Sunrise

2

At lunch the next day Jacob sat next to Kari heavily. Kari looked at him, taking a bite of her apple. "What's up with you?"

"Math sucks," he muttered.

Kari nodded. "Right. So, about Saturday..."

"I don't think Sam likes me," Jacob admitted. He looked at his best friend. "I don't know what it is. He just keeps giving me this look."

"He gives everyone a look," Kari said. She pushed her tray away from her and braided her long hair to the side. "You have to be more specific."

"I don't know," Jacob said. "I can't explain it."

Kari shrugged. "That's just Sam. Ever since he disappeared he's been acting weird. He actually kind of puts stock into those old legends now."

"Really?" Jacob asked with surprise. "Weird."

"Like I said, it's just how Sam is now. He said he'd give us a ride and he will. He'll probably still be moping about what happened with Emily anyway. He blames himself for what happened, even though he was the one to follow her. If he hadn't, who knows what would've happened. Emily could've died. Anyway, he came home sometime after midnight and slammed the door so loud I swear it was going to break. I could barely sleep after that. He was gone again before I left this morning," Kari said. 

That was the end of the conversation. The week passed quickly and Kari showed up Saturday morning with Sam, barging into Jacob's room and rudely waking him up so they could leave. They spent the day in junkyards searching for the right parts. The Rabbit was Jacob's car, but Kari took just as much pride in making it perfect. By the time Sam dropped them off at Jacob's house, they were both covered in grease and dirt. 

"Jake," Kari said. She looked up at him, a screwdriver in her hand. "What do you think about Bella?"

Jacob faltered in his smooth work before going back to what he was doing. He didn't look up as he spoke. "She's pretty, but I haven't seen her since we were kids. I don't think anything of it."

Kari mulled that over before smirking to herself. "Yeah, right. You totally have a crush on her!"

"Do not!" Jacob denied defensively. He didn't want to Kari to know how right she was.

A few weeks went by before Kari and Jacob saw Bella again. They'd decided to go down to the beach with a couple of the other kids on the reservation. Sam came with them despite Kari's protests. 

"Bella!" Jacob called out, spying the girl from a short distance away.

Bella was with her friends, a bunch of pale kids from Forks who wanted to explore for the day. The girl smiled. "Hey guys, this is Jacob and Kari. So what, are you spying on me now?"

Kari and Jacob shared a laugh. "You're on our rez now, Bella."

"I'm Mike," a boy with spiky hair smiled at Kari. "We were just planning a little hike. Do you want to come?"

"I don't think so." Kari tried not to roll her eyes and lowered her voice. "See that big guy over there? That's my brother."

Mike glanced over at Sam and his eyes went wide. "Oh, uh, I guess he could come..."

Sam's intense stare caused Mike to trail off. Jacob laughed. "Come on, Bells. Let's go for a walk."

Mike's expression showed clearly he didn't like the thought of Bella and Jacob together any more than Kari did. Kari flashed a smile. "Yeah. It'll be fun. We can tell you ghost stories."

Jacob gave Kari a look. Kari already knew that Sam would disapprove of her words, but she didn't actually have any intention of sharing tribe secrets with the girl. She mostly did it to annoy Jacob. That's how the three ended up walking along the beach, Jacob between the two girls, and Bella shamelessly attempting to flirt with him. Kari rolled her eyes.