Disclaimer

Twilight and all affiliated characters are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I do not own any of the aforementioned characters except Beth and the plot of this story (that is, should it stray from the original Twilight). This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official storyline. I am not in any way, shape, or form benefiting financially from the publishing of this story on this site and am very grateful for Mrs. Meyer's creation. Besides, if I did own Twilight, I'd not have to work a 9-5 every day of my life!


"Bella!" Mike called from his spot by the edge of the forest, Eric, a guy she didn't know, and Tyler beside him, "Want to come to look at the tide pools?"

Angela beamed beside her, "Oh yeah, Bella! You have to see them, they are literally so gorgeous!" Rising from her spot, she held out her hand for the other brunette.

"C'mon." She urged, wiggling her fingers. Bella debated between the hike and sitting around with Lauren and her crew briefly before jumping at the opportunity to get away. Even she disliked Malory's disgusting attitude.

The girl giggled at her friend's enthusiasm before walking over to where the boys disappeared, loud boisterous laughter guiding them through the dark forest. Bella sighed in contempt, this was a perfect recipe for her to trip and fall flat on her face.

As expected, there were definitely some rebellious roots that stuck out of the ground, simply waiting for a clutz to fall over them. And with Bella being Bella, it definitely happened. And unfortunately, Angela was her tag along the second time around.

"Oof!" a stream of air escaped her lungs as Angela landed on her body. Angela scrambled to get off her friend as the boys turned around to see what was taking so long.

Angela moved a strand of hair behind her ear as her and Bella's cheeks burned red, "Sorry."

"No, no. It was my fault," Bella assured as they began walking again.

"It's no biggie," Ang assured, trudging along the slightly worn and overgrown path through the foliage. The boys were almost a good thirty feet away by now."So, what's going on with your sister and Edward Cullen ?"

"Huh?" Bella was startled, she hadn't expected the conversation topic at all. "Oh, I'm not sure. I mean, they're Bio partners in Mr. Banner's class. He must have done something that she didn't like and well," she paused, "You know how Beth can be."

Angela laughed, "Yeah, I guess I do."

Throughout the short time, they had known one another, anybody could have picked up on it. Beth was very bullheaded, she tended to take fights rather than sit still and watch. Well, she reasoned, except for when it came to Tyler Crowley. She supposed that whatever Edward had said or done must have been a good reason for the harsh dressing down that most occupants of the cafeteria had seen Beth give him outside.

Bella kicked a loose pebble, "He's kind of weird though. I keep getting this creepy vibe whenever I see him and his family?"

Angela tossed the other girl a look, "Actually, now that you've mentioned it, I feel it too sometimes."

" They seem - almost plastic," she continued.

"They certainly have the money for it..."

"Bella!" But the pastor's daughter still laughed.

Soon after the conversation died down, the small group of teens finally came to the tide pools they'd been walking nearly fifteen minutes for. And truly, Bella had been very glad she came with Angela and the guys.

It was so calm despite the rough crashing of the waves on the rocks but a few feet away. Many starfish and tiny fish roamed the area. She even noticed a few sea urchins and thriving corals and cute crabs and mollusks. Then she saw a tiny white-washed coral bone structure under some seaweed. She took that for her sister, after making sure that she wasn't troubling any ocean life.

They had stayed for quite some time until the sun began making its slow and lazy descent onto the horizon. When they had gotten back to the larger group, many appeared to have started on the booze from the igloo that Bella had noticed earlier and some more people had joined. These people were different, their skin was tanned, and had long black hair, a stark contrast from the Forks locals who all shared pale skin and brown or blonde hair collectively. These must have been members of the tribe, she realized. Three of the eight that had joined them, stood off to the side, distant but watching everyone with keen eyes. The remainder, sat around the fire, laughing and talking with those they knew.

