Concussion: The Story of Friends Forever
I'm five and my mom is helping me get dressed for the neighborhood Fourth of July party. She's excited because she's heard that the new neighbors have a young son. She wants me to be his friend, I think. So Dad gets us in the car and we journey to the park, where they're holding the party. I jump out of the car and Mom brings me over to the neighbors. A boy who is probably younger than me is standing there, biting his nails.
"Hi, I'm Holly Dawn, this is my daughter Isabella. It's nice to meet you," Mom says, and the lady says, "Hello, I'm Sara White and this is my son Jacob. Hey, Jacob, why don't you and Isabella go have some fun?" Jacob held out his hand for me to take. I looked at my mom, who nodded, so I took Jacob's hand and he dragged me over to a pile of mud. "I like to make mud pies. I think you can help me," he said, dropping my hand and picking up the mud. Jacob had long hair, which was surprising. Little boys never had long hair!
"how old are you? I'm five and three quarters," I asked him. "Me? Mommy says I just turned four, but I don't know. When's your birthday?" he replied. "September nineteenth. When's yours?" "July first. I'm starting kindergarten this year. I'm excited." "I got an A in Kindergarten. I'm in first grade now. I get to read books with smaller pictures," I told him proudly. "Do you like my mud pie, Isabella?" he asked me, holding up his pie. "It's better than mine! I've never been taught how to make mud pies…" I replied, holding mine up.
He cocked his head and looked at my mud pie from all angles. Then he said, "It's not bad. Let me teach you," he started instructing me on how to make a mud pie, and after what seemed like seconds, Mom and Ms. White were coming over to get us. "Isabella! I can't believe you played in the mud! You're taking a bath when you get home missy," Mom said. I waved goodbye to my new best friend and Mom and Ms. White scheduled a day for me to go over to Jacob's.
It's seven years later. Setting: the same Fourth of July party. Jacob just turned eleven and he's telling me he has bad news. I'm close to thirteen and I'm thinking he likes me and wants to kiss me or something dumb like that. "What's wrong, Jacob?" I asked him when we were kicked away from our parents. "Isabella, I wish it didn't have to be like this! I really do!" "What's wrong? You know you can tell me anything, Jakey." "We're moving to Arizona." "No! when are you leaving? You can't leave! You're my best friend!" I almost screamed.
"We can't stay long at the party. We're leaving to catch a plane at four thirty. I'm really sorry Belly, but Mom wants to try to live somewhere else for a change. She said she's never lived in the south and she really wants to." "Oh." That's all I could manage to say. I was losing my best friend, and I wasn't getting a kiss. I was depressed. Jakey gave me a hug good bye and I shouted after him, "Write to me, Jakey. Please!" he nodded and I blinked, and he was gone.
When he was gone, I further distanced myself from the party and went to the swing set. At first, I was swinging at a normal height, then I purposely tried to flip myself off by going too high. Of course, I was successful. I hit my head and blacked out. I became semi conscious again around when my mom found me, but then blacked out again as Daddy picked me up. They took me to the hospital, and when I woke, I found out that I'd suffered a nasty concussion and a broken right arm. The doctor hadn't put the arm in a sling yet because he'd been unable to find out which hand I used. I told him I didn't know. He put a pen nearby and said to me, "Pick it up as if you're going to write something," and I grabbed the pen in my left hand.
The doctor put my arm in a sling. As I lay there, I thought about different things. My best friend was wiped from my memory, or maybe he was just filed away in some unknown place. In the back of my mind, he was there, but a distant memory, to be further pushed away in the years to come.
It's about two weeks later, about a week after I got out of the hospital. Mom's calling for me, so I go running to make sure she's okay. She has some form of envelope in her hands and says, "Isabella, it's for you. It's from your best friend," I say, "Why would Alice mail me something? Can't she just call me on the phone?" Mom opens her mouth to say something then says, "Oh. It's actually addressed to me. I made a mistake. Sorry, honey," I shrug and retreat back to my room.
In January of eighth grade, my mom gives birth to my little brother. She's decided to name him Charlie. I despise that name. it sounds too old for a little baby. It sounds like an old man name. I can't believe Mom and Dad had another kid when their original daughter is fourteen and knows how Charlie got here. I think it's a little gross.
