Solar Flare
Chapter Two
Jacob couldn't sleep.
He tossed and turned but he couldn't shut his brain off. His mind kept picturing blonde hair and green eyes. A kind smile. His chest warmed again at the thought of her as he rolled onto his side, his bed creaking from the movement.
Joanne.
He hadn't meant to stumble into the cozy restaurant. Honestly, he was running when the storm hit, although he was running out of frustration rather than for sport. Bella and Edward were back together even after all of the stress and heartache. Bella had just jetted off to Italy with Alice with no word or warning, in order to go stop the blood-sucker from showing himself to some council. After the hell the vampire put her through, she still went back to him. Went running into his cold, dead arms and left him back in Forks, the one who actually cared, unable to follow.
God, he had been so angry. He had taken off into the woods, wanting to run on his two legs instead of four, to feel his muscles burn just like his heart. It felt as if he had only been running for a few short moments before the storm hit. It didn't matter and he kept on through the sheets of rain. If it hadn't been for the sudden headlights of an oncoming car, he would've kept going. He threw himself out of the way just in time and due to all of the momentum, he practically blasted through the building's front door.
Disoriented, soaking wet, he wasn't even aware of another voice, only that he somehow found himself sitting at a bar, barely able to stay on the seat due to being so slippery. Next, there was the strong scent of coffee acting as a point of direction and his hands found the warm source easily. Blinking away the water from his eyes, his vision began to clear, but it wasn't until he felt the towel touch his shoulders that he lifted his head and looked up. And by god, he was glad he did.
Bright green eyes were looking right back at him and the rest of the world fell away.
There was no storm, no mental anguish, no Bella. It was as if everything had finally clicked into place and he could take a deep breath at long last.
"Hey there."
Then his world exploded with warmth, color, and even his very gravity seemed to shift.
How could he possibly sleep knowing that his imprint was just a short distance away?
Joanne Thorne had no idea how long she spent in front of the bathroom mirror. She couldn't figure out how to tame her wavy blonde hair into a presentable manner, the mascara tube was empty, she poked herself in the eye twice putting in her new set of contacts. So she went for the simple, less painful route and applied her chap stick, twisted her hair into a quick braid and pulled on her shoes as she hurried out the door. Already running behind schedule, she took off for school, speeding away on her yellow bike.
Her stomach was filled to the brim with butterflies that made her both excited and incredibly anxious. After classes, she was going to be meeting up with the customer from last night, the boy the storm blew in. Jacob Black. He said that he was going to meet up with her after class for their date.
Oh god, she was going on a real date.
Forks High School, home of the Spartans, came into view and Jo swung one leg over and coasted into the first available spot in the bike rack. Locking everything up, she made her way toward the school building, ignoring the sharp pain in her right foot. The first warning bell rang out and she hurried up the short flight of stairs, stepping lightly on her right. She ducked into her first class of the morning and took her usual desk by the wall. Dropping her bag down beside her, she started to flip open her notebook when she noticed another person waking through her aisle. Her bag was blocking the way, she noticed.
"Oh, sorry," she apologized quietly, tucking the bag underneath her seat.
"No harm done," came the smooth voice. Glancing up, she found herself looking into the face of Edward Cullen. His brown eyes were practically golden, she noticed. It was no wonder girls were always going on about him. While they were attractive, she couldn't help but think back to the darkest brown she met the night before. So dark yet so bright all at once.
Edward's gaze lingered as he passed by her seat, his brow furrowed. She kept her head low, awkward under his eyes. That was certainly odd. He never looked at her twice before. Pushing aside her confusion, she flipped open her notebook as the teacher walked into the classroom.
The rest of the day went on quietly as it usually did but Jo couldn't focus on her class work. The clock in every classroom seemed to be moving unbearably slowly and yet time seemed to be flying by all at once. She barely touched her lunch due to her fluttering nerves and her pencil hardly touched her paper, spending more time being twirled between her fingers. Then at long last, the final class came to a close.
Grabbing her bag, she closed her locker and made her way out to the parking lot. She couldn't decide if she should hurry or walk slowly and take her time so not to look too excited. Isn't that what people did? Look cool and composed? She made her way out into the parking lot with the rest of the students and immediately began to look around for the mysterious boy.
