The silence in the car was deafening, not a word was exchanged between my father and I. Honestly, I didn't want to talk to him, I didn't talk to anyone. My mother had died in a car accident while coming home from grocery shopping in Forks, I didn't have any family in La Push so custody was given to my father in Black Pines
Needless to say, I wasn't happy moving away from people I considered family and the culture that surrounded it, I was at least happy I wasn't too far. Thankfully, Black Pines was only an hour and a half away, though it felt like a thousand hours.
Black Pines wasn't too different from La Push, other than the obvious, it was a small coastal town where everyone seemed to know everyone. Seattle was about two hours away, but the culture was very apparent in the town. Everywhere I looked: flannel, coffee, grunge, and teriyaki. The only thing that was missing was cream cheese on hot dogs.
That's where I cross the line.
It was drizzling outside, as it usually did in Washington, and most of the people seemed to be packed in a corner cafe, laughing and talking. I turned away from the glowing scene and looked into the mirror, into my own reflection.
I wasn't absolutely hideous, but I wasn't Covergirl either. Like my mother, I had raven, waist length, curly-wavy hair which I occasionally straightened. My eyes were dark brown, almost black and rested on my high cheekbones, which were slightly hidden by my child-like "chipmunk cheeks" as my mother used to call them. My lips were like my father's, small in size with a slight cupids bow and a fuller bottom lip.
My father, Levi, was still young looking with youthful black eyes and only a few wrinkles. His nose was the more "traditional" Native American nose type, which contrasted my straight nose. His skin was slightly darker than mine and his short, ebony hair showed no signs of aging. What could you expect, though, he was only thirty-one. As you may have guessed, I was the product of a teen pregnancy brought about when about fifteen years ago my father went to La Push over the summer and there he met my mother. You can fill in the blanks.
Anyway, it wasn't long before we reached the house. It was about two floors, not including the basement, with a skylight on the roof. The house was a mainly blue craftsman house with the front of the connected garage a grey stone, The roof was a dark brown and the stone pillars were wrapped in ivy. A stone path led the way to the steps from the dirt driveway and was lined with little, lantern-like garden lights spread apart with white rose bushes in between. Four, tall pine trees of various sizes surrounded the house, almost hiding it like a forbidden secret.
As we approached the garage, the door automatically opened and we drove in, the door closing behind us. Not a word was spoken as my father led me through the door into the well-lit kitchen that was painted an olive green. There, cooking steak teriyaki, was my stepmother, Leah. On either side of her were their two dogs, Storm and Wolfe. Storm was a male, white husky with one dark blue eye and one light blue eye. Wolfe was a female, white and black NAID (Native American Indian Dog) with light yellow eyes. Both dogs were a little less than a year old and had been found hiding in the garage about a year and a half ago. Leah fell in love with them and the rest was history.
Leah turned to us and smiled, revealing perfectly white teeth. Leah was twenty-nine and undeniably gorgeous. Her skin was a copper color with short, raven hair that bounced above her shoulders. She had high cheekbones and beautiful heterochromia eyes, her left eye was light blue and her right eye was black both. Leah was a bit taller than average, about 5'7" and was twenty nine years old. According to my dad, she was actually from Seattle and was half Makah and half Quileute, 100% gorgeous. The most striking thing about her, though, were her three scars that started from her widow's peak to her chin on her left side, the left side of her mouth was in a permanent grimace whenever she stopped talking as a result. Apparently, she had gotten in an accident when doing volunteer work at the wolf sanctuary nearby. (She was still better looking than me, though.)
Leah turned around when she heard the door close, slightly startled, but when she turned to face us, her eyes lit up. She briefly walked away from the meal she was preparing and gave my dad a hug. It was then I realized, as she stood next to me, she was pregnant.
She looked at me and gave me an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about your mother, Malia." She said, with her melodious voice. Though she and my mother weren't the best of friends, they were friends, bonded not only by my father and culture, but by me. It was very hard for Leah to get pregnant, so she took to me instead which made my mother very happy. "It's okay." I replied, giving her a hug.
"Well, at the very least you'll have a new baby brother or sister to confide in." She offered, rubbing her belly lovingly. It was just like her to think of the positives. "Plus, the lacrosse team just started tryouts so you'll get to play this year!" I smiled at her. She always knew how to make me feel better, and lacrosse was one of the many tools.
I had started playing lacrosse at the age of six, both sides of my family were incredibly supportive, and though I wasn't the best on the team, I was a good player on my high school team. It got even better when my dad married Leah last year because she used to play lacrosse for high school and college, she had even offered to coach me!
"Well, your room is all prepared. I based it off of your old room and I even put a little present for you on your bed." She said. "The teriyaki should be done soon." I smiled again and let my father, who was still quiet, lead me up to where my room would be. "Thanks for letting me stay with you." I said, walking cautiously behind him.
