Chapter 1: An Attempt to Tip the Scales

Dedication: I blame Nixdragon for this. That is all.

Grew up in a small town and when the rain would fall down I'd just stare out my window. Dreaming of what could be and if I'd end up happy…I couldn't help but think that Kelly Clarkson's words were written about me as her song echoed through the overhead speakers. Especially now as I sat in the Port Angeles airport waiting to pick up my estranged twin sister Bella from her incoming Phoenix flight.

You see, when my parents split up, they decided to split everything down the middle, including my sister and I My mother took Bella and my father got stuck with me. The decision always struck me as odd. Most normal people kept siblings together. But not my parents. Although, I can't say that I really minded living with Dad. I had always been more of a daddy's girl anyway.

I glanced over my shoulder at my dad. He sat beside me nervously tapping his foot and wringing his hands. I was fairly certain that he was nervous because Bella wasn't just coming for a visit. No, she was coming to live with us permanently. Forks Swan population was about to increase by one and I was pretty sure I was the only one who wasn't excited about that fact.

Bella and I had never been particularly close. People had a misconception that twins were always close, but even in the early years when Bella and I had lived together, we never really bonded like most twins. We were as different as night and day, at least that's what I always thought. But then again, I really didn't know my sister. Odd, I know. But aside from a forced holiday reunion or a phone call orchestrated by one or both of our parents, Bella and I really didn't talk. It just wasn't the nature of our relationship. I wouldn't be surprised if someday down the road we were the Christmas card kind of relatives. You know, the kind that only exchange a Christmas card once a year and call it good.

But apparently, fate had a different journey planned for us.

My dad tapped my knee. "She's here," he said before he pointed across the room.

I just nodded my head. I'm pretty sure he was expecting a bigger reaction out of me because he repeated himself. "Bekah, your sister's here."

"I see that," I told him.

"Well, we should go say hello." With that, he was up and out of his seat, crossing the sea of ugly airport carpeting toward my sister.

I slowly followed behind my father, scrutinizing my sister's appearance as I drew closer. She had long brown hair like me and we were the same height. After that, I failed to recognize any more similarities and I focused on the differences. She had chocolate brown colored eyes compared to my blue ones. Her skin was paler than mine, which was odd. Especially considering she lived in an area of the country with more direct sunlight. I was fairly positive she had to actively avoid the sunlight in order not to get any color. Either that or she was a vampire or something.

I stopped in front of Bella and folded my arms across my chest. "Hey," she said weakly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Hey," was all I responded back to her.

To say things were awkward would have been a vast understatement, but I was thankful when Dad suggested that we go wait at the baggage carousel for Bella's bags. How pathetic was it that I would rather watch bags go round and round than talk with my sister? Fairly pathetic, I know. But it wasn't like an airport was a good place for a heart-to-heart conversation. Not that I really wanted one, but still, it wasn't the right place. Or at least, that's what I told myself.

Fifteen minutes later, with all of Bella's luggage in tow, we headed for Dad's police cruiser. I was the lucky one who got to sit in the back. At least no one had puked back there recently. So as Dad shoved Bella's things into the trunk, I grabbed my Walkman CD player from the front seat and settled into the back. I turned it on and pulled my headphones over my ears as Ashlee Simpson's Autobiography began to play.

Thankfully, listening to my CD player meant I didn't have to participate in my dad and Bella's awkward attempt at a conversation. Although, I kept the volume somewhat low so I could still hear what they were saying. Fine, I'll admit it: I was being nosy. But you would be too if your sister came waltzing back into your life and threatened to destroy everything you once knew. Not that their conversation was really all that interesting. It was about the truck my dad bought from Billy Black.

After what seemed like the longest hour of my life, the police cruiser pulled in front of our small house. It was only two bedrooms, which had been big enough when my parents were first married. But it was hardly enough space for a father with two teenage girls, who both needed their space. So, in order to make the transition easier, Dad had given up his bedroom and was going to relocate to the downstairs sofa. Although, I had a feeling that wasn't going to last long and I was going to be the one forced to move.

Once the car was in park, I quickly tried to escape the cruiser, but my dad managed to stop me. "Bekah, why don't you give your sister a hand with her things?"

While he had phrased his words in a question, I knew he wasn't asking. He was telling. I bit back a why don't you and slowly trudged to the trunk as Bella made her way back. She must have seen my displeasure at the situation because she bit her bottom lip nervously when she looked at me. After a few moments of silence, she timidly said, "Thanks." I just nodded my head as the trunk finally managed to pop.

I lifted the lid of the trunk before I grabbed her backpack and swung it over my shoulder, leaving Bella with the somewhat large and cumbersome suitcase. Hey, I was helping. Bella reached in and yanked on the suitcase. She pulled a little too hard which sent her flying backward. I couldn't help but smile as Bella crashed to the ground as the suitcase remained planted in the trunk.

"Bekah," my dad chided. I looked over my shoulder to find him standing there with his arms folded across his chest. He had certainly picked a terrible time to suddenly become a hardass about things. He had never been like this before, but I had a sinking feeling that when it came to Bella and me, this was going to be his first line of defense.

I turned back around and easily pulled the suitcase from the trunk as Bella struggled to get to her feet. "You're welcome," I said before I walked toward the house. Was I being a bit of a bitch? Sure. But Bella had to know her place if she was going to come waltzing into things. She might have been older, but it was my territory she was walking into-a finely tuned ecosystem that I didn't want her messing up.

