"Nessie, sweetie, can you take out the garbage for me?" I roll my eyes. Mom could super speed and the trash would be gone in the blink of an eye. I see dad glare at me, so I grab the bag and trudge out. My day has been boring, and I can't see it getting much worse…
"Hey Jake!"
Whoops, just did.
"Hey Bells, that for me?" I groan internally. Of course it's for you, stupid dog. Who else would it be for? We all drink blood…
I hear dad chuckle and I turn towards him. He winks and me and shoos me out, and I know they're gonna be talking about Jake's secret again. Sheesh dad, I know Jake's a wolf, no need to hide it from me.
I don't even bother listening into the conversation, cos I just know dad would warn mom and Jake, and they'd begin talking about the weather, like they did last time. I lug the trash out, taking my sweet time, and walk slowly back.
"How do I tell her? Cos I know our feelings aren't mutual…" Oh no. I should've taken longer with the trash. Run it to a dumpster in Canada or something. I hear dad cough, and they begin talking about school, but I know what I just heard was about me, and that means…
"Oh my God." He knows, he knows I like him. He knows I like him and he doesn't like me back. Oh no oh no oh no…
I hear dad yell my name, but I'm too busy. Too busy running from everything. Dad must have heard my thoughts from outside. I hear Jake yelling for me but I don't listen to him, I don't listen to any of the yells.
As I said, I can be overdramatic.
I continue to run for my life until I come across mom and dad's field and I just collapse into a heap, sobbing into the soft ground. I feel the letter to no one stuffed into my pocket fall to the ground. I curl up and just let the tears fall.
Being left alone with my thoughts is dangerous. All I can think is how I'm such a freaking pain for everyone, how I'm better off dead. I'm the bane of everyone's life. And no one's there to make these thoughts disappear.
"Nessie?" Oh great. Jake's here.
And dad's told him exactly what he heard me thinking before I ran for the hills.
I feel him approaching me, but he decides to stay a couple of feet from me. I guess my defences have really gone up this time.
"Who else?" I try to be witty, try to pretend I haven't been lying in the middle of this place for an hour and a half, alone with my thoughts, sobbing my heart out. Jake sits down on the grass and looks at me.
"I knew you'd be here, you know? Knew you'd come here." He looks at me and I feel myself blushing. Dammit, stupid human genes.
"Yeah, well I'm just that predictable, aren't I…" I look up at the sky, trying to stop myself from crying. You know, cos that always works. I feel Jake continue to look at me, and I hear him sigh.
"Your dad told me what you were thinking when you made your dramatic exit. Pretty deep stuff. Too deep to be honest Ness." I shake my head and laugh humourlessly.
"Yeah, well that's what you get when you become thirty too soon. You're too logical for your own good." Jake chuckles.
"Do you even know what your parents and I talk about when we're alone?" I roll my eyes, he's now trying to be deep. I can't really take him that seriously. He's Jake for Pete's sake. He's not ever supposed to be serious. He takes my eye roll as an invitation to continue,
"We talk about you and me, the way we look at each other." I can hear the next part in my head, "cos I know you like me, and I'm really sorry Ness, but I don't like you like that…" I'll smile, say I'm fine, then find a way to kill myself. Cos that's the way I deal with things at the moment, obviously.
"I love you Ness, with all my heart." See, I told you…
Wait. Sorry. What?
"And until your dad told me that you felt the same way, I was so scared. Cos I don't think I'd be able to deal with the rejection."
"Woah woah woah… Back up one teeny tiny second." I look at him, "you love me? What? Jake where the hell did this come from? I thought you were harbouring some kind of affection for my mother!" Jake looks at me in utter shock, then bursts out laughing. I glare at him until he pulls himself together.
"Ness, I have loved you, for ages now. That's what it means to imprint on someone. I am your soul mate." I smile to myself. So I'm not completely alone.
"I know what imprinting is Jake. I just didn't think we were," I gesture to him, then back to myself, "like that. We were always hanging out, drinking soda, watching action movies, driving motorcycles and eating fast food. What happened?" Jake looks as if he's deep in thought.
"Nothing, I don't think. We will continue to eat fast food, drink soda and watch action movies. We might even ride motorcycles. It's just, we can make out instead of watching the movie, act like soda and fast food are a date, and ride our motorcycles to a secluded spot…?" He winks at me, and I giggle. I suddenly realise how close he is, our faces are now centimetres apart, and I lean into him.
"I thought you liked mom," I sigh, "and that secluded spot sounds kinda nice. Especially after a motorcycle ride. Have I ever mentioned how sexy you are with wind-blown hair?" He grins at me and nuzzles my cheek, "and we can now hold hands in public, with it actually meaning something, right?" he nods, "and I can tell my girlfriends how amazingly fit my boyfriend is, and when you pick me up from school," I look at him, "which you will, I can say, 'that's my boyfriend, the gorgeous one with the wind-swept…" but suddenly he's kissing me, and I'm kissing back, and it feels like I'm walking on sunshine.
Sure I'm not usually one for clichés, but there's always a first time for everything.
"Your dad's gonna kill me." I smile, and I know I should care. I really should care that my dad is going to murder my boyfriend (that word just rolls off the tongue). But I don't.
I also know that Jacob Black is mine. Forever and ever and ever.
Whoops, another cliché.
Look on the bright side. It's not about committing suicide.
