Steamin' at the Seams

We've been living in Forks for about three weeks now, and Will and I have been hanging out with the La Push kids quite a lot.

Will and I hang out with Quil and Embry most of the time. Well, we hang out with all of them, but we're usually talking to Embry and Quil the most. Jacob comes around a lot when we're there, but he's really distant when I talk to him. It's weird, really. Sometimes we'll start talking, and we'll get really into it, like we're the only people there, and then he'll sit back and clam up, like he hates me or something. It's really confusing. I mean, like, come on, if he doesn't want to be friends with me or something, he can just tell me. He doesn't have to start talking to me and then remember that he hates me or whatever and then just ignore me. It's getting to be really annoying.

Will is hanging out with Leah, Seth's sister (we met her a few weeks ago), a lot. Well, more than hanging out, actually. See, they're together now. The fact that she's like, three years older than us doesn't seem to bother either of them in the least. Actually, they seem to be almost in love. It's kind of scary, really. I've never seen Will like this, and Quil and Embry have assured me that Leah was never this way either, even when she was with Sam (yeah, high school sweethearts. Long story).

They always look at me kind of weird whenever I'm talking to Jacob. It's more than just Will and Leah, actually. All of my La Push friends watch the two of us carefully, like they're waiting for something to happen. I wonder if they know something I don't…yeah, that's probably it. I'm always last to learn stuff. I figure I'll give patience a try, and just wait it out. I'll probably find out what's going on eventually.

"Want to come down to La Push with me?" Will asks. It's a Thursday morning, and I'm playing guitar hero in my basement. Cliffs of Dover, awesome song fer sher.

I shrug. "Sure, just let me finish this song."

He sits down on the couch next to me, watching. "You're pretty good."

"I'm only on medium," I say.

He laughs. "Yeah, you're not as good as me yet, but you're getting there."

I finish the song, grab my phone and we head out the door.

"So, are you going to be hanging out with Leah the whole time?" I ask teasingly.

He laughs. "Probably."

I roll my eyes. "I don't know what you're going to do with yourself when you two break up."

"Well, what if we don't break up?" he asks, looking at me sideways.

I shrug. "Well then I guess I'll become an aunt." He laughs. "Hey, do you still think Jacob's weird?" I ask suddenly.

Will shakes his head slowly. "No, I know him better now."

"Yeah, but like, he still acts like he hates me, and it's so random when he does it!" I say.

"He's just going through some stuff right now," Will says, a little bit defensively, if you ask me.

I cross my arms, sinking lower in my seat and propping my feet up on the dashboard. "Whatever."

I stare out the window, up at the cloudy sky. It's weird, but I kind of like the weather here. I've always loved rain, and I like the cloud cover. It makes me feel like the whole area is under a protective blanket or something. I just wish we could see the stars more often.

I sigh when we pull up at Clearwater's. I guess I'll hang out with Seth. He's pretty cool, I guess. I get out of the car and follow Will up to the house. Leah opens the door before Will can even knock.

"Hey guys!" She says enthusiastically. She seems happier since she and Will got together. She's still kind of annoying though. And she still seems to hate Jacob.

I smile. "Hey, Leah."

She hugs Will, then pulls us both inside. "Lacey, today I'm going to give you a makeover."

I step back a little. "What?"

She laughs. "Don't be alarmed! Just…come on."

She pulls me back to her bedroom. I shoot Will a panicked look as we pass, and he shrugs, sitting on the couch next to Seth. We leave them behind as I get dragged down the hall. Leah sits me down in a chair in her room, in front of her vanity.

"You never wear any makeup, or do anything with your hair!" She says, pulling a brush through my hair.

I shrug. "I never have any reason to. What brought this on, anyway?"

She laughs. "I think you need a boyfriend."

"What?" I ask, surprised.

"You're always hanging out with guys, but you don't have a boyfriend. You need to be noticed for the pretty girl you are," Leah replies.

I roll my eyes. "I don't need a boyfriend."

She chuckles knowingly. "You say that now. I don't want you to end up a bitter old harpy like I was." I raise my eyebrows, surprised that she would refer to herself that way. She laughs. "What, you think I don't know what other people think about me?"