It was then that she noticed one familiar figure, whose puppy-eyed look swathed under a blue parka stood out Jacob. Well, more like he noticed her and exaggeratedly waved her down to gesture her over to his side of the campfire. He looked warm and that was more than Bella could say for herself. She very much envied him as she started feeling her nose begin to go numb. Yeah, maybe playing around in the tide pools after such heavy amounts of rain hadn't been the best idea.

"Hey, Bella." Jake grinned wolfishly.

"Jake.." she sniffed, "what are you doing here?"

He chuckled, his cheeks swelling with his boyish grin "you're on my side, remember? I live on the reservation."

"Oh yeah," she recalled, "what are you up to then? I hope it's not underage drinking. I'm the Sheriff's daughter, remember?" She teased, noticing how one of his friends nearby who had obviously been eavesdropping, quickly hide his beer from her sight. She smiled inwardly, she loved watching people squirm when they found out that tidbit of information. Their expressions were always so funny.

Jacob laughed nervously, "Me?! Nope, not at all."

Bella nodded, quite unconvinced, "Uh-huh. Sure." She knew he probably had a sip of a beer at some point.

"Bella!" called from the other side, "you know Jacob?"

The other teenager nodded silently, uncomfortable under the number of eyes that had turned to her upon the prompt from the blonde girl they all knew and loved. Note the sarcasm. Thankfully, Lauren's posse was incomplete that day as Isabel, her tag along wasn't allowed down at the reservation. That didn't make Lauren any more bearable though. But Bella refused to stoop down to her level. Lauren was rude but it didn't mean that Bella had to be as well. She'd leave the confrontation to Beth, who'd always been more headstrong of the two.

"Edward Cullen?" It was one of the three who stood off to the side that had spoken. Bella hadn't noticed that they moved closer to the source of warmth.

Said girl spun around, "Yea, Sam. Do you know him?"

The slightly bulking man glowered darkly, "The Cullens don't come here." And that was the end of that conversation. However, Bella's interest had peaked, and spotted the sun almost nearing the horizon, she made a decision.

"Hey, Jake?"

The seemingly innocent boy responded, not knowing what exactly he was about to get into.

"Walk with me?" The Quileute boy jumped at the chance, almost a bit too eager- it seemed.

And thus, the age-old story began to unfold. And the more that Jake told Bella, the more she began to believe and see the patterns of their abnormal behavior. The next day, when Beth had suggested that they go on a quick hike, what with the weather lifting somewhat, she couldn't resist throwing that theory out.

"The Cullens?" Beth snorted, "You think they're vampires?" She was doubtful. She'd seen a lot in her two lives and assuredly, traces of the existence of mythical creatures was not one of them.

At Bella's nod, Beth's snort turned into a giggle,

"I mean, why not? You've seen how they behave. Have you ever seen them eat a single thing?"

Beth drew quieter. No, she hadn't seen them eat at all actually. But that did not prove that the existence of mythical creatures existed. "Have you seen the school lunches?" And in truth, Forks High wasn't known for its 4-star cafeteria food.

"What are you going to tell me next, Angela's dad can turn into a werewolf?" Trust her sister to have an overactive imagination.

Bella grew frustrated, stomping along, and leaving Beth behind to start giggling again. "Is dad secretly a rainbow unicorn?"

"I'm serious!"


When Beth awoke to the sounds of the birds chirping that following Monday, she knew it was going to be a good day. All things just seemed right with the world. Bella was awake already, breakfast was a good old hearty slice of toast, the truck gave no issues starting and despite the lack of heat originating from the rarely present sun, she relished the meager grey light that is provided. The clouds blocked most of the direct sunlight, of course, Bella had noted that with a frown. But still, it wasn't enough to deter the upbeat mood that Beth had. She hadn't even noticed, in her efforts to sustain that joyful anticipation, that a certain Silver Volvo and its five occupants weren't in school either. Nope, it wasn't until after lunch, arriving early to class with a quick pep in her step that she finally realized with some belatedness- her biology partner wasn't there either! A breath of relief escaped her, fingers unconsciously relaxing on the strap of her bag and her slightly strained smile easing into bliss. Never mind that she would be doing all the work today on her own, she was just happy that she wouldn't have to deal with his inquisitive questions, cryptic comments, and slightly off-putting staring.

