Sunrise

6

By the time Bella came back the next day, Kari and Jacob had disassembled the bikes completely and had the parts lying neatly on the floor. Bella was blown away by it.

"You managed to do all that in just a day?" Bella asked, surprise lacing her voice. 

Kari nodded. "It wasn't too hard."

"We need a lot of parts, though," Jacob said sadly. "It could get pretty expensive, even going to the junkyard."

"We can scope out the junkyard first," Bella said after a moment of thinking. "Then figure it out from there."

"I don't think you understand how expensive this could really be," Kari said hesitantly. "There are a lot of parts that need to be replaced."

"Don't worry about it," Bella insisted. "I have money. Let's do what we can. I'm really excited to see them up and running."

That weekend the three of them piled into Bella's truck with a list of the parts they needed for each bike. At the junkyard, Bella stood around awkwardly while the other two found what they could. It wasn't much, but it did put a small dent in the list. Then they tried a used car repair shop before going to the last resort of finding entirely brand new bike parts.

"That wasn't so bad," Bella commented on the way back to La Push. "We got everything you need, right?"

Jacob nodded. "You have to let me pay you back."

"Don't worry about it," Bella said. "I have a job. You didn't do as much damage as you think."

Bella was a rotten liar. Kari could see she was just trying to make Jacob feel better about all the money they spent. She said nothing and stared out the window the entire way home.

"So I think we should start doing homework sometimes," Bella said after a while. "I don't need Billy thinking I'm a bad influence on you two. It would also keep Charlie from getting too suspicious."

"Yeah, sure," Kari agreed. She felt like a child trying to keep up with the older kids, a third wheel. "We could do every other day or something."

The rest of the ride home was spent figuring out a schedule to work through. They decided on homework two or three times a week, alternating between Bella and Jacob's house, and the rest of the time would be spent working on the motorcycles. Kari and Jacob knew each other well enough to know that working on the bikes or Jacob's car was going to happen whether Bella was present or not. It was just what they did together.

"No way!" Bella shouted. She'd just come home from work and Kari and Jacob were waiting outside the house already. "You finished it?"

Kari smiled brightly. She'd managed to convince Jacob to finish the Rabbit so they could drive it rather than borrowing someone's car or truck all the time. Jacob blushed. "It was Kari's idea."

"There's no way I can beat this," Bella mused. She looked over the car with awe. "You two built this from scratch!"

Jacob rubbed the back of his neck and nodded. Kari only smiled. She was proud of the work they'd done. The rain started then, beginning as a light sprinkle before getting heavier. "Let's get inside where it's dry."

The three teenagers ran to the house, Bella almost falling in her klutzy state, and spread out in the living room to do homework. Kari had just finished an assignment for English class and Jacob was struggling with physics when Charlie walked in. Bella looked up from her textbook. "Hey dad."

Charlie blinked. He hung up his belt and jacket while kicking off his boots. "I wasn't expecting you three to be home today. Harry and Billy were going to come over for the game tonight."