Fiction CbmL01- Lemonade And Cookies

Title: Can't Buy Me Love

Chapter Title: Lemonade And Cookies

Author: Restive Nature

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Twilight. They belong to author Stephenie Meyer and publishing company, Little Brown and Company. No infringement is intended and this fiction is for private enjoyment only.

Rating: up to R

Chapter Rating: PG

Genre: Twilight

Type: AU/ AH

Pairing: Bella/ Edward, Bella/ Jasper

Summary: Based off the premise of the movie of the same title. Jasper wants in with the popular crowd. How far will he go achieve that goal?

Spoilers/ Time line: All human characters, attending high school/ college.

Feedback: Always welcome!

Distribution: Ask first please.

A/N: This fiction will be predominantly in the points of views of Jasper and Bella, but there may be switches on perspective occasionally. Each switch should be clearly marked at the header of the section.

Can't Buy Me Love

Chapter One

Lemonade And Cookies

JPOV

“So how much have you earned so far?” Julie asked of me as I finished strapping down the riding lawn mower that was the staple in my summer business, to the low trailer that my father had purchased years ago when we had bought a cabin slightly up the mountain. I grinned back down at her, pushing my glasses up onto my nose.

I knew she wasn't being nosy, as in how much money did I have on me. But it was interest because for the last five years, I had been talking about buying a drum kit and making the switch between guitar and drums for our band, both marching and ensemble. I jumped off of the trailer, stumbling just a little as I landed and grinning at the group of my friends. Every one also happening to be a member of Forks High school band.

“Enough that after this weekend?” I announced, “that kit'll be mine.”

“Excellent,” Josh grinned and then stuffed the last bit of the donuts that Angela had brought with her, into his mouth.

“I thought your dad insisted that you put the money into your college fund,” Ben noted. He might be killer on the piano, but on a normal day, Ben was so shy away from his friends that it was a miracle you could hear his voice at all.

“We worked that out,” I explained. “As long as I was putting a percentage of what I earned in, then Mom and Dad are happy to let me use the rest of the money how I see fit.”

“And what did they say about using the garage to practice in, this winter?” Angela asked with a tinge of concern in her voice. I shrugged, still pretty happy with the way things were turning out. Our music teacher was, not exactly downsized, but with class sizes being pretty small, she was sharing teaching duties at several area schools. So we would only get her twice a week. Which, in all of our opinions, was not enough time to actually practice the songs we wanted to play this year. So we had agreed amongst ourselves that we would concentrate on band songs during school and our jazz ensemble pieces after school and on weekends.

As long as they didn't interfere with Angela's church days, Ben's AP science course work, Julie's job at the library or Josh's ongoing internship with the computer firm that his dad had hooked him up with. Or my lawn cutting business that would continue for another month or two. Depended on this autumn's rain fall, I guessed.

“As long as we clear out the space we need and keep it clean and the practice hours reasonable,” I informed them, “they've got no problem at all with it.”

“All right,” Julie crowed, throwing herself at me for a hug. I had noticed lately that she was getting a little touchy feely. And while I didn't mind when she gave me hugs, I was just hoping that she wasn't expecting more to come out of it. Because seriously, she was just like a sister to me. Just like Angela was. And Ben and Josh, they were my bros.

“Okay,” I gently nudged her back and she gradually let go. “I have to get going.”

“You're coming by our house today, right?” Angela clarified. I nodded.

“Yep,” I agreed. “I've got Chief Swan's place first, since they're always up early on Saturdays. Then your house and then the Stanley's this afternoon.”

“Okay man,” Josh clapped his hand on my shoulder. “Talk to you later.” The rest of my friends called their goodbyes as I climbed into the used Ford F-150 that my dad and I had bought not too long just after I got my license. It was a good old truck, but the mileage was getting astonishingly high and I was starting to wonder if it would last me through senior year. As I started up the engine, I mused that maybe that was what my next project should be. Earning some money for a nicer car. Well, if things continued the way they had, maybe it would be doable.

*****

BPOV

I watched from our front porch as my father carried out the last of his fishing gear to the cruiser. As Chief of Police in this little town of Forks, it was his vehicle. And as usual, after working all week long, he was on his break for the weekend and that meant I would barely see him until Sunday night.

Charlie and I didn't have the usual father daughter relationship. I had learned that quickly when I had first moved here last March in my junior year. My mother had just gotten remarried to a minor league baseball player, Phil. And I knew that she wanted to spend more time with him and be able to go on the road with him. So I had requested to come to my father until I was finished school and off to college. After some debate, my mother had finally agreed.

And while I know that Renee was sad to see me go, she was ecstatic about the time that she and Phil could spend with one another. Now Charlie on the other hand, had been ecstatic, but clueless when I had arrived. I hadn't spent more than a few weeks at a time with him since I was just a baby. So we didn't know each other all that well. And after seeing how well I could take care of myself, him and the house in those first few weeks, Charlie had pretty much backed off and let me do my thing.

I swear, it was more like living with a roommate than a parent, sometimes.

Except in moments like these.

“I know the estimate is a little rough Bells,” he was saying as he pushed his gear into his nearly overflowing trunk. “But you weren't at fault for the accident and your insurance will eventually cover everything.”

I sighed. There was no way that I'd be able to explain all this to Charlie. I was trying to think of something to say, lest he question why I was suddenly for the first time in a long while, acting like a typical, whiny teen, when a familiar rumble turned onto our street. I glanced down the lane and saw that it was indeed Jasper Whitlock. We attended Forks high together, though we weren't really friends. We had maybe one class together the final semester of junior year. I had only had the chance to talk to him when he started cutting Charlie's lawn every few weekends or more, depending on the rainfall. I had never had anything to talk to him about until Charlie had told me one night that he had seriously considered buying that old truck that Jasper drove, since it had belonged to his dear friend Billy Black. Billy was confined to a wheelchair a couple years back and with three kids to support, had needed the money. It was just typical of my dad to want to help like that, but Jasper and his Dad had swooped in with the money that Billy was asking for it and Billy had sold it before Charlie could even try.

