"Jacob?" Kari called out. She walked around the corner of the garage and smiled when she saw the boy working on the engine of the old red truck. Her tone turned to teasing. "Aren't you done with that yet?"
"Hey, you try rebuilding the entire engine," Jacob shot back with a smile. "It's not as easy as I make it look."
Kari rolled her eyes. "Right. Well, Charlie went to pick up Bella this morning. So you should get it done before they get back."
"Relax," Jacob said. He pretended to straighten out his shirt. "And watch the master."
The girl snorted and leaned over the side of the truck to take in the engine and all its workings. Jacob picked up a wrench and somehow managed to get his big hands in the small opening near the valve he was working on. When he pulled back, he gave her a smug look. "Oh wise Jacob, master of auto mechanics, please accept the sincerest apology of a lowly beginner such as myself."
The fake bow was enough to set them both off, laughing loudly. They almost missed Billy calling them from the house. Jacob wiped his hands on a grease rag. "Come on, Charlie might've called."
The two teenagers walked up to the house, laughing and joking, before reaching the doorway. Billy looked up from adjusting his jacket. "Charlie called. He and Bella just got to the house. Said to come any time. How's that truck?"
"Fit as a fiddle," Jacob said teasingly. It was a saying Billy often used. "Double pump the clutch and it'll work perfectly."
Billy nodded and turned his attention to the teenage girl. "You coming, Kar?"
Kari's expression betrayed her. "I'm not so sure that's a great idea, Billy. I may get along better with Jacob than Rebecca and Rachel, but Bella and I never really..."
"Nonsense," Billy said. He cracked a grin. "You're coming. Just don't crash my truck on the way."
Kari blinked, barely catching the keys to the newer blue truck that belonged to the Black family. "You want me to drive? Alone? Billy, I don't have a license."
"We need a way back home," was all Billy said as he wheeled away.
Kari heaved a sigh and checked she had her permit in her pocket. She'd rather be stopped with it than without. By the time she was outside, Jacob had pulled the thundering red truck from the garage and was helping his father in. He flashed her a blinding smile before tossing the wheelchair into the bed of the truck and climbing into the driver seat. He seemed fearless, but that was pretty easy to do when your dad looked at you as more of a friend than a child.
Kari got into the truck and gingerly started it, silently grateful it was quieter than the one they were about to give Bella. She clicked the seatbelt in place and followed Jacob to Forks, growing more nervous as they left the reservation. She said a silent prayer of gratitude to whatever greater being there was out there after parking on the street in front of the familiar house. It wasn't raining outside, which made life a little easier considering she hadn't thought to grab a jacket before leaving home. By the time she was out of the truck, Charlie and a girl were outside talking with Billy through the window of the truck. The girl had long brown hair, a bit lighter than Kari or Jacob's, and was quite pale. Jacob and Charlie quickly helped Billy from the truck, Jacob's hair loose rather than in the bundle at the nape of his neck as it had been earlier.
"Don't think I didn't see you behind the wheel," Charlie was teasing when she walked up to the small group. "You too, Kari."
"It's good to see you, Charlie," Kari greeted. She rested a hand on a handle of Billy's wheelchair for comfort. "I told them not to let me drive."
"You drive just fine," Jacob assured her.
"Sure, sure," Kari mumbled to herself.
"Bella, you remember Jacob and Kari?" Charlie turned to his daughter.
"We used to make mud pies when were little," Jacob admitted. "But you probably remember my sisters better."
"No, yeah. I remember," Bella said awkwardly. "It's good to see you guys again. You look good, Billy."
Kari tuned out the banter between Charlie and Billy. "Jacob rebuilt the engine."
"No way," Bella said. She looked over the truck with new awe in her eyes. "Cool."
"Bella?" Kari said hesitantly. Jacob had walked around to the other side of the truck, but not before Bella managed to hit him with the door. "I wanted to apologize. I wasn't the nicest kid growing up."
There was no need to mention how much she had hated Bella for stealing Jacob's attention away. She'd been friends with him first. Bella only smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "Why do you think Charlie stopped taking me with him? I threw a few tantrums myself."
Kari laughed. She remembered playing on the beach once and the older girl making a fuss. The three teenagers climbed into the truck, Kari squished in the middle awkwardly. Bella smiled over at the two natives. "You guys want a ride to school?"
Jacob and Kari shared a look before Jacob spoke. "We go to school on the reservation."
"Right," Bella said. Her smile was fake. "It just would've been nice to know someone already."
Charlie, who wasn't really a talker at all, invited the three to stay for dinner. Before anyone could complain, he added that he ordered pizza. Billy agreed and made Jacob help him inside before either of the kids could say a word. The small talk in the house came out as awkward. Bella didn't talk much more than her father and Billy spent the time talking about Harry Clearwater having health problems. He was talking about how Sue, Harry's wife, was trying to force him to eat healthier when the pizza arrived. Bella answered the door and Charlie took the chance to turn on whatever basketball game was on.
"It was nice to meet you again, Bella," Kari said with a smile. It was drizzling outside and Jacob was helping Billy into the truck.
"Yeah," Bella agreed. "We should all get together again sometime. It's nice to have some friends."
"I'm glad to see Charlie's happy," Kari commented on the way home. "Maybe he won't be so lonely now."
Billy nodded in agreement. He glanced passed Kari to Jacob, who was driving, and had a hint of a knowing smirk on his lips. "It was good to see Bella again. Wasn't it, Jake?"
