Chapter 7 – Mrs. Road Tanker – Bella's point of view
When I came home from La Push, Charlie was still up. I silently groaned and tried to sneak past him into my room. I definitely wasn't in the mood for being questioned. But apparently he had been waiting for me because I couldn't even tip-toe halfway to the stairs when he spotted me. "Hey Bells, how's it been?" he hollered at me enthusiastically.
"Good," I answered halfheartedly. "I'm going to bed now." Usually that would shake him off. But this time he seemed to be very curious.
"Jake is a nice guy, huh? I'm glad that you finally found a friend here. I don't want my only daughter to be lonely, a dad isn't ideal company for a teenager, is he? After all, I think I own you a pleasant stay. And I really like seeing you happy. Maybe you should see him more often…" Charlie was obviously having one of his rare sentimental moments. He hadn't spoken that much at once since two years ago, when I had broken my leg trying to climb up a tree. I should've known better than to climb a tree, but I kind of had a thing for getting myself on the verge of death or at least into the hospital every other year. So far, this year had passed without a major incident. Hopefully, I would be able to keep it up.
"Don't worry, dad. I really like staying with you and I already found some friends at school. You know Angela Weber? She is an awesome friend. And Jessica Stanley or Mike Newton? I ate lunch with them the past few weeks and they're really nice. I might be hanging out with them a lot. You know that I love you and that I came here on my own account." He nodded to show that he had heard me and with that, I left to my room, knowing that staying longer in the living room would've caused an awkward silence. Charlie and I weren't the people to talk about our feelings all that often and when we did so, neither one of us felt comfortable.
And I definitely wasn't in the mood for his obligatory lecture on dating that I still feared would crop up one day. He seemed to see a date in every boy that I happened to mention around him. On the one hand, he wanted me to end up with a nice guy and probably kids, but on the other hand he didn't want it to happen all too soon. Maybe in college. Or much rather, afterwards. Sometimes he really fulfills the stereo-type of an over-protective dad with a gun.
After the long day I fell asleep very quickly. Just before I dozed off, I thought I heard waves washing over the shore. Although that was an impossible thing to hear, it calmed me and carried me into a dreamless sleep.
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When my alarm clock rang the next morning, I turned it off, rewrapped myself in the blanket because it was so warm and comfortable and promptly fell asleep again.
Half an hour later, I awoke with a start. Now I really had to hurry. I quickly showered, tossed on a shirt and jeans, grabbed a sandwich from the fridge and left. Charlie had already left for work, his police cruiser was gone.
This was the second time that I had slept in this week and I was beginning to wonder why exactly that was. Maybe it was the change of scenery or living so close to the sea. They always say that salty air makes you hungry and sleepy.
I was in a really great mood when I got to school, although I was almost too late. I had really had a great weekend. My skin still felt warm from yesterday's sun. Today the sky had clouded over, though. I realized that I didn't care that much about the weather anymore as I pulled into the empty parking lot. I had probably had enough sun for the next few weeks. Silently, I chuckled to myself as a comparison to a road tanker sprang into my mind. Maybe I was able to stock up on sunlight just like my truck was on gas! Or like a plant with photosynthesis.
Suddenly, my heart stopped still. I was late and still there weren't any cars in the school's parking lot? Something was definitely odd here.
After parking my car in one of the many empty spaces I checked my truck's clock. 7:58. The parking lot should have been full and students everywhere. It wasn't until I walked up to the school's main entrance and realized that the doors were locked that I realized why there wasn't anyone present.
It wasn't Monday yet. In fact, today was Sunday.
Charlie must have gone fishing, I realized. He had told me about that on Friday. And I stupidly must have set the alarm clock last night when I was already halfway asleep. Great. Now that I was already in town, I might as well visit someone, I thought as I walked back to my truck. Otherwise I would have wasted the precious hours of sleep and the gas for naught. Sighing, I checked my cell phone for telephone numbers. Sadly, I only had Jessica's and I knew that she was in Port Angeles to visit her aunt.
Who else was there? I didn't know any other phone numbers or addresses from school. There was one number though that I knew by heart now... Jake's.
I knew where he and Billy lived, but I didn't want to call them this early. It would only give them a warning time of about five minutes anyways, so I just decided to drive by. If Jake was home he would hear my knock and if he wasn't, I would just have to go home. Charlie probably had a phonebook somewhere at home, but I didn't want to drive back and forth so much just to get a simple number of anyone else. And after yesterday I really wanted to spend more time with Jacob.
