Author's Note: This story deals with identity, sexuality, and self-discovery. If you're not comfortable with any of these, please stop reading now.

Usual disclaimer: Everything Twilight doesn't belong to me

Chapter One

They say three's a crowd, but with Leah and Jacob at my side in college, I was the happiest girl in the world. We'd known each other since we were in diapers. Our dads were fishing buddies and best of friends. Leah was the oldest, born in July with Leo in the ascendant and as proud as a lion; I followed two months later, a shy September girl; Jacob came last in January at the height of winter. We fell into our roles easily; Leah was the fearless leader, Jacob the steadfast but stubborn second-in-chief, and I the devoted follower and accomplice in their mischief.

As kids we were inseparable, blind to the differences of race and socio-economic background. We raised more than a few eyebrows in Forks and on the Quileute Indian Reservation in La Push by attending school together. Not only was Leah technically a year ahead of us, both she and Jacob were supposed to go to the reservation school. But she had refused to start first-grade without her two henchmen. So we did the only thing that our six-year old selves could come up with: we staged a hunger strike, which lasted for all of two days. Our parents were astonished but soon saw no reason not to give in–a move which earned the Clearwaters and Blacks stern disapproval from the Quileute Council.

Secretly, I think Leah's dad was pleased–"a smart girl like my Leah needs something more stimulating." There was a glint in his eye as he informed us we would be starting the next year together at Forks Elementary.

Harry Clearwater was right, but sometimes I wondered if Leah should have started the year ahead of us. She was academically brilliant, and topped the class almost every year. By the time we started freshman year at Forks High she was the clear front-runner for class valedictorian. With her spare time, there were opportunities aplenty to make mischief: we soon became known as the Terrible Trio at Forks High. If there was a midnight explosion in the fishing pond (we were experimenting with hydrogen–don't ask) or a dead iguana in the teacher's common room (Leah was fascinated with reptiles), everyone pinned the blame on us. But Leah was so good, we never got caught.

Except that one time in ninth grade Biology. We had completed our one-hour lizard dissection exercise in fifteen minutes and Leah was listlessly twirling the dead lizard. She caught sight of Lauren Mallory squealing squeamishly at the other end of the counter, and flashed a look at Jacob who was seated behind us. He got it immediately, me a few moments later. We were that in sync with one another.

Lauren was dressed in a provocatively low-cut loose sheer top. It was offending our propriety, Leah snorted earlier. Leaning over the counter, he called Lauren's name, baiting her with his eyelashes. I rolled my eyes. He could be such a charmer. While Lauren was wholly distracted, Leah sneaked up behind her and performed the crime. Lauren let out a bloodcurdling scream as she jumped up and down, nearly ripping off her clothes in the process. The guys in the classroom gawked. Jacob got a bird's eye view, I'm sure.

As usual, I played the innocent bystander, but amidst the confusion, I bent down swiftly, picked up the offensive reptile and slipped it back on our tray. It was over in seconds.

"Miss Mallory?" Mrs Graham was at our counter, investigating Lauren's predicament.

"She did it!" Lauren glared in our direction.

"Did what?" Leah asked innocently. She could get away with it, she was Mrs Graham's pet student. I was a bad liar and carefully avoided throwing my gaze their way.

"I saw Bella pick the lizard up from the floor," Jessica Stanley, Lauren's lab partner suddenly accused. I froze as Mrs Graham took a step towards me, crossing her arms.

"It was me."

I shot Jacob an angry look. You are not doing this again.

"They're imagining things." Leah reached for our dissection tray and raised it in front of her. "Our lizard's right here."

Mrs Graham's eyes flashed warily between Jacob and us. "Liar," Lauren shot back.

"I did it when she wasn't looking," Jacob spoke calmly, studiously avoiding our eyes. Lauren looked dumbfounded.

"Detention seems to be suiting you well this term, Mr Black," Mrs Graham concluded as she turned away, returning to the front of the lab. "And you have to write an apology to Miss Mallory, to be pinned up on the lab notice board by tomorrow morning." Silence fell over the class. Jacob's face was expressionless, but his lip twitched just slightly. He flashed a mischievous grin in our direction.

"Jacob, you dumb ass," Leah hissed as we headed towards the locker room. "Always trying to play the white knight."

"Yeah," I chimed in, annoyed that I was the weakest link again. "I was doing just fine."

"Exactly. Bella can stand on her own two feet."

Jacob shrugged. He ruffled Leah's short, cropped hair while slinging his left arm around my shoulder. I tried to shake off his grip.

"Aww, Bells, don't be angry." He stepped in front of me and placed his hands on my shoulders. I refused to meet his eyes. Suddenly, his fingers reached for my chin, tilting my head up to his. "Alright, you'll help me write that letter. Fair's square?" My heart skipped a beat as he cradled my face in his palm.

"Fine," Leah huffed. "You don't see the point-you take care of things from now on."

"Come on," he retorted, his hand slipping away as he turned to face her. "Mrs Graham may love you, but she knew something was up. I saw the way she looked at Bella–"

"And that's it, right? Always trying to protect her. You think she can't survive without you," Leah snapped back at him. There was a glint of–something, I couldn't explain what–in her eyes as she stepped away from us.

"Lee–" I called after her, finally finding my voice. But she had turned her back to us and walked away.

Years later, I would come to see that brief altercation as a turning point in our relationship. Had I been more observant, perhaps I would have seen the signs sooner. As fate would have it, I was totally caught off my feet when everything changed that freshman summer, soon after we moved to Seattle for college.

A/N: I'd originally intended to write this as a oneshot, as a little distraction from Black Manta. But once I got into the characters, the story just started writing itself. Black Manta's still my main focus– and definitely a lot more complicated to write– but I thought you might enjoy this little story in the meantime ;)

Thanks to leelator for all your help and encouragement with this.