Chapter 5
The dimly lit valley was green and lush with vegetation clinging to every available surface from the vast canopy of evergreens to the moss covered rocks. The air, thick with moisture, sat like a physical thing over the landscape. The screech of a hawk announced that it had found its prey and it was not alone. Another hunter focused on the rhythmic thumping of a heart not more than a quarter of a mile away. Stealthily, the hunter approached. Its footfalls muffled by the spongy forest floor. The hunter crouched down and prepared to launch at the unsuspecting victim when out of the corner of an eye, the hunter spotted a shadowy, spectral form. Startled, the hunter stood and listened as both prey and apparition scampered away.
***
A buzzing sound roused me from my dream. I turned my cheek onto a damp pillow. I grimaced realizing I had been drooling in my sleep. I shook my head at my pathetic unconscious. I recalled dreaming about a deer, a luscious smelling deer from behind the Cullen house at Forks. I haven't hunted those grounds in over a year and haven't hunted an animal in three months. My stomach grumbled over the memory. Traitor, I cursed. I struggled to identify what else was with me in that forest, peripheral, hidden. But the incessant buzzing demanded my attention. It was just a dream and probably didn't matter anyway.
The illuminated screen on my phone revealed that Jacob called. I also noted the time: seven o'clock.
"Hello," I whispered confident he could hear me. Mandy's bed held a warm, breathing occupant and she moaned in protest at the noise. She covered her head with her blanket, rolled over and went back to sleep. "Jake – it's seven in the morning!"
"I know, and good morning to you, too," he chuckled using his normal volume. Apartment life had its advantages.
"Yeah, good morning. Why are you calling so early?"
"Early? Ness, the sun is up. Sunrise was at 7:02."
I shook my head and sat up bringing my knees to my chest. "That doesn't answer my question. Why are you calling?"
"Want to go for a run?"
"Now?"
"Yes, now," he laughed again.
"Ok, let me get dressed."
"Meet you in five."
"Sure." I clicked off the phone. I guess a shower could wait until after, but teeth couldn't. I quietly got dressed in shorts, t-shirt and gathered my shoes and shower bag. I opened the door.
"Where are you going? It's Saturday. Practice isn't until nine," Mandy mumbled still half asleep with her arm shielding her eyes from the hallway light.
"Going for a run," I answered as I hesitated in the doorway.
"Have fun," Mandy scoffed and rolled over.
The dorm was eerily quiet except for the sounds of slumber. I stopped in the cafeteria to grab a cereal bar from the bleary-eyed workers. One looked at me with incredulity as I was the only patron at this ungodly hour. I offered an apologetic smile as she swiped my id.
"You're late," Jacob teased when I strolled onto the track. The time was 7:16. "Daylight's burning."
I groaned and we started with a warm-up lap. The only sound was our footfalls in syncopation as we circled the quarter-mile track in two minutes. Wordlessly, we increased the pace and completed the next lap in only one minute. Then with grins, we took the next two laps within the same time frame. Laughing, we slowed down to a more human pace of six mph. Neither of us had broken a sweat.
"Ok, there's something to be said about an early morning jog," I admitted.
The stadium was deserted with everyone still asleep from the festivities last night and the anticipation of the big game tonight. In just a few short hours this area would bustle with activity: shops and concessions would stock their shelves, television crews would begin their preparations and the athletes would be making their way around the track in warm-up laps much like us but at a far less demanding pace. But for now, the track belonged to us.
By 8:00 a.m. we completed our five mile run and slowed to a walk just as another pair approached the track. They passed us as they increased their pace. By their third lap they were breathing hard and we could hear their elevated heart rates as well as see the trickles of sweat coursing down their faces. We, on the other hand, looked like we hadn't even started our workout yet- our clothes as crisp as when we got here.
We sat down on a bench and watched the runners pass by. Jacob grabbed two water bottles and handed one to me. We both took long pulls.
