Bella and the Cullens kept in touch for only a short while, as the tension with Edward was too much for them to overcome. She did, however, after considering Edward's accusations regarding her true reasons for leaving him, start to wonder if he might have a point and reinstate contact with a close personal friend by the name of Jacob Black. She was hesitant to have anyone in her life that was anything other than human, but she and Jacob had been friends for so long that she felt almost obligated to give him a chance; he at least didn't want to drink her blood.
Their friendship had been mended for barely a week when Jacob asked her on a date.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Jake...I've been trying to make my life more normal. I don't think dating a werewolf would really be a good idea."
"So you can get engaged to a vampire, but you can't even date a werewolf?" he challenged.
"Oh yeah, look what a great idea getting engaged to a vampire turned out to be. That worked out really well," Bella muttered, words laced with sarcasm.
"I told you what a bad idea Edward was, didn't I? And I was right. I think I'm right about me, too."
She continued to insist being with him would be a terrible idea, and left. For a few weeks, she carefully avoided his calls and refused to go down to La Push, despite Charlie's urging. She knew she was being childish by not talking to him, but she hadn't gone to all that trouble with Edward just so that she could jump into a relationship with some other mythical creature.
She made hasty plans to go to college, even though she just barely had the money for that and had been accepted to few places other than the University of Alaska. With a few last-minute applications she doubted would be considered, she finalized her plans.
She had booked her flight and was climbing into her truck to drive to the airport when she noticed a certain werewolf standing in the driveway. He walked over to her as she rolled down the window, and leaned over to whisper in her ear so her father couldn't hear.
"Once I stop phasing, I'm not a werewolf anymore, you know. You say you made up your mind, but think about it. You have my number; call me, okay?"
Bella nodded as she backed out of the driveway, and drove to the airport in silence.
She spent several months at college thinking over what he had said, weighing a life with him against a life without him. She thought about it long and hard, considering her life and what she wanted out of it, trying to figure out how he would fit into that. Finally, she realized that her choice had been right in front of her the whole time and called him immediately.
"Hello?" he sighed.
"Hi, Jacob."
"Have you made up your mind?" he asked.
"I have," she said with absolute certainty.