Chapter 3 – "If only I could read minds for a day"

I think she took it well. There wasn't any screaming, kicking me out of the apartment, throwing harmful pieces of furniture at me; I'd say that in and of itself was an accomplishment. But just because I wasn't the victim of an attack didn't mean it went over completely smoothly.

She retreated into her room after I finished. I heard things breaking, screaming into pillows, and quite a bit of anger.

She then went to the bathroom. I could hear her sobbing. It was hard to just sit on the bar stool, but I knew this sort of thing had to run its course.

Then she went back into her room, locking the door. Then I guess she fell asleep at some point in this explosion of emotions.

I went to her couch, watching the door for any movement until I eventually passed out, managing to get quite comfortable on the couch. The only moment of the night I remember waking up at was when Toulouse scratched at her door, making the most hideous noise to try and win his owner over into opening the door. But no one came to the door. So the damn cat resorted to sitting on the other side of the room and glared at me all night long in resentment. I simply rolled over with a loud 'hmph' and went back to sleep.

-

"Hey." I heard a voice, but it only registered in my dream, my dream of walking through Candyland, the board game, as if I was one of the plastic figurines. I turned around to see Queen Frostine staring at me with that beautiful face and cotton candy hair.

"Hey you!" Then I was in pain. My eyes flickered open as my hand went up to my cheek, "Ouch, you didn't have to slap me!"

"Well, it was either a slap to the face or ice down the pants. I figured you might appreciate a slap better then wet pants." Hala stood over me, her hands on her hips like she was a strong superhero. She could play superhero/evil villain with me any time. "Now come on and get your lazy ass off my couch before I send you back to Gloppy and you get stuck there!"

"I was talking my sleep, wasn't I?" I groaned in embarrassment. Was it sad to admit that I didn't really regret this though?

"Between you talking and my drool-soaked pillow, you had a good sleep. Then again, Candyland is a rather cool place. Now get up," she said, walking back into the kitchen. Then I smelled it. My stomach growled loudly. "Are those Cinnamon rolls?"

"Nothing too fancy. Just Pillsbury from the canister thing. Really surprised you didn't wake up when I screamed. It always scares me when it pops open like it does." She laughed with little strain in her voice. Did she get everything out of her system in her tantrum last night? Did sleeping on the issue help her?

Hala looked back from the kitchen, gazing at me with her eyes. They were so blue, something I was not really use to. I remember only seeing brown eyes. Everything was brown or red. Nothing like these. These eyes, they sent the cold shiver down my spine, raising the hair on the back of my neck; a chilling reminder that she was my world for now. It made me wonder how she took that news last night. I did as she said, confessed everything to her, from werewolves to vampires, to Bella and Edwards (may his name burn in hell) to this imprint. I told her that it didn't have to be romantic. It didn't have to be a relationship. We could be just friends; I could be the brother she never had (or really never knew about since Sam still needed to meet his new half sister). She needed time. They always needed time. Even Bella needed time. And I was still giving Bella time. Did I really need to anymore? Would Hala send me away? Had Hala figured out what she wanted over one night of sleep? I needed to break the ice or something, "Look, Hala. Maybe we should—"

"We need to leave by two at the latest." She stated, interrupting me. I had a feeling she wasn't quite ready yet. But what was this about leaving?

"What do you mean by 'leave'?"

She pulled the rolls out of the oven when the hunk of metal beeped at her, "Well, the wedding, you said, is in five days. I mapquested Forks, and it's going to probably take us two or three days to get there, depending on my car and it being busted up."

"Excuse me?" What the hell is going on?

She put the hot cookie sheet on the stove, closing and turning off the oven before she leaned on the counter top, looking at me from over the breakfast bar, "Okay, from what you told me last night, the girl you love, or loved, something along those lines, is getting married to this douche of a guy. You've run away from home because she is marrying this guy, who is a mythical creature that calls himself a 'vampire' even though he doesn't have fangs, and you are obviously the smarter choice because then she could 'live' with you and not turn into a fang-less vampire, nor would you turn her into a werewo-wo-" she stuttered and shivered, "Thing. Anyways, you say you still love her, even though you've 'imprinted' on me, which ties you to me because I'm the reason you are on this Earth. So much bull snot, but anyways, you now are the suffering protagonist in this story and I think the only way for you to solve this problem is to go to the wedding and see Bella, with me there, because let's face it, you say you imprinted on me, but just because I am your gravity or whatever, you could still have stronger feelings for this girl than for me, which I hope is true because we seriously only just met yesterday, and don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're not a rapist, but come on. We aren't in high school anymore. End of rant. Thank you and good night!" She bowed and walked over to the rolls, beginning to ice them.