When I had shyly confided this to Jasper, he had grinned and told me that I could drive it if I wanted, but to remember that the steering wheel pulled to the left and I had to double pump the clutch. I hadn't been sure if he had been making some off the wall joke or slur or something and I hadn't said much to him after that.

Until the next time he came over. It had actually been pretty hot that day and I had taken pity on him, out there in the sunshine, sweating over our yard work. So I had made him some lemonade and put some cookies on a plate and had taken it out to him. He had appreciated it and said so, asking where I had got the cookies. When I told him that I had baked them myself, he was just so darn amused, that I couldn't help asking why. His grin was infectious, I found. He told me that his mother couldn't bake worth a darn and near burnt down their kitchen trying. That had gotten a giggle out of me and I had told him about a few of Renee's culinary attempts over the years. We had laughed about our respective parents and then after his break, he'd gone back to sweating in the sun.

When I mentioned to Charlie about how Jasper had near gotten sun stroke, he agreed with my idea to have Jasper come over earlier in the mornings, since we were always up and had no real close neighbors. Also, with the sun directly overheard later in the afternoon, there wasn't much shade for Jasper to work through around the yard. Jasper was happy enough with that. But I always made sure that there was lemonade and cookies waiting for him.

“I'm just hoping I get my car back before school starts,” I muttered as Charlie and I watched Jasper pull to a stop and hop out of the truck with a wave to us.

“I'm sure you will Bells,” Charlie assured me. “But if you don't, it's no problem for me to give you a ride.”

“That's what I'm afraid of,” I muttered under my breath. The first few weeks of school had been humiliating, being driven in the police cruiser, like some delinquent. I had been so relieved when Charlie had found my car at a used lot over in Port Angeles. And since he was buying it as a welcome home gift, it freed up a lot of the money I had saved up for just that sort of thing. So now I had a nice little nest egg in the bank. For college. Or at least I usually did.

“Hang on a sec,” Charlie held one finger up to me and then turned away. “Jasper?” he called and Jasper looked up from where he was unstrapping his rider mower. “Can I get you to cut at half an inch today? It's looking like plenty of rain the next few weeks.”

“You got it Chief Swan,” Jasper called back and happily went about adjusting things before continuing with his work. Charlie turned back to me and smiled.

“Now Bells,” he returned his attention to what we'd been previously discussing. “You can go ahead and pay for the repairs out of your account. I know you've probably got more than enough. That way, you'll have your car back middle of next week.”

I sighed. “I was saving that money for college Dad,” I half whined, still unable to tell him the truth about the money.

“College is still a year away Bells,” Charlie pointed out dryly and I had to bite down the urge to sarcastically note that I knew that. “When you get the check from the insurance company, then you can easily replace it.”

“Yeah, I know,” I muttered, crossing my arms uncomfortably. I did not like lying. I never had. And even though I hadn't let any untruths pass my lips, I still hadn't told him the whole story and it didn't sit well with me. “But,” a sudden thought struck me, “what if I end up paying out more than they reimburse me.”

“I promise,” Charlie announced, climbing back up the steps to embrace my upper arms and look me straight in the eye, “if that happens, I will make up the difference. Okay?”

“All right,” I sighed, feeling a little panicky inside. How was I ever going to come up with the amount the auto garage was asking to fix my poor little car? The guy that had rammed my car had no insurance, was apparently a drunk with no job or other income to pay for the damage that he had done. So it was left to me. And I had nothing. “Have fun fishing,” I encouraged, suddenly eager to be by myself so I could work this conundrum out.

“Okay,” Charlie nodded. “Jasper's money is on the fridge. I should be back tonight. Save me some dinner?”

“Of course,” I agreed. Just like every Saturday he was fishing, from the day I moved back and probably would until the day I moved out again. With a brief peck to my forehead, Charlie was off. I waved good bye to him, my mind only half on what was going on around me. I was startled when I heard Jasper's lawn mower start up and realizing that I'd just get a head ache if I stayed outside, moved to go in to put in a batch of Jasper's favorite M&M cookies.

*****

JPOV

As I started up the mower, I noticed Bella jump a little at the noise. She must have been deep in thought about her problem. I had heard through the grapevine how some jerk had plowed into her car when she was in Seattle. Luckily she hadn't been in it at the time, since it happened in a parking lot. But now it seemed like there was some drama surrounding that and making her worry, if the frown she wore was any indication.

I remembered well enough the teasing she had gotten when she first moved back to Forks. Everyone had known who she was, since it was a small town and all. And the teasing she had gotten over being escorted to school by the Chief of police every morning had made her cry several times. I had seen that and so had Angela, who had talked to her until Bella had found her place among the popular crowd. Which was to say, not our crowd. But Bella, bless her heart, still had a kind word to say whenever she and Angela were paired together on a class project or when they saw each other around town. She was one of those rare popular people that was just... nice.

I wondered briefly as I started making the rounds of the Swan lawn, if maybe I could offer Bella a lift until she got her car back. Her boyfriend Edward had headed off to college not long ago, so he wasn't around to drive her. And his little sister Alice had had her driving license suspended, by her parents, because of a speeding ticket. So there was no luck for Bella there. I decided then that when Bella bought out the cookies and lemonade she always provided for me, I could make the offer. After all, that was what a gentleman did, and my momma had raised me right.


Chapter Two- Weekend Plans