juliet swan could barely recall a day in her life where she wasn't connected to the hip of her best friend, leah clearwater. life was simple, repetitive, and quiet-just the way juliet liked it.
when her distant twin sister bella moves to forks at th...
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"No sleep again?" Leah sighed as Juliet dropped her bag on the floor. The only good thing to happen over the winter was Juliet convincing Leah to apply for the open spot at the bookstore, mainly because she had been tasked with hiring and didn't want to get stuck with anyone else.
"I never get to sleep anymore." Juliet climbed up onto the stool, leaning against the counter. "Leah, would you hate me if I dropped out of school?"
"What?" Leah furrowed her eyebrows. "I mean, of course I wouldn't hate you but what are you talking about?"
"I just..." Juliet sighed. "We got our semester grades over email today...I'm failing everything. I haven't been sleeping like most of the year so I've just completely gotten all of my shit ruined." Leah frowned. "It'd be easier to stop at this point. I can still go to a community college on a GED, and I could probably swing Western or WASU if I pulled my GPA back up. I didn't really wanna go out of state anyway."
"Have you thought about this?" Leah asked. "I mean really thought about it."
"I have." Juliet nodded, biting her lip. "I figured it'd be bad, but this is like, no turning back bad. I still gotta talk to Charlie, but I think since I'm 18 I could do it without his permission. Just...you know...I don't want him to freak and kick me or afterwards."
"He wouldn't kick you out." Leah assured. "Besides, if he did you could always come live with me. My mom loves you." Juliet snickered. "Hey, if that's what you wanna do I'm all here for you. You know that."
"Thanks Lee." She breathed out. "Now, how's your day been?"
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"Hey dad." Juliet was shaking off her wet rain coat as she stepped inside the distinct sounds of ESPN on the tv. After kicking off her boots, she peered into the living room. Harry, Billy and Charlie were all sitting around, beers in hand. "Hey guys."
"Hey Jules." Charlie got up, and Juliet followed him into the kitchen. "How was work?" He immediately had the fridge open, looking for more beers.
"It was good." She nodded. "What about you, how's the game going?"
"Oh, it's going." He sighed, straightening up with three more bottles in his hands. "Hey, we're gonna head up to Billy's for dinner. The Clearwater's are coming, too." Juliet nodded.
"And Bella...?" She raised her eyebrows. Charlie's smile surprised her.
"She's already out there, with Jake." She felt shocked. "Yeah, they hung out yesterday, too. Who knows? Maybe Jake could be better for her, you know?"
"Yeah, maybe." Juliet nodded cautiously. Charlie didn't notice, however, as he'd cracked all three beers and was heading out to the living room once again.
"A few hours, tops!" He called back to Juliet. She stood in the kitchen, confused and slightly worried. Why had Bella started hanging around Jake? All of a sudden like this. Jake had only mentioned meeting her that one time after she first moved here, and now, more than a year later, she'd gone to see him twice in a row?
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"I dunno, it's so weird." Juliet said lightly. Leah's hand was resting on her arm, as they'd squished together on Billy's small loveseat-which was really more like an oversized chair than anything. Seth was on the larger couch with Jake and Bella, hanging on every word Jake said. Harry, Billy, Sue and Charlie were all in the kitchen, laughing and talking away, loud enough that Juliet and Leah could have their own quiet conversation.
"Yeah, that is weird." Leah shrugged. "Who cares though? It's just him, it's not like...you're into him or anything?" Leah raised her eyebrows.
"Bleh, no way." Juliet rolled her eyes. "I'd rather die." Leah snorted. "But still, he's my friend."
"Yeah, he's also a 16 year old boy suddenly getting attention from an older girl." Leah rolled her eyes. "He'll get over it." Juliet pouted, knowing she was right. "Hey look at it this way, he's leaving us alone." Juliet couldn't help it as she felt her cheeks heat up, so she affixed her gaze to the quiet tv instead, hoping Leah didn't notice.
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"Why are you hanging out with Bella?" The words came out far more sudden than Juliet had wanted them to. Jake plopped down across from her, a skeptical look on his face.
"She brought me some bikes that she wanted me to fix up." He said. "But don't tell your dad! I promised I wouldn't." She nodded, and he relaxed.
"Bikes? Like motorcycles?" She asked, and he nodded.
"Yeah, she brought em by Saturday and asked if I could teach her how to ride one after fixing them in exchange that I get to keep one. Besides, they're more dirt bikes than motorcycles anyway, and I'm nearly done with my car." Thoughts continued to swarm about where she'd gotten the bikes and why she had them, but Juliet didn't bother asking. All she knew this that since hanging out with Jake, Bella had stopped having nightmares. It was enough for Juliet to not want to ask anymore questions. She valued her sleep far too much.
Before she could even realize, the week had begun to slip by. Bella was over at Jake's everyday after school, except Wednesday when Jake came over for dinner. Juliet had also called Renee, bringing up the idea of dropping out. Renee, despite being a teacher, seemed happy with whatever choice Juliet could make with her life, obviously happy she hadn't been stuck in the same rut as Bella for the last four months. Juliet realized her advantage, with Bella's weird behavior, anything she did would seem normal in comparison. Especially to Charlie, who was desperate for things to stay normal. He wouldn't put up a fight if he didn't have to. So, she resolved herself to Friday. Friday she would finally talk to Charlie about it.
Of course, Bella landed herself in the ER with stitches Friday, so Juliet planned for Wednesday. When she come home from work Wednesday, Bella had a fresh bandage around her wrist. She claimed she kept getting hurt by falling in Jake's garage or hiking, but Juliet could see through it, and she was pretty sure that Charlie could too. Not like it was hard, Bella was terrible liar. So, when Juliet came into work on Thursday with a frown, Leah got worried.
"How'd it go?" She asked carefully, watching Juliet hang up her coat.
"Well, my dear sister landed in the ER again so I didn't have a chance to ask." Juliet scowled, sliding onto the stool. "Twice in one week. It'a totally something about those stupid bikes Jake was building."
"So why don't you tell Charlie?" Leah suggested. "Get her in trouble and clear an opening."
"I value my sleep too much." She sighed. "Besides, Bella is supposed to be at work today so I'll ask him when I get home."
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"Hey dad?" She could see Charlie sitting in front of the tv from where she was sliding off her boots.
"Hey Jules." He raised a hand, not taking his eyes off ESPN. "How was work?"
"Good." She nodded, taking a few steps closer and leaning against the doorframe. "Hey, I have something I need to ask you. Or just, talk to you about, I guess."
