Updated 9/16/18.

Chapter 12

Crazy

It was lunch time on Friday and normally I stick around for lunch and then drive home because of my short class schedule. We were all talking casually when I decided that I should ask Bella if she wanted to come today.

"Bella, do you want to come with me today to get another piercing and tattoo?" Everyone dropped their food and just looked at me slack jawed, but Michael was the first one to talk.

"What do you mean another one?"

"That's right you guys don't know. It's so freezing up here I can never wear clothing that shows them and I don't ever put my hair up." I said as I took off my jacket and put my hair up. "I have a cartilage piercing on my left side and two more on each ear. I have a belly button piercing too. And then I have a tattoo of a crescent shaped moon on my left ankle and a star on my right. I have a wolf paw print on my lower back, and that's it."

"What more is there to do?" Jessica asked me with slight distaste, but I get it, it's not for everyone.

"I'm getting a butterfly on the right side on the back of my neck and a third piercing just above my second one in both ears, and Amy is getting her first ear piercing."

"Isn't that a little extreme?" Lauren asked, with a bit of curiosity.

"Of course not! Amy's six-years-old and is old enough to make her own decisions. And I'm an artist. It's what we do; make art whether it's on a canvas or on our body. Besides, I have no intention of ever getting a sleeve, or nose, or gauges, or eyebrow, or tongue, but I'm super fascinated by people that do."

"What's a sleeve?" Tyler asked at the same time Conner asked, "What's a gauge?"

"A sleeve is a tattoo that goes up your entire arm and looks like a sleeve. A gauge is something you put in your ear and it widens the hole. You guys are all too naïve up here in Forks." I joked and Angela laughed.

I stood up and turned around so they could see the tattoo on my back and the piercing in front. "The belly button piercing actually looks kind of cute." Angela commented.

"Thanks, so Bella do you want to come? Embry, Quil, and Jake are coming with Amy and me. And I promised them you would be there. Please," I pouted.

"I would but I have to work today." She just had to try and weasel out of this.

"Michael, would you switch shifts with Bella? I just don't want her to miss this." I was willing to do anything to Bella to come with me.

"Sure, I'll switch. I don't have anything going on today, sounds like fun." He smiled back at me.

"Great, so then I'll go home to grab my paintings, pick up Amy, and I'll meet you in the parking lot after school." Then they all looked confused as to why I needed the paintings.

"Why do you need your art?" Jessica asked out of pure curiosity.

"Like I said, we're both artists. The tattoo parlor owner saw my website and noticed that I lived close by. He called me and asked if I could paint him a couple of paintings, something that would inspire him in his work. I told him he could have them for free if he'd give me some of his art. He chuckled in that old warm-hearted, leather wearing, biker kind of way and said that sounded like a good idea to him.

"I met with him a couple of weeks ago for a cup of coffee to see what he wanted in specifics. He asked if I could paint him some of the natural areas around here because he always loved the view, but doesn't get the chance to see it all that often because he works and lives in the heart of Seattle. At the same time I started working on the painting he started designing my tattoo. I told him that I wanted a butterfly but besides that he could do as he saw fit. I actually have no idea what it's going to look like. I'm kind of excited."

"I know that look on your face. Another artist's work is like a drug to you, isn't it?" Bella looked at me knowing my expression all too well.

"Of course!" And then the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. "I'll see you all later." I ran out of the cafeteria lifting my fringy knapsack to my shoulders. I ran with my keys in hand to my car. It was raining again. I slipped into my car and turned on the heater. I drove home, slipped the paintings in my car and drove to the elementary school.

As I pulled into the parking lot, Amy and Lexa were holding hands beneath her umbrella, while Tommy and Ricky stood beneath their own. I hopped out of my car and walked up to them.

I looked down to see Amy's pants soaked up to her knees. "Amy, we're going to have to get you some rain boots."

"Really? I've always wanted a pair but it never rained in California." She looked up at me with excitement in her eyes.

"We'll get some today in Seattle. Come on, we have to go get everyone else." I gestured to the car. "Lexa, you have a ride home, right?"

"Yeah, my mom is giving us all a ride home," she said.

"Good," I nodded as Amy said goodbye to her friends and we walked to my car. We both slid in and I revved up the engine and the heater. I reached into the passenger seat. I threw the dry pair of pants back to Amy.

"I thought that you might get kind of wet today."

