CHAPTER 8
CORNER STORE CRASHING

FINALLY, Margo Richards did, indeed, chill out. She was done channeling her inner Nancy Drew. She didn't want to pry anymore into the Cullens' lives. Her little investigation was over. Done. It ended. As much as it killed her to not find out the answer to her burning questions, Margo learned to ignore her suspicions. It simply wasn't her business, just like Alice said. Besides – vampires? Was she really going to conclude that the answer to her questions was that vampires were invading her town? Please.

At the end of a rainy afternoon, Margo drove her van down to the Border Corner Store, right by the La Push reservation. Margo couldn't believe she hadn't noticed the Rez before, seeing as she came down to this convenience store every other week. For some reason, this was the only store that sold her aunt's favorite vegan bread. Worst part of it was, Jenny Fowler wasn't even a vegan. She just liked the taste of it more than the commercialized bread sold at the local supermarket.

She pushed through the entrance door as a bell rang above her head. Margo waved to the cashier and headed down the food aisle of the store. Out of all places in this tiny town, why was this corner store the only place to sell this stupid bread? Margo sighed as she picked up a loaf, throwing in a tiny basket that she picked up when she entered. She began to walk around, grabbing herself a box of buttered popcorn to microwave later. Margo then approached the soda fridge and tapped her finger on her chin. She opened the freezer door, about to choose a drink when she viewed to her left.

"Jacob?" She called out, closing the freezer.

The familiar Rez boy turned with a bottled Coke in his hands. His hair was free and incased in a blue hat. His rain jacket was soaked from the weather outside, but Jacob still had his large grin on his face. The two teenagers walked closer to each other, and Margo noticed he had a friend beside him, with brown hair pulled back and the same smooth russet-toned skin.

"Hey, Margo," Jacob greeted before gesturing to the boy beside him. "This is my friend, Embry."

Margo waved to the new friend. "Pleasure," she smiled. "What are you guys doing here during this storm?"

Jacob shrugged. "Could ask you the same thing."

"Munchies," Embry added, holding up a bag of chips. "We usually stop here after school."

Margo held up the loaf of bread in her basket. "Didn't realize this place was so close to the Rez. It has the only vegan bread in town for my aunt, who isn't a vegan."

Jacob opened his mouth to speak, but soon closed it when he realized that he didn't know what else to say in front of the pretty girl. Embry looked between his friend and Margo with suspicion. Sensing the awkwardness between the three, Margo slipped her wallet out her pocket and said, "Well, I should get going. I'm thinking about re-watching the Twilight Zone, which will acquire a few hours on my part."

"See 'ya, Mar," Jacob waved as Margo grabbed her last item – the same bottled Coke as Jake – and approached the cash register. The old man who owned the shop was on duty this afternoon, and it took him a few minutes to place everything in a bag with his skinny arms. Margo handed him the cash, telling him to keep the change before walking out.

She threw the bag of food in her passenger seat, checking her flip phone for a moment. Jenny had texted her, saying she would be late tonight – again. The Waylon Forge case was requiring more help on the hospital's part, and Margo was surprised it was still going on – but she wasn't going to pry. She promised herself that.

When she started her ignition, she spotted Jacob and Embry heading out of the corner store with their jackets zipped and hoods up. Margo frowned slightly, knowing that they were going to freeze in the cold rain, and she felt bad. So, in all her good nature, Margo rolled down her window and shouted out, "Hey!" The two boys turned at her call. "Do you guys need a ride? It's pouring!"

Jacob and Embry's stares met before Jacob replied, "It's okay. We're fine."

Margo pulled her van up beside the two boys, rolling down the passenger side window. "I'm giving you guys a ride," she laughed softly. "Don't be idiots."

After a moment, the boys shrugged and got inside the minivan. Jacob sat in the passenger seat, placing his wet backpack in between his legs and Margo's bag of food on his lap. Embry slid himself into the backseat and directed Margo to the location of his house while she drove out of the convenience store parking lot. His house was just a mile from the store, which would've been almost a fifteen-minute walk, and Margo now felt glad she offered to drive them. "It's this white house on the left," he instructed.

