The Little Things

2. First week

"That's for sure." I laughed.

Dad stepped up, "So, what do you think?" he said patting the old faded reddish orange truck beside him.

"What?"

"Your homecoming present," Dad said.

"This?" For the first time since she got here Bella actually seemed excited.

"Just bought it of Billy here."

"I rebuilt the engine," Jacob was quick to say.

"And I handed him the tools and helped hold things," I added. "I cleaned it too."

"Come on! This is perfect!" She hopped into the drivers seat and Jacob and I got in the other side.

"So, you have to double pump the clutch when shifting, besides that it should be good," Jacob said while motioning to the pedals.

"Do you want a ride to school or something?" Bella asked, sounding hopeful. 

"I bike to school, but the occasional ride might be nice." I said. The times that it snowed made it not so fun to bike and sometimes Dad would drive me, but now I could catch a ride with Bella if I needed.

Jacob made another awkward laugh and scratched his neck, "I go to school on the reservation."

Which was no fun at all, because that meant that we could only see each other on weekends in the winter. I had begged Dad to let me transfer to the Rez school, but he said it would be too complicated and he didn't want me to feel left out being the only white girl.

I didn't care about that, I wanted to be with my friends.

"Right, that's to bad. It would have been nice to know another person at school," Bella said disappointedly.

"It's okay Bella, even though we are in different grades I'll still be there," I assured her and she gave me a small smile.

After we finished looking at the truck we all went inside, the guys to watch the game and Bella went to finish unpacking. I followed Bella up but then decided to leave her alone for a while.

I flopped down on top of Jacob on the couch and yawned. He looked at me and laughed, "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"For a couple hours, but it clearly wasn't enough," I said. I shifted how I was sitting and ended up with my legs across his and my head on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around me and I dozed off.

The next few days were spent getting used to Bella living with us and trying to make friends with her. It's not that Bella was unfriendly, she just seemed like she didn't want to be here as much as she said she did and that made interactions a bit awkward sometimes.

Honestly, it was a bit deflating. I had had high hopes about her living with us, but apparently, and unsurprisingly, we had both changed from what I remembered.

On Monday morning I woke up early and got ready for the day. Once I was ready I biked to school even though Bella asked if I wanted to ride with her. I was tempted to agree, but I liked riding to school unless it was really raining or snowing. We decided that I would ride with her if I was running late or the weather was too bad for me to bike.

Morning classes went normally, as usual English was boring but at least I had Spanish and Gym after lunch.

At lunch I met up with Bella. She was walking with a junior by the name of Jessica Stanley. I had never talked to her but from what I heard she was quite the talker. Not at all the type of person I would expect Bella to hang out with.

"Hi Bella, how was your morning?" I asked.

"It was good. I met a few people," she
answered.

She seemed to be fine so I sat with the girls that I was school friends with, Amy Conner and Thalia Norman.

Because of my friendship with Jacob and the others on the Rez, I was labeled as antisocial and I think most people avoided me because of it. I never got any trouble though, and I often suspected that is was because of my Dad. In all honesty though, I much preferred to spend my time on the Reservation and not with the town kids. Thalia and Amy were the exceptions and I really only saw them at school anyway. The three of us had met in middle school and had sat together at lunches since then. That was as far as my relationship with them extended.

While we were eating, the five elusive Cullen kids, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Alice, and Edward, came in and sat down at their table. I saw Bella looking at them, clearly interested in them like everyone else was.

The school was split on how they viewed the Cullens. A large portion was in love with, or rather infatuated with any one of them. A slightly smaller portion was jealous, either of their good looks or because the person they were interested in was more interested in one of the Cullens. An even smaller group didn't really care about them either way. Amy and Thalia were in the don't really care group, as Amy wasn't allowed to date until she was done high school and Thalia was writing to a boy that she had meet in Iowa over the summer. And then the last group, which may have consisted of only myself, disliked them.

For some possibly irrational reason that I didn't quite understand, I had never really liked the Cullens. I had only really interacted with them once and that was when they first moved here. Maybe they creeped me out because of how pale and quiet they were. Or maybe it was because it seemed they didn't think the rest of us were worth their while. They were not unkind to anyone, they just didn't interact with anyone outside their family unless they had to. It was also weird how they dated people they lived with, as Rosalie and Emmett, and Jasper and Alice were together. And yes they had stunningly good looks, but they also gave off a dangerous vibe, that one should keep their distance.

Unsurprisingly, the Cullens were a topic brought up by Bella at supper time. "Dad, do you know the Cullens?"

"Are people talking about them again?" He sighed and set down his fork.

"No, I was just wondering what you thought of them," Bella said.

"They moved here about two years ago. They're good kids, doesn't matter what anyone says about them. They haven't caused any trouble since they came and their dad is one of the best doctors I know," Dad said almost defensively.

That seemed to satisfy Bella and I didn't voice my thoughts about them because it would only bring about an argument. One time I had told dad about what I thought, but it didn't go over very well since he didn't understand why they made me uncomfortable. I don't even know why they make me uncomfortable most of the time. I tended not to think about them, rather, choosing to do something else, or spend time with my friends.

That evening before bed, Bella asked me about the Cullens, "You didn't say anything about the Cullens at supper. What do you think of them?"

"To be honest, I don't really like them. They just seem a bit aloof, you know. They don't really talk to anyone," I said truthfully.

Bella just nodded, "I think Edward hates me, after we had Biology together he tried to get his class moved to something else. I didn't even say anything."

"Don't worry about it to much, it probably has nothing to do with you anyway," I tried to reassure her. She didn't look convinced.

I continued. "I mean it. He frequently looks disgusted at life in general so don't take it personally."

Her point seemed to be proved when he didn't show up for the next week even though the rest of his family was there. Until one day he was.