The Twilight Saga is the rightful property of Stephenie Meyer; I only take credit for my own ideas.

Chapter One

"Bella, can you help me chop the onions?" My mother asked, smiling as she placed two onions in front of me. "I hate doing it, it makes me cry."

"I think it makes everybody cry, Mom," I said with a chuckle before nodding. "But, I'll do it."

Turning towards the sink to grab a suitable knife, I caught my reflection in one of the pans that was drying on the left. Biting my lip, I looked away and opened the silverware drawer instead, not wanting to be reminded that I wasn't like my parents.

Once I had the knife in hand, I turned back towards the chopping board and started to cut at the onions while Mom stirred the noodles in the pot that was on the stove, tucking a strand of her auburn colored hair behind her ears, although she didn't need to. Her hair was cut short, chopped off a little below the ears, so she didn't have to worry about her hair getting in her face.

Unlike me.

My dark brown hair, which I got from my father, as he had the darkest shade of brown I had ever seen, hung down past my shoulders and to the small of my back. My long hair was a burden, and, although I get regular haircuts, it grew too fast for my liking.

"NO!" a voice shouted from the other room followed by an onslaught of obscenities, my mom sighing as she put down the wooden spoon on the counter.

"I'll be back," she whispered to me as she headed into the living room. "Chuck! How many times have I told you not to cuss at your video games?"

"But Mom, I—"

"But nothing. If it's angering you that much, take a break. Why don't you come into the kitchen and help your sister and I make chili?"

"Ugh, fine," I heard him mutter under his breath just as Mom walked back in, a triumphant smile on her face.

"There, much better," she said out loud as she started to cut the meat that was beginning to cook on the stove.

Noticing that I had diced as much as I could out of the first onion, I moved to the second one, smiling as my brother walked into the room. For a thirteen year old, he was tall; taller than me, even. He stood at about five foot five, whereas I was a measly five foot two. It was embarrassing, to be truthful, that my brother, who was five years younger than me, was already taller than me, and it looked like he wasn't showing any signs of stopping.

He looked around the kitchen, trying to look for something to do, before he shrugged. "What is there left to do?"

Mom stopped what she was doing and pursed her lips as she looked around. "Huh. I guess there isn't anything for you to do."

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I used the knife to bunch up all of the pieces of onion before I walked over to the pan that contained the meat, throwing them in there as grease started to form on the bottom.

My mom was scatter-brained, a fact about her that I loved. She'd ask you to do something but realize there wasn't anything for you to do, or she'd ask you to do something that had already been done.

"That's okay, Mom. I'm sure we can use the giant to our advantage," I said, sending my brother a wink.

"Oh, yes. Chuck, why don't you grab the sauce out of the cabinet? I'm not letting you out of my sight today," she said, eyeing her son as she turned back to the noodles.

Chuck nodded just as we heard the front door open, followed by the sound of a leash being clipped off. "Cool, dad's home."

"Yeah, I'm home," Dad said as he walked into the kitchen, shrugging out of his "Chief of Police" jacket, placing it on the back of one of the chairs, the one he usually sat at. "Chief just wanted to patrol the area. Didn't you, Chief?" he asked as our German Shepherd, Chief as Dad named him, walked into the kitchen, letting out a bark.

It was weird that Dad named his police dog Chief, especially since people at the station called him Chief.

Chief was a good dog, though. When the leash was off, as well as his vest, he acted like a regular dog, thinking that he can fit into your lap and covering your shoes in drool, but he knew that as soon as his leash was on, it was time for business.

"Charlie, do you think you can watch Chuck? I asked him to help me with the chili, because he was cussing at that violent video game he loves so much, but there isn't anything left for him to do."

"Yeah, Dad, we could shoot some hoops?" Chuck suggested with a shrug.

Dad did a half-grimace before shaking his head. "Sorry, son. Maybe another time. Chief had me running almost everywhere, so I got myself a workout."

