Usual disclaimer: Everything Twilight doesn't belong to me

Chapter 2

Now that I think about it, there were other signs that not all was right, even before our move to Seattle. One particular memory stands out—the night I realized Jacob had outgrown Leah's double bed.

"You should totally choose Stanford."

We were in Leah's bedroom, squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder on her bed. Our college acceptance letters were stacked in three neat piles in front of us, summoning our collective wisdom to make the right choice. Leah probably had the toughest decision to make—she was accepted to every college she applied to, almost all on full scholarship.

"Just like you should stop putting USC on hold?" Leah leaned over my shoulder to address Jacob on my right. Jacob had not fared too badly himself, getting into a few of the top football colleges in the NCAA. "Come on, they won the Rose Bowl last year. That's not good enough for you?"

"Football's not everything." Jacob picked up my stack of letters and leaned out over the bed frame. I suddenly realized his legs were dangling onto the floor, like Gulliver on a Lilliputian bed. Did he just grow another inch? I was still amazed by his physical transformation since joining the Forks High football team in sophomore year. In the blink of an eye, my gawky best friend had metamorphosed into a GQ beefcake. Along with his new muscles came the girls. They hung around him at the cafeteria, in the locker room, and in the bleachers while he trained. Needless to say, it had done wonders for his ego.

"Washington, Oregon, UC Berkeley, UCLA." He started reading out the names on the envelopes one-by-one, tossing each one on the floor as he was done. "Florida—what the hell, Bells?"

"They have a nice campus." I shrugged. "And it's near Renee." Gainesville was near Jacksonville, where my mom lived with her boyfriend, Phil.

Jacob ignored my response and continued reading the names out. "Duke—geez, were you seriously thinking of moving to North Carolina?" He paused and turned to face me. "They're well-known for their English program." I defended myself against his questioning stare.

"NYU, Yale, Dartmouth—where the hell is that?"

"New Hampshire," Leah answered on my behalf. "I heard they're pretty rad."

"Yale actually rejected me." I corrected Jacob.

"Yeah, well that wasn't my point." He leaned towards me. "Bella Swan, did you apply to college in every single state in the USA?" he teased.

I punched him in the gut but it felt like I hit a wall. Jacob laughed at my efforts and caught my wrist easily. "Well, New Hampshire's too far. You're staying on the West Coast."

"She can go wherever she pleases," Leah said a little too snappily as she turned away and got to her feet.

"I thought we were gonna try and stick together," I blurted out, a little thrown off by Leah's testiness. She didn't even bother to reply, walking out the door without so much as a glance in our direction.

"Scoot over." Jacob pushed my shoulder gently. "I'm about to fall off here."

I shifted to the other side of the bed where Leah had lain. The sheets were still warm. "What's up with her?" Several top universities in the country were wooing Leah and yet she was more irritable than I'd ever seen her.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, and then closed it shut again. "Never mind."

"What?" I poked his bicep.

"Nothing." I crossed my arms and scowled, dissatisfied with his response.

"Have you heard back from UW's financial aid office yet?" He reached to the floor for UW's admission letter. The University of Washington, located in Seattle, was the only school which accepted all three of us, but it also gave me the least funding.

"Nope." I had sent in an appeal to their aid office. "I'll need an on-campus job to afford UW."

"Did you get the Joseph Clark award?" Leah suddenly reappeared at the door. She had a mug of steaming hot chocolate in her hand and a slim paperback under her arm, whose cover I didn't recognize.

"What award?" Jacob threw my UW acceptance back on the floor together with the rest of the pile and raised himself to a sitting position at the edge of the bed. He reached for his sneakers and started putting them on.

"The $5,000 annual grant for Native American students. We're all supposed to get it—for you know, making it to college." Leah rested her mug on the bedside table and sat down next to me.

"Oh?" Jacob looked up. "I didn't really pay attention to the breakdown. I just know Billy doesn't have to pay a cent. Thanks for not getting any for me, by the way." He nudged at Leah's mug.

"You're preparing for a game. You're supposed to eat proteins, not carbs." Leah rebutted. "Same goes for you, Bella, if you want to keep to your diet you shouldn't eat at bedtime."

"That's so not fair," I grumbled. "I wish I were Quileute too." It was not the first time I thought it but it was the first time I voiced the thought aloud. After years of close association with Leah and Jacob, I was more than a little jealous of their inborn athleticism and superior physique. I was a short, scrawny white girl who couldn't run more than a hundred feet without panting or tripping.

"Oh no, I don't think you would wish that on yourself." Jacob threw a sly look at me as he tied his laces. "Anyway, my deal with UW has a work component too. We can look for a job together." He reached out and tugged my big toe affectionately. "Gotta go, girls." He walked over to Leah and gave her a hug.

"You going to Claire's?" My shoulders tensed as I heard Leah's question. I was still unused to sharing—unlike Leah and I, Jacob dated. I was stunned when Leah told me several months back that Jacob was sexually active. "How do you know?" I asked, my voice coming out funny. Leah shrugged, refusing to provide more details. It was hard to look at Jacob the same way again.

Thankfully, none of the girls lasted long, and he still found time most weekends for us. I know other kids at school talked about us sometimes—the top jock and his lady friends—wondering if we were 'fuckbuddies', to use the term I had overheard in the locker room. I believed we were above such baseless gossip. After all, how could they understand the way Jacob, Leah and I felt about one another?

Claire was the younger sister of Quil Ateara, a boy our age who went to school on the reservation. Jacob had started hanging around with him recently, together with another reservation kid called Embry Call. I assumed that was how he knew Claire. She was his flavor of the month, so to say. I expected him to tire of her in no time.

"Nah. Gotta wake up for training at six." I felt an inexplicable sense of relief as he picked up his jacket and slung it over his shoulder. "See you Monday." He closed the door behind him.

