"Dear Ocean, I think about you all the time."
000
Maybe it's too fantastic an idea; Mike invites them all to the beach a few days later. It's Tuesday when Mike brings up the idea. Bella's in the middle of thinking of making plans, with both old friends and new.
Biology and English with Rosalie are oddly quiet for most of the week. The other girl looks contemplative and while she's nothing but polite, responding to Bella's greetings, Bella gets the feeling that she's thinking over some important things.
Bella is actually a little miffed that Mike came up with plans first. It feels like she lost some sort of competition, which is ridiculous. It's mostly because Bella wanted to make the trip on her own, instead of going as a group. La Push is her thing, which (again) feels ridiculous. In actuality she's only miffed for about a minute or two. Then the strategic part of her brain takes over and she decides that company and a ride are good things.
But then she remembers that Lauren is gonna be there as well. Oh, well. The feeling is cancelled out by the knowledge that her best bud is going with as well. They decide on a date and Bella makes a note to run it by Charlie when he gets home.
By Friday morning, the excitement about going to the beach has built up. It won't be the same as going to the beach in California, for obvious weather reasons, but Bella looks forward to smelling the salty sea air and feeling the wind in her hair. Maybe she can get some cool looking photos with Angela. Have a pseudo photoshoot of some sort. That sounds like a plan.
Today also marks the day that Rosalie is less distant than she has been all week. They don't have a whole lot of downtime to talk in English but Bella's got a book out on the table. It's still Frankenstein and she can see that Rosalie is playing around with it. Bella leans over and begins taking out a notebook and pencil from her backpack. She sees Rosalie replace her bookmark when she sits up in her seat. She hopes it's still in the same spot. She's sure it is but careless people pulling out her bookmarks tell her otherwise. She's gonna ask the taller girl if she's read it but is interrupted by Mr. Mason handing out some grammar exercises to begin the morning.
Rude.
Then in Biology, Rosalie she asks about Bella's plans for the weekend. Bella has the brief, wild and crazy thought that the other girl is being extra talkative to make up for earlier in the week. "Oh, I'm going to the beach with Angela and a couple of other friends."
"Sounds lovely. Which beach?"
"La Push. Have you ever been?"
"Once, I think." Too late, Rosalie remembers their first meeting. She said she hadn't been. She wonders if Bella will notice.
"Only once? How come, too busy?"
"Something like that." A wry smile here. A small relief - it seems Bella has forgotten her answer from the library.
"Well… do you wanna come with? The more the merrier right? Though you might have to fight for a seat if you come with the rest of us." Perhaps she should've asked the others about inviting other people but now it's too late. She doesn't think they'll mind much. Seriously, the more the merrier. Rosalie's eyes glance downward for less than a split second and that reminds Bella that she is in possession of a heartbeat. She can feel it trying to break away. It's heavy and loud against her neck. She wonders if Rosalie can hear it. That would certainly be something.
There's a low chuckle and a small smile and it makes up for the rest of their quiet classes all week.
"I'm sure Lauren wouldn't stand a chance against me." At this, Bella bursts out laughing, drawing the attention of the neighboring students. Bella might've complained to her once or twice about her archnemesis! Not that Lauren is actually her nemesis but it's fun to pretend. They're supposed to be working on some worksheet or other with their partners; Mr. Molina doesn't look too concerned. "...but I'm afraid I'll have to decline. I've got some parts coming in this weekend."
"Oh, shoot. Maybe next time then. What's coming in?" Bella ignores the slight stab of rejection that isn't really rejection and does what she does best: ask questions. She thinks she's starting to get the hang of some things Rosalie mentions about cars but who really knows? Certainly not her.
Rosalie begins to explain, knowing full well that Bella hasn't got the foggiest idea of what she's talking about. Still… it's nice. Bella asks all the right questions since she's mostly clueless, but she's learning.
