Guess what! I have a new story for you to read. I wrote this story as an entry to the United Colors of Twilight Contest a few weeks ago. I am so excited to share this new story with everyone. It touches on the diversity between Jake and Bella's ethnic backgrounds and I found myself feeling very frustrated right along with Jake as I wrote it. I hope you enjoy reading it and will follow it with me as we go through the trials Jake and Bella face in this story.

I was extremely fortunate and my story actually won First Place in the contest. You can see my winning my banner for the story and my winning banner on my profile page.

Special thanks to my friend pattyofurniture for her input and being my beta on this one. :P

Chapter One

The Summer Job

My people say that your life is laid out for you before you are even born. That destiny cannot be changed only embraced and accepted. We each have duties and obligations to fulfill, and the spirits of those before us—our ancestors live on in their expectations of their future generations.

Why am I thinking about this on the first day of summer after graduation? That kind of mumbo jumbo is depressing when I have such a beautiful day to look forward to, I thought as I looked out of the kitchen window, while drinking a glass of milk.

My dad told me he wanted me and my friends up early this morning because he had a job for us to do. We didn't mind being assigned a job on the first day out of school, but if it lasted for very long, then I could see there being a problem. We all wanted to have a little fun before we stepped into the real world with real jobs during the summer and college, for some of us, in the fall.

"Hey, I see you're up and ready to get started this morning," my dad said as he rolled into the kitchen in his wheelchair. "Are the others on their way?"

"Yeah, Quil, Embry, Jared, Seth, and Paul should be here any minute. When are you going to tell us about this super secret job you have lined up for us? Oh and the guys wanted me to ask how much it pays too?"

"All in due time, I'll make the announcement when the others get here," my dad said laughing and giving me the eye.

"Do you want some breakfast?" I asked, pulling a pan of hot biscuits out of the oven.

I took them out of the pan and started making sausage biscuits. I knew my dad and I had better eat a couple first before the others got there, otherwise we'd be left empty handed. We all had raging appetites and it took a lot to keep our stomachs filled. I had told the others to eat before they came, but I knew they'd never turn down a free meal.

"Sure, I'll take a couple before the wolves get here," he said, pulling himself up to the table and pouring himself a glass of milk.

"So why can't you go ahead and tell me what this is all about?" I asked in between bites.

"Because you know how we do things around here. You guys are a team and I want you to all know what your first job assignment is for the summer."

"First? You know we want to hang out some this summer before we get real jobs."

"I know you do and you'll have time for that, but obligations come first."

"Sure, sure," I said, waving my hand at him as I finished my first biscuit.

I heard a knock on the door then the sound of footsteps as the others started filing in.

"Morning boys," my dad called as the first one rounded the corner into the kitchen.

"Morning gents," Jared said, taking a seat at the table.

Quil, Embry, and Seth all pilled into the kitchen and started eating and drinking like they were at their second home.

"Okay Billy, spill the beans. I'm anxious to know what's going on that has us all up and out the first day of the summer vacation. You're lucky my other job played out at the fish market and I'll be able to help keep these morons in line while I'm looking for a new job," Paul said, in his usually cocky tone.

"I'll make you think morons," Seth said, slapping Paul in the back of his head.

"Bring it kid," Paul said, dancing around on his feet like he was Mohamed Ali pretending to throw punches at Seth who just rolled his eyes and started laughing as he went for a biscuit and sat down at the table beside Quil.

"Hey you two knock it off," I said, grinning at their antics. "Yeah, Paul we are so blessed to be stuck with you for the next couple of weeks."

"You know you love me," Paul said, as full of himself as always as he grabbed a biscuit too.

"Okay, you boys know that we are all about making an impression on those closest to the reservation, right?" I heard everyone mumble and agree and saw a few head shakes. "This project is going to do just that. It is going to show the good people of Forks that we have hard working, decent, respectable young men here on the reservation who are proud to do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay."

"This sounds like hard labor. What are you getting us into, dad?" I asked.

"Well, Charlie Swan, the Chief of Police in Forks, needs his two story house painted and I've hired you all out for the job. It shouldn't take more than a week, two at the most, and the weather is supposed to hold out all this week at least. He's supplying everything you'll need. You just have to show up every day, scrape off the old paint, prime the areas that need it, and paint the house. He is paying six hundred dollars which will be split between you all, when the job is completed. I know you will do a good job and you all know that what you do and how you work reflects on the rest of us here on the reservation."

"Okay, that's it?" Jared asked, grabbing a biscuit for himself.

"The pay sounds reasonable," I said.

"Yes, that's it. You boys will do fine, but I have to remind you all of one thing. You know that we don't get involved with people outside of the reservation, outside of our own circle. Right?" my dad asked, looking at each of us for confirmation.

"Yeah, sure. We've heard that line a million times," I said, as I got up and grabbed one more sausage biscuit for the road.

The others were walking ahead of me and had just left the kitchen, when my dad caught me by the arm, "Jake, his daughter Bella has come back to Forks to live with him while she works her way through college, but I want you to remember what I said."