"So, what inspired this?" I asked.
"I figured it was quiet and…cooler," he admitted.
I turned to look at him and noted that his face was dry and his heart beat at its normal pace. Cooler was definitely better for Jacob, I thought.
"What do we do now?" I asked after watching the pair circle the track a few times.
"How about some breakfast?"
"Perfect!"
We stood up and while walking towards the parking lot and Jacob's red mustang we noticed several white school vans pull up. The sliding side door on the one closet to us revealed a half dozen people one of which was a bleary-eyed Mandy. However, she perked up remarkably fast once she caught sight of Jacob and bounded to his car.
"Hey there, Jake. I didn't expect to see you this morning. What a pleasant surprise," she gushed while peering up at him. The height difference between the two of them was almost comical with Jake towering over her. It almost made you want to pat her pretty little head like a poodle.
"Yeah, we just finished our run," I interjected putting my arm through "Jake's". It was as if I wasn't there.
"Finished your run? Why, Jake, you haven't even broken a sweat." Visual confirmation obviously wasn't enough. She reached out and touched his unoccupied arm. "But you certainly are hot." She actually kept a straight face as her fingers lingered on his hand.
I wanted to gag right then and there. Or hit her. Yeah, the latter would work.
"Yea, well, nice seeing you, too, Mandy. Come on, Ness, let's get some grub," Jacob stepped out of Mandy's reach and escorted me to the passenger door of the Mustang. I didn't bother to hide my smirk of victory.
"Maybe next time. I bet I could make you work up a sweat if we went for a run," Mandy said over her shoulder.
What was with this girl? "I doubt your boyfriend would approve," I snickered and immediately regretted letting her get to me like that.
"Ha! That wasn't my boyfriend, silly girl." I assumed the use of the word girl was a slam against my naivety. "Trey is just my fuck-buddy. You should get one. It would do wonders for your attitude. Though I am sure Jake could show you a thing or two." Laughing she joined the others who piled out of the vans. I am sure they heard every word and I slid into the passenger seat fuming, shocked into silence with cheeks blazing.
I still couldn't bring myself to utter a syllable until we got to the IHOP. The hostess who sat us kept casting curious glances back at us as we followed her to a corner booth. Something in my expression must have clued her in that I wasn't in a socialable mood.
"Everything okay, Ness?" Jacob asked.
I looked up at him surprised as if waking from a daze. I nodded and picked up my menu knowing I would be ordering the usual: eggs, bacon and pancakes.
Jacob gave me a quizzical look and decided to leave well enough alone as he picked up his own menu. The waitress took our orders and left us to our coffee.
"Seriously, what's up?" Jacob asked again.
"It's nothing, really. Mandy just gets on my nerves. I can't put my finger on it, but she just rubs me the wrong way," I said.
"I think you need to get away for awhile. It is Saturday, you know."
"Where?"
"How about we explore Austin a little bit. Check out Sea World?"
I brighten. Maybe a day away from campus would be good especially with all the football hoopla going on. "Let's do it!"
Jacob and I were one of the first ones through the gates at Sea World. The park was relatively empty during the early hours. Jacob coaxed a reluctant dolphin close to the edge so he could feed it sardines. I kept a respectful distance content to watch rather than touch.
Most animals shied away from me sensing that I wasn't altogether human while animals readily approached Jacob likewise sensing he was more like them than other human spectators. Jacob and I had to curtail our infrequent visits to zoos because the animals would get too worked up around me, especially predators. One time a lion uncharacteristically lunged at me despite the reinforced fencing separating us. Scared little children ran into their anxious mother's arms while looking at me with awe. Humans could ignore what animals can't.