At lunch Bella confirms with the others how many people are going and in whose car for Saturday. She doesn't mention her rest of the day goes by slowly, as most Fridays do in high school. When school lets out, the first thing that Bella does is go home and bother Spoons for a bit. Eventually she ends up reading on the couch and falls asleep, Spoons curled up on her chest. The crash of a book falling to the ground is what wakes her up and he's none too pleased at the sudden jerk.
000
The selected day is only slightly warmer than usual, somewhere that just barely counts as the 70s. At least that's what her phone said when Bella glanced at the screen. It feels a little chillier than that and Bella, not yet accustomed to the colder weather, makes sure to bundle up warmly. It must be the wind. It's been steadily getting colder and colder and September is just a few days shy of October. The thought makes her think about her upcoming birthday briefly.
Charlie practically escorts her out the door. He is far more enthusiastic than Bella is about the entire thing. She supposes that he's happy about the fact that she's finally going out. She can't quite put her finger as to why she can't match his excitement.
She's driving her truck to Olympic Outfitters, which she thought was owned by the Newton's. Not being much of a hiking person, Bella has yet to pay a visit to the shop. Unless… she glances at her shoes with a vague sense of melancholy. Mm. She can reminisce about her running days some other time.
Taking the next turn, she spots a plethora of teens surrounding a couple of cars in the parking lot of the Newton's store. That must be it. Driving slowly, the crowd parts and Bella manages to park her truck without any accidents.
"Heya, Bella!" She cringes slightly at how happy Mike seems to see her and Jessica's resulting frown. That is it. That's the feeling she felt earlier. Mild dread at having to direct Mike's attention away from her and onto Jessica. Playing matchmaker is so overrated. Getting out of her car, she spots Angela. She speed walks to her best friend and practically glues herself to Angela's side while greeting Mike and Jessica.
"Hey guys," she gives a wave before continuing, "am I the last one?"
She moves her head from side to side, trying to spot everyone she knows from school. There's Tyler and Eric, chatting to some other boys. Then there's Lauren and some other girl that Bella may or may not have crashed into during gym class. They both shoot her dirty looks, while the latter begins to gesture with her hands. Probably about her ungraceful trip. Oh well, she can't please everyone.
"Nah. We're still waiting on Samantha and Jennifer. Lee's already here with Ben and Connor. Do we have to wait for anyone else?" Mike's looking at her and Bella gets the feeling that he's hoping she didn't invite anyone.
"Nope!" She replies, like a liar. Rosalie said she was busy so there's no way she would show up at the beach. Still, Bella hopes she isn't caught in a lie.
He gives her a smile at her response, giving Bella the impression that he was wondering whether or not she brought someone along.
"You wanna ride with us? It's either that or Lee's minivan." Seeing as Bella has no idea who Lee even was before today, she agrees to ride with them. "Cool, you can ride shotgun."
Bella squeezes Angela's arm tightly a couple of times. Damn it Mike, stop making everything so hard. How to deflect this, how to deflect this…
"Actually, Jess can take shotgun. I have to ask Bella some questions about our math homework." Bella squeezes Angela's arm in gratitude this time.
Mike looks somewhat perplexed, as though he can't decide between being disappointed about Bella's new seating arrangement or happy about Jess's new spot. Jess waves at another driver coming in, "Looks like Sam and Jennifer are here. Time to play human tetris."
Bella snorts at her comment. How many teenagers does it take to fit everyone in the cars? Apparently only two. The newcomers quickly greet everyone and take direct action, which makes it a lot easier. It's a tight squeeze but Angela ends up in her lap, along with Ben's shoes ("Sorry, Bella"). At least Angela is feeding her Twizzlers.
(Playing up to her earlier comment, Angela starts, "So… did you start the math homework?"
"I looked at it but not yet."
"Cool."
And that's that.)
Packed like sardines, Mike drives them all safely to LaPush beach. Bella thinks it'll be difficult to get everyone out but it's the opposite. Angela slides off of her when her door is opened and Mike drags Ben off of their laps through the other door. It's easy sailing from there.