I smirked, getting up from her couch. I took my seat at the breakfast bar, just as I had last night. She placed a plate of four cinnamon rolls in front of me. I knew this was merely a snack to me; I could have eaten the whole container and still be hungry, but she had to eat too. We munched in silence for a moment. Of course, but the time she had eaten two, I was done and chugging a glass of milk she had gratefully given me.

I couldn't keep quiet for too long though, "So you're willing to drive me to Forks, come to a wedding with no one you know, see the girl who has my heart, and deal with me, an almost complete stranger you met yesterday?"

Raising a brow, she gave a firm nod, "Yes. Plus, your dumb butt broke my car. You said you're a mechanic, so you are going to fix my car."

I rolled my eyes, "You're weird."

"I'm weird? Compared to your life, I'm normal. Anyways, at this point, I have nothing to lose. Didn't get the job I wanted. My car is now on its last legs," she wasn't going to let me live that down, "I paid rent two days ago, the bills as well. All I need to do is pack a bit, get Toulouse ready, and then we can go. Oh, and here you go."

She tossed me a small pile of clothing with a few pieces for men, "My ex left those. He said that I could sleep with them if I even got lonely since I'm a bitch and will never get another boyfriend again because he's the only one who can love me. So, sorry but that's all I have. The rest are just dust in the wind."
"Are you a bitch?" I asked playfully.

"Of course! You want to get somewhere in this world, you have to be a bitch. Be aggressive, B-E aggressive!" She cheered as she walked into her room, "You can use the other bathroom and bedroom for changing and all. By the way, be thinking of a place I can stay in Forks or La Push 'cause I'm not sleeping in my car when there's… things out there."

I sighed as she closed the door. Maybe there was something to this girl.

-

"You had to bring the cat." I groaned, sitting in the passenger seat. After I got her car as well prepared as I could, and she packed and all, we were ready to go.

Surprisingly, her boyfriend's clothing fit, minus the pants of course. She gave me the permission to make the long pants cut offs though when she couldn't stop laughing at how much I looked like a twelve year old who was wearing last years pants. She packed the car with snacks (apparently she loved road trips) and various things, like gear for the wedding.

"I'm not leaving Toulouse alone. And he's very well behaved. I mean look at him, he's in his crate, he meowed for the first hour, but now he's sleeping. And not a single threat of throwing up." She stated defensively.

"What if he has to go to the bathroom?"

"There's a mini litter box in there. I'll clean it out when we stop for our own bathroom break," she rolled her eyes, though kept them on the road. I noticed she seemed be driving a bit slowly for my taste.

"Okay, how are we going to get him over the border?"

"All you have to have are records of vet care within the last year. Look, this isn't the first time I've traveled with him. My mom still lives in the States, so when I go to visit her, I bring him. Relax." She said, but I couldn't help but feel a chill. I just knew that cat was glaring at me with death behind his gaze.
"Speaking of pets though," Her eyes narrowed at me. I knew what she was getting at, "Do you have a passport?"

Opps. "No…"

"Are you going to just be a big…thing in my car? No, I can't do that." I saw her as her eyes widened at the thought. She was seriously terrified of dog. I tried to shush her before she started to hyperventilate.

"When we get close to the border, we'll stop and I'll go do my thing and meet you on the other side." I really didn't want to, I knew an ambush of questions and possibly commands would follow. I would have to be quick. Very, very quick. I honestly didn't feel like having to explain a lot of things that didn't make sense to me either over a mental cable connection.

Again, she eyed me suspiciously, "How do I know that you aren't going to take off, leaving me with a car in ruin?"

"Can't exactly leave an imprint. Kind of connected to you at the moment against my will." I argued. Did I like this imprint? No. Not because of her. Not because of Bella. No. Because of this 'it has to be her and no one else'. Was I mentally fighting this the whole way through? Hell yes. Had I been fighting it the moment it happened? Yes. But yet, here I was. Still here. Stuck in a car with a girl who hadn't told me much of anything about her and her cat. That damn cat.

Hala didn't like my bluntness, at least with that phrase. I watched her expression drop. She knew this was difficult for me, but she was fighting her own battle it seemed. To be a bitch or not to be a bitch, that was her question.

