A/N: Sorry for the long wait. School started so it cut into my writing time. Excuse any mistakes this chapter might have. Anyways I do have to say that this story is going to have to disregard whatever happened in Breaking Dawn to be continued. In that end note enjoy and keep reviewing, I really appreciate it for those who have reviewed or added me to alerts or favorites.
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the wonderful Twilight series as well as Edward and Jacob, sadly ;).
CHAPTER 6: Snow Day
The window fogs from my breath
My face pressed up close, up close against
Catching the snowfall under a beam of streetlight
And praying for accumulation all through the night
- The Honorary Title
It was Christmas Eve and the house was complete chaos. You could see my mom running around the kitchen cooking. She was cooking pozole and tamales. The table was full of appetizers and desserts. She was going crazy, yelling at whoever dared enter the kitchen. She nearly smacked my dad for him having snuck away an empanada. My dad made a quick escape. In order to avoid my mother in her crazed fit I hid in my room. My sister, who had come down for the holidays, had the same thought. She had gotten here last night.
"So Dad told me about your damsel-in-distress moment," Olivia teased. She had gotten home late; by the time she arrived I was completely dead asleep.
"Ugh, it was a stupid mistake," I replied. "I'd rather not talk about it."
"Ok, fine. Then what about this boy who saved you?" Olivia wiggled her eyebrows.
"Um, he's my friend," I enunciated each word hoping that the message had gotten through to her.
"Okay, fine you don't want to talk about it," Olivia looked disappointed at the lack of gossip.
"He'll be here today; I invited him and a few other friends. We'll see if they can come," I told her. The news caused her to brighten.
"So you are making friends here, see it isn't so bad," She pinched my arm softly. I threw her a look.
"I'm managing, Olivia. I'm getting used to it, but I still want to go home," I said. "I'm not like you. I don't have the desire to experience new places. I was planning in staying in Arizona."
"Amy, don't think of it like that. Remember home is where the heart is," She said as she got up from my bed. She hopped over the air mattress she slept in to get to her suitcase. I watched her pull her clothes from it, searching for a good outfit for the party, before answering.
"I know, and my heart stayed in Yuma, with my friends."
"Amy," Olivia came back to my bed to sit next to me.
"I know, I know, it'll get better blah, blah. And things are getting better. I'm adjusting pretty well. It's just that, I cried myself to sleep the entire first week. Mom and Dad don't know, I didn't want to bother them anymore. I was getting annoying, even for myself," The words rushed out. Olivia always made me spill my guts, she was my confidant.
"It must have been bad then," She cracked a joke. I tried not to chuckle.
"I can handle being here until graduation, but I can't stay here. I'm going back. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm tired of always being cold and the clouds. It's been so long since I saw the sun. I feel trapped, smothered, like I'm in a box," I added. "Being here made me realize that I need the heat, I thrive off the heat."
"Oh Amy, I promise you'll feel better soon enough," She hugged me to her side. It was a good thing I didn't burst out crying because I don't think I could have stopped. It had been a while since I had been able to talk to Olivia appropriately. It wasn't the same over the phone or through e-mail. "Come on; let's find you something to wear for tonight."
She got up again and went to my closet. I watched her. Many of my friends said we looked alike. And I guess you could say that we did have similar facial features, but while I was short and curvier, Olivia was tall and graceful. We had the same dark curly hair, the same tan skin, the same brown eyes, and we shared the artistic gene. Me in sketching, her in photography. I watched her inspect every article of clothing.
"What about you, have you found anyone here?" I asked. My sister was beautiful; she had gotten enough attention back home.
"There are some interesting guys, but I'm not ready yet," She replied as she set aside a deep purple cashmere sweater. "Do you have something to wear underneath that?" I got up and began pulling out various shirts. I laid them on the bed. She looked at each one trying to make up her mind. She picked a black spaghetti strap shirt and put it on top of the sweater. After that she turned back to my closet. While I put the other shirts away she pulled out a jean mini.
"I can't wear that, I'll freeze," I protested.
"You have black tights don't you?" She asked. She moved over to the small drawer in my closet. She pulled out a pair of thick, warm tights. "Now where are you moccasin boots?" I pointed to the other door of the closet. She slid the doors and found a rack where my shoes were neatly stacked. She grabbed the black boots.