Stretching, Bella feels a few things pop and sighs in sweet relief. She takes a deep breath and then another. While it is a little windy, the smell sure does make up for it. Moisture in the air. Next is salt and maybe a hint of something fishy. She crouches down and picks at the sand that's still mostly dry. With everyone out of the car, they start making their way down the beach.
It seems that Angela finally remembers her own comment from a few weeks ago. She pulls Bella slightly aside while the rest of the teens pass them, "So! Guess who else is in our math class?"
"You're still on that? Wow, persistent," Bella sighs dramatically, "who? Samantha? Jennifer?"
Angela contemplates this for a moment, briefly distracted again from her original train of thought. "Actually, yes. Jennifer sits right in front of us."
Oh. So that's why she looks somewhat familiar. Bella saw her enter their shared biology class. She receives a smack to her shoulder for her trouble. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Stop distracting me! It's Rosalie! She sits in the very back." Bella hushes her, somewhat thinking that the aforementioned girl will pop into existence at the very drop of her name. "And that was for ditching me in English!"
"You have Spanish right after! That's all the way across from biology!"
"And?! My very chivalrous bestie is supposed to walk me with me and gossip. Obviously."
They dissolve into a fit of giggles at Angela's words. "Right."
"No, but seriously, I don't know how you didn't notice. You just..." she trails off, unsure about finishing the rest of her sentence.
"I, what?"
"Nothing, nothing."
"No, no, now you gotta tell me. Bestie privileges, Angela." Bella reminds her.
Angela gives her a look. "Fine, fine. Just, don't stop doing it, it's funny."
"What's funny?"
"You perk up a little whenever someone mentions the Cullens."
"That's it? You pulled me aside for that?" Bella asks only somewhat incredulously, but it's true - she's got a slight smile on her face. Thought it's probably more from their recent antics than anything else. She thought it was something serious!
Angela gives her a shit eating grin. "Yep."
"Well, they are pretty cool… aw Ang, you're my bestieee. You're not being replaced."
"I know that! No, get away!" Angela can only think of how utterly oblivious her friend is while they run. She was hoping for a bit more of a reaction than that. Maybe some blushing or stuttering but again, Angela underestimated Bella's level of obliviousness.
They kick up billows of sand as they chase each other through the beach. Eventually, they end up back with the rest of the main group, where Mike is attempting to start up a fire. Bella collapses on the sand, out of breath and not caring where the sand ends up. She watches from her sideways viewpoint as Mike builds a teepee. The sand is wetter here than it was earlier, but only just.
"Arizona, you ever seen a driftwood fire?"
"No?" She's wondering about the nickname. It's an acceptable nickname, as far as nicknames go, but she doesn't particularly think of them as very close friends. Should she start calling him Mikey?
Nah.
She rolls over onto her forearms and army crawls to get a closer look at the driftwood, sand be damned. It's jagged and gnarly and protruding whole limbs in some other areas. Some of it is light and some of it is dark. She wants to take a piece of it home for some reason. That's her goal for today: find a cool stick and take it home.
Finally, Mike gets a small twig to start burning and settles it against the other logs. He surrounds the little flame with more twigs to fuel the fire. Bella scooches back so as not to be too close to the growing fire.
"It's purple," Bella blinks in surprise. Okay, that was wicked cool. She wasn't expecting that. "No, wait, blue! Ah."
The flames flicker between blue and purple and maybe even a hint of green. She stands up and brushes the sand off before sitting on one of the surrounding benches. It's so colorful that Angela leans down and Bella thinks it's about something important because she's got a serious face. Instead Angela just whispers, "Gay," and they dissolve into fits of laughter all over again.
Mike looks like he wants to ask what they're laughing about but then there's a rapid crunch of sand as someone walks over to their area. "Hey, Mike, don't start the fire yet, I brought some… oh, shoot. I brought some wood pellets."
"Why'd ya bring wood pellets for?"
