Chapter Two – Ready To Go
You've got these little things
That you've been running from
You either love it or guess you don't
You're such a pretty thing
To be running from anyone
A vision with nowhere to go
So tell me right now
You think you're ready for it
I wanna know
Why you got me going
So let's go
We'll take it out of here
I think I'm ready to leave
I'm ready to live
It was then, as the rain started to pour and the truck creaked awkwardly, that Jacob regretted denying the offer he had on the beast a few months back. Part of his denial was the thought of need; the old pickup truck was enough for him out here in La Push and he was attached to his hunk of metal. The attachment he had to the truck was primarily sentimental, for it ran like shit. The exterior was a rusty shade of orange, though the body held the color well without peeling. It looked its age, the silver grill rusting on the underside, only visible from a close look and a few minor dings and scratches across the expanse of the body. He ran his fingers across the side of the 1963 Chevrolet pickup, with its hulking fenders and monstrous amounts of metal, and climbed in.
From the inside, it was obviously used; worn seats and discolored dash. But the truck was his own, his first project with his father when he was twelve. He'd spent many hours out in the garage, dreaming of the day he would be able to take the truck out onto the empty roads of La Push and simply drive it. Now, he would do anything for at least an Impala. At least something that had working air. Easy-open doors would also be appreciated, but there was nothing he could do now. Jacob turned the key, praying for an easy turn-over. It roared to life, sputtering and whining for a moment before he warmed up the engine.
"Alright. All you have to do is get us to town and get us home. Nothing more than that," he murmured hopefully to his truck and shifted it into gear.
As he pulled up to her house, it started to drizzle heavier as he saw Carsyn rush out of her house. He leaned over and opened the door for her with a smile and leaned back over to his side, clipping his seat belt.
"Perfect timing," she said with a small smile, droplets of rain visible on her skin and hair.
"I have a way of timing the weather 'round here," Jacob joked and put the truck in drive. He watched her quickly wrap her seat belt across her and tighten it across her lap.
He raised his eyebrow in curiosity, yet didn't ask about it. He leaned forward and turned the static radio on.
"What kind of music do you like?" he asked with a bit of grimace as his aging truck painted him in a country outlook. Not the sexy cowboy from down the road. It was more like the awkward boy who can't afford a truck with a proper heater or yet, a speedometer. Carsyn smiled, and Jacob paused awkwardly before she spoke, hand on the dial.
"Anything but country," she answered, and he settled on the mainstream station, playing it safe.
"Is there anything to do around here? I mean, I know there is a beach around here somewhere, nothing like California, I know," she said and Jacob nodded.
He turned his head to her, watching her wrap her arms around herself for warmth and he turned the heater on more. He felt his skin start to perspire and he momentarily shut his eyes, shifting the truck into another gear.
"There is a beach, yeah," he said with a nod, glancing over to the thick woodlands on either side of them.
"Nothing much to do but hangout in the woods," Jacob said with a snort, running his hands up and down his steering wheel anxiously.
"We can check out the beach after lunch, if you like," he said, with a shrug.
"Depends on the weather. If it's still cold and rainy, I'm going home and taking a nap. But if it's nice, the beach sounds inviting," she said with a nod. Jacob nodded in agreement, until she spoke again.
"What is there to do in the woods?" Carsyn asked, resting her elbow on the truck door, easing her hand into her palm as she looked out into the endless expanse of woodland.
"Walk. Run. Exercise. That sort of thing," he said quickly, slowing to a stop at a stop sign, before getting the go ahead from both sides.
"What do you want to eat?" Jacob asked, easily changing the subject of his life in the woods.
"We can get pizza, a burger, pasta," he offered, pulling his eyebrows together. Carsyn gave him a curious look, her lip twitching slightly.
"Sounds incredibly boring," she said and sighed.
"I'm sorry. I just really miss California. Stuff happened back there, and it was my home since birth so you can't really blame me," she said and shrugged slightly, looking down at her stomach. She then glanced up at his food suggestions.
"Pizza, yes," she said warmly, pressing her lips together.