She was simultaneously relieved and worried. While part of her thought that maybe he wasn't going to show up, after all she was just some waitress girl he didn't know, the other half of her was thankful for the additional time to try and force herself to relax. A group of students caught her eye and she recognized Bella Swan, tucked into Edward's side. They were standing beside an especially nice silver car. She wasn't very good with car names but she knew it was fancy judging by the look. Since she seemed to have time, she made her way over toward them, wanting to double check with the girl about their English project. Might as well be productive.
"Hey, Bella," she called, giving a wave. The brunette turned at her name, raising her brows in confusion. She was a quiet girl in class, Jo recalled, so it was probably odd that a girl outside of her social circle was trying to talk to her. She gave a reassuring smile as she slowed to a stop.
"Hi," Bella returned, her voice soft. Edward's eyes locked on her as well and she was quick to direct her gaze back to the girl.
"Hey—sorry, I don't mean to interrupt or anything," she apologized. "I just wanted to make sure you knew about our homework."
"Homework?"
"You two are partners for that English project, remember?" reminded Edward. Jo gave a small smile, finding it odd that he knew and the girl did not.
"He's right, it was just assigned yesterday. There's no rush or anything, I just wanted see if you wanted to exchange numbers so that we way we could met up whenever to work on it," Jo explained.
"Yeah—of course, just a second…" agreed Bella, rummaging through her bag. Jo started to feel a little warm under the collar as Edward's gaze lingered on her, peering over the top of Bella's head. More than a little perplexed, she allowed her confusion to be shown in hope that he would get the memo. He gave a humored smirk and looked away as Bella pulled out her phone and the two girls swapped devices to program their contact information. She had just slipped her phone back into her pocket when a new voice spoke up in a deep rumble.
"There you are."
Jo whirled around at the voice, so excited to hear it again and Jacob filled her sight. Gosh, he was even more attractive in the sunlight and her heart started to beat faster. She was still stunned by his staggering height and wide shoulders but she couldn't stop the smile from taking over her face. Her expression faltered before she even got to say anything as another person spoke up.
"Jake? What're you doing here?"
She looked back to see Bella looking right at Jacob with an odd expression on her face. Confused, she looked between the two.
"Oh—you guys know each other?" she heard herself ask. While it was reassuring that someone else knew him, as he was a complete stranger to her, she was also let down that Bella knew him. In a way, she wanted him to selfishly be her own little secret. She knew it wasn't reasonable, especially in a town as small as Forks, but she couldn't help but feel a little bitter sting.
"Yeah, of course," answered Bella. "He's my—"
"-Friend," finished Jacob, stepping closer to Jo. "Our parents go way back."
"Y-yeah," Bella agreed weakly. "Friends…"
Jacob was carefully composed, Edward's overall demeanor stiffened slightly and there was something unspoken in the air among the three of them. Concerned, Jo forced a smile and a chipper tone trying to smooth over the tension that was building. She had worked with people long enough to know when static would give way to sparks.
"Well, it's nice that someone else knows you. Makes you a little less of a stranger, y'know?"
Jacob turned back to her, his smile bright. "I hope so."
She felt her face begin to burn with a blush again and she quickly ducked her head to try and will her face from turning red. She was usually easily embarrassed but it seemed as if everything Jacob said or did just turned her blush up to a level ten.
"Well, we should really get going," said Jacob. "Don't want to miss the movie."
"Oh—right." Jo adjusted her backpack as she gave one last wave to Bella and Edward, but the brunette was more focused on the tall boy to the blonde's confusion. The two turned and walked away and she started to scan the mostly empty parking lot to try and guess which vehicle belong to Jacob. The green jeep? Probably not. The black truck? Hmm, no.
Jacob gently took her hand and brought her to a halt. Goosebumps broke out across her skin at the contact, like she had just received a shock and she looked to him with wide green eyes, gasping softly in surprise. He was still for a moment as well but his fingers closed securely around hers and he smiled again.
"This is my ride," he explained. Following his gesture, she spotted the motorcycle.