Chuck pursed his lips. "Oh, well, that's okay," he said with a sigh before he sidled passed Dad, walking back into the living room and flipping the television to, what sounded like, the mixed martial arts he watched a lot.

When he wasn't watching Gilmore Girls with Mom, of course.

"So, Bella, any plans for you birthday tomorrow?" Dad asked as he placed his hands on the back of the chair, leaning against it as he raised his eyebrow at me.

I shrugged. "Not really. It's just another birthday."

"Not just another birthday, sweetie," Mom said with a chuckle. "It's your eighteenth birthday."

"Have you thought about getting a job?"

Oh, God. Dad's at it again. "I have, yeah. Mike said he was going to ask his mom if there was room for a part-time employee. There isn't much work for teenagers, so let's hope she says yes."

Dad nodded with a slight "hmm". "Well, if that doesn't work out, I'm sure I can ask some of the guys down in the station if they'd like someone to do their paperwork."

Either way, I wouldn't be doing much. The police in Forks almost always had a slow day at the office, with the exception of the tourist coming in that wasn't used to the near constant cover of clouds and rain, crashing into a tree when the roads grew slick.

Suddenly, I felt a vibration in my back pocket. Sliding my hand towards my butt, I grabbed my phone and looked at it, noticing that I had a new message. When I flipped my phone open and read the message, a smile grew on my lips.

Yo, Bells. It's M. J, T, L, A, E n me r the beach. Wanna come?

Rolling my eyes at my friend's text speak, I composed a reply. I was thinking of heading to La Push anyway. See you there.

"Who was that?" Dad asked.

"It was Mike. He's at First Beach with everybody, and he asked if I wanted to join them."

"I like that boy," Mom said as she turned around, flashing a smile. "He's cute. You should date him, Bella."

Dad nodded. "You're eighteen and you haven't had a boyfriend. I'm not complaining, because no girl should date before they're eighteen, but now that you're an adult you should consider doing things to make yourself happy."

"Well, yeah, Mike is cute and all," at least, that's what I gathered from Jessica, "but he's dating Jessica right now. I doubt he'd just drop her if I asked him out."

"Oh, I don't know, honey," Mom chuckled. "I think he has a soft spot for you."

That was true. Almost all of the boys at Forks had asked me out my sophomore year, but, using the excuse that my father didn't want me to date, I declined. It was nice that I could still be friends with some of my admirers, though I think that they were just waiting for the time when I'd change my mind.

"Uh-huh," I said, looking down to the floor as I shifted, scratching my wrist uncomfortably. "Well, if it's okay with you, I'm going to head over to Jake's."

As I turned on my heel, I heard Dad clear his throat. Sighing, I turned around to face him, knowing what he'd say. "When is he going to be done with your truck?"

"Not long, Dad," I said as I ran my hand through my hair. "I mean, I think he's got another weeks work to do on it, honestly."

"Mm," he said, crossing his arms and twisting his mouth to the side, his mustache twisting as well. "I just don't like seeing you use that…machine as your mode of transportation. They aren't called donor cycles for no reason, you know."

"Yeah, Dad, I know," I said before I walked out of the house, waving to my parents before I closed the door. Heading towards the garage, I flicked the light on and smiled at the black bike that sat in there.

It was a dual-sport motorcycle, one that looked like it was made more for the dirt than the street, with pink lined designs on the sides. The part in the front that connected to the wheel was gold instead of the traditional silver, and, although there was dirt caked on the wheels, it was in good condition.

"Bella, do you think you can take me to Brady's house?" I heard Chuck ask before I saw him, turning around to face him with a smirk.

"And what do you plan on doing at Brady's?"

"Well, he just got the new Halo game and he wanted me and Collin to join him when he played it for the first time," he said before scratching the back of his neck. "Don't tell Mom?"

"Of course not," I said as I pressed the button to open the garage door. "You've got to close the garage, though." Grabbing onto my bikes handle bars, I pushed it out of the garage once the door was all the way up, waiting on the street when Chuck came back, the door closing as he ran towards me with two helmets in his hand.