He let my arm go, and I nodded, as I walked outside and joined the others. We all piled into Paul's truck. Those who didn't fit in the front, climbed into the back and we sped off for Forks and the beginning of our summer jobs.

On the way to Forks, I thought back on the summers I had spent at the beach or down at the dock with Charlie's daughter while he and my dad fished together. I lost touch with her when she stopped coming to Forks to see her dad. I wondered if she would even remember me, considering I was younger than her.

When we got into Forks, I told Paul where to turn, and we went to the end of a dead end street. The house sat at the end of the street right next to the woods, which would be convenient, in case one of us had to check in with Sam back on the reservation.

We climbed out of the truck and started walking around the house, assessing the amount of work that needed to be done. After looking the place over, I went up to the front door and knocked, while the others went back to the truck and got out our water jug, a few rags, and some other things we thought we might need.

The door slowly opened and a young woman stood there looking at me through the screen door. Her long chestnut hair hung over her shoulders on either side and her big brown eyes almost the color of warm chocolate were staring back at me. I could see all of her innocence and insecurities, like I was reading from an open book.

"Hello. May I help you?" she asked, her voice was sweet and soft and it pulled me from my reverie.

"Sure, sure, I....I'm Jacob Black, from the Quileute Reservation in La Push, and my friends and I have been hired to paint this house. Um, Chief Swan made arrangements with my dad, Billy Black, to start today," I said, trying to focus on the job I had been hired to perform.

"Jacob? Little Jacob with the big brown eyes that used to play with me when I was here during the summer?" she asked, and I could see the excitement spread across her face.

"Yeah. One in the same," I said, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Had I actually made that much of an impression, I thought. I remembered her the minute I saw her even though she was much skinnier and wore glasses back then, but I couldn't believe she remembered me.

"It's good to see you again. Would you like to come in while I get my dad? He's getting dressed for work?" she said, holding the screen door open for me to come inside, still smiling like seeing me was one of the best things that had happened to her in a long time.

"Thanks," I said, and I glanced back over my shoulder, but the others were already at the side of the house waiting.

"Have a seat and I'll be right back," she said, disappearing down the hall and I heard footsteps as she went upstairs.

I could hear her whispering to her dad that we were there and he said he would be down in a few minutes, he was still getting dressed. When she came back into the living room, she walked over to the arm chair and sat down across from me.

"He'll be right down. So, I can't believe how much you've grown up. I guess time passes way too quickly these days."

"Yeah. I can't believe we used to play together. You wore glasses then, didn't you?" I asked and I saw her blush at the reminder.

"I guess some things aren't easily forgotten," she said softly.

Chief Swan came in then and I stood as he shook my hand, "So you boys ready to get started on this old monster?" he asked, laughing heartily.

"Yes sir. We'll make it look as good as new. My dad said you had all of the supplies?"

"Yes, the paint, brushes, rollers, paint-thinner, primer, and putty are all on the back porch. You boys just help yourselves to what you need. Oh, and I wanted to paint the trim around the front windows and the shutters with the blue paint. Bella here will keep an eye on things while I'm at work, so just let her know if you need anything," he said, before leaving.

"Yes sir, I will," I said, as he walked out the front door leaving Bella and I alone.

"Come on. I'll show you where your supplies are and unlock the back door so you can come and go as you please," she said, walking down the hall.

I followed her out onto the screened in back porch and looked around at the different products. I checked the label of the paint to see if there were mixing instructions then looked at the primer, reading the directions. Then I picked up six wire brushes and decided that's what we needed to work on first.

"Well, I better get the guys moving. We have a long day ahead of us," I said, as I walked toward the back door.

"I'll check on you in a little while to see if you need anything, but in the meantime just let me know if I can do anything to help," Bella said.

"Okay. I will. Thanks," I said, as I took the wire brushes and some of the other things outside.

The guys were already looking for areas of the house that had old paint that needed to be removed, so when I gave them their brushes they got started.

As I worked, I thought back to those summers when Bella and I hung out together. I remembered how she would have loved to sit and read to me, but I was wanted to go on an adventure. We would look for shells and dig holes in the sand if we were at the beach and if we were at the dock, we would lie on our stomachs and count the barnacles that had attached themselves to the wooden beams of the pier.

Sometimes we would hang our feet off of the pier and lowering our feet into the water hoping we could catch a fish with our big toes. That is until our dads told us that there were whales bigger than a bus living in the water and that slowed us down some.

I was reliving some of those times when I heard the screen door slam on the back porch. It was Bella coming out to check on us. It had only been two hours since we started and I had finally worked my way to the back porch area.

"Hey. How's it going?" she asked, shoving her hands in her jean pockets as she walked to where I was working.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and lay the steel brush down on the ground.

"I think we're making good time. I've almost worked my way back to where I started and the others are just about finished too. Then we'll start on the primer."

"I guess it was in more need of attention than I thought. It still looked the same when I moved back last week. I guess I just saw it the way it was in my memories," she said, sitting down on the back step.