"Because it's more environmentally friendly? C'mon Mike, get with the times."
"Yeah Mike, get with the times," Ben echoes Samantha's comment and teases Mike with a friendly laugh. Mike flushes red when the rest of the group laughs. "Give me that..."
He takes the opened bag from Sammy and sticks his hand inside to retrieve some pellets. He sprinkles them on the growing fire with a considerable flourish, and gives a dramatic chef's kiss when he's done. "There. Happy?"
"Very."
When Mike is satisfied that the fire will keep burning, he stands up to join the other boys in their chatter. Some few minutes later, he comes back with some news. "Yo, are we going hiking or what? Let's go see some tide pools!"
Tide pools! Bella had forgotten about the tide pools. They were her favorite thing as a child. The only downside was that she would often fall in.
She's not gonna fall in this time! Still, she remains sitting down for a little while longer. Angela's going and she's giving Bella a confused look. Finally Bella stands up and joins the expedition group, satisfied when it appears that Lauren and company is staying behind. They didn't seem prepared for hiking anyways.
The hike isn't too long, thankfully and they come out of the shaded forest path relatively quickly. Bella stops and crouches down at the first tide pool they come across. There's more up ahead and she'll check them out but only after assessing the area first. She's absolutely determined not to fall. This one has a little less color than the other tide pools but Bella thinks it's just as pretty. She stands up carefully before moving on to the next one. This one has more wildlife in it. She spots the obvious first - little fish, anemones, and barnacles. A couple of small urchins and starfish. She takes out her phone to snap a few pictures of the aquarium below her.
Too bad Rosalie missed out on this. It's a stray thought, floating in the back of her head.
She looks around and picks up a long stick. She can see a few people too close to the tide pools and leaning over. While Bella likes the bright colors of the starfish and other weird aquatic organisms, she doesn't touch them. No siree, she's watched too many documentaries for that. Nope. Instead, she pokes them gently with her stick to gauge a reaction. It's not a stick she'd like to take home so she'll keep looking for one.
She looks up and snaps a couple of pictures of the group, catching a few of them in midair as they jump from pool to pool. She calls Angela over and they have a little photoshoot, though they make sure to include Mike and Jess in the occasional photo. And anyone else that wants a photo, really. Bella ends up with multiple people's numbers as they all ask for her to send them the photos at the end of the day.
She tries to remember their names and faces but honestly, she'll just send a bunch of photos of everyone to every number. That seems easier. The group stays until hunger strikes like a plague, fast and with little chance of surviving without immediate attention. They start making their way back to the campfire for some food rather eagerly.
…
As they get closer to the campfire, Bella can see that their group seems to have doubled in size. With their bronze skin and straight black hair, Bella can see that the teens from the Rez have come to socialize. By the time Bella makes it closer to the fire, sandwiches are being passed around. She's handed a soda at some point and decides to drink whatever flavor it is. She's happily munching away when she spots Jacob.
She decides to approach stealthily and the can in her hand is somewhat cold. She approaches him and raises the can to his ear. There's a loud shriek and Jacob whirls around, ready to defend himself against further assault. "Bella!"
"Jacob!" She's grinning way too widely and she leans in to hug him, careful of the food items in both hands. Breaking apart, she walks a little away from the group for some mild privacy. "Hey, how've you been? Fancy seeing you here."
"I could say the same about you. What, no warning?"
"Of course not, gotta keep you on your toes. No Leah today?"
"Nah. She's too much of a sourpuss. Hey! I'm kidding, she and Seth are down with a stomach bug. They'll be fine."
"Too bad you aren't down with a stomach bug,"
"Excuse you? I am the best mudpie and sand castle builder this nation has ever seen. No stomach bug can keep me down."
"Oh, ho. That sounds like a challenge Jacob, and someone needs to knock you down a peg. Luckily for you, I am here. Just wait, hang on, I need to finish my sandwich first..."
