A WALK ON THE MILD SIDE:
Jacob Black, Pre-Werewolf
A group of kids from the local high school were hanging out on the beach. I had nothing to do, and Quil and Embry wanted to see if there were any hot chicks there, so some of my friends and I went over and said hi. There weren't many of them, but they informed us that some of them had gone on a hiking trip and would be back soon.
They came in a few minutes, and we all sat down to eat and chat. From the conversation I learned that one girl, a ghostly pale girl with beautiful brown hair, was named Isabella Swan. Hey, didn't she buy my dad's truck?
I walked over to her after another group of hikers left and asked, "You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?" She looked pained. What did I do wrong?
"Bella," she sighed.
"I'm Jacob Black," I introduced, noticing how, well, hot she was. I've never called a girl hot before, but man, she was smokin'! "You bought my dad's truck," I managed to say without staring at her.
"Oh. You're Billy's son. I probably should remember you," she said as she shook my hand.
"No," I explained, "I'm the youngest of the family--you would remember my older sisters."
"Rachel and Rebecca," she recalled. "Are they here?"
"No," I answered, proceeding to tell her all about how my sisters moved away from here. "So how do you like the truck?" I asked once I was done.
"I love it. It runs great," she responded. Poor thing. She must not know much about cars to like that piece of ancient red Chevy trash.
"Yeah, but it's really slow," I informed her, laughing. "I was so relieved when Charlie bought it." Then I decided to show off by saying, "My dad wouldn't let me build another car when we had a perfectly good vehicle right there."
"It's not that slow," Bella replied, indignant.
"Have you tried to go over sixty?" I inquired.
"No," she admitted grudgingly.
"Good. Don't," I advised with a grin.
She grinned back and said, "It does great in a collision." How did she know that? I covered up my shock by laughing and saying, "I don't think a tank could take out that old monster."
"So you build cars?" She was impressed, which pleased me.
I tried to sound modest when I answered. "When I have free time, and parts. You wouldn't happen to know where I could get my hands on a master cylinder for a 1968 Volkswagen Rabbit?"
"Sorry," she laughed, "I haven't seen any lately, but I'll keep my eyes open." Gosh, she was so pretty when she laughed!
I smiled at her. I couldn't help it. Bella was amazing.
"You know Bella, Jacob?" a girl whose name I couldn't place but I knew started with an L asked.
"We've sort of known each other since I was born," I laughed.
"How nice." The girl obviously didn't think it was nice, not one bit. I decided I didn't like her.
"Bella," she said, "I was just saying to Tyler that it was too bad none of the Cullens could come today." The name sent an odd jolt up my spine. I don't know why, but I don't like the Cullens.
"Didn't anyone think to invite them?" It was clear the girl was taunting Bella.
"You mean Dr. Carlisle Cullen's family?" Sam, a tall scary guy who I actually tried to avoid, asked.
"Yes, do you know them?" the idiot girl whose name I still did not know asked in a sickly sweet voice.
"The Cullens don't come here," Sam said forcefully.
The boy who L girl had called Tyler tried to win back her attention, but she paid no attention to him. I glanced back at Bella, but she was staring at Sam with an odd expression on her face.
"So is Forks driving you insane yet?" I asked, genuinely concerned.
"Oh, I'd say that's an understatement," she joked, grimacing. I grinned sympathetically. I tried to look cool, but my heart was pounding faster than a racecar.
She was silent for a moment, and then asked, "Do you want to walk down the beach with me?" She was looking at me from under her eyelashes, and it was the sexiest thing I'd ever seen. I jumped up immediately, probably making me look like a dork.
As we walked, Bella hunched over in her jacket. Was she cold? I wasn't, but she was used to Arizona sunshine, not Forks clouds. Should I offer her my jacket?
"So you're what, sixteen?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes at me, or was that my imagination?
"I just turned fifteen," I answered. She thought I was sixteen! Wow!
"Really?" She looked surprised. "I would have thought you were older."
"I'm tall for my age."
"Do you come up to Forks much?" She was obviously hoping for a yes. I was disappointed to be disappointing her.
"Not too much," I admitted, "but when I get my car finished I can go up as much as I want—after I get my license."
"Who was that other boy Lauren was talking to? He seemed a little old to be hanging out with us."
"That's Sam—he's nineteen," I told her.
"What was that he was saying about the doctor's family?" Bella looked so beautiful when she said that, I couldn't help but tell her the truth. Well, I didn't yet know it was the truth. But it was. If I hadn't told her, maybe Bella wouldn't have ended up in love with Edward Cullen. Maybe the town of Forks wouldn't have been put in danger. Maybe I could have ended up with Bella. Maybe I wouldn't have been a werewolf.
Maybe, maybe, maybe. Maybes don't matter. What matters is what I told Bella next.
And what I told Bella was: Vampires.
To find out what happens next, read the book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.