In April of freshman year, I get my first boyfriend. His name is Edward Sullin and I've had a crush on him since seventh grade. It took him some time to ask me out. At first, he hated me. Then he'd talk to me randomly. Then he untangled my bike from the bike rack and I think that's when I figured out he liked me.
It's November in my sophomore year. I'm sixteen, and Edward and I are still in love. He's taking me to see Twilight tonight, because of the character names. The main girl's name is Bella, and so is mine. She's after some vampire dude named Edward, which is my boyfriend's name, but my boyfriend isn't a vampire. I promise. There's also the girl's friend from childhood Jacob, and I feel like that might fit into my life somehow, but I don't remember having a childhood friend.
We're in the theater, Edward and I. We're holding hands. The theater is packed, and there are no empty seats. I'm sitting next to my best friend Alice and her boyfriend Jasper (another strange coincidence with Twilight), so at least I'm not sitting next to some creep. The girl's just gotten a truck that the childhood friend fixed up and he's saying something about making mud pies when they were little, which rings a faint bell, but I ignore it. I hear some kid weeping a few rows down.
I can't tell which one's weeping, because it could be any number of people. When Edward appears in Bella's bedroom to kiss her, my boyfriend says to me, "I wish I could do that, but I need my sleep. You know I'm not him," I laugh, and people turn around to shoot me evil glares. "Sorry" I mutter. At the end, the Jacob dude shows up at the prom and tells Bella his dad wants her to break up with Edward. "I sure hope there's no Jacob dude that's going to separate me from my Bella," my Edward mutters so low I'm pretty sure I was the only one who could hear that.
I mutter back my consent, and in a few minutes, the movie's over. Someone is weeping as if there were no tomorrow. I think it's the same guy who was weeping in the beginning of the movie. (I'd determined that it was a guy because no girl would sound like that) Edward, Alice, Jasper and I all get in Edward's car and talk about the movie. Alice asks me, "Do you know anyone named Jacob?" "No, I don't think so," I replied, even though something in my brain is hitting my skull. I just shake that off as a headache and ask Jasper for some Advil.
I wander the halls, and from time to time in the halls, I see this guy with long hair, and the headache comes back. I don't know what it means, and I don't think I want to know what it means. The day after Edward and I went to see Twilight, I see the guy with red-rimmed eyes. I guessed that either his girlfriend dumped him recently or he was the weeping guy in the movie theater.
It's January twenty seventh, and it's Charlie's birthday. Edward got the flu yesterday, so he wasn't in school then or today, so I was sitting with just Alice and Jasper at lunch today. I just sat down with my lunch and Alice is standing just a few people back on line. Jasper brings his lunch on every day but French fry day, so he was there, munching on his PB & J. The boy I see in the halls all the time is in the distance, in line with my table. I somehow see him mouth something that looks like "Finally," and he gets up and comes by our table.
"Hey Isabella. How've you been the past three years?" he asks, sliding into a chair. I look at Jasper, who shrugs and continues snarfing his sandwich. "Um, hello, I don't know you. You must be a stalker, because I see you in the halls all the time. It's a wonder you haven't tried to switch into my classes," I say as Alice slides in and mouths, "Who is he?" I shrug. The boy looks kind of mad, like Jacob did when Bella brushed him off about dumping Edward.
"I can't believe it! Did you like hit your head or something?" he says, fuming. I don't understand why he's so angry but I say, "Yeah, I got a bad concussion and a broken arm at a fourth of July party when I was twelve-ish. I haven't hit my head recently, though, I'm sorry to inform you," The boy's face softened and he said, "I was kidding but I'm sorry to hear that." Jasper spoke up for the first time, (I guess he was done stuffing his face with PB & J) saying, "Would you like to tell us your name, froshie? She's not single, so I wouldn't try anything."
"Is she dating you?" the boy asked stupidly. I guess he missed the arm that was around Alice. "No, he's dating me. Now, if you don't tell us your name, I'm afraid one of us is going to have to punch you," "Oh. Right. Isabella should know my name, but seeing as she's choosing to forget it, it's Jacob." Alice's mouth fell open and Jasper burst out laughing, as did I. Jacob became furious. "What's so funny?"
