For the next week Lilly regularly hung out with the pack both inside and outside of school. Lilly and Kim got an 'A' on their Science project early on in the week, and she found she had pack members in nearly all of her classes.
Quil and Jake were in her 1st period History class, Jared and Embry were in gym with her, she obviously had 3rd period English with Paul, lunch, math with Embry and Quil, Study Hall with Seth and Jake, and Science with Kim. The only class she had with no pack members was her last class, drawing.
When lunch rolled around on Friday, Lilly and Paul arrived at the lunch table only a minute before Jake. He slumped into his chair before lifting his spoon and taking a huge scoop of mashed potatoes.
"You okay there, Jake?" Jared smirked a bit.
Jake glared at him. "I normally wouldn't care, but my dad's gonna kill me."
"Why?" Seth asked curiously.
Jake rolled his eyes. "I failed my math test."
Quil snorted. "Dude, you failed it?" he laughed.
"Didn't you fail your last math test, Ateara?" Paul scoffed.
"Possibly. But I got a 'B' on this last test." Quil boasted, which made Embry and Lilly roll their eyes.
"A 'B'?! How in the hell did you get a 'B'?!" Jake exclaimed after nearly choking on his food, looking at Quil in astonishment, along with half the table.
"That's insulting! I'll have you know I'm-"
"Lilly tutored him." Embry deadpanned, not wanting to hear Quil go on another brag fest like he had been since he succeeded in completing a math problem correctly on his own.
"You actually successfully taught him math?" Paul asked in shock, looking down at Lilly with his mouth hanging open.
Lilly shrugged in embarrassment, looking down at her tray.
"What did you two get on your tests?" Jared asked curiously, looking between Embry and Lilly.
"I got a high 'B'." Embry answered while Lilly typed out her score, 'A' into her phone and showed it to Paul so he could read it out loud to everyone.
"Hey, if you can successfully teach Quil math, tutoring Jake should be a walk in the park." Jared pointed out, smirking at Jake as he took a drink of his pop.
Jake and Lilly glanced at each other uncertainly.
"Yeah, that's perfect. Lilly's great at teaching math and you need the help more than Quil did." Embry added, also smirking.
Jake chewed his lip for a moment before meeting Lilly's eyes.
"Would…would you tutor me?" he asked hesitantly.
Lilly bit her own lip, looking over his face thoughtfully while everyone seemed to hold their breaths.
Finally, she smiled and gave a slight nod. Jake's shoulders relaxed in relief without him even realizing it and he smiled back.
"Great, thanks. Would after school today work? The sooner I start trying to improve my grade the less angry my dad'll be." he grinned in amusement with a shrug, watching with relief when she laughed and nodded.
"Great, she'll tutor you. Now can the rest of us eat without the threat of losing our lunch." Paul smirked, eating a hamburger.
XXX
A few hours later, the pack was gathered around their cars in the parking lot, talking for a few minutes before they went their separate ways. Lilly was standing with Seth and Quil, laughing at some of the stories they were exchanging.
Finally, Jake finished his conversation with Jared and turned toward Lilly, watching her for a few moments before calling out, "Hey, Lilly. Whenever you're ready." he smiled to let her know she didn't have to rush or anything.
She smiled back before hugging Seth goodbye and waving to Quil.
"Have fun tutoring!" Embry called with a smirk as Lilly approached Jake's red Volkswagen Rabbit.
"Yeah, don't do anything I wouldn't do, Jake!" Quil smirked, waggling his eyebrows. "We all know what really happens when guys and girls tutor!" Lilly froze a few feet from the car, looking nervously at Jake.
Jacob rested one arm on the car roof above the driver's door, his other hand in his pocket. "Quil, I'd shut up if I were you." he warned calmly.
"I'm just saying." he grinned back while Lilly slowly continued to Jake's car and opened the front passenger door. "I don't want to be hearing anything I shouldn't on my patrol later."
Lilly exhaled sharply, turning on her heel and storming back the way she'd come. Quil had turned to laugh with Embry and didn't see her storming toward him. The others watched with curiosity as she slid her backpack off her shoulder and, when she was right behind Quil, swung it around and smacked it into the back of his head.
"Ow!" he shouted, lifting a hand to rub the back of his head, turning to glare at Lilly. She glared right back, not phased, as laughter erupted from the pack around her. She knew she couldn't hurt him. She only had two textbooks and a few notebooks in her bag. He could get hit with a brick and be fine in a couple hours.
"Serves you right for teasing her! She won't take your crap." Kim laughed, almost having to support Jared, who was hunched over in hysterics with his arm over her shoulder.
"Shut up." Quil grumbled, crossing his arms and pouting like a four year old.
Lilly smirked proudly, pulling her backpack onto one shoulder, marching back to Jake's car, and getting in the passenger side.
"See you guys later!" Jake called, getting into the car and starting it before pulling out of the parking lot.
He was still chuckling as he drove the short distance to his house. The sound made Lilly smile, a shiver running down her spine at the deep baritone.