"There you go, now I have this pair of really cute hair combs you could borrow," She dug in the front pocket of her suitcase. She pulled out a pair of amethyst hair wire combs. The gems formed little flowers with silver pearls as the centers. You could see the light shining off the gems prettily.
"These are beautiful, are you sure?" I looked at the combs.
"Yeah, they'll go great with your outfit, now I have to find something for myself," Olivia returned to her suitcase. "Go take a shower."
I did as she told me. I hurried in the shower; my sister wasn't the most patient person when it came to waiting for the bathroom. I shivered when I stepped out of the warm water into the cold room. When I was drying myself, Olivia began banging on the door. I opened the door to let her in. The room was full of steam.
"God, Amy, how hot do you put the water?" She asked she came inside. "Here put this in your hair when you're done changing." She handed me a bottle, the words anti-frizz cream in bold letters. She pushed me out the door, shoving my clothes in my arms.
"Hey I wasn't even done yet," I yelled at her through the door. I shivered more violently now that I was in the hallway. My dad came up the stairs as I was staring at the door.
"Uh, Ames, you alright?" He gave me a strange look.
"Yeah, but your daughter kicked me out of the bathroom," I threw a glare to the bathroom. "I wasn't even done yet."
"You should go change," My dad said as he went into his room. I pulled the towel around me tighter.
"Yeah," I grumbled. I went into my room, changing into my clothes. I towel-dried my hair and put the cream into my hair, it smelled nice. I grabbed the hair combs that Olivia let me borrow and put them in place. The combs held my hair from the sides back. The rest of my hair fell in wet curls behind me. I couldn't stand being in my room longer so I went downstairs. I helped my dad decorate the living room for the party, and then helped my mom in the kitchen for a bit before she threw me out.
Not having anything to do, I chose to watch Christmas specials. I was only interrupted when Olivia decided to do my make-up. The rest of the day was spent in front of the television watching Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph. It was nearly eight at night when the first guests began to arrive to the house. They were new friends my dad had made at work. Charlie was among them, he brought along a friend who I later found out was Jacob's dad. In the beginning I acted as a waitress handing out appetizers and drinks.
"Hey when are your friends getting here?" Olivia asked when we were both in the kitchen taking a little break from helping my mom. We were sitting at the table eating some of the cookies.
"I don't know soon I guess," I shrugged as I glanced the clock, it was nearly ten. We went back to the living room where we listened to some of the adults talk. Then the door bell rang. All you saw was Olivia jump out of her seat and race towards the door. She opened it and there stood Jacob with Emily, Sam, Quil, and the other boy from the diner.
"I'm guessing you're Amy's friends?" Olivia said with a smile, and then suddenly sneezed. Jacob looked a bit surprised. Olivia smiled at them apologetically and moved aside for them to come in, still sneezing uncontrollably. Jacob had to duck his head to walk through the doorway. I walked up to them.
"Hi, I'm so happy you could make it," I smiled at them. "I guess I should introduce my sister, this is Olivia." She smiled at them and once again sneezed. I turned to her with a questioning look, but she motioned for me to continue. "Olivia this is Jacob, Sam, Emily, Quil, and I have yet to meet Jacob's friend."
"Oh, I'm Embry Call, Jacob told me all about the 'incident'," He reached over to shake my hand.
"Well it's nice to meet you Embry. You can all help yourselves to whatever you like, there's food and drinks in the kitchen. Have a seat if you like, dance even," My dad had put on his stereo system and had some music going. I had seen a few of my parents' guest dance a couple songs. Later on I knew my parents would be putting on a show.
"Is your sister alright?" Jacob asked. I saw her excuse herself and go to the restroom, sneezing the whole way.
"Oh yeah, I think so. She only gets like that when there are dogs around," I noticed Embry and Quil give each other a glance. Jacob looked like he wanted to laugh.
"Oh," Jacob looked at Embry and Quil with an amused smile.
"Thanks for inviting us, Amy," Emily said.
"Don't mention it, it's the least I could do," I answered as I led them to where the food was. I saw the boys' faces light up at the sight of all the food. I joined them in eating and we talked for a bit. My parents later came in and introduced themselves to the group. We later joined the rest of the guests in the living room. The atmosphere was comfortable, the guests were mingling.
"Hey, you want to come outside with me?" Jacob had detached himself from Charlie.
"Sure, let me get my coat," I replied going to the coat closet. I pulled out my black coat with my scarf. I opened the door and Jacob followed. The air was cold outside, but I was warm in my coat.