Thankfully no such incidents occurred during Jacob and I's visit. We watched the graceful killer whales perform as well as the sea otters in their respective shows. The penguins waddled around in their frigid exhibit. We cooled off by spending the afternoon rushing down water slides and riding the lazy river in the park's own water park. Our competitive spirit got the best of us as we turned each attraction into a contest: who could slide the faster (I won - lighter and thinner) and who could hold their breath the longest (he won – larger lung capacity). I might have watched Jacob more than the stopwatch during this contest so the results might be a little off. We decided against the largest splash contest as we didn't want to get evicted from the park. I was positive I would win, regardless.
Soon the reprieve was over and we made our way back to campus. The festivities were in full swing as evidenced by the barrage of orange and white that greeted us at every turn: banners, posters, and attire of pedestrians. It was only five o'clock and the game was scheduled for seven, but judging from the size of the crowds and traffic one would think they were already late.
Fortunately, Jacob's off campus apartment had a strict resident only parking regulation so we did not have to compete for a space. On the way to Jacob's building we noticed barbeque grills working overtime as plumes of smoke rose around the courtyard. The smoke also carried the delicious scents of various roasting meats. I detected chicken, pork sausage and beef – lots of beef. I swallowed the influx of saliva in my mouth and attempted, lamely, to ignore the cries of my stomach demanding 'real' food.
Jacob opened the door. There on the couch sat Nita and Brady in a suggestive posture. They immediately separated and commenced straightening hair and adjusting clothing all the while wearing sheepish grins and blushing cheeks. Jacob and I shared a knowing smile and said nothing.
"Hey guys. Where did you guys go?" Brady asked as he snatched up empty drink containers and made his way to the kitchen.
"We hung out a Sea World for the day. What did you guys do?" Jacob asked knowing full well what they were doing. Nita's swollen lips and Brady's distracted movements told the tale.
"Uh, just hung around here. You know?"
Jacob and I tried to hide our smirks. "Cool."
"What time you heading to the game?" Brady asked as he continued to tidy up the apartment picking up papers, stacking books, throwing away trash. If he kept this up the place would be clean within the hour.
"Kick-off is in two hours. You guys coming?"
Brady sent a startled look to Nita who shook her head in disdain.
"Watching a bunch of over-muscled, dim-witted boys smash into each other is not what I call entertainment," Nita announced.
Jacob and I raised our eyebrows. "Okay, then."
Brady shrugged his shoulders. You could tell the poor boy was smitten by the puppy dog eyes he gave Nita and the abandonment of football. The pack would play football any chance they could get on the reservation if they weren't watching it on TV.
Turning to me, Jacob said, "I need a shower. You mind waiting?"
"No, please. I probably need one, too," I said though there was no probably about it – the chlorine from the pool burned my nose still.
"Of course. You can go first. I'll find you a clean towel."
I wasn't sure what I was going to do for clean clothes but the idea of a shower was irresistible. Jacob showed me into the cramped bathroom and brought me a fresh smelling towel and a new bar of soap and closed the door leaving me alone. Wonderful privacy! Even though three people were just on other side of the wall, it was nice to have a bathroom all to myself.
I started the shower turning the hot water on all the way. Hopefully, I would leave some hot water for Jacob, but I planned on using a lot of it. As the water heated up I studied myself in the mirror over the sink. My hair hung in clumps around my head and my cheeks were a bright pink from the sun. I glanced around the cluttered sink and saw a bunch of toothbrushes, uncapped toothpaste tubes, various deodorants, and shaving accouterments. Hair stubble lined the sink along with bits of toothpaste residue. Gross.
I stood there thinking about my experiences at university so far: my eccentric roommate, Brady and Nita's budding romance, the campus murder and the dream I had this morning. I vaguely remembered the wispy images when I noticed the mirror fogging up in front of me. The shower was ready. I stepped into the hot spray and lost myself until the water ran cool. Uh oh, sorry Jake. I wrapped myself in the towel, stepped out and remembered my clothing situation. Confused, I tried to find my clothes, instead, I found a pile of clothes on the toilet seat.