Jacob rolls his eyes at Bella's comments and leads them closer to the ocean where the wet sand is bound to be firmer. Bella makes quick work of her sandwich and pops the soda can open. She chugs it down, carbonation be damned. When Jacob looks back, all he sees is a crumpled up soda can in hand. He crouches down on the sand and Bella does the same across from him. "You ready Bella?"
"Yeah. Wait, wait, no," she lets out a huge burp, one that spans several seconds. Wow, the carbonation really does act quickly.
Jacob lets out a bark of laughter at the imitation of a dinosaur roar, "Jesus Christ."
"No, I'm Bella." He throws some sand at her and they both take that as a signal to start. The competition is horrible but they don't care. Bella tries too hard and her attempt at a second story collapses. Jacob's is managing to look like a rounded square. In a last ditch attempt, Bella takes the tab off of her can and starts to decorate the sides of her creation.
"Hey, that's cheating!" Jacob swats at the item in hand but Bella dodges it and he ends up destroying what was left of Bella's construction.
"Hey! Cheater!" With Jacob's attack, Bella swats at his and it starts an all out sand war. By the end of it, they've both got sand all over their hair and clothes, and Bella's rubbing at her eyes while Jacob is spitting out sand particles.
"Man, it really is just like old times, isn't it?"
"All that's missing are the scary stories. I think we're a little old for the dangers of cooties, aren't we?"
Once, when they were younger, Jacob's sisters had told him about cooties and Jacob ended up ignoring Bella for a few days for fear of catching said cooties. Until he missed her company and forgot why cooties were icky in the first place. He told Bella a wild story about being sick with the most dangerous disease of all time, cooties. He was lucky to have survived. Bella never forgot about it and she brings it up every time, like now.
"Ugh, let it go already. I was 5!"
"Mm, cooties were very dangerous at that age, weren't they?" They start heading back to the campfire, mostly because they want more food. An enormous branch of driftwood had kept their sand competition hidden from view of the group. Bella spots something on the ground next to it. Knotted and gnarly, it's the perfect piece of driftwood. Luckily for her, it fits in her jacket pocket. She catches the eyes of a few people as they rejoin the group. Bella can wager a guess as to what they look like all covered in sand and away from the group for a few minutes.
"You two certainly look… friendly," Lauren greets them as they come closer, bringing about the attention of the nearest teens.
"Uh, yeah. We've known each other since we were kids. Practically my brother from another mother."
"How nice."
Bella doesn't appreciate her tone. At least Bella sounds more polite, "Yeah, it's very nice."
They're still making eye contact until Lauren looks away to pointedly glance up at the sky. She makes eye contact with Bella again as she speaks, gauging Bella's reaction, "It's such a lovely, sunny day. Too bad the Cullens aren't here to enjoy it with us. I don't think anyone invited them."
She says this with a voice full of faux concern and it's not convincing in the least. It makes Bella bit mad on their behalf. Bella opens her mouth to say something but another boy interrupts her.
"The Cullens? They don't come here." His voice is even like steel and just as heavy. She can see that Lauren is irritated by his unwelcome comment ruining whatever game she is attempting to play with Bella. Bella welcomes the interruption but is unsure what to make of his comment. His voice is too serious. It almost makes it sound like he's… implying something. Only, Bella hasn't the foggiest clue of what.
Bella turns towards Lauren, if only to have the last word, "Don't they like to go hiking on sunny days?"
Lauren ignores her, game done. Instead, Bella gets a response from the older teen. He scoffs and mumbles something that sounds like, "Hiking? As if..."
Now Bella is irritated. She observes the serious teen looking away towards the direction of the woods. She feels like there's a missing piece in this big puzzle but she's blindfolded. She can't tell what's missing or where. The only thing she can do is feel around. "C'mon," she nudges Jacob, "let's go get some more sandwiches."
They gather up some more food (and even marshmallows!) and they resolve to sit against some trees in the tree line, secluded and away but watchful of the group. "So who was that?"
