Chapter 7: Port Angeles

I woke up the next day, knowing that I would have to go through the whole day, knowing that Edward was a vampire. I quickly got ready, I brushed my teeth, washed my face, put in my contacts, and put on some sunscreen (knowing fully well that there would probably be no sun today) and brushing my hair. Jessica and Emily would be here soon. Jeanette was at the supermarket, getting snacks for her friends that were coming over. The note she had left was smudged all over. Appearently, she was in a hurry.
Jessica and Emily rang more door bell, not ten minutes after my eating breakfast. I quickly grabbed my purse (that I rarely use at all) from under my bed, grabbed my wallet filled with the money that was supposed to be going to a car, that I didn't get to use, thankfully because of Jeanette, from under the mattress, and grabbed a pair of converses. I was at the door maybe two minutes later, and I let Jessica and Emily come in for five minutes, while I put my shoes on.
"You have a nice house." Emily said, quietly.
"Thanks...People have been saying that lately." I commented.
"Like who?" Jessica said. It was about time. I could see she was bursting with questions. "Oh my God, did you invite that cute kid from the reservation over for a ...midnight "snack" or something?" She said, giggling.
" Like a booty call? Who does that?" I asked, laughing. I was trying to get Edward out of my head, and change the subject. Emily noticed.
"I don't know...I never actually talked to anyone that mentioned doing that before..." Emily smiled. She knew I was trying to get my head off of Edward. God bless her.
"But, who said that about the house? Was it Edward!?" She stretched out Edward's name to a musical and teasing tone.
"Yeah. When he dropped me off, I had gotten sick...before Biology."
"Yeah. Tyler told me about that...Did you 'invite' him in?" She bit her lip, jokingly. I could tell she really wanted to know if anything happened between us.
"Yeah. We talked for about five minutes, and then he had to go and pick up his sibblings." I told her, bluntly.
"Oh." Jessica looked relieved.
"Ready. Let's go." I said, smiling. There may be a possibility of him and his brothers visiting someone in Port Angeles...I pushed the thought out of my mind. I had to stop obsessing. I had to stop thinking of that...Vampire. It didn't sound right. It felt like that would be fiction, but I knew it wasn't. Edward was a vampire. Even google said he was...all the websites...everything.
By this time, we were in the car, and Jessica had put in some rap music. She had is abnoxiously loud.
"Can you turn it down please?" Emily asked.
"Fine." Jessica rolled her eyes, and turned the volume down to half of what it had been before.
We got to Port Angeles later, and hit several different dress stores. I hated dress shopping. It was not incredibly fun to put on dresses, notice that its too tight, or too expensive, and have to try about twenty other dresses to get the right one. The only thing I would have loved to shop for, was shoes. Preferably high heels, for some reason. I was picky with regular shoes, but high heels just looked so amazing. That was probably the only part of me that was girly.
"What do you think of this one?" Jessica asked me. She was trying on a light pink dress. It looked similar to the lavendar one, except this one had a goddess cut-like thing going down from the middle, to the floor.
"I think it makes your boobs look small Jessica." Emily stated.
"I know...Thats not good. It's totally not htis one then." Jessica said, unzipping it, and throwing it on the twenty other dresses that had 'made her boobs look small'.
"Hey...Guys, do you mind if I ditch you for about an hour?...Theres a book store around here that I want to check out." I smiled as I explained. This was completely true. I wanted to pick up a Jane Austen book, and an Edgar Alan Poe book as well.
"Sure. Just...meet us by the Bella Italia resturant later. We're pretty sure this is the shop with the dress that we're gonna where." Jessica said.
"Awesome. Um...Yeah. So, I'll see you guys there...for dinner."
"Okay." Emily said, smiling.

I walked about five blocks down to a book store. It had interesting books, about voodoo and witchcraft, but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, and after the woman there looked at me like I was her late husbands ghost, and told me that I was destined for eternal life, I started to get freaked out, and quickly walked out of the store. A few more blocks down, was another book store, which I refused to enter. It was even creepier than the store before. It made me curious, but I decided to be safe and not go in. I didn't know what kind of people hung around these parts of Port Angeles. Plus, it was already getting dark...correction, it was dark. And I suddenly realized that I didn't know where the hell I was. I tried to retrace my steps, but realized I had taken too many turns to get to where I had been.
