CHAPTER TWENTY
THE NEW GIRL

Montana sat in the diner, grinning innocently at Quil from the other side of the table. She reached across to steal a few fries from his plate, quickly drawing her hand back before he could stop her.

"I'm this close to complaining to your boss and getting you fired," Quil warned her.

"Ugh, they just taste so good," she moaned through her mouth-full. "Plus, I haven't eaten since breakfast."

"Montana, it's, like, six-thirty in the evening," Quil pointed out, his eyebrows furrowing in concern for his friend.

Her stomach rumbled loudly in response. "I know." Without another word, Quil pushed the plate across the table, holding back a chuckle as he noticed the way her whole expression brightened. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not that hungry anyway."

It seemed to be an acceptable enough answer for Montana, who didn't waste another second before stuffing her mouth with more fries. "God, I love you."

Quil cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "I know."

"So, what's up with you?" Montana asked, reaching for the ketchup bottle. "You seem kinda lost in thought."

Quil shrugged again, staring down at the table to avoid her gaze. Sometimes he hated the way she knew him so well. "It...it's nothing"

"Oh, come on, you know you can always talk to me," Montana encouraged him, resting her elbows on the table.

Quil released a heavy breath, his lips parting to speak, until he hesitated. "I-" He sighed in frustration. Montana waited patiently. "Okay, fine. There's this girl..."

Her eyes almost bulged out of her head at the revelation, and, having chosen an unfortunate moment to have a drink, she began to choke on her orange juice. Montana quickly placed the glass back down on the table, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. Once she'd recovered, a teasing grin curved on her lips, eyebrows arching in curiosity. "A girl?! Tell me everything!"

Quil groaned, his head falling into his hands. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"Dude, don't leave me hanging!" Montana exclaimed. "What's her name? How did you meet? Is she from the Rez? Do I know her? Does she–"

"Stop!" Quil placed his palms down on the table, causing it to wobble. Montana gave him her trademark innocent smile, dipping her fries into ketchup before taking a bite. "Okay, her name is Dina. She lives in Forks. You don't know her, thank god. And we met because she's tutoring me for English."

The grin on Montana's lips practically lifted her entire expression. "Cute."

"I like her, I just..." he trailed off, scratching the back of his neck. "I don't know if she'd ever see me that way."

"You should ask her out," Montana suggested. "I bet she'd say yes."

Quil scoffed. "Yeah, I doubt that."

"Oh, come on," Montana said, reaching a hand out to pinch his cheek. "Who could say no to that adorable face?!"

Quil batted her hand away, eyes narrowing. "I knew I shouldn't have told you."

"Dude, this is the best decision you ever made, I can help you!"

"Right, yeah, the person with zero relationship experience is going to help me get a girlfriend?"

Montana glared at him. "Okay, first of all, fuck you," she said, kicking his shin under the table good measure.

"What the fuck?! Ow!" Quil exclaimed, dropping his head down to check his ankle.

"Second of all–"

"Um, hi." Montana's mouth clamped shut at the sound of another voice, looking up to find an unfamiliar girl standing awkwardly by their table. The unsure teenager chewed nervously on her bottom lip, brushing a loose, dark curl out of her face. "Hi, I'm so sorry, I didn't want to bother you on your break, but it's my first shift this evening, and Cora told me to look for Montana or Diane?"

Montana's expression changed as realisation dawned on her. "Oh, hi! Yeah, Cora said to look out for you!" Montana smiled warmly, holding out her hand. "I'm Montana."

The girl shook it, her palms a little sweaty. "It's so nice to meet you, I'm–"

"Dina?"

Montana heard a smack underneath the table as Quil's head started to resurface. He muttered a string of swears under his breath, rubbing the top of his head.

"Quil?"

Montana's jaw dropped, her eyes widening in excitement as she glanced back and forth between the two of them. Quil looked completely startled to see her, and the colour of his face was almost as red as the ketchup on Montana's plate.

Montana pressed her fist against her mouth, desperately stifling the laughter threatening to escape as she watched her friend, try, and fail, to recover from the embarrassing situation.

"Um, hey, hi, wh-what are you doing here?" Quil rambled, running a hand through his hair to smooth it down.

"I, uh, got a job–"

"Right, yeah, god, sorry." He winced. "You already said that, didn't you?"

Dina smiled gently at him. "It's fine."

Montana had to close her eyes for a moment, silently praying for something to get her out of there before she passed out from having to hold back her laughter.

"This is Montana," Quil introduced. Montana straightened up, smiling at Dina again. "I'm so sorry in advance."

Dina laughed nervously, her hands sliding into the pockets on the back of her jeans.

"Okay, so, I better get back to work then," Montana stated, wiping her greasy hands on her apron as she got to her feet, addressing Dina. "I'm gonna go find Diane to help show you around. I'll be back in a couple minutes. You're welcome to keep Quil company."