"Hala, tell me your life story. Rip your gut out and lay it on the line." I broke the silence, adjusting in my seat (which was pushed back all the way to fit me as best as possibly) to look at her, using her line from last night. She seemed a bit taken back by this, unsure if she should. "It's going to be a long car ride, so don't use the whole 'it's a long story' excuse. Anyways, I spilled my guts to you," Because I kind of had to, but that's beside the point.

She didn't quite seem ready to speak up, making herself look like she was ignoring me as she kept her eyes on the road. But after a moment, she shrugged, "Alright Jacob." A cool sensation came over me after hearing her call my name for the first time.

I never really realized that someone could deal with so much shit in their life. I mean, I knew I had faced shit with my mom dying, my sisters abandoning me, and me stuck helping my dad as I got older. And now this werewolf business and Bella. My life seemed like a living hell. That was until I heard Hala's story.

She grew up with mother as her only parent. Raised in the south, her and her mother found traveling to be the best way to avoid cost. They rented houses, lived out of boxes, and Hala attended four schools in her elementary school career before she turned to home schooling for high school. She managed to finish courses quicker and graduate early, but had no interest in college. She had no friends really, or rarely had the time to make the connections. Thus she was always lonely. But she learned to live with it.

Her mom never dated. The one night stand with Sam's father seemed to be the turning point in her life, the turning point that calmed her down enough to help raise a kid. Hala loved her mother deeply, flaws and all. Things weren't easy for them though. Money was always an issue. Then came the medical bills when Hala was attacked. A loose Rottweiler got her. Her legs bare the stretched out scars. They moved away. Her mother found another job. She attended another school. With how much bad luck they had, they managed to stay positive.

"I mean, look at a box of Lucky Charms. You don't really like the little crunchy things, but when you finally get a marshmallow, it makes the crunchy things worth it." I couldn't believe she compared her life to Lucky Charms.

Her luck? Managing to find a decent career at the age of seventeen. Simply a web updater and maintainer for a record company and their merchandise. So to put simply, she makes sure the site is working, updates it with new pictures they send her, she edits them if she has to, and keeps up with sales and programs those in. I didn't even know people existed for those careers. It was bringing a steady income into the house, along with her mother's job. Then she got a crunchy thing.

Walking home from the grocery store, just outside of Chicago, she noticed two guys selling pit bulls for dog fighting. Thinking she was going to snitch, they went to pull out their guns, but the dogs pulled away first. And got to her first. The guys had fled by the time someone came to her aid. The dogs were shot; she went to the hospital. She came home with scars. They moved and soon separated so Hala could go to college (or try to) and get a better career. And her first step was that interview she was going to that I… stopped.

"Look, I feel bad about that! You don't have to keep reminding me!" I huffed, crossing my arms like a little kid.

She simply laughed.

"I've never had a settled life. I've always been moving. Which is why I want to go into the touring industry for bands or stage shows, something like that. I just don't like being in one place for long." She pointed out, munching on some cookies. We switched drivers at the first stop to try and keep going as far as we could. And because I didn't like her speed.

"I guess you could say I'm the opposite of you? Raised by my father, stayed in one place my whole life. Had plenty of friends. Never really want to leave." I shrugged, glancing at her. She seemed to have shrugged as well.

"Opposites attract. Or so goes the saying."

"I think I would like a choice on the whole 'attracting' thing."

"What are you talking about? I mean, I don't understand this imprinting thing, but it seems like to me you still have a thing for this Bella girl. I don't think it's that strong." She said matter-of-factly.

"I'm fighting it for one thing. To give you a choice. To give me a choice. You don't know the strain on my brain that is going on right now," I sighed, "I could tell you everything. I could be your everything. I could be anything and everything to you. I didn't run away last night because I couldn't. I wanted to make sure you were going to be okay. I don't like the idea of you driving alone across the border. I like it when you smile, it makes me smile. I like your eye contact, it makes me feel needed."

"Yeah, the creepy stalker talk isn't cool. I get the point though. You are suffering; I can see it. Look, my life has been a complicated mess. Sure, this adds a whole new ball game to the mix, but I'm going to try to manage it as best as I can as well. I know I said I needed time, and I still do, but I promise when my thoughts finally get together, I'll let you know. I personally just want to wait until these few days pass by. After all, we have a car ride to bond over, a wedding to crash, and you have a car to fix. I don't think I'll be going anywhere anytime soon." She laughed, handing over a cookie to me. I snagged it with my mouth and guzzled it down in one bite. I couldn't believe I met someone with a level head. It was quite shocking really in this crazy world. She really did seem a bit like Sam. That was a bit creepy to me.