she's not cold, you just have to earn her trust before she shows you her heart.
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—INTRO!
LIFEON THE RESERVATION WAS CALM AND COMFORTING, IT WAS A SIMPLE LIFE, BUT IN THE HAPPIEST OF WAYS; everyone knew everyone and there was a constant atmosphere of peace — however, any word of drama or misfortune spread like wildfire, with neighbour gossiping to neighbour, and the peaceful atmosphere noticeably disrupted by any scandal. That was something Lyla learnt the hard way at the age of just 10 when the news of her father's death became the talk of the town, and the condolences from everyone in the reservation were no where near as comforting as the community presumed they would be, instead only making the young girl angry. After all, how dare they act as if they felt the same grief as her, he was her dad, he was her's and her family's to grieve. Lyla wasn't the only one, of course, others suffered similar consequences of being part of such a small, tightly knit community, such as the Black's when Sarah died in a car accident, and Sam Uley shamed by his father's reputation for cheating and drinking, and even the judgemental observation of who Embry Call's father was.
But it wasn't all bad living on the reservation, Lyla found comfort in walks along the quiet and bitter cold beach of La Push, and the hikes she could take through the beautiful forest that blanketed most of the surrounding areas. These were her escapes after her father's death, and practically where she spent all of her time when her mother left, the grief of losing her husband apparently too much for the woman to bear. It was her uncle Brian who would come and get her from whatever tree or cave Lyla had found herself hiding in that day, sometimes the poor man would spend hours scouring the reservation for the grief-stricken girl. In a way that was exactly what she needed — someone searching for her, someone who cared enough to explore the seemingly endless woods to find her, since her mind had her convinced her that her mother and father's absence had left her all alone in the world. He took care of Lyla as well as he could, but Brian wasn't a natural father, he'd never even considered having children and was far from a family man, instead having spent his entire life keeping himself to himself; but he tried, which was more than could be said for Lyla's mother.
Lyla was not a closed off girl by nature — quite the contrary, before her father's death she was the embodiment of sunshine, a ball of energy bouncing from here to there and talking off the ear of anyone she came across — but, of course, the world was a harsh place, and the brightest sunshine was always chased away by clouds eventually. The girl's light dimmed, her words became defensive and harsh, her smiles became rare, and her attention hard to earn. Her disinterest and closed off nature, however, only served to intrigue the population of La Push, compelling her classmates to try their luck in catching her eye. Despite her standoffish attitude, a few people managed to gain her hard-to-earn trust, those being the Cameron's. Jared and Jess were goofy and sweet, but also full of compassion and enough patience to handle a quick-tempered girl like Lyla. Lyla met Jess first, her sharp tongue saving Jess from the cruel teasing the other girl's put her through in elementary school; the gentler girl immediately latched onto Lyla and never let her go after that. It was about a month before she met Jared, Jess having finally convinced her new friend to hang out at the Cameron household, where the older boy had initially left the two to their own devices — until he, like everyone else, found himself roped in by the morbid mystery that was Lyla Woodsen.
