Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.

Huge thanks to Gredelina1, Augustmoon99, Chaynne212 and Arrr for pre-reading this chapter.

This chapter is dedicated to gimpy810 for her nickname suggestion for Peter, it will be in used the next chapter.


Chapter 6 — To Make a First Impression

Bella POV

I didn't sleep well that night. I had bizarre dreams of Edward Cullen chasing me through the forest, holding a bunny and a straw, trying to get me to take a sip. When he caught up to me, I saw that it was Nemo, the bunny that Renee had bought me at a fair when I was ten.

I had loved that bunny, but when I was in Forks that summer, Renee decided Nemo deserved freedom and released him in the garden. He enjoyed a few hours of 'freedom' before being eaten by a coyote.

Morning came too quickly, and when I rolled over to hit the alarm, I became tangled in the sheets. Trying to pull myself free, I fell to the floor with a thud. Frustrated, I brushed myself off and gathered my things for a shower, only to discover when I stepped inside that Charlie had used the last of the hot water. This day was really going to shit.

I headed out the door, only to be confronted with another cold, damp morning. Thankfully, I had no added challenges from Mother Nature today, as I think even she knew my lack of sleep was going to be enough.

My day seemed to be going to hell as I got into my truck. The decrepit door refused to close as I slammed it again and again until I finally saw that I was bashing the seatbelt buckle in the door, keeping it from closing. I yanked at the belt until it snapped up and smacked me in the not-so-funny bone.

Defeated, I laid over the steering wheel and wondered what I had done in a past life that I was paying penance for now. I fought the temptation to quit and go back to bed as I reached down and turned the ignition. It seemed my truck was on the same page as me about going; it whined in protest, but finally, with a rattling shudder, it gave in.

My mind wandered as I drove. How Edward Cullen had found his way into my dreams was beyond me. His ability to fuck up my life without even being there was irritating to say the least. Vampire or not, if he came near me today, he was going to regret it.

Although I was dedicated to ignoring Edward as much as humanly possible, there were things about his vampire life I was curious about. He hunted animals — did that mean squirrels and skunks, or did the family have a small cattle ranch on their property? I had a mental image of the Cullen kids being called to dinner as someone served a soup tureen of cow's blood.

The blast of a car horn brought me back to the present, and I swerved back into my lane. I pulled over on the side of the road and let the truck roll to a stop. My heart was hammering in my chest, and I let loose a string of expletives that would have made a sailor blush. How the hell had I let my mind wander to the point I nearly crashed?

I sat for a moment, collecting myself, looking out through dense forest beside me. I jumped when a twitch of movement in the distance caught my eye. Leaning over the seat, I cranked the passenger window down to get a better look. The air had taken on an unnatural calm; no cars passed along the road beside me and the sweet earthy smell of pine filled the cab. I unbuckled my seatbelt and scooted across the bench toward the other door.

Straining my eyes, I looked through the trees, hoping to catch a glimpse of it again. But whatever was out there had stopped. A breeze blew by, rustling the branches beside me and startling me in the process.

I was struck with a moment of clarity. I was sitting alone on the side of the road, with my doors unlocked, watching what may well be a serial killer.

Fuck this, I am not going to be that clueless victim in some bad horror movie.

Slamming the lock down, I slid across the seat, not taking the time to buckle in as I cranked over my truck. As if it knew I meant now, it started without hesitation. As I pulled away, I looked one last time out the window. A small flicker of white caught my eye only to disappear into the trees. Maybe it was just a deer.

When I got to school, I was later than usual. I had to search for a place to park and, as I scanned the lot, I saw that four sets of eyes were locked on me as I pulled in; apparently, the Cullen clan had found me interesting enough to watch my every move now. Great, just what I needed today, an audience.

Edward wasn't with them, but I was not going to get my hopes up for an absent day; he was probably inside terrorizing elderly receptionists. There was another figure with them, though. He was standing beside the blond guy with the pained expression.

I climbed out of the cab and made my way toward the school. Halfway across the lot, I lost my footing and landed on the ground with a jaw-rattling thud. I heard a roar of laughter that I'm pretty sure was from Mr. Brawny Cullen. Damn it.

I closed my eyes and began counting to ten. I was hoping to stave-off the stream of profanities that were itching to come out. I had only made it to five when I was interrupted.

"Excuse me, Ma'am. Can I offer you a hand?" a smooth voice asked.

Ma'am? Who the hell do I look like, Paula Deen?

The Ma'am comment made sense when I opened my eyes and saw a pair of cowboy boots beside me. My eyes trailed up, and I saw a pair of light blue Wranglers.—Wow! Those are tight. Hello, trouser-snake! — with a big-ass Confederate flag belt buckle, a black tank top and... Fuck! Golden eyes.

