(New Chapter! I hope you like it! I'm still not 100% set on who I want to match Dani with later on in the story, but I know for sure I want it to be one of the werewolves since it might make an interesting contrast between her and Bella. Sorry I take so long with updating. I own nothing but my OC.)
...
Hi, this is Leah Clearwater. Leave me a message and I'll get back to you. *beep*
Ugh! Come on Leah! Answer your phone! Dani groaned, tossing her cellphone aside on the couch where she was doing her homework on the coffee table in order to give Bella some privacy after she had finally confided to her about what Edward had done to upset her earlier.
If Danielle was being honest, it was bothering her almost as much as it did Bella since Edward Cullen while odd had never been openly hostile to her or anyone else before.
What could her twin sister, mild-mannered and socially awkward Bella Swan possibly have done during a one hour long Biology class that ticked a guy off so badly he would try to switch to a different class in order to avoid her?
It makes no sense...Dani thought silently to herself, almost starting to feel angry about the whole thing as she reached for her phone again.
Just as she was about to redial her friend's number, the screen lit up with Leah Clearwater's name and she scrambled to hit the answer button.
"Leah! Hey! Sorry to bother you. Are you busy right now?" Dani asked, quickly putting her phone to her ear.
"Nah I just got home and Seth is at soccer practice. What's up? You sound really riled up. Are you all right?" Leah asked, a bit of concern showing in her voice.
Dani sighed. "Yeah I'm fine..." She glanced over her shoulder towards the stairs that led up to the bedrooms before continuing. "I need some advice. You remember Edward Cullen?" She asked, frowning as she bent over her history notes.
"Yeeah, he's the pale kid who moved into Forks a couple years ago. What about him? Wait...did he ask you out?" Leah asked, her tone switching from concern to amusement almost instantly.
Dani felt her cheeks burn. "What? No! God! Why would he...? Never mind, it's about my sister Bella. According to what she told me, she didn't do anything other than sit next to him in Biology and he flat out recoiled from her like she smelled like a bag of skunks." Dani confided, knowing she could trust Leah despite how sarcastic she could be sometimes.
"What a grade A weirdo." Leah muttered. Dani bit her lip. "I know, but that's not the worst part. At the end of school, Bella had to turn in her attendance sheet at the main office since, you know, she's a new student and apparently Edward Cullen was in there vehemently trying to switch out of Biology II."
"Wow really?" Leah's tone turned into confusion. Dani nodded her head. "Yes. I wasn't in there with her, but I was outside when he stormed out and almost knocked over my violin. I'm telling you Leah, I've never seen anyone so mad before and since Bella really isn't the best at lying I know she didn't do anything to cause this."
Leah sighed and Dani heard a noise that sounded like bed springs creaking as if she'd just flopped over on her bed. "Well that's just great."
"What do I do? I mean...I can't exactly just confront the guy. He's a good head taller than I am and besides Dad really respects Dr. Cullen. He probably won't take it well if I antagonize Edward just for being angry for no reason." Dani sighed and laid down her pencil.
Leah sighed too. "I think the only thing you can do is keep an eye on her and him as much as you can and make sure this doesn't escalate to something worse. Do you have any classes with both of them?"
Dani shook her head. "No. I just have gym class with Bella." She frowned and glared at her homework as if it were part of the problem.
"Well just do the best you can then and be ready to do some damage control. If your sister's even half as sensitive as you are, she's going to need all the support she can get." Leah advised, making Dani half smile.
"I think Bella's ten times worse than I am, but thanks. I'll try my best. I'm kind of new to this whole protective big sister thing you know? Even if I am only older by a few minutes." She retorted, bending over her homework again as she heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.
"I'm sure you'll do great Dani. You are learning from the best after all." Leah said smugly, making Dani roll her eyes while laughing.
"Of course. So how are you doing? You know with the whole..." She started and trailed off, not wanting to mention Leah's ex by name, but unsure of how else to phrase her question.
There was a long pause, then Dani heard a sigh.