"I love pizza," she said with a soft laugh. Jacob's curiosity spiked again, curious as to what events happened in California, but he again didn't ask.
"Sounds like you like pizza," he laughed, pulling off the road into the Centre, parking in front of the town pizzeria. He turned back to the back seat and pulled out a jacket, handing it to her.
"This will keep you plenty warm," he said softly, and watched her smile.
"Thanks," she said, wrapping the fleece jacket around her shoulders. "A lot of my clothes aren't unpacked yet," Carsyn said, following him into the pizzeria, after he spent a few moments trying to jiggle her door open.
"What's your favorite?" she asked as they entered the warm restaurant and Jacob stuffed his hands into his pockets.
"I'm a meat guy... The Meat Lovers is my personal favorite. What do you like? I can probably steer you in the right direction," he said and glanced down at her. He was well above her height- Though everyone in the pack was above average in height. Carsyn laughed, and Jacob couldn't help but smile himself at her.
"I'm a vegetarian... I'll get the vegetable pizza with extra tomatoes and pineapple on top," she said, popping the final 'P' in her sentence. Jacob nodded with a smirk and leaned forward and ordered their pizza, handing her a drink cup. He turned and nodded to an empty booth seat, where she paused and pressed money towards him.
"You don't know me well enough to pay for me, Jacob," Carsyn argued simply and sat down, sipping on her water.
"I'm not going to let you pay, Carsyn," he retorted, taking his own seat and sliding the money across the table. He raised his eyebrows. She pressed it forward again and he rolled his dark eyes.
"Just put that money back in your pocket," he snorted and shook his head. Jacob took a sip of his soda and leaned forward.
"So, did you leave some poor schmuck crying for you back in Cali?" he inquired, pressed his lips to his glass as he awaited an answer. Their pizza came and they each took a slice.
"No, my boyfriend and I broke up six months ago," Carsyn said with a shrug, yet Jacob caught a pause as if she was holding back something.
"So no, no schmuck out there crying for me," she joked.
"Poor schmuck. Must be eating his heart out," Jacob joked and took a bite of pizza.
"Are you a partier?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Carsyn shook her head.
"I suppose you could say, like social events. Football games, birthday parties and the sort. Why, are you?" she asked and Jacob shook his head.
"No, I'm not. Suppose I've had my… Over the top nights," he said with a shrug, recalling a few of the nights he had gone out to the bonfire parties with a fellow pack member and another friend, Austin and Michalla. She raised an eyebrow, as if not catching the entire story.
"Well, I have this friend Michalla. She's one of those… 'Let's go out and get wasted and screw every guy I see', kind of girls. Love her to death, like a sister. You'll learn that La Push is all kind of like one big family," he said with a shrug.
"But she gets so annoying, with the constant partying. It's like I'm babysitting her," Jacob said with a shrug.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to unload all of this on you," he said softly, glancing down at his soda.
"I just know that one day, she'll wind up pregnant or something!" he said, rolling his eyes as he leaned back against the booth. Carsyn's face changed for a moment, before she put on a smooth face, though Jacob caught the slip.
"Don't worry about venting; I'm a good listener. And pregnant, at this age?" she asked with a laugh, which Jacob found to be slight fake.
"I mean, I would support her and all I just don't want anyone to have to go through that…" he said honestly, rolling his shoulders in an awkward shrug.
"What do you think?" Jacob asked, taking another bite of his pizza.
"I mean, high school is a young age to be pregnant and have a baby. I'm sure it's hard; But I too would never shun anyone for it," she said with a nod of agreement. There was a moment as they both looked at each other, chewing over their pizza before Jacob glanced at his watch.
"Are your parents going to wonder where you are?" he asked, adjusting the face of it and then turning to look at her.
"I guess if they ask you can say you ran off into the woods with a wolf or something," he said, a small smirk as he realized the dramatic irony in his words.
"No, I'm almost eighteen, well… In nine months. And they are at work today, getting settled. So I'm not exactly worried about it," Carsyn said with a shrug, glancing back at him from her water. She smiled before speaking.
