Hinder
Lips Of An Angel
It's funny that you're calling me tonight
And yes I've dreamt of you too
Does he know you're talking to me?
Will it start a fight?
No I don't think she has a clue
Well, my girls in the next room.
Sometimes I wish she was you.
I guess we never really moved on.
It's really good to hear your voice saying my name.
It sounds so sweet
Coming from the lips of an angel,
Hearing those words
It makes me weak.
And I never want to say goodbye.
But girl you make it hard to be faithful,
With the lips of an angel.
BPOV
I laid awake in Jacob's bed, staring at the ceiling. Jacob laid next to me, sleeping, snoring quietly. I know I had made a fuss about sleeping in the same bed, but we had gotten to talking, about nothing and everything. And he had fallen asleep through one of the momentary silences that happened on and off around us. Jacob knew I wasn't the talking type, and I sensed that he didn't want to make me uncomfortable, so sometimes, he just quit speaking for a while and left me with my thoughts. I appreciated that.
But other times that night, I had been more talkative and open then I had been in the past six months combined.
"You know, when I was ten, I hadn't wanted anything more than a puppy." I had said, with Jacob leaning his head on his elbow. "That was it. All I wanted. I begged Renee over and over again, but she kept saying no." Jacob smiled.
"That's horrible. What a dream crusher." He chuckled. I shook my head.
"Well, Renee is deathly allergic to dogs." I admitted. At that he laughed, and I smiled as I recalled the memory.
"I remember throwing the biggest fit- and really, my only fit- in my life. I cried, I knocked over a picture frame, I yelled at my mom… it was awful. You wouldn't have even known it was me; I was such a brat about the whole thing."
"You're terrible." he chuckled again. I nodded, agreeing.
"Well anyways, my mom felt bad, seeing as I had wanted one for, like, six years. But I refused to talk to her. No, really." I insisted when Jacob shook his head. "I didn't say a single word, besides yes or no. I was mad. Really, though, your couldn't blame me. I was only ten." I defended myself.
"But my mom did feel bad. I mean, that's what I'm assuming, because when she dragged me out here that summer, there was a Lab puppy waiting for me in my room. Oh yeah, big red ribbon tied around its neck and all. Picture perfect."
"So after being a brat and throwing a giant fit, you still got what you wanted? Spoiled rotten is what you are." Jacob tapped me on the nose.
"I am not! And even so, I had to give the dog away. After two years, I guess Charlie got tired of taking care of it when I was only there for a month each summer." I sighed. "But I could understand that."
"So you could understand that Charlie got sick of your dog, but not that there was no way imaginable that your mom could get one, because she was allergic? Talk about double standards." he pointed out, laying on his back.
"I guess those two years really made a difference in my maturity." I giggled.
"Oh, I'm sure." Jacob grinned.
And that was how it had gone all night. Just swapping stories between the two of us, each time letting the other into their lives just a little bit more. The playful banter continued on and on, until the stories turned into us trying to one up each other. I would tell a funny story, Jacobs would be funnier. He would talk about breaking a bone, and I would have broken a bigger one. I won a lot of these stories, which really wasn't a huge shocker, considering my infamous bad luck and klutziness. And with each story my eyes would get heavier, but I didn't dare close my eyes. I knew that if I did, I would have nightmares, and I didn't need to have yet another breakdown in front of Jacob. I kept myself alert by listening intently to Jacobs stories, picking out details and trying to commit them to memory. As the night progressed into early morning, I found out more about him. He didn't like asparagus. He used to get into trouble at school for fighting. He loved James Bond movies, he'd lived on the reservation his entire life. His sisters annoyed the crap outta him. He missed his mom.
Knowing this, even just these little, tiny details, made me feel closer to him. And it felt nice, to be bonding with someone again, after so many months of being alone with my head. The only thing I had bonded with lately was my Timeless Classics collection and school textbooks. Company was good to have.
