August 2004

Forks, Washington – Bella

I'd only had the dream one more time since the night at Jake's. With a wistful smile, I touched the woven bracelet he had given me. I hadn't taken it off except the shower. The dream hadn't come back since.

The first week of school had flown by with an unusual amount of sunshine. My Forks friends had planned a trip to First Beach if the weather held out through Friday – especially since we were treated to a half day because of some weekend conference most the staff had signed up for.

I fidgeted in the back seat of the SUV Tyler drove, nervous even though the energy from all those around me was all eagerness and excitement. At the beginning of summer, I'd gone on a shopping trip with Angela and Jess. They both had family trips to California planned, and their parents finally agreed to two-piece suits for them. And I'd let myself be talked into buying one for myself. All summer break, it sat in its original bag. The times I did go to hang out at the beach, I'd just worn my old one-piece, completely covered with a long t-shirt. But with both of them involved in today's trip, I had to wear it. Though I'd braved a trip to the kitchen, passing before my father.

"Uh, Bells… is that new?"

Yes! He's going to tell me to get rid of it because I'm too young! "Uhm, sort of? Jess and Ang helped me pick it out at the beginning of summer. But if you think I shouldn't wear it, I'll totally understand!"

"Er… no… that's fine. Have fun at the beach, kid."

I stared at him a moment before I stomped back up to my room, and heard him mumble something about growing up, then my mother's name mentioned. Probably going to call her as soon as I was out of the house to ask what age I should start doing certain things at.

When I came back to the present, I piled out of the SUV after everyone else. I watched with some trepidation as the other girls quickly shed their cover-ups, much to the pleasure of the boys. When the suntan lotion started to come out, and I saw Mike start to approach, I dashed over to Angela. "Want me to do yours, Ang?"

She flashed me a grateful smile. I knew she felt like I rescued her from the wait for a boy to volunteer. Later, I'd have to tell her who really saved who. But for now, I just applied the lotion to her back, then waited as she finished everything else.

Only then did I peel off my t-shirt and shorts, and did my best to ignore the looks I got. "Uh, Bella?" Angela giggled. "You might want to get rid of the price tag before Jess sees and goes into one of her rants."

Mumbling to myself, I quickly yanked the tag off as she calmly applied lotion to my back. Then I took the bottle from her hand to start on my arms.

"Hmm… I do believe you just broke that kid's heart."

"Huh?" I looked up at Angela, then followed her gaze to see Jacob as he walked over with his two friends, just in enough time to catch a somewhat crestfallen look on his face before he perked back up and started to jog over. "Uh, no… maybe trying to protect me from Quil, if anything."

"If you say so." Her eyes sparkled at me as she dropped the bottle back into her bag. "He is kinda cute, though," she teased before heading to join Jess and Lauren – Tyler, Mike, and Ben trailing after the three girls. I couldn't help but laugh at the mental picture of lost puppies, but quickly snapped out of it. "Hey, Jake. Hey guys."

"Hey, Bells… what are you guys doing here, isn't your school still in session?"

"Half day," I explained."

"Oh." He eyed my suit, I'm sure trying to be secretive. Quil wasn't nearly as sneaky, and Embry just rolled his eyes at his friends.

"Guys, how about we hit the water while we can?"

"Yes!" I beamed at Embry, grateful for the distraction. He smiled sheepishly in return, and gave a playful wink, as if to say Don't worry, I'll call them off.

Jake and Quil were already halfway to the water as they raced each other, shirts abandoned in the sand. Embry and I were quick to follow. I was just glad I was in the water before I tripped. At least it sort of looked like I dove into the water.

We goofed off for a while before Ben, Tyler, and Mike joined us. They began to plan a game, but I begged off, muttered something about uneven teams as my excuse. As I left the water, I spotted Leah seated by herself, fully clothed in jeans and an old t-shirt. Even in that get-up in this heat, she'd probably still look beautiful, if it didn't look like she'd been crying.

I paused. I was definitely far from best friends with her, but I also knew most the kids on the reservation that she hung out with were guys. I sucked in a breath, then pointed myself in her direction. "Hey, Leah. Aren't you burning up in that?"