"Crap." I whispered to myself. I was walking down a lonely street with bar at the end. And at the end of the block, I saw a few men stumble out of the bar, obviously drunk. I wondered if it would be a good idea to try to pass them, to see if the right street was over there. I decided I would, just to make sure that the street was either the right one, or the wrong one.
"Hey Hot stuff..." Said one of the men that had been in the group. He had dark hair, and dark brown eyes. His eyes looked hungry.
"So many curves...and me, with no brakes!" Said another man, with dirty blonde hair, and ice cold eyes.
"Baby...why don't you come over here and teach me a lesson. I've been a naughty boy." Said another, grinning. He had a bold tooth, and his skin was darker than Jacob's and Austin's.
I hadn't noticed that the groupd consisted of about eight drunk men. I tried to get past them. Five of them started walking the other way, and the other three stayed where they were, letting me get by peacfully, apart from what they had been saying. About two blocks later, I noticed that the three that had stayed behind were actually following me. I took another turn, and they turned too. I tried to lose them, taking random and hurried turns, and then, I finally was cornered. They weren't following me, they were herding me to a dead end. It was around the back of a few apartments, a small alley, and a nice big wall connecting the backs of the apartments together...it really was a dead end. And at the end, were the other five men in the group. I looked back. The three formed a sort of wall, blocking me from getting away.
Dread filled my body, quickly. My mouth became dry, my ears began to ring, and I felt cold sweat at my forehead. I looked at them. They were now forming a circle around me.
" You can take it." I said, dropping my purse. Of course, I hadn't put my pepper spray in my purse, thining I'd be perfectly safe.
"Its not the purse we want, honey." Said the one with dirty blonde hair, he came closer to me. He was muscular. They all were muscular. My arm automatically went close to my chest, my hand going to my necklace. But the dirty blonde one caught my wrist. I tried to pull back, but he was way too strong.
My other arm did the same, and he caught that wrist as well. He pulled me close to him.
"Tell me that you're a naughty little girl..."
"Never,Asshole!"I spat at him, trying to pull out of his grip. I tried kicking him. All the other men laughed, and moved in closer. He pushed me off, and I landed on the floor.
"Fiesty huh...a fighter...That's sexy." He said.
I tried to get up, but the other man had grabbed my by my waist, and the others were tugging at my clothing. My light blue shirt was about to be torn, when I saw bright head lights, and a flash of silver. I was dropped, my handbag was on the floor, its contents spread all over, and the group of men were surprised, and scared at the car.
I knew this car. I felt relief when I saw it. That silver volvo. And he thought he was the villian. I started grabbing for my stuff, which was only my handbag and my wallet.
"Get in." Said the made-of-velvet voice. I hurridly got in, and closed the door. He drove away, incredibly fast.
"Seatbelt."He said. It was then that I noticed I was gripping on to the bottom of the seat, to hang on. I grabbed the seatbelt, and quickly clicked it in, after a few trys and misses.
Then I noticed how angry he looked. His jaw was clenched, and his hands were tight around the steering wheel. "Tell me to not go back there, and kill them."
"Going back there and killing them would be an incredibly terrible idea." I said. I tried to say it in a tone that would amuse him. It didn't work. "Are you okay?"
"Of course I'm okay Liza. I saved you from a group of scumbags who wanted to..." Edward shut himself up before he could say anything further.
"Wanted to what? How would you know what they wanted to do to me?" I asked.
"Wasn't it obvious...they wanted to...and kill you...what they wanted to do to you would have shot up the crime rates like nothing before...you would have probably end up breaking news around the country...what they wanted to do...wasn't exactly your normal 'rape-and-kill' shit." Edward kept on ranting. "What they were thinking...just...ugh...sorry for cursing in front of you...I'm just..."