No, there would be no confusing Bio partners today at all. And all seemed well, that is until Mr. Banner decided to ruin her day all with a simple question.

"Elizabeth?" He began, eyes focused on a piece of paper he began to cut with an overly large pair of scissors. Beth blinked, her classmates glancing between their teacher and the student as they herded themselves out of the door. Curiosity and whispers ran like wildfire in this town, Beth could only imagine the story they had no doubt already been concocting. "Could I speak to you for a moment?"

'Beth Swan was called back after class, I wonder if she got in trouble'

'Maybe she did something to Edward Cullen'

Shaking her head, she walked over to the teacher's table, sneakers squeaking on the linoleum, "Sir?"

Her teacher smiled slightly, eyes now meeting hers, his index fingering the two sheets of paper he had just separated. "When you were absent last week, I handed out the permission slips for the Seattle Trip on Wednesday. I must have misplaced your copy that I had set aside, but today I made sure to print another." His slightly calloused fingers outstretched, handing her- two? Papers.

"Oh, thank you." Beth nodded, eyebrows pinched in confusion as she took the offered forms.

"I'm sorry you don't have much time to get them signed because of your absence, so I'll need these back by tomorrow at the latest." And with no other explanation, the man began to pack up his bag, the laptop catching slightly on the zipper.

"I'll do my best," Beth muttered, as she understood that Mr. Banner had accidentally given her not one, but two permission slips. It couldn't have been for Bella. Bella didn't take Biology. So it must have been a mistake. "But sir, you gave me two slips." She tried to hand him the extra.

"Oh! Right." The man paused as though he'd forgotten, "Would it be too much to ask that you give Mr. Cullen his slip as well?"

Beth fumbled, head already shaking 'no'. There was no way in hell- "Uh-" But before she could respond, the door to the classroom opened once again as the late bell rang. Students began pouring in, chattering loudly and laughing over one thing or another.

"Well, that will be the next class." Mr. Banner noted, the closing of his zip on the blue laptop bag, bringing an abrupt end to the conversation. And away he went, bypassing the other teacher with a smile and a wave, that had also finally arrived for her class.

Beth's jaw went slack, fingers still outstretched with the second, offending slip of paper between her phalanges, her eyes on the figure of her teacher who she couldn't possibly believe had just so casually forced her to interact with that -that absolute man child!

And the worst part, she realized belatedly, she had no idea where he lived!


"We can just go home," Beth suggested hopefully, for what seemed like the thirtieth time. But Bella's gaze remained stern, lips pursed, hands fiddling absently with the keys that she had already removed from the ignition. People passed the truck here and there, umbrellas opening as the rain finally decided to fall, no trace of the sun at all now. Her mood, Beth mused, shared the same fate. Gone was her previous joy.

She had made the mistake of telling Bella the request her Biology teacher had made of her, still in shock as she tried to rationalize why she SHOULDNT be the one to do such a task. Why were they even absent to begin with? Why did she have to be the one chosen to do such a task? Then Bella, not knowing where the Cullens/Hales lived either, suggested- like the brilliant little sister she was- that they go to the hospital to give the permission slip to Dr. Cullen so that he could give it to his son.

So, she had reasoned, no need to interact with Penny boy at all. Crisis averted.

Or so Bella hoped.

Beth's lips turned down as her fingers pried open the squeaky door so that she could jump out of the stationary vehicle. With one last glance at her sister, she speed-walked toward the hospital sliding doors. Though the coast had been clear on the walk over, she could have sworn she saw a flash of silver in the parking lot. And who else in town had such a fancy, new-looking car? She shook her head free of such thoughts. Maybe it was all in her head. There was no reason to call it down onto herself if that wasn't the case.

