A Little Bit Of Everything

"What are you going shopping for?" I asked Mackenzie as we both got back into his car.

"Clothes. I did not bring many and I'm getting tired of wearing the same things. And food." He added as an after thought. "Grocery shopping."

There was a short silence.

"Oh no. We're going to have to face the rest of the school tomorrow." He complained. "We're going to be attacked by...by..." He tried to find a name for the gossipers. "People like Jessica." He finished. "And I thought this morning was bad..."

"We can always take it back..." Stop sounding so hopeful!

"I don't think so, Bella."

Darn! It was worth a try though.

I thought about this morning. Riding in with Mackenzie... Back... Bike... Mackenzie talking with Jessica... and Becka...

"Hey Mackenzie," This starter got his attention. So much for nonchalance... "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Yeah, okay, he definitely knew something was up now. How often do I ask permission to ask him a question?

"Sure." He smiled at me. I swear, his teeth flashed like those people's in the peppermint gum commercials.

"Erm..." Darn. What was I doing again? Oh yeah! "What's going on between you and Becka?"

I had meant to do a whole careful build-up before snapping the trap with that question. As you can see, that plan fell through magnificently.

"Becka?" He looked confused. "Nothing."

"Mackenzie, I'm not stupid. It's horribly clear that something is going on there."

He sighed. "'I- I don't know what to tell you, Bella. It's not what you think but...it's just between her and...I can't tell you anything yet, but after tomorrow..." He frowned, not sure what to say. "I'm making this worse, aren't I?"

"Yes." I agreed.

Mackenzie and I had been going out for all of one day and he was already keeping things from me. You already knew he was keeping things from you, the voice in my head said. But that other stuff had been mythical world business. This was high school teenage drama.

He frowned as he pulled into the driveway outside my house.

"Look, Bella, I'm sorry that I can't tell you anything yet but there are reasons-"

Living up to my roll as 'the angst and melodramatic teenage girl in t

is high school drama' I scowled at him. "Whatever, Mackenzie." I tried to put all the anger I felt at the moment into those words without spitting. If I would have really wanted to play up my newfound teenage girl roll, I would have taken a moment to snap my fingers in a Z formation. Instead, I swept as dramatically as I could from the car and marched into my house without looking back. I only tripped a couple times, too and caught myself. That was a new record in the dramatic exit category.

I admit, it wasn't the best thing I could have done. But it was the most dramatic.

Once inside, I picked up the phone and found the Blacks' phone number taped inside the cupboard door. It only rang for a few seconds before Billy answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey Billy. It's Bella."

"Bella?" He sounded confused. "What can I do for you?"

"I need to talk to Jake."

He hesitated. "Jake is out with friends right now."

"Well, can you have him call me when he gets back." I said impatiently. "Tell him it's urgent. No," I changed my mind. "Tell him I figured it out. That I remembered."

"Okay, Bella." Billy drew out his words suspiciously. "I'll have him call."

"Thanks Billy."

"Take care of yourself, Bella."

I hung up and paced nervously. I knew Jacob would not call for a while so I took the phone into the living room and turned on the TV. On the TV guide channel I caught sight of a familiar name. Seven. Wasn't that the movie Mackenzie liked? I turned it to that channel and was immediately rewarded with images of gruesomely murdered bodies. Nothing like a bunch of dead bodies to take your mind off of things.

It was raining when I heard a soft knock on the door. The pattering of raindrops on the roof made me uncertain as to whether it wasn't just the rain so I ignored it until it came again, more insistent.

Who could it be? Charlie? But why would Charlie knock? And why was he home so early?

I opened the door. "Mackenzie?"

Mackenzie smiled at me, taking in the comfortable clothes that I had put on. He was probably imagining my role of the 'melodramatic teenage girl' going one step further with the role of 'depressed melodramatic teenage girl' where I would sit around in my PJs, eat ice-cream out of the tub and talk to my girl friends through a three way phone call. Darn it, I really needed to stop with this teenage girl thing!

"Hey Bella." He said quietly, no longer smiling. He looked down. His black hair was dripping wet and fell straight down into his eyes. "I just- I couldn't leave things the way they were when I dropped you off. I'm sorry and I want to explain what's going on. Can I come in?"

No. Yes. Maybe... "Sure." I moved to the side to allow him around me.