Suddenly Jacob stirred beside me, and he yawned and stretched groggily. In doing this he bumped into me, elbowing me in the arm on accident. Realizing that someone besides himself was in his bed, his eyes flew open and he hopped out of bed faster than I had ever seen a person move.
When he saw that it was me and not some rapist, he ran a hand down his face.
"Oh, it's you. Sorry, Bella." I smiled at his sleepy expression and sat up.
"It's okay. You're funny when you're scared." I laughed quietly. He yawned again and sat down on the mattress, leaning back against the wall.
"Sorry I fell asleep on you. It wasn't while you were talking right?" he apologized again, looking embarrassed.
"No, no, you're fine." I waved a hand like it was no big deal. "And even if you did, I wouldn't have blamed you. I'm pretty boring." Jacob just snorted, saying nothing.
"What time is it anyways?" he asked, cracking his neck.
"Around two thirty."
"How come you didn't just go to sleep?" he wondered after a minute. I winced; I had hoped that question wouldn't pop up.
"I, um, sometimes have night terrors." I said hesitantly, giving him the medical term that Dr. Gerandy had used on Charlie when he had taken me to the doctor after two weeks of the incessant dreams. I hoped that it made me sound less insane.
"She has those." he said quietly, looking at his hands. "My sister. Rachel." he added. I didn't know how to respond to that.
"I can understand why you didn't want to go to sleep. My sister didn't go to slumber parties at all when she was younger." he said, looking up at me. I nodded silently. God, he must think I'm a freak. For some reason, I blushed, and I ducked my head so he wouldn't see my pink cheeks.
"Bella, did you hear me?" Jacob wove a hand in front of my face. I blinked and looked up at him.
"I'm sorry, what?" I said, stifling a yawn.
"I said, do you want to sleep on the couch? Because it's lighter out in the living room than it is in here. Might keep the nightmares away." he offered.
"That's sweet of you, Jacob. But, no, thank you. Actually, I wasn't planning on going to sleep. But if you want to sleep on the bed, I can go out in the living room. I don't mind." I told him, pushing myself off of the mattress. I twirled my hair into a messy bun and tied an elastic around it on the top of my head, feeling lightheaded and embarrassed.
"No, no, it's okay. I'll just stay awake with you." he said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me back onto the bed.
"You don't have to." I argued, shaking my head. Jacob didn't need to lose sleep over me.
"I want to." he smiled at me, scooting back and leaning up against the wall, getting comfortable. "Would you hand me that pillow behind you?" he asked. I complied, and moved to sit next to him. After giving him the pillow, I brought my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, hugging them close. I rested my chin on my knees and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
"Do you want to tell me what your dreams are about? It always helped Rachel to talk about it." he offered. I broke into a smile; Jacob was so sweet. Sweet, and caring, and friendly, and kind, and helpful, and willing. I could go on forever.
"Not really, Jacob. But thanks for offering." I told him earnestly, answering his question. He nodded his head a few times and then rested it against the wall. I leaned my head on his shoulder, taking comfort in his warmth. I heard the deep intake of breath that came before a yawn build up in Jacobs lungs, but he stifled it before it could suggest that he was tired. I smiled faintly- he cared more than I deserved.
"Have you always been like this?" I blurted.
"Been like what?"
"So… nice?" I struggled for the word, leaning my head back so that I could look up at his face.
"Nice?" he rose his eyebrows, eyeing me quizzically.
"I guess that isn't the word. I mean…. compassionate. Yes, that's it. Compassionate. Always willing to help, always so nice and caring and friendly." I listed off some of the adjectives I had thought of earlier.
"I know what compassionate means. What kind of a question is that?" he laughed. I giggled.
"I don't know- I'm just wondering if you're the same way around other people as you are with me. Because around me, you're great." I said honestly. He cocked his head to the side and thought about it.
"P.S., that was a compliment. You should say thank you." I told him in a parental voice, grinning.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
We were silent for a few minutes, but it wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, I enjoyed the quiet between us- I was perfectly content with resting my head on his broad shoulder, his long, untidy hair ticking my cheek, saying absolutely nothing. I went to lean in closer, putting my back in a more comfortable position, when a stabbing sensation shot through the side of my neck. I yelped in pain, rubbing the spot with the hand opposite of Jacob.