"Dad would kill us if we didn't wear these." He handed me one of the helmets and, after I took it from his hands, he put his own back on.

The drive to La Push was silent, albeit for the sound of my bike's engine, and I dropped him off at Brady's house, which was just a street away from Jake's, before I headed to the familiar red house with a larger red barn to the side. Leaning against the red siding of the barn were two familiar dirt bikes, ones that weren't Jake's, and I laughed to myself as I pushed my bike up to where they were, using the kickstand to keep it from falling.

Taking the helmet off, I shook my hair free, making sure, and hoping, that I didn't get helmet hair, before I heard a scuffle inside of the barn.

"Is that who I think it is?" I heard a familiar voice ask before three rowdy boys all stormed out of the barn door, their white teeth contrasting with their russet skin perfectly. "It is!" came from the younger of the three, his grin widening before he wrapped his arms around me, lifting me in the air and spinning me around. "Bella's back!"

"Urgh," I managed to get out as I tried my hardest to not get sick, as motion sickness and I didn't do all that well. "Yeah, Jake, I'm here," I chuckled as he sat me down. "Did you get buffer since the last week I saw you? I didn't think you could lift me up."

Jake shrugged. "Well, I mean, yeah, I am growing a bit, but I think that's just the hard work I go through by lifting engines and stuff. Look," he said as he lifted his shirt, showing off his developing muscles in his abdomen, "I'm getting a six-pack!"

"More like a keg," the boy next to him teased, slapping his stomach with his palm before he turned to me. "Hey, Bella. How's Charlie doing?"

I shrugged. "I mean, there aren't any crimes in Forks, so you really don't have to worry about him." Turning to look at Jake from the corner of my eye, I smirked as I noticed that the boy I had grown up with was looking some of the childlike roundness in his face and his skinny arms were now an inch thicker. "You might want to be worried about Jake catching up with you, Quil."

Quil scoffed. "Like Jake could get these guns without steroids," he joked, flexing his arm muscles. Quil was the oldest out of the group and surely the biggest. He was seven months older than me and about five inches taller, putting him at five foot seven. Puberty was good to him as he grew up, letting him gain all of the muscles out of the group, and he was now a football player for the Tribal School.

"So you're confirming that you use steroids?" the last boy, Embry, chuckled, almost earning himself a punch in the shoulder from the boy who had previously spoken, but, since he was swift for a boy as tall as he was, he dodged out of the way, ducking behind me. "Save me, Bella," he whispered into my ear as Quil edged closer with a grin on his lips.

"No, no, no," I said, getting out of Quil's way. "I'm not getting in the middle of this."

Jake laughed as he watched Quil chase Embry around the yard. Embry was a track runner, his tall and lithe frame perfect for hurtles, and since he was five foot ten, he was also on the basketball team. "You're never going to catch him, Quil!" Jake shouted.

Glancing at Jake's hair, I noticed that he didn't get it cut like he wanted to. "Skip the barbers this week, Jake?" I asked as I ran my hand through his silky black hair that almost reached the hem of his jeans. "Seriously, I thought guys were supposed to have hair shorter than girls."

"That's why I cut all mine off during the summer," Quil said as him and Embry rejoined us, grinning like idiots, before he ran his hand through his inch long hair. "So much breezier!"

Embry snorted. "You could just find the perfect medium," he said before he flipped his shoulder-length hair behind his shoulders, acting like a model as he looked at his nails in a stuck-up manner.

"Well, Rachel said she was thinking about coming over next weekend and she wanted to try her hand at cutting my hair again."

This resulted in Embry, Quil and I laughing hysterically.

"Dude, I need to bring my camera," Quil said in between fits of laughter.

Maybe I should explain. It was about five years ago when Rachel was actually living with Jake and his dad and, since they were living off of Billy's, their dad's, disability checks, they had to cut corners to save cash.

It was then that Rachel first aspired to be in a salon, which she dropped soon after she learned that cutting hair was not a good career choice for her. Poor Jake had a bald spot for a month.

