"DEATH AND THE STRONG FORCE of fate are waiting. There will come a dawn or sunset or high noon when a man will take my life in battle too—flinging a spear perhaps or whipping a deadly arrow off his bow."
Lydia stared at her computer screen, trying to think of the best way to word the interpretation of the quote to her essay. She'd been at it for an hour now, and as much as she preferred English to subjects like math, she wasn't an English whiz by any means.
"How's your essay coming?" Gwen asked from behind her.
Lydia let out a frustrated sigh, leaning back in Gwen's desk chair as she let her hands fall away from her keyboard and back into her lap. "Is it normal to completely give up on any and all academic pursuits two months before graduation?"
Leah snorted from her spot on the bed next to Gwen. "It's called senioritis," she said. "Everyone gets it."
"I can't afford to give up," Gwen said, glaring at her own laptop as she typed something undoubtedly profound and beautifully-worded. Gwen's way with words was one of the many things Lydia admired—and at times envied—about her best friend. "If I start slacking off now, it'll just haunt me for the entirety of my college career."
Lydia stretched her arms over her head, grimacing at the way her shoulders popped. "If I'm not going to college, does that mean I can give up?"
"Well..." Embry said from the bean-bag chair next to Gwen's desk.
Gwen glared at him, though there wasn't much heat behind it. Lydia had only ever seen her actually get mad a handful of times, and none of them were because of her friends. "Don't encourage her," she scolded. Then she turned her harmless glare to Lydia. "If I have to suffer, so do you," she told her. "Now finish your second paragraph so I can look it over."
"So bossy," Lydia mumbled dramatically, but turned back to her laptop and forced herself to finish her second body paragraph.
Embry knocked Lydia's leg with his knuckles. "What's this essay on, anyway?"
"The Iliad," Lydia groaned. "It's the last big essay before graduation—and I cannot for the life of me make myself write it."
Embry laughed, standing up and leaning over her shoulder to look at the mediocre half-finished essay open on her laptop. "That's the one about the Trojan War, right? Wasn't there a Brad Pitt movie based on it?"
"We don't speak of Troy in this house," Gwen said. "Any Iliad adaptation that turns Achilles and Patroclus into cousins has no right to exist."
"The Song of Achilles is better anyway," Lydia muttered.
"Speak for yourself," Seth grumbled, laying face-down on Gwen's floor for the sheer drama of it. He'd been like that since he got there. "I'm still recovering."
"Anyone who's read that book is still recovering," Lydia reassured him.
"Get back to work, Lydia," Gwen scolded. "And stop distracting her, guys, she needs to focus!"
"Sorry, Ms. Holloway," Embry teased. "Didn't mean to distract your student."
Gwen threw a pillow at him. "Don't make fun of me," she mumbled. "Or I'll sic Leah on you."
"I'll kick your ass," Leah told him, not looking up from her book.
Embry pouted, hugging Gwen's pillow to his chest. "Lydia, tell them to stop threatening me!"
"Aren't you supposed to be the one protecting me?" Lydia asked as she continued typing.
She didn't have to look to know Embry was pouting.
It took a few minutes, but Lydia finally managed to finish her second paragraph. Letting out a triumphant whoop, she grabbed her laptop off of the desk and showed it to Gwen. "Okay, second paragraph's done—tell me how awful it is."
Gwen rolled her eyes before reading over the paragraph, nodding slightly to herself as her eyes skimmed over the words. "Looks good," Gwen said, handing the laptop back after a moment. "Good quotes, good interpretations. Follows your thesis. Keep it up and it'll be A material."
"Thank God!" Lydia moaned, closing her laptop and flopping down on Gwen's bed. "That's it—I'm done for the day."
"Don't you have a chemistry packet due tomorrow?" Gwen questioned.
Lydia narrowed her eyes at her best friend. "Why do you insist on reminding me of things that hurt me?"
Gwen laughed, reaching into her backpack and tossing one of her notebooks at Lydia. "Use my notes—they actually make sense, unlike someone's."
Lydia rolled her eyes at Gwen's playful jab. "You know, bad handwriting can be a sign of higher intelligence."
"Are you calling my girlfriend dumb, Rowe?" Leah asked, finally looking up from her book.
"Just dumber than me," Lydia amended, her tone too light for anyone to take seriously.
Gwen raised an eyebrow at her, but her red cheeks from Leah calling her her girlfriend erased most of the challenge in her expression. "And which one of us is going to college?"
Lydia pouted. "Just because I'm not going doesn't mean I couldn't if I wanted to," she mumbled.
"Of course it doesn't," Gwen teased, patting Lydia's cheek playfully. "Now do you chemistry homework."
By the time Lydia finished her chemistry packet—she'd never admit it out loud, but Gwen's notes were a lot easier to understand—it was about six-thirty in the evening. She handed Gwen back her notebook and stuffed her chemistry packet back into her backpack.
"Now that that's over, I'm off to see my boyfriend," Lydia announced.
"You're leaving me after Leah threatened my life?" Embry asked, feigning a wounded look.
Lydia shook her head, kicking his leg lightly. "You'll be fine, Embry," she said. "Gwen hates violence—Leah won't attack if she's around."