"Fine...I mean I guess it helps that he's graduated and doesn't come around anymore, but Emily's a different story. I mean I know this isn't her fault really and she wants to make things better, but...sometimes just seeing her makes me want to scream and cry all over again you know?" Leah confided, making Dani's heart ache for her friend.
"Yeah I get it, but I'm glad you're doing better. I was really worried for awhile that you might never get over it since...I knew how much Sam meant to you. I think Seth was worried too." She bit her lip, thinking back to those first few months following Leah's break up with her boyfriend of nearly two years.
In fact it had been only a few weeks now, since Leah stopped shutting everyone out and started answering Dani's phone calls again.
"Yeah. Thanks, but enough about my sad life. You keep me posted about your sister and that Cullen guy okay? If there's one thing I learned after Sam dumped me, it's that us girls really need to stick together." Leah chuckled.
Dani nodded her head. "For sure. I'll see you on Saturday at Billy's Birthday Party. You'll get to meet my twin sister then." She smiled."Jake's been wanting me to bring her down to the Rez sometime and I figure the party is as good an excuse as any to introduce her to everyone."
She chuckled and lay back against the back of couch as she heard the sound of the refrigerator being opened.
"Riiight...cause Jake is asking." Leah said in a teasing tone, making Dani roll her eyes again. "Leah, knock it off."
"What? I'm not the only one who sees how you two are. You and Jake are the only ones who don't see it." Leah retorted. Dani groaned. "Bye Leah." She muttered, pressing the hang up button before tossing her phone back across the couch.
"Hey...do you mind if I make dinner tonight? I was thinking Charlie might like some beef fajitas." Bella offered from the kitchen doorway, attempting to sound cheerful.
Dani turned and shrugged. "Sure! I don't mind, although you really need to stop calling Dad by his name. You know he doesn't like that." She couldn't help adding.
Bella clenched her jaw slightly then turned to go back into the kitchen. "Right. I'll work on that." She mumbled opening the refrigerator again and taking out some ingredients.
Dani started to scribble in another answer on her worksheet when the screen of her phone lit up with a new text message.
Leah Clearwater
You know I'm right. XP
...
"Bella! Seriously stop staring! He's not here!" Dani hissed, jabbing Bella in the arm to get her attention as they sat together with Angela and Jessica again at lunch.
This time Mike Newton had briefly joined them as well much to Bella's discomfort since he seemed really interested in her and didn't seem to notice how much Jess seemed to resent the attention he was giving her.
Fortunately for Bella, Mike soon left to join another table with a few of his friends though he still occasionally glanced back over at the girls' table where Bella was sitting.
Reluctantly, Bella turned away from the Cullen table which apart from Edward's absence seemed perfectly normal. Or as normal as the Cullens could be.
Dani knew that she should have felt relieved when they arrived at school earlier that day and didn't see Edward with his sibilngs walking up from the Volvo they all always rode, but instead she felt irritated and it didn't help that Bella seemed to be looking for him everywhere.
"He's absent because of me. I just know it." Bella whispered, pretending to stir together the pasta on her plate. Dani shook her head.
"No he's not." She retorted, not completely buying into her own words. It was just way too convenient, Edward not showing up after that completely bizarre display of rage Dani had witnessed at the administrative office yesterday.
Bizarre and annoying.
"Yeah the Cullens always take random days off. Apparently Dr. Cullen likes to take them on family camping trips." Angela put in cheerfully and though Bella gave her a weak appreciative smile in return, Dani could tell she was not satisfied with this answer.
"And anyway, we should be talking about Prom right now. It's coming up." Jessica added. Angela grinned.
"Yeah except Danielle doesn't care beans about the school dances. She never does." She added in a bit cheekily. Dani shrugged her shoulders. "That's cause they're a waste of time, Ange." She responded with a light laugh.
"Seriously." Bella murmured in agreement. "Especially when you can't dance."
"Or if there's no one worth dancing with." Danielle added. The sisters exchanged grins.