"Bella?" he exclaimed, looking frantically at the hand on my neck, trying to see what the problem was.
"It's okay, I'm fine, Jacob. It's just my neck- I must have laid on it wrong or something."
"You alright?" he pressed, his brow creasing.
"Actually, no." I said honestly, wincing as I tried to stretch out the muscle. "My neck hurts like hell." I laughed, letting him know I was being playful- half playful. My neck really did hurt like hell.
"C'mere." he patted the empty space in front of him. I arched and eyebrow. "I'll bet you five bucks I can make your neck feel better." I dropped my hand from my neck and folded my arms over my chest, glaring at him.
"Jacob, you really should consider getting help for this gambling problem that you have. This is the second bet you've made with me in a few short hours- you know, they have hotlines and hospitals for this type of issue. " I placed a hand on my heart to show earnest, and continued, "I only say this because I care." He laughed, filling the tiny room with his chuckles. He feigned hurt, letting his head fall into his hands.
"I accept your intervention, Bella." I laughed quietly. "But seriously. I can make your neck feel better." he promised, snapping back to normal-Jacob, patting the bed again. I sighed and crawled over to him, sitting cross legged in the space he had motioned towards.
"Straighten your neck." he commanded. Grimacing, I did as I was told. "Scoot back more. And relax."
"You talk like you've done this before." I said accusingly, forcing my neck muscles to un-tense.
"I have." he answered; I could hear the smile in his voice. The next obvious question was "when?" or "why?", but he didn't continue.
"No explanation on that one, Jacob?" I asked as he cracked his finger knuckles behind me.
"Nope." he said quickly. I got the feeling that he didn't want to go into any more detail on the subject for what ever reason, so I dropped it.
"Do you promise that you aren't going to paralyze me for life? Because you know, if you did, you would be forever swimming in a sea of guilt if you had to look at me in a wheelchair for the rest of your life." I tried to say this without smiling, but I didn't have the will power. Jacob laughed, obviously at ease again.
"I promise not to paralyze you and thus make myself swim in a sea of guilt." he vowed.
"A never ending sea of guilt." I added, grinning.
"Of course."
"Bella… Bella… wake up, Bella." I was being gently shaken, Jacob's voice breaking through darkness. My eyes fluttered open, and Jacob's face was right in front of mine, wearing a small smile. I rubbed at my eyes, trying to remember what had happened. I remembered Jacob's hands, like warm, soothing pieces of heaven working on my shoulders and neck. I remembered thinking how amazing his kneading fingers felt on my aching muscles, and then… nothing. Blackness. Blissful, quiet, blackness.
"What happened?" I croaked, my voice weak.
"You fell asleep." he explained. I looked around and noticed that I was lying comfortably in the bed, under the covers, with Jacob fully dressed, lying beside me on top of the blankets. I sat up and pushed my hair from my eyes; it had fallen from its bun while I slept.
"Wait- I… I fell asleep?" I repeated, dazed and confused. Looking out the window I saw that it was light outside, with a layer of gray clouds coating the sky. "What time is it?"
"Nine thirty." he answered, stretching out and folding his hands behind his head, a look of ease.
"In the morning?" I pressed. He nodded.
"But… no…" I put a hand to my forehead. "I really slept through the night?" Jacob nodded again, his grin spreading into a smile.
"Wow." I muttered. "What did you do to me?" I asked after a minute.
"I did nothing. You nodded off while I was working my magic on the countless knots in your back." he said.
"Huh. That's so… weird." I said finally. I had really slept without a single nightmare. Not one… I might ask Jacob to do those massages more often. I hadn't felt so rested in a long time.
"Well, you should get dressed. We have a big day today." he chuckled at my expression.
