Chapter One
Jacob:
PREPARATION
Bella is gone. Officially gone from me forever. I knew it was inevitable, but I was planning not to attend the wedding. The invitation was not what changed my mind. It was Edward's note, addressed to me, that was attached to it.
Jacob,
I'm breaking the rules by sending you this. She was afraid of hurting you, and she didn't want to make you feel obligated in any way. But I know that, if things had gone the other way, I would have wanted the choice.
I promise I will take care of her, Jacob. Thank you - for her - for everything.
Edward
As soon as I read it, I knew I had to be there. I promised myself that I would leave if I had to, if I got too angry. I was sure that as soon as he put the ring on her finger, I wouldn't be able to stand it any more, knowing she loved him more than she loved me.
Two days before the wedding, I dove for the phone every time it rang, hoping against hope it was Bella, calling to say that the wedding was off and she wanted to be with me. But I knew at the back of my mind that it was never going to happen. No matter how much I loved her or she loved me, Edward always came out on top. I was positive I was never going to love anyone more than her as long as I lived.
The night before, I could hardly sleep a wink, thinking of her and her future without me. All night I was readying myself for what I was absolutely certain was going to be the worst day of my life. I was dreading daylight. At about midnight, I knew my anxiousness could not be contained in my room any longer. I was out the door and into the forest before Billy was awake enough to hear me. I changed quickly when I remembered my wolf self could handle the pain better.
Go away! I shouted in my head to anyone that was listening.
Worried about Bella? Sam asked.
I said go away! And you know perfectly well that I'm worried about Bella. You can hear my thoughts! And anyone else? Can you hear me too? I was mad, and Sam could easily tell.
There's no one else here, Jacob. Relax. I'll leave too if you want... Sam's voice faded as he morphed back to his human form. Good. Sam was the last person I needed right now.
Hey Jacob! WHY are you mad about that stupid human girl anyway? You should be glad she's running off with that bloodsucker of hers! I'm glad they're leaving! Leah. Remembering how much she bothered me made me realize Sam would be the SECOND least person I wanted to hear.
I'm mad that she's leaving, Leah, because I happen to love her. You should know that by now, because you can HEAR MY THOUGHTS! I silently shouted.
Whatever. I think you should get over her. She's just a human, anyway. A human that makes terrible decisions. She's going to marry that thing! She WANTS to be a leech like them! GET OVER HER! Sometimes Leah really got on my nerves.
I've said this before, and I'll say it again, JUMP OFF A CLIFF! You are so ANNOYING! It's true, and she knows it.
Well, excuuuuuuse me! Like it's not ANNOYING to have to hear you think about Bella Swan all night, every night! Sometimes I just want to kill that Leah!
You want to kill me? I'm that annoying? (Darn! She wasn't supposed to hear that!) Whatever. I'll just leave then. It's almost six anyway... Six o'clock! Billy would be awake soon! I ran back to my house as fast as I possibly could and immediately fell asleep.
Chapter Two
Bella:
MATRIMONY
Bella Cullen. Bella Cullen. I could get used to the sound of that. I guess I'm going to have to, because that's who I'll be forever.
The wedding was beautiful, of course. Alice overdid herself on almost everything. The biggest surprise to me was that Jacob showed up! I had thought that it would hurt him too much.
Throughout the celebration, I kept calm by thinking, only a few more days. Only a little longer. Then three short days, and I will be... My thoughts always trailed off at that point. The part of me that wanted this life tried to say, one of them! Finally! But the other, more nervous side wanted to give in to Jacob and shout, a bloodsucker! You'll go crazy, killing everything in sight! No, NO!
A week before the wedding, Alice had shown me the guest list. She had her original list, and a separate column for who I would veto. She already knew who I would strike off, so she did it herself. Sometimes I think Alice takes her talent just a little too far. But split second decisions always confused her.
"Keep Jacob on the list. How could you think I wouldn't want him here?" I instructed, just a little hurt that she would try to take him off.
"You'd really hurt him that way?" Alice asked. It was an innocent question, but she made me mad.
I struggled to keep my voice calm. "You know, if Jacob thinks he would get hurt too badly by coming, he doesn't have to. But he might get hurt even more if I don't invite him. You, he, and I all know that I love him. If you're worried about Edward, I'm sure he will do nothing out of the ordinary to make Jacob mad. And Jacob can always leave if he has to!"