I turned the ignition and made my decision as the truck stuttered to life.
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When I pulled up at the Blacks' house, I was a little nervous. It just wasn't customary to knock at someone's door without an invitation or warning. Especially since I had talked to his dad (not counting yesterday) only a few times on the phone since turning up here. Now I was showing up uninvited at his house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. And that was way different.
After a moment I had pulled together my nerves and gotten rid of the awkward feeling of being uninvited and walked up to the door. Jacob lived in a small cottage with his father, but it didn't look small anymore now that they were just the two of them. It rather looked cute and a little out of proportion next to their huge garage. I wondered what they kept in there but the car. I couldn't remember ever entering it.
Hesitantly, I knocked on the door, but no one answered. Maybe they weren't at home. Billy was probably fishing with dad and Harry Clearwater and maybe Jake had decided to come with them. I almost gave up, but decided to knock again. Maybe he just hadn't heard me the first time.
"Come in!" a muffled voice called from within after my second rapping I timidly did as he said and carefully closed the door behind me. As I waited for him to come out of wherever he was, I curiously took in my surroundings. So much had changed since I had been here last time. All the girls' stuff had disappeared from the living room. There were also less shoes in the small hallway leading to it and the house smelled a little different.
It smelled like the forest, more masculine than when Rachel and Rebecca had lived here and sprayed their room sprays around.
After a few minutes I began to feel uncomfortable just standing in the living room of someone else's house. "Jake?"
I heard a rumble in the bathroom, then Jacob stuck his hair out of the door, his hair wet. "Oh, it's you," he said and froze in the doorway. "I was in the shower" he explained. "Uum, my things are still upstairs so if you'll excuse me for a minute…" He hesitated briefly and, blushing a little, stepped out of the bathroom in his towel. He hurried towards the stairs and left me to look after him. Too bad he was gone. He wasn't one who had to hide his body… I hadn't ever thought of that before, but his whole family was pretty good-looking. And his mom had been a real beauty with her russet skin and big, round eyes...
Remembering what I had just seen, I blushed. I was glad that he was in his room and couldn't see me like that. It wasn't like I had seen a lot of half-naked boys recently or ever. I didn't know how to react.
When Jacob came back out in shorts and a t-shirt, there was an awkward silence. Luckily, he broke it soon after. "Sorry for that, I just expected that it would be one of the guys."
"I figured," I smirked at him. Then I told him about the reason that I had come to visit him in the first place. We laughed together about my colossal stupidity. "I never thought that it would be so easy to confuse you, Bells. Apparently, all I have to do is invite you to the beach and get your dad away from the house. And like magic, you turn up at my house the next day. I'm going to file that piece of information away for further reference." he chuckled.
"Yeah, that's me. But please don't tell Billy or Charlie, I don't want my dad laughing at me when I get home. He'll think I had this planned from the beginning if you keep quiet."
"If you don't want me to tell him, I won't. But it would be really funny to see their faces when they realize what happened." His face turned serious again. "But sure, sure, I won't tell him. Can't do that to you."
I smiled at his words. They seemed to be some kind of his signature move. "What are you smiling at?" he asked me, noticing my mood. "Nothing," I grinned at him, "Do you want to go outside?"
"Sure, though it's not as sunny as yesterday"
I sighed over dramatically. "It's not like you can expect more than two days of sunshine per year around Forks."
"Do you miss the sun? I figured that it would be bothering you, Phoenix is one of the sunniest places in the states, right?"
"Yeah, but right now it's okay. I just refueled." He furrowed his brow in confusion, so I told him about my road tanker-analogy, thinking he would consider it to be funny. I wasn't disappointed, his infectious laughter was in the air before I could finish my story.
"Right, Bells, you're so much like a road tanker. All big and heavy, with four tires and a few thousand gallons of gas inside. Right." His words really made me laugh and whenever I had collected myself enough to take a breath, he would top it by making tires' squeaking sounds and announcing "Here comes Bella!" which caused me to have another laughing fit. "And we have to watch out if you ever lose all those galleons of gas, I can already imagine the smell!"
"Stop it, Jake, I can't breathe," I was finally able to gasp out. "Only if you can escape me," he said with a mischievous smile and started a tickling attack. It was almost impossible to escape his torturing fingers and I was very ticklish, but somehow I managed to get away from him to hide behind the cover the couch provided. While he still tried to get around it I ran to the door.