"Right. Surfing. Fun." I groaned and got off the bed, and grabbed my car keys from the carpet, where my clothes from yesterday were folded neatly in a pile. I picked those up too, and slipped on my tennis shoes.
"I'll be right back." I told him over my shoulder.
"You'd better be- don't think I wont go up to Forks and haul your ass right back here." he threatened.
"Oh, that's right. You can drive now. Damn." I said playfully at the door.
"Yeah. And I'm not afraid to use my license for evil. I will totally kidnap you, believe me." he added.
"Alright, alright, I'll come back. I promise." I laughed, opening the door.
"Bye, Bella." he called after me.
"Bye, Jacob." I replied, smiling as I made my way outside.
I winced openly as Jacob casually pulled out two giant death machines from his garage; one for him and one for me. As he balanced the suicide tools on the ground and pulled shut his makeshift garage door, I looked pleadingly at the sky, asking God to cause the surfboards to spontaneously burst into flames… inconspicuously, of course.
"Bella, you alright?" Jacob asked, pushing the smaller surfboard towards me. I bit my lip and hesitantly reached for it, half thinking that it would electrocute me when I touched it.
"Uh, yeah. I'm fine. Just fine. Perfect. Why do you ask?" I muttered defensively, gingerly lifting the board and tucking it under my arm awkwardly.
"Because all the color is completely gone from your face and you're looking at the boards like they're going to eat you or something." he teased. I rolled my eyes, irritated that he had so easily read my face. When he turned away I pinched at my cheeks, trying to give myself some color, to deter him from thinking that I was going to have yet another breakdown in front of him.
"Let's go." he said, and we started off towards the beach. I was a little slow, because the surfboard actually was pretty heavy, and I hadn't exactly been keeping up on my daily doses of protein.
When we reached the sandy shores, I stopped and stared at the endless stretch of ocean water while Jacob continued on obliviously. It took him a moment to realize that I wasn't beside him any longer, and when he did he turned around and looked at me.
"Come on, Bella." he said, waving an arm towards the water. When I didn't answer, he spun around completely and jogged lightly to where I was standing, frozen. "Bella? Are you sure you're going to be okay?" he pressed, looking into my eyes. I squinted and looked up at him, and before I could lie and tell him that I was going to be fine a rush of word vomit tumbled out of my mouth.
"I don't know if I can do this, Jacob! I don't think that I'm qualified to get on that thing!" I pointed at the surfboard that I had dropped on the sand. I spoke frantically, my voice raising octaves each time a different scenario popped into my head. "I mean, what if I get pulled out by a rip tide, or if something happens to you and I'm stuck in the middle of the ocean on the surfboard? Or what if a shark comes up and bites my leg off, and then finishes off with you? Or if I'm riding a wave and it crashes into the cliff face? Or if lightning strikes us, and no one hears from us ever again? Or maybe a flying ice cream truck will fall out of the sky and flatten us both, before we even get a chance to get in the water! There are so many things that I haven't done, Jacob! So many things I haven't seen! I just don't want to die out here!" I finally stopped yelling, but only because I was out of air and needed to breathe. I stood there, panting from lack of oxygen, while Jacob stared at me blankly.
"Jacob?" I said finally, when he still hadn't responded after two minutes. I ran a hand in front of his face, trying to get him to snap out of it. That seemed to have awakened him somehow, because he blinked twice and looked me in the eye. Then, without warning, he exploded with laughter.
"Bella, seriously? Shark attacks? Lightning strikes? Flying ice cream trucks? Did you get that from a TV show? Come on now. We don't even have sharks in these waters!" he chuckled, and threw an arm around me. "You really are something, Bella." He began dragging me forward, until he found a spot that he apparently found suitable. I was silent, back to sending God silent prayers.
"But Jacob, you don't know if something bad is going to happen. You cant stop them- that's why they're called accidents. No one means for them to happen- they aren't called on-purposes." I countered, ignoring his on-going laughter. He wedged his board into the sand, then took mine from me and did the same to it. He turned around and faced me so that we were almost chest to chest, and put a hand on each of my shoulders. He squeezed them reassuringly as he spoke.
