that she used to have quite a multitude of scratches on her face and arms, but those had healed quite nicely. He could only barely see them, even with his vampire vision. The only conspicuous one was a scratch under her left eye.

Leina saw him going over her scratches using her peripheral vision. Edward’s face grew more grave and guilty as he kept looking. “The small cuts are from me running through the trees,” she explained as quietly as she could. “Same as the one on my face... The one on my arm is from gym class and me being stupid while running.”

A small, dry smile came to his face as he thought back on the track incident.

“Good... at least he’s calming down a bit... these weren’t his fault!” she thought.

Then Leina realized that Edward seemed to now be staring at her upper arm. Leina looked down.

“The bruises?” she asked.

He barely nodded, just enough so she could notice it.

She shrugged. “I really don’t know... Maybe from the car wreck... I have a bunch of those and more on my legs,” she joked.

Edward didn’t seem to think it was as funny. He turned his head, now staring down at his own desk.

“I believe I might...”

Leina looked over at him, absolute confusion on her face. “Huh?”

Edward continued his staring match with the desk. “Do you remember... when you first found me on Friday night... what happened?”

Leina thought on in, trying to remember exactly. Edward seemed to tense more every second she didn’t say anything. “Just give me a minute...” He seemed to calm a bit more.

Leina thought back. “Hm... I remember, I heard a growl, but I couldn’t figure out where it came from... But I saw a light, so I figured I should go there. Then, I saw you...” An involuntary shiver went up Leina’s spine, which she attempted to suppress for Edward’s sake. “You started walking towards me, and then I realized... your secret. I tried to turn around, but I just ran into you...”

Leina could remember everything so clearly. Edward’s wet hair pushed down a bit by the rain, his black eyes, his vicious smirk... Edward licking her bleeding arm...

“You told me not to be afraid, then Leonna came and you jumped away-”

“Yes,” Edward said, as if he hated reviewing the memory with her like this. “But... do you remember... how I was holding you?”

Leina thought for another moment. “You were...” Then it clicked. “Holding me by my upper arms... but you weren’t gripping me that hard; it didn’t hurt,” she protested.

Edward shook his head. “You’re right... I wasn’t then. But then Leonna came, and I tensed up... just enough to grip your arms harder...” He looked over at her arms, a heavy amount of agony weighing on his expression. “Just enough... to give you those...”

Leina turned to look at him, staring into his perfect, suffering face. She couldn’t say anything, so she tried to send him a face-reading message that she didn’t blame him. Edward merely looked back down at his desk.

“All right, class, please take out some lined paper for notes.”

The two stayed silent for quite a while as they took out paper and wrote their notes, both thinking deeply, though about slightly different things.

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of that... How could I hurt her like that, without even remembering it? I suppose it could have been because of the state I was in-... No, that does not excuse it... She has no reason to forgive me for this...”

“He didn’t mean to do that; I’m not mad at him at all... but I can tell, he’s just beating himself up over it... How do I make him understand this?!”

After a while, Leina decided that the uncomfortable silence should end, along with Edward reprimanding himself over last Friday.

“So... did you hear about Leonna’s party?”

To her relief, another small smile came to his face. “Yes.”

Leina’s eyebrows raised. “Really?”

His classic, crooked smirk rose its way up to his face. “Of course,” he answered, lightly tapping his forehead.

Leina laughed softly at his joke. “So, are you coming?”

“I most likely will. I doubt Alice will pass up that opportunity and would make me go, even if I didn’t want to.”

Leina laughed again, which made Edward smile a bit more. Both were glad that the awkward silence seemed to have left them.

“So... what do you think of this party?” he asked.

“Why do you ask?” Leina asked.

A second of silence passed. “I heard you talking to Leonna...” he admitted.

Leina blushed a little. “Well, it was kind of a surprise to me as well... I didn’t know she was planning a party at all! And... I’m not really a party-person...”

Edward chuckled. “Ah... so you won’t be in your comfort zone?”

“Not at all... plus, we’re hosting it, so it’s kind of different...”