I led him into the living room and motioned for him to sit beside me on the couch.

He did, shaking his head and splattering me with droplets of water. When he was finished his hair spiked out in every direction. I had to clench my hands into fists to keep from smoothing it.

He caught sight of the TV and smiled but did not comment on it. "I didn't even meet Becka until the day I asked her to the dance." He explained. " I only knew that all the boys in the school agreed that you and Becka were tied for hottest girl in the school."

He noticed my blush and rolled his eyes. "That day, when I first walked in the school, I heard that Mike Newton had asked you to the dance and you had accepted." His hands clenched into fists. "I wanted to make you jealous, so I approached Becka that morning and realized her intentions were the same. She wanted to make Mike jealous. So we took each other for that reason."

Wow. Shocker on the whole 'Becka is crushing on Mike' part. I looked down at both of our hands which were in identical positions, curled into fists on our knees. "I was jealous." I whispered.

He nodded. "But with no reason. Anyway, we were trying so hard to make the two of you jealous but ended up only succeeding with you and even then you did not show it. It was infuriating. Anyway, Mike barely even looked at Becka...but, I mean, he had you so why would he?" He touched my arm lightly. "Now we're in a situation. I promised to help Becka with Mike but he shows no interest in her. And tomorrow I have to try to do something. Any ideas?"

"Just ask him straight out. I find that always works well. Here, practice on me."

"Wait, does this mean I'm forgiven?" He asked, looking hopeful.

"Yes. Now ask me out."

"This is weird!" He complained. "I'm practicing asking Mike Newton out on my girlfriend! Do you think Mike likes pick-up lines?"

"Just do it!"

"Hey Mike." Mackenzie said, trying to keep a straight face.

I lowered my voice several octaves. "Yes, Mackenzie?"

He fought a smile."How much does a polar bear weigh?"

"I don't know..."

"Enough to break the ice. Did you just fall from the sky?" Before I could answer, he continued. "'Cause you're out of this world!" He winked.

"Did you just call me an alien?" I asked, sounding perfectly affronted.

"Are you from Tennessee? 'Cause you're the only ten I see!"

I thought about that for a few seconds. "Oh! I get it!" I had stopped using the deep voice.

"You've never heard these before?"

"Um. No."

"These are the most over-used pick up lines in the book! You're telling me guys don't use these on you?" He looked shocked.

"Guys don't hit on me." I told him. "Mike was the worst...well, you know, after you. But even he has calmed down about it."

"None of the ex-boyfrie-"

"Only ever had one boyfriend." I reminded him, looking away at the TV and trying not to remember what had once been...pet name- Bed.

Mackenzie let out a hiss like breath. "And I'm not allowed to know what the ex's name is, am I?"

I shook my head.

"I suppose that's a good idea. If I knew his name I could probably hunt him down for hurting you like this..."

Slowly, carefully, he wrapped his arms around me, drawing me close.

"I'm not hurt." I whispered, allowing myself to be drawn closer and taking comfort against his cold body.

"For him to be more alluring to you than me...this guy must have been a bloody god." He joked.

When I did not answer, he tucked his face under my ear, burying it in my hair. "I don't know him, do I?" He asked in a whisper. "I mean, it's not Mike, is it?"

I almost laughed. "No. Definitely not Mike."

"Good." He muttered. "Because Mike is mine."

I did laugh at that. "You can have him. As long as I get Becka."

"Hmm..." He seemed distracted. "Nevermind. If I can't have you, no other woman can."

"Fair enough."

Now that we were getting along so well, I pulled back so that his face was visible again. He was smiling widely, his eyes shinning. The only thing that was not perfect was his still messed up hair.

I reached up, running my fingers through it to try to get it back to it's normal shape. It did not cooperate. The more I tried, the angrier I got. And the angrier I got, the more pronounced Mackenzie's smile became.

I employed the other hand, turning to face him in his circle of arms.

He raised his own hands to my hair. He wound individual pieces around his long fingers, trying to make curls.

I used my palms, trying to flatten his hair to the sides of his head. I kept my hands there. Maybe if I held it down long enough it would stay...

He gripped my face between his hands the same way that I was gripping his. He inclined his face closer, eyes transfixed on my mouth.