"Says you two." Jess put in. "I already know who I'm asking." She grinned, looking over at Mike who in turn had his eyes obliviously on Bella.
Dani stifled her giggles at the barely concealed annoyance that crossed Jessica's face then. "Me too." Angela added. "You should go too, Dani. Prom is like a rite of passage. Just ask one of those Rez boys to be your date." She tried to suggest.
Dani sighed. "Angela I already told you, they're my friends it would be...weird. You know that." She shook her head. "Besides I already have plans for that day." She said, averting her gaze back to her lunch as Jessica and Angela laughed at how quickly she said that.
"Right sure. Plans. What about you Bella? I mean, I know this is only your second day of school, but is there anyone you have in mind to ask to the dance?" Jess asked.
Bella blushed deeply and ducked her head like Dani did. "Uh no...I don't really...dance." She glanced at Dani then poked her fork at at the pasta on her plate.
"Well you guys can still come shopping with us in Port Angelos and help us pick out dresses." Angela put in hopefully. "I saw one at Bebe I'm dying to try on." She said dreamily.
Bella and Dani exchanged glances then both managed a smile. "Sure. Text me with the dets." Dani agreed, usually up for shopping with Angela even when she never ended up buying anything. She turned in Bella's direction to see her scowling at her a bit.
Dani giggled and added impishly. "I know Bella is just dying for her first shopping trip in Port Angelos." She joked, making Angela and Jessica laugh just as the bell rang.
"There's the bell." Bella snapped softly, grabbing up her tray from the table so quickly, she spilled some of her milk on her sweater.
Dani rolled her eyes and got up to follow her. "Bella come on. You're not that mad are you?" She asked once she had caught up to her Twin.
"I only said you'd go too because I thought it might help you forget about...him." She said with some hesitation before the last word.
Bella dumped her tray in the trash and shoved her hands into the pockets of her hoodie before heading out of the cafetaria ahead of the other students who were just behind them.
"But you know I hate shopping." She said with gritted teeth still glaring at her sister. "And I'm already dreading going to that party tomorrow." Dani shook her head.
"You don't hate book shopping and there's this real neat discount bookstore near the mall where we're going. I'm sure I could convince at least Angela to let us swing by after they pick out their dresses or whatever." She argued before softening her expression.
"Besides this and the beach barbecue party tomorrow could be good opportunities for you to try to make some friends. Jess is a little boy crazy, but she can be cool to hang out with. Angela is really awesome and I guarantee you're going to love most of the Rez kids. Especially Jake. He's really cool when he's not being a joker." Dani enthused.
Bella slowed her pace then and bit her lip as if she were considering. "Well...there is this book I've been wanting to get." She said at last.
Dani grinned. "Great! I'll see you in gym then!" She turned quickly on her heel to make a run for her locker.
Bella watched her go with a shake of her head. "Yeah see ya." She started to turn towards Biology with sigh.
...
"Bella! Dani! Come on Girls! We're going to be late!" Charlie called up the stairs, sighing as he checked his watch again for what seemed like the 50th time.
Danielle appeared at the top of the stairs first with her violin case in her hand and wearing a pink cardigan over a white shirt with denim capris. She had only the top part of her hair pulled back from her face in a small neatly tied ponytail.
Bella followed more slowly behind her with her hair pulled all the way up in a medium height ponytail, a lilac sweater over a gray shirt and long light blue jeans that ended just at the ankle line.
"Coming Dad! Sorry, Bella needed some more convincing about tonight." Dani apologized giving her sister a playful look which she returned with an mildly irritated one.
"Just tell me how many people are going to be at this party!" She protested, shoving her hands into the pockets of her sweater.
Charlie chuckled. "Well Harry Clearwater only invited four families including ours to the party, but since the La Push reservation is so tight knit, other people often invite themselves to these sorts of things too so it's hard to say exactly how many folks will be there tonight." He answered the question for Danielle.
Bella's face fell. "Great.."
"Oh stop it already! It's going to be fun. Trust me. It's a beach party! What could be more fun than that?" Danielle retorted, walking past her sister and her Dad to get outside.