"I'm sorry! I didn't think of it that way! Please relax! You don't want to make me bring Jasper in here..." I rolled my eyes. Both Jasper and I hated when she used his talent as a threat.
"He hates that, you know. I might be the one to make him come in here," I threatened. I still wasn't exactly in a good mood.
"JASPER!" Alice yelled. I stared at her. I had no idea she'd actually call him!
"We need some help settling a little argument. Please calm Bella down," she told him when he appeared in the doorway.
Jasper looked at me. Instantly I felt better.
"I hate that, you know," I told him, my voice not as harsh as I intended it to be.
"I know," Jasper said, giving Alice an evil look.
"You are in here for Bella, not me!" Alice said, obviously more relaxed. Jasper grinned again and hurried out before Alice could get too mad.
"Anyway, back to the guest list. Any other changes I might not have seen?" Alice asked, back to her normal, bouncy self.
"No," I told her, then read the list more carefully. "Wait, I know Jacob's a good idea, but Quil and Embry? They CANNOT come. One werewolf is okay, but three? Bad idea!"
"Oh. But I'd be willing to bet that Jacob wouldn't come to a vampire wedding without at least one other werewolf there," Alice pointed out.
"Good point. Then no, I have absolutely no more changes," I told her, scanning the list one more time. "Anything else I need to look at?"
"Hmm." Alice thought a moment. "Oh yeah! Did you want to see my dress?" She was already in the closet before I could answer. I followed her, but by the time I got there, she had put it on.
"You like it?" she asked me.
"Looks great, Alice! Who did you say designed it?" I asked. I wasn't really interested, but I didn't want to hurt her feelings.
"Same as yours!" She saw my puzzled look and added, "Perrine Bruyere."
"Right, right. Of course! Perrine...whatever!" I said, seeing Alice trying to hide a giggle. I glared at her, then stifled a laugh of my own.
When Edward came in to ask us what we were doing, he found us both laughing so hard we couldn't talk. "What is so funny?" He asked us.
When we finally calmed down enough to answer, I said, "We don't know!"
Edward rolled his eyes. "Girls," he said under his breath. "I can't believe it. I am getting married in one week, and all my fiancee and her maid of honor can do is laugh their heads off!" He rolled his eyes again, then walked out of the closet, pretending to be angry, which just made us start giggling again.
"He's right, you know," Alice told me, suddenly serious again. "We really should be going." She dragged me off before I could protest. "We have lots to do!"
Chapter Three
Jacob:
ATTENDANCE
"Oh. My. God. I have never seen anything so unlike you in my life. Who did this? Was it..." I struggled to find the name.
"Alice did it. And I know. It's terrible. But, you know, whatever makes her happy," Bella reminded me.
"So, Edward, were you in on this little plot to make this wedding just like a bad/1900's/old movie?" I asked. It was terrible. I guessed immediately that they had already bitten her and she was not herself. But then I remembered the little, over-decorating mosquito.
"Actually, yes, but same movie was not exactly the look we were going for," Edward answered, surprisingly calm about my half-insult.
"I thought it would be nice to have sort of an old-fashioned wedding, and Alice..." my attention was drawn away from Bella for a second.
"Wow," I breathed, still not listening.
"I know. Alice never goes halfway on anything. I told her..." I wasn't talking about the mosquito's decorations, though. The most beautiful girl I had ever seen was standing on the other side of the room.
"Jacob? Are you awake?" Bella had noticed that my attention was not on her. "What are you looking at?"
"Who is that?" I asked Bella, breathless.
"Oh. Her. Edward told me that there was a new 'sibling' in their house that I haven't met, and that might be her," Bella told me, seeing who I was looking at.
The girl was standing next to Embry, laughing and talking with him. I was instantly embarrassed to be looking at his (maybe) girlfriend the way I was, but I couldn't take my eyes off her. I think she felt my eyes on her back, because just then, she turned around and glanced at me. I couldn't see anyone else in the room.
When I finally tore my eyes off her, Bella had left to talk to her other friends. Only Edward was near me now.
"Don't you dogs have some kind of love-at-first-sight kind of thing?" he asked me.
"Well, yeah, it's called imprinting, but it's supposedly really rare," I answered.
"How many in your pack have done it?" Edward wondered, with a small smile.
"Um, Let's see, there was Sam and Emily... Quil and Claire… Jared and Kim... I think those were the only three..." I racked my brain for any others. "Yeah, I guess just the three."
"Out of how many?"