"Who was-? Oh, you mean, him. That's Sam Uley," he finishes lamely, and with a shrug.
"You don't like him much?"
"Not really. He's so serious all the time. Sourpuss. Everyone thinks he's so great, for whatever reason."
Oh. So this was Sam Sam. Despite Bella's previous visits to the Rez during past summers, she could only ever recall Jacob or Leah mentioning him a handful of times. Wisely deciding that it's not something she wants to focus on at the moment, "What did he mean when he said the Cullens don't come here?"
"They're not supposed to come here," he repeats thoughtfully, looking at his sandwich like it holds all the secrets of the universe. He takes a bite out of it, slowly.
"But why?"
Jacob looks surprised, caught off guard somehow. Maybe his sandwich is seriously delicious. "Oh, um.. I'm not really supposed to say anything..." he says bashfully.
Bella leans back and away from him. She pops her soda open and takes a long sip of it, the bubbles burning slightly against her lips. She waits.
But not for long. "Well… I did promise you a scary story, didn't I?"
"You did," she confirms slowly.
"Just… don't tell anyone, alright?"
"Jacob, we're bros. I don't let just anyone destroy my sand castle. I'll take this scary story to my grave."
He cracks a smile at that. "We have these legends right? You know, supposedly we descent from wolves and all that. It's why it's illegal to kill a wolf here. Anyways..."
Bellal listens with rapt attention as Jacob portrays the wolves as the protagonists in his stories. He tells story after story about the wolves against some other type of creature, each time upping his details and embellishments of the next creature. He tells her about a trickster dryad and a dream eater, and Bella thinks that maybe he's mixing up his legends and mythology a bit but she's enjoying it nonetheless. Jacob, seeing that Bella isn't really spooked, decides to cross over to forbidden territory. "But I haven't told you about the cold ones yet."
"The cold ones?" Bella raises an eyebrow but almost on cue, the wind blows in their direction. She shivers but reaches over for the bag of marshmallows.
"Yeah. This legend is much more intertwined with our history, supposedly dating back to the wolves' origins ages and ages ago."
"Go on."
"Well, these wolves have plenty of enemies but their greatest enemy are the cold ones. They're the greatest enemy and yet, they live right under our noses!"
Wolves, and their one great enemy. Bella has the smallest of inklings about where he was going with this.
"And they live right under our noses because…?"
"Because they made a treaty with my great-grandfather, you see. He was a tribal elder, like my old man. The cold ones showed up but they were less dangerous than others of their kind. So they struck up a deal. They would keep to their side and out of our lands. We wouldn't bother them and vice versa."
"That's an interesting deal. But if they aren't that dangerous, why not just…?"
"A risk is still a risk, isn't it? This clan was supposedly less dangerous because they hunted animals for sustenance instead of humans."
"Alright, that's fair I suppose."
Seeing that Bella doesn't look even remotely frightened, Jacob decides to bring back the original topic that brought up the stories in the first place. "And the scariest part is, the Cullens are the exact same clan from great-grandpop's time."
Bella snorts into her soda and coughs. Once her coughing fit dissipates, Bella faces Jacob. She asks a little skeptically, "The exact same ones?"
"Yeah! But there's more of them now."
"Okay, just to be clear here... You're saying the enemies of your wolves are this clan, a clan which happens to be the Cullens?"
Jacob bites his lip. Okay, when she puts it like that it seems a bit far fetched. But he nods anyways. "Bella, what's a werewolf's great enemy?"
"Vampires. C'mon dude, you've seen Van Helsing with me." But despite what she says, Bella can make the implicit connection between the wolves, vampires, and the Cullens. She punches his shoulder playfully and shoves a marshmallow into her mouth. "Alright, that's a good story."
Jacob breathes out a small sigh of relief. "At least you think so. Everyone takes it so seriously around here. But seriously, don't mention it to anyone, least of all Charlie."
"I said I would take it to the grave didn't I? And what about my dad?"