“Just try to think of it as hanging out with others... just you’re supplying the snacks, even though your guests won’t eat them... no offense,” he offered.

Leina laughed again. “I don’t know whether I’ve actually seen you eat regular food... can you?”

Edward rolled his eyes. “Yes... but trust me, it tastes... I can’t even think up a word to describe it... for lack of a better term, horrible to me...”

Leina chuckled to herself as the final bell rang.

Both Edward and Leina put away their notes. Leina took her notebook, folding the cover back carefully so her drawing wouldn't get smudged accidentally.

Leonna walked over, a frustrated look on her face.

Leina saw Edward concentrate for a second, then ask, "Richard?", referring to Leonna's desk-neighbor.

Leonna nodded with exasperation. "That child pays no attention to the class at all! He asked me the whole time what I was writing, so I had to repeat all of my notes for him! Once, I caught him just staring into space; the next moment, he was sleeping!"

Edward's ocher eyes flashed over to look at the boy.

"He's staring at you, Leonna..." Leina murmured.

"It's more than that," Edward reported, "He likes you."

"Yeah, I'd like me, too, if I have me all of the answers and notes..." she mumbled, clearly irritated.

Edward shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

Finally understanding his words, Leonna's brilliant green eyes flashed wide, a small blush appearing on her skin. "Please, tell me you're joking..." she pleaded.

Edward shook his head again. "I'm not joking," he confirmed.

Leonna groaned, then decided to change the subject as they walked out the door, and away from her new admirer.

"Anyway, this class is extremely boring..."

"I agree," Edward consented.

Leina laughed. "Yeah, because you both have had over a hundred years to learn the material!" she whispered, causing the other two to chuckle as well.

The group entered the cafeteria and went straight over to the lunch line.

Edward picked up a piece of pizza, an apple, a bag of chips, and a brownie, all of which he wouldn't eat. They were merely props. Leina and Leonna were now aware of that.

Leonna grabbed herself a bagel with cream cheese and a small carton of milk.

Leina was the last one. She also got pizza, though her sides were different. She got a small basket of fries and a bottle of lemonade. As she walked up to the register, Edward and Leonna seemed to be having a quiet debate.

"What's up?" Leina asked them.

Leonna turned to her friend, a look of slight frustration on her face. "Edward just paid for all three of our meals..."

Leina gave him a look. "Great, now I'll have to pay him back for this as well..."

"You didn't have to do that..."

Edward shrugged. "No, I didn't, but I did anyway. So let's stop blocking the way, shall we? And you owe me nothing," he stated to Leina, unaware that he was unknowingly answering Leina’s thought.

Leina huffed in irritation, but silently followed him over to the Cullens’ usual lunch table.

The group nodded (or waved, in Luna’s case) their greeting to the new arrivals, but continued listening to what Alice was saying. Apparently, Alice was giving Luna ideas on party decorations.

Edward took a seat next to Jasper on the left-hand side of the table, while Leonna pulled up her own chair near Luna’s corner to sit at the unoccupied end opposite the window. Leina looked at the table. There weren’t any other seats for her to fill. She went over and grabbed her own chair, setting it in the only spot available: in between Leonna and Edward.

As the conversation concerning streamers, food, lights and other party necessities went on, Edward noticed that Leina’s mood seemed to worsen by the second.

“What’s wrong?” Edward murmured quietly so the others wouldn’t hear.

Leina didn’t answer him, but slowly shook her head.

Edward sighed in frustration. “You don’t understand how aggravating this is for me...”

“Not knowing what I’m thinking?”

“...yes.”

Leina snorted under her breath. “Welcome to my life...”

Edward chuckled.

“Anyway... so are you all are going hunting tonight?” Leina asked, trying to change the subject away from her.

“Apparently... We’ve decided to change plans in favor of your-”

He paused, seeing Leina’s darkening expression.

“Leonna’s... party.”

Leina nodded. “Just out of curiosity... how long can you last without... hunting?”

Edward shrugged, though Leina could see a hard edge come to his expression and voice.

"We try to go every two and a half weeks, more or less. Well, that’s what we used to do...” He looked slightly uncomfortable as he admitted the last part.