Bella sighed and hunched her shoulders a little in nervousness.
"You'll be fine Bella. Now come on! Before the boys eat all the barbecue." Dad put his arm around Bella's shoulders and lightly pushed her towards the front door.
Bella managed a chuckle at this and obediently shuffled outside to get into the car. At least it's not raining today. She noted, glancing up at the still cloudy sky.
...
"Hey! Happy Birthday old timer! Save some of the grub for me?" Charlie said with a laugh as he greeted his oldest and best friend upon arriving on the second beach of La Push with Bella and Danielle walking up behind him.
Billy chuckled and sat forward in his wheelchair a bit as Charlie set a medium sized parcel on his lap.
"Well thank you. And of course there's enough food. Although you might have to fight Jacob for the pork ribs. I've already had to stop him twice from sneaking some off the grilll." Billy joked, picking up the gift and turning his head to glance towards where the fire pit and grill were flaming and sending the rich mouth watering aroma of cooking meat across the beach.
"Typical." Danielle giggled and her Dad laughed too.
"Yeah well that's fine with me. You remember my daughter Bella right? Danielle's twin?" He turned and motioned towards his younger daughter who was trailing several steps behind Danielle.
Billy set the package back down on his lap and peered around Charlie's shoulder. "Oh yeah. You used to bring her around with Dani for our fishing trips back in the day." He smiled warmly as Bella slowly approached him.
Danielle skipped forward. "Happy Birthday Billy. Like I promised, I have a special gift for you this year." She held up her violin case before setting it down on the sand by her feet so she could give her best friend's Dad a hug.
Billy returned her embrace. "Yes! Finally I get my very own concert. It's about time." He chuckled, glancing at Charlie who shrugged and glanced back at the barbecue again.
Dani straightened her posture and pushed her hair behind her shoulder. "Yeah well, I didn't want to play just anything for you. I hope you'll like it." She beamed and bounced up on her toes a little.
"Oh I'm sure I will." Billy responded before glancing towards Bella again. "Now who's your clone?" He joked. Dani laughed a bit stiffly this time and turned to wave her sister over.
"Bella, come here. This is Billy Black. He's my friend Jacob's Dad and the Birthday Man." She introduced, getting a shy half smile from Bella in return.
"It's nice to meet you." She said quietly, smiling warmly as she shakily offered her hand to Billy.
Billy smiled back at her and gave her hand a gentle shake. "It's nice to see you too Bella. Thanks for coming to the party. I'm sure your sister here can get you quickly acquainted with everyone in no time. She's good friends with most of the Rez kids as she's probably told you already."
Bella blushed again and nodded her head. "Yeah, I guess so." She glanced at Danielle for a moment before looking down at her feet.
"Well! I'm going to go see if they need any help with the barbecue. You girls have fun." Charlie turned to jog over to the fire pit and Dani shook her head after him.
"By help, he means sneak first bites of the food." She muttered under breath, bending to pick up her violin again. Bella chuckled a bit at this and Dani started to laugh with her when she suddenly felt herself being grabbed around the legs and hoisted swiftly into the air.
Dani let out a shriek as her fingers fell away from her instrument and she landed semi-roughly against someone's broad, lightly muscled shoulder with the top half of her body hanging halfway down their back.
"Jake!" She squealed upon realizing who had grabbed her. "Put me down!" She beat lightly on his back with her fists, but Jacob only laughed and jogged faster towards the water which was lapping fairly gently against the shoreline.
From her position over his shoulder, Dani could see Billy trying hard not to laugh at them while Bella looked a mixture between surprised and slightly amused at the situation.
Dani groaned. "Jake don't! The water's probably freezing!" She protested as her friend started to slow his pace upon reaching the water.
Dani flinched when some of it splashed in her face.
"What's the matter Dani? Don't you trust me?...Whoops!" Jake asked, still laughing as he pretended to almost lose his balance.
