𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 ☾ 𝒑𝒂𝒖𝒍 𝒍𝒂𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒆

[00]

"Elizabeth! Time for dinner!" A woman called from the doorway. The young girl outside looked up from her important duty of standing outside in the rain puddles. It was pouring, but she didn't care. The cool droplets splashed her cheeks and she'd laugh, eager for the refreshment and calmness the smell of the rain left around their small town.

Forks wasn't a big place, but it was quaint. Elizabeth and her mother had lived there since her father died in a fire when she was three. They enjoyed living away from the hustle and bustle of the big grey city. Their problems never seemed important enough when surrounded by millions of other people. Now, living in a small town with a raging population of 3120, everything was saturated in the dark greens and deep greys that made up the scenery.

The ten-year-old girl looked down from the sky, meeting her mother's loving gaze. Olivia was smiling at her daughter from the doorway, enjoying the happiness written on her face. Elizabeth never smiled like that in the city.

"Come inside, you'll catch a cold." Her mother called again. Elizabeth nodded, running toward the open doorway and squealing as the water splashed into her shoes.

☾

"Please, mom? I promise I won't splash around!" Elizabeth pleaded, following her mother around their kitchen like a lost puppy as she fixed breakfast. The raindrops spattered on the window panes, Elizabeth growing more eager by the second. Her mother sighed as she put the spatula down, staring into the pancake batter for a moment before shaking her head.

"No, Lizzie. I already told you. Besides, you don't need to catch pneumonia before our guests arrive." Her mother scolded, turning and looking to her daughter, currently pulling on her sleeve.

"Aw, come on. What if Jake wants to go too?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes lighting up at the thought. Her best friend since forever, Jacob Black, and his father, Billy, always came over for breakfast on Sunday mornings. It had become their little tradition ever since Jacob's mother, Sarah, and Elizabeth's father, Will, passed away.

"I'm sure Billy won't want-" The sound of the doorbell cut her off and Elizabeth bolted toward the front hall. She ripped the door open with a surprising amount of strength, making Billy jump at the sudden, aggressive movement.

"Jake!" She cried, jumping forward into the bigger boy's arms for a hug. He was a year younger than her, but he'd always been taller, faster, stronger. To her chagrin. 

"Lizzie!" He yelled in reply as he put her down. Olivia came forward in the hallway, shaking her head at the two children. She dried her hands off on a towel and motioned for them all to come back inside. "We're gonna go running! Be back for breakfast!" Jake called as he pulled Elizabeth off the porch and into the rain. Olivia made to object but Billy chuckled and waved them off as he wheeled into the house. 

Elizabeth's heard pounded with gleeful adrenaline as she and Jacob raced down the street. The water was cold, and her mother was right about possibly getting pneumonia, but she didn't care. Jacob was ahead of her, but he always slowed down so she could keep up and they could run together. Their laughter echoed down the road, heard only by neighbours familiar with the two rapscallions rampaging in the rain.

Jacob skidded to a stop, the rain dampening his long hair as he stopped in front of a house. Elizabeth appeared beside him, their chests both heaving with the deep intake of breath. A car had just pulled into the driveway in front of them, and Elizabeth's eyes widened in recognition as her friend stepped out of the car, jacket pulled over her head.

"Bella!" She cried, running forward. Jake followed with an equally large grin plastered on his face. Isabella Swan visited her father every summer, and today was the day she arrived for the next few months. She smiled at the only two friends she had in Forks, though cringing at the rain. She hugged them anyway, however, and it brought smiles to all of their faces.

☾

"What do you mean you're not coming back?" Fifteen-year-old Elizabeth asked, holding the receiver of the phone to her ear. Jacob frowned from across the room on her couch. Bella sighed on the other line, claiming the weather in Arizona was just that much more favourable in the summer. "Alright, I guess. See you around." Elizabeth huffed, before hanging up the phone. Jacob raised an eyebrow at her, but she shook her head. Olivia came into the room, wiping a bit of flour from the apron she was wearing.

"So, when's Bella coming?" She asked happily. Elizabeth's frown deepened, and she folded her arms across her chest.

"She's not." She snapped in reply, pouting as she stomped over at sat next to Jake on the couch.

"Oh, well. I'm sure she has a good reason." Her mother assured, patting her on the shoulder before resuming the baking process of Bella's favourite berry cobbler. 

"I mean, she spent less and less time with us every year." Jacob offered in attempt to reason. "I don't think she's actually spoken to me since we were eleven." Elizabeth sighed as she rubbed her face. Jacob and Bella might have grown apart, but she and Bella never had. At least, she hadn't thought so, until now.

Elizabeth realized their interests were different. Their hobbies, passions, taste in music. All of it had changed, and she realized that they had been growing apart. They remained friends and they talked often, but they became almost polar opposites. 

"I guess." Elizabeth muttered in disappointment. She couldn't imagine ever moving from Forks, and couldn't understand what Bella disliked about the rain. Despite this, Elizabeth knew she had Jacob, and her friends at school. She would be just fine.

Little did she know that upon her friend's return, an entire world would open up beneath her feet, undoubtedly drawing her in.