VIOLENT DELIGHTS | Rosalie Hale

CHAPTER NINETEEN

THE MIDDLE

WE WERE AT THE MOVIES. I wasn't really sure how we'd gotten here. But it was almost as warm as an Arizonian summer in Hall A, and I was shivering and my palms were sweating and I didn't know what else to do but try to wipe them against my jeans as subtly as I could in the semi-dark. I was pretty sure I was shaking, because every now and again my leg would twitch enough to make the worn leather of my seat creak.

The day had started off normal enough. I hadn't slept a wink, and it showed when Leah finally woke up, blinking at where I stared up at the ceiling. "Didn't sleep?"

"Mm-mm." I shook my head.

"Well sucks to suck, I slept amazing." She stretched her arms up and cracked her back out, groaning long and low. Her voice was ten times huskier than normal in the mornings. It was kind of ridiculous. "Jesus your bed's like a drug."

"Wish it worked on me." I crack a tired smile.

"How does it work?" She rolled onto her side, stifling a yawn behind the back of her hand. There was a jagged scar along her palm, thick and pink. I frowned at it. "Do you like, nap later or...?"

"It's easier to sleep in daylight." I consider, careful to keep my morning breath to myself. "But I've got school in an hour and work after that, so..."

"Yikes." Leah winced. "I'm getting kicked out, aren't I?"

"You could literally move in and I wouldn't care." I smile at her, and she chuckles. "I mean it. I could use a roommate. I'll trade in manual labor for rent."

"What, like laying the deck? Dude that's not work, that's fun." Leah laughed, and the pretty sound kept getting chopped up as her voice went in and out. She rubbed her eye. "I don't think you can scope out for a roommate when you only have one bed."

"We could fit two singles in here." I was already considering it, turning over to see if I could squish up a bed by the wall.

"I was kidding. I don't mind sharing a bed with you. I didn't even notice you were here last night." Leah rolled her eyes, pushing the duvet off of her to get out of bed. "I'll think about it, okay? But thank you. I mean it. I can't remember the last time I had this much fun."

"I'm glad." I smile at her.

"Should I be worried you're gonna pass out in school today?" She raised an eyebrow at me as she pulled her jeans back up her long, skinny legs. I quickly averted my gaze.

"It's gotta be better than going to school hungover, or still a little drunk." I shrug, getting myself reluctantly out of bed, feeling more tired than when I got in.

"I'll drive you and pick you up." Leah demanded more so than offered, and when I scoffed, she insisted. "No, for real. Your Dad's a cop. Charlie would kill me if I was the last person that saw his kid alive and I knew that she'd been awake for like, more than twenty four hours."

"I'll be fine-" I began to brush her off, only to yell when I spotted her swiping Adam's keys off the table, "-hey!"

So Leah drove me to school in her Bronco. People stared, because of course they would, the hulking beast was massive and unfamiliar. I was in too good a mood to care. Leah and I had made breakfast together and scrambled to get to school in time, but the plus side was another long car ride screaming along to Kelly Clarkson with my new best friend. When I hopped out of the Bronco I was pretty sure I'd even been laughing. Genuine, trill laughter. I didn't know what spell I was under but Leah Clearwater was starting to become an addiction.