Dani screamed again and grabbed at the back of Jake's t-shirt. "Not funny!" She protested once she got her bearings again. "Jacob, put me down or I'll..I'll..." She fumbled for words and coughed as a strand of Jake's long black hair blew into her face.
"Or you'll what?" Jacob challenged still holding her tightly by the legs like a sack of potatoes.
Dani carefully pushed herself upwards a little a bit, narrowing her eyes as she heard the sounds of her other friends laughing at them across the beach. "Or I'll make sure you go down with me Jacob Ephraim Black!" She threatened, staring at the waves while pushing her hand down against Jacob's shoulder blade.
Jake looked across the ocean and sighed. "Fine! Geez!" He conceded and gently dropped Dani back on her feet. Danielle gasped when the water splashed at her ankles as she landed.
"I hate you." She muttered, fixing her clothes and her hair as a seagull scrawked overhead.
Jake chuckled softly at that and crossed his arms. "No you don't." He grinned, taking a couple steps closer to her.
Danielle back up one step. "Yes I do!" She insisted, though she was smiling too by now. Jake sighed.
"Come on Dani, I was just playing. You know, trying to keep you on your toes. I wasn't really going to dunk you in that icy water." He took another step forward and reached to brush a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, still smiling as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Not...all the way anyway." He added teasingly. Dani shot him a look.
"Ha ha. You know just for that, I'm not going to come up here for your soccer playoff game anymore." Dani turned to walk away from Jake, covering her mouth to hide her giggles as she headed back in the direction of the party.
"Dani! I was joking! How about if I make it up to you by picking you first for my team when we play tonight?" Jake protested, taking long strides across the beach and easily catching up to her.
Dani stopped walking and let her hand fall away from her mouth. "But..you always pick me first Jacob." She reminded him with a slight smirk. Jake chuckled. "Oh..right." He scratched his head.
Danielle grinned wider and turned on her heel so that she was facing Jake. "Tell you what. I'll forgive you for almost dropping me in the ocean if you let me have half of your fries at dinner." She crossed her arms.
Jake laughed.
"But you always eat more than half of my fries whenever you come to a barbecue." He retorted. Dani inclined her head to the side.
"Well this time you can't move your plate away or try to push me off my chair until I've had at least half of your fries." She responded coyly. Jake laughed some more.
"All right then." He sighed and held out his hand. "Shall we shake on it?"
Dani nodded and took his hand.
"Jacob! Dani! Come on! Food's ready!" Billy called from the barbecue area where everyone except the two of them were gathered now.
Jake grinned at the mention of food and turned to give Dani another sneaky smile. "First one to the barbecue pit gets double portion!" He yelled before taking off across the beach.
Dani laughed and tore across the sand after him.
...
"Well! It's about time you two got here. We're all out of food now." Embry joked, hastily trying to hide the tray of barbecue meat behind his back.
Jake rolled his eyes and reached behind him to grab a drumstick. "Nice try Dude. Give it here." He stuck the drumstick between his teeth and grabbed the meat tray from his friend.
Laughing, Embry ducked under Jake's arm and retreated back to his own seat, a pork rib clenched between his teeth.
Dani sighed and went to grab a plate for herself. "Well if the food really was gone I would have blamed you for it, Jake." She said in a half joking half serious tone of voice as Sue Clearwater served her some coleslaw.
Jake laughed and hurried to fix himself a plate, taking the drumstick out of his mouth.
"You know you love me." He retorted leaning over to serve himself some macaroni and cheese. Danielle shook her head as she reached for a chicken drumstick.
"Lord knows why." She sighed, smirking slightly at Jacob before turning to look for Bella.
"Oh ho! Buuurn!" Embry hooted from his spot near his Mom and one of his other friends Quil while Jake pretended to be busy grabbing french fries.
Laughing at their reactions, Dani hurried to where Bella was sitting next to Billy and their Dad and sat down on the edge of the blanket, just as Jacob caught up to her.
Dani turned as he plopped down on her right and snatched a french fry off of his plate. "You two arguing like an old married couple again?" Dad asked, making Dani blush.