"He got pretty mad at my dad when he found out that some of us weren't going to the hospital after Dr. Cullen started working there."
"Oh. Damn. I hope no one's getting seriously sick or something." That was news to her. And then Bella's brain begins comparing a few things that are probably not related at all. "That's a bit mean though. Didn't the Cullens just move here a year ago or so? I just moved here and I would hate it if Lauren started up some rumors. I'd be surprised if she hasn't."
She turns to him now, wanting to convey her sincerity in her next words, "Jacob, I'm so glad you're here. And Leah and Seth and Angela. I've never been the new kid before and it's so weird."
"Aw, Bells. You've been coming almost every summer since… since you moved away. You belong here."
"Thanks Jacob," she smiles widely and gives him a quick one-armed hug that catches him only slightly off guard. "Too bad you don't go to Forks High."
He's about to respond when they both spot two figures coming in their direction.
"Who's that?"
"My not-so-secret admirer obviously," Bella sarcastically replies, hoping that Jacob understands his company is much more appreciated than Mike's.
"Hey, there you are. Where've you been?"
"Oh, you know. Right here, sitting. Catching up," she motions to Jacob and he gives a small wave at Mike and Jessica.
"Oh. We're about to leave. Looks like it might rain soon."
"Ah, damn." She gives a frown to Jacob since she's gotta leave now, reluctantly. She stands up, brushing sand off from her pants. Man, what a mess she'll leave in the car.
"You better come visit soon. You don't have a new truck for nothing."
"Roger that, loud and clear. I'll even take a souvenir of my good time here," she cheekily replies and swipes the bag of marshmallows from his lap. A snack for the road ahead. "Bye Jacob, I'll see you soon!"
She follows Mike and Jessica as the message reaches different groups of teens and they start to regroup. Bella can sense that Mike wants to ask something but runs off in search of Angela before he can voice his question. Once she's in her sights, Bella appears next to Angela. She bounces around in place, eating her marshmallows and briefly wondering if she should attempt the chubby bunny challenge. She only gets to three marshmallows before Angela catches on and takes away her snack.
Curses.
Finally all the teens assemble around the cars and they try to recreate their earlier attempt at getting everyone settled in the cars. Human tetris indeed. Lauren steals shotgun from Jessica so she ends up in Angela's lap. Bella takes this as a chance to steal her snack back. Munching on the chewy substance, she watches the scenery pass by. She spots a few droplets beginning to form on the window. Rain sure does come either quickly and hard, or slow and steady.
They get to the parking lot of the Newton shop and Bella pulls up her hood even though the rain is barelyl a steady drizzle at best. She gets out and speeds to her truck. "Bye everyone, have a good weekend!"
Once inside, she turns the heater on full blast before turning it down once the truck warms up a bit. She drives home slowly, enjoying the way the wet road looks. She doesn't mind the dark clouds, all the grey and blue in the sky. The atmosphere is nice. It's been a good day and now she gets to go home and chill. Maybe read a book or something.
Wait.
Damnit, she's got math homework to do.
000
A/N 11/27/19 - Happy Thanksgiving to those who live in America and happy days to those who don't. Uhh, here's this gift for the holiday season. Heads up, I'm probably gonna be more busy next semester. I'm thankful to everyone who's checked out my story, added it to their fav/follows list, reviewed. Blows my mind. Every time. Leave a comment, maybe?
Pantheradraconis - Seriously, thanks for the criticism and advice! Love the overload of comments. Jess has biology after Bella, hence her not wanting to stick around. Crazy how you caught all the little details! That was Jennifer in the math class! Aka, the thirsty girl from Bio. Clarification will eventually come…
Horseshoefijzer - I'm so glad you smiled! My goal is to just have something that's nice, relatable, and funny to read. I'm also glad you liked chapter 8, I had a lot of fun writing it! Paige Turner's Species Unknown? I've yet to read it, unfortunately.
Working on some (R/B) side stories but probably won't post until they're (eventually) finished, if anyone's interested.