"More than twenty." Why was I telling him this?
"Doesn't seem that rare to me," Now I knew where this was going.
"No. I can't hurt my best friend like that! Imprinting on his girlfriend? No way!" I walked away, still muttering about how bad that would be and what Embry would do to me if he knew.
After the wedding, I went to see Sam.
"Is imprinting really as rare as everyone says? What does it feel like? Is it possible that I could have had it happen to me? And could I have imprinted on a...vampire?" I got right to the point. I had too many questions to ask at once.
"Relax, Jacob. Come sit down." Once we were seated, Sam began. "First of all, every generation since...I don't know how long ago has said that imprinting is extremely rare. Three in one pack seems like a lot if you look at the written history. Second, I'm not sure how to explain how it feels. It's like...you can't see anyone but her. You think that she's the most beautiful person in the world. You..." There, Sam trailed off. I was sure he was thinking about Emily, but I was thinking about the "Mystery Girl." All the things Sam described were true. About her. "Third," Sam continued, "It is entirely possible-though highly unlikely-that it could have happened to you. And last, I'm not sure. I don't believe it's ever happened before, at least in the written history. Now can I ask a question of my own?"
"Sure, but I can guess what it's going to be. Do you want to know if I think it happened to me?"
"Yes, and if she's a vampire, like you said," Sam answered, as I knew he would.
"Well, I think I imprinted on Embry's new friend. I don't know her name, and I've only seen her once, and she's a Cullen, but she was the only person in my world when she glanced at me."
"If I were you, I'd ask Embry what he knows about her. But be careful, imprinting can sometimes hurt the best of friendships," Sam warned. I knew. I saw Leah every day for proof of that.
"Okay, thanks, Sam!" I said, as I jumped up off the couch. "Wait. I have one more question. Was Embry going out with her, knowing she was a vampire?"
"Maybe you should ask Embry."
"Thanks again!" I replied, halfway out of the room.
"Good luck!" Sam called, but I was already out the door.
Chapter Four
Bella:
REALIZATION
Jacob? Ignoring me? He usually hangs onto every word I say! I will admit, I was excited and may have gotten a little over-talkative, but he wasn't listening from the start! I think he was watching Embry's girlfriend, the new "adopted" Cullen sister.
"He imprinted on her. No doubt," Edward told me when I asked. "He said it was rare, but three in his pack did it. Doesn't seem rare to me." Edward told me when I asked what he had seen. I asked Alice if she had noticed.
"Why would I be watching him? All the focus was supposed to be on Mr. and Mrs. Cullen!" I frowned slightly when she said that. I still wasn't used to my new name, although that's who I'd been for three whole days. I didn't even bother asking the others. Esme, Carlisle, and Jasper would say the same thing as Alice, Emmett would laugh, and Rosalie probably wouldn't answer me even if I did ask. I finally gave in and called Jacob. I knew at least his answer would be truthful. I went into the kitchen and dialed his number.
He answered the phone on the first ring. "Hello?"
"Hi, Jake."
"Bella?" Jake asked, suddenly sounding excited.
"So. Edward thinks you imprinted on Embry's girlfriend," I said, not wasting any time at all.
"Yes. No. I mean, I think I did, but I hope I didn't. He was thinking about her all night. But did you see her? Do you even know her name? Embry was so mad when I told him, he wouldn't even talk to me!"
"Jake. Shut up. That's off the subject. Wait, you told him?"
"Um, yeah. Sam told me I should ask Embry what her name was, and I asked him if he noticed she was...you know. Then Embry asked me why, and I said I was just wondering, and he said, 'No really, why?' and the way he asked, you know, I couldn't lie to him..." Jacob trailed off.
"So then he got mad?"
"Yeah. And now I'm afraid to go anywhere near him, even though he didn't answer my questions."
"That doesn't sound like you, Jacob! You should go tell him you're sorry, it's not your fault."
"All right! Thanks, Bella! See you later! Bye!" And he hung up. I turned around.
"Aah! Don't scare me like that!" Edward had been standing right behind me.
"Sorry. Talking to Jacob?" As if he didn't know.
"Well, there was a boy on the other end of the phone who said he's Jacob, but he sounded like a little kid. He's afraid to talk to Embry because Embry's mad at him!"
"And you told him to apologize?"
"Yes. Oh, hello, Alice," She had just danced into the room.
"What are you talking about? Advice? Can I help? I heard a scream a minute ago. What happened?" Alice asked.