“What do you mean?” Leina questioned.

Edward took a while to answer, seemingly debating with himself.

“Because of how... potent... your scent is to us... we need to make sure that we feed a bit more often than usual. Just a precaution,” he assured her.

Leina nodded, showing that she understood.

Then his expression darkened. “That’s what I was doing... Friday... I realized that I’d have to hunt more... so you’d be safe and I wouldn’t-”

He dropped off, leaving the understood ending open.

“But it didn’t matter, I suppose,” he said dismally. “You still weren’t safe from me...”

Edward looked up at her, his eyes aflame with his anguish and regret.

“I’m so sorry...”

“I told you; not your fault; I’m fine-”

Leina suddenly felt something ice cold on her arm. So swiftly Leina couldn’t have seen it happen, Edward had reached out and touched her cut on her left arm, brushing his cold fingertips over it.

“This... is not fine...”

Leina looked up into his angelic eyes. “Please... stop blaming yourself. It was my fault-”

“But I-”

“No, no ‘buts‘,” she demanded, interrupting him. “I’ve all ready forgiven you.”

Edward looked away from Leina, obviously still feeling guilty. He saw Leonna look over at them momentarily before looking back at the others.

“I think what you really need to do is forgive yourself, Edward...” she thought to him, still pretending to listen to the other conversation.

Edward sighed quietly, knowing that she was right. “I’ll have to work on that...”
-----
Leina

I sighed and tilted my head up, looking at the sky. It was now a medium toned gray, thick clouds covering the sky like a sheet. The light rain fell onto my face, wetting my hair. I vaguely remembered that I should be putting my hood up. I could feel it dripping down my back.

Does this topic of conversation ever get old?!

"So, are we supposed to dress up in costumes for your party, Leonna?" Alice asked.

I sighed again. They hadn't really stopped talking about the party since it had been mentioned, and that was at the beginning of school. School was now over and no, I hadn't exactly warmed up to the idea much more since the last time it was mentioned.

"No," answered Leonna, "save those for the school party; you can come however you want."

Luna squealed. “This is going to be so much fun!”

Right. For her? Of course it’ll be fun!

“Yes,” now we just have to go get decorations and snacks...” Leonna listed.

Emmett snickered. “I’ll bring the grizzly if you bring the deer!” he joked.

I saw Edward roll his eyes at Emmett’s oddly humored joke.

Finally we had come to our car. Luna turned eagerly to Leonna. “Can I drive?!”

My mouth, if it was possible, would have dropped to the pavement.

“Not again!” I almost yelled.

Leonna apparently shared my opinion. She just put it nicer.

“Um... how about I drive this time?”

All of the Cullens chuckled as I heaved a sigh of relief as Luna grudgingly handed over the keys to her Volkswagen. Leonna nodded her thanks, and I shot her a grateful look as we all got into the car. I was the only one that took the back seat this time.

Most of the Cullens waved as they turned to their own car and started getting in. Alice shouted a quick “see you tomorrow!” then got into shotgun.

Edward leaned in through my window, his face only a few mere inches away from mine. A quick gasp of air entered my lungs as I felt my eyes widen in surprise.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Leina,” he said, his lips forming the crooked smile that I had come to enjoy seeing so much. Way too much, now that I thought on it. He seemed to be amused with my reaction, his golden eyes shining with suppressed laughter.

I was still staring up at him as I barely nodded, just enough so he could see. He seemed to still be chuckling at me as he straightened himself and got into his own car and Leonna started driving away.

Leonna huffed as she sped out of the parking lot. “What is that boy thinking...?” I heard her murmur.

I shook my head, trying to get the fogginess out of my head, and looked out the window. The rain was coming down harder now. “What’s wrong, Leonna?”

I heard her sigh. “Nothing, really... I just can’t understand what he’s thinking. Usually, it isn’t that hard for me to get an idea. He’s just...” She dropped off, leaving her sentence unfinished.

I silently agreed. Edward was a hard person to describe. His thoughts, reasons, and actions especially.