It's Time

Chapter 12

The author does not own any publicly recognizable entities herein. No copyright infringement is intended.

BPOV

Well, I did it. I told Jacob I would go out on a date with him. Surprisingly, I'm actually kind of excited about it. We're going to a poetry reading at the Charles River Coffee House. Jacob had originally suggested seeing some action movie called Face Punch, but I quickly nixed that idea and asked if we could go to the reading instead.

So here I am, nineteen years old and going out on my first date. Maybe it's not with the guy of my dreams, but at least, I'll be doing something I enjoy.

When I had told Mike about the date, I thought he was going to have a stroke. His face had turned purple, and he had seemed to lose his ability to speak for several minutes.

"Wh-What did you just say?" Mike looked at me in bewilderment after I told him my news.

"I said I'm going out on a date with Jacob tonight," I repeated, rolling my eyes at his dramatic reaction.

"You can't be serious! Why in the hell would you do something crazy like that?" His mouth thinned with displeasure.

"Of course, I'm serious. Why shouldn't I, Mike? I've never been on a date. I've never even been kissed by a boy!" I exclaimed.

"So you're interested in this Jacob fellow?"

I snorted and said, "No, not at all."

Mike gave me another confused expression. "Then why the date? I don't understand?"

"I just want to be normal. I want to go out on dates and do things like people my own age for once!"

Mike scrubbed his face with his palm. "I understand, but I just don't trust this guy. I've told you there's something off about him."

"He's harmless. Trust me."

"Well, you call me if he doesn't treat you like a lady, and I'll be there in a matter of minutes. You promise?"

"Jeez. I promise." He was getting so worked up over nothing.

"And God help us if Edward ever finds out," Mike muttered.

"How will he?" I asked, "you're not going to tell, and I'm not going to say anything to Carmen and Eleazar about it. He'll never know. Now stop worrying."

Jacob and I agreed to meet at the coffee shop. As much as I wanted to tell Alice about my date, I didn't want to put her in a situation where she might have to lie to her parents for me.

I also didn't want to depend on Jacob for a ride home. If I drove myself, I could leave as soon as I wanted. I would be in total control of the evening.

Me in control. How novel.

After grabbing a sweater and the can of pepper spray I promised Mike I would take with me, I drove across town to the small café, arriving five minutes before Jacob appeared.

"Hey Bells," he smiled before enveloping me in a hug.

"Hi," I replied while squirming my way out of his beefy arms, "the reading doesn't start for another thirty minutes. We have time to get something to eat if you would like."

"I could eat." Jacob turned and opened the door of the cafe. He strolled in letting the door slam in my face.

Amazed by his lack of common manners, I pulled the door back open and entered. He was already at the counter placing his order.

"What would you like?" he asked turning toward me, "Wait, let me guess. Some kind of salad, right?"

"No, I'm actually thinking about getting a piece of that chocolate cake," I said gesturing to a case, which held a plethora of desserts. "And I'll order and pay for my own food," I continued before adding, "but thanks."

Jacob just shrugged his shoulders and paid for his meal.

We sat down at a small table close to the stage. He took a huge bite of his sandwich and proceeded to ask me a question immediately afterward.

Charming.

"So, how long have you been living with the Cullens?"

I had been concentrating so hard on not watching him while he talked with his mouth full of food that I must have misheard him.

"Excuse me?"

"The Cullens. How long have you lived with them?" he repeated.

Do you know that feeling when the hair on the back of your neck stands up? I got that as soon as I heard what he had said. I couldn't recall ever telling Jacob about the Cullens.

But how else would he have known? I must have said something.

"Um, around six years."

"That's a long time. They take you in or what?"

"Something like that," I answered before attempting to change the subject. I wasn't sure why he was bringing up the Cullens, but it was making me uncomfortable. "Is your sandwich good?"

"It's okay. I've had better," he said before shoveling the remaining bit into his mouth. "You were pretty lucky to end up with such a rich family, huh?"

Unfortunately, I had just taken a bite of cake, and I began choking as soon as those words left his mouth. After taking a large gulp of water, I was able to collect myself enough to stare at him in confusion.

What in the hell was his deal?

After giving him a pointed look, I calmly stated, "I don't really think that's an appropriate question. Can we please stop talking about my family?

Jacob raised his hands in the air as if he were surrendering. "Sorry, I didn't know it was such a touchy subject."

"And I don't understand your interest," I snapped.

Luckily, we didn't have a chance for further conversation. Someone had walked up on the stage and announced the first poet.

As a young guy read his poem about his love of vodka - no lie, Jake inched his way closer to me and threw his arm around my shoulders.

Ugh.

The date had been nothing but a huge mistake. Jake had been nosey about my personal life, the poetry sucked, and now my face was pretty much lodged very close to a sweaty armpit.

"This is nice," he whispered in my ear during a break between poets. "I really liked that poem about Batman."

Yeah, you would have.

Taking the opportunity to shrug his arm off my shoulder, I turned toward him, "The poems are okay. Not really what I had expected." I looked at my watch and then back at Jake. "It's getting kinda late. I better get going since I have an early shift tomorrow."

Standing, I began putting on my sweater. He got up and grabbed my arm. "But, it's still early."

I glared to the place where his hand grasped my arm. Hadn't he ever heard of personal space? "Sorry, but I'm really tired." I gave in explanation.

"Well, how about seeing a movie tomorrow night? Or better yet, you can come over to my place and make me dinner or something?"

Wow! Way to woo a girl!

"Listen as nice as that sounds, I just don't think this is going to happen." I gestured between the two of us. "You're a nice guy and everything, but I'm just not feeling it."

