Eyes Wide Open

JacobxBella

Rated M

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or the franchise, as it belongs to Steph Meyers

Eyes Wide Open

Chapter 9

Ever since she had escaped the diner with Jacob to get away from Edward, Bella felt as if she was constantly looking over her shoulder. She would always feel as if she could feel him lurking around, but she couldn't prove it. She had returned home later that evening of the diner incident and couldn't even fall asleep. She was so paranoid she locked her window and had even requested for Charlie to either nail her window shut or put some sort of alarm on it so should it ever open and she didn't do it. He had been confused by her request but agreed and had ordered an alarm system for her room.

Bella had returned to wearing her boot, her leg having been hurting from leaving it the night she fled home after breaking up with Edward. She had also gotten back to studying for her exams, Angela coming over to help her as well. Before she knew it, it was the week of exams and Charlie was dropping her off at school. She got out of her dad's police cruiser, Charlie doing the same after parking in front of the school and walked with his daughter into Forks High School and to the principal's office. Bella felt the change of hard flooring to carpet through her white stick and was led over to the front desk.

"Hi, I'm Bella Swan. I'm here to take my exam," Bella greeted the secretary, her grip tightening slightly on her white stick.

The secretary looked up from her computer and at the brunette and nodded saying, "Yes, one moment please." She looked through a few papers on her desk before saying, "Ah, Isabella Swan, here you are. You are to take your exams in the cafeteria every morning before lunch and can leave when you finish if you wish. Your proctor will be there with a tape recorder for your verbal answers, as well as to explain your answers. Written answers will be done so via keyboard on an awaiting laptop and calculator will be provided when need be. Seeing as your first exam today is English, you won't be needing a calculator just yet. Follow me, Miss Swan."

Bella nodded and heard the secretary stand up from her desk. Turning to her dad she gave him a small smile and said, "Wish me luck."

Charlie smiled and hugged Bella, giving her a kiss on her forehead before saying, "You'll do fine, kiddo. Just give me a call when you're done and I'll come to pick you up."

Bella nodded to that as she had figured out how to use her cell phone despite her blindness early on. A gentle hand was placed on her shoulder and she heard the secretary say, "Come along, dear."

The brunette followed the secretary to the cafeteria, the secretary not rushing her along. Before long they reached the school's eating area and she was led to a table where her proctor was waiting on her. The proctor smiled at the girl and held out his hand saying, "Isabella, it's nice to meet you. My name is Henry and I'll be your proctor for the week."

Figuring Henry was probably holding out his hand Bella reached forward and allowed for him to take her hand, shaking it as he did so. As she released his hand the secretary said, "Henry is a sophomore from Washington State University studying in education for the blind and has agreed to be your proctor for the week."

"That's nice of you," Bella said with a small smile.

"It's no trouble, really. My little brother is blind as well and I wanted to contribute to helping those that are visually impaired."

Bella smiled and nodded before tapping her white stick against what she believed to be one of the cafeteria seats, pleased to hear that it was. Sitting down she heard the secretary leave, leaving her and Henry to themselves. As she sat Henry told her how they would begin when the bell rang to signal the start of the exam, but until then they could talk. He seemed like a friendly guy and Bella found that in a way, he reminded her of Angela. Of course he seemed to come off too friendly a bit and she couldn't help but asked, "Henry, you're not flirting with me are you?"

Henry looked alarmed by the sudden question before laughing and answering, "No, no I'm not. Sorry, I tend to be really friendly and many girls think I'm flirting with them. I promise I'm not, Isabella. Besides, I don't think my boyfriend would like it if I was."

"Oh, I'm sorry to assume. And yeah, I don't want to deal with an angry boyfriend, especially one I can't see."

The two of them laughed at Bella's little joke, the bell ringing not long after. Henry shook his head to rid himself of his mirth and got into a serious mode of being a proctor, starting the tape recorder and beginning the exam. Bella took a deep breath and placed her fingers on the keys of the laptop in front of her, ready to type in answers or say them should she have to.

Two hours later the bell rang signaling the end of the exam period for the day. Bella stretched her fingers from where she had been typing and allowed Henry to take the laptop from her, saving the document she had been using to type her answers on. He also turned off the tape recorder with her verbal answers and said, "That concludes your English exam, Isabella. I will pass your answers off to your English teacher and you are free to go for the day."

"Thanks Henry," Bella said as she took her white stick from the table and extended it so she could use it again. She stood up from her seat and heard Henry finishing packing up as she pulled her cell phone from her pocket. She opened it and pressed the speed dial button, immediately calling Charlie. He answered after a few rings and she let him know she was finished for the day. Charlie told her he was on his way as he was already out of the station before hanging up.

Henry moved next to her and asked, "Your dad picking you up?"

Nodding Bella said, "Yeah, I'm just going to wait for him outside."

"Alright, then I'll at least walk you to the front door before going to your teacher."

The two of them headed for the exit of the cafeteria and stepped out of it. Just as they did, a voice said, "Bella."

Bella stopped immediately and her body tensed, her grip on her white stick tightening considerably. Taking a deep breath to calm herself and act somewhat normal in front of Henry she said curtly, "Edward."

"I haven't accepted that we've broken up. Now please stop this nonsense and come back to me."

"Edward, no. I'm not getting back together with you. I told you my reasons for breaking up with you, now I'd like you to leave me alone. You showing up like this out of nowhere is annoying and I don't like it."