"Don't think you can run away from me, Mrs. Road Tanker!" With that Jake ran after me, but I could tell he wasn't really trying all that hard to get me. He let me run almost all the way to the water before catching up with me. Foreseeing his next move, I just sat down on the sand myself and held my hands up giggling. "I surrender."
"Too bad." Jake smiled at me and then sat down next to me. "I don't think I've ever known someone as ticklish as you."
Suddenly, my cell phone started ringing. It was Charlie. "Charlie doesn't know where I'm at," I told Jake and then answered it.
"Hey Dad, you're home already? I'm over at La Push, don't worry. There should be some sandwiches in the fridge, if you want some."
"Um, okay, Bells. I was just wondering where you were since you didn't leave a note. Didn't know that you were planning on visiting Jacob. You're with him, right?"
"What else would I be doing here, dad?" I sighed and then added, "See you in a bit, I'll be home for dinner." I just couldn't leave him to eat sandwiches once again. "Bye Bells!" was his response.
I was still wondering why he was home so early in the morning from an all-day fishing trip, but I could ask him when I got home. I turned back around to face Jacob. He had a mocking smile on his face, which he tried to hide when he noticed me looking at him.
Apparently he couldn't keep the charade up for too long: He chuckled and told me "It's so funny to watch you talk to your dad. It's like either one of you knows what the other wants to ask you and you answer the questions without hearing them. As if you two were able to read each other's thoughts!" He was right with that, most of the time it was best to answer all of Charlie's questions before he even got to ask them. Our communication was very effective.
I grimaced. "Ugh, I definitely don't want Charlie reading my mind! If he knew what's going on in here," I tipped my temple, "he would probably send me to a mental hospital. And it would be quite embarrassing to have your dad know your every thought, don't you think?"
There were a lot of things I didn't want Charlie to know. For example how hurt I had been about Edward's behavior (there really was no need to worry him more than necessary) or the memory of Jacob in only a towel. Instantly, I blushed at the mental image.
Jake didn't seem to notice or otherwise politely ignored me turning beet-red. "I don't really want Billy to snoop in my brain, either. Just the thought of it is disturbing. Someone knowing your every thought, it's unsettling. Look, I'm even getting goose bumps." He held his arm over to me and really, there were goose bumps. I smiled at him.
We spent the rest of the afternoon discussing the pros of knowing other peoples' thoughts and the cons of having other people read our minds, grabbing a few sandwiches to eat at the beach around three. Although it was cloudy, it was a nice day to be outside. Luckily, I had thought of bringing my jacket to school. Without it, it would have been freezing cold in the wind. We agreed in the end that it would be cool to have a connection to other people that you could turn on mutual will. It would allow you to communicate silently and in private about anything at all.
Like yesterday, the time went by very quickly and before I knew it, it was time to drive home and think about fixing dinner for Charlie. I couldn't believe that I had left for school about 7 hours ago. It felt like much less time.
Before I left, we exchanged our cell phone numbers, so we would be able to contact each other even when not at home. Who knows, it might come in handy one day and I had a gut feeling that Jake and I were going to see each other a lot in the future. We got along wonderfully. "We'll have to work on our mental connection and I'll be able to call you even without the phones!" I yelled out of my rolled-down window as I drove off and could just barely hear Jacob's laughter over the roaring engine.
I thought of the other good things about having his number as I drove home. He wasn't going to our high school, after all, and now I had a way to arrange meeting him again without having to talk to Billy and talking in the constant presence of Charlie.
After dinner I kept thinking about the profits of mind-reading. I would be able to read Edward's mind with that skill. I wouldn't have to bother with waiting for him to maybe explain his strange behavior one day, if it ever pleased him to do so. I'd know why he hated me or why he didn't. I could stop thinking about him so much. He was making me all self-conscious and angry.
As I thought this, I realized that he hadn't been in my thoughts the whole weekend. Maybe I had found a way to be comfortable with myself despite what he might think of me. Maybe I had found someone who could make me forget the feeling of being unwelcome.
Jake.
Strange that I hadn't really talked to him in years. How strange that I only really knew the Jacob who wasn't a child anymore for a few weeks. Smiling at today's memories I fell asleep. I was content being his Mrs. Road Tanker and I hoped to stay just that.
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