Margo nodded and pulled into the sandy driveway. "Thanks so much!" Embry said, grinning towards the Forks girl.

"No problem," Margo replied as Embry grabbed his backpack and jumped out of the car. "See you later!"

Embry waved to the two as Margo backed out her van from the driveway, heading down the dead-end road. Jacob told her his house would be on the right in red. His house was only a few minutes from Embry's, and within a matter of time, Margo was pulling into a spot right near the small house. It was painted a dark red, as Jacob said, with it's wooden planks and narrow windows that made it resemble a tiny barn. The house was situated on top of a small hill, and a red garage sat next to it, which almost looked bigger than the actual house.

Margo looked up, noticing a red Volkswagen Rabbit placed in the garage. "Is that your car?" She asked, to which Jacob nodded. "Then why are you walking?"

"It's my dad's gift to me – when I get my license," he added with a smirk. Jacob grabbed his bag before sliding out of the car. "Thanks for the ride, Margo," he said.

"Don't mention it," Margo said, waving without her hand leaving the wheel.

She watched Jacob hook his backpack around his shoulders and shut the door. Margo sighed longingly, trying to push away the hormonal teenager thoughts suddenly plaguing her brain. Jacob was beginning to walk towards his house when he then turned on his heel. She started the ignition and looked up, realizing Jacob was at her driver's side window. She furrowed her brow and rolled down the window. Before she could question him, he asked, "Do you want to, like, hang out?"

Her brow shot up. "What?"

"Never mind. It was stupid –" He continued, immediately walking away.

Margo cut the engine suddenly, grabbing her Coke and box of popcorn from the bag in her van. This would be fine; Jenny was going to be late anyways. She found herself running then to keep up with Jacob on the hill, and she was finally standing beside him, walking at his pace. "You can't just un-invite me, Jacob," she sneered. "I have popcorn, after all."

Jacob was grinning again, nodding his head quickly in agreement. "Yeah, yeah. You're so right."

The two ascended the hill and approached the chipping shingles of Jacob's house. He unlocked the door quickly, fumbling with the keys in his shaky hands before holding the door open for Margo. She nodded her head in thanks and entered the small home, which smelled like firewood from his electronic fireplace. Someone was also home.

"Jacob?"

It was an older man's voice. Jacob threw his set of keys on a table beside the door and shrugged his jacket off. Margo did the same, which Jacob happily took and hung it on the hanger next to him. "I'm home, dad." He called out.

Moments later, an older man in a wheelchair rolled into the entryway from the living room. A large black cowboy hat sat on his head, and a red plaid shirt hung loosely on his small shoulders. His eyes slightly bagged. He looked up at Margo, lifting a brow at the sight of the stranger. "Who's this?" He asked, looking to his son. "This sure doesn't look like Embry."

She giggled softly as Jacob's cheeks flushed red. "This is Margo Richards," he introduced. "I met her a few weeks ago at First Beach. She's friends with Bella."

"Oh," he nodded, placing his hand out as Margo shook it. "I'm Billy, Jacob's father. Have I seen you around before?"

"Um –" Margo paused, glancing to Jacob for a second. "Well, I'm not really out a lot. If I am, I'm usually at the hospital in Forks. My aunt Jenny works there and I sometimes wait for her to get off her shift."

Billy smiled. "That's probably it. Have they been working her hard down there?"

Margo nodded slowly. She silently knew where this conversation was heading, but she didn't want to risk saying anything. She did her best to stay quiet.

"Chief Swan has told me that the whole town is up in arms about the Waylon Forge case. They even enlisted the help from the hospital staff. Maybe their chief doctor knows more than they do." Billy continued, earning weird stares from both Jacob and Margo. "I'm starting to think it wasn't an animal that killed him."

"Me either," Margo replied, which got her a grin from Billy.

Jacob looked between the two. "Yeah, well – okay, we're going to my room, dad."

"Don't have too much fun," Billy reminded, "son."