"Bella Swan. Calm. Down." he said sternly, gazing into my eyes. I tilted my head back so that I could see his whole face. "I solemnly swear, that I will never, not in a million years, never, ever, ever, let anything bad happen to you while you are in my presence." he promised.
"I didn't know that you could stop lightning strikes from occurring or could control wave movements. Have you acquired any new super powers recently that I don't know about?" I retorted, rolling my eyes. He rolled his eyes in return, but his face was still serious. His hands then moved from my shoulders to my face. He gripped it firmly, giving me no possible way to escape him firm stare.
"Bella, please." he spoke in a whisper now. "Don't you trust me?" His question pulled me up short.
"Of course I trust you, Jacob." I answered immediately.
"Okay then, let's go." his hands let go of my face, but I didn't move.
"I'm confused." I admitted.
"You said you trust me. And I promise not to let anything bad happen to you. So come on, before the swell dies down." he turned away from me and pulled our boards from the sand, and handed me mine. I stood dazedly, and furrowed my brows. Jacob stared at me for a long moment, and then sighed.
"Do you want to go home, Bella?" he asked, defeated.
"No!" I almost shouted, shaking my head and stepping towards him. I was absolutely not going back home, so I could sit in my room all day, alone with my thoughts. I lowered my voice to a more appropriate volume and continued. "No. I don't want to go home. I'm sorry I'm being difficult- its just the responsible, stick-in-the-mud part of me talking. I'll get over it in a minute." I promised. He eyed me warily, doubtfully. "Honestly. I'll be fine." I insisted. He sighed again.
"Okay. If you're sure." He set his board on the sand, pulled out a bar of surfing wax from his pocket, and began methodically applying it. I followed his example and set my board next to his, and waited until he was done with the wax. When he was satisfied with the coating of the filmy, milky looking glaze over his board, he turned slightly and began working on the board I was using.
"I'll do it, Jacob. You don't have to." I said, trying to take the bar from his hands. Jacob just laughed once.
"It's tough work, Bella. You can try it, though, if you want." he said skeptically, handing me the bar. I held it in my hand like I would hold a sponge to wash dishes, the way I had seen Jacob and his friends do it, and stroked the board once. It didn't even leave a mark. I put more pressure into it, and yet, it still didn't want to apply itself to the board. I frowned at it, and pushed harder still- finally, I got a tiny smudge out of it after using almost all of my strength. I moved up and down for a moment, applying the same force, but after only a few strokes I was winded. Surrendering, I handed the bar back to Jacob.
"It didn't want to stick to the board." I grumbled. Jacob chuckled quietly and went to work. In no time, the board was coated evenly, which had me narrowing my eyes at the wax. Stupid thing. Jacob hadn't even broken a sweat.
He straightened and stood up and I followed, my knees cracking. In one swift motion, Jacob had his shirt off and onto the sand. He quickly pulled his smooth, glossy hair into a ponytail at the nape of his neck, and began stretching his arm muscles. I stood there, unaware of what I should be doing.
"Are you surfing in that?" he asked, looking pointedly at my grey t-shirt and sweat shorts. I nodded- no way was I exposing my black bathing suit- the only one I owned- underneath my clothes. Hell, I felt exposed enough in the shorts. They didn't even reach my fingertips completely, and were clingy, made of a tight, black cotton. I suddenly had the strong urge to go put on a pair of long pants, or a wet suit, which would cover me neck to ankle, but calmed myself with the fact that it was only Jacob.
The thought surprised me- how quickly I was put at ease, because 'it was Jacob.' Around anyone else- not only a boy, but anyone- I wouldn't even be in the short sleeves. I would be in my hoodie, and jeans. And tennis shoes. Yet here I stood, in the shortest shorts I owned, with a shirt that had sleeves shorter than six inches in width. Now that I thought about it, I was so much more comfortable around Jacob than I ever thought I could be- around anyone. It had only been a week, and yet, I was more open with him and had been through more than I had been with Jessica or Angela put together. I could tell that there was a nice friendship forming, and prayed that it would last.