"No thanks," I said as I clambered to my feet, ignoring his proffered hand. "I've got it." Sadly I was used to being completely embarrassed.

I grabbed for my bag at the same moment he did. "Let me help you with that," he offered, taking hold of the strap. I pulled it from him and the strap slipped, sending my belongings scattering across the ground.

"Damn it," I cursed. "I thought I told you I had it!" I snapped at him, kneeling to gather my stuff. I looked up and saw him examining a... Oh fuck! This day is awesome!

"Here's your ummm..."

"Tampon. It's a tampon! And if you're finished examining it, I would like it back. Unless you're secretly a woman, then by all means keep it," I said coolly, holding my hand out. He dropped it into my palm like it had burned him.

Stuffing it into my bag, I started for the building again.

Even though I would like to deny it, I had still found myself checking him out, even the trouser-snake. I would not be letting him know that anytime soon, though.

"I'm Jasper's cousin from—"

"Don't care," I interrupted as I walked away.

I don't care. I don't care. I don't care.

I found myself repeating the words like a mantra for the rest of the day. No matter what I tried, I couldn't shake the memory of his face from my mind. He was pale like the Cullens, and from the golden eyes, I could only assume my personal world of crazy had just expanded to include one more vampire. I was one lucky girl.

I wished I had held my tongue long enough to catch his name. As the day dragged on, I became more intrigued by the tampon twirler. He looked too old to be going to school. He must be Jasper's older cousin. Do vampires have cousins and what was he doing in Forks? I had never been remotely interested in the gossip that was the Cullens before, but now I was craving it.

Walking into the cafeteria at lunch, I noticed the Cullens looked more animated than usual. They were talking among themselves and giving me scrutinising stares. The short pixie was staring at me with a bizarre longing look.

Turning to Jessica, I braced myself for the abuse that my eardrums were about to sustain, and against my better judgment, asked her to tell me more about the Cullens.

"Why, you interested in one of them?" she asked, not concealing her excitement. Gossip was like crack to this girl.

"Yeah, the blonde is kind of hot," I said with a dopey look, glancing over at their table. If I had to listen to her drivel, I may as well have fun with it.

"Yeah, but he's taken," she said. "Jasper is with Alice."

"Him!" I said feigning horror. "Eww. Not the guy, the tall leggy blonde girl."

I tried to keep from laughing as I watched Brawny nudge his girlfriend as his booming laugh echoed out in the cafe. She, on the other hand, looked a mixture of horrified and smug. The almighty pained one was smirking as he locked eyes with me for a moment. His pixie side-kick covered her mouth as she tittered.

I looked back at Jessica, whose mouth popped open giving her a close resemblance to a goldfish. "Rosalie!" she gasped. "She's with Emmett, the big guy."

Progress. So, Barbie was called Rosalie, and she was with Mr. Brawny Towels, Emmett. Alice was the short girl and her boyfriend was Jasper, who if I recall correctly is the tampon twirlers cousin.

When I got home that afternoon, I saw a note from Charlie saying he was going to be working late. I took the opportunity of his absence to do some chores without having to work around him as he continued his efforts to bond his ass to the recliner.

I pulled the ancient vacuum out from the closet and gave it a shake. It fell apart, sending a plume of dust into the air. Awesome. Apparently, this vacuum was made the same year as the crap-mobile.

Staring at the wreckage that was once — around 1950 — a working vacuum cleaner, I was preparing to employ a few of my best curses against it when there was a knock at the door. I froze. Who the hell was it? I considered the possibility of it being Mr. Trouser-snake. I crept to the door and looked through the peephole. I wished I hadn't. Jacob Black was standing on the porch. Despite the PT and mole removal, the image of him through the distorted lens was close to his childhood moniker of Quasimodo. Beside him was an older man in a wheelchair.

I groaned.

"Hey, Bella. That you?" Jacob's pubescent voice squawked.

Crap, now they knew I was home. Bracing myself, I swung the door open.

"Hi," I greeted, plastering on a fake smile.

"Bella, my how you've grown," the man in the wheelchair said with a leer. He must be Billy Black, Jacob's father. Now I remembered him. I crossed my arms over my chest. Jacob's therapist was way off base; his grabby hands had nothing to do with his mother's death, this was purely genetic.

"Charlie is still at work," I said, grabbing a hoodie from the coat hook and shrugging it on.

"That's okay. I just wanted to drop in some of Harry Clearwater's special brownies." He handed me a small box.

"Special brownies?" I asked with a doubtful look. Charlie was a cop after all. Admittedly the cop of a small town with the collective IQ of a hamster, but he took his job semi-seriously.

"Yep, special brownies," Billy said with a nod. "Charlie loves them."