"You're not cold?" Jacob asked, noticing my skirt.
"No, I'm warm enough," I answered. "How about you?"
"I'm good," Jacob murmured. He reached over and buttoned up my coat. His fingers looked too large for the buttons. "There you go, we don't want for you to get a cold."
"Thanks," I whispered as I watched him. I felt so small next to him.
"So no weird socks today?" He asked with a smirk.
"Nope, didn't have any to go with my outfit," I smiled up at him.
"Oh, makes sense," Jacob answered. We went to sit on the porch swing.
"I love Christmas," I said as I pushed at the floor causing the swing to move.
"We don't really celebrate it," Jacob replied.
"Why?" I asked. Jacob shrugged as he stared at his feet.
"I don't know."
"My family always has to celebrate it, whether it's just us four, with friends, with or without presents, we celebrate it," I informed. "Back home there's this street, during this time of year they call it Candy Cane Lane, where all the houses are decorated completely with lights. It's so beautiful, all the colors and decorations. We have this tradition where we go and see the houses on Christmas Eve. A lot of people do."
"Sounds nice," Jacob murmured. I nodded.
"It is, I never get tired of it, no matter how many times I've seen it before. There's always something new. I have a favorite decoration though. It's of Santa and Mrs. Claus, and Santa is holding a branch of mistletoe over himself and Mrs. Claus. It's sweet," I explained wistfully. "Oh wow, I sound like such a girl." I chuckled. Jacob did too.
"Don't worry about it; it's not a bad thing. Not many girls I know talk like you," Jacob claimed.
"How would you say I talked?" I asked.
"I don't know how to explain it," Jacob said.
"Oh come on, try," I coaxed. I turned to face him. He glanced at me with a small smile before shaking his head in exasperation.
"I guess if you were to describe you in one word it would be sincere," Jacob declared.
"Sincere?" I questioned.
"Yeah, everything you feel you tell. You don't hold back, and you're strange," Jacob explained.
"Strange, now that's something every girl wants to be described as," I replied sarcastically.
"No, no, not like that. From the times I've talked to you, I've noticed you look at the world differently. A bit naively, sure, but in such a nice way you make me see it too," Jacob continued. I became speechless at this. I didn't know how to respond to that. We sat in silence for a few minutes. I made the swing move again.
"Did I offend you?" I heard Jacob murmur. I shook my head.
"No, I'm fine. I just don't know what to say," I answered. "It was sweet in a way, but also sort of surprising. No one has told me something like that before."
"Oh," An awkward silence fell over us once again. I looked up, staring into space. Then I noticed the small white flakes falling in the front lawn. I stood up and went to the porch steps. I heard Jacob follow me.
"It's snowing!" I exclaimed. I watched the flakes flutter to the ground. I walked to the middle of the lawn and looked up at the night sky. Clouds hung in the sky, sprinkling snow on us. Jacob watched from the porch. I outstretched my hands to my sides, trying to catch the snowflakes. "The snow, Jacob!" I looked towards him again to find him smiling softly at me.
"Come on, Jake. The snow," I called before spinning slowly in the spot I stood. The snowflakes were scattered in my hair and coat. I stopped spinning when Jacob reached me. He looked at me amused.
"Having fun?" He teased as he stood in front of me.
"Yep," I laughed. I let out a breath and watched the wisp of air. My smile stayed on my face. "I've never seen the snow fall. It's just so beautiful and magical."
"You're lucky," Jacob said before looking up at the sky. I saw the flakes land in his dark hair and melt instantly when they touched his skin.
"Lucky for what?" I asked confused. I was still focused on catching a snowflake.
"When you grow up watching this you don't have the same appreciation for it. It's a novelty and you cherish it," Jacob explained. I stopped and just stood looking up at him. I noticed some of the flakes clung to his thick lashes.
"You can always cherish something no matter how long you've seen it. It comes down to how much you love it," I replied. Jacob stepped closer to me. Heat engulfed me.
"You just love to prove me wrong, don't you?" He pulled at one of my curls as he curled it around his finger. He towered over me. I could feel a grin spread across my lips.
"That's partially why I talk to you," I answered nonchalantly.
"What's the other reason?" He asked. I could feel the heat radiate from his hand on my cheek.