"Thanks, Sissy." She changed in the backseat and we headed to Forks High School. Bella sat in the passenger seat and Amy slid into the seat between us. I loved having the bench seat. I headed to La Push and pulled up at their High School. It was quite an easy find. Jacob and Quil slipped into the backseat of the car.

"Let's do this." Quil said.

"Wait, we have to wait for Embry!" Amy exclaimed.

"Wait, Embry's coming," Jacob responded with a look of unease.

I turned around and responded, "Is something going on?" I didn't know the three of them were having issues.

"Yeah, he's been following around Sam and it's like he's joined a cult or something."

"They're practically hall-monitors on steroids." Quil added to Jake's comment. That was actually really funny. I realized then that Quil and Jake didn't know about the wolves. Amy and I gave each other alarmed looks.

"Well, he still wants to spend time with you guys, and I'm assuming you want to fix this little debacle too?" They nodded. "So we'll fix it now. Just because Embry is starting to hang out with Sam doesn't mean he can't spend time with you guys too. You can have your hate with Sam, but don't mention it to Embry. And I'm sure that he won't try and make you join this gang you think exists. Deal?"

They nodded. Just then Embry opened the door and slid into the seat next to Jacob. They use to look entirely similar but now with Embry and his short hair, muscle, and height, there were distinct differences. The three of them had this silent testosterone battle and then they each let out a breath, laughed and started high-fiving. Apparently that feud was over.

The six of us laughed all the way to Seattle. Part way through the drive my ringer started going off.

"Amy, could you grab my phone? I think I have a text." She looked through my knapsack, pulled out my phone, and flipped it open.

"Alice says, 'Hope you have fun! I'm sure it'll look great!' With a smiley face at the end."

"Tell her thanks and that I'll send her photos of the entire event. By the way, Quil would you document experience?" I asked handing him the camera.

"Sure," He responded at the same time Jake and Embry asked, "Why can't we?"

"Because Embry you'll be holding my hand, and Jake you'll be holding Amy's." I resolved as I pulled into the parking lot. "Here we are." It was a tiny brick walk-up with a tattoo-neon sign in the front window. Oddly enough, it looked kind of homey. There were flowers in pots near the door, a doormat, and even blue window shutters. "Boys, I'm going to need your help to make sure the paintings don't get wet. They're covered but we need to get them inside quickly. They nodded in response and went to the back of the car to get them out as Amy and Bella walked inside. After the boys each had a painting I closed the trunk and we walked inside.

The interior had the usual leather seat, tattoo set up, design stations, cash register, the whole shebang. But the difference was the artwork on the walls. Music played and it switched from Italian opera to Pearl Jam. Jonesy walked through the beaded doorway and came to hug me. He was wearing a leather vest, white shirt, and blue jeans. He also had his goatee nicely trimmed.

"It's good to see you, Jonesy. This is my sister, Amy." I said gesturing to the girl with a pink shirt on and the biggest smile on the west coast. There was no way my sister would ever be intimidated by a big ol' biker.

"Nice to meet you, and what can I do for you today?" He asked squatting down so his eyes were level with hers, holding out his hand for a shake.

"I'm getting my first ear piercing." She said and pulled her hair back to show him her bare ears.

"Then let's get you started with that." He said gesturing to one of his employees. She walked with the employee to one of the chairs and started babbling about how she wanted them. We talked previously about how she wanted her birthstone with gold as her stud for an earring. Jacob walked with her to make sure she was alright. Quil took photos of the whole thing.

"Let's see what you painted." Jonesy suggested. I pulled of the coverings and showed him the paintings.

"They're perfect! You have one of La Push Beach, one of the mountains, and one of the forests. It's just what I needed. Anytime you need a tattoo, or piercing done, you just call me, because these are fabulous. Let's get your stuff done now. Do you want to see my rendering for your butterfly?" He asked as he walked me to a chair at his work station.

"No, I want it to be a surprise."

"Alright, and let's get your piercings done first." One of his employees quickly pierced my ears as I instructed him how I wanted them. Amy was done sitting with a lollipop in her mouth sitting in Jacob's lap, who was next to Bella. They were sitting on the couch close to me. Quil was still taking pictures and having too much fun doing it. Embry sat in a chair next to me holding my hand as Jonesy started working on the tattoo.

"Bella, you should get something done." I needed a conversation started to focus on instead of the tattoo being put on my neck. It wasn't painful but the buzzing sound could be a bit nerve racking this close to your ear.

"I'm not sure. I'm not a tattoo kind of person. And Charlie would be pissed." She responded.

"You don't have to get a tattoo. You could get a belly button piercing, or something. And Charlie doesn't have to know. We can keep a secret."