"I would do anything for you." He said, offering me a small smile. "Don't mind me, I've just got a lot on my plate. A lot of outsiders are going missing from the hotel. It's hectic to say the least. But that doesn't mean I don't want to talk to you, I'm just lost in my thoughts." I could only imagine how stressful it was for him as the newly inducted sheriff to deal with this. I gave him a hug. "You'll be fine." I said. I felt his hand rub my back, I missed this.
"Here we are." He said, releasing me from his hold. He opened the dark, oak door the led to my bedroom. "Your room used to be the bedroom so you've got your own bathroom, though it's kind of small." The room was exactly the type of room I had always wanted. It was a basic square room with two of the walls painted blue and two painted grey. The floor, like the rest of the floors on this level, was a dark brown wood. A fluffy, white, circle-shaped rug was in the middle. On the walls were black and white leafless tree decals. There was a desk, a drawer, three shelves, a bed, two nightstands, a coffee table, and a bookshelf, all of which looked like they came from the same, black furniture set. Two black bean bag chairs sitting by the coffee table in front of the window. Above my bed was the skylight, which was currently closed. The sheets on my bed were a dark blue with a white fog at the bottom. The desk was completely empty, save for the black desk chair. Scattered throughout the room were six boxes full of my stuff, boxes that had arrived here before I did. On my bed, as Leah described, was the Thunderbird trilogy.
"No way." I said, picking up the trilogy. My dad smiled and sat on the bed with me, picking up one of the books. "Leah and I thought you would like to own these rather than constantly renewing them at the library." He said. I didn't know what to say. Thunderbird was a supernatural trilogy/love triangle that I was obsessed with. I wasn't able to find a bookstore that actually sold the series so up until today I had to go to the library and hope they still had it. "Thanks!" I said, smiling.
"Alright, well, you get comfortable and set everything up, you have school tomorrow." He said, squeezing my shoulder comfortingly. I groaned as he walked out of my room, leaving me to think on my impending doom. Believe it or not I had no intention in spending my last nine weeks of sophomore year in another school.
Unfortunately, I had no choice.
Ten minutes later my room was finished. Pictures of friends and family littered the shelves and walls, my laptop was set up on the desk and my trophies lined the top shelf. From downstairs, I could hear what I assumed was the front door, open.
"Hi, Megan!" Leah said, her voice distant. I carefully walked down the hall to the of the steps to get a look at the girl.
She was of average height, nothing too spectacular. Her eyes were a bright blue and framed by long eyelashes, darkened by mascara and set apart by her slightly curved eyebrows. Her lips were a light, almost nude, pink with a prominent Cupid's bow. Her face was average in size and heart shaped, making her appear all the more beautiful. Her nose was slender with a tip like a button. Her hair fell in bright red curls like a waterfall, ombreing to a golden color and falling an inch or two past her shoulders, completely untamed. Her cheeks and nose were sprinkled with freckles that accented her rosy cheeks.
Her figure was hidden by a dark blue sweatshirt. On the front of it it simply said "Black Pines Lacrosse Varsity", with the words in white, bordered by black. There were two, white lacrosse sticks crossing each other as well, with the words "EST." on the left and "2014" on the right.
She turned her back towards me to talk to a large man standing in the doorway, revealing the rest of her shirt. Her last name, or what I assumed was her last name, Eveans, was written in the back and underneath it were the words: "Fear the Stick." The rest of her outfit was pretty basic, she had dark jeans and hiking boots topped off with black nail polish and a silver and turquoise ring. Overall, she was pretty attractive.
Though the girl, Megan, and Leah didn't notice me, the man in the door did. Like the girl, he had red hair, except his hair was dull and mixed with grey. His jaw was slanted, as if it had been broken, and he was clearly blind in his right eye. Even though he was clearly slouching, he still filled up the door. His flannel shirt and jeans were incredibly worn out paired with boots caked in dirt and a brown leather jacket that had remnants of some type of brown fur on the shoulders.
"I'll pick you up in an hour 'n uh half." he said, his voice was gruff like he had spent his entire life smoking. He glared at me. "Damn wolves." He muttered, walking out. A few moments later, I could hear whatever rusty car he drove, drive off.
"Wolves?" Leah said in confusion, she looked up to the staircase and looked at me. I shrugged, not knowing how to respond to....that. Megan rolled her eyes. "Sorry about that, that was my Great Uncle, Charles." She said, apologetically. "He's not much of a people person."
Clearly. I thought. I smiled anyway, not wanting to seem rude. "That's okay." I said, walking down the steps. Megan extended her hand and I gladly shook it. "I'm Megan, Megan Eveans." She said.
"Malia Ashwood, nice to meet you." I replied.
I thought back to Charles' reaction when he saw me. "Damn wolves."
Wolves?