A/N: This is a little fun I've been dreaming up... Please R/R, just to let me know if this fic is worth continuing. It's the first Twilight-related fanfic I've ever written, so I'd love constructive criticism and any and all input. ...Oh, and praise is always nice. ; ) WO
Kitty looked at her half-brother and sighed. "Tal and I will be fine, Sam. I didn't move all the way to Nowhere, Washington, just to be babysat by my wolfboy older brother."
Sam Uley huffed in exasperation. "I don't understand why you can't just go to school on the rez, Kitty."
"You do so! Jake, back me up here, please!" Kitty turned to Jacob, who along with Embry sat in Emily's tiny living room. Sam and Kitty stood facing on another, while Emily cooked something that smelled wonderful.
Jacob grinned. "No way," he said. "I'm staying out of this."
Kitty rolled her eyes. "Sam, I moved here for you."
"You did not move here for me. You moved here because you have an agenda, one which I will figure out sooner or later."
"Whatever. You've been begging me to come here. And you have to admit that moving here is a big sacrifice on my part. And anyway, Aunt Chantal is no wuss. She and I can take care of ourselves, okay? And anyway, everyone on the rez has known me since I was born, practically. I am not going to go to school here. Forks High is fine. And preferable."
"But the Cullens go there," Sam protested, frowning.
"Sam, the real reason you don't want me living with Tal is because she's my mom's sister. As for the Cullens, I can handle them, trust me," Kitty said darkly. "If they become a problem, which I doubt they will be." She reached forward and placed a hand on Sam's shoulder. "I've seen just as much as you have, Sam, maybe even more." He snorted at this, but she pressed on, "And I've survived. I'll be fine, okay? I'm your little sister after all."
"How heartwarming," Jake laughed.
Kitty scowled and tossed a pillow at him. "I can handle the Cullens, and I can handle you too," she warned.
"Ooh, watch out, or you'll be handled," Embry chortled.
"Shut up," Kitty commanded.
"No handling!" Emily called from the kitchen. "Come and eat, all of you."
Sam hugged Kitty briefly, and then everyone trooped into the kitchen to sample Emily's cooking.
The next morning, Kitty's Aunt Chantal drove Kitty to Forks High. Chantal, who insisted that her niece call her Tal or Tally, was a dark-haired, blue-eyed woman in her forties, though she looked younger. "Now, remember to get your schedule, and be sure to speak up if you've already taken a class that's on your schedule. And don't forget to meet with the music teacher," Tal reminded. "I told him you'd discuss your taking his class early."
"Tal, I think I can handle it," Kitty replied with a smile. "Between you and Sam, I'll be suffocated with... erm, affection."
Tal laughed. "I never thought I'd become a nagger," she admitted. "I wish your mother could have seen the young woman you've become."
Kitty shook her head. "You are my mother, as far as I'm concerned. All Mom cared about were her fixes. I could never rely on her."
"Well, you can always rely on me. I promise you that. Ah, here we are. Think you can manage to jump out and make your way across the hazardous parking lot?" Tal teased, her seriousness turning light.
"I don't know, I'll have to be brave," Kitty answered. She pecked Tal on the cheek, grabbed her backpack, and slid out of the car. Tal honked the horn before she left the parking lot, and Kitty struck out across the grass, heading for what looked like the main building.
It was only after obtaining her schedule that Kitty began to wonder if maybe coming to Forks High was a good idea, after all. The very thing she had declared she detested about the school at La Push - having everyone know her - now seemed rather comforting. It would be nice if she knew someone. Kitty squared her shoulders resolutely and sloshed through the rain (of course it was raining, this was Forks, Kitty reminded herself; all the same it was not cheering) to her first class.
By lunch, Kitty was ready to shoot herself. She'd made a "friend," if the annoying girl could be called that. Jessica was the sort of blonde-in-behavior, overly-talkative, bubblegum-pinky, way-too-sweet kind of person Kitty had, at her old school, avoided like the plague. Still, Jessica, with whom Kitty shared three classes (joy was probably not the right word to describe the emotion Kitty felt at learning that bit of news), kept the boredom away and gave Kitty information on everyone. It occupied Kitty's attention at least, even if Kitty did feel an almost irresistible urge to smack Jessica when she began to snap her gum.