"Okay, great," Dina smiled, taking the empty seat that Montana had occupied.

Montana winked subtly at Quil before she left, heading into the back room to find her coworker. Diane was sat at the round table with her feet resting on another chair, contently listening to music from her headphones. Montana chuckled at the sight of the blonde's head bopping along to the beat, watching her for a few moments before creeping up behind her and abruptly grabbing her shoulders.

"Holy shit!" Montana burst into laughter as Diane whirled around, quickly pulling off the headphones. She placed a hand over her racing heart, panicked expression on her face shifting into a relieved smile when she realised who it was. "Oh, jesus. Hey, Mon!"

"So, I came to tell you that the new girl just turned up," Montana started, a smirk tugging at her lips as Diane jumped up from her chair in excitement.

"Finally! What's she like?!"

"She seems super nice, my friend Quil knows her," Montana responded. "I said we'd show her around."

"Sure, my break's almost over now anyway," Diane replied, grabbing her apron from the back of the chair. "This is so exciting, the last new person was that middle aged chef who quit like a week later."

Montana chuckled, listening to Diane babbling excitedly as they made their way back into the diner. She couldn't help but smile as she caught sight of Quil and Dina in the midst of conversation, glad to see her best friend looking so happy again.

Quil's words trailed off as Montana stopped by the table, and Dina fell quiet, looking up at her two new coworkers.

Diane bounded forwards, her cheekbones lifting high with her smile. "Hi, I'm Diane!" She greeted cheerfully.

"Hey, it's so great to meet you," Dina responded, trying to match a similar level of energy.

"You ready?" Montana asked her, sparing a brief glance at Quil in apology. She hated to steal his new friend away from him, but Dina was there to work after all.

Dina smiled again, nodding her head eagerly. "I'm ready."

Time flew by that evening.

The three girls had stuck together for the majority of the time, making sure that Dina knew what she was doing, whilst also trying to get to know her better too.

Montana had already deduced from those few hours that Dina was a wonderful person, and she was happy to have her joining their team. Along with Diane, who was honestly a literal ray of sunshine, she was definitely going to make work a much brighter place. Montana honestly couldn't even remember the last time she'd had so much fun during a shift.

After closing the doors to customers, Montana stayed behind with Diane to finish up cleaning, whilst Dina did the washing up in the kitchen.

"So, she seems super cool," Diane stated, nodding her head in the direction of the kitchen. "It's nice to have someone else our age around here."

"Oh, definitely, she's great," Montana agreed. "Quil speaks highly of her too."

Diane snorted in amusement. "I bet he does, she's stunning."

"I know. Her hair is so gorgeous," Montana commented in awe.

"Oh my god, right?!" Diane exclaimed, adding another chair to the pile she was stacking. "I also desperately need to know her skincare routine."

Montana laughed lightly as wiped down the table in front of her. "You know, I think we might already be a little bit in love with her."

"I think you're right," Diane said. "Speaking of." She dropped the last of the heavy furniture down with a thud, turning around to face Montana smugly. "I heard you and Jacob got cosy last night."

Montana groaned in annoyance as a teasing smirk formed on Diane's lips. "No, no, no, no, no." She straightened upright, pointing the table cloth at her friend. "It wasn't like that. Not at all."

"That's not what I heard," Diane responded in a sing-song voice.

"Ugh," Montana whined. "How the hell did you even find out?"

"I saw Dakota in the parking lot when she dropped you off earlier," Diane responded with a shrug. "We has a nice chat, actually."

"That's lovely." Silently cursing her cousin, Montana picked up the cleaning products, walking towards the store room.

Diane trailed excitedly after her. "So what happened?"

"Nothing, we just fell asleep," Montana responded simply, using her shoulder to push open the double doors.

"In each other's arms," Diane teased, catching the doors before they slammed back on her. "Apparently he was shirtless."

"It was hot," Montana defended.

"So is it finally happening?" Diane wondered, following after her into the smaller room.

"Nothing's happening," Montana dismissed as she opened up the cupboards, shoving everything inside. "I've told you a million times, we're just friends."

"Friends with feelings for each other," Diane quipped. "Is he picking you up tonight?"

"No, Embry's supposed to," Montana responded as they left the room.

"Wait, which one is that?" Diane asked. "The funny one or the, quiet-but-sexy-in-a-mysterious-type-of-way, one?

Montana couldn't help the laugh that left her lips. "That would be the second one."

Diane's eyes brightened. "Ooh." Montana shook her head at her friend. "Anyway–"

"Nope," Montana cut in before she could even start. "Can we drop this now?"

"I'm never dropping it," Diane told her. Montana came to a stop in the middle of the corridor, turning around to face her with a stern expression. "Look, I'm just saying, if you don't do something about your obvious connection–"

Montana scoffed. "Connection."