"You don't need to do this," I say, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, but as your friend, I want to." She says.

I shrug. "Whatever."

She laughs and continues brushing out my hair. My wavy blond hair goes to about the middle of my back. I can tell it's going to be darker now, since the sun can't get to it like at all anymore.

"Hey, what's the deal with Jacob?" I ask.

Her face clouds a little. "What do you mean?"

"Well, like, I'll be talking to him fine, right? And then he'll randomly just like stop talking and like completely ignore me," I say. "He zones out a lot too."

"Well, personally, I think he's still mooning over that Bella chick." Leah says. "She completely broke his heart. He has to get over her though. Like, she's almost all he thinks about, you know? I think he's afraid to like other girls or something."

I snort. "Well that's dumb. The only way he can get over her is to date other girls."

"I know, right! That's what I've been telling him!" Leah exclaims. "But whenever I try, he's always just like 'rawr Leah get away from me!'"

I laugh. "He should lighten up a little."

We continue gossiping about Jacob while Leah works on my hair. When she's done – she pulled it up in a loose ponytail – she turns my chair sideways and kneels in front of me. "Now I'm going to work on your makeup."

"Oh, no," I groan. She just laughs.

After several minutes of Leah putting stuff on my face, she turns my chair back to the mirror.

"Wow," I say, staring at myself.

Leah grins. "Like it?"

I nod. She's ringed my eyes in brown eyeliner, and she covered up the little zits on my forehead. She runs a lipgloss wand across my lips, making them all shiny.

I laugh. "This is pretty different."

"Yeah, but you're gorgeous. Now guys will have to notice you," Leah says, pulling me up from the chair.

We walk back out into the living room and find that Paul, Embry, and Quil have joined Will and Seth.

"Hey, guys," I say, going to sit among them.

"You look pretty," Quil says.

I laugh. "Leah held me hostage in her room so that she could put makeup on me."

"It looks nice," Embry says shyly.

"Thanks," I say, smiling.

Leah walks over and sits next to Will. He looks from me to her and back again. "What did you do to my sister?"

She laughs. "I showed her that she's pretty."

"I like it better when boys don't notice her," Will says.

I'm sitting on the floor next to his legs, so I smack him. "That's not very nice."

"Yeah, but when guys don't notice you, I don't have to worry about you," Will says.

I roll my eyes. "Whatever."

"Hey, we were just about to head down to the beach, want to come?" Paul asks.

"Sure," I say. I glance up at Leah and Will. "You coming?"

Will shrugs. "Doesn't matter to me."

"We'll meet you there in a while," Leah says.

"Whatever you say," I say, standing up. I follow Embry out the door and we start on the path through the woods that will take us to the beach.

"Why do you hang out with Leah so much?" Quil asks.

I shrug. "I don't know. A little bit of the time it's just cool to be able to talk to another girl. The rest of the time she kidnaps me."

He laughs. "So, you guys aren't like, best friends, right?"

"Well, I don't know what she thinks, but to the best of my knowledge, no. I don't have a best friend," I reply.

"But what about me?" Quil asks in a very gay voice.

I laugh. "Oh, of course Quil, you can be my BFFL."

"Biffil?" Paul asks, confused.

"Best Friend For Life," I explain.

"Ah," he says.

"Yay!" Quil says enthusiastically, enveloping me in a giant hug.

"Hey, what's going on here?" I hear Jacob ask in a teasing voice. I turn around and see that he's joined our group.

"Quil and I are BFFLs," I state.

"What's a Biffil?" Jacob asks.

"Best Friend For Life," Paul says.

Jacob kind of stares at him. "How did you know that? That sounds like such a chick thing."

Paul's face clouds, and his hands curl into fists.

"Geez Paul, I was just kidding, calm down!" Jacob says quickly.

Paul slowly calms down, and I notice that Quil and Embry have discreetly moved so that they're standing in front of me. Weird. I stand up on my tiptoes, trying to see over their shoulders. Suddenly they relax and move apart. Paul looks calm again. I wonder what that was all about.