"It's too bad Ed isn't actually a vampire, Bells, because then you'd be living Twilight!" Jasper coughed out between laughing spurts. "Your boyfriend is named Edward? This is great. Be thankful I'm not a werewolf then," Jacob said, I think angrily with a hint of jealousy. "Look, I still don't know what you want," I said, panting from laughing so hard. "Can I talk to you for like, two minutes, without the laughing guy and the speechless girl?" "They have names, Jacob. Her name is Alice, and his is Jasper. I guess I'll talk to you."
I got up and followed him to a corner. "You kiss me, you die," I said. "I wasn't going to. How do you forget things from a concussion, Isabella?" he said. "Bella. My name is Bella. I didn't forget anything. I asked my mom once and she said, 'No I don't think so. I think you just hit your head a little too hard. Next time, don't go flying so high on the swing,' so I think I'm good. Just tell me what you want so I can get on with my life."
"Bella, you're my best friend. I wrote to you for three years, no response. You must have forgotten something. You forgot me," he said. I just threw a blank look on my face (I really was confused) and he rolled his eyes and said, "I know you saw Twilight. Who didn't? Even I did, so I'm going to make a reference. You know when Bella's getting that car Jacob fixed up, and he's telling her they made mud pies when they were little? I was actually crying when I heard that. Bella, you and I used to make mud pies. Your mom was a complete bitch about it, but she didn't stop us from hanging out. Bella, I am your best friend, and you will eventually remember that. I know you will,"
"I've never made a mud pie in my life. You must have me confused with someone else with the same name," I said. "Your hair is what tells me it was you. Your hair was always that unnaturally blonde color, and it's not dyed now. I can tell when girls have their hair dyed. You don't. Bella, I miss you, more than anything. I know you know who I am. Please remember," he said. The bell rang at that moment, saving me from him.
Alice asked me about him in history. I just told her he must be insane, because he thought he was my best friend when I was a kid. "We did have a friend named Jacob at one point, in fifth grade, I think. He was in fourth grade, though. He moved to some random place. It might have been Arizona, and I'm pretty sure he never came back. That dude didn't look like our friend. Then again, he was a little kid then," she told me. I remembered the Arizona dude at that point, but I didn't remember him as my best friend. He was just a buddy.
As I wandered around at the store so I could buy my little brother a present, I thought about the Jacob character. I couldn't think of anything new, so I picked up something for Charlie, then went home. "Hey mom," I asked as we wrapped presents together. "What's up, Bella?" she asked, handing me the scissors. "Did I ever have a best friend named Jacob?" I asked. "Did someone named Jacob come up to you and say that he was your best friend? I told Sara not to let him do that. I told her you weren't getting his letters because you'd forgotten him after your concussion," Mom said, muttering the last part. I bet she didn't want me to hear that.
"So I did have a best friend named Jacob. Was he younger than me? Did he have…oh wait. Hair grows. Never mind. Did we make mud pies?" Mom laughed. "It sounds like you're talking about that movie you and Ed went to go see, Twilight. You told me there was some kid named Jacob telling Bella they'd made mud pies when they were kids. But you said she remembered that. You obviously don't." "Mom, are you going to answer my question? Did I actually make mud pies?" "Yes. You and your new friend Jacob made mud pies when you were almost six at the Fourth of July party."
"So he is my friend. Damn. Alice said he wasn't." "Alice isn't amazingly perceptive, like you are. I always had a suspicion you purposely flew too high on that swing to forget Jacob. Obviously it worked, because you forgot him." I wrapped the last present and just sat there, numb. That Jacob dude who'd been telling me I was his best friend was telling the truth. And he was really cute. He had muscles, I could tell. Ed is just a skinny guy.
I walked to my room in a funk, then pulled out my cell phone and dialed Alice. "Hey girl," she answered. "He is our friend. He was my best friend at one point. My mom says so. And, don't tell Ed this, but he's hot. Jacob's hotter than Ed. I swear." "I know. I just didn't want to tell you. I was afraid you'd pull out your cell and dump Ed on the spot. I knew you'd forgotten about him. So let me guess. You need help. Do you stay with Edward or give Jacob a chance?"