"Well for this, of course," Innocence filled my voice as I quickly reached down and threw a handful of snow at Jacob. The glob of snow hit him in the chest. I made a dash for it before he could fully grasp what had just happened. Before I could get away though, Jacob came after me.
"You. Will. Pay." Jacob bellowed as he grabbed me around my waist. I let out a shriek as we fell to the ground. I got a mouthful of white, cold snow. As I sat up I spit out the frozen water. Laughter spilled from my lips after that. My sides were aching from too much laughing. I could hear Jacob chuckling next to me.
"Well then, this means no more sneak attacks," I joked. Jacob sat up next to me.
"Sorry, got snow all over your hair," Jake commented as he flicked a chunk of it off my shoulder. I shook out my hair a bit to get some of it out, but without much success.
"It's ok," I shrugged, a little out of breath from the exhilaration. Jacob got up from the ground and reached a hand for me to get up. When I was standing I tried to remove the snow off my back. "So why'd you bring me out here?"
"I wanted to give you something. It's from all of us," Jacob answered. He put his hand into the pocket of his leather jacket. It was a small box. "So here you go." He handed me the box.
"Wow, thank you so much. Now I feel bad, I didn't get you anything," I said as I opened it. Inside was a silver bracelet, on it dangled three figurines. "This is beautiful, thank you."
"You're welcome, and don't worry about it," Jacob replied. I pulled the bracelet out of its little box. I looked at the three charms and laughed when I saw what they were.
"A sun, a star, and a dog," I chuckled.
"Yeah, all the things you're missing, they'll be with you now,'' Jacob said. Each little charm was so intricate and delicate. They were carved out of dark wood.
"Did you carve these?" I asked.
"Yeah, my father taught me how to when I was younger," Jake answered.
"Can you put it on for me?"
"Yeah sure," Jacob took the bracelet and wrapped it around me right wrist. "There you go."
"Thank you," I shook my wrist a little to see the figurines move. "And thank everyone else for me, too."
"Will do. Now let's get back inside. You're all wet from the snow," He said as he walked back to the house. We went inside and saw that the party was still going well. My mom and dad were dancing as were my sister and Quil. I followed Jacob to where Embry stood watching them.
"I take it Quil doesn't dance," I said as I watched him do some weird shaking move. Embry laughed at that.
"Yeah, but he likes to pretend he does," Embry replied. He saw that we were covered in snow. "So where did you two go off to?"
"Just outside talking, then it started to snow," Jake answered. The rest of the night was comfortable. I danced with my dad a few times, and tried my shot with Quil. Although he danced differently I still had so much fun with him. Even Embry agreed to one dance with me. Let's just say he did much better. They were the last of the guests to leave along with Charlie and Jacob's dad. We cleaned up a little before we headed up to our rooms.
"Where did you and Jacob go during the party?" Olivia asked. We were getting ready for bed now. I put my head through the hole of my sweater.
"We were just outside, you know talking," I answered as I folded down my blankets.
"Just talking?" Olivia lifted her eyebrow. How did people do that? I couldn't do that, I've tried doing it countless times in the mirror with no success.
"Yep, just talking, you know when you open your mouth and words come out," I sarcastically replied.
"I know what talking is, but what I mean is that you didn't look like you had been talking," Olivia grumbled. "You were covered in snow."
"Yeah that might be because it started to snow and well we had a small snowball fight," I explained. Olivia smiled at that.
"Oh how cute!" She exclaimed.
"What?" I asked surprised.
"It's just that you two having a snowball fight, it's adorable," She cooed as she ruffled my hair. I slapped her hands away. "My little sister is growing up."
"Stop, it's not that way. We're becoming friends. I like him he's easy to talk to," I declared.
"Ok fine, but I liked him for you," Olivia sighed. "You two just seemed to fit."
"Oh be quiet," I threw a small pillow at her, only to have it returned to me. We had a small pillow fight that lasted only two minutes before finally settling into bed. Olivia fell asleep quickly, but her last statement kept me awake as well as the memories of the conversation between Jacob and me. I didn't know how long I stared at the ceiling before I heard a noise. Something hitting glass. I tensed and waited to see if it wasn't my imagination playing tricks on me.