"I'm not going to be the girl who cries wolf," she joked, shaking her head. "But I am tired and need to finish unpacking now that I have my bed in my room," she said with an appreciative tone as Jacob brushed his hands off. He stood up and looked over at her.
"Now tell me Miss Carsyn. Are you the type of girl to have lunch with a guy and vanish off the face of the Earth afterwards? Because, if so, I would like advanced notice," he said as he gave the cashier a friendly farewell, holding the door open for her as they entered the rapidly cooling air. He watched her smile slightly; moving to the truck door and popping it open before he could reach it. Jacob rolled his eyes.
"Depends if the guy wants to talk to me again, I suppose I can be a lot to handle, are you willing to handle me?" she asked with a grin.
"You are not hard to handle," he laughed, revving the engine back to life. It just had to make it back home and they would be in the clear.
"I meant, maybe with paying for stuff you can be," he said with a small smirk, giving her a wink. "I would love to hang out with you again sometime.
That sounds totally cliché, like something out of a bad romance novel, huh?" Jacob joked and looked over at her hopefully.
"Thanks," she said, "But give it a few more days, and you'll realize I'm not exactly a simplistic person," she said and smiled a bit, realizing she had smiled more today than she had in the weeks following up to the move.
"You're too cute with your cliché sayings," she continued on, giving him a flattering smile. She leaned into her purse and pulled out a pen and paper, scribbling her name and number down.
"You're my only friend in the place; I want you to stick around. You can call or text me anytime," Carsyn said, sitting back up and laying the card on his dash. Jacob leaned forward at a stop light and popped open his glove compartment. It was full, letters from family and insurance papers and the sort. He knew he would lose the paper in the mess, so he stuck it between the roof and his visor.
"Great, now I can text you whenever I want to get into a wreck," he joked and Carsyn made a face.
"I only ride with safe drivers, glancing down at her stomach for a moment before looking at him.
"I'm safe. I only go about twenty over the speed limit," Jacob joked and leaned back in his seat, steering the truck to the right, back onto the roads of the woods, twisting and turning.
"I've been driving this thing since I could see above the dash and I assure you, though I don't use the ten and two rule, I'm a fantastic driver," Jacob said with a shrug, rolling the windows down as he accelerated on the road. To his left, through the thick woods, he could see the shapes of what seemed to be Sam and Paul, lurking quickly among the trees. He swallowed quickly and cranked the window up.
"Well that's assuring and all," she said sarcastically, glancing out the window to the opposite of where Sam and Paul were, to Jacob's luck.
"I think tomorrow I'm going to go for a walk down through the trail in the woods, then up to Seattle for some clothes," she said. The hair on his neck began to crawl and he turned to glance at her.
"Those woods?" he asked quickly, coming out much more frantic than he wanted it to be. He made another left, onto the long dirt road, the truck rattling in protest.
"Those trails are… Unmarked… Unsafe…" Jacob stuttered, risking a glance out his window. Carsyn almost jumped at his sudden reaction and nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I always go for a run or walk in the morning… And you told me that the only thing to do around here was to explore the woods," she said innocently, unsure of what he was so hesitant about.
"It's a marked trail, Jacob. I'm sure it's fine," she said with a sigh, shaking her head.
"If it's that big of a deal, I'll go to the gym in Forks," she nodded.
"Just uh, take someone with you. Your mom or maybe me. Someone," he said and shuddered, gripping the wheel. The chances of them running across each other were slip, but that was the last thing he needed. And the chances of Sam and the pack scaring her were greater and Jacob didn't need that either.
"Just, be safe," he warned. Carsyn nodded, not pushing the issue.
"We just have some pretty damn big raccoons," Jacob said, hoping to make light of the sudden situation as he pulled up to her house. Jacob tapped his visor and smiled.
"I'll call you tomorrow. I hope you sleep well on your mattress, considering I carried it up a bazillion stairs," he joked, putting the truck into park. Carsyn smiled a bit, making him grin himself.
"I'll enjoy it, goodbye Jacob," she said and opened the door to his sad truck, and rushed inside.