"Um, okay, Alice. Jake imprinted on Embry's girlfriend, then told him, and now Embry's mad. I told Jacob to apologize to Embry, so he hung up and left for Embry's house," I answered, then added, "And that scream was me. Edward scared me a little,"
"Oh. Well, you gave him good advice." Alice replied, then bounced out of the room again.
"How much longer?" I asked Edward.
"Until what?"
"You know perfectly well 'what.'" I gave him a look.
"Oh. That. Well, do you have any plans for the next three days?"
"WHAT? Tonight? Are you serious? Who are you and what have you done with Edward? We can't. Not today. I have to ask Jacob how the apologizing thing went, find out for him what that girl's name is, and are you crazy? We can't do it here in Forks! We have to go to Alaska or wherever we're going first!" I realized I was breathing heavily.
"Hannah," was all Edward said.
"Edward? Are you okay? My name is Bella. Not Hannah, Bella." I was confused for a second, but as soon as he opened his mouth to explain, it hit me. "That's the name of the girl, isn't it?"
"Yes. She'd been thinking about Embry all the time, so they didn't just meet at the wedding. She's at his house right now."
"Oh this is terrible, absolutely terrible!"
"Why is it terrible?"
"Well, she's going to live forever, right? Well, Jacob cannot. She will be devastated when Jacob dies. His life may be sort of stretched out, but he won't live forever," I didn't realize how loud I was talking.
"What if he keeps changing in and out of his wolf form? Then can't he live forever?"
"Oh. Right. I hadn't thought of that," I said, slightly embarrassed at my outburst. "Sorry."
"It's okay. I wouldn't even have known about that, except for..." He trailed off, but I knew what he was going to say.
"Hearing their thoughts? Well, anyway, this is beside the original point. Give me a second," I had my cell phone out in a second. On the last ring, Jacob finally picked up.
"Hello?
"Hi Jake, it's Bella,"
"Oh, hi, Bella. I'm on the road now, going to Embry's to take your advice," Jacob said.
"Her name is Hannah," I said, then added in answer to his unspoken question, "Edward told me. I have no idea how-" I was silent for a second while Edward mouthed, "Embry."
"He heard Embry thinking about her, didn't he?"
I nodded, then remembered I was on the phone and said, "Yes."
"I'm still going to go talk to Embry. Thanks again, Bella! Bye!"
"No! Wait, Jake, I'm also calling to say goodbye. The summer's almost over, and we're going to Alaska."
"Oh. For 'college?'" Jacob asked, even though I was sure he knew the real reason.
"Yes. Bye, Jake," I said, and hung up. "Get packing," I told Edward.
Chapter Five
Jacob:
QUESTIONS
After Bella hung up the phone, I just stood there, still hearing the dial tone. Alaska? Would I ever see her again? Would I want to? Do I even love her anymore? Could I? So many questions, not enough answers! Suddenly I was angry. I violently shoved my phone into my pocket and ran, opposite the direction to Embry's house. I only half knew where I was going. I found myself on the other side of the boundary line, but I couldn't stop myself. Was our truce still in effect? It had been weeks! But it didn't matter. Before I even realized what happened, I came to a clearing in the forest. In the middle of the clearing was a house. Their house. Bella's home. I saw Bella's face in the upstairs window. What was I doing here? I knew she was thinking the same thing because her face disappeared. A few seconds later, she ran out the door.
"Jake! I had no idea you'd come here! EDWARD! Come down here!" Bella said, excited.
"Jacob," Edward said. I hadn't even seen him come down!
"Edward," I replied.
"What are you doing here? You know you're not allowed near us," Edward said, obviously not truly angry.
"I had to see Bella," I answered immediately, although I had no idea why I was there.
"Come on in!" Bella said, taking my hand. Then she was suddenly serious. "We have something important to tell you," She gave Edward a fierce look, daring him to say no.
"She's right," Edward said, seeing her face. "Bella, take him up. I'm going to tell the others that he's here."
"Will Jake get in trouble for being here?" Bella asked, worried, but Edward had already left.
"If I do, that's just too bad. But if we have to, we will talk out here. I have to tell you something too."
"Come on," Bella said, no longer excited. I was sure she was thinking about whatever it was she wanted to tell me.
When we got to their room, Bella told me to sit down, and that if I had to leave, I could. "If I might have to leave, can I go first?" I asked, taking a seat on the sofa.
