Jacob's eyes widened as we both pulled our hands away. My whole body was still tingling with the electricity that had just passed between us.
"Did you just…" I began.
"Feel that jolt" He ended.
I nodded, my mouth closed in a tight line. This was too weird; it was starting to freak me out. He was staring at me strangely and his body was starting to shake. He looked like he was about to jump out of the car.
"Do I know you from somewhere? Have we met at all before?" He asked between deep breaths, his tone sounded desperate.
"Not that I can think of. I mean I've been to La Push a couple of times before but I don't remember meeting you." I was starting to lean away from him towards the door. It had started to heat up in the car and a cool May evening had turned into what felt like a warm July day.
"It's Jacob! Jacob Black!" He yelled at me, his pupils were starting to dilate and it looked like his skin was rippling.
"Stop it, you're scaring me!" It was true, and I don't get frightened very easily. At least I would like to think I don't. After I spoke he looked surprised, then realization dawned on his face. He closed his eyes and started taking deep breaths, these different from the panting breaths he had been taking earlier. As his breathing steadied he stopped shaking and the car cooled down once more. I was beginning to think that something was going on here, something that I couldn't begin to understand.
"Are you all right…?" I leaned in to him, my breath lightly brushing his shoulder.
"Don't touch me!" I was shocked by his sudden harshness. "I'm sorry, I just need to relax for a bit."
We sat together in silence. Needless to say it was an awkward silence, and I never enjoy those kinds of silences.
"You know," I finally said, "Every awkward silence someone thinks of Abraham Lincoln."
"Is that so…" He stared at the road ahead, a blank expression on his face. And there goes a perfectly good conversation starter, I though as the trees passed us by.
The sky ahead of us was ablaze with the violent red of sunset when we finally pulled up to my car. The poor thing looked so lonely all by itself by the side of the road. Jacob hopped out of the driver's seat and walked over to the car. As he evaluated its state of disrepair I watched from the hood of his car where I had decided to recline for the time being. After several minutes he gave a low whistle.
"Is that a good thing?" I asked, a glint of hope that it would be a quick fix and I could still get to the beach in time to see everyone.
"If by good you mean having to buy a new car then yes, it's a good thing." He leaned over the hood and inspected the engine, a frown on his face.
"No, not my baby!" I ran to my lovely old car and started nuzzling it, much to the amusement of Jacob. He chuckled and looked at his now grease covered hands.
"You know, if you'd be willing to spend the night at my place I could probably fix it up enough so that you could drive it home. Beyond that I have no guarantees." He sauntered over to me, a cool smile on his face. He must have seen the panic in my eyes though since he added, "Of course by spend the night I mean the guest room. I won't try any funny stuff, I swear." He extended his hand toward me and I regarded it a bit suspiciously. "Come on, I won't bite." He smiled an ironic smile and I reached out my hand towards his. He grabbed it and once again I felt electricity run between us. But instead of shaking my hand as I thought he would he flipped it over and drew something on my palm.
"A pentagram!" I gasped when I saw it traced across my palm in grease. His ironic smile spread as he saw my shocked expression. "What is this supposed to mean?"
"You'll just have to wait and see." Was his only reply. He laughed as I pouted then motioned toward my car. "Take everything you need from here and then hop back in the Rabbit." He must have seen my questioning expression since he then explained that 'the rabbit' was his car.
"What about my car?" I asked him as I gathered up a few things that I had tossed into my car, mostly makeup and money.
"We'll come out here in the morning and work on it, since it's obviously not going anywhere right now."
I finished picking up the few items that I had and once I was back in the car we headed to his home. I lowered the window and stuck my head out to see the now dark night sky. It was beautiful. This far from any major cities gave a clear view of the stars and planets. It was like someone had taken diamonds and tossed them into the sky.
"Look Jacob, it's a full moon!" I cried joyfully, my hair blowing around my face in the wind.
