Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

6. Beach Trip

The memory of that nightmare clung to me the next day like an invisible veil. I couldn't shake the subdued feeling. Not even when I realized that Cullen was thankfully missing from school. I heard people talking about Bella's incident, making comments about her fainting. I wondered what it was like for them, not knowing the real danger.

At lunch, I learned that I wasn't the only one in a bad mood. Lauren kept shooting angry glances at Bella. My guess was that she was transferring her fear and frustration onto Bella, since we were only going through the ritual because of her. Ben did his best to try to get both of us out of our funks, bringing the conversation around to the next day's beach trip. I did my best to pretend to be enthusiastic.

While leaving the cafeteria, I decided to confront Lauren about her attitude.

"What's going on with you today?" I asked.

Lauren huffed. "I don't see why Bella doesn't just sit with the Cullens from now on," she sneered.

"She's my friend, she sits with us," I hissed back, "Come on. I think we both know what the real issue is."

For a moment, it looked like her lip trembled, but it soon passed. "Get bent."

She stormed off, purposefully bumping me as she did. I sighed. I didn't know what I had been expecting, really.

The next day found us all on First Beach in La Push. It had been a pleasant drive over, and the weather was about as nice as could be expected for the time of year. Currently, we were spread out around the fire pit, unpacking our supplies and setting everything up. Ben, Eric, and I started building the fire. I noticed Bella watching us.

"Have you ever seen a driftwood fire?" I asked her.

"No," she said, shaking her head.

"You'll like this then-watch the colors," I told her as I lit the carefully constructed pile of driftwood.

"It's blue," she said. Her face was lit up with wonder. It made her look younger, and for a moment, I felt like I could picture what she must have been like as a small child. Also for that moment, I thought it looked like all of the residue left from glamors lifted from her. I wouldn't call her beautiful, but there was something...intriguing about Bella in that instant.

"The salt does it. Pretty, isn't it?" I finished lighting the fire and sat down on the driftwood bench between Bella and Jessica. Bella seemed content to stare at the fire, while Jessica chatted excitedly to me. She was still pretty nervous around me, but she also seemed to be getting a little more comfortable.

After hiking to the tidal pools, we came back to find that some of the teens who lived on the reservation had come out to join us. After introductions, we all tore into the food we'd brought with us.

I noticed one of the oldest of the reservation teens-Sam Uley-was eyeing me warily. I remembered that he had a grandfather on the council of elders. He must know all about the current situation, and judging by his stony look, he wasn't any happier than Billy Black had been. It was all good for them; the Cullens had so far left the reservation alone. The elders believed this to be due to the Quillayute River which nearly surrounded the reservation. According to myths, vampires were unable to cross running water. So far, I hadn't read or seen anything that would prove or disprove this theory. Mostly, I suspected that they had been lucky so far, and that they really should do more to help the rest of us out as well.

My musings were interrupted when Jessica asked me if I wanted to visit the shop in town with her. I readily agreed and we made the short trek over. The shop was filled with handmade crafts of all kinds. Woven rugs hung from the walls, and the shelves were crowded with clay pots and wood carvings. A glass case near the counter held beaded jewelry. Jessica was instantly drawn to it. I took some time looking around at everything else before I joined her.

She was looking at a turquoise bracelet. I tilted my head to get a look at the price tag. Luckily, it was very reasonable.

"Do you want that one?: I asked, pointing.

"Um, yeah. It's so pretty," she answered shyly.

I got the attention of the woman behind the counter and pointed to the bracelet. I paid for it and turned around to see Jessica staring at me with huge eyes.

"Here," I said, taking her wrist and fastening the bracelet around it.

"You didn't-I mean I-" she stuttered.

I waved a hand. "It wasn't that expensive. And you can wear it to the dance. It suits you."

"Thank you," Jessica finally managed to say. We walked back to the beach. I noticed her looking at her wrist every so often.

Glancing around the fire, I noticed that Bella was missing. I tried to casually ask where she'd gone off to. I didn't like the idea that she was by herself somewhere.

"She left with that Jacob kid," Lauren scoffed. Tyler looked at me, silently apologizing for her continued bad mood.

The name Jacob seemed familiar. "Jacob Black?"

Lauren shrugged. "I guess. we were talking about the Cullens and Sam said how they didn't come here. A few minutes later, they walked off."

Jacob Black. I wasn't sure if he knew the truth about the Cullens, but he at least shared a house with his father, Billy. He must have overheard some things, and Quillayute legends were pretty wild as well...I began to worry about the ideas he could put into Bella's head.

"Which way did they go?" I asked.

Tyler pointed. "By the way, we're packing up. The weather looks like it might turn nasty."

I started off down the beach. I was vaguely aware of Jessica tagging along behind me. I found the two of them sitting on a driftwood log some way down the beach. No one else was in sight.

"There you are, Bella," I called, full of relief.

"Is that your boyfriend?" the boy-Jacob-asked.

"No, definitely not," Bella tried to whisper, but I could still hear her. It hurt slightly that she was so adamant about it. As if it would be such a terrible thing if I was her boyfriend.

"So, when I get my license..."

"You should come see me in Forks. We could hang out sometime," Bella told him.

"Where have you been?"I asked, having finally reached the driftwood tree. I looked from one of them to the other. From their conversation, they had been flirting. However, Bella was looking guilty for some reason. Something was off.

"Jacob was just telling me some local stories. It was very interesting," Bella offered.

"Well," I paused, wondering what those stories had entailed, "We're packing up-it looks like it's going to rain soon."

"Okay. I'm coming," Bella said.

As we walked back, I could hear her saying goodbye to Jacob. He sounded eager to see her again, but I couldn't say the same for Bella. I wondered what her motives had been for taking Jacob aside in the first place. I began to worry that Jacob might have let the truth slip, even if he didn't realize it, when Bella kept to herself on the drive home. From what I could see of her in the rearview mirror, she was deep in thought about something. If she didn't know about the Cullens now, my guess was that she would have it worked out in a few days.

As I thought about it, I realized it could be a good thing. Surely, Bella would stay away from Cullen once she knew the truth. Maybe I should approach her in the coming week to see how she was coping with everything and to provide her with whatever additional information I could.

That night, I had another nightmare. It was similar to the first, except that the Cullen creature was fighting a giant wolf. When the wolf fell to the ground in a bloody mess, it turned into the form of Jacob Black. The Cullen creature fell to ripping strips of flesh from Jacob's body and snapping them up hungrily. Jacob wasn't quite dead yet, and he screamed in horrible agony.

The creature stopped only when Bella cried out in frustration and stomped her foot at it. It turned back into Cullen and walked over to her. This time, he kissed her deeply and the blood covering both of them mingled until you couldn't tell where it came from. The kiss became more intense until I realized that Cullen was literally eating her face.

I woke up in a cold sweat. The horrible images still flashing through my mind. I wasn't sure how I would fall asleep again. I lay back on my pillows, staring at the ceiling.

"One thing's for sure," I muttered to myself, "If Jacob turns out to be a werewolf, then I want to quit. One type of monster is more than enough."