Gravity isn't Everything

My second entry for Bethaboo and TheEdwardEmmett's 'Make it Count' Contest – a short story less than one thousand words. If you like, please vote for me when the competition opens (22nd March!) Please review to let me know what you think! xxx :)

Still don't own Twilight.

Seth rapped hard on the door of his sister's room, and waited.

He'd learnt a long time ago, through Leah's studied destruction of some of his favourite things whenever he didn't knock, that simply barging into your sister's room was something you only did on pain of death. And, Seth mused, Leah would probably yell at him for not waiting even then – maybe because they had different opinions on what constituted a life or death situation.

The voice that called out from inside, however, wasn't that of his sister. "Er...come in?" the girl called hesitantly, and he pushed open the door to take a step into the room.

"Um, it's Seth –"

Briony Cyrus glanced up at him with a smile. She was lying on her stomach on the mattress which had been set up on the floor beside Leah's bed, legs bent at the knee so her ankles crossed in the air behind her, surrounded by books and pens and sheets of paper. "Hi," she greeted him.

"Hey." He paused as she twisted round with agility into a sitting position, bare feet tucked up underneath her. "Um..." For some reason, finding Briony instead of Leah had thrown him completely off-guard, and now he found himself tongue-tied. Briony was the kid of an old friend of his mom's, who'd moved away after college and come back recently for a brief visit – only to discover that her teenage son had deeper links with their Quileute heritage than anyone had expected.

"Were you looking for Leah?" Briony prompted gently.

"Oh! Leah. Yeah. Mom wanted to know if she was here. But she's not. So...I'll just go." Cursing himself for being unable to form a coherent sentence, he turned to leave, but suddenly stopped with one hand on the door frame to look back at her. "What are you doing?"

She hadn't moved, was watching him with her head tilted to one side and a lock of her dark hair twisting between her fingers. "I'm studying. Holiday homework, I've got so much I had to bring it with me." She rolled perfectly made-up brown eyes. "Didn't you get any?"

"Best part of being what we are." Seth grinned. "No school, no homework."

"You don't go to school?" Briony looked thunderstruck.

"It would be a little hard to explain if any of us suddenly got mad and changed in the middle of class...and besides, we have to patrol."

"Wow. Jamie's going to be psyched over that." The girl tucked a strand of dark hair back behind her ear, a frown creasing her forehead. "But you don't think you'll be doing that forever, do you?"

That made him pause; and he studied her for a long moment as he considered his answer, reassessed one of the things he'd never before questioned about his part in the pack. With one simple question, Briony had queried one of the few things he'd ever felt certain about since this entire crazy business had begun.

One day, when the Cullens inevitably moved away, would the pack stop changing? Would they return to lives they would never again be quite able to fit into, a world where, by rights, they shouldn't even exist​? And what would he do if they did, with little schooling and no real interest in the world beyond La Push? This was where he belonged; here, in the wet green forests with his pack. But sooner or later, Sam and Jared and Quil and the others would want to stop – want to grow old with their mates. What would he do then?

His mind shrinking away from the concept, resolute that he would not consider it now, it was easier to turn his attention to Briony. He wondered if she'd turn out to be like his sister; if she'd be a werewolf too. If that happened, would she be happy to give up her schoolwork to become one of them – one of the pack? Would she hack off the long hair which framed her face, fell in ebony waves beyond her shoulders? Would her dark eyes be filled with the same shadows that haunted Leah's?

He hoped not; and the thought made him oddly uncomfortable.

"What are you studying?" he asked to distract himself.

"Algebra. Nothing interesting." She hesitated. "I should get on with it..."

"I guess." Then, because he didn't want to leave, he added, "do you need any help?"

Briony studied him for a long moment, one eyebrow half cocked, and he panicked. What would she think? He'd just told her that he didn't go to school, so how could he possibly be of any use to her? And what sort of guy volunteered to do math homework anyway?

"Sure, if you really want to."

Apparently he did. "I always liked math."

That eyebrow rose a little further, as if she could see straight through his lie, but she didn't say anything about it. "All right, then. It's trig, if that makes a difference. I mean, if you don't like it or anything..." She was offering him an out, and for one moment he considered taking it. But –

"Naw, I guess I can stand the boredom."

A smile broke out on her face, and in that second Seth forgot that he was a werewolf, that his fate was written pretty clearly out for him already; for a moment he was just a teenage boy helping a teenage girl out with her work.

"If you're sure." Her tone was dry, but it wasn't that which made his mind abruptly blank in panic again. Why hadn't he realised that working with her would mean sitting next to her, close enough to see her notes but also close enough to touch her – should he want to.

All right, so he had a crush on her. The guys were going to give him hell.

She smiled up at him again so that he wanted to smile in return.

Aw, hell.

AN: Any questions/comments? Let me know!

Please review and vote for me – and check out my other entry – Falling Through Fire. xxx :)