"Oh, wow," she said.
He grinned. "Have you ever ridden one before?"
"No, my bike has pedals," she joked. "Not nearly as intense."
"It's not that scary," he promised. "I rebuilt this from the ground up. It's perfectly safe."
He easily swung his long leg over the bike and took a seat, turning back and holding out his hand to her. Those brown eyes made her want to melt. Butterflies fluttering rampantly in her stomach, she smiled and took his hand. Gingerly, she managed to get her leg onto the other side and settle into the seat, accidently slipping too close to Jacob but she couldn't find enough of a grip to try and create some space. He reached back and brought her arms around his middle, pulling her closer. She was thankful that he couldn't see her blush beet red, but she felt him chuckle as if he somehow knew.
"You'll want to hold on."
When the engine roared to life, she couldn't help but tighten her hold. When they started to move, she closed her eyes and hid her face in his broad back. She couldn't help but give a soft laugh, excited for their evening.
The air felt great against his face as they took off down the road. Happiness was practically busting from his chest and he couldn't keep from grinning like a fool. Jacob could feel her arms tighten around him when they sped up or leaned for a turn and he loved it. The warmth she brought filled him with a glowing heat and he wanted to rev the engine and take off, with nothing but her and the rushing wind.
Of course, they arrived at the theater all too soon. He held out his hand to help her dismount from his bike, already missing the feeling of her arms around him.
"Not so bad, huh?" he asked. She smiled, her cheeks pink from the wind and he got to his feet as well.
"It was very exciting," she laughed. "Heck of a lot faster than mine." He found himself smiling again, loving her light hearted humor.
God, he felt so happy around her and it had only been a short amount of time overall. Ever since he learned about imprinting, he had a sort of fear and admiration for the powerful binding. At first, he thought it would make the most sense for the relationship he had with Bella. Then he feared it because of the very likely chance that she wasn't the one. Now he was here with this girl that never existed before to him and she was changing his world by simply breathing. It was a dramatic statement but imprinting was a very dramatic phenomenon.
The date was quiet with the silence peppered with innocent first date questions. How old was he? Where did he go to school? Did he have any siblings? Which in turn, allowed him to ask the same questions in return and the answers easily fixed themselves in his memory. She was seventeen, her birthday being June 15th. She was a senior at Forks High, just like Bella. Lastly, she was the eldest daughter of her family with her only sibling being her thirteen year old brother.
Their conversation didn't last long as the theater dimmed and the previews began to roll. A movie date was the best option, in his opinion. It allowed him to get to know her and the setting was very easy going. No stress.
Except there was one nagging thought at the back of his mind.
When he arrived at the school, his rising euphoria upon seeing Jo was swiftly dashed with a sharp stab of anger. She was standing with Bella and Edward, within arm's reach of the vampire. It took every ounce of his control not to tear her away from the blood sucker, to shift into his wolf form and just take his hand off for good measure. He didn't like Jo being so close to danger. It would just take a moment of super speed and she would be at the vampire's mercy. He knew Edward wouldn't actually hurt her. It was just an impulsive thought, amplified by the imprint, but he scarcely kept it together as he approached them, even managing a smile, albeit forced.
He knew he wasn't paying attention to the movie and he snapped out of his frustrated musing when he felt her move next to him. She wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, merely shifting in her seat as her gaze was focused on the film. His arm was already resting on the back of the chairs due to his large frame and the small closely spaced seating and he smirked to himself. Slowly, he moved his arm from the top of the chair and gently rested it around her shoulders. He kept his gaze forward as he felt her lean closer to him and his chest warmed. All previous tension melted away as he allowed himself to enjoy the moment. He could easily smell her scent, his shoulders relaxing fully.
It was nice to be normal for just a moment.
REVIEW! Sorry for the long delay as always, finishing school, moving home, getting ready to move again to start an internship that will hopefully turn into a real grown up job (fingers crossed).
So a little bit of extra introductory things: school, perspectives from both Jo and Jacob, and little bit of the first date!
Next time, the normalcy will start to change, the supernatural side of things will begin appearing to Jo ;)
Hope you enjoyed! Your thoughts would be much loved as always!
