An Interesting Discussion

It has been three days since Halloween. Three days of mindlessly following classes, three days of ignoring Lauren and spending my time with Angela and Mike, who turned out to be surprisingly funny. Three days of wondering why I knew Jacob and why he wasn't scary to me at all, even though I knew he drank human blood.

And three long days without the Cullens.

After Edward´s little talk, he got up and left. Alice came into his room immediately after and handed me my stuff, without looking at me or addressing me at all. It was clear they discussed everything while I was asleep.

I freshened up and when I entered the living room, no one was there. I tried if I could hear them, but they were all extremely silent.

I felt bad. I knew I had no reason to feel bad as I had absolutely no clue who the fuck Jacob was, but still… This silent treatment felt too harsh and made me feel worse than I already did.

¨I´m sorry, I have no idea who he is,¨ I whispered, in the hope they could still hear me and I hoped Jasper could feel my anguish and tell Edward about it.

He didn't.

So here I was, three days later, discussing my homework with Angela while keeping myself occupied bickering with Mike.

¨I´m telling you, Bella. If you would actually try not to hit me with your tennis racket next time we have to play, you might actually be good. Hell, I´ll even treat you to a soda afterwards.¨

¨But where's the fun in that, Mike?¨

He smiled sheepishly and I hoped he wouldn't bring up the soda part again. Like, Edward was away for a few days, but literally everyone knew we were in a relationship anyway. So, of course I wouldn't go on a date with Mike! If he meant it as a date, of course. It would be awkward if he meant it as a drink between friends and I made all kinds of assumptions about it. I was so dumb, of course Mike knew I was in a relationship with Edward! Stupid me!

At least, I hoped Edward and I were still together. I mean, what kind of boyfriend ignores his girlfriend for a few days? He actually ghosted me.

Yes! What kind of boyfriend does that? It makes no sense at all and it was way too harsh. Who does that? Especially because Edward knew I wouldn't lie to him.

¨Bella?¨

I mean, he couldn't read my mind but he knew me better than that. And Jasper knew me better than that. And what kind of sick individual lies to everyone about not remembering anything from her past?

That´s sick.

And to think Edward thinks that about me?

That's even sicker.

¨Bella!¨

I snapped out of my daydream and turned to Angela.

¨Yes?¨

Her worried expression told me I had zoned out for a long period of time. Stupid Edward. Even if he weren't here, I still acted weird just thinking about him.

¨Are you alright? You've barely touched your food.¨

I looked down at my untouched sandwich. ¨I wasn't really hungry, I guess.¨

Mike winked at me. ¨I sure hope you´re thirsty.¨

I frowned. Why would I be…? Oh right. Edward was gone for literally one second and Mike´s inner knight came peeking through. Maybe I could sabotage his stupid bet by hitting him in the face with my tennis racket. Hard. That´ll teach him for sure.

¨Where´s Edward?¨ Angela asked, ending my lovely revenge plans.

Mike signed and looked away. Oh yeah, he was asking for that racket.

I turned to Angela. ¨I don´t know,¨ I mumbled to the table.

Luckily for me, she understood and didn't ask further. I swear, she was amazing.

Mike usually was also. But not today.

¨Why don't you know where your own… boyfriend is?¨ he asked. I looked up at him and wished I could see the annoyance on his face. Or irritation. Distress. Anything.

But instead, he was open and curious. It was a question a friend would ask. A friend that was genuinely curious what the answer would be.

And I didn't want that, so I lashed out.

¨He's not my dog and I don´t own him. Jesus, he's just away for a few days. Get a grip.¨

I took my uneaten sandwich and dashed out of the cafeteria. Regret soon followed, but I was too stubborn to turn around and get back to them.

Mike was an ass. Edward was an ass. Jacob was an ass. I was an ass. Everyone was an ass. I contemplated going home, but that would mean defeat. I wouldn't back down and wait for my boyfriend to return. I would go on as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.

So, I went to my PE class. Mike avoided me, but somehow we got paired up as tennis partners.

During tennis, he didn't speak to me. Not even when I managed to not hit him for a change. He kept his distance and I figured I was angry at the Cullens, not at him.

¨Hey Mike.¨

I jogged to him before he went to the locker room. He nodded.

¨I wanted to apologize for my behaviour during lunch,¨ I blurted out.

He started smiling. ¨Does this mean we´ll be sharing a soda soon?¨

Wait, what. That's not what I said. I only apologized for lunch, damn it. I opened my mouth to tell him we won't be getting together for that, but he quickly nodded and went straight for the boy's locker room.

While I undressed myself and put on my usual dress, I thought about possible excuses I could come up with.