"Huh? Oh… no, I guess not."

"You… guess not?"

"Yeah," she said, a faint smile on her lips for just a moment before it disappeared. "Too much else on my mind.

"Oh." I shuffled my feet before I finally made up my mind and sat down next to her. "I'm surprised Sam isn't here. He's not still sick, is he?"

"No," she replied as a grim smile turned her lips. "But I didn't even know he was better until classes started again and I saw him. I tried to talk to him, but he just said he was busy."

"Oh… well, maybe his mom is pressuring him like yours are pressuring you?"

She scoffed and shook her head. "Sam's mom adores me… We would always meet right here on sunny days to spend them together. I've waited here 'til dark every day this week. He's never showed."

I bit back another 'Oh'. I didn't know what else to say or suggest that wouldn't just sound lame or hurt her feelings. So I just sat by her side and stared out at the water. Then I heard a sniffle, and glanced over to see her crying. "Aw, Leah…" A little embarrassed, I scooted closer to drape an arm over her shoulder, not knowing what else to do.

"I'm so lost, Bella! I mean, my head is screaming at me that he's just trying to find a kind way to say he doesn't want to be with me anymore, but I don't want to think that… I love him so much. We've been dating since we were fourteen. Four years… what changed?"

I just bit my lip. I didn't have an answer for her. Luckily, she didn't seem to expect one, and continued.

"I mean, at Rebecca's wedding, we were inseparable. He never took his eyes off me. He looked at me the same way he always did, sounded just the same when he said he loved me… I think I'm still pretty… right?"

I jolted as I realized that she actually expected an answer this time. "I, uhm…" I faltered, and her expression dropped. "I mean… duh Leah!" I finally exclaimed, catching her by surprise. "You're beautiful! Any girl I know would kill for your looks, including me," I admitted wit ha blush, just to keep the honesty going. "Besides, I saw how Sam looked at you. I'm sure he appreciated the looks, but that had nothing to do with that… gooey, mushy expression on his face. He loves you. I'm sure it's just something he thinks he needs to handle on his own for now. Give him some time and space to come to you, in case he decides he needs your help."

Leah laughed a little before she sniffled again. "How'd you get so good at this romance stuff?"

"Jane Austen novels?" Leah laughed again, a little louder and more freely this time before she gave me an incredulous look. Apparently she wanted a real answer. "Uhm… I don't know. It's not like I've dated yet. I'm not even really interested. I guess… mainly from watching you and Sam together, honestly. Maybe a little good sense mixed in."

"I guess." She sighed, then got to her feet. "Space and time, huh?" Okay, then. I'm not waiting here all day again. I've got a huge pile of homework I've been putting off all week. I'll go concentrate on that."

As she left, I glanced over toward the tree-line in enough time to see a flash of movement, though I was unable to pinpoint what had caused it. I shrugged, then started off down the beach to walk by myself.

"Hey, Bells!"

"Hey, Jake."

"Er…" He fell into step beside me. "So, did she actually talk to you? She's been so out of it all week."

"Yeah. Apparently Sam's been avoiding her all week. Didn't even let her know he'd gotten better."

"Oh… I figured. What a jerk, huh?"

"I don't know, Jake… Outside of my mom and Phil, they're the best couple I've spent time around. He's got to have some excuse, right?"

"I dunno… from the looks of things, he's avoiding all his friends these days, not just Leah. Like he's trying to be some macho jerk just because of the freak growth spurt he's had over the past month or so."

"Ugh, no wonder I'm not interested in dating. If guys act like that, and couples like Leah and Sam can come apart, what chance do I have of holding onto someone?"

"Not all guys are jerks, Bells," Jake pointed out. He muttered something after that sounded like "I'm not a jerk."

I chose to ignore this, and instead broke into a run. "Race you back!"

He was startled a moment before he took off after me, and quickly eliminated the few feet of lead I had. When I heard his feet behind me, I made the mistake of looking back toward him.

"Bella! Watch out!"

My foot dropped into the hole in the sand, and the last thing I felt was my ankle twist as I fell. Then everything was black.