Chapter 2: Close your eyes and breathe

Dad met me at the airport once again, "You don't have to do this Lynn. No one is forcing you to complete your senior year here." He piled my suitcases in the trunk, "I know how hard you've worked to get into that art school." I couldn't complain, I couldn't bitch to my dad about how much I didn't want to do this. I couldn't tell him that the only thing I wanted to do was go back to California and take the lead in Swan Lake. All I could do was nod because this was my decision. As much as I loved ballet, I loved my sister more.

"I know dad, everything will work out."

It only took a few hours for me to completely unpack. I tapped up new pictures on my wall: me and Madame La-Laree, me and my dorm mate Ashley, me in the school recital 'The Nutcracker', me holding my acceptance letter to Idyllwild with mom and Phil and Bella. It was Friday, the start of winter break, after that I'd be officially going to school with my sister. Go Spartans. I could hear Bella's truck coming from down the block, it was sturdy. Something she desperately needed. I was sitting in the kitchen; I made dad promise not to tell her I was going to be staying here for good. "Lynn? Are you here yet?" I met my sister half way and hugged her, "I'm here to stay."

"I can't believe you did this for me Lynn, how can I ever thank you enough?" Bella and I were in the kitchen making ice cream sundaes late at night. It was winter break after all. "This is what sisters do for each other." I added extra chocolate syrup to mine; I was never allowed to have foods like this in California. Ballet dancers were always on a strict, healthy food only, diet. We very rarely ever got to have junk food. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad here. We went to bed a few hours later.

"Girls get up! Billy and Jacob are coming over to watch the game." I could hear his voice but it barely registered in my sugar induced sleeping coma. I peeled myself out of bed and blindly searched for the bedroom light. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes I went to bang on the wall to wake Bella up. "ARGH…" I heard in reply. I shrugged, she was awake….I think. I yawned and walked into the bathroom before anyone else could. I looked at my dead face in the mirror. I looked a lot like my sister. We had the same medium height, brown eyes, pale skin, buck teeth, and round face. We had the same arched eyebrows, cupid bow lips, and elven nose; we could be twins if we had the same hair color. My hair color is what generally set me apart, while Bella inherited our father's brown locks, I got grandma Swan's pink strawberry blonde. I was constantly asked if I dyed my hair, my old roommate called it 'faded bubble gum'. You could see hints and shades of blonde, but the pink color stole the show. It was pastel, reminded me of some anime character, and I thought I was going to go grey prematurely. A bonus of ballet was that I got to hide my freaky hair in a bun all the time, it made it less noticeable. Shaking my head, I brushed my teeth, threw my hair in a ballet bun, washed my face, and put a gold hoop in my nose piercing. It was the only other difference between Bella and me.

I could hear Bella stepping into the shower so I started opening and closing drawers to find something to wear. I sat on my bed and tried to keep my eyes open, I guess there was a reason Madame La-Laree didn't let us have junk food. It gave you one hell of a crash. The clock read 11:02; I don't think I've slept that late since seventh grade. I shimmied into a pair of light wash skinny jeans and was careful to avoid my bun when I slid a black oversized sweater over my head. I dug out my sparkly silver ballet flats and headed downstairs to make coffee. It was one of my weaknesses.

"Here she is, Lynn come say hi to Billy and Jake, you remember them right?" I was bombarded by three people and they were all in my way of the coffee pot. I put on my stage smile and leaned down to kiss Billy's cheek, "Of course I remember. I loved to push Jacob off the boat." Billy laughed. My dad rubbed his chin, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. You always said he was too close to you." I shrugged, I was an awkward kid and I liked my personal space. I twisted my way between Billy and Charlie to get to the coffee pot, which was thankfully already full.

"You drink coffee?" I held the hot mug in my hand gratefully and looked up at Jake; he was always taller than me. I nodded, "Do you want a cup?"

"You're different from your sister." We had sat down at the kitchen table with coffee mugs in hand. I tilted my head to the side, "How so?" Jacob shook his head, "Not in a bad way, you just seem more….relaxed. You seem more open, lighter." I looked over at my sister, she had come down a few minutes ago and started to cook everyone lunch. I envied her, she was a fantastic cook and I could burn water. I just shrugged; I was used to being compared to my sister. If people were to describe us in terms of weather, well, she was the thunder and lightning and I was just the rain. Jacob seemed to sense my slight discomfort because he started back tracking, "That's not a bad thing. You just seem so innocent and Bella is more…." He trailed off awkwardly.

"Intriguing…" I supplied dully. I tried to pretend that his look of shame didn't bother me. I knew people preferred Bella over me, that wasn't anything new. It was why I pushed so hard to get into Idyllwild, I was tired of hearing 'why aren't you more like your sister' 'Bella can do it, why can't you?' I wanted to be able to be someone outside of who I wasn't compared to my perfect sister. I never resented Bella, it wasn't her fault. But I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want to be more like her. People just liked her. Boys fell over themselves for her. My hair might have set us apart but she was the one who stood out.

Winter break was over in the blink of an eye; Bella was slowly thawing out and coming back to life. Forks High was so vastly different than what I was used to, my only saving grace was the small dance team the school had. There was only one girl on the team I liked, Angela Webber. She was Bella's friend too so I fit seamlessly into her group. While I missed California, Forks wasn't so bad.

January was going on without a hitch until Saturday.

I could feel myself being shaken awake; I knew it couldn't be that early because I never slept past eight because of years of ballet practices. "Lynn wake up, I have an idea…" I had the sudden urge to chuck my pillow at my sister's head. I sat up and saw Bella more alert then I've seen her in weeks.

"What's going on?" She didn't even give me time to get dressed before dragging me out of the house in my tank top and boy shorts. "Jesus…its freezing Bells." I hopped from foot to foot and rubbed my hands up and down my arms to stay warm. She gave me a sheepish smile, "You're going to think I'm crazy but just hear me out okay?" Well this wasn't going to end well.