"Alright, are you ready to go?" he asked, oblivious to my reverie. I nodded and smiled weakly, hoping that my face didn't betray the nauseous, churning feeling inside me. Jacob began walking towards the waves without his surf board.
"Don't we, like, need those?" I said, following him. I pointed over my shoulder to where our boards were lodged in the sand.
"The water is probably cold, and you always want to get used to it before you go out there." he explained.
"You and your friends didn't seem like you were limbering up to brace the cold water on Sunday." I pointed out.
"Sorry, I meant to say that you want to get used to the water if you're inexperienced and have a lack of common surf know-how." he retorted, winking. I rolled my eyes and shoved at him playfully, probably giving myself a bruise. Jacob had some serious muscles.
When we reached the water, Jacob dove right in, swimming expertly beneath the waves to avoid getting tossed around. Me, on the other hand, dipped a tow into the water when a wave rolled up in front of me and yelped at the iciness. Jacob laughed at my girly moment, and waded back to the shore. Dripping, he took my hand.
"Gah! Get away from me, you're soaked!" I complained when his hand met mine. His hand was cold from the water, and his hair was dripping on me. Jacob chuckled again.
"Come on, it's easier if you just jump right in." he told me, trying to pull me towards the gray waves.
"Whoever told you that was lying." I muttered, gasping when Jacob had dragged me out farther. The water was at least three quarters of an inch above my ankles, and already I was shivering. My flesh goose bumped and I wrapped my arms around my torso, but not for the usual reason- it was cold. And I was in shorts.
When I told this to Jacob, he laughed again.
"I'm in shorts, too, and I don't have the luxury of a T-shirt." He said, pinching the cotton fabric at the hem between his fingers.
Slowly we made our way out, and before I realized it, (okay, I definitely realized it) I was up to my waist, the bottom of my shirt wet and heavy.
"On the count of three." Jacob warned.
"No, no, no!" I cringed, squeezing my eyes shut. "Wait. Give me a minute." I said, taking a slow breath. I bit into my lower lip and chewed on it thoughtfully. Then, gripping Jacob's hand tighter, I nodded. "Okay."
"One." he started.
"Do. Not. Let. Go. Of. Me." I told him sternly, through mildly chattering teeth. Jacob nodded without pausing.
"Two," he continued.
"I mean it!" I warned. He nodded again and kept on with his counting.
"Two and a half… two and three quarters…" he teased. "Three!" I sucked in a deep breath as Jacob lunged forward and pulled us both under. Icy blackness enveloped me, and the only thing I could hear was the rushing of the waves in my ears. Wasting no time, Jacob pulled us back up again. I released the air in my lungs and opened my eyes, slightly disoriented from moving from dark to light so quickly. When the wind hit me I cringed into Jacob, huddling against his impossibly warm body. I pushed my hair from my eyes and face, as he positioned himself to block the wind from me.
"See, that wasn't so bad, right?" Jacob asked. I could hear the smile in his voice. I looked up at him and glared briefly, but Jacobs smile was contagious. My face broke into a grin, and I shifted myself so that I was pressed against him. I placed my hands on his chest and sniffled, sending hate thoughts and various obscenities to mother nature. His hands rubbed against my arms, trying to warm them with friction. It helped some, but I realized that the only way to get out of the wind was to get back in the water.
"Come on." I groaned, and began to walk out farther. He took my hand, keeping his promise as to not let me go. I let him drag me out deeper, and the water wasn't as bad the second time. I kept my head above water, unless a big wave came by. These always set my heart racing, but Jacob never freaked out. He always knew the precise time to dive under the wave, always knew exactly how to dodge the torrent. After a good fifteen minutes, I was used to the temperature and Jacob pulled me back to the shallower region. He went in and grabbed the board I was using, and then began to teach.
