Swan Goin' Wolf

Connection

 Everything had gotten a little easier in the last two months. Paul and Jared were back to being my best friends and brothers, even with their mysterious behavior as of late. Sam had invited all of us over for movies and game nights. We got along and it seemed that we were moving closer to being actual friends than just friends of friends. He was real nice and didn't push anything when it made me uncomfortable. I was grateful and respected him for and returned the sentiment by not pushing when the guys avoided or didn't answer a question.

Paul and Jared even helped me with Bella's bedroom. They helped me lug the boxes of old stuff out to the house to the trash and helped me clean the dusk off the walls and floor. Paul even managed to hook up my old computer and connected it to the modem. I took a trip to Port Angeles to get some new sheets and a quilt. The sheets were soft to the touch, a faded shade of fuchsia, the quilt a darker shade with a gray floral pattern. I was proud of the work I had done even though I knew it wouldn't be appreciated. Today Bella was flying in from Phoenix, dad had already left to get her in Port Angeles. I was headed down to the rez to hang with the guys at Paul's for the afternoon.

I left a note on the fridge for dad telling him that I was going down to the rez to give Bella some time to settle in and I would be back by ten. He wouldn't be happy that I wasn't going to be home to greet my sister, but he would hopefully understand and accept it. Bella would have school tomorrow and would probably be to sleep early from jet lag, I just wanted to avoid any conflict on Bella's first day here and set the wrong stepping stones for a relationship while she lived here.

The drive was slow as I drove carefully in the pouring rain. The road was hard to see especially with all it's twists and turns. Jared ran out with an umbrella as I pulled in and held kept me dry from the down pour. Paul and Jared's houses were almost like second and third homes, much as mine was to them. We knew we were all welcome at any house at any time.

We spent the afternoon with several movies acting as background noise as we talked, played games, and I baked. Paul's dad, Adam, was home for a change and gave me a hug when he saw me. Adam's a tall man with a receding hair line. His eyes were always serious, but kind, the same eyes that Paul had but his were rarely serious. When Jared got ready to leave I decided to go with him and visit Natalie. It had been a while since I had seen her and I liked hanging with her. Sarah and Sue had helped dad when I was younger, but once I started school and became friends with Jared, Natalie had stepped up as my mom. She took me shopping for every school dances and school year, to get my hair done, to get my nails done and was the person I ran to when I had something that only another girl would understand just like any daughter would to her mother.

We walked in the house to find Natalie and Greg in the kitchen. Natalie squeal and hugged me when I came through the door before shooing the boys out of the kitchen. Greg smirked and picked up his paper, leaving to go into the living room where I could see Jared's older brother, Justin, on the couch playing a video game. Greg was a nice guy and was a lot like Jared. He joked that he might as well put a sign on the guest room door with my name on it as much as I stayed here. Justin, on the other hand, only tolerated my presence in the house. He would nod in my direction before going on with some task or another.

"Heard your sister's coming to town today. What are you doing here?" Natalie asked.

"I decided to let her settle in. They'll be plenty of time to see her while she's here. She plans to stay here till she graduates." I said with a shrug and Natalie smirked.

"She's going to Forks High isn't she?" Natalie asked.

"Yeah, have to be native to go to the rez schools, remember?" I said with a smirk. Despite dad being pale, my mother was Makah. I had the native skin and dark hair. My sister would stick out here on the rez, like an albino among flock with her pale skin and lighter hair. I was glad that their was something that I would get to kept and not have to share with my sister while she was here. I knew that it was selfish, but I felt that she was just using dad to gain the attention she was sure to be lacking now that Renee had remarried, so I didn't feel too bad.