"You are psychic. I know you are. But yeah, that's what I want to know." "I have a good idea. Edward's coming back to school tomorrow. Mom says so. Why don't you introduce them and hope they won't be Twilight-like and hate each other because they both want the same girl, which in this case would be you." "That's a good idea. Edward's your brother? I can't believe I never knew that." "No, you ditz. Mom's Ed's doctor. He went to her for a checkup and she told him he's good to go back to school. You know he'll be back for you." "Yeah. Well, thanks for the advice. I have to go celebrate Charlie's birthday." "ooh! Tell him I said happy birthday!" "Will do. Talk to you tomorrow, bye," I said, and hung up.
We celebrated Charlie's birthday, he made a mess, end of story. The next day at school, in Homeroom, I told Edward about Jacob. "You remember the fourth grade friend I had in fifth grade right?" I asked him. "No, but that's probably because we were enemies back then, so I didn't pay attention to your friends. What about the friend?" "Well, actually, he's back. He moved from here to I think Arizona, but now he's back. He spoke to me yesterday and he was telling me I was his best friend. I didn't remember that, because of that concussion I had, but I talked to my mom and she told me he was telling the truth."
"Oh. Wait, so it's a guy. I just have to ask, but would his name, by any chance, be Jacob?" Edward said, playing with his pen. "Actually, you probably wouldn't believe it, but yeah, his name's Jacob. I was hoping that you two could be friends, only I'm hoping it doesn't turn out Twilight-style where you both desire to kill each other," I said. "No way! That's cool! It's like we're creating an alternate version of that movie. Hey, when do I get to meet Jacob?" "I can ask him to sit with us at lunch." "Sounds cool. This is going to be interesting," Edward said, and gave me a kiss, then went off to his first period class as the bell rang.
Lunchtime rolled around and I'd asked Edward to go sit at the table so I could get Jacob myself. I found him in the freshman section, sitting with a guy and a girl. The girl was the first to look up at me and she said, "Can I help you?" "You can't, but Jacob can," I replied. When I said his name, Jacob looked up and broke into a huge smile. "What's up, Bella? How can I help you?" "Come sit with us. Alice is eager to reunite with her fourth grade buddy, and Ed's being a loser and wants to meet you too." The girl there snorted and said, "Does Ed stand for Edward? Because if it does, that's really messed up." "It does, but I don't care what you think. Are you coming, Jacob?"
He nodded, and picked up his tray. He followed me to my table where he sat down next to Alice and said, "Hey, Alice. How've you been?" "I've missed you. Bella's concussion didn't, but I did. I promise. How was Arizona?" "It sucked. I wrote Bella a letter a week, never getting a reply. When we came back here, it was so Renee could go to kindergarten. They wouldn't let her start early in Arizona, so we came back here. Arizona was so hot, and I wasn't used to the heat, even by the time we decided to leave." "Who's Renee?" Alice asked, the question I wanted to ask, only I was afraid I'd just forgotten about her.
"She's my little sister. She turned four in August. I wrote to Bella about her, but I'm guessing Bella didn't know either," Jacob said. "I have a two-year old brother," I said, "He just had his birthday yesterday." "Wow. You have a brother. That's very weird," Jacob said. Jasper looked sideways at Alice… I don't think he trusted Jacob yet. Edward spoke for the first time. "I'm Ed. Bella tells me you were her best friend," he said.
"Yeah, but that was a long time ago. She's found someone to hold her heart, and I guess I'll just have to live with that," Jacob said. Edward raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?" he asked. Jacob shrugged and muttered something like, "it's not important," but Edward and I pestered Jacob until he said, "All right, fine. What I meant is that she found someone to love and now I'm nothing, because I was too afraid to tell her the truth when I left all those years ago." "What was this truth you kept from me?" I asked.
"He'll probably get pissed," Jacob said, jabbing a finger at Edward. "I'm not a very angry person. Very few things anger me," Edward said, so Jacob took a deep breath and said, "Well, I'd wanted to tell her I was in love with her, but I was eleven and I guess I just didn't know any better." Edward said, "So you don't love her anymore? That's what you're implying." Jacob pushed his untouched food away and put his head in his hands.