I blushed knowing that Jacob had entered the bath room while I was showering. The thought of him being in the same room with me naked caused my face to flush. I was definitely getting a call from Dad tonight for that one. I examined the clothing. It looked like a pair of jeans that would fit Nita. She was a little shorter than me but hey, they could pass for capris. They also were a bit tight in the waist, but not unbearably so. A burnt orange Longhorn adorned tee completed the ensemble. I did have to wear my old undergarments. I pulled my hair into a pony tail and felt good.
"Well, there she is," Jacob said as I ventured out into the living room. He sat on the couch playing a video game. His shirt was wadded up on the floor and I couldn't help but notice the smooth exposed skin. "Hope you don't mind the clothes. It was all I could find on such short notice."
"No, no. They're good. Thanks. Hope you don't mind that I used up all the hot water."
Jacob laughed. "You were in there long enough. I'll give it about fifteen minutes to heat back up."
"Where's Brady and Nita?" I asked noticing that only Jacob was in the room.
"They went to go get some dinner. Restaurants are probably deserted right about now."
I nodded. It was Jacob and me, alone and he wasn't wearing a shirt and I wore stale underwear.
"Want something to eat or drink?" Jacob rummaged in the fridge and came up with water and chips.
"Water sounds good," I said. Water did sound good since my throat was dry.
"Must have been a hot shower. You look flushed," Jacob said as he handed me a water bottle.
"Yeah." Sure the water temperature had to do with how warm I felt right now. I drank absent-mindedly from the bottle as I forced myself to look at the TV instead of him. I tried to fathom the difference between seeing him here in the apartment versus at Sea World today. I could only think that since other people were around us I was able to keep my fantasies at bay. However, in the privacy of his apartment with no roommates in sight, my mind was free to wander. And wander it did. I considered those arms around me. Those hands touching me, caressing me as he slowly disrobed me…
"You okay?" Jacob asked.
"Huh?" I hadn't a clue what I was doing.
"You looked a little funny? Everything okay? You're not sick or anything?" Jacob stepped up to me and peered at me with those dark soulful eyes.
I wanted to hurl myself at him and ravage his mouth with mine, but I simply mumbled, "I'm fine. Tired is all." I sat down on the couch and noted its warmth from where Jacob sat only moments ago.
"We can skip the game if you're not up to it. You probably got too much sun. You pale faces can't handle the sun," Jacob teased with a smile.
"No, I want to go. Besides, Alice would kill me if I missed the game. She is all about getting in all the 'human' experiences I can." Alice lived vicariously through me. She used to try and do so through my mom, Bella, but my mom resisted being simply human and longed for vampiric life with my dad. I, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to be 'only human' and deny my vampiric nature as diminutive as it was.
"Well, let me shower and we'll head out."
"Okay. Mind if I use your computer?"
"No, go right ahead."
"Thanks," I said as he left the room.
I logged onto to my email account and read the messages from my parents. They wrote at least once a day, usually at two in the morning. Since they don't sleep they needed something to do to pass the time. Mom mostly asked how I am doing, am I lonely or homesick, am I eating enough. Dad wrote to confirm that I am behaving myself. He has made good on his promise to not peek into my mind, at least, he hasn't told if he has. And with the thoughts I have been having lately, he would definitely get a mindful.
As if summoned by my thoughts alone, Jacob emerged from the humid bathroom with wet hair and a towel wrapping the essentials. I studiously returned to the computer and pretended I didn't think about what might lie under that towel. Fortunately, Jacob was unaware of my inner turmoil and got dressed behind the closed bedroom door.
"Ready?" he asked wearing fresh Longhorns t-shirt in white and cut off denim shorts.
"Yep."
We decided to walk to the stadium which lied only two miles from Jacob's apartment. From the looks of things his lot provided the only available parking. The streets were lined with illegally parked cars as groups of people made their way to the stadium. Within a half mile of the complex we could hear the collective roar of the crowd. Kick-off was in forty-five minutes, but the party was well underway.