Sighing to release some tension, she shivered from the cold blast of air conditioning that they never ceased to pump into the place. And of course, along came the sterile, nose-burning smell of ammonia that she wished she wasn't familiar with. Memories of another life flashed in her mind's eye, but all were brushed away when she finally reached the receptionist's desk where an exhausted blonde nurse with a large amount of paperwork sat, scribbling away. Her jaw worked meticulously before a bright spot of pink grew from her lips to form a bubble.

The loud pop it made, caused the nurse to look up, surveying the room to see if anyone had noticed that she was chewing gum in a most unprofessional way. It was then she noticed Beth.

"Can I help you?" She drawled, and upon deciding that this teenager wasn't worth the wasted gum, continued chewing. Her eyes strayed back to her files, before flipping the page with fingernails that had bright red nail polish chipping away at her cuticles.

Beth's lips pursed and it took all she had in her not to curl her lip in slight disgust, "I need to see Dr. Cullen."

At this, the blonde perked up, eyes looking the most alert they had been throughout the short conversation and assessing Beth in a new light. What could she possibly want with Dr. Cullen?

"It's to do with his son, Edward." She continued, hands already pulling the slightly crushed permission slip. She tried to straighten it out on the counter, without success as the poor thing curled up again.

The nurse was looking disinterested again, but Beth could see that she was still interested in hearing what she had to say. As long as it had something to do with the infamous doctor, it seemed.

Another nurse passed by them, assisting a young child who was in a wheelchair, to carry his IV pole. Beth cleared her throat, brown eyes flickering back to the nurse.

The caregiver's gum popped again, "Dr. Cullen is a very busy man," she started, eyes rolling. Beth's eye twitched, if this lady popped her gum one more time, she was afraid she might lose her cool. "And so am I."

Clearing her throat, the 'teenager' made to lean forwards, "Look, all I want to do is give him a permission slip for a field trip that his son is supposed to go on. Once I do that, I'll be out of your hair."

The nurse looked up, words already forming on her tongue, for what Beth was most sure to guess to be a negative answer. But something in her gaze shifted, and her blue eyes grew wide before she keened over behind the desk and out of view entirely. Beth watched with alarm, as the nurse practically vanished, and she leaned over to get a better view. Had she crawled under the table? What the-

"Ms. Swan," A suave voice called and she spun, recognizing the paper white, pale skin and striking blond hair of Dr. Cullen. He smiled, teeth carefully hidden away as he walked closer.

"Dr. Cullen." Well, that certainly explained why the receptionist nurse disappeared.

An odd noise made her turn back, the nurse emerged and an almost blinding grin that was slightly smudged by a newly applied lipstick resided on the nurse's face, bright pink gum gone along with her barely concealed fatigue. She preened under Dr. Cullen's stare a lock of her heat-damaged hair being twirled with a finger- never mind that his bright smile looked slightly pained now.

"Milicent," Elizabeth snorted quietly. "I'll take it from here."

"Sure thing, Doc!"

Elizabeth cringed, having no qualms with the change in the company. Dr. Cullen was bearable in comparison to Milicent. And wasting no time, she handed the still crumpled paper to the doctor. "Edward's and my biology teacher, Mr. Banner, asked me to give him this permission slip for the trip next week because he was absent today."

"Ah, I was wondering when I would get Edward's to sign."

"Yup," She nodded, "I'm sorry for showing up at your place of work, by the way. I just had no idea where you guys live, so.." she shrugged, awkwardly scratching at her cheek. The yellow-eyed male nodded, smile ever-present and understanding.

"That's perfectly understandable, Elizabeth." He gently folded the paper and placed it into his breast pocket, ID flipping against the seam. Huh. He looked the exact same way on his ID, Beth mused. Normally people looked slightly worse on camera, but she supposed the Cullens might be exceptions to the case. "Thank you," he nodded and made to leave, clipboard clutched in his other hand.

Beth's eyebrows raised. That was it. No questions asked. Just a simple conversation. Why couldn't the doctor's to-the-point nature run in the family? She supposed it might be too much to ask for.

