AURORA ☾ Leah Clearwater ✔

Chapter 7... Forever

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Emily

It was obvious that he was already in love.

You could see it in Jacob's eyes when he talked about her—the girl he had hung on the beach last weekend, the one who had moved to Forks a few months ago. He told us her name, but I had already forgotten... Beth or something? She was the daughter of Forks Police Chief, Charlie Swan, who was a close friend of Billy's; in fact, Billy was watching his son with a smirk on his face. He seemed to think the story was very amusing.

"She really got into the story I was telling," Jacob bragged to Seth, who was listening rapturously as if Jacob had done something daring by talking to a girl. "I was telling her some of our legends, about the wolves and the Cold Ones. She totally got spooked."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes; the girl must be dense if she got freaked out by the old fairytales our parents told us about descending from wolves... But then again, I was pretty sure that Jake was stretching the truth a little.

"So, when are you seeing her again?" I asked, trying to keep the teasing tone out of my voice.

Jacob looked smug, "Actually, I already have. Went and hung out with her on Thursday..."

Seth let out a low whistle. He was eating it up! The two of them were so clueless it was almost cute, in a little kid sort of way. I just smiled and nodded, not interested in poking holes in Jacob's little dream.

"Yeah, it was a really romantic night at the Swan residence," Billy suddenly butted in. "I'm glad Charlie and I were there to witness the magic."

Jacob his cheeks flushed as he shot his dad a piercing look, but Billy just laughed. I stifled my own giggle for Jacob's sake. I knew what it was like, being swept up in your first romance. It was great until it wasn't. It was never that easy in reality. But he'd learn that eventually, I was sure.

Jacob began to describe his further attempts to woo the poor girl, rambling on about fixing his VW Rabbit then casually driving it to Forks to run into her... Then he stopped suddenly and his eyes drew past me, fixed on something over my shoulder.

I turned to look.

Leah and Sam were coming out of the house and walking towards us. Sam looked a whole lot different since the last time I had seen him; he was huge now, somehow several inches taller. And he was no longer wiry but muscled in a way that would make a superhero feel small. Despite his intimidating form, Sam was smiling brightly, holding tight onto Leah's hand; he seemed happy, relaxed, absolutely comfortable...

Until his eyes met with mine.

I watched as every defined muscle in his body seemed to tense up. His back stretched as he went rigid and his eyes grew wide like he was shocked at what he saw. He stared at me with such intensity... His gaze was strangely powerful; it was like it held me in place. I tried to look away but I couldn't. His eyes were dark and deep, like black holes... It felt like I was being sucked into them.

He dropped Leah's hand and began to advance on me with some inscrutable purpose. Part of me felt like I should back away, but my feet seemed to be stuck. I was trying to think, but my heart was beating like crazy, blood pounding in my ears like stormy waves against the La Push cliffs.

Just as he was right before me, he stopped in his tracks. Time resumed it's normal speed. I realized I was breathing hard and shaking ever so slightly. Sam was shaking too, his eyes fixed on the ground. He blinked hard twice like he had awoken from some kind of trance.

Leah noticed the change. Everyone had; they were all staring at us. "Sam? Are you okay?"

"I—I...," he stuttered, looking away from both of us; he seemed like he was struggling to find the words. We waited patiently for a moment and then, without warning, without a single glance back, Sam ran across the yard, around the house and out of sight.

Everyone just looked at each other, strange expressions pulling at their features. Jacob and Seth just looked confused, but Dad, Billy and Mom — and the newcomers who I hadn't be introduced to yet — looked troubled.

"Uh," one of the new guys began. He was tall and muscled too, but not as much as Sam. "Sam said he wasn't feeling well earlier. He thought he was getting better, but maybe it came back suddenly."

"Yeah, that's probably what that was," the other one chimed in.

That'd be a perfectly reasonable explanation if it weren't for their expressions.

"Why didn't he just go into the house?" I asked.

The two strangers exchanged worried glances like they weren't used to anyone questioning them... Typical of La Push, where no one seemed to ask questions.

"He... he lives nearby!" the slightly-shorter, slightly-stockier one said. But it sounded like he had just thought of an excuse. Weird.

I just narrowed my eyes at them, inspecting their faces, but something just behind them caught my eye.

Auntie Sue was looking at me with a strange expression... Her eyes were considering me intensely, but they seemed to look through me; her brows were furrowed but sloping like she was thinking hard. But there was a sadness there; her lips pursed, making her broad cheekbones stand out like she was fighting back words.

Weird.

It was then that I realized that no one else was speaking. I glanced around the party, confused; everyone wore looks of confusion, or worry, but my eyes stopped on Uncle Harry. His face was tensed in a pained look similar to his wife's. But he wasn't looking at me... he was looking at Leah.

I turned around again to face Leah. She had stayed where Sam had left her. Her eyes were downcast and I could see her lip trembling. That was obviously not what she was expecting to happen.

I went to her side, and pulled her close, in a half hug. "Hey, you okay?" I whispered.

She hesitated for a moment before nodding, which didn't exactly make me feel confident in her answer. But that was par for the course since Sam had returned. Just add this to the pile of secrets, I supposed. So much for showing me how much better he's been.

"Want to go inside?" I asked, trying to shift the mood. "It's getting cold. We can just watch a movie. I rented Revenge of the Porpoisemen 2!"

Leah just managed another limp nod. "O...kay."

I shot another glance over my shoulder to Auntie Sue, to give her a silent signal that we were headed inside but she was still staring hard at me. I gave up trying to communicate and turned away, squeezing Leah's shoulder. "Don't worry, Leah, I'm sure it will be alright."

But even as I said those words, I wasn't sure if I believed them.

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