He muttered something that none of us could understand, and Alice said, "What did you say, Jake? I didn't hear you." Jacob raised his head and said, "I have to go. It hurts too much to be around her when she's with him. I'll see you guys around." He got up and walked away, hands in his pockets. I started to get up to try and comfort him, but I didn't know what to say, so I just sat back down.
I silently ate the rest of my lunch until Edward said, "Bella, are you okay?" I shook my head, not blinking. "What's wrong, baby?" he asked. "I hurt him, but it wasn't intentional. He hurt me first. I wouldn't have gotten the concussion if he hadn't left," I said. Edward looked between Alice, and me then he looked at Jasper and said to me, "Bella, do you still love him?"
I couldn't speak. I just nodded, then burst into tears. Edward put his arm around me and said, "It's ok. I'm not mad. He seemed like a pretty cool guy. I want to be his friend, but I think that would hurt him, based on what he said." At that, I became brave and choked out, "Edward, I love you, but I think I need a break to think about my choices. But I have a question." He nodded, and I continued, "Let's say that hypothetically I hook up with him and don't come back to you as more than a friend. Would you be mad at one of us then?"
"No, as long as we'd still be friends. I love you and I want what's best for you, or at least whatever you want." He smiled, and his smile was genuine enough for me to believe it. The bell rang and he started to kiss me goodbye, then stopped. "Sorry," I muttered. "I understand, Bella. Don't worry about it," he replied, then walked off to his class.
When I got home that day, I grabbed the phone book and my cell phone. I checked to make sure the phonebook was recent (it was, 2009) and looked up Jacob White. I found Sara and Chris White and I remembered that his mom's name was Sara. I dialed the number then walked to my room.
"Hello?" a woman's voice answered. "Hi, is Jacob there?" I asked. "May I ask who's calling?" "Um, Bella. Bella Dawn." "Isabella? Hi honey, how are you? Let me go get Jacob," she said, and there was a minute or two of silence until I heard, "Hello?" Jacob's voice was gruff and angry. "Hey, um I was kind of hoping I could talk to you one on one. Do you want to come over and talk?" "Do you still live in the same house?" "Yeah, do you need directions?" "Nah. I could walk there in my sleep. I'll be over in a few, so if someone rings the doorbell, it's probably me."
He hung up and I waited in the living room, by the door. Finally, the bell rang and I jumped up to open it. "Hey. Come in," I said, and Jacob walked in as if it were his home. "Do you mind coming to my room? I don't want to be in the open in case Mom comes home. I'll never hear the end of it. Not that it's bad that you're here, it's just she's a little strange since after Charlie was born. I'm rambling, sorry," I said, and he just laughed and followed me to my room.
"It looks the same as I remembered it. Except is that a Taylor Lautner poster?" He eyed me suspiciously, as if there was something wrong with that. "Um, yeah, don't ask. He's better looking than Robert Pattinson." I sat down on my bed and said, "Jacob, look. I wanted to talk to you. I'm sorry I hurt you, but to be honest, I would have remembered you much easier if I hadn't had that concussion. I was upset that you were just going to leave me. It made me feel like you didn't want to be my friend so you were moving to get away from me."
He sat down on my bed and started to put his arm around me, then stopped, saying, "Crap. Edward." I guess he was going to try and kiss me. "Don't worry about him. I asked him if we could take a break so I could think things over. He says he understands, and I believe him, because I can usually tell when he's lying." "Wait. So I just want to be sure, but, you basically broke up with him because of me, didn't you?" Jacob asked. I knew he wasn't trying to be cocky, and I said, "Actually, yeah. I wanted to tell you I loved you when you were leaving. Remember I'd told you I had something I wanted to tell you the day before the barbeque?"
"Shit. That's what you wanted to say? Oh wow. I fucked up badly. Wow, Bella. Just shoot me now," Jacob said, slapping his hand to his forehead. "Don't worry about it. The past can't be redone, we'll just have to fix the future," I said simply. Jacob looked at me blankly and I said, "I did all the thinking in my afternoon classes, and if you still love me, I want you instead of Edward." "But he'll be pissed, Bella, won't he?" I shook my head.