Enraged?" I finished his sentence.
"Yes." He said, bluntly.
"How did you know what they were thinking?" I asked. I wanted answers. I thought he was a vampire...not a mind-reader...could he be both?
"What are you talking about?" Edward asked.
"You had just said that you knew what they were thinking...you said something like..."what they were thinking...just..." something like that..." I said.
"Oh. You caught that." He suddenly calmed down. "Well...I just...know."
"You know Edward," I looked at him. His face was slightly lit up by the lights that lit up the dials in the car. "I know what you are. You don't have to hide anymore."
His face fell. "Really?" He asked.
"Yeah."
"You afraid then?" He asked.
"No."
"Are you sure you know what I am? Most girls would be running and screaming." He said.
"I'm sure."
"Then say it." He looked away from the road for a second, and at my face.
"Vampire. You're a vampire." I said. It felt weird. It felt like I was in a movie, but I wasn't.
"So...we are talking about the same thing." He said, pulling into a parking spot.
"Yes. We are....Do you want me to be scared of you?" I asked him.
"Yes." He said, stepping out of the car. In a second, he was opening my door too, and unbuckling my seat belt.
"Thanks." I said, grabbing his hand, as he helped me out of his car.
"You're an actress, right?" He asked.
"How did you know that?" I asked.
"Just put on you're act now, Jessica and Emily are coming out of the resturant."
"Okay." I said.
"Liza! Oh my God, we were so worried about you...Edward..." Jessica ran over to me, and gave Edward a confused look, then gave me a slightly jealous, but kind of glad for me look.
"Hi. Sorry, I'm late...Edward and I just ran into eachother at the book store...and we got to talking." I said.
"Liza...we already ate...we couldn't wait, we were starving!" Emily tried to explain.
"That's alright. I'm not hungry anyway."
"Actually, if you girls don't mind, I'm going to steal Liza, let her eat something. You haven't eaten anything all day. I'll drive her home and everything. We just didn't stop from talking." Edward looked at me, giving a slight look, telling me he didn't want to be left alone.
"Well, it happens, right?" Jessica said. "Liza, you should totally eat with Edward. You probably haven't eaten anything all day. So, you should eat. Emily and I are gonna go, okay? Bye!" Jessica said, grabbing Emily and pulling her away. Edward definately turned his charm on with them. He smiled and waved a bit after they got in the car. They finally drove away, and Edward led me into the resturant.
"I'm really not hungry." I said. "You should have let me go with them."
"No. I shouldn't have. If I have you here with me, it gives me a reason to not go back to those guys." He said " A table for two, please." He told the hostess. She looked at him. Her eyes were wide, and you could tell she thought he was gorgeous.
"Um...Okay...um...follow me, please..." She quickly lead us to a table in the middle of the resturant.
"Actually, can we have a more...private booth or something?" Edward asked, looking up from under his lashes.
"Um...Okay." She quickly picked up the menus, and led us to a booth.
When the hostess left, Edward was looking at me, and I was sure I was giving him a face.
"What?" He asked me.
"You do that to too many people...why do you do that?"
"Do what?" He asked, like he was inoccent.
"You...dazzle them."
"Do I dazzle you?"
"...Frequently...sometimes...like, the times when I'm looking right at you." I blushed, and smiled.
"Hm...You do that to me too." He admitted.
"Really?"
"Yeah." He said, smiling.
I had too many questions. The waitress came up to our booth, and asked if we needed anything. She only answered to Edward.
"What do you want, Liza?"
"Um...I guess a Diet Coke please." I told the waitress. She acted like she didn't hear me.
"A diet coke for my beautiful guest right here, and the same for me." He said, in that velvet voice. He was definately teasing her.
He hadn't taken his eyes off me since we got here.
"Can all vampires read minds?" I whispered, knowing he would hear it.
"No. Only some. I'm the only one in my family that can read minds though."
"How did you find me?" I whispered, curious.
"I had been following you, Jessica, and Emily...We came home from our...camping trip early. So I decided to make sure you were safe."