"Of course," Bella said, sitting next to me.
"Well, I actually have a lot of questions, but you can only answer a few of them. Is that all right?"
"Ask away," Bella said.
"First of all, when are you leaving for Alaska? Second, will we ever be able to see each other again? And last, Billy told me to ask one of you...for another truce? He said it would benefit us all by being friends. Most of us agree. Only Leah thinks it isn't smart,"
"I can answer the first two questions. Alaska: our plane tickets are for two weeks from today. And I honestly hope we will be able to see each other again. Jacob, I love you, but like...as a brother. And I hope we will still love each other, but long distance. But then again, if Carlisle agrees to a truce..." Bella said, looking me in the eye and adding, "I can come back when almost everyone that knew me is either dead or moved away," She had tears in her eyes.
"And the last question is mine," Edward said, suddenly standing in the doorway. "I'm sure it would be all right. I'd have to ask. Give me a second. I'll go ask Carlisle," And he was gone before we could say a word.
"I'm sorry! I shouldn't be doing this...but you know I love you!" Bella said, now actually crying.
"It's okay. I love you too. It's all right," I comforted, putting my arm around her.
Just then, Edward came back in. "Let's go downstairs. Everyone else is already waiting," Edward said, giving me a look of pure hate. We went down to the living room, where all the others were sitting. "So?" Edward asked, "What did Sam want to tell us?"
"He said we should make a permanent - or at least indefinite - truce. He thought we would all benefit by not fighting anymore, if not becoming actual friends. Of course there could be conditions. Some of our suggestions were still not being able to go on each other's property without invitation - Sam's idea - and not being able to marry each other, which was Leah's," I explained, trying to remember any other conditions.
"That sounds great!" Alice said, bouncing up off the floor where she was sitting. "Please, Carlisle? It sounds perfect! I can't find anything wrong with it, can you?" Edward muttered something that sounded like "I can" under his breath.
"I think it sounds reasonable. Let's ask everyone else, though. I say yes. Esme?" Carlisle said, looking at his wife.
"Yes."
"Alice?"
"You know I'm going to say YES!"
"I thought so. Jasper?"
"I'm not sure, but if Alice is for it..."
"Rosalie?"
"No. We'd definitely benefit, but it would be bad for all involved!"
"How?" Carlisle asked.
"I don't know. I just think it's a bad idea. But if everyone else is for it, I'll go along,"
"Okay. Emmett?"
"Yeah, why not? I think they're pretty cool!" Emmett laughed.
"Thank you," I said.
"All right. Edward?"
"I guess so. But only for Bella," he answered, looking at her.
"And I'm last, and my answer is obviously an absolute yes. No doubt about it," Bella said before Carlisle could call her name. I smiled at her because for once she was the most sure.
"And our newest family member, Hannah, isn't here right now. She used to live with Tanya's family but she moved here to Forks. Jacob, have you met Hannah?" Carlisle said, scanning the room to see if he'd missed anyone.
"Sort of. I saw her at the wedding, and Embry's been thinking about her. How long has she been here?" I asked.
"She came two days before the wedding, but we didn't see much of her. She wouldn't tell us where she'd been, but Edward said she was with your friend Embry," Bella said, then added, "She said, after she and Embry broke up, that she wanted to meet that boy that Embry was so mad at. She told us that Embry said he was the reason they couldn't stay together anymore,"
"They broke up?" I asked. Bella nodded.
Nobody said anything for a minute that seemed like hours.
"I should go. Bye, Bella. I'll tell Sam that almost," I looked at Edward and Rosalie, "everyone agreed,"
"Goodbye, Jacob. Hope we can all meet later and talk about a truce," Esme said.
"Bye, Jake!" Bella said as she hugged me. "Thank you," she whispered. I broke free and was out the door in a second. Then for the second time that night, I was running, running, but this time I knew where I was going.
Chapter Six
Bella:
TRANSFORMATION
The flight to Anchorage, although it was only three and a half hours long, felt like forever. If only this was just an innocent vacation, or going to college like we pretended. I wished I didn't know why we were going. But I did.
The eight of us filled up the first class section. Since it was obvious we were together, passengers who had tried to upgrade their seats glared at us as they passed.
About an hour into the flight, after re-re-re-reading Wuthering Heights, I turned toward Edward, who was pretending to be asleep. As soon as I shut my book, he turned his head slightly towards me and I saw him watching me out of the corner of his eye.
