TO BE TRUSTED | twilight

vi. it's not me, it's you

"Oh, yeah, no problem." He smiled warily, knowing the girl had a reputation for her sharp tongue and brutal honesty, and was admittedly worried she would spill to Bella about his lack of a cool reputation at school.

"Hey, you're Jacob, right? We have Tribal History together." Lyla informed him, taking him slightly by surprise that she presumed anyone wouldn't know her, and that she knew him.

"Um, yeah." He chuckled. " I didn't realise you two were friends, how'd you know each other?" He changed the subject, returning to the comfort of fixing the bike.

"Lyla works at Cora's diner. I figured since I met Quil and Embry, you should meet one of my friends." Bella chuckled, walking over to Jacob's toolbox ready to pass him what he needed, as always.

"Oh, I know them, I used to sit next to Quil in Algebra, he's definitely a... fun guy." Lyla said, struggling to find a word to describe Quil, but wearing a smile to let the others know she meant it in a good way.

"Yeah, sorry about him, he gets a bit carried away around - well, girls." Jacob chuckled, not looking up from his mechanical work.

"You don't say." Lyla laughed. "I'll bet he loved meeting you, Bella." She wiggles her eyebrows teasingly.

The pale girl shook her head with a slight chuckle escaping under her breath, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

"Yeah, me and Embry try to reign him in, but there's not much we can do." Jacob laughed along.

"I haven't seen Embry around lately, he hasn't been in English." Lyla said, again surprising Jacob with how aware she was of them, most people only really took notice of themselves and their friends, and whoever was subject of the latest gossip - which was recently the 'Hallway Monitors on Steroids', as Embry liked to call them.

"Um, yeah, he's been ill, mono apparently." Jacob explained with a furrowed brow.

"That sucks." Lyla responded, her eyes then scanning the bikes with interest. "I have to say, I didn't take you for the motorbike/mechanical type, Bella."

Jacob barked out a laugh. "Bella? Mechanical? Please." He teased. "She just sits and orders pizza, occasionally passing me tools."

Bella let out an indignant sound, but didn't deny his claims.

"Well, lucky for you, I know a thing or two about this kind of stuff. Put me to work." Lyla said happily.

☆

It was dark by the time Lyla decided to call it a night. Bella had offered to give her a lift home but Lyla could tell the pale girl wanted to stay a bit longer with Jacob; she could clearly see the way Bella's eyes - which had been dull since the Cullen boy left - gained a little of their light back with Jake around. Lyla didn't want to interrupt that, so she quickly dismissed Bella's offer, insisting that she wanted to walk.

And she did want to. Until the rain started.

She was halfway home, only twenty minutes left to walk, so she knew there was no point turning back now. The teen trudged along the side of one of the many dirt roads of the reservation, half hoping that someone would drive past and offer her a lift. However, she soon regretted her foolish hoping when she saw the driver of the blue truck that pulled up beside her.