Chapter 8: Her Date
Within seconds of hanging up, I heard Seth knocking at the door. "Yo, Ren! You ready to get your party on!?"
Smiling, I swung the door open and said, "You want to go to a party? Really?" I had been trying to get Seth to go to a party with me the entire quarter.
"Haha. No. I will not be the one that brings you to a party because knowing my luck, you'll get hurt or raped or something." He waved his hand in a dismissive manner.
"Nothing would happen to me, Seth. You would take care of me even if you were totally drunk, and you know it. Besides, no one is going to approach a girl who walks in with a 6'4" guy made entirely of muscle."
Seth barked out a laugh. "You're probably right, but I can't, Ren. Even if I wanted to. I'm supposed to keep you out of dangerous situations."
"What? Since when?" Then it hit me. The alpha was back in town, and he was extremely protective of me. "Jacob." Seth nodded. "So, is it just me, or does Claire have the same restrictions with Quil?"
"Uh, well," Seth looked awkwardly at his shoes. So it was just me then.
I was about to inquire what else Jacob had decreed about my life when there was another knock at the door. Seth went to get it, saying, "That's Quil. He drove separately because he wants to stay the night." He looked over at Claire who had been watching our interaction from our bed. She now jumped up as Seth opened the door.
Seth blocked the door, but I could tell by the scent that drifted in that it was a human, not Quil, who stood on the other side. "Seth, who's that?"
"Ren?" I could hear a familiar, male voice from beyond Seth hulking body which now moved to the side allowing the unsuspected visitor in.
James strolled in looking amazing in jeans and an Imagine Dragons t-shirt. "Hey! I hadn't seen you around in a while, and I was wondering if you wanted to do something tonight. I see you have a friend over, though, so what about tomorrow? Wanna grab lunch?" James smiled hopefully.
At this, Seth stopped scrutinizing James and looked to me. "Want to introduce us?"
"Oh, right. Seth, this is James. James this is my best friend from back home, Seth. Seth is a brother of Quil, Claire's boyfriend."
Seth simply nodded while James looked very uncomfortable with the way Seth looked at him. I grabbed Seth's hand and yanked him away from the door, shoving him to a spot behind me. "James, I would love to have lunch with you," I began. Seth cocked his head and raised his eyebrows as if to say 'Would you really, Renesmee? Care to share something with the rest of the class?' I growled in response, low enough for only Seth to hear. He quickly made his face neutral again and began inspecting stuff I had on my desk. I knew he was still listening, though.
Gauging my tone, James urged me to continue. "But?"
"But, I have a barbeque I promised I would be at tomorrow." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Seth stiffen at this news. Claire also saw it and giggled. I imagined it was because of the shock on Seth's face which I couldn't see. Ignoring both of them, I smiled sheepishly at James. "Sorry. Maybe in the evening?"
"I have dinner with my parents tomorrow night."
"Oh." Suddenly, an idea hit me like a ton of bricks. I smiled brightly which James returned with a confused look. "I know! What if you come to the barbeque with me as my date! It's pretty informal, and you'll get to know the rest of my friends!"
Claire immediately stopped laughing, and Seth took a quick intake of breath. They both knew as well as I that I had basically signed my own death warrant. Jacob never liked to share, and he would probably pop a blood vessel if I brought James who obviously liked me, especially since I had called it a date. This was exactly why I did it, though. He needed to see that I had moved on. He needed to finally understand that we were no longer an item. If he wanted us to still be friends, he needed to get used to seeing me with someone else.
James' face, unlike what I imagined Claire's and Seth's were, lite up at my suggestion. "That sounds great. What time would you like me to pick you up?"
"Actually, Seth will drive us as I don't know where it is, so meet us here around 1?"
"Yeah, sure! See you tomorrow!" With that, James left looking much happier than when he had arrived.
As the door shut, Seth finally spoke up. "What…" he shook his head in disbelief, "What the actual fuck, Ren?! What were you thinking? Do you know what Jake is gonna do? Forget what he's going to do to you. Oh, no." He ran his hands down his face as he began pacing. "Jake's going to murder that boy… and then tear me limb from limb for letting him come-no- for letting him near you. Shit, we're all fucked."
"I think I'm going to try to convince Quil to skip out with me. I'm sorry, but I don't want to see Jacob if you're bringing James," Claire helpfully interjected.
I rolled my eyes at both of them. "So he'll be mad. I'll call him and let him know. Then you won't be to blame, Seth, and he'll have a heads up. I'm not going to rescind the invitation, though. Jacob and I are no longer a couple, and he needs to get used to it." I defiantly huffed in frustration while Seth and Claire both stared at me like I was nuts.
At this moment, Quil strode into our dorm without knocking. Seeing the situation in front of him, he stopped and said, "Uh, what did I miss?"
"Ren invited a date to go with her to the barbeque," Seth ground out.
Quil looked surprised, "Wait, she's coming to the barbeque?" Seth gave Quil a pointed look and what he had said finally sunk in for Quil. "A-a date? Ren, are you crazy? Do you want everyone in this room to suffer the wrath of an angry Alpha just back from war?"
I threw my hands up in frustration. "I'm not going through this again! James is coming, like it or not! Seth you're driving us! And I'm calling Jacob like I said! So, just stop!" I finished, breathing hard.
I vaguely heard Quil mumble, "Fine, your funeral," to which I responded with my most venomous glare.
He held up his hands in surrender as I yanked my phone off of my desk. I quickly dialed Jacob's number before my hands could start shaking with nerves. In reality, I knew that I had done something stupid. What would Jacob's reaction be? Angry, for sure. The only question is if he'll be angry enough to phase. That would be bad because it means that he lost every ounce of self-control
Jacob picked up after the first ring. "Renesmee? What's wrong? What happened?" At least he was smart enough to think that I wouldn't be calling for anything unimportant. It's an improvement.
"Nothing. I'm fine. I just wanted to let you know that I'm bringing a date tomorrow." Everyone in our room held their breath, waiting for the explosion.
On the other end, Jacob was silent. I kept quiet while I waited for him to stop battling himself in his head and pick a response. Imagine my surprise when all he said was, "Oh?"
"Um, yeah. Seth is still going to drive us, so we'll be there at 2."
"I'll make sure there's enough food for him then."
"Thanks. So, see you tomorrow?"
"Sure, sure. Later." He hung up before I could say good-bye.
I put my phone down and faced the rest of the group. "See? It's fine."
"If you say so." Quil walked over to Claire to finally greet her.
"You're dead," was all Seth said as he flopped down on my bed.