"If you listen hard you might be able to hear some wolves howling at it." His tone was dark and mysterious, sending shivers up my spine. I listened, and sure enough I heard what sounded like a wolf howl, though the sound was far deeper and huskier than any wolf I had ever heard before. Soon after the first more howls went up and all around us the woods came alive. As we sped along I caught glimpses of fur in different shades flitting between the trees.
"This is wonderful!" I yelled, my voice full of excitement and joy. I glanced over at Jacob and he smiled at me.
"I'm glad you like it." His voice was tender almost a caress. I smiled and let the magic of night sweep me away.
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"Well, here we are. Welcome to my humble abode!" He spread his arms in mocking fashion. I laughed at him and we made our way up the steps.
"What's that building over there?" I asked, pointing to a building a ways off in the trees.
"Oh that? That's my workshop. That is where your car is going to be living for a short while." He stopped, then looked at me. "Oh, you must need to call your parents. They're probably wondering where you are."
"It's more likely that they haven't even noticed I'm gone. I'll deal with them when the time comes." He shrugged then opened the door.
"Dad, I'm home!" I stepped into his small home. I liked it, it had a homey feel, unlike the antiseptic and OCD home I was used to, this house looked like people actually lived in it.
"Jake, where have you been?" The words came from a rather old looking man in a wheelchair. He looked like his son, though the similarities weren't apparent if you didn't look for them. He had an easygoing smile, that is, until he saw me. "Jake, who is this?"
"This is Jenny, dad. Her car broke down and I offered to fix it for her." Jacob smiled a rather cute, impish smile. It was obvious that he wasn't supposed to have brought any one over from the disapproving look on his dad's face. Well actually, I wouldn't be surprised if he had girls over a lot. He was that good looking. Now there was a depressing thought, he probably already had a girlfriend.
Wait, what was I thinking?! I had just met the guy and I was already fantasizing about us together. Walking hand and hand along the beach, stopping to get ice cream, him licking up a little bit of ice cream that had gotten on my nose, us making out in his car…
"Jenny? Are you all right, you look a little out of it." Jacob was leaning in towards me, his face right in front of mine.
"I'm fine! Just fine thanks!" I jumped backward to get away from his gorgeous face before I was consumed by the wild thoughts that were streaming through my mind. Unfortunately, as I jumped back I managed to hook my foot on the leg of the couch and fall flat on my butt. "Oh" was the only witty comment I could think of to counter the indignity of it all.
There was a pause as both Jacob and his dad stared down at me. Well Jacob had to lean over a little to see me he was so tall, what was he 6' 7"? Suddenly Jake (I assumed it was okay to refer to him as Jake since his dad had called him that) broke into a bellow of laughter; his dad on the other hand just stared down at me disapprovingly.
After Jake's laughter subsided a bit his dad wheeled over to him. "Can I have a word?" He said, then shot a glance at me, "Alone?"
Jake looked at me as if to apologize for his dad, I mouthed 'it's ok' to him. As he walked over to a corner of the small living room I realized how in tune Jake and I were to each other. We had only known each other for maybe an hour or two and yet it was like we had known each other for a lifetime.
As I watched Jake and his dad talk in hushed voices I felt kind of out of place. I thought about a lot of things as I sat there on that couch. Mostly I regretted not being to lip read so I could know what they were talking about.
The next thing that came to my mind was my parents. They were okay, it's not like I hated them, my mom was just really uptight and my dad was always gone because of his job. I just… I just they'd listen to me for once! I wish they'd give me some space to do my own thing and hang out with my friends when I wanted to and do things that a normal teenager was expected to do.
But you're not normal…
I brushed the voice aside. I was normal, I am normal. It doesn't matter what happened in the past, I decided a long time ago to live in the present.