"Darn!" Alice exclaimed quietly from the seat in front of me. "We're going to be delayed landing. It'll only be about ten minutes maximum, though."
Great, I thought. Three hours and thirty minutes is long enough to be on a plane without adding delay time. I was just glad we had Alice here to warn us. I got my carryon bag out from under the seat and took out my new "school" journal. I flipped to the first page and checked out my to-do list. There were only three things left to do.
TO DO FOR COLLEGE
- Buy plane tickets
- Say goodbye to Charlie
- Pack
- Get laptop "for college"
- Call/email Jake
- Call/email Renee
- Send Charlie letter/email at least once a month till "graduation"
I shut the journal and got my laptop out of its case. Edward had bought it for me just a few days earlier. I began my email to Renee.
Hi, Mom!
Like I told you earlier, Edward and I are going to the University of Alaska for college. We are on the airplane now, and I'm sending this to you on my new laptop. Before you say anything, I did tell him I'd get my own, but he insisted. Then I thanked him about a million times. Don't worry. Jacob is fine. Yes, I'm going to...
The email went on and on, answering her endless questions. When I finally sent it, I turned the computer off. I didn't think I could email Jake right then.
"Bored?" Edward asked. "I brought another book you might like." He handed me a weathered copy of The Odyssey.
"Thanks! I've been wanted to read this forever!" I said, and immediately opened it up.
"You might want to save that for a little later," Alice said, turning around.
"It's long. It'll take me a while," I said, flipping to the first chapter and beginning to read.
When we finally landed at the Anchorage airport (delayed ten minutes, of course), we all went to pick up our rented cars. Edward, Alice, Jasper and me in our car, Esme, Carlisle, Emmett and Rosalie in theirs. Never going under 100 miles an hour, we got to the house sooner than I expected. The ride was silent, but never awkward. We didn't have anything to say anyway because all of us (including Edward, who was driving) were busy looking out the window at the beautiful scenery.
"We're here," Edward said, touching my arm gently, waking me up, although I didn't remember falling asleep. I opened the car door and looked at the house.
"Anything like you expected?" Carlisle asked. He had been waiting on the front porch when we arrived.
"Not at all. It's beautiful," I said, breathless. It was not nearly as big as their old house, but still lovely. I looked around. "You like houses in the middle of forests, don't you?" I asked Edward jokingly.
He smiled. "Yes. Beautiful, but away from most people. Only trees to talk to. Lonely," He said, looking at his big family. We both laughed.
"Come on in! All your bags are already inside. Come on!" Alice said, bounding down the front steps and grabbing my hand.
The house looked even better from inside. Alice dragged me upstairs. It looked a little like a hotel, with rooms on each side of the hallway. I said so.
"Yeah, this used to be a lodge of some kind. Jasper and I are in room 3. There are four numbered rooms, so we each have to share, even though you'll be the only one using the bed. The doorway to the balcony is right here. What room do you want? Every two rooms are connected. I think Carlisle and Esme have room 1..." Alice gave me the grand tour, asking me questions that I didn't have time to answer.
"Alice? Sorry to interrupt, but can I go unpack? We can explore the house a little later," I said, trying to pull my arm from her iron grip.
"Oh. Sorry. Go ahead. I'm going to go find Jasper," Alice said, then ran off.
"Finally! She was planning to go on at least another five minutes!" Edward said, hugging me. We both laughed again, then ran upstairs to choose our rooms\. We didn't have much choice, though, because Rosalie and Emmett had chosen their room while we were on the never-ending tour.
"Room 4 is ours, I guess," I said, opening the door. Then I looked around the room and added, "Which isn't exactly bad."
"And you know we won't need the bed soon." Edward thought a second, then said, "Six days."
"Six days?" I shouted, shocked.
"Yes. You weren't expecting us to do it immediately, were you? We are going to wait three days, then three days of transformation. It will go by fast, I promise."
"Well, if I only have three 'short' days to do anything human, can I start my email to Jake? He's going to want to know we're finally here," I said, already turned toward my bag.
"All right. Just be careful, he might be mad at you," Edward said.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. In fact, I'm 100 sure he will be mad at me." I replied, beginning my email.
Hey, Jake!
Just so you know, we're in Alaska already. I'm so sorry about all this. I hope we can still be friends. Anyway, I've got six days to do pretty much anything in Alaska. Any suggestions? We already are planning to...
