Chapter 1
Falling
"Bella. Bella? Bella! Bella," I felt someone nudge me harshly, aside from the yelling. I opened my eyes slowly.
"Jacob?" I said, my eyes hazy and blurry. I looked around. Trees. I saw something gray and moving many yards ahead of us. I'm...wait, where am I? I looked back to Jacob, who was laying above me, his hand behind my head.
"You dislocated your shoulder, Bella." He says to me, his voice seeming to be miles away.
"Where are we?" I ask. He looks at me curiously.
"Don't you remember?" He asks, confused. I shake my head. "We're at the beach. We took the trail remember? Look, Eclipse is over there," He points to two horses close beside him. And then, I remember. He nods his head as he sees the change in my eyes.
"Yeah, that's right. Remember what you did? You jumped the log, Bella. What the hell were you thinking? I'm not kidding. What was running through your head at that moment? Bella, you've never even jumped a horse before! Not to mention, Eclipse hasn't done it either!" As he ranted at me, I remember the details. Oh. Oh. I sighed and bit my lip, putting my good arm over my tired eyes, blocking the sun.
"I'm sorry, Jake. I didn't know what I was thinking," I say quietly. "And, I didn't realize my horse would be as clumsy as I am!" I yell at the horses next to Jacob. They snorted. "Pff!" I snorted back. Jacob laughs. I suddenly feel another pain in my shoulder. He sees the pain in my eyes and takes off his jacket.
"Take this, you'll need it," He says as he puts the jacket in my mouth. "You trust me, right?" He asks, looking slightly pale. I nod my head, my eyebrows furrowing as I tried to think of why he was asking me that and why I had a jacket in my mouth. I would have spoken up and taken it out of my mouth, but I decided it was better not to. He runs a hand through his hair and exhales slowly.
"Okay. Do not hold your breath, it will only make it worse. On three. One, two," I hear a sickening pop and feel my shoulder being tugged back into its place. I yanked the jacket out of my mouth, felt my fist yank back and watched it him him squarely in the jaw.
"What happened to three, you jerk?" I yell at him. His hand moves up to his face and he moves his jaw side to side gently.
"Because the anticipation is the worst part. Besides, you didn't even know what I was going to do!" He says back to me. I get up and push him out out of the way, heading toward Eclipse. She was beautiful, a black arabian who was a birthday present from the Cullens. It turns out all of the Cullens have horses and a private stable. Jacob was borrowing Carlisiles' stallion, Eagle, a grey thoroughbred. I've been learning a lot from the Cullens and Jacob about horses, and I love it. Edward thinks it's to dangerous for me, but I can do what I want. What was I supposed to do? Leave Eclipse in the stable? I don't think so. Anyway, I'm not even his girlfriend anymore. Currently single and happy. "Do you feel okay to ride back?" Jacob asks me as I mount an anxious Eclipse.
"I'm fine. I'll race you back," I say grinning as Jacob mounts Eagle. He grins back and I nudge Eclipse, who starts running immediately. I stand up in my saddle and give Eclipse all the rein she needs, leaning over her neck. Jacob does the same next to me. We get too close to the water and Eclipse shies away from it. I hate that. She still keeps running strong next to Eagle though. I was lucky she didn't buck or rear. The only downside of having horses, they're unpredictable. We stop, all breathless. We walk up a small hill and we're there. It's the most beautiful stable I've ever seen. There's a huge indoor arena, tons of trails, pastures and a barn. The Cullen family is there, waiting for us.
"How was your ride?" Asks Carlisle, smiling up at us. We smile back and tell him everything except the fall, of course. No one else needed to know about that. "Bella, I saw you went with the western saddle this time." Carlisle says, looking at me, curious. The Cullens are more of an english riding family, but are familiar with western, too.
"It's easier to stay on when she spooks." I tell him truthfully. It was true. It's really hard to stay on in an english saddle, and the cinch was hard to tighten. Carlisle chuckles.
"I can definetly agree with that." I smile back at him and glance at Jacob, who was scratching Eagle under his mane. I smiled. Jacob loves horses just as much as the Cullens and I do. "Well, the others are waiting for you inside," Carlisle says and heads for the barn. We dismount and lead the horses into the barn. We are greeted by the smell of grass hay, horses nickering to each other and a soft murmur of greetings from the other Cullens, who were cleaning stalls and grooming their horses. Edward by his dapple gray Hanoverian stallion, Dream. Alice, next to her mare Dark Angel, a dark bay Morgan. Rosalie next to her Palimino, Tess, a tempermental mare that matched the color of her beautiful blonde hair. Emmett, by his Oldenburg stallion, Will, who is bay of color and is the biggest horse I've ever seen. Jasper, by his stallion, Storm, a white Trakhner, and Esme with her mare Raven, a dark bay thoroughbred. Tess is the only thing I've ever seen Rosalie care for, beside Emmett. They have a bond, just like everyone else in here with their own horse. I stroked Eclipse. She nudges me playfully. I put her in her stall after I'm done taking her tack off and grooming her. Jacob will be turning seventeen soon, we should get him a horse of his own. I know he loves jumping and racing, maybe a nice off the track thoroughbred? I'll ask Carlisle later, I think to myself.