Kari tossed a sidelong glance at her best friend and saw his cheeks turn pink. His voice was mumbled. "I guess."
Billy smirked and looked back out the windshield. Kari crossed her arms over her chest and sat in silence, not amused by Billy's teasing. The ride home seemed a lot longer than the ride to Forks. Once the truck was thrown into park and the engine was off, Jacob climbed out and helped Billy into his chair. Kari scooted out the driver's door and hip-checked Jacob with a teasing look before pushing Billy into the house. She stopped him near the couch and flopped down onto her back.
"Why don't you go flop down onto your own couch?" Jacob asked, his eyebrows raised. He twisted his hair back at the nape of his neck and managed to tie it expertly in place.
"I like this one better," Kari answered with a shrug. She turned toward the television, not seeing whatever it was Billy had turned on.
"Want to work on the Rabbit with me?" Jacob asked. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets. "I don't have any homework."
Kari pretended to think for a moment before nodding. She held out a hand for help up, only to shriek when Jacob yanked her up and tossed her onto his shoulder. "Jacob Black!"
Jacob laughed as he walked out toward the garage. "What?"
"Put me down!" Kari said through her giggles. She beat playful fists against his back in protest. "Right now!"
"Fine," Jacob said easily. He flipped her forward off his shoulder and dropped her onto the bench seat meant to go into the back of the Rabbit. He only laughed at her expression before going over to the frame of the car. "Still haven't found that master cylinder."
"Good luck with that one," Kari propped herself up on her elbows. "Did you find the spark plugs you needed?"
Jacob shook his head. "No."
Kari smirked. "Well, I did. Look in the box next to your tools."
"What?" Jacob asked. He moved quickly to the toolbox and looked into the cardboard box next to it. "No way!"
Kari only smiled. She knew Jacob like the back of her hand, and she also knew almost as much as he did about cars. She walked over to the Rabbit and picked up the tools Jacob had just been using, working to make sure everything was securely in place. "I was thinking we could go to the junkyard on Saturday to look for more parts. I still have some money from my birthday, and Sam said he'd drive us."
"I'm not sure," Jacob said hesitantly. He walked over with the spark plugs.
"What?" Kari said. She paused and looked up. Jacob had a weird look on his face.
"Jake!"
"Hey man, you out here?"
Kari sighed and tossed the wrench she had in her hand toward the toolbox. "Nevermind..."
Embry and Quil walked around the corner with big, goofy smiles. "Oh, hey Kari."
"Hey Quil," Kari greeted with a forced smile. She gave Jacob a look that told him they weren't done talking.
"Whatcha up to?" Jacob asked, looking at the other two boys.
Embry shrugged. "We thought about going down to the beach. You two wanna come?"
"I'm down," Jacob agreed.
Kari smiled for real. "You got a ball?"
"My mom keeps one at the store for me," Embry answered. "We can stop by on the way."
"Jake's on my team," Kari called. "No switching!"
The two boys groaned in unison. Quil spoke up. "No fair, man! You know Jake's the best."
"That's why he's on my team," Kari smirked.
"Don't I get a say?" Jacob protested.
"No. We're birthday buddies," Kari said. "Take one for the team, bro."
Jacob rolled his eyes before a bright smile took over his face. "First one there starts the game!"
The four teenagers rushed out of the garage, laughing and shouting on the way. They made it to the beach in record time, Embry winning for a first, and played until Sam showed up. "Kari!"
Kari paused at the familiar voice, Quil bumping into her shoulder as Embry took the ball from her to score again. Jacob stopped just behind her shoulder, glaring at Sam. Kari sighed and Jacob threw an arm over her shoulder. He used it to pull her close, his lips close to her ear. "Come over tomorrow after school and we'll work on the car more. You can take the lead and I'll clean up after you."
Kari couldn't help but giggle at his last words. "Yeah, whatever. We aren't done talking about Saturday."
Jacob rolled his eyes.
"Kari, come on!" Sam called again.
Kari rolled her eyes and shoved away from Jacob, punching him twice in the shoulder playfully. She was jogging toward Sam when she turned and waved. "Bye guys!"
Kari slowed to a walk before reaching Sam. "It's not that late, Sam."
"It's late enough."
Kari sighed. Ever since Sam had disappeared for two weeks at the beginning of the year he was different. He was colder toward her, only interacting when their mother chastised him for not looking out for the girl. He'd even pushed Leah away, breaking up with her out of the blue after her cousin Emily came to visit. That was before Emily's accident. She muttered to herself as she pushed passed him. "I don't need a babysitter."
"You know I heard that," Sam grumbled back. "You go back to the house. I'm going to check on Emily."
Kari walked home, muttering to herself the entire way. Sam and Emily met at the Clearwater's a week after he came back from his disappearing act. Two weeks after that Sam followed her into the woods to try and talk to her- after pissing her off multiple times- only to find her deep enough in the trees to have come across a bear of some sort. She was pretty torn up, scars extending almost the entire length of the right side of her body, and was still healing. Sam felt horrible about it. Kari didn't understand why when he was the one who saved her.
~Author's Note~
Hellos lovelies! I hope this is a good start. I plan to update at least three times a week, if not every day. This book will go by quickly and skips over a lot of the classic Twilight scenes and events, skimming over them or barely mentioning them. As you can tell, this is going to focus more on the wolf side of things. Enjoy!