"But don't you have to be 21 or something?"

"Nah, you're eighteen. You're an adult; it's one of the only things you're allowed to do. You can get tattoos, piercings, drive, leave the country, and buy lotto tickets, but not a whole lot besides that. Embrace adulthood. And if Charlie does find out you could just take it out and let it close."

As I spoke she got this look on her face. She was actually considering doing it! Yes! This was one of the steps to being independent. And she needed that, because I wanted Edward to comeback but she needed to stand on her own two feet until then. I'd be her crutch until she could stand, but she had to start getting her strength back.

"You know what? I think I'll get a belly button piercing." Bella seemed to have a new spark in her eyes.

"Jonesy, would it be alright if my cousin got a belly button piercing?"

"Absolutely. Mark, could you show Bella our types of rings and things she could have for her piercing?"

"Right this way." Mark showed her to the front case near the cash register, and Jake walked with her. Quil continued to document the day's occurrences.

Amy and Embry started up a conversation with me.

"Does it hurt, sis?"

"You've seen me get tattoos before."

"But I've never asked."

"I guess you haven't. I don't think it hurts much. Most of the time it's pretty painless, but everyone handles it differently."

"That makes sense." She continued to ponder what I had said.

"Do you want to see your sister's tattoo?" Jonesy asked Amy knowing she needed something else to entertain her.

"Sure," she exclaimed and bouncily walked to the empty stool next to Jonesy. She sat on it and watched him work. "It's beautiful," she sighed in admiration at his work.

"I spent extra time on your sister's tattoo design. I wanted it to be special and one of a kind." Jonesy said absentmindedly, similar to the way I talked at the same times as painting.

After about ten minutes, Bella walked over to me, stood in front of my range of view, because it was limited with the awkward angle Jonesy was tattooing my neck, and bared her stomach showing me her belly button piercing.

"It looks great!" I shouted.

"Doesn't it? I love it! And it didn't even hurt!" She smiled down at her piercing a bit more. "Thanks for convincing me to get it."

"Anytime," I said.

Bella picked out one that curved and had a ball at both ends with a green emerald type color gem embedded in the silver spheres.

A little bit later Jonesy announced that he was done. I stood in front of a mirror and contorted my neck to see his work. He had designed a blue butterfly whose giant wings curled at the tips. He included so much detail I was in awe. There was some purple tinting to the butterfly's wings. He even had the antenna's curling. It took my breath away, the vivid detail he'd been able to include.

"This is great. Thank you, Jonesy! I feel like I should have painted you another painting or something."

"The paintings you have given me are more than I could have ever wanted. Come back anytime you want more done."

"I will. And thanks again," I said, hugging the biker who had turned out to be a softie.

"No, thank you." He squatted down to Amy's height. "And make sure you keep those ears clean. You can put in other earrings in two months at the earliest. Come see me or a doctor if anything starts going wrong with them. And tell your sister if they feel just the slightest bit off. Same goes for you, Bella." They both nodded in agreement and thanked Jonesy.

We all left the store and headed to my car. It was dark out now. There was a bar across the street. A few guys stood outside smoking, obviously drunk and they looked kind of sketchy.

Bella started walking towards them. She seemed like she was startled by something but then continued to walk. I grabbed her arm and made her face me. She thought those boys were the same ones from the night Edward saved her. I could see it in her eyes.

"Bella, I know who you think they are. But I know they aren't. Come on. You and I'll talk about it tonight." At first she hesitated. Then her features changed. She nodded and came back to the car. Everyone else was sitting in their seats trying to see what was going on.

Bella and I got in the car, but before anyone could ask questions, I responded, "We thought we knew them from somewhere. I thought they might have been guys from school doing something they shouldn't, but it isn't them." I quickly saved us.

"Weird." Jacob commented.

"Totally, I'll take you guys back to your houses because it's kind of late." They agreed. I looked in my rearview mirror to see Embry's dark brown eyes glaring at me. He knew I was lying. He mouthed the words, "We'll talk later".

Quil handed Bella the camera and she looked through the pictures. "Quil, you did a great job being photographer! You should think about doing it professionally." Bella mused.

"I'm not that good. I was just having fun with it."

"And that's exactly why you should pursue it. The things you are naturally good at in life and make you happy are the parts of life you succeed the most in."

"You know, Abby's right. That's why I love fixing the rabbit up." Jacob said.

"How's that going?" Bella asked.

"It's almost done. You should come see it when it's finished." He offered.