"Just wait until I get you alone," Leah said menacingly, making Embry's face pale slightly. Gwen and Lydia snorted in amusement. That was Leah's way of joking—dead serious and cold but not at all sincere.
"You're still coming to the council meeting next weekend, right?" Embry asked, abandoning his fearful façade as he threw her discarded sweatshirt at her.
Lydia nodded, draping the sweatshirt over her arm. She and Gwen had been invited by their respective imprints to sit in on the Quileute tribe's upcoming council meeting to hear their legends. She was looking forward to hearing the tribe's histories. Ever since she first started learning the history behind her own species from Adam and Juliette's journals, she'd discovered a newfound interest in the histories of other supernatural creatures. "Marked it on my calendar."
"You don't own a calendar," Embry deadpanned.
"There's one in my planner!" Lydia protested.
"You lost your planner last month," Gwen pointed out.
"Okay, fine," Lydia said. "But I'll still be there, calendar or not. Now, if make fun of Lydia's inability to keep track of things hour is over, I'll be going."
"Tell the Cullens I say hi," Seth said, still laying on the floor.
Geez, The Song of Achilles had hit him hard.
"Will do," Lydia said with a smile. "See you guys later!"
✦
When she pulled up to the Cullen house, Rosalie was standing on the front porch, seemingly waiting for her. Lydia stepped out of her car, smiling up at the blonde as she made her way up the porch steps. "Hey, Rose."
Rosalie returned her smile, though her nose wrinkled in disgust a second later. "You smell like the dogs." She took off her unnecessary cardigan, handing it over to Lydia who took it with a small sigh.
"They're my friends, Rose," Lydia reminded her, pulling the cardigan on. "I'd appreciate if you didn't call them dogs."
"Sorry," Rosalie said, sounding less sincere than Lydia would have liked but more sincere than she was actually expecting. "Come on, Esme's trying to teach Jasper how to cook chicken tortilla soup, and it's been... interesting, to say the least."
Lydia followed her into the house, the two going straight to the main floor and into the open-concept kitchen. All of the Cullens—minus Edward, who was no doubt hanging out with Bella before her curfew later that evening—were there, Esme and Jasper in the kitchen and Carlisle, Emmett, and Alice sitting around the kitchen table, playing some kind of card game.
"Seth says hi," she announced.
"Which one's that?" Emmett asked.
"The youngest one," Lydia answered. "Leah's little brother."
"That's nice of him," Carlisle said warmly. "To say hello."
Lydia nodded with a smile. "He's a sweet kid."
As Lydia walked over to where Jasper and Esme standing at the stove, Emmett called out, "Oh, Lydia, I got you M&Ms—catch!"
Before Lydia could bring up a hand to catch the flying bag of M&Ms, Jasper's hand shot out in front of her and caught it. "Emmett," he scolded. "You could have hit her."
"I didn't even throw it that hard!" Emmett protested like a child.
"Thanks for the M&Ms, Emmett," Lydia said, taking the bag from her boyfriend. "Hi," she greeted, her voice softer.
Jasper smiled and pecked her on the cheek. "Hi."
"Lydia, I'm glad you're here," Esme said, giving the girl a hug. "We're making chicken tortilla soup."
"Esme's making chicken tortilla soup," Alice corrected, laying down a card on top of a pile in the center of the kitchen table. Emmett grumbled unhappily at whatever she laid down, reaching for a small stack and taking a few cards. "All Jasper's done is add too many spices."
"I followed the recipe!" Jasper defended himself.
"It isn't Jasper's fault he mixed up teaspoon and tablespoon," Esme said. "It's his first time cooking, it's an easy mistake to make."
Lydia laughed softly at Jasper's embarrassed expression. "I'm sure it'll be delicious," she assured him.
"Taste the broth," Esme said, holding out a spoon.
Lydia tasted the broth, humming in approval. "Like I predicted," she said. "Delicious."
"Dammit, Alice!" Emmett exclaimed from the table, throwing his cards down on the table in a huff. "You only keep winning because you cheat!"
"Language, Emmett," Esme scolded, though she sounded like she was used to his outbursts, which Lydia was sure she was.
"It isn't cheating," Alice defended herself. "It's using my knowledge to help me win."
"It's cheating," Rosalie deadpanned, crossing her arms over her chest. "You have an unfair advantage."
"Lydia, do you know how to play Uno?" Emmett asked, turning around in his chair to look at her fully.
Lydia nodded, walking over to the table. "Yeah, why?"
"Alice, you're out," Emmett declared. "Lydia, you're in. Sit. Carlisle, deal the cards."
Alice pouted, leaning back in her seat as Lydia took the empty seat between her and Emmett. "This is bullying," she said, feigning a pout.
"You'll be fine," Rosalie said.
Lydia gathered her cards, fighting a smirk as she took in her hand. Rosalie put down a blue eight, and Lydia put down a blue draw two, giving Emmett an innocent smile.
Emmett stared at her with a look of betrayal on his face. "I thought we were friends."
Lydia gave him a sympathetic smile. "There are no friendships in Uno."
✦
[author's note: emmett is the himbo king but when it comes to cooking, jasper is a close second.
y'all seriously delivered on responding to my research survey, and my team hit our goal for number of responses (and then some)! so, as promised, here's the first chapter of part three!
love you all so much! 💜]