i

IT WAS A WEEK AFTER her first day when she was finally able to see Jacob again. His voice had been bright when she had called him. Her dad had kindly left a little sticky note next to the phone with the Black's phone number chicken-scratched onto it. On her first Saturday of the school year, she dialed and waited for only a single ring for somebody to pick up.

It had been Billy to pick up the phone, and his kind voice had given her a cheery hello. "Hello, Bella! I'm assuming you're calling for Jacob?"

Bella had only chuckled nervously and given the affirmative. She could hear shuffling on the other end and Billy's muffled voice. After another moment, the phone was picked up, and Jacob's sweet voice came over the speaker. "Hey, Bells! What's up?"

Bella happily informed him that she was free for the day, and asked if he wanted to hang out. His response was ecstatic, and she felt her chest warm. He was happy to see her. Who would have ever thought? Bella was excited at the mere thought.

ii

When Bella first entered his garage, she was met with the sight of clutter, and a lot of it. There wasn't any trash, but he clearly hadn't bothered to organize anything. His tools were scattered over most surfaces, and there were oil-covered rags all over the table. However, he had a box of parts that was clearly marked and organized. Bella wondered how he could be so polarized in his methods.

"Why do you have it so messy in here, but you have these parts organized neatly? You'd think you'd be completely organized, and not only some," She said. She wasn't chastising, only curious. She made it clear by tilting her head at him. The boy seemed sheepish.

"I uh, I tend to forget to do certain things, but I really put time into finding and cleaning up those parts, y'know? I can use my tools until they break, but I've only got so much time and money for those parts," He responded as he shuffled to the other side of the garage, looking for something. "I have issues with certain things. Organizing is one of them unless I really care about it. I don't have a lot of other hobbies though, so I guess it's ok. You should avoid my room though, haha."

His voice tapered off as he picked up what he was looking for; a folding chair that looked underused. He pulled it next to where the car covered in the tarp was and unfolded it. He gave her a shy look and gestured at it. "You can sit if you want. I'm gonna grab a few things, and then show you my special project."

Before Bella could really respond to him, he took off back to the small house. She decided to look around the garage, although she didn't poke into anything. A table in the back had a few small knives and some wood; she figured it was for wood carving. Sitting on the same table was a set of tools- basic wrenches and the like- that looked well taken care of. They weren't super clean, but they were looked after. Bella decided that this is the set he used the most because a clean tool was easier to use than a dirty one.

As she finally plopped herself into the folding chair, Jacob came bounding back into the garage. In his large hands were two small orange sodas- they looked so small in his grip- and a clean rag.

"Sorry!" He wasn't out of breath despite the sprint he had made back from the house, and Bella felt a little jealous. She got tired physically pretty quickly. She blamed it on the anemia. "Had to grab some refreshments, and a clean rag. Can't clean my beaut' with a dirty one."

His large form towered behind the chair for only a second as he handed her her soda. It was warm to the touch. He had grabbed the drinks straight from the cabinet. He grinned at her and then set his drink down on the table with the clean tools. He looked at her, wiggling his dark brows at her with a wide grin, and pulled back the tarp.

"This is my project car. Saved her from one of my crazy neighbors that was just gonna junk it. Paid a whole five bucks for it," he said, pride in his voice. "Guy didn't want it, and neither does Dad. But it's my car and my money. What's he gonna do about it? Plus, it's not like he's the one working on it, and he isn't using the garage."Jacob's tone wasn't angry or anything like that, so it was clear that he mostly joking. Bella was glad that he wasn't upset about his dad's opinion of the car. The boy deserved to be happy and a little carefree.

Bella looked over at the car, not unimpressed, but not super impressed either. He got it cheap, and he clearly loved it. Who was she to judge it? Not to mention, he was extremely talented to be working on, and actually fixing, his own car. The car was a dark red color, but other than that she wasn't sure what it was on sight.

"It's a 1981 VW Rabbit. Not super roomy, especially for me," He said gesturing at himself. He was big, and the car wasn't. "But, I'm happy with it, you know? I've been getting the parts from the shop and from the junkyard. There's a lot to salvage there, and it's been helpful."

Jacob walked around the front of it and propped open the hood. "I'm almost done. Should only have a couple more major things to fix up, and it will be drivable." His voice was slightly muffled with his torso bent over the car. Bella could see a bit of his face from where she was sitting. He had a look of pure concentration. It was a happy expression, and Bella decided she liked it on him. He seemed so perfectly in his element as he pulled a tool from the table, and began to tinker with the engine.

It was these moments that solidified how much she was thankful for him as a friend. They were comfortable just being in each other's presence. They'd idly talk about this and that and do their own things. She'd often pull out her homework as he tinkered with the car. Perfectly coexisting.

iii

Bella was into her second week, it was Thursday, at lunch, when Jessica tapped her arm. "Bella," she whispered to her, so unlike how she normally spoke. "Look."

Bella looked in the direction of Jessica's pointed finger and shivered. In walked a group of four students, all of whom looked unearthly. They were unnaturally pale. They had looks of pure boredom on their faces, and they secluded themselves at one table.

"That's the Cullen's. They're all adopted by Dr. Cullen, and they all miss a lot of school." Jessica was staring along with Bella, but only for a moment before she put her attention back on her food. "They're actually two couples and there is another sibling. He's rarely here, and he broods even more than the rest of them."

Bella was caught staring at one of the teenagers at the table. She could feel it the moment he looked at her. A shiver, primal in nature, (she felt a deep instinctual fear tingle the back of her brain as it happened), ran down her spine. His eyes locked onto hers and the small girl at his side with a short, black, bobbed haircut, caught his stare, and also looked at Bella. Almost immediately Bella darted her eyes away. For the rest of her lunch, she could only think of the dangerous look in the eyes of the boy.