"Yeah…Quil, you think your mother would want to cut my hair for cheap? I mean, I know she works at the barber in Forks, but…I just don't want Rachel to do it," Jake said, biting his lip. "I know that's horrible but…I can't be bald at seventeen. I just can't."

Embry wrapped his arm around Jake's shoulder. "It's alright man. I mean, we won't make fun of you for it."

Jake rolled his eyes. "Like I believe that."

"You're right," I added, "we would make fun of you."

Quil lifted his arm up, his palm flat as he looked at me with an expectant grin, and, after jumping up in the air, I gave him a high-five.

"Sure, sure," Jake said, rolling his eyes again. "You guys are all just horrible, you know that?"

"But you love us," I said, leaning in to him as I flashed him a grin.

"Some more than others," Quil fake-coughed.

Biting my lip, I leaned away from Jake realizing that this might give him the hint that I was interested. A year ago Jake had asked me to come over, hoping that I, along with Embry and Quil, would play the Smash Brothers game he had on the GameCube, only to find out that Embry and Quil weren't there. He then told me that he had a crush on me, and had one for the past year and a half, before he asked me out on a date. I said no.

It wasn't that Jake was ugly, or that he wasn't nice, because he so was, it was just…I thought it would be weird if I dated my dad's best friend's son.

At least, that's what I told him.

I couldn't tell him the real reason. I just…couldn't.

"So, what brings you here, Bells?" Quil asked, breaking the awkward silence as he clapped his hands together. "Looking to get your ass kicked on Smash Brothers?"

I chuckled. "No, actually. Mike asked me if I wanted to go down to the beach with him and then Dad wondered about the truck…"

"Because he doesn't like you riding that bike," Embry finished, nodding. "I don't blame him. The last time we hit the trails you had to go to Dr. Gerandy to get six stitches."

"The clumsiest girl I've ever known," Quil added under his breath, shaking his head.

"Well, it'll probably take a week and a half," Jake answered, ignoring the boys' jibes before he turned to me. "And I could be down for the beach."

Quil nodded. "Same here. So long as Paul Lahote ain't there."

"He giving you crap again?" I asked as we got on our bikes, Jake running into the barn to get his.

Paul Lahote was the bully on the reservation. I thought it was wrong, especially since he was a nineteen year old man picking on high school kids. I think he did it to make himself feel better, because most of his friends moved on to college whereas his temper had gotten in the way of his education and no college accepted him.

Embry shrugged. "A little bit. He's just walking around the beach muttering to himself. You know Sam Uley?" I nodded, because I did. "He told him to fuck off the last time he messed with us."

"Oh yeah, Sam's another character. He keeps looking at me funny," Quil said, contorting his face into one of disgust. "I don't like it. It makes me feel…weird."

"He looks at me like that too. It's like…I don't know…like he's worried about us? But we aren't even his friends so I have no idea why he looks at us like that," Embry shrugged.

"You know what Dad says," Jake said as he walked out of the barn with his dirt bike. "Sam's a good kid, Jake. He's just looking out for everybody," he said in his best attempt at his father's voice. "I think Sam has everyone wrapped around his finger. They gave Rebecca crap for moving to Hawaii instead of going to college yet when Sam didn't go to college, they didn't worry."

"Probably because Sam had to take care of his mom," Quil offered with a shrug. "So, who's ready to go to First Beach?"

A/N: And that is the first chapter of The Secrets of the Olympic Peninsula. Special thanks to, let's see if I can get this right, hankthefluuphiwaffle, for creating Chuck.

There are some things I need to talk about. First, regarding Chuck. His face, the one I'm using which you can find on my profile, isn't actually 5 foot five, but I changed his size for the purpose of this story. Second, this one is not a Bellice story. Shocked? As you can see, I filed this story under Bella and Leah, because this is a BeLeah story (or would it be Swanwater?). Either way, I just thought I'd let you know, in case you were expecting a Bellice story. :)

With that, I am going to leave you be. Please review and tell me what you thought of this first chapter! :)