Chapter 1: Friends

Sitting up in my bed as I was reading one of my many books, Wuthering Heights, I heard a squeal and a bang, followed by rapid footsteps which seemed to be coming in the direction of my room. I sighed to myself, now what? Just as I dog tagged the page I had reached and placed it on my bedside table, my door was opened. Rosalie, my sister for all intents and purposes, stood there in my doorway with her hair dripping wet and wearing one of her most horrified expressions as she stared at me.

"Ever heard of knocking Rose? Usually when entering someone's room, one is suppos-" she cut me off as she stormed toward me.

"Jasper!" she hissed as she pointed her manicured finger towards her hair.

I couldn't help it; I chucked as she placed her hands on her hips and started pacing my room. She ignored me, and for that I was grateful. Jasper, who was one quarter of our close-knit friendship group, had obviously somehow tricked Rose into getting close enough to a hose or a bucket full of water. However, he was unaware of the fact that Rose had just spent two hours at a hair salon in Port Angeles; the game was on. Suddenly I felt worried for Jasper, what idea was rummaging around in the deep recesses of Rosalie's wicked mind right now? What was she concocting?

"Rose…maybe just let it go, okay? It's just water…" I said slowly. Her head whipped around to face me.
"Just water? Bella, I just got it done! It took them two hours to layer it properly, and straighten it! I'm going to kill him, I just have to figure out how…" I stood up from my bed and walked towards her, placing my hands on her shoulders.

"Rose, breathe. Okay? We can fix this, have a shower and wash it and then I'll straighten it for you while we think of something reasonable as a pay back. Okay?" I knew she wouldn't turn this offer down, it was rare that I ever did her hair, or anything else resembling girly things, which made me feel sort of bad. She took a deep breath before looking at me.

"Fine," she sighed, "But we have to think of something really good and you CAN NOT tell Jacob. You know he'll warn him." I agreed with a nod as she left my room. Jacob was the other quarter of our little group; he and I were juniors while Rose and Jazz were seniors. However, Jacob didn't go to Forks High School with us since he unfortunately lived on the La Push reservation, he went to school there. It was too bad, besides Rose and Jazz I didn't really have friends there. Sure, there was Jessica and Angela and they seemed nice enough, but I mostly found myself zoning out as they explained their weekends in defined detail. I couldn't really see myself hanging out with them outside of school. When I heard the front door close with a bang I quickly jogged downstairs and into the kitchen. While reading, I'd completely forgotten to organise dinner for us.

"Hey kiddo," my father, Charlie said as he walked in.

"Hi dad. Sorry, dinner won't be too long," I rushed out as I started to prepare homemade Macaroni cheese.

"That's okay, where's Rose?" he asked as he took off his jacket. I smiled.

"Um…at the moment she's in the shower, washing her hair. It seems Jazz got to her with some water." He chuckled.

"Alright, I'll be in the living room." And with that walked out and left me to my task. Rose and I had been living with Charlie for two years now, after he and our mother Renee divorced. She wasn't too happy with our decision to stay with him, but we loved Forks, and we'd known Jazz and Jacob since we were toddlers.

Just as I'd finished preparing dinner, Jazz and Jacob walked in through our front door. I should have known they'd be eating here, why on earth did I think otherwise? I quickly got out another couple of plates and put them on the table.

"Hey Bells," they both greeted as they sat down. I smiled at them; they were like brothers who didn't live with us.

"Hey guys. So I suppose you're here to eat our food?"

"Sure are," Jasper smiled.

"You know you make the best food, so why not let us enjoy it too?" Jake suggested. I laughed just as Charlie sat down and Rose walked in the room. She approached slowly, glaring at Jazz the whole way.

"Before you say anything, I do intend to follow through with my offer after dinner, okay?" I looked at Rose. She turned to me and smiled sweetly.

"Oh I know. I can't wait." She turned the smile to Jazz before serving herself some grub. Jasper's gulp of food, or was it fear, was loud enough to hear. Everyone started to eat, followed by moans of pleasure.

"This is so good Bells. So you excited for school tomorrow?" Jake asked.

"Thank you. Um not any more excited than I usually am for Monday's," I said, a bit confused, "why do you ask?" His mouth was so full of food it was comical he attempted to talk.

"No meason I guss," he replied.

"Jacob, don't talk with your mouth full," Charlie said.

"Sorry Mr. Swan. Please excuse my pitiful excuse of a friend," Jasper said. I, along with everyone else laughed. After that we continued to eat in silence.

When Jake and Jasper finished doing the dishes, Jake came up behind me and lifted me off the ground. I squealed, and then told him to get me down and he laughed in my ear.

"So Bells, can I come over tomorrow after school and we could do homework?"

"It's amazing you're actually asking to come over Jake," I teased, "But yes, that sounds okay."

"Okay cool, see ya!" he walked outside the front door, probably to wait for Jazz to drop him off home.

"Thank you Miss Swan for a lovely evening," Jasper said putting on a Southern accent. "By the way, sorry about the incident before, I couldn't help myself." I laughed as he gave me a hug before leaving. After that, as promised, I straightened Rose's hair as we tried to come up with a come back for Jazz. While mine involved a whoopee cushion or a fake spider, her's consisted of sleeping pills and shave stick. As I tried to sleep later that night, I prayed that Rosalie would change her mind, and that I would be able to persuade her to a less permanent practical joke. Lord only knew what tomorrow would bring.