Charlotte

Four: Girlfriend?

I'd barely seen Bella since that Saturday (2 weeks ago), her time being totally occupied by Jacob and the bike building. It appears that we were taking different approaches with our crushes, with Bella spending every minute she could with him, whereas I'd avoided him. He'd called me the other night, but Dad had answered. He called me down to speak to Jake, and I'd pretended to be sleeping. I don't really know why I was so fiercely avoiding the boy, practically leading him into my sister's clutches.

Begrudgingly, I had agreed to visit today though, but Bella had told me that we were leaving pretty much at the rack of dawn (9AM).

I rolled out of bed at 8, pulling my hair back into a scruffy ponytail. If I'd had more time, I would've showered. Maybe this was Bella's plan, making me get up at the crack of dawn so I show up at Jake's looking, well, not my best.

I opt for a pair of ripped jeans, and a lowcut black long sleeved top. I also opted for my black converse, honestly they were absolutely destroyed at this point, but I still loved them. I also grabbed the jacket that Jake had given me months ago; I'd washed it, so I planned on returning it to him.

I made my way downstairs, meeting Bella at the front door. She huffed, but didn't say anything to me; I don't think she was very happy that I was joining them today. I'm sure she had been loving the one on one time with Jake.

The journey wasn't long, but it felt long. Bella didn't speak to me, and barely grunted at the conversations that I tried to initiate. As soon as we pulled up at Jake's house, it was like a switch flipped - Bella became so happy and she practically bounded out of the truck, heading for the boy's garage.

Maybe I should just let Bella have this, let her have Jacob.

"Charl! I've missed you!" Jacob practically bounced over, almost knocking Bella over in the process. He threw his arms out as if to hug me, but I stepped back. I'm letting Bella have this.

"Hi Jacob, here's your jacket," I muttered, handing the coat to him.

"I wanted you to keep it, it's too small for me now anyways," Jake replied, eying me. I looked down so as to avoid the obvious hurt and confusion on his face. I brought my hand back, wrapping the jacket around me. Admittedly, I was awful cold.

"Are we nearly done Jacob? With the bikes?" Bella asked, glaring at me.

"Yeah, we might be able to get them done sometime next weekend, I think. Will you be test riding with us Charl?" Jacob asked, leading our little trio into his garage. I shrugged my shoulders. I wasn't lying, I genuinely wasn't sure if I would be going or not. I'd only suggested the bikes for Bella's sake, not my own.

"Aren't you busy with Jessica next weekend?" Bella added, settling down next to Jacob. The two of them were so close that their shoulders brushed every time either of them moved.

"Yeah, we're still arranging plans though, nothing's been confirmed," I went along with Bella's lie. I had no plans with Jessica next weekend, I did during the weekdays, but not next Saturday. It was obvious that she didn't want me there.

"Well, if you can, you should come," Jake mumbled, slightly preoccupied with the tools in his hands. I wasn't going to pretend like I knew what he was holding.

"Why is there no music in here?" I asked, grabbing the radio that sat on the dusty workbench. It honestly looked like it hadn't been touched in a while, and I frowned. Had they really just been working in complete silence?

"I don't like music." Of course. Edward dumped her, so now music is a no go. Makes sense. I hummed in acknowledgement, and we then lapsed into silence.

Was this how awkward it was when I wasn't here? If so, no wonder Jacob was happy to see me. This is depressing.

"Yo Jake you there?" A voice called, and I whipped round to find the owner of said voice.

"Hey Jake." Another voice, and two boys appeared. One was taller and slimmer, with long black hair. It wasn't as long as Jake's though. The other was shorter, and slightly chubbier, with short, brown, curly hair. He was quite cute actually.

"Hey guys, this is Bella-"

"-and Charlotte, we've heard all about you," the one with the longer hair winked. They've heard about me? I'm sure Jacob was just describing me as Bella's younger sister. I doubt that anything was meant by that.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Jake's not mentioned you," I explained, frowning slightly. I heard a faint "wow" come from one of the boys, but neither of them looked too bothered.

"This is Embry," Jake gestured to the taller of the duo, "and Quil." So 'Quil' was the cuter one. I mean he wasn't as gorgeous as Jake, but he's cute.

"So the bike building story is true?"

"Yeah, I taught him everything he knows," Bella came back with, a half smile on her face. This version of Bella was so different to the Bella that I knew. The Bella that I knew just grunted, she didn't know how to make any kind of witty comment.

"What about the part where she's his girlfriend?" Quil asked, gesturing towards me. My face turned bright red, the heat rising to the tips of my ears and crawling down my neck. I couldn't even look at Jake.

"They're just friends," Bella answered with a glare, not even giving me or Jacob a second to reply.

"Awkward," Embry coughed, catching the glare that Bella tossed towards me.

So you guys have girlfriends? That's awesome."

"Quil's actually taking his cousin to prom."

"Aww Quil, I'll go with you," I chimed in, smiling cheekily at the curly haired boy.

"Oh Jacob, think I pulled your girl," Quil taunted, winking at me. I stifled a giggle, covering my face with the sleeves of Jacob's jacket.

"You wanna go Arteara?" Jacob asked, lunging for the shorter man. I stumbled away from the fighting, making my way to stand on the side of Embry that Bella wasn't stood on.

"Five bucks on Quil," Embry muttered, glancing at both me and Bella.

"You're on," Bella replied, and I nodded in agreement. I never did get that five bucks.