As Kitty sat down at lunch, in between Jessica and a sullen, rude girl (who kept flipping her hair in what she obviously thought was a fetching way) named Lauren, something Jessica said caught Kitty's attention.
"Wait, what did you say?" Kitty asked politely. "I didn't catch the last part."
"Oh, I just said, don't even think about snagging one of the Cullen boys, since Jasper's with Alice and Edward is with Bella and the other one is just too good for the rest of us."
"Bella? Bella Swan?" Kitty repeated. "She goes here?"
Jessica bobbed her head. "Yeah." She sneered. "And she has hardly any time for us now since she and Edward got back together."
"I thought she lived in Arizona, though," Kitty responded. "I haven't seen her in ages..."
"She moved here to live with her dad. Oh, there she is, with Edward," Lauren said. "They think they're so much better than us - hey! Where are you going?"
Kitty called back, "I'll be right back," as she walked across the cafeteria. "Izzy?" she asked, when she was in earshot.
Bella turned around, tripping over something and dropping her tray. Kitty helped her pick everything up off the floor, as did a rather good-looking (okay, extremely hot) boy Kitty assumed to be Edward. As soon as she saw him, she became aware of a presence, almost a shadow, in her head, and immediately blocked it out. Edward's eyebrows shot up and Kitty shot him a blinding smile before she turned her attention back to Bella.
"Kitty?" Bella asked incredulously.
"Yep, in the flesh. Didja miss me?" Kitty answered, grinning, before she hugged Bella (as best she could around the food tray still in Bella's arms, that is). Edward took the tray from Bella and looked from his girlfriend to Kitty and back again.
"You two know each other?" he asked. His voice was like velvet, smooth and soft, and rich...Kitty jerked herself mentally away from her thoughts of Edward and focused on Bella again, glad that she had shut the vampire out of her mind. For what else could he be? With his looks, feline grace, and his presence in her mind, he was most definitely a vampire.
"Know each other? We were best friends," Bella told Edward. "She would come to visit her brother every summer, when I would visit Charlie, and we'd do everything together. But then I stopped visiting Charlie, and..." Bella trailed off.
Edward steered Bella toward a table, and Kitty followed. The two girls exchanged news and gossip as they sat together. All the while Kitty was very aware of Edward's gaze upon her. She smiled inwardly, knowing that her ability to shut him out of her thoughts was shocking to him. It had to be; as far as she knew, she was the only one with her capabilities... although she hoped not.
In a lull in the conversation, Kitty leaned over and murmured, "I assure you, the fact that you cannot sense my thoughts is not because of a failure in your abilities."
He might have jerked. If he were human. "You..."
"Have a brother named Sam," she finished with a cheeky wink. "Though I'm not as... narrow-minded as he."
Bella stared. "You know?"
"You know?" Kitty echoed, just as shocked as Bella. "Well, that just about screws all of my theories about your relationship."
Edward laughed. Kitty restrained the urge to shiver with delight at the seductive sound. Bella and Kitty joined in after a heartbeat.
When she regained the ability to breathe, Kitty wiped at her eyes and said, "Before I forget, I must ask - do you think it would be possible for me to meet with ... your parents?"
Edward raised a perfect eyebrow. "Why would you want to do that?" he asked.
"I have a request to make of them. Not one my brother knows about," she admitted after a minute, "but one I think necessary."
Bella poked Kitty in the ribs. "Well, that was totally not cryptic," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, well, I'll explain it to you in private," Kitty promised. "So," she added, turning back to Edward.
"I don't see why not. It should be fine. Dad's on a hunting trip, right now, though," he said. "He'll be back tomorrow. It should be fine for you come then, around noon. I'll contact you if it's not."
Bella grinned. "If you're lucky you'll get to meet the others."
Kitty nodded. "And I'm betting they're a lot more... charming, than Sam has told me."
Edward shook his head. "I can only imagine what he's told you."
"Might not want to do that," Kitty said ruefully. The bell rang, and she sprang to her feet. "Shit. I was supposed to meet the music teacher early - where's the music room?" she asked.
Bella gave her directions. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?" she asked.
"Of course. Wild horses couldn't keep me away," Kitty promised. "Or wolves." She laughed and went to retrieve her backpack before heading for the music room.
Edward eyed Bella. "What company you keep, Bella."
Bella giggled. "Betcha she's thinking the same thing."
Edward kissed her neck.