"Okay, well I'll make sure he gets them. Was there anything else you needed?" I knew I was verging on rude, but Billy was staring at me with such enthusiasm I wondered if he had x-ray vision.

"Well, Jacob here wanted to see you," he admitted.

Oh Joy. Another stalker.

"Gee, thanks, Dad," Jacob muttered then brightened as he spotted the decrepit vacuum cleaner in pieces on the floor. "Hey, you want some help with that? I'm good at fixing stuff; I did all the work on the truck."

Well in that case... Fuck No!

"No thanks," I said, barely suppressing my irritation. He looked disappointed but didn't press the issue. His father meanwhile was gazing at my chest as if it held the secret to the meaning of life.

"Okay, so. . ." I trailed off hoping someone would take the hint and get on with what they wanted.

"I was just wondering if you would want to come down to my house this weekend. I've got a new project I'm working on and thought maybe you'd like to help," Jacob asked excitedly.

Did I give off the impression that I liked people and welcomed them in? I made a mental note to check myself in the mirror to see if my 'fuck off' face looked more like a 'fuck me' face as the males of Forks seemed to be misunderstanding me.

"You know, Jake, maybe some other time. I am going to Port Angeles this weekend to do some shopping."

His face dropped but brightened again almost instantly. I realised he had found something hopeful in my words and I cursed my manners. I should have just told him to fuck off.

"Next weekend then?" he asked excitedly. And there it is. I stifled a groan but I was sure my polite smile was now more of a grimace.

I looked over to Billy who was now fixated on my ass and oblivious to the world. There was no way I was going to his house.

"Maybe. I'll see what I'm doing and let you know," I said as I brushed by him to open the door. They both looked confused but took the hint and left with a quick goodbye.

Closing the door behind them, I breathed a sigh of relief, which turned to a groan when I spotted the debris and dirt of the broken vacuum. I scooped up the remnants of the cleaner into a trash bag and swept up the dirt.

I spent the rest of the afternoon doing homework, and when that was complete, I sketched for a while. I lost track of time, and it wasn't till I heard Charlie's cruiser pulling into the drive that I realised how much time had passed. I made my way down the stairs just as he came through the front door.

"Hey, Bells," he greeted with a smile. "How was your day?"

You don't want to know, I thought wryly.

"It was fine," I said. "But your vacuum cleaner has seen better days. I'm pretty sure we need a new one."

"But that thing is practically new! It was a wedding present."

"Someone bought you a vacuum cleaner for a wedding gift?" I asked incredulously.

"No, they bought it for my mum and dad when they got married. Best vacuum I've ever owned."

He looked genuinely depressed over the demise of his beloved vacuum. I almost wondered if I should comfort him, then I remembered the brownies.

"Billy Black stopped by today with Jacob. He dropped off some brownies for you. He said they were your favorite."

His face lit up at the news. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed the box for him.

"Here," I said, handing it to him. He tore into the box like a kid at Christmas.

I sat down on the couch as I watched him devour brownie after brownie.

"I forgot to mention something to you," he said, taking a sip of his beer. "I want you to watch yourself when you're out and about right now. A body turned up over on the north end on Pleasant Lake. Wardens called me out this morning. It looks like it was some kind of animal attack but we can't be sure."

"No problem. I have no plans on getting that close to anything that would consider me a snack."

"Good to hear. kiddo. Have a brownie," he said, shaking the box at me.

How can he go from dead bodies right back to brownies?

"No thanks, dad. I'm good," and not a pothead, unlike some.

"Harry makes the best brownies. No matter how many I eat, I always want more."

That would be because you've got the munchies, dad.

"I have asked him for the recipe but he says its a Quileute secret. Apparently, he adds a secret ingredient."

I rolled my eyes. Yep, secret only because it's illegal. I watched him as he slowly became less lucid and began babbling on about the trouble making teens destroying mailboxes and his ingenious plans to thwart them by filling the mailboxes with cement. He thought it was masterful, and soon he was snorting with laughter. At what I wasn't sure, but I decided he'd had his fill for the night. Sighing, I walked over and pulled the box of brownies out from his hands.

"Hey, why'd you do that?" he asked, still chuckling.

"I think you've had enough sugar for the night."

"But I'm still hungry," he whined

"I'll cook you something." I went to the kitchen and made a quick dinner for him, saving a plate for myself.

After we were both fed, and I was secure that he had come down enough I needn't worry about finding him playing patty cake with a tree in the front yard, I went to bed.


Thank you to everyone that reviewed, we love reading them all especially the nickname suggestions. Of course we have a new question for you...

Jacob has a 'project' he wants to show Bella, in the Saga he is fixing up a car but we think that's a bit tame for our Jacob. We want suggestions for an alternate project. Best idea gets the next chapter dedicated to them.