"Have you even paddled a surfboard before?" he asked. I stared at him blankly, water dripping from the tip of my nose. "I'll take that as a no." he muttered, and hopped onto the board with ease. I envied the graceful way his body moved in the water and on the surfboard, and was sure that I would never look like that while on one.
"When you paddle, you want to make sure that the only things moving are your arms. If you start fidgeting and twisting your torso or legs around, there's a ninety nine point nine percent chance that you're going to tip over. Also, when you paddle, always turn your head to the opposite of the arm your stroking with. Keeps your balance." he said, demonstrating by pushing himself out a few feet. "Got it?"
"Sure. Don't thrash around and you wont fall off. Simple enough." I nodded, a small smile playing at my lips. Jacob slipped off the board and pushed it over to me.
"Now you try." the grin slid off my face and I sighed, gripping the sides of the death machine. After three failed attempts at trying to get on the board, Jacob made his way towards me and helped hoist me on top. While he held the board steady I stretched out so that I was lying flat on my stomach, with just my arms dipped into the water. I blew my bangs out of my eyes and tried to get used to the unsteady rocking of the board.
"Okay, remember what I said, don't move your body too much. Focus on just using your arms to push you forward." he said. I tried moving my arms like I had seen Jacob do, but I could tell that I was no where near as graceful as he. After some effort, I managed to move three feet, before Jacob gripped the back of the board and pulled me back.
"That was good. Another thing- when you're paddling, you want to make your hands like shovels. See?" he raised his hand and made a scoop-like shape. I did the same with mine and tried it again. I moved considerably farther away after that.
"You're doing great!" Jacob praised me.
"Yeah! I've mastered the art of moving forward." I said, finding less in this small milestone than he had.
"Hey, you have to start somewhere." he reminded me. I sighed and nodded.
After another forty-five minutes, Jacob had briefed me on the proper way to move, steer, and sit up on the board without falling over. Though I did slip more than once, I never actually could complete the fall, because like promised Jacob kept a good grip on my waist. After a while, I was actually beginning to enjoy myself, laughing at some of Jacob's teasing remarks about my awful coordination. He never actually got on the board again, and I didn't want to flatter myself, but I could tell that he was having a good time too.
Jacob paused for a minute, after I had almost fell off again, and helped me regain my balance, which was no easy feat.
"Sorry," I murmured, righting myself.
"No, you're fine. You're actually doing a lot better than I imagined." he admitted.
"Gee, thanks." I replied. "And you're actually a lot better of a teacher than I imagined." I teased.
"You know, I've always wanted to be a teacher." he said distractedly.
"Really?" I said. Jacob snorted.
"No. But that sounded pretty believable, huh?" I laughed along with Jacob.
"Now I see how you fool Billy into letting you stay home on sick leave." I told him, sliding off the board and into the now refreshing cool water. I was going to be majorly sore tomorrow; the insides of my thighs were already killing me from straddling the board for so long.
"What can I say? I've got a gift." he chuckled again. "Well, we should probably get inside. Looks like a storms coming. Wouldn't want to get struck by lightning, would we?" he mocked me teasingly and nodded towards the sky. Looming over us were deep, purple clouds, looking very dangerous and very scary.
"Not at all." I agreed, and we began wading back to the shore. I felt relieved at the sight of the clouds, though- I wouldn't have to humiliate myself with attempts at actually riding the waves.
"Hey Bella, what's that fin over there?" Jacob shouted suddenly, jumping behind me.
"What?" I shrieked and looked around frantically, ready to dive behind Jacob. He burst into guffaws, and I turned around and smacked him on the shoulder when I realized that he was messing with me.
"Not funny." I rolled my eyes, placing a hand over my heart.
"I thought it was quite comical." he said, chortling.
"Yeah, well, the comedic field is obviously not your area of expertise." I muttered, shoving him playfully. "Not funny." I repeated. Jacob kept on with his quiet laughter.
(A/N): Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! I don't mean to sound redundant but please review! Review like the wind! I could always use constructive criticism and tips on how to make this story better!