Bella smirked and dropped her gaze back to the chips on her plate.
"No. Jake's just being a pain in the butt as usual." Dani shrugged, helping herself to another fry before reaching for her drumstick.
"Actually Dani can't take a joke." Jake retorted, picking up his rib and tearing off some of the meat with his teeth.
Charlie sighed and gave Bella a helpless look as Jake tossed another french fry into Dani's hand. "You get used to this after a while. Billy and I still have an ongoing bet about who's going to fall for the other first." He muttered earning an eye roll from his other daughter and a sigh from Jacob.
"Oh really?" Bella was amused. Too amused in Dani's mind. "Okay, you know what? I'm going to go sit with Leah." Danielle stood up, grabbing her plate with both hands.
Leah grinned when she spotted her walking over. "You look like you're having the time of your life." She said, scooting over so that her friend could sit next to her.
Danielle shrugged. "Oh yes. Definitely." She said sarcastically, sitting down and picking up her drumstick again.
Leah raised an eyebrow then turned her head towards where Bella, Jacob, Billy and Charlie were still sitting and enjoying their food.
"So is that your sister then?" Leah asked and Danielle nodded, turning briefly to look back in their direction.
"Yup. That's Bella. I'll introduce you after we eat." She offered, smiling as she set the chicken bone down on her plate before reaching for her fork.
"It looks like Jacob's getting a head start on that." Leah remarked, biting into her own drumstick.
Dani looked up just as the sound of Jake's laugh echoed across the area to her. He and Bella had scooted a little closer towards each other since Dani had left and they seemed to be engaged in a conversation.
Dani swallowed a forkful of mac and cheese before responding. "Good. It's about time she started relaxing and tried to make some friends." She gave a half smile.
Leah gave her a questioning look. "You're not worried that she might...you know, steal your thunder?" She asked, leaning back in her seat.
Dani shook her head. "There's no thunder to steal. Besides I'm glad that she finally seems to be having fun. You should see her at school Leah. She doesn't talk to Jess and Angela like this at lunch." She finished up her mac and cheese and started on her salad.
Leah shrugged. "Well it is Jacob. He could talk to a tree and it would want to be his friend." She smirked, getting up with her plate.
Dani giggled and got up to follow her, picking up her own plate. "Sooo...any update on the whole Cullen situation?" Leah asked as she and Dani grabbed some of Sue Clearwater's famous chocolate chip cookies near the end of the buffet table.
Dani sighed. "No. He was absent yesterday. I asked his sister Alice if he was sick or something, but she just said their Dad pulled him for a few days for an emergency." She shrugged and bit into a cookie .
Leah frowned. "What kind of emergency?"
"Don't know. She wouldn't say. Honestly I wouldn't care so much if it weren't for the fact that Bella was really upset because of him Thursday." Dani shrugged and turned away from the "buffet table".
Leah followed. "Well, remember to text me as soon as you find out what was up with that weirdo. If there's one thing I really can't stand these days, its a grade A jerk with a stick up their butt." Her words ended in a bit of snarl scaring Dani so much, she jumped back a bit almost dropping the rest of her cookie.
"Will do." She managed to respond, laughing nervously just as Harry Clearwater stood from his chair and called for attention.
"Attention! Attention everyone! I'd like to a propose a toast for my good friend Billy Black the Birthday Man." Leah's Dad raised his plastic glass with a wide grin on his aging face.
"I hope to celebrate more birthdays with you Billy...especially since this barbecue is so good!" Harry joked inciting the laughter of the other attendees at the party.
Leah and Danielle exchanged wry grins with each other. "But in all seriousness," Harry raised his glass even higher in the air. Leah quickly turned and grabbed two unused plastic cups.
"Here's to many more, my Friend." Harry continued as Leah finished pouring ginger ale into the cups and offered one to Dani.
Smiling gratefully at her friend, Dani took the cup and quickly joined in with the rest of the party guests, beaming over at Billy Black over the glow of the bonfire.