That brought me to me third thought: the boy that I dreamed about, the one with golden eyes and auburn hair, the vampire. I know he's a vampire. I also know that he needs my help. I don't know how I know these things. For some reason they're crystal clear in my mind. And it's not like I just dreamed about him once I've been dreaming about him for awhile…
Ever since that time five years ago…
I willed the voice to shut up, to leave me alone. I could still hear it whispering in the back of my mind but the words were now indecipherable. I focused on the face of the vampire, that clear pinpoint of light in the darkness. He was the one constant in my life lately, the dreams coming every night. I thought about him, ran my mind over the images that I could remember, trying to focus on the ones I couldn't.
And as I sat there thinking about the vampire boy another image intruded into my mind, the image of Jacob. His lovely complexion, handsome features, his lips so very quick to smile. I looked at him, standing across the room. Then it was like he sensed me looking at him, he stopped talking and looked up at me. I felt it again, that electricity that seemed to run through us and connect us. It was something special, something that I had never experienced before. And as I stared at him all thoughts of the handsome vampire vanished from my mind.
"Jake, you cannot do this again! You have to act like an adult for once." His dad's voice carried over to my ears. "You know what happened with Bella, do you really want that to happen again?"
Bella? Who was Bella? That name obviously meant something to Jacob, he seemed to whither when the name was mentioned. It was girl's name, was she his ex? Was she something more than just his ex? I listened closely to the next words between them.
"Dad, I told you that was the past. I'm over her; she's been gone for how many years now?" Jake tried to casually brush it aside but I knew from how he was now not bothering to talk in a whisper that he was so not over this Bella girl still.
"Jake, I'm just trying to tell you that letting another girl in your life right now is not a good idea." His dad shot a glance over to me and I quickly tried to act as if I wasn't hanging on every word they were saying. "I mean, who knows what will happen and what she'll find out if she stays with us."
I cleared my throat and they both their heads shot up, their eyes focused directly on me. "Um… It should only be one night. I'll do the dishes or something to pay you back if you want me to." Jake's eyes widened as if to say 'you are so not helping the situation.' But when I glanced at his dad I knew that I had said something right. "I mean, I don't mean to be a burden. I just need to get my car fixed then I'll go home, back to Port Angeles." I saw the old man's face soften.
"Well if it's only for one night I guess it's alright. " He nodded to Jake then went to, what I assumed, was his room. Leaving us alone. All alone.
"So…Where is this guest room?" He smiled and led me down a small hallway into a room that did not resemble any guest room I had ever seen. "This looks more like a teenage guy's room than a guest bedroom."
"Yeah, well, that's because it is." I looked at him in shock as he started moving a few things around so that we could walk in the room. The floor was littered with magazines and clothing and all the things you'd expect to find in a teenage boy's room.
"But, if this is your room, shouldn't you sleep here? I mean I can just sleep on the couch." I looked at my feet, secretly too embarrassed to sleep in his bed. I bet it smelled like him…
"No really I insist, you should be able to sleep in an actual bed, you're a guest." He started toward me, taking a step as if trying to literally back me in a corner.
"No I insist. This is your room; you shouldn't have to give it up for me." I took a step back away from him. But my clumsiness, for the second time that day, prevailed and as my foot connected with the cover of a magazine I slipped and went sprawling backwards towards his bed. He tried to catch me before I fell but we both landed in a heap on his bed. And when I say heap I mean he landed on top of me. On his bed. Yeah, talk about awkward situations. As we both layed there, trying to make sense of what had just happened, he lifted his face to look at me.
"Are you ok?" He breathed. I felt his body press against mine, his hot breath brush against my cheek. My mind went crazy, going way beyond just the make out scenes in the back of his car.
"Yeah, couldn't be better." I finally managed to say. We gazed at each other, my head full of him and only him. It was too soon when he finally stood up. I got up too and realized that my face was completely red.
"Well," He said, shuffling his feet, "You can borrow some of my clothes for pajamas. I'm going out for a bit but I'll be back soon. You should get some sleep."