I typed on about nothing, trying to keep the subject away from my short time left of being human. After a couple of minutes, I hit send. "What are we doing now?" I asked Edward, turning around to face him.
"Well, Carlisle talked to Tanya and her family, and they have a long list of things to do. Some of my preferences were Glacier Bay, sailing from island to island and see villages, maybe a helicopter ride..."
"No. Absolutely not. No helicopters, please," I said.
"All right, no helicopters. Let me finish before you interrupt." Edward said, not really seeming to mind.
"Sorry."
"They also suggested hiking and going to Denali for you to meet them as a side trip," Edward concluded. "So? What sounds good?"
"I've never been here before, never even thought about it until recently, so whatever everyone else wants to do is fine with me," I replied, sitting on the bed next to Edward. "Should we go ask the others, or do they already know what they want to do?"
"We'll probably all talk later. For now, what do you want to do?" He asked.
I looked out the window. "It looks like a beautiful day. Let's go outside."
"That sounds like a great idea. Let's go." I slowly got off the bed. "Something wrong?" Edward asked, a concerned look on his face.
"No. I think Somebody told me if you move slowly, time goes faster. Or maybe it was if you spin in a certain direction..." I started whirling around in circles. I fell on the floor, but we both laughed anyway.
"Maybe you should do that outside," Edward suggested, helping me up.
"That's smart. Come on!" I grabbed his hand and rushed toward the door, but ended up being dragged along. "Why do you always have to be so much faster than me?"I complained jokingly once we were outside.
"Not for long," Edward pointed out.
"Knowing my bad luck, I'll probably still be 500 times slower than you! And 500 times more whiny, too!" We both laughed again.
Alice came out on the balcony and looked down on us. "You're right, Jasper. Alaskan air does make people sillier, even the serious Bella and serious-er Edward!"
That night, sleep was unthinkable. I was just too excited! I was thinking about everything: my future, Jacob, Edward, love, blood. The thoughts were so mixed up in my head that I wasn't even sure what I was thinking about. I faked sleep so Edward didn't see the worry and confusion on my face. He, as always, knew that I was awake. He turned my face toward his and kissed me. All my thoughts of everything but him went out the window. When I pulled away to breathe, he moved down, still kissing, to my neck. After a few seconds, I felt a sharp sting like a bee, then nothing. He raised his eyes to mine, a horrified look on his usually beautiful face.
"What happened?" I asked, looking into his deep eyes, now black. I touched my neck where I felt the sting. It felt wet and sticky. I began to feel dizzy, whether from the blood or the venom I wasn't sure. "What...did you...do?" I breathed, not taking my eyes off his.
"I'm sorry, Bella. Remember what I did in Phoenix before?" I remembered. "I can do it again."
"No. What's the point? By the time the three days are up, I'd be covered in scars," I said. I hadn't even thought about the fire I had felt when James bit me last year.
"Do you feel any pain?" Edward asked, seeing the obviously relaxed expression on my face. He looked concerned.
"None at all. But I'm supposed to, right?" I replied. I never heard his answer. The last thing I heard was Edward calling for the others. Then I fell asleep.
Chapter Seven
Jacob:
GIFT
Bella was going to be mad at me. I sent her a present, and it was probably going to ruin our friendship. As soon as I dropped the package into the mailbox, I cursed myself. I had been angry, and it was an impulse action.
At the time, I thought she deserved it, deserting me the way she did. I ran to the bookstore nearby, knowing exactly what I was looking for. The one and only classic Bella would never want to read: Dracula. I felt evil.
Chapter Eight
Bella:
UNIQUE
"Bella? Are you awake? How do you feel?" I heard Edward's voice and turned my head towards it. I couldn't open my eyes.
"I feel fine," I said softly.
"Does your throat hurt?" he asked, sounded worried.
"No, is it supposed to?" I wondered.
"Do you feel thirsty at all?" Carlisle's voice said from the other side of me.
"I don't think so," I replied. Suddenly my eyes flew open. Carlisle, Edward, and Alice were standing over me. They exchanged surprised looks. "What? Is something wrong?"
"Bella, this is totally normal," Edward assured me.
I stared at him. "If it was, you wouldn't have to tell me that. So what's wrong?"
"Two things, actually." Alice said. "One, your eyes are gold. Not black and red like they're supposed to be."
I jumped up and ran to a mirror. I stared at my reflection, barely recognizing myself. It was true: my eyes were gold, and I didn't feel thirsty at all.