Henry looked between the two teenagers and frowned. Looking at Edward he immediately concluded that the dude was a creep among creeps and probably was a pretty rich boy that didn't take rejection well. And the moment he showed up he had noticed how Bella's whole demeanor had changed. Deciding to diffuse the situation before it even escalated (because he had a feeling it would), he said, "Excuse me, Edward was it? Listen, Isabella just took a long exam and she's probably tired and doesn't want to deal with any shit you're trying to dish out. Not to mention you seem to make her nervous. I'm not going to claim to know anything about your relationship with her, but don't be a creep about it all, okay? Because you come off very creepy, especially with those amber colored eyes and the dark circles under them."

Edward was absolutely shocked by what Henry had boldly said to him. Bella was too, but she couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Henry had called Edward creepy to his face. Henry gave Edward a rather challenging look as if to dare him to refute his statement before taking Bella's free hand and guiding her to the front doors of the school, leaving Edward standing looking wide-eyed and stupid.

As they stepped outside of the school Bella said, "Thanks for that, Henry."

"It's no problem. Besides, I think your dad is here anyway," Henry replied as he watched a police cruiser pulled up with a man that resembled Bella. However it was the other man in the passenger seat that caught his attention as he stepped out of the cruiser. "Now who is that tall glass of water?"

Bella blushed as she took in the golden aura coming towards her and said softly, "Jake."

Jacob grinned as he walked up to Bella and hugged her saying, "Hi Bells. Charlie stopped by the Res for a little bit and I asked him to let me come with him back to Forks. He got your call not long after we crossed over. How'd your first exam go?"

Returning his hug Bella answered, "I think it went well. Jake, this is my proctor for the week Henry. Henry, this is my best friend Jacob."

Henry shook Jacob's hand and noticed his slightly narrowed eyes looking at him almost suspiciously. Chuckling he said, "I'm not interested in Bella, if that's what you're thinking. I already told Bella I have a boyfriend."

Charlie laughed at Jacob's embarrassed expression and said, "Chief Swan, Bella's father. I'm trusting you to look out for her during her tests."

"I am, sir. I even got a chance to meet that weirdo ex-boyfriend of hers."

"Oh? And how did that meeting go with the little twerp?"

Bella snickered and said, "He called him a creep to his face."

Jacob smirked and gave Henry a fist bump. Charlie nodded in approval and the three of them bid Henry 'farewell' before they climbed into the police cruiser and left the premises. As they drove to the Swan house so Charlie could drop Jacob and Bella off, Jacob said, "By the way Bells, Ms. Opal wants you to visit again. Either that or she can come visit you."

Grinning at the prospect of seeing the kind woman again, Bella said, "I'd like that; I've missed her."

Charlie looked at Bella in the rear-view mirror and said, "I've heard you talk about her and she sounds like a nice lady. I think I'd like to meet her as well. You know, formally introduce myself."

Both Bella and Jacob turned to look at Charlie, though only Jacob could see his expression. Taking in the chief's slightly red face he said, "She's married, Charlie."

Charlie spluttered in response, claiming that that wasn't why he was saying he wanted to introduce himself, his obvious lie causing the two teens to laugh. Bella shook her head said with a giggle in her voice, "You're funny, dad."

Later that evening Bella sat in her room studying for her exam the next day as Charlie installed the alarm system in her room around her window. He still didn't understand why she wanted it there in particular, but he didn't question it. Before long he was finished putting it in and set the alarm before saying, "Alright kiddo, the alarm is set up, just like you wanted."

"Thanks dad," Bella replied as she looked towards him, pausing her finger moving along her notes in Braille.

Charlie ruffled her hair and sat down on her bed with her, picking up some of her notes and looking at the written words above the Braille translation. It looked like she was studying for history. Putting her notes back down he said, "You're going to do just fine tomorrow, just like how you did today."

Bella smiled at her father before nodding, going back to studying. She felt Charlie stand up and head to leave her room, only to hear him stop briefly. Looking up towards him she asked, "What is it?"

There was a moment of silence before Charlie asked, "Is Ms. Opal really married?"

The brunette raised an eyebrow at the question, a teasing smile forming on her face. She couldn't blame Charlie for showing interest in the woman, though he had never met her. She always spoke so highly of her, so she could understand Charlie wanting to meet her. She was surprised he seemed to want to come out of bachelorhood. Either way she nodded and said, "Yes, she is. But you can still meet her, though."

Charlie nodded before leaving Bella to study, ignoring her giggle as he left. Once he was gone, Bella continued studying, only to hear her phone go off. Grabbing it she heard it tell her she had a text message. Angela had programmed her phone to speak text messages to her whenever she received them, so she opened it to hear who it was from.

"You have a message from Jacob Black. Message says: Just thinking about you, Bells. I hope you sleep well and good luck tomorrow on your exam. I'll pick you up afterwards and we'll hang out, if that's alright with you. Good night, honey."

Bella smiled at the sweet message and replied to it, a blush on her face. She set her phone aside and began studying again, though her mind kept whirling with Jacob's sweet words.

Jacob looked down at his phone as it buzzed, alerting him to an incoming text message. Seeing it was from Bella he opened it and read it, a happy grin appearing on his face. He ignored Billy's knowing look as he closed his phone and set it aside before looking back at the television. Even so, his mind relayed the girl's message, his heart fluttering at her sweet message.

Thanks Jake, and I would love to spend time with you tomorrow. I always love spending time with you and wish I could all of the time. I'll see you tomorrow. Sleep well tonight, Jake.