Chapter Four

Bella was getting out of her truck at school. That 'Cullen' boy was standing by his oh so posh Volvo. He had a smug look on his face. I hope he realized what a stupid thing he had done by telling Bella that they shouldn't be friends. I would have gone over there and smacked him right in the face if I wasn't so scared he was going to smack me back...

I could hear the squealing of tires coming around the corner and the flash of a big blue van. It was headed right toward Bella... She pressed herself up against her truck and braced herself for the worst. She didn't even have time to move.

I jolted up out of my deep sleep... I was sweating bullets. I was getting scared to go to sleep in my own bedroom now. Every time I go to sleep, I have a dream... The dreams have been coming true.

I can't explain what's going on with me... I don't even know.

I ran my hand through my hair and let out a deep sigh. I looked at the alarm clock and noticed it was almost nine in the morning.

"Might as well get up... Stupid beach day..." I mumbled to myself. "At least there's no school today, no watching over Bella like a hawk." I smiled from ear to ear as I remembered what I had been looking forward to all week. "It's Jacob date day!"

I jumped right up out of bed and into the bathroom. I needed to shower. Everyone was meeting at First Beach at eleven. I had two hours to get ready and look perfect for Jacob. I felt like I needed more time than that. He deserved the best looking girl on the planet, and in my opinion, I was far from that.

The time flew by quicker than a car driven by a Nascar driver, and all that was left to do was go to the beach. Aunt Connie was waiting at the table in the kitchen, drinking her coffee.

"