Say something! "By the way, I never accepted Mike's offer to take me to Homecoming." My breathy whisper stopped his lips just moments before they touched mine. Lame thing to say, but it worked.

Mackenzie looked confused.

"My dad accepted without asking me. I guess he was trying to make me move on or something. Best interests at heart or whatever. To me it was just a pain in the butt."

Mackenzie was watching my lips move, looking entranced. "Fascinating story, Bella." He said absently, moving his face a little closer...going in for the kill...

"Don't." I whispered, cringing as the word flew out of my mouth.

Mackenzie looked a little surprised but covered it well as he quickly leaned away.

I had dropped my arms at some point during the ordeal...probably about the time that all of my limbs went numb.

"Sorry." I muttered miserably.

"It's fine." He said nonchalantly. "Kissing isn't important to me, anyway." I could still see the burning disappointment behind his casual mask but that only made me more confused. "Huh?"

He shot me a quick smile. "I mean, how is kissing any different from..." He picked up my hand. "This?'' He quickly let go as to not upset me any more.

"I don't quite understand." I admitted.

"It's like the word love. It's overglorified and oversimplified. It's been thrown around so much that it's lost it's meaning.I could say," He reached over and touched my face. "'I love you' or I could say 'I love vertical striped pants'. They use the same word but have different meanings. So it is with kisses. Kisses can range from a husband kissing his wife to two people who hate each other kissing during a game of spin the bottle." He smiled a little, totally relaxed and glanced at the TV. "I love this part. Where the guy mails him his girlfriend's head...gets me every time."

Did he have ADD?

I stared at him. Because it seemed like the worst thing I could do, and because it was clearly not what he has expecting, I kissed him. Actually, it was less of a kiss and more of a- I dove at him and my lips were lucky that they managed to touch his. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, diving into the mouth of a vampire, but I'm not really known for making the smartest decisions, am I?

Mackenzie, however, seemed more than fine with it. He seemed surprised, turning into unresponsive stone for a moment, then he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer.

Little sparks went off where we touched, our lips, his hands on my back, our chests. I knotted my fingers in his still wet hair. Damn it, I was messing it up again.

A small, surprised sound pulled me back into reality. Mackenzie and I both fell apart at the exact same moment, looking at the door frame leading into the hall in shock.

Jacob Black was standing there, looking disgusted. "Sorry. I just... Billy said...I'll come back later."

"No, Jake. We need to talk. You just...caught me at a bad time." I hated that my voice came out breathless.

Mackenzie coughed. "Good time."

"No."Jacob said, shaking his head and trying not to look at us. "I'll just call...later. I dropped the truck off. Good as new...or, at least, as good as it was before." He smiled weakly. Suddenly his eyes glazed over and he started walking roboticly towards the door.

I immediately recognizd that Mackenzie was controlong Jake so I pushed Mackenzie. He did not move but he seemed to realize that I touched him. He looked over at me, expectantly.

"Stop that!" I ordered angrily.

Suddenly Jacob burst back into the room, looking murderous. "What was that?!"

"What was what?" Mackenzie asked innocently, wrapping his arm possessively around my waist.

"You know what." Jacob hissed.

"Stop it! Both of you! Charlie is going to be home soon so both of you are going to have to leave. Well, at least Mackenzie...Charlie likes you, Jacob."

"He doesn't like me?" Mackenzie pouted.

"I'm not sure. I think the fact that he can't remember you name might tell you something..."

"Aren't you going to tell him that we're together?"

Jacob gagged.

"Um. I don't know..." I answered. "Do I have to?"

"Wait." He held up a hand. "You're Jacob Black?"

"That's what they call me." Jake said, sarcastically.

Mackenzie stood up. Jacob was taller, closer to seven feet than Mackenzie's six feet. "Oh, so you sent me the Welcome to Forks letter?"

"Welcome to F-? Oh... Yes."

Mackenzie pulled an envelope out of his pocket. "Here is my...thank you letter. I was going to send it with Bella but, since you're already here..." Mackenzie shrugged then froze. He shot me a look. "Bella, am I still not allowed to mess with Charlie's mind?"

"Don't you dare. Why?"

The front door opened. "Bella! I'm home!"

What a strange day.

Disclaimer- The situation hasn't changed. I am not Stephenie. -blink- Not now either.

Review 'cause you know you want to... and 'cause it's my birthday! YAY!