"Do you love him?" Leah tossed her book on her pillow and flopped down beside me, occupying Jacob's earlier spot.

"What?" I squeaked.

"You know what I mean." She pushed herself up to a sitting position against the headboard and started reading. I reached out and pulled her arm towards me so I could see the cover. "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit," I read aloud. I considered myself well-read, but I had never heard of the author. "What kind of title is that?"

"Nothing you would understand." Leah plucked my fingers off her wrist.

"Excuse me!" I swatted her wrist and tried to snatch the book, but she was too fast, resting it quickly on her other side.

"You know what I'm talking about, Bella. You have feelings for Jacob." She picked up her mug and sipped thoughtfully, watching as I fell on my back and crossed my arms.

"No, I don't. You and Jake just talk in codes and expect me to understand." I got up crossly and headed to the bathroom. I was perturbed. Jacob was my best friend, and as I'd learnt from the example of him and his teammates, girlfriends come and go, but friends are forever. I did love him, as much as I loved Leah. But the love that Leah was insinuating would just destroy the bond between us. No, I told myself, what we had was far better than the heady, short-lived passion of high school romance.

When I returned, Leah was still seated in the same position, her nose buried in the book. "Time to sleep." I nudged her foot and crawled in beside her.

"You're pretty obvious, Bella." Leah continued reading as she addressed me. "You applied to like half the schools in the Pac-10."

"Did not," I replied defensively. "They all have good English programs."

"Yeah, but your first filter was the quality of their football teams." I blushed, and turned my face away immediately. That had been one of my considerations. "Yeah, that's cos we'd talked about going out of state together, remember?" My rebuttal was a little too late to sound convincing, but I tried.

"I didn't apply to UCLA. Or Oregon. Or Florida."

"Whatever."

"Did you know Jake asked Claire to the Prom?" Leah glanced at me.

Prom? That was still two months away. I swallowed hard. "Is that even allowed? How old is she, fourteen?" I asked in as even a voice as I could manage.

"She'll pass for a senior." Leah shrugged. "Tyler asked me too." Great. Now I felt even worse. We hadn't talked about Prom, but I presumed that the three of us would boycott the event, staying home to watch bad prom movies from Netflix. I rolled onto my stomach and buried my face in a pillow.

"Hey." Leah reached over and ran her fingers through my hair. "We don't have to go if you don't feel like it." Her voice softened. "Or you can be my date."

"What about Tyler?" My voice came out muffled as I continued breathing into the pillow.

"He has plenty of choices. I don't even know why he asked me." Tyler Crowley was also on the football team and a serious rival with Jacob for Senior Stud of the year.

"I feel so unwanted, Lee." I moaned into my pillow. "I'm what, seventeen, and I've never been kissed."

"I'm sure Mike Newton won't mind helping you with that." I cringed. Mike was alright, I mean, he was nice, well-mannered and smart. His family was comparably well-off—they owned Newton's Grocers and Newton's Outfitter's, the only supermarket and outdoor store in Forks. For some reason, he had been trying to ask me out to dinner for the past few months. But going out with him didn't feel right - he was like plain vanilla. I wasn't sure we could keep up a conversation beyond five minutes, so I turned him down repeatedly.

"You know, you should give the boy a chance. Try talking to him. It would make his day y'know? Just saying." Leah got out of bed and soon after, I heard the sound of the tap running in the bathroom. She returned a few minutes later, turning out the lights. The pressure on the bed changed as Leah's long, lithe body slipped behind me and her arm curled around my waist. We'd spent countless weekends in the same bed since we were young—Jacob too, but Leah's parents put a stop to it after her first period.

"I can help you too, you know." Leah pressed her forehead to my hair and whispered.

"Eeww… gross, Leah." I turned around and smacked her butt.

"You're missing out, babe." Leah let out a casual laugh as she released her hold on me and rolled onto her back.

"Bella. Should I go to Stanford?" She spoke after a long silence. I turned to face her, but could only make out her eyes, which were wide open and fixed on a spot in the ceiling. Suddenly, fearless Leah looked lost and vulnerable.

"I'll miss you." I placed my hand on her arm. "But it's a pretty awesome opportunity you know? There aren't many people dumb enough to turn down a full ride to Stanford."

"Well yeah, except maybe me." She sighed. "I'll miss you too, and Jake's sorry ass, although I won't tell him that to his face. Don't you dare tell him." She turned and I felt her eyes on me. "Promise?"

I curled my pinky around hers. "Sure." I laughed. "I promise not to tell him how much you'll miss him."

The next morning, Leah sent in her acceptance to Stanford and I agreed to be her date for Prom. When I updated Jacob at the locker room on Monday, he gave me an odd look.

"What?" I huffed. "At least someone bothered to ask me." I turned away and started walking towards my classroom.

"How do you know I wasn't going to ask you?" He caught up with me in a few strides.

"You're going with Claire. Everyone knows that." I avoided his eyes and continued walking.

"I thought you didn't care about Prom." He reached out for my elbow and tried to stop me. Before I could take another step, he was in front of me. I froze as he gripped my arms. "Leah's going to kill me for this," he muttered under his breath.

"What?" I wasn't sure I heard him correctly.

"Bells, go with me?" I could feel his eyes on mine, searching my thoughts. Did he think I was stupid or what? Or was he just trying to make me feel better? Whatever the case, I wasn't going to be his second choice.

"Thanks, but no thanks." I shut my eyes tightly and pulled away from his grip. I heard him call my name, but I didn't look back.

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone for your encouragement and support on this story! The next part's ready but I won't have time this weekend to finish editing it. I decided to post this first and save the rest for the next chapter. Reviews = good excuse to write while on holiday with the hubs :)

Major thanks to Leelator for her help with this story.