Pling! Pling! I heard it again. I sat up in bed and glanced at my sister. She was still asleep. I looked to see what time it was. 3:21. I got out of bed and went to the window. There he stood throwing pebbles at my window. I'm assuming you can guess who he was. He was standing next to the tree in the front lawn, waving up at me. I began opening the window, flinching as the cold air hit me. He moved to the tree and began climbing it. By the time the window was completely open, Jacob was on the porch's roof.
"Hey Amy," His smiling face was in the window frame.
"Are you crazy? It's three in the morning," I hissed. "And my sister is in the room."
"Well then come out here," He whispered back, his amusement noticeable in his voice. I turned back towards my sister nervous that she would wake up. I grabbed one of my blankets and climbed through the window. Jacob had made sure to scrape off the snow that had collected. I wrapped my blanket around myself quickly. I turned to look at Jacob again and my eyes nearly bugged out at the sight. He was in a pair of sweats and a muscle shirt.
"Ok you really are crazy. I'm thinking you're just asking for a death wish," I pulled my blanket off myself and threw it around him.
"I'm fine, take your blanket back. You'll need it more than me," He chuckled as he tried to remove the blanket. I shook my head stubbornly.
"No, you're wearing nothing to protect you from the cold. You keep it," I crossed my arms to make them warmer.
"You're shaking already, here just take it," I shook my head again. I glared as he tried to wrap it around me.
"Just listen to me Jacob," I was seriously considering smacking him across the head for being so stupid.
"How about we share? I know that you are probably freezing, but won't admit it. And you're too stubborn to change your mind," Jake suggested.
"F-fine,'' My chattering teeth gave me away. Jacob pulled the blanket around both our shoulders. Once we were both ensconced in the blanket, I felt the warmth engulf me. It was toasty, but the blanket wasn't very thick to be so warm.
"No clear skies today," Jacob pointed out. The sky was dark once again.
"Yep, but at least you can see the moon," I replied.
"Yeah, I guess," Jacob murmured. I unconsciously leaned against his side.
"So why are you here so late?" I asked as I pulled the blanket tighter around myself. I felt him shrug.
"I don't know, I just came without really thinking," Jacob answered. I looked up at him skeptically.
"That's not true and you know I know it," I reproved. Jacob sighed.
"I know, but I can't really tell you the reason. Not yet at least, ok," I looked at him for a good, long minute. He seemed sincere enough so I nodded.
"Ok fine, so what were you planning to do when you got me out here?" I looked up at him before bumping his shoulder with mine.
"Hmm, I didn't really plan this," He smirked at me.
"Didn't they ever teach you that recklessness was foolish?" I teased.
"Nope, I live for reckless. Besides girls love spontaneity," The smirk didn't leave his face. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
"How would you know what girls like?" I asked.
"I knew one that did," Jacob answered.
"Yeah, there are girls who like it, but there are girls who'd rather live without it."
"Which type of girl are you?"
"Hmm, I'm not so sure. I guess you could say that I find spontaneity to be sweet, but impulsiveness to be a bit dangerous."
"There's a difference?" Jacob looked at me confused.
"Well yeah, it's a small difference but it can be significant. For example, spontaneous would be to show up unannounced at your girlfriend's house and feel like taking her out. You're not sure where you're going, but you go on forward and end up having an amazing time. Impulsiveness is doing something without thinking of consequence. Kind of like what I did in the forest the other day," I explained. Jacob nodded his head slowly; he seemed to be thinking something over.
"So what do you categorize me as?" Jacob questioned. I looked at him with a smile. He made me smile too much.
"Spontaneous borderline impulsive, with the whole not dressing appropriately for the weather," I answered. We stayed up on the roof for an hour or so longer, just talking. He told me about some adventures he, Quil, and Embry had gotten into when they were younger. He mentioned his family a little as well as Sam and Emily. He in return questioned me about my friends and sister. He invited me to La Push for a bonfire on New Years Eve. We seemed to have been frozen in time until Jacob mentioned it was time for him to leave.
"I know it probably wasn't like it was with your friend Mel, what with no stars and no Mel, but I hope you enjoyed sitting on the roof with me," Jacob said before he moved towards the tree. His statement caused my heart to flutter.
"Oh, of course I had fun. You're a great person to be around," He had surprised me for the third time this night. "It was sweet of you to do this."
"Well then, good night," Jacob climbed down the tree swiftly. He waved before turning to walk down the sidewalk. I watched him walk away. The idea of him going to all that trouble to make me more at home warmed my heart. Jacob Black definitely was a complicated man…