We could go with multiple people.

It would just be a friendly thing.

And Edward could see what he really thought of it. Maybe Mike also saw it as just a friendly thing.

Wait.

Edward wasn't here. The lump in my throat that arose three days ago, grew and grew until my eyes became wet.

I grabbed my car keys and made my way over to my car. Luckily, the windows were already wet from the constant drizzle, so nobody would see I was crying.

Not that I cared if they did anyway.

Someone knocked on my door and when I looked up, I saw Mike. I quickly wiped my tears away and pretended my face was wet from the rain.

And he pretended he didn't see anything suspicious.

¨I'll see you tomorrow, drive safe.¨

¨Thanks, you too,¨ I tried to say as cheerfully as possible.

I don't think I could've fooled him.

During the short drive to my house, I tried to come up with a plan while I let my tears run freely.

First, I would bring Edward and the rest of the Cullens back. I didn't know how I would do that, but he couldn't just leave. He couldn´t. I would drive to his house and throw a brick through his window, every day from now on, until he came back. And then, I would throw the same brick to his head for leaving me without saying a word. That was unnecessary.

Second, I needed more information about Jacob. Why wasn't I not afraid of him? Would my parents know more about him, or would I have to ask Edward? Or Rosalie, perhaps?

I shivered. Rosalie was by far the most intimidating vampire out there, so I wouldn't exactly want to ask her.

But, if I didn't have another option, I would have to ask her.

And third, I was for ninety-nine percent sure that Mike knew we were only friends and we would only be friends, but I needed that one extra percent. So, I could ask Edward as soon as he arrived back in Forks.

Perfect.

I parked my car and shouted for my parents. They weren´t home. As soon as I entered the kitchen, I noticed a paper on the dinner table.

´Daddy had to work a late shift and I'm hiking to gain inspiration for my new book. Dinner´s in the oven.´

Well damn, there goes my plan to ask them.

I pressed ´on´ on the oven and let the smell of basil and garlic fill the kitchen. It was soothing. I closed my eyes and let myself enjoy the smell of my favourite lasagna.

I inhaled deeply.

And noticed something else.

There was another smell. And it was something familiar.

Wet dog.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I realised what that meant. I opened my eyes and turned around. Where was he? He had to be here somewhere.

I ran to the hallway. He wasn't there.

The living room. Wasn't there.

I rushed upstairs. How familiar and easy I felt three days ago, now I didn't feel at ease anymore. Maybe because I was alone?

I eventually found him in my own room. He sat on the chair I always sat in if I needed to snuggle away with a book. He looked out of the window and nodded his head.

¨Bella, Bella, Bella, were you playing hide and seek?¨ Jacob teased me.

¨What are you doing here?¨

He frowned. ¨Just checking if you really don't remember me, or if it´s a cover-up.¨

I grasped. ¨What do you mean? Why would I need a cover-up? I´m not bad or anything! What are you talking about!?¨

My shoulders began to shake and my break quickened. I couldn't think straight anymore. What did he mean?

Jacob stood before me in a flash and wrapped his arms around me. Instead of shoving him away, I let him hug me.

It felt comfortable.

¨I was just joking,¨ Jacob whispered. ¨You´re not bad. Apparently, your head is fucked up. But you´re not bad.¨

His words did nothing to calm me down. And it all didn't even make sense. Everything I knew was right, turned out to be wrong and I´ve had a shitty week. Damn it, why can't I have a normal week like everyone else! I wanted to smack a wall or have a tantrum. Scream, yell, cry, sleep. Anything to let go of this nagging, annoying feeling.

I swallowed a new wave of fresh tears away and took a step backwards. I frowned and opened my mouth.

Before I could say anything, Jacob held his hands in front of him.

¨Listen here, vampire, I don't have long to talk, but...¨

¨I´m not a vampire,¨ I quickly interrupted him.

He rolled his eyes. ¨Listen here, hybrid, I don´t...¨

¨I´m also not a hybrid.¨

¨Fine, fine. Half-hybrid, whatever,¨ he smirked. ¨Just as annoying as ever. But anyways, my family will probably wonder where I am, so I'm off now.

If you suddenly remember more, I'm never too far away.¨

He winked and turned to leave out of my window.

¨Is that a promise or a threat?¨ I stuttered, too perplexed to actually realise what was happening.

He hopped out of the window. ¨Whatever you need, sugar,¨ I heard him say.

I ran to the window and tried to find him, but he managed to run off too quickly for my half-hybrid eyes to spot.

The sudden ping-sound from my oven brought me back to reality.

What just happened?