"I asked him hypothetically what he'd do if I left him for good and he said he just wanted me to be happy, and I'd have to still be his friend. I think if I dump him for good and don't talk to him, he'll hate me then. So we'd have to be his friend." "Hey, that's cool. He seemed like a nice guy." "So what do you want to do?" I asked, and Jacob said, "Kiss you," and within seconds, his mouth was on mine. When we broke apart, I knew I'd made the right choice in Jacob. Not that there was anything wrong with Ed, I just got this feeling that told me Jacob was for me.
"Hey, can you wait in the hall for like two minutes? I have to do something," I said, and Jacob nodded, going out into the hall. I took a deep breath and dialed Edward's number. "Hello? Bella?" he answered. "Hey, Ed. I just wanted to call and say I've decided to be with Jacob. I made him promise we could still be your friends, and he seemed okay with it. He said you're a nice guy. I feel a little bad, but I know it's the right choice. I can feel it in my bones."
"As long as you're happy," he said, and I was pretty sure I heard a little sigh of relief as if something was up. I didn't feel like asking him so I just said, "I'll see you in school tomorrow. I'll probably sit at the same lunch table, only bring Jacob along again." "Sounds good. I'll talk to you later, Bella." "Bye," I said and hung up. I heard voices out in the hall, so I figured Jacob was on the phone. Then there was a knock on my door and Mom said, "Bella? Are you in there?"
I came out into the hall and said, "Yeah. What's up?" "I see you invited Jacob over." "Yeah, where'd he go?" "I'm right here," he said. "Mom, meet my new boyfriend," I said simply, and Jacob put his arm around me. "What happened to Edward? You seemed to be getting along fine," Mom said. "We are. I just had a feeling I liked Jacob more, and so Ed and I are friends now." "Oh, well that's good. Tell Sara I say hi, Jacob, and ask her to come over one day," Mom said, smiling and walking away.
The next day at lunch, I took Jacob over to the table where Alice and Jasper were sitting. "Hey, Bella. Hey, Jake. What's new?" Alice asked and Jasper waved. "I broke up with Edward for good," I said. Alice said, "I know you were taking a break, because that's what you said yesterday, but you broke up for good?" "Yeah, I'm dating Jacob here instead," I said. Jacob waved and Alice laughed. "I always knew you two would end up together," she said, and at that moment, Edward and one of our lesser girl friends came over.
"Hey, Edward," I said, trying to show him we were still friends. "Hey, Bella, hey Jacob. Oh, Christina, this is Bella's boyfriend Jacob," Edward said, smiling at her. "Hey, I remember you," Christina said, "Weren't you Bella's fourth grade buddy that moved to Arizona?" "Yeah, that's me. I screwed up a lot when I left, apparently," he said. "Bella, can I talk to you for a second?" Edward said, and I nodded.
We walked away a little then he said, "Bella, I just wanted to tell you I'm dating Christina. She somehow found out we'd broken up and asked me out. I didn't really want to say no, because she's nice and pretty, but I just wanted to make sure you're sure about Jacob," "Yes, Edward. When he kissed me, I knew I wanted him. I'm sorry if I hurt you, but that's what I want," I said. Edward said, "As long as you're happy."
So the story continues. Jake and I stayed together all through the rest of high school and college and we ended up getting married. A month before our first anniversary, I ended up in the hospital to give birth to our first son. Jacob and I decided to name him Jacob Edward, after his father and our best friend besides Alice. Alice came to visit me the next day, and she said, "What's his name?" I smiled and said, "Jacob Edward White. We didn't know what sex the child was going to be, so we'd planned out a girl's name, and it was going to be Jennifer Alice, after you."
Alice gave me a hug, then showed me her finger. "I'm marrying Jasper," she said, "He asked me last night when we went to dinner," "Congratulations!" I said, smiling. I heard my husband's voice mixed with a raspy voice that must have some sort of throat illness, and in a minute, Jacob and Edward appeared next to my bed. "Jake here tells me you guys had a son," Ed said, smiling, "What's his name? Jake wouldn't tell me. He said you wanted to tell me yourself,"
I said, "We named him Jacob Edward, after his father and our best friend." Edward smiled and said, "You're the best, Bella."