He walked out of the room, with one more glance at me before disappearing completely. I heard the front door open and shut. Then silence. And as I turned over the scene that had just taken place in his bedroom I resigned myself to the fact that I probably had a huge crush on Jacob Black. Oh crap.
So after putting on a pair of pants and a t-shirt that were both way huge on me I slipped under the covers of his bed and fell asleep imagining that he was holding me in his arms.
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I woke up the next day not knowing where I was. I was wearing unfamiliar clothes in an unfamiliar room and by golly it looked like a boy's room. I stumbled out of the bed and down the hall into the living room before remembering what had happened yesterday. As I blinked my bleary and sleep ridden eyes I saw Jake looking at me from where he was reading a book on the couch.
"Good morning, what is with that look on your face?" He looked me up and down and continued when I didn't answer him. "I take it you're not a morning person?" I nodded, walked over to the couch, and flopped down next to him.
"Hungry." Was all I said after a few minutes of him reading and me staring at the wall. I felt his eyes on me as I stood up and walked to the kitchen. I renched the door to the fridge open to find that there was no food in it. Except for some ketchup and mayonnaise. Who eats only ketchup and mayonnaise?
"Where's the food?!" I cried in frustration. Jake chuckled and walked up to peer into the fridge.
"Well, it looks like you just happen to be the lucky person to win the grocery lottery." He walked over to the wall by the front door and took down some keys from a hanger on the wall.
"Here" He threw them at me and I some how managed to catch them though my hands were somewhere in the long sleeves of the shirt that I had borrowed from him. "Once you wake up you can go out and buy the groceries, which will be the payment for staying the night and fixing your car. My wallets on the counter, you can use my credit card."
I looked down at the keys, looked at him, shrugged then went and changed into my clothes. After grabbing the credit card that he had mentioned I walked to the door, and out to his car.
"Don't get lost, and try not to break my car too!" I looked back to see Jake standing in the door, he winked at me then went back inside. I sighed, rubbed my eyes, then opened the driver's side door.
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This was not my first time in Forks or La Push. I'd been down here a few times with my parents or a friend for a road trip. I had never, however, really paid attention to where anything was. So as I drove
around in the drizzling rain I tried to find some sign of a grocery store. Unfortunately that was easier said than done.
I drove along looking for the turn off I was supposed to take. After awhile I found myself, once again , on a back rode where no one else was driving.
"Stupid Jenny! Look for another road you can take." Yes I know, talking to myself isn't exactly a good sign but if you drive alone for long enough than it becomes a habit.
Turn here!
I felt the tickling in the back of my mind. I immediately stopped the car and looked around. I was surrounded by trees but there was a small break in them that seemed to house a small road. I knew that it was probably a bad idea to listen to the voice that probably meant I was insane but what else could I do?
As I drove along the small road the tiny drizzle of a rain turned into a torrent, the day had turned to night . I continued to drive, hoping that I might see something through the rain. And there it was, as if I had wished it into being. A small light in the darkness.
I drove toward it and it got larger till finally I saw that it was a house, a very nice house, expensive looking. Parked in front were expensive looking cars too. Several of them in fact. I parked next to a particularly shiny Volvo and ran up to the front porch in the pouring rain.
After ringing the doorbell I looked out into the rain, something felt strange. I felt something in my mind stir and become restless.
"Yes?" The door swung open and the voice of an older teenage boy floated out across the space on the porch. I turned to look into the golden eyes of the vampire with auburn hair that had haunted my dreams for the past five years.
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Heloooo everyone! It is your fabulous author Ari reporting once again for duty! SO what did you all think? Did you like it? I hope you did. It's getting interesting isn't it? I promised a longer chapter and I delivered! Questions? Comments? Concerns? Review! And maybe I'll answer, in fact I probably will. As for all you who are guessing what Jenny's connection to Bella is, you'll just hafta wait and see cuz if I told you now it would ruin the whole story wouldn't it?
So long, farewell, aufedersei, goodbye,
(gee I hope I spelled that right)
Ari