And clearly, having no interaction with Penny boy was also too much to ask for as well. When just out of her periphery, she got an unmistakable glimpse of his signature copper hair, she took off like a torpedo. Straight out the hospital doors, leaping over puddles like an Olympic hurdler and jumping into the car before she sunk down beside an equally frazzled Bella.

"What?-"

"Drive!" Beth hissed, head just barely visible above the door, eyes flashing to and fro, eyelids peeled for any sight of the boy she really didn't like. Her heart was pounding as though she'd been running for her life. And poor Bella could do little else but acquiesce to her demand.


The next day, it had been just like the previous, minus Beth's good mood, for she'd gotten very little sleep thanks to an errant branch from the nearest tree that kept tapping her window and creaking in the middle of the night. Normally she slept like the dead. But it had been the near-miss interaction with the boy she was growing to despise, that had her up in an anxious tizzy. Hence the lack of sleep and hence her even worse mood. So she could hardly be blamed for her reaction following a quick bathroom break after Spanish that day.

The squeak of the heavy door made Beth pause in straightening her clothes.

"Can you believe it?" The all too familiar voice of Lauren Mallory

"Yup." Piped up another voice, undoubtedly Isabel, who surprisingly didn't sound quite as enthused as usual. In fact, the usually giggly girl sounded as though she'd prefer to be anywhere else. Beth couldn't blame her at all, honestly, she was surprised Lauren even had friends who tolerated her shitty behavior.

"Ugh, ever since she and her stupid twin came up they've been such whores. Do you see the way that Bella looks at Mike? Like, hello- he's practically in love with Jess, for Christ's sake!" Beth's hand stilled on the door latch, ears perking up at the word. Leaning to the left slightly, she could see Mallory perfectly in the mirror through the crack in the door, her walls going up defensively as the other girl continued talking. Had Lauren seen her come into the bathroom? Did she know that Beth was there?

"I don't think that's-" But Isabel was interrupted,

"And that bitch, Elizabeth. She's literally the worst one of the pair! I mean, did you see how she humiliated Tyler in the parking lot? Who the fuck do they think she is?" Lauren gave a short laugh then, "You know, she's probably a fucking racist. I wouldn't put it past her, in all honesty."

By this point, Beth was raging. Hands clenched into fists, her eyes glared at the linoleum door in front of her. It was one thing to insult her, but to go so far as to insult Isabella? Isabella who was probably the kindest person she knew, who'd never overstep a boundary that someone had set…? No, that was just asking for war.

Without thought, Beth impulsively threw open the latch and kicked the door open with a bang as it hit the stall next to hers. Both girls by the mirror froze, flinching at the loud noise before spinning around to look at Beth with expressions that could rival that of a toddler found with their hand in a cookie jar.

With a false calmness, she walked forward to turn on the tap, eyes down as she pointedly ignored the two girls who still looked stunned at her sudden appearance. Perhaps Lauren hadn't known she was there after all. Well, either way, it was the perfect opportunity to dish some of her own, well-deserved attitude.

Glancing up sharply, her eyes caught Lauren's immediately. She flashed her hands of water slowly, taking care to deepen her glare as the rage finally began to show.

"I think," Beth began in a deadly calm tone, " that I'm Elizabeth Fucking Swan. Bitch extraordinaire, but not a fucking racist."

She shook her head, "No, not that."

"And as for that comment about my sister," Beth turned to face the disgrace in front of her, "Try looking in the mirror the next time you want to bestow such a title to someone. Then try to gauge where your life is headed. 'Cuz from this angle Lauren, the strip club in Port Angeles looks like it'd suit you much better than Med School."

Beth waited, but the usually blunt girl was silent, seemingly speechless for once in her life. Isabel looked much the same, opening and closing her mouth like a fish.

"And you know what?" Beth began again, walking over to the bathroom door, "I feel sorry for you Lauren. I'm sorry for whatever is going on in your life that would make you so bitter toward everyone around you. Genuinely. I hope you get some help."

And with that, the 121-year-old woman left them, stunned and speechless as though she'd stolen their very voices.