The seating was a mass of swarming bodies. As you panned the crowd you could barely make out individuals, but rather saw patches of orange and white blotched that made a strange throbbing blanket. Threatening to reach capacity, the attendance predictions expected crowds of upwards of 100,000. Jacob and I suspected those predictions were accurate as we climbed up to the back ranks of the stadium close to the goalpost. We snagged the only vacate pairing of seats as we squeezed between Longhorn adorned co-eds. Several of those near us wore binoculars around their necks. Fortunately, our preternatural eyesight would serve us well to see the miniscule participants on the vast field.
The festive atmosphere permeated the air as scents of assorted beverages and food wafted by. I deduced that beer, hot dogs and popcorn were the snacks of choice. Smiles and laughter abounded as people readied banners and other spirit paraphernalia. Even the obligatory wave where columns of spectators stood in sequence was performed with hoots and hollers. Jacob and I simply sat with astonished grins as we watched the spectacle. The energy was contagious though and we soon stood with arms raised as the wave came to our little corner of the crowd.
Soon the pep band started playing a fanfare and pyrotechnics shot up into the sky to announce the arrival of the combatants, err, the football team. First the cheerleaders and pom squads shook what they had to shake to whip the crowd into more of a frenzy, if such a thing were possible, as everyone stood to watch. Then the quarterback, a sophomore from a Podunk town in west Texas, crashed through the paper banner followed by his much larger and broader teammates down the aisle formed by dancing cheerleaders to center field. The sound made by the crowd was deafening. I could barely hear the announcer over the broadcast speakers as he rattled off the names of the first string team members. Once the Longhorns made it over to their side of the field, the opposing team took to the field with a much more subdued entrance. Texas Tech had the honors of facing off against the Longhorns and ran onto the field with their cheerleaders as a brave fraction of the audience welcomed them attired in red.
A theatrical coin toss ceremony decided that the Longhorns would have first possession with Texas Tech kicking the ball. The crowd stayed on its feet while the band played a drum roll as the kicker and company ran towards the ball. An orange clad warrior caught the ball and bobbed and weaved his way to the forty yard line with a twenty yard return before collapsing under a pile of red. The spectators cheered as if this was the portent of the victory they were expecting.
The dance on the field continued with the Longhorns making their way across the gridiron to Tech's twenty-yard line, or the red-zone as aficionados would say. I felt my cell phone vibrate and read the message from Alice: UT makes the touchdown and it will be the first of many – have fun! What a way to ruin the game for me. It would be different if I were a betting woman. I could make a ton of money, but I wanted to simply watch the game. By the end of the first half, Alice's premonition appeared factual as the Longhorns led by 24 to 7.
The crowd for the most part ignored the display on the field: marching band, color guard and pom pom girls danced to a barely recognizable rendition of an old Cold Play tune as they made intricate designs on the field. I seriously doubted the musicians ever expected to be part of a half-time instrumental when they recorded this song.
With the suspense of the endgame spoiled by my over-eager aunt, Jacob and I decided to leave the game. We saw enough during the first two hour long half to satiate our curiosity and agreed with Nita's assessment though we weren't nearly as cynical. We fought the crowd like salmon going upstream as replenished spectators clutching more snacks and beverages made their way back to their seats. The air still had the familiar scent of snacks, perspiration and cosmetics, but a few new and unpleasant smells had been added: puke residue from overconsumption and urine from those unable to wait the interminable time for an appropriate stall to relieve themselves and another, foreign, almost alien, aroma.
"Do you smell that?" I asked while wrinkling my nose. It had a hint of sweet smoke, not unlike incense or a clove cigarette, yet it was neither.
"Yeah," Jacob agreed. "What is that?"
I shook my head despite having a vague tickling in my memory. I struggled to recall why the scent seemed familiar and could think of nothing but my dream from this morning. By the time we made our way to the vacant street with the stadiums noise at a more palatable level I had completely forgotten about it.
