Chapter 1

Bella

I sealed the car door shut and gazed at the average sized house that sat in front of me. Warm hands clung to my shoulders and I turned around to face Charlie. He smiled happily at me and I gave him an awkward hug.

"Well, here we go," I breathed as I spun around and headed into my new home. I had just gotten here from Phoenix to start a new life with my dad. My decision was to come a month before school started so I could adjust before being homework crammed.

As soon as I stepped foot through the front door, the smell of Charlie's cologne filled the air around me. I took note to start spraying some Febreze in here before I choked from the strong smell. Charlie made his way in behind me and looked around his home satisfied.

"Well, welcome to your new home in Forks," he said contently. He carried my luggage up the stairs to my room and I followed behind him eagerly. Once he placed the bags on the floor beside my bed, he turned to walk back out the door. "Come down for a pizza dinner in an hour," he called behind his shoulder while taking his steps down the stairs. I knew how horrible a cook my dad was through past experience so take-out wasn't much of a choice for him. Books of ingredients took up a fourth of my luggage that Renee had put in while reminding me I had to immediately take over the kitchen once I got there.

I began unpacking my clothes and shoving them into the wardrobe in neat piles.

An hour later, I decided to head downstairs for dinner. Curiosity overtook me as voices were heard from the kitchen. I stepped down each step gingerly and quietly made my way to the kitchen where I met the visitors.

Charlie was sitting at one end of the breakfast table, laughing about something while holding his red face in his hands. Sitting next to him was a handicapped man, Billy. I smiled as I remembered him from my last visit. Billy was Charlie's best friend from La Push. I noticed him laughing loudly as well. My eyes wandered away from him and met the gaze of another person sitting on a stool. Jacob.

I made my way across the kitchen and gave Jacob a hug. "Jake! How's it going?"

Jacob had me caught in a tight bear hug and he was chuckling happily. Last time I visited, we did all kinds of things together, including pulling pranks on our dads. That was about three years ago, but I still remembered him since then. After all, they used to call us the Mischievous Pair.

Jacob's hair was cut short and he was muscular and, well, tall.

"Bells, you've grown so much over the years," he laughed joyfully.

"No, you have. What happened to you? Did they like pull your arms and legs from both ends or something?" I joked playfully. Jacob's face switched to a deep frown for a second but then returned to its happy stage. His eyes twinkled with joy as he looked down at me.

"You're beautiful, Bella," his warm gaze traveled to my eyes. I pulled away from his hug and turned to face the two men behind me who were eyeing us curiously.

Breaking the silence, Billy finally spoke. "It looks like you guys haven't forgotten each other."

"Of course not," I replied. I gaited to Billy and he gave me a welcoming hug. I span around in time to spot Jacob's eyes still glued to me. I looked away uncomfortably as did he. The doorbell rang and Charlie got up quickly.

"It looks like the pizza's finally decided to come," he laughed as he jogged to the front door.

After dinner, Billy and Jacob told us they had to leave but promised to be back tomorrow.

"Maybe you two could do some fun things tomorrow. Maybe show Bella around the area," Billy said as he went out the door. Charlie followed after him as they began to speak about a new topic. Jacob stood at the doorway next to me and turned to face me.

"Well, see you tomorrow, Bells." His warm smile seemed to soothe me and I dreamily stared at them, not noticing he was giving me a hug. I dropped my gaze and hugged him back. I realized our hug lasted longer than usual, so I began to pull back. Jacob resisted my urge to let go for a while then finally his strong arms released me. "See you tomorrow," he repeated as he patted my head and followed Billy to the car. I stayed put at the doorway comprehending what had happened. Was I falling for Jacob? And it was only the first night since I got here.

I waved at Jacob as his car left our house and I traveled back into the house. My dad trailed behind me. My feet led me upstairs and I heard Charlie yelling good night to me. I answered his call and shut the door to my room. I sprawled on top of my bed and put together the pieces of the puzzle from today. My face flushed as I realized how much I really did like Jacob.

This was going to be a long summer.