Leah did the same. "Happy Birthday!" Harry finished. The others echoed his cheer before simultaneously drinking from their own respective cups.
Dani downed half of the contents of her own cup before turning to set it own on the table behind her. Leah started to do the same when Jacob suddenly ran up, a balled up napkin in his hands.
"Hey Guys! Quil, Embry and Seth have agreed to play us again. I asked Bella if she wanted to join in, but she said no. She's really nice though. Your sister." Jake shrugged one shoulder, turning to shoot Danielle a grin which she returned with a helpless shrug of her own.
"Yes well, it doesn't surprise me that she doesn't want to play. You should see her in gym class." She smirked and exchanged glances with Leah before continuing.
"Tell Embry we're in, but only after I play my violin for your Dad." She turned to set her plate down.
Jake chuckled. "All right fine by me. Here." He pressed the napkin wad into her hands. Dani looked down at the napkin and raised an eyebrow.
"What's this?" Jake shrugged his shoulders again.
"Half of my fries. Enjoy!" He saluted her then jogged off to talk to Embry, Quil and Seth who were already passing a soccer ball around a few feet away from the barbecue area.
Dani smiled slightly after his quickly retreating figure before opening up the wadded up napkin to discover her prize.
"Oop! Heads up!" Embry shouted suddenly just before the soccer ball came flying through the air knocking the french fries from Dani's hand straight into the sand.
Dani gaped at the ground for a moment before looking up across the beach to where Embry stood shifting his weight from one foot to the other while Jake, Seth and Quil began to hoot and laugh loudly.
"Sorry!...Sorry Dani!" He shouted with a hand cupped around his mouth.
"Oh he's done it now." Leah smirked crossing her arms. Dani grinned too and toed the soccer ball with her right foot. Glancing across the picnic area she made eye contact with Bella who gave her an amused yet questioning look in return.
"Leah? Tell Billy I'll be right back." Danielle spoke without turning to glance at her friend. Without waiting for Leah to respond, Dani began to dribble the ball across the beach to where the boys stood.
...
"All right Girls! Let's go!...Dani! Stop that and help Bella get our things!" Charlie called over to his daughters, shaking his head ruefully at Danielle when he caught her shoving a handful of wet sand down the back of Jacob's shirt as a sort of revenge for him deliberately picking her up a few minutes ago to prevent her from scoring a goal on his team.
Nodding at him, Dani quicky dusted her hands off and waved goodbye to her friends before jogging back across the beach to where Bella stood awkwardly trying to fold up a beach chair.
Hearing her run up, Bella looked up and started to smile relieved to see Dani until she straightened her posture and wound up getting her finger slightly pinched in the hinge of the chair.
Dani startled when she saw her wince and hiss a bit in pain, but then she chuckled when Bella brought her sore finger to her lips. "Are you all right?" She asked, unable to keep her amusement out of her voice as Bella turned and gave her a narrowed eyed look in response, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
"I'm great. Who won the game?" She asked hastily trying to divert attention from herself by nodding back to where the boys were, still kicking around the soccer ball despite the fact that it was getting darker by the second.
Dani shook her head and bent to help Bella get the chairs. "No one. Although we totally would have won if Jake hadn't cheated." She rolled her eyes and paused to flick a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.
Bella snorted softly at this. "Yeah, I saw the whole thing. You two really seem to like each other. You and Jacob I mean." She shrugged awkwardly, still looking in the direction of the boys.
Dani paused a bit to glance at her twin. "If by like, you mean we like to make each other's lives hard then yes." She said with a slightly impish grin as she managed to get one chair folded up.
Now it was Bella's turn to roll her eyes. "That's not what I meant Dani and you know it. Didn't you see the way he was looking at you while you played your violin for Billy? I did." She said insistantly.
Dani shook her head. "It's not like that. Jake is my best friend Bella. We've known each other since like...forever. Almost grew up together really." She shrugged and reached for her violin case.
"Anyway I saw the way you were looking at him too. During dinner?" Dani teased making Bella blush again, but this time out of indignance.