I took a seat beside her, "Yeah, I was just thinking back on those summers when you and I were together. Do you remember the time we thought we could fly like the sea gulls and we climbed up onto that colossal old driftwood tree down near First Beach? You were afraid but I told you I would protect you if you started falling out of the sky. What I didn't expect was for you to fall off the tree and scrape your knee," I said, laughing softly.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. I started crying and so did you. You said it was your fault that I fell off the stupid old tree and that you would kiss my knee and make it all better," she said, grinning at me and blushing at the reminiscent moment.

I felt the blood rush into my own cheeks, as she reminded me of how upset I was with myself for letting her get hurt. I ran my hands through my hair and propped myself up with my elbows on my knees, trying to hide my embarrassment under my hands that were resting on my forehead as I looked down at the grass by the steps.

"How could I forget that part?" I said, laughing almost nervously.

"If only life could be as simple as it was back then," she said and I caught a hint of melancholy in her tone.

"Yeah. Things are a lot different now, no chasing each other up and down the beach or dangling our feet into the water at the pier. Now its jobs and school and life," I remarked, bringing us both back from our trip down memory lane.

"Well, I better let you get back to work. I'm sure you want the day to pass quickly so you can get back to La Push. I bet you have a date for tonight?" she said, standing up and running her hands over her hips to brush them off.

I watched as her hands carefully moved over her hips and down her slender thighs, my eyes lingering a bit too long on her backside, before meeting her questioning stare. I smiled as I got up and stepped down onto the ground in front of her.

"No. No, I don't have a date, and as for the day passing quickly, well, it will go by just the same whether I'm busy here or there," I replied going over to pick up my brush again.

She laughed quietly, and said, "Yeah, I suppose it does," as she turned and went back inside.

I finally rounded the corner of the house and met up with Seth who was working along the bottom of the house with me. The others were in various positions on ladders or the eaves of the house finishing up their scrapping.

"Looks like we're ready for the primer. I saw a few spots around this side that could use some," Seth said, pointing to the areas around the windows.

I nodded and went to the back porch to get the primer so I could start stirring it. When it was ready, we all got brushes and small buckets of primer so we could go start treating the spots we had seen while scrapping.

We all took off our shirts, not wanting to get the white primer on our clothes and threw them onto the water jug at the edge of the yard.

This part went much faster than the scraping, but it still took about an hour. When we had finished the primer, we were putting things away and washing out our brushes, having decided it would be a good time to go grab a bite of lunch so we would let the primer dry before starting on the paint.

I was standing up on one of the eaves, dabbing the rest of the primer I had on the second story when I heard the screen door open and close. I looked over the edge of the eaves and saw Bella coming out with a small folding table. When she looked around and saw Quil, Embry, and Paul painting their last sections, she dropped the table on her foot.

She grimaced in pain, but never said a word, as she continued staring at the guys. It wasn't until I saw her turn bright red when Jared walked up and caught her that I realized she was checking them all out.

I didn't make a sound, as I went over to the ladder and made my decent back to the ground, going around the house and coming up behind her. It wasn't that I cared one way or the other if she was looking at the obvious eye candy of my fellow coworkers, or so I tried to tell myself, but I wanted see her reaction when I came into view.

The table was still lying on the ground, so I reached down and picked it up.

"Here let me help you with that," I offered, as she spun around and let her eyes slowly, carefully creep from my waistline up my stomach and chest, over each shoulder, and finally up to my face.

I'm sure my muscles were flexing when I opened the table and began folding out the legs before setting it securely on the ground.

"Um, that's nice....I mean....you're a God send....I mean.....you're thanked. Oh...."she was so tongue tied and flabbergasted that she couldn't even talk, which made me feel better.

"I guess that I should say you're welcome?" I questioned and watched her cross her arms over her chest to conceal the peaks that had begun to form on her breasts, which I couldn't help but notice. After all I am of the male species.

I almost felt sorry for her too because she was so red in the face that I thought she might burst into flames any minute or pass out from all that blood rushing so quickly to her head. I smiled at her and it made it even worse, which was amusing.

"I thought...I wanted to help.....I made some sandwiches. I knew that after you were all so hard....at work that you would be hungry. I know you need to keep your strength up," she sighed, looking defeated, and waved her hand toward the house. "Are you guys hungry?"

"I think we could all take a break and eat some of your sandwiches, but you really didn't have to do that. We were going to go into town and grab a bite."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I just thought you might want to stay here longer. You know so you could get more done."

"No. That's great. Really. I'll go tell the guys you've got lunch for us."

"Okay. I'll go get the food then," she said, walking back to the back door.

I laughed to myself as I saw her limping. I'm sure her foot was still throbbing after dropping the table on her foot and from the look of things, other parts of her body had received a jolt too. Not that I minded, but then I had to remember Quileute protocol and hear my dad's words ringing loud and clear in my head, 'we don't get involved with people outside the reservation.' And that made my mood suddenly turn sour.