"–Right now, then you're going to regret it later on down the line when he gets fed up of waiting for you and meets another girl," the blonde finished, placing her hands on her hips. Montana stared at her blankly for a moment. "You know I'm right."

Montana definitely could not deny the way that thought sent her stomach twisting with jealously. She shook her head to dismiss the momentary feeing, opening her mouth to put an end to Diane's teasing, when the kitchen doors opened and Dina stepped into their path, thankfully drawing all the attention towards her instead.

"Hey, I've finished up in there. Do you guys need any help?"

"No thanks, we're done too," Montana replied, grateful for her offer. "Hey, it was really great having you here tonight."

"Yeah, it was super fun," Diane added.

Dina looked slightly taken aback by their kindness, and immediate openness to accepting her as their coworker. She offered them a sincere smile in response, following them into the staff room to retrieve their belongings.

"Oh, hey, Dina, I forgot to ask," Diane started, pulling her denim jacket over her shoulders. "How do you know Quil?"

Dina looked over at Montana a little unsurely as she untied her apron, before shifting her gaze back to Diane. "Oh, uh, I'm helping him out with some school stuff," she answered tactfully.

Montana had to turn away to hide the smile that pulled at her lips, finding it adorable that Dina cared enough about Quil's feelings to not mention that she was tutoring him.

Quil was one of the smartest people that Montana knew, but, for some reason, the boy could just not get to grips with English. She knew how much he struggled with the subject, especially since he was falling behind recently, his mind naturally having been elsewhere these past few months, so it was great that he had someone to help him out. Montana appreciated that Dina understood his difficulties, and respected him enough to not tell everyone the full truth.

"Oh, that's cool," Diane replied, not thinking any more of it.

Montana sent Dina a grateful smile from across the room, slinging her bag over her shoulder. The girls then left the room, Montana stopping briefly to lock it behind her.

She twirled the keys around in her hands, catching back up to Dina and Diane as they slipped through the double doors into the main restraint. "So, I'll see you guys next w–" Montana cut off, halting in the middle of the diner.

She watched as Paul closed the door shut behind him, his hands tucking into his shorts pockets as he turned around to face them.

"Sorry, we're closed..." Diane trailed off, her eyes landing on the gorgeous boy stood in front of her, mouth falling slightly agape. "I mean. Oh."

"Paul," Montana stated. Diane raised her eyebrows, a million questions running through her mind as she watched her friend move towards him. "I thought Embry–"

"No, uh, there was a change of plans," Paul responded vaguely. He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, eyes avoiding hers.

Montana knew something was wrong, and instantly started panicking. "Paul..."

"Uh, have you eaten dinner yet?" He asked her. "I don't think you're gonna get another chance to tonight."

"Paul." She took a step closer to him, her voice lowering with worry. "What the hell is going on?"

He looked down at her, eyes softening slightly. "Montana, not here."

"Are they–"

"The boys are fine," Paul assured her.

"Hey, is everything ok?" Diane asked, her voice breaking the two of them apart.

Paul's stare shifted towards the other two girls in front of him, intrigued eyes trailing over their features. Dina pressed her lips together, shifting uncomfortably on her feet. Meanwhile, a slight smirk curved on Diane's lips as they made eye contact with him.

"Yeah, we're fine," Montana said, snapping Paul's focus back to her. "You guys go ahead, I'll lock up."

"All right," Diane said, seeming a little hesitant. "See you next week, Mon."

Dina smiled sweetly, giving her a small wave. "Goodnight, Montana." She then nodded timidly towards Paul. "Goodnight."

Diane slowed down as she brushed past Paul, quirking an eyebrow as their eyes locked again. "Bye, Paul. Hope to see you around sometime."

Paul bit down on his bottom lip as he watched them leave, the door not quite swinging shut in time to mask their giggles.

Montana narrowed her eyes at Paul, whacking his chest.

"What?" He asked innocently, his attention falling back on her again. "I can't help the effect I have on women."

"Shut the fuck up and tell me what the hell is going on," Montana demanded, her patience thinning. "Right now."

"Okay, so Bella told Charlie about giant wolves in the woods," he began to inform, sparing a glance over his shoulder to check that there definitely was no one else in distance. "People have been hunting us, but we were hunting Victoria today. Harry Clearwater went to cover up our tracks, but the leech got to him, and he had a heart attack."

Montana's shoulders sank, her heart plummeting into her stomach. No. "Shit."

"He's on the way to the hospital now," Paul continued. "Sam said he'd keep me updated. But I gotta get you to the Clearwaters. It's gonna be a long night."

A/N

Hello!! I'm so excited to finally introduce Dina (who may or may not be the potential love interest in the potential Quil fanfic I am potentially writing.) Her face claim is Sofia Bryant, and I love her very much.

Sorry that this was kind of a filler and had no actual Jacob. We're getting towards the end of New Moon now which is exciting, but also sad because Harry 😭