Inside, I quickly raced upstairs and set Bella's backpack down in what used to be my room. All traces of me had been wiped from the room so that Bella could do with it as she pleased. Dad was really going out of his way to make Bella comfortable, even if it meant doing it at my expense.

Whump. Whump. Crash.

The sounds came from the stairs. I exited my old bedroom and walked to see that Bella had fallen down the stairs and her suitcase pinned her to the ground. I shook my head. I had forgotten just how clumsy my sister was. We had been home no more than five minutes and she had already taken two swan dives...pun intended.

Anticipating that my dad was going to call for me, I jogged down the stairs and came to her rescue. I pulled the suitcase from her before she moved into a sitting position. I raised an eyebrow at her. "You never outgrew that, huh?"

Bella shook her head. "You did, though," she said.

I mulled her statement over for a second before I chuckled sardonically. "I was never as clumsy as you. I just did it for the attention." Bella's brow furrowed at my words. I was somewhat surprised that she had never figured that out, but then again, maybe that shouldn't have surprised me. This was my sister we were talking about. I sighed. "Let's just get you upstairs before we need to get you a bubble."

Bella nodded and stood upright as I began to drag her suitcase up the stairs. How was it that I always managed to do things that I didn't want to? I should've just left her to drag her suitcase, but no. The decent side of me somehow won out over my stubbornness. I needed to work on that.

I left Bella alone in her room with her belongings before I headed back downstairs to put some distance between us. Through the front window, I saw an old beat-up Chevy pickup truck pull into the driveway beside Orville, my blue ninety-five Pontiac Grand Prix. I knew it was Billy Black dropping off Bella's new truck. I did a double-take, noticing someone in the passenger's seat. Squinting my eyes, I recognized that it was Jacob, Billy's son and a friend of mine. Although the term friend was applied rather loosely. If I ever went to LaPush with my dad, I usually got stuck hanging out with Jacob. Beyond that, we didn't ever hang out or talk. Sadly though, I was pretty sure I had a better relationship with Jacob than I did my own sister.

I walked outside to see my father helping Billy out of the truck and into his wheelchair. Jacob jumped out of the truck and walked to where I had planted myself on the front lawn. "Well, well, look who it is," I said as I rubbed my arms from the chill in the breeze. "If it isn't Jacob Black."

"And if my eyes aren't deceiving me, it's Bekah Swan," he teased back. We always had this unexplained back and forth banter thing that neither of us really understood, but we both went with it.

I smiled. "The one and only."

"That you know of."

I rolled my eyes. "You shouldn't argue with your elders." My words were said both in truth and in jest. Sometimes the little over two year age gap seemed substantial and other days it was insignificant. But it was hardly ever consistent.

Jacob shook his head as a smile played across his face. He knew that I was messing with him. But instead of continuing our banter, he changed the subject. "So, where's Bella?" he asked.

Just then, Bella walked out of the front door. I nodded in her direction and he immediately left my side for hers. Jacob had always been enamored by Bella. Not that I cared. Really, I didn't. Although, I found it rather ridiculous how fond he was of her despite not really knowing her. It wasn't like she was anything special.

I was about to head back into the house when my dad called out to me, "Bekah, aren't you gonna say hey to Billy?"

Nodding my head, I quickly turned on my heel and walked past Bella and Jacob toward Billy and my dad. I stopped beside my dad and smiled at Billy. "Hey," I said genuinely.

"Hello, Rebekah," Billy responded.

"It's Bekah, actually."

He chuckled. "Sorry. Force of habit." Billy had a daughter named Rebecca, who spelled her name differently than I did. Rebecca Black also had a twin sister named Rachel. I smiled fondly remembering some of the many times I had played with the Rachel, Rebecca, and Jacob. The four of us usually had gotten along quite well. Then again, the times that we hadn't were a little more memorable.

"Hey, you want to come in?" Dad asked Billy. "I'm sure there's got to be a game on one of those channels." Billy nodded his head and my dad quickly swung around to push his wheelchair. "Besides, it will give those two a chance to catch up." He nodded toward Bella and Jacob who were now sitting in the truck talking.

I shook my head and followed them inside. It was either that or watch Jacob drool over my sister. The choice wasn't that hard. Once the men were situated in the living room, I walked to the kitchen for a glass of water. I had just grabbed a glass from the cupboard when Dad called, "Hey Bekah? Why don't you call and order a pizza or two?"

"Delivery or carryout?" I asked turning the tap on and filling my glass.

"Delivery. And get some of those breadsticks too."

"Ok!" I took a sip of water before I crossed the kitchen to where the old corded phone hung on the wall. I picked up the phone and ordered a cheese pizza, a pepperoni pizza, and some breadsticks from the only place in down that delivered. I then headed to the living room to watch the college basketball game on TV with my dad and Billy.

Jacob and Bella eventually came inside. Jacob joined us watching the game while Bella headed upstairs. I scoffed to myself. Bella had only been here a couple hours and already she was isolating herself. I could already tell that I was going to hate having her here, but I wouldn't know exactly how much until later.

Author's note: Hi all! I hope this was somewhat enjoyable. Nixdragon has been pestering me for quite some time to journey into the void that is Twilight with her. I finally caved. Although, you should read her Twilight sisfic! Gen is the best!