"Motorcycles? What do you even know about motorcycles?" I shook my head, now back in the house getting dressed for day, listening to my sister's tale of saving them from a junk yard. I put on extra warm jean leggings, an oversize pink hoodie with a pair of ballet shoes emblazoned on the front, and black Uggs. I threw my hair into a sloppy bun, too tired to care.

"Well nothing, but Jacob does, he could help us put them back together." How could I tell her no, when this was the most excited I've seen her in months?

I sat in the cab of the truck on the way down to La Push, my sister was becoming an adrenaline junkie…perfect. Bella was uncoordinated and I couldn't picture her on a motorcycle without hurting herself or someone nearby. I vaguely remembered the small red house that we pulled in front of, it had been years since I've been here on the many fishing trips with our dad. The house hadn't changed all that much, it was a little worse for wear, but it still had the most cozy welcoming feel. I smiled at the flower boxes that Bella and I had helped Sarah plant when we were kids. My sister might have blocked out most memories of being down here, but I hadn't. At one point, I loved being here more than anywhere else in the world. I shook my head, things change.

The smile that Jacob got when he saw my sister was almost sad to see, he looked at her like she hung the moon. My sister looked at him like he was her saving grace, well that couldn't be healthy. I could only see this going one of two ways.

One: My sister uses him to get over Edward and they fall madly in love

Two: My sister uses him to get over Edward and then leaves Jacob when someone else comes along.

I knew my sister. She liked Jacob, maybe she could learn to love him, but no one would ever be Edward. You can't get someone your heart when someone else already has it.

"Wow, scrap metal. Thanks Bella." Jacob teased. "Well I know the best mechanic in town; I figured that we could fix them up." She motioned between the three of us. I'll give Bells one thing, she always did everything to make sure I felt included. "It'll be fun…" I piped in halfheartedly. Jacob seemed to suddenly take in my appearance next to my sister. "Oh, yeah hi Abby-Lynn." Thanks for the enthusiasm Jacob….really. I sat on the ground against a tool box while Jacob and Bella flirted and joked around. Of course he agreed to help rebuild the bikes, anything if it made Bella smile at him like that. So here I was, in the corner watching them mess around together while Jacob got to work. Bella was passing him tools when two other guys came barreling into the garage.

"We just came to see Jake's new girlfriend…" One called out. Jake got up and laughed nervously, "Um no…I think I said that she was a girl and she was my friend."

The other guy looked around, "Embry, do you remember him making that distinction?" Embry shook his head.

Jacob went pink, "Bella this is Embry and Quil…." My sister waved shyly but she was smiling. Embry looked over to where I was in the corner, "Who're you?"

"Oh well look at that, I'm not invisible after all. I'm Bella's sister Abby." I answered wirily. Quil snorted and Embry held out a hand for me to take, "What're you doing on the floor?" I took his hand and Quil hauled me up by my other side. I shrugged, I didn't fit in between Jacob and my sister, but I wasn't to admit to that.

Embry went and knocked Jake upside the head, "Dude we all know you've got it for Bella, but don't be rude." I giggled. It was nice to see someone notice me over my sister for a change. They started scuffling and I went to sit down next to Bella while Quil tried to pull them apart.

Bella leaned her head on my shoulder, "I'm sorry Lynn, I don't mean for you to feel left out." I nodded. I know she didn't, it just seemed to always happen that way.

The next few times I followed my sister to La Push were much the same. Jacob and Bella got lost in their own world, they had their own routine. Jake would fix the bikes, Bella would hand him the parts and they'd ask questions back and forth. I would stay in the corner; I didn't even know why I bothered coming. But then Embry and Quil would come to hang out and they talked to me, made me laugh. Surprisingly, they seemed to prefer me over my sister. So one day when they invited me to go have dinner with them at the Clearwater's, I didn't hesitate to accept. Jake and my sister usually ordered pizza anyway and then did homework together. They wouldn't miss me. I looked down at what I was wearing, two layered black tank tops, black spandex shorts with pink tights underneath and grey leg warmers. I only switched out my pointe shoes for street ballet flats. I stopped trying to dress up or anything the second time when I figured out that I'd just be sitting on the floor doing nothing anyway. So I stayed in my warm up clothes and stretched outside in the fresh air while I overheard Jacob and Bella talk. "Do I look okay?" I looked between Embry and Quil nervously. They shrugged and ran the doorbell.

Sue and Harry Clearwater were such nice people. They had two kids, Seth and Leah. Seth was a little younger than Embry and Quil, he was absolutely adorable. Leah was a little bit older than me and I liked her immediately. She was quick-witted and brutally honest. It turns out she had been a cheerleader in high school so we had bonded over dance. Seth was just impossible not to like, and the kid always seemed to be smiling. It turns out Harry often went with my dad and Billy on fishing trips. Sue reminded me of my mom but more nurturing. Renee was too scatter brained, I think Bella and I spent most of our childhood taking care of her instead of the other way around.

By the end of the night I had a place I was always welcome according to Sue and Harry. Leah and I had exchanged cell phone numbers with promises of getting together soon. I had given Seth my cell phone number in case he needed anything; it was hard to not want to mother hen him. Embry and Quil walked me back to Jacob's garage, "Thanks for letting me tag along guys." I hugged them both briefly. Embry ruffled my hair, "No problem, you're pretty cool Abs…" Quil nodded, "You're a lot different from your sister…"

It was the first time that I walked away from hearing that sentence, that I felt that maybe people could prefer me over my sister sometimes too.

Author's Note: I'm trying to stay a lot closer to the actual timeline this go around. So...Cheers. Comment. Lottie.