When they pulled into the driveway of the small, red house Lilly frowned at the sight of a police car parked out front. Instantly images of cop cars, ambulances, and fire trucks parked in front of her old house flashed before her eyes and worry made her tighten her grip on her backpack.
"Lilly?" she looked over to see Jake watching her worriedly. She looked pointedly between him and the car. "Oh! Don't worry, that's Charlie's car. He's my dad's best friend and the police Chief in Forks." Jake explained reassuringly as he climbed out of the car. When Lilly followed him he paused and rested an arm on the car roof to look over at her. "Actually, you may have met him before, at least once. He used to go hunting with Harry and Old Quil, and I remember your Grandpa used to join them."
Lilly nodded slowly, briefly remembering another person meeting them for their hunting trips, and she didn't bother pointing out that her Gran also frequently joined them on hunting trips.
Jake jerked his head toward the house, silently telling her to follow him, and they headed toward the small house.
When Jake opened the front door, he stepped aside and let Lilly enter first as he called into the house, "Dad?"
The grumbling voices from the kitchen paused before his dad's voice called, "Jake? We're in the kitchen!"
Jake smiled at Lilly and headed that way, rounding the corner to see his dad waiting for him and Charlie Swan glowering into a coffee mug.
When Billy noticed Lilly peaking out from behind his son's arm, he grinned widely.
"Ah, Lilly! Good to see you." he greeted her kindly, to which she smiled back and waved.
"What's going on?" Jake asked, crossing his arms in a relaxed posture and looking between his dad and Charlie.
"Oh, it's nothing you need to worry about. Just the bitter ramblings of an old dad." Charlie waved off, glancing curiously at Lilly.
Jake noticed. "Oh, right, this is Lilly, she's going to help me with math. Lilly, this is Charlie Swan."
She smiled and waved as he nodded in greeting.
"So, is something up with Bella?" Jake asked curiously, ignoring the pointed look his dad was giving him.
Charlie sighed. "Well, apparently the Cullens got her plane tickets to visit her mom in Jacksonville for her birthday and, obviously, she never got around to using them with everything that happened. Now, they're going to expire soon so she's using them for this weekend. Should be home Monday night."
"And, what's wrong with that? I mean, she's got a right to visit her mom, Charlie." Jake pointed out.
"That's not the problem." Charlie grumbled, "The problem is…there's two tickets…so she's spending the weekend in Jacksonville with her boyfriend."
Lilly felt Jake stiffen up next to her, a low growl rumbling in his chest. She glanced nervously at him before looking to Billy, who seemed to notice his son's reaction.
"Hey, Lilly. Sue made these earlier today." he stated, grabbing a plate of cookies off the kitchen counter and holding them out. "Why don't you and Jake go to his room and start on your homework?" he suggested.
Lilly nodded, taking the plate with one hand and tugging on Jake's arm with her other hand. When he didn't budge, she lifted the plate and waved it under his nose.
Jake blinked rapidly, his nostrils flaring before his eyes switched down to the plate, the wild, golden color changing back to his normal dark brown. He sighed and stepped out of the kitchen, leading Lilly down a short hallway and into a small bedroom. The small, twin-sized bed took up nearly half the room, the window on the wall right over the bed with little trinkets on the windowsill. Clothes littered the floor, which Jake kicked aside as he entered the room.
"Sorry." he mumbled quietly, waving his hand toward the bed. Lilly took a silent breath before entering the room and sitting stiffly on the edge of the bed, placing the plate of cookies next to her. She pulled her legs up to her chest as Jake closed the door and started pacing, his muscles trembling.
His hands flew up to rake roughly through his hair, nearly ripping the strands out.
"That-that parasite!" he snarled, the animalistic sound making Lilly flinch. "Do you know what this means?" he demanded, spinning around to face Lilly for less than a second before pacing again.
Lilly simply watched him, her eyes following him as he moved and trying to ignore the nagging in her gut.
"He's changing her! The legends say it takes an average of three days for the change to be complete. That bloodsucker is going to bite her and turn her into one of them." he snarled, fists clenched at his sides.
Lilly sighed quietly, resting her chin on her knees. She could understand Jake being hurt by what Bella did to him, and since he cared about her it would obviously hurt that she'd be willing to basically die. But at the same time, she wasn't a big fan of this girl. She didn't know her very well, and the one time they met Lilly had been in the middle of a panic attack, but she didn't seem to have any regard for how her actions hurt those around her.
So, she simply let Jake get his feelings off his chest, only paying half attention and eating one of Sue's double chocolate chip cookies.
XXX
I know it's short, and it probably feels like we backtracked on Jake and Lilly's relationship, but bear with me! I have a plan!
And a fair warning; I am not a very big fan of Bella. That being said, her and Jake are a little OOC in this story. I kind of need Bella to play the bad guy a little bit for this story to work, so I kind of exaggerate her evil selfishness. If you don't like that, you may not like this story, especially in a few chapters.
That's all for now! Let me know what you thought of this chapter!