"Can you read my mind?" I asked, quietly. I was leaning into the table, closer to him. He was doing the same, closer to me.
"No. You're the only person who's mind I can't read." He answered.
A few seconds later, the waitress set the drinks down, and looked at Edward. Appearently she hadn't heard what he had just said.
"Is there anything else you need?" She definetly said that with a double meaning.
"Um, Liza...What are you going to eat?" Edward asked.
"Um..." I quickly grabbed a menu, and went to a random page. "Spaghetti and Meatballs please."
"Anything for you?" She said to Edward.
"Nah. Just food for her." Edward said, looking at me. He put his arm across the table, his hand on top of mine.
"If there is anything you need, you can just tell me." She said. At this point, I wanted to strangle her. The idea was there, and he wasn't taking the bait, so she should have stopped already.
"Okay. Thanks." He said, still looking at me. When she left, he took off his jacket, and gave it to me.
"You're cold." He said.
"Hm...Thats funny. Looks who's talking." I smiled. He smiled as well.
"I'm surprised you aren't in shock. You haven't thrown up, or fainted or anything." He said. I smiled. "Most people would have been in shock. From what you went through, and finding out what I was."
"I guess I'm not most people..."I said.
"Why aren't you scared?" He asked.
"I don't know. I just...I'm just not afraid. I don't know why." I shrugged.
The food was set down infront of me. That was when I realized that I was starving. I started eating, while he talked to me.
"You know, I don't get why you're so different...I mean, I just..." He was at a loss for words.
"Have you been in my room before?" I asked. He looked at me, like he really didn't want to answer the question. "Well? Have you?" I said softly.
"Yes...Every night since the crash."
"Why?" I asked.
"I was curious. I wanted to learn about you, to try and get into your mind. I don't know why I did that...I really wanted to try and stay away from you. I'm dangerous."
"No you're not. If you were dangerous to me...I qould be dead right now."
"I've killed people before, Liza. I made sure they were bad people, I would read their minds, and see if they had killed people...or raped people...and I killed them. I played God." Edward looked down. He looked ashamed.
"I'm still not afraid...You're not dangerous to me."
"Liza...the day of the dance...I want to bring you somewhere. Thats were I will explain everything about myself. But now...just eat, and I'll get you home."
He didn't have to say anymore. I had finished my diet coke quickly, so he pushed his soda to me.
"Thanks." I said. After a bit, I finished both cokes and the plate of spaghetti and meatballs.
"We should go." He said, smiling. He left perfect sum of cash to pay, and a small tip.

We arrived at my house a bit later. It was nice, to talk with Edward, even if it was still stuff I didn't understand.
"Do you mind...If I come into your room tonight? I just...like to watch you sleep. You talk in your sleep, and its interesting." He grinned that beautifully crooked smile.
"Sure...You can come...you get in by the window, right?" I asked.
"Yeah. Sorry. I know its weird...I just...you interest 're...different." He looked away.
"Heres you're jacket back. I don't want Jeanette to have to question why I have a guys jacket around me." I blushed.
"You'll keep it though, right? You know, to...remember tonight." He asked.
"Yeah...um...Just bring it when you come up." I told him.
"Okay." He said.
He was at my door, opening my door about a second later. He umbuckled my seatbelt for me, and held his hand out to me, for me to hold. When I touched his hand, it felt that shock...that electricity.
He walked me to the door, and then was in his car a second later. I opened the front door to the house.
"Jeanette! I'm home!"
"Have fun?" She said. She was on the couch, probably resting from the little party she had had with her friends.
"Yeah. I'm gonna go upstairs and rest a bit. I'm tired. See you tomorrow?"
"Of course."Jeanette answered.
"Okay. Goodnight." I said.
I was upstairs as fast as I could be. I rushed to open my window, and then quickly went to the bathroom, to take out my contacts and change into my pajamas. When I got back into the room, Edward was on the bed, laying back with his arms above his head, as still as a statue. He grinned when he saw me. I was excited, and nervous.