Not even phased by my rejection, he asked, "So are you going to the Cullens' place tonight? Do they live close by?"

My internal warning bells began sounding off. Maybe Mike was right about Jacob after all. What was his sudden fixation with them? Deciding it was best to get as far away as possible from him, I just said goodbye and proceeded to walk to the restroom.

Not feeling confident about leaving by myself, I promptly called Mike.

"Bella? What's wrong?"

Not wanting to tell him over the phone, I lied. "Nothing's wrong. I'm not feeling the best. Do you mind coming to the coffee shop and driving me home?"

"I'll be right there," Mike answered before hanging up the phone.

I opened the door and peeked to see if Jacob had left. I didn't see him but decided to wait it out for a few more minutes.

The next time I checked, I saw Mike coming through the door.

With an exhale of relief, I jotted across the room. Mike could instantly tell something was amiss.

"Kid? What happened? Are you hurt?"

"No-No," I stammered, "Let's get out of here. I'll tell you in the car."

While he drove, I told Mike all about the date and what had occurred.

Mike slammed his fist against the steering wheel. "I knew that little fucker was dirty. Why didn't I trust my instincts?"

"It might not have been anything. Maybe he was just curious," I muttered sheepishly.

"Oh come on! I know you don't believe that shit for one second."

Just as I began to reply, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his jacket pocket to see who it was.

"It's Eleazar," he sighed before answering.

My stomach knotted. Why would he be calling Mike?

Their conversation was short, and Mike had barely said a word during the call. After he hung up, he looked over at me. HIs face was pale and pinched.

"What did he want?"

"Edward found out about your date. He's coming to get you."

Eleazar POV

Even though I was only fifteen minutes away from Wellesley, I found myself in dire need of a cup of coffee. Having spent the entire day in Boston taking depositions, I felt dead on my feet. If I didn't get some caffeine in my body, I didn't think I would be coherent enough to make the rest of the drive home.

After locating a cafe, I quickly parked and paid the meter. The scent of freshly roasted coffee greeted me as soon as I entered.

There appeared to be some type of event taking place. A large crowd was congregated around a makeshift stage, and there was a long line at the counter as well. I debated leaving and going somewhere else, but the two baristas were working at a quick pace, so I stayed.

As I waited in line, I watched a young man step on the stage and begin to read a poem.

Ode to Vodka? Seriously?

Chuckling to myself, I looked at the patrons to see whether they were as amused as I was.

That's when I saw her.

And she wasn't alone. She was sitting with a boy who had his arm around her.

Bella was on a date.

After promptly leaving the coffee shop, I got into my car. Panic bubbled in my chest, and I took several deep breaths to calm down.

What in the hell was Bella thinking?

Dear God that girl had no idea the can of worms she just opened. And where the fuck was Mike Newton? How could he have let something like this happen?

I pulled out my phone and dialed my nephew's number. He needed to know what was occurring. Their entire relationship was at risk.

Edward answered after one ring. "Hello, Uncle. Can I call you back in about an hour? I actually need to talk to you about something, but I am just about to take care of some business."

Knowing my nephew as I do, I knew he wouldn't want to wait an hour for this information. So I replied, "Fuck, Edward. It's somewhat urgent that I speak to you now. It concerns Isabella."

The grave tone of my voice must have made him nervous because he instantly lost his composure and screamed, "Is Isabella hurt? Is she sick? What's wrong with Isabella?"

"Edward … Edward, she's fine," I explained. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"So what's the matter?" he returned gruffly.

"It's just … she seems to have a date tonight," I muttered.

Instead of hearing the expected shout of expletives from Edward, a loud crash reverberated through the phone instead.

"Edward? Edward?" I yelled.

"Hello, Mr. Cullen?"

The voice on the other end of the line wasn't that of my nephew. "Who is this?"

"Hey, it's Jasper Hale. Edward just rear-ended a police car."

"What?" I asked unable to believe what I had just heard.

"Yeah, he hit a police car. Shit. Now he's beating up the police officer. I gotta go."

I was then met with the sound of a dial tone.

What the fuck just happened?

By the time I got home, my head was pounding. What a mess! Bella was out on a date with Lord knows who and Edward was more than likely in jail.

Carmen met me at the door to welcome me home. As soon as she saw me, she exclaimed, "Eli! What's wrong?"

"Love," I sighed. "You won't believe what just happened."

I walked through the foyer into the living room and plopped on the sofa. She followed and sat beside me.

She listened attentively as I recounted the entire story. How I had seen Bella on a date, the call I had made to Edward, and finally, how he had crashed his car.

"What was Bella thinking?" I demanded still frustrated by her actions, "Why would she jeopardize her relationship with Edward like that?"

"Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ," Carmen moaned, standing up. She began pacing the room and rubbing her hands together.

I shook my head, amused at my wife's choice of an expletive. She was obsessed with the Outlander series. Not only had she forced me to don a kilt for her enjoyment, but apparently she was also incorporating phrases from the book into her vocabulary.

The next words out of her beautiful mouth, however, shocked the hell out of me.

"Eli! Don't you see? You're the one who screwed up! Why in the world did you call Edward?"

AN:

Well, that date turned into one hot mess. In chapter 13, Bella discusses her fate with Carmen and Eleazar while Mike makes a discovery regarding Jacob.

Thanks as always to my beta, SunFlower Fran and my pre-readers, Gabby1017 and AllTheWayIntoTwilight.

And a huge shout out to my readers! You are all the best!

Until next time,

HE