"I will."

"Here we are." I said, pulling up to Quil's house.

"Thanks for the ride." Quil said.

"No problem. Thanks for coming today."

"My pleasure." He smiled, closed the door and headed to his house. I dropped off Jacob and Embry in the same fashion, but I told Embry he couldn't come over tonight because Bella was spending the night. I invited him over for lunch tomorrow as a substitution. He agreed and kissed me goodnight. The three of us girls drove back to the house.

Amy went straight to bed after cleaning her ears and getting something to eat for dinner. Bella and I slipped into comfortable pajamas. We then raided the refrigerator and pantry for junk food and sat on my bed facing each other digging into the food. I turned on some music at a low volume so Amy wouldn't wake up. Our food assortment included popcorn, ice cream, and chocolate chip cookie dough, among other things. We greedily devoured the food, and for once I felt like a teenager.

"You and Embry are getting pretty serious," Bella said. It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah," I giggled and blushed. Soul mates, two halves of a whole, imprint and wolf, that sounded serious to me. But I couldn't tell Bella about that connection between Embry and me, yet. I took another bite of licorice.

"So are you guys like formally boyfriend and girlfriend? Or are you in the dating stage?"

"Yes. We're boyfriend and girlfriend, but stop avoiding the situation, Bella. We need to talk about what happened outside of the tattoo parlor tonight." She seemed reluctant, but started to talk.

"I'm not crazy, but when I first saw the guys, I thought were from that night," she hesitated, "and then I started to walk towards them, and Edward appeared."

"What?" I screamed, and then quieted my voice remembering that Amy was asleep. Luckily a bathroom and a few doors separated us.

"Like a hallucination, it was just his voice and it sounded like it did when he was angry."

"What did he say?" I threw another handful of popcorn in my mouth at the suspense building.

"The voice told me, 'Bella, stop this right now.' at first, I stopped and then he said, 'Bella turn around', he growled. It started to slip away so I kept walking wanting to hear it again. You grabbed my arm and told me to comeback. Then he said, 'Go back to Abby. You promised—nothing stupid.' And then we headed back to the car."

I audibly gasped. It was like he was trying to protect her. He wasn't there though. It was completely subconscious. Her subconscious mind even knew he still loved her. Creepy. Cool, but creepy.

"It was one of the first times that it truly didn't hurt at all to talk about him. Even with your help it still hurts a bit, but I felt as though I was mending, but this just didn't hurt at all."

"His exact words in the forest were to not do anything reckless or stupid, that you keep yourself safe, right? And the guys at the bar would constitute as unsafe." She nodded, agreeing but not exactly following my train of thought. Realization hit me, letting lose all of my thoughts. I got off the bed, grabbed my laptop from my desk, and sat back on the bed.

I opened up a blank notepad. "If you want to keep hearing this voice, which I am guessing you do," she nodded, "we need to make a list of things that he would consider dangerous."

"Everything?" Bella offered. We both started cracking up.

"That's funny, but I'm serious."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, what did he not like you to do before?"

"Bleed."

"Now that's funny, but we can't put that on our list. What are things that could be considered dangerous but aren't really."

"Rollercoasters, hanging around vampires, motorcycles, walking through the snow without shoes,"

"That last one doesn't count, it's stupid not dangerous. But the rest can go on the list." Consorting with werewolves, popped into my head. That was definitely a possibility but she didn't know they were werewolves and Embry was never temperamental like they usually are right before and after the change.

"What about joining a gang?" Bella joked.

"I'm not sure Jonesy is taking members to his biker gang, unfortunately." I paused. "But that's not going on the list because that is actually dangerous. We're trying to think of fake dangers."

"Maybe Emmett will think of a few for us?" Bella offered.

"But we can't tell him why, and just say that it's for fun, and our human lives need a bit more excitement."

"Perfect!" Bella responded.

"Let's e-mail him now," I suggested. I opened up a new e-mail and started writing.

Em,

It's Bells and Abs. We were wondering if you could think of some things that would be fun, slightly dangerous, but not really. We already thought of rollercoasters, hanging around vampires(just kidding), and motorcycles. Anything else? Don't tell anyone else! Top secret! We might even let you join us!

Bells and Abs

"How does that sound?"

"He'll probably have a list a mile long by tomorrow." Bella joked.

I laughed, "So true."

We talked for a couple of hours after that. At some point we passed out from exhaustion and fullness, too much junk food…. Our last words that night were, "Is eating too much considered dangerous?"