CHAPTER 3

Chenah wasn't surprised to see it was still raining the next morning. She got up earlier than usual to try and find weather appropriate clothing, which she didn't have much of. She picked out her favourite faded grey skinny-jeans and a green short-sleeved shirt, shoving her jacket into her bag. She felt a twinge of anxiety at getting any of her precious shoes wet, but really had no choice so she picked her least expensive pair of Jimmy Choo ankle boots and headed downstairs. Miranda was humming happily to herself as she cooked breakfast and gave her daughter a wide smile as she set herself down at the table.

"Oh, honey your not going to wear your boots out here are you?" Her mother said, exasperated.

Chenah shrugged. "My only set of flats got soaked yesterday so I'm gonna have to wear some heels until I can go shopping to get some new clothes and shoes for this type of weather."

Chenah ate her breakfast quickly and headed off to school with a little more excitement than she would have liked. She knew it was because she hoped to see Jacob again. His red Volkswagen Rabbit wasn't in the parking lot when she arrived at school and it made her anxious. She could see everyone staring at her white BMW as though they had never seen an expensive car before.

Then as Chenah looked around she realised why. Almost every other car there was at least ten years old, the only one other then Chenah's that looked remotely new was a shiny silver Volvo parked right at the end of the parking lot. As she sat in her car watching, she saw Bella get out of the shiny Volvo with a pale, but incredibly good looking boy with bronze coloured hair. A small girl got out of the back, the same pale skin but with spiky black hair, and just as beautiful as the boy. She stared after them with her mouth gaping open until she heard a knock on her window. Chenah gave a small yelp of fright and got out of the car.

Jacob was standing there casually against the back of the car, smiling. He grinned even wider as Chenah walked beside him and glared angrily.

"You scared the hell out of me!" She said huffily, but her heart was pounding more now that she was near him.

Jacob laughed and nudged her arm. "Sorry, the look on your face was pretty funny though!"

Chenah scowled and started walking through the rain towards her home room before the bell rang.

"Wait!" Jacob called, jogging up beside her and slowing down once he was by her side again.

He took Chenah's hand and made her stop. Chenah gasped silently as she felt a shock go through her body as he touched her. She looked up at him.

"I'm really sorry I scared you." Jacob said, still holding her hand. His brown eyes smouldered into hers and she forgot to breathe. She must have started turning red before Jacob looked concerned.

"Chenah? You okay?" He asked, his face creased with worry.

Chenah took a breath and shook her head. "Umm...yeah. Sorry, you just dazzled me for a second."

Jacob laughed and let go of her hand. "I'll have to remember not to do that."

Chenah blushed. "It's okay, just warn me next time." She glanced up at him and smiled.

Jacob grinned. "So, I'm guessing the brand new BMW in the parking lot is yours?"

Chenah nodded. "Yep, that's my baby." She smiled happily. She loved her car, which had been a present from her mother and father on her birthday a few months before they moved to forks.

"So, you like cars?" He asked, and Chenah nodded again.

They chatted happily about their favourite cars until they got to their class and Jacob took the seat next to her again. Chenah didn't know why Jacob seemed so interested in her. Maybe, he was just being nice to the new girl. He definitely was a nice guy...an incredibly cute nice guy.

She remembered the dinner from last night and how Bella had acted.

He's a really good friend of mine, I dont want to see him hurt again. Bella had said.

Chenah didn't understand what she meant, but Bella obviously thought that Jacob must like
Chenah. She smiled to herself at the thought of her and Jacob being together. She glanced sideways at him and caught his eye, her heart thumped loudly and she looked away, embarrassed.

The bell rang for the end of class and Jacob walked faithfully by her side to the next lesson. She had almost every class with Jacob, which made her happier than she ought to be. By lunch time, Chenah could tell most of the school had been whispering about her, when she noticed half of the girls glaring at her as she walked past with Jacob. He didn't seem to notice, he kept smiling and glancing at Chenah, their hands only inches apart. He took the seat next to her again and Chenah could still feel the intense feeling running through her body whenever they were near each other. She tried to calm herself down.

Dont get yourself worked up, he's probably not interested in you that way. She thought to herself, her heart dropping. But she couldn't help but feel that there was definitely something between them, something deeper than a high school crush.

"This is ridiculous!" Chenah raged, glaring angrily at her mother, "Why do I have to hang out with her? She hates me!"

"Chenah, please. Why would Bella hate you?" Miranda said exasperated.

"Because I like Jacob! She pretty much told me to stay away from him the night they were here! And she's always staring at me in the lunch room. She's weird, Mom!"

"Oh, Chenah you're being silly! I'm sure she was just being shy and she must be interested in getting to know you if she stares at you! She might just be jealous of you with Jacob, though from what Charlie says, she's pretty intense with that handsome boyfriend of hers!" Miranda suppressed a smile at the thought of Charlie and quickly busied herself with her outfit.

"I can't believe your doing this, it's not fair." Chenah muttered angrily.

Miranda sighed and turned around, her face pained.

"Honey, if it makes you uncomfortable then I won't make you go... but Charlie makes me happy. I haven't felt so at home for a very long time, and Charlie is important to me, he's helping me through everything, Chenah."

Chenah sighed and looked into her mothers sparkling blue eyes. "You're really happy, Mom?"

Miranda nodded and shot her a sheepish smile. Chenah grimaced back awkwardly.

"Fine, I'll go." Chenah replied quietly.