Margo felt her palms grow sweaty as she walked into Jacob's room. It was incredibly small, with a tiny twin-sized bed situated in the corner and a bedside table next to it. The only other things in the room were a bureau with Jacob's clothes and old TV set in front of the bed. "Sorry, it's so small," Jacob said, throwing his backpack beside his bed. "There's only one bedroom in this house, so I got the closet."

Margo laughed. "It's okay." She then tossed Jacob the boxed popcorn. "Heat it up for me?"

Jacob nodded. "Wanna watch a movie? I'm a fan of horror flicks myself."

"Do you have Scary Movie?" She asked, and Jacob bobbed his head. "Get that."

Jacob was sprinting out of the room to get the popcorn microwaved fast. He couldn't believe a girl was in his room. His first girl ever. God, Embry and Quil were never going to believe this. Not even his dad was believing it, asking him if Margo was just a figment of imagination from the medication he was on. Jacob watched the popcorn bag get bigger with each second and shushed his dad. "She'll be able to hear you!" He whispered loudly. "She's real. I got this."

Billy rolled his eyes as Jacob took the bag out and poured the popcorn in a bowl. Inside his room, Margo took out her phone and started writing a new text to Melinda about where she was. She knew her friend would flip, but Margo was suddenly closing her phone as Jacob emerged back in the bedroom, holding a bowl of hot popcorn in one hand and his Scary Movie DVD in the other. He popped the disc into his DVD drive and turned on his TV before plopping himself on his bed beside Margo.

The two sat a comfortable distance from each other, but Margo found herself sliding closer, due to wanting a handful of popcorn. The movie started before them, and both teens were already laughing. Jacob turned to Margo, noticing how her laugh sounded like the wind chimes Billy kept outside their house. "So," he spoke aloud, "is this your favorite movie?"

Margo shrugged. "Yeah, kind of," she replied. "It's a mix between this and a Beautiful Mind."

"Those are two very different genres," Jacob chuckled. "It's almost surprising to hear that this is one of your favorite movies. Bella told me you're one of the smartest people in school."

"That's the goal." Margo cracked open the old-fashioned bottled Coke in her hands and took a sip. "I'm not even supposed to be a junior. They bumped me a grade when I moved to Forks because I could keep up with the faster workload. I'm sixteen, a year younger than everyone else."

Jacob chewed on a piece of popcorn before asking, "So, if I were to ask you what the square root of pi –"

"One point seven, seven, two, four, five," Margo interrupted, grabbing a handful of popcorn. "There's more numbers after that, but ..." She shrugged lazily.

Jacob's mouth fell open in shock. "Jeez, I couldn't remember that." He shook his head, turning back to the TV screen. "I bet if you were helping the police on this Waylon case, you'd be able to figure out the suspects in an hour."

Margo laughed, not because Jacob was making a joke, but because he truly didn't know that she'd been trying to do that for weeks. She wasn't that smart. Courtney, her big brain, could only do so much. Even Jenny had asked for her helped at one point decipher the wounds on photographs of a patient – something she really wasn't supposed to be doing – and Margo couldn't come up with any other answer besides an animal.

"Maybe the suspects are your wolf ancestors," she suggested, nudging him in the side. "They're coming back to haunt you, Jake."

He laughed loudly, holding his stomach at the thought of that happening. "Now, you're starting to sound like my dad."

The two held their hands over their mouth to calm down their laughter, and this wasn't even from the comedic movie playing in front of them. They both found their hands reaching for popcorn then, and once her fingers touched his, she retracted them. She viewed up, noticing that Jacob was sending her a soft smile. A blush crept on her cheeks, and she desperately tried to hide it before chuckling quietly to herself.

Maybe going on that La Push trip had done her more favors than she thought it would.

•••

A/N: I know that some of these next chapter might be a bit boring because their filler chapters, but I wanted the plot to go kinda slow. Margo doesn't know anything about the supernatural in her town, and that's going to stay that way for the rest of Twilight so she can develop herself and relationships with the characters. But trust me when I say that in her in New Moon will be gucci!!!!!!