"That was nothing." She said quickly, bending to pick up one of the folding chairs.
"Uh huh. Sure." Dani continued to tease her sister, picking up the other folding chair. "You really should have played with us Bella. It would have been really fun." She smiled more genuinely than teasingly now.
Bella shot her sister with a pointed look. "Yeah...all fun and games until I give someone a bloody nose or a black eye." She huffed, walking a little ahead of Danielle towards the car where their Dad was, talking with Billy.
Dani rolled her eyes. "Oh stop being dramatic. Mike didn't even bruise when you got him with the volleyball in gym class. You may be clumsier than a three-legged horse, but you're definitely not as strong as one." She retorted.
Bella gave her a dirty look. "Well maybe my clumsiness is what repelled Edward Cullen!" She said suddenly without thinking about what she said.
When she did realize it, she blushed and Dani froze for a minute before letting out an exasperated groan.
"Oh my God! Bella-."
"Hey Girls! Thanks again for coming down. I look forward to getting another personal concert again Dani." Billy joked, grinning as he wheeled over to the girls.
Danielle just shook her head at his joke and smiled back at the man, carefully leaned the folding chair against the side of the car as her Dad moved to unlock and open the trunk.
"Well you could just come down to Forks for my orchestra concert next weekend. Our spring performance is coming up." She beamed a bit as Bella hung awkwardly at her side.
Billy's smile turned more genuine. "I'll be sure to save the date. Have a good night Danielle. You too Bella. It was nice seeing you again." He nodded at Bella before rolling off to help the others clean up the rest of the barbecue party, waving at Charlie on his way.
"Bye Billy!" Dani waved while Bella only nodded, forcing on a brighter smile as Charlie shut the trunk door with a satisfying thunk.
"Goodnight Billy! Come on Girls." He motioned for the twins to get into the back seats and the girls complied, Dani securing her violin case on the floor of the car before climbing beside her sister who was awkwardly fiddling with her seatbelt.
"So!...Did you girls have fun?" Charlie asked lightly as he pulled out from the beach and back to the road that led out of the reservation.
Dani shrugged. "As much fun as I usually do at the Rez. You Bella?" She asked, glancing over in her sister's direction to see her pointedly staring out the window.
"I uh...I guess I had fun." Bella said after a moment. "The food was good anyway." She shrugged and Dani stifled a giggle.
"That it was." Charlie stretched awkwardly before bending back over the steering wheel. "You really should have hung around more with the kids though, Bella. They're all really good kids. Even the boys." He added on.
Bella blushed a little self consciously. "Yeah sure." She said softly, unsure of what else to say. Dani lightly nudged her in the leg with her knee and smiled at her reassuringly to break up the awkwardness.
"Don't worry Dad. I'm coming back soon to hang out with Leah. I'll be sure to bring Bella along then." She grinned and Bella gave her a look that was a mix between wariness and gratefulness.
"Good!" Charlie seemed satisfied as he pulled up at the first stop light.
"Plus, Angela and Jessica invited us to go shopping this week for Prom in Port Angelos." Dani added,
"Prom? Since when were you interested in going to Prom?" Charlie asked, furrowing his brow as he peeked through the rearview mirror at his daughters.
Danielle shrugged. "I'm not, but I told Angela I'd go with her and Jess to help them pick out dresses and plus I told Bella I'd show her that bookstore later that's on the same street. You know, just trying to help my sister assimilate here." She smiled again and gave Bella another nudge with her knee.
"And get her mind off of a certain pale kid." She said low enough so that her Dad wouldn't hear though Bella did.
Bella nudged her back a little more roughly in retaliation. "Shut up!" She hissed back indignantly.
"What was that?" Charlie asked, taking another look through the rearview mirror. Bella blushed some more and turned pointedly back towards the window while Dani faced forward, lightly rubbing her knee where her sister had jabbed her.
"Nothing Dad." She said casually, crossing her legs as reached another intersection. "Nothing at all."
...
