CHAPTER TWO – Winter
Winter's POV
I looked up, straight into the eyes of the tall boy who had just burst through the front door. He had deep black eyes, which locked on mine with a puzzled look. He stiffened, and his accusing gaze rendered me motionless. Billy Black broke the silence with an awkward cough, wheeling forward with a single thrust.
"Winter, this is my son, Jacob". Billy's deep voice resonated in the suddenly tense room. I smiled tentatively at Jacob, who stared back at me with a strange look.
"Jake, this is Winter. She's staying with Sam and Emily." Billy's voice had a sharp tone to it, like he was warning Jacob to snap out of something.
"So why is she here?" he asked roughly. His voice was deeper than I'd expected.
"Jake! She's here because I asked her. Emily had to run into town to get some groceries, and Winter came her to use the internet because Emily's is down."
"Oh." He sounded taken aback.
"Anyway," Billy continued, "it's nice to see you too. It's been almost a week, Jake. You could have sent a message."
"I needed to clear my head," Jacob growled. He looked back at me and his eyes softened inexplicably.
"Nice to meet you, Winter." He scowled at Billy and took off out the door.
"I'm sorry about that. Jake's a good kid, his heart's in the right place. He's just had a bit of trouble lately."
"Trouble?" I asked.
"That's for him to tell you. Just be sensitive – he's going through a hard patch." Billy looked pensive. I didn't say any more. I haven't gotten this far in life by prying.
"So." I said. "Internet?"
"Oh. Of course, Winter. This way." Billy led the way down the hall in his wheelchair, finally spinning to a stop in front of the last door.
"The study." He showed me how to set it up, then left me in peace. I was really starting to like Billy. I logged on to my email, cursing the slow dial-up internet that was the standard service here. There were a few spam emails, a few auto-emails from my MySpace page, and one from my friend Hannah back in Seattle. I opened it reluctantly, wondering what I was going to tell her. Either way, whatever I told her would be twisted way out of proportion and sold around the school as gossip.
"Christ. What am I going to tell them?" I wondered aloud.
"Tell them alien's abducted your dog and you had to go and rescue him and you were beamed down in the wrong spot, met some nice people called Sam and Emily, and decided to stay," a deep voice answered. I whirled around in my chair. Jacob was leaning against the doorway, his head almost hitting the top. I hadn't realised how goddamn tall he was.
"Sorry. Did I scare you?" He laughed. "I didn't realise you were a jumpy person."
"I'm not," I snapped. "Don't you make noise?"
"Not really. I perfected the art of sneaking around a long time ago. Billy's certainly not hard of hearing! Besides, he's asleep and I didn't want to wake him. I came to apologise for not being very nice before. I've had a lot on my mind, but that's not really an excuse, is it?" He laughed ruefully.
"It's OK. I know how that feels."
"Really?"
"Yeah." When Mum died, I spent six days on the roof of the temporary foster home they stuck me in, refusing to come down. That was why they tried to find family – any family. They reckoned I was nuts. I still don't know.
"So, um, Emily'll be back soon. I better go." He flashed me a small smile.
"Um, OK. Bye then, Jacob." I smiled back at him.
"It's Jake, by the way. Only my dad calls me Jacob."
"OK. Jake." I was rewarded with another smile, this time a big grin.
"Friends?" He asked, sticking his hand out.
"Deal." I took his hand to shake it, but dropped it like a burning poker. Christ! His hand was hot, as if he'd left it on top of a warm stove for too long. He smirked at my confused expression, and turned on his heel to leave.
"Bye, Winter. See you round."
"Bye, Jake."
"Jake?" An unfamiliar female voice echoed through the house. For a second there was a haunting, pained look in Jake's eyes, replaced by a blank, emotionless façade, which reminded me of my half-brother, Sam Uley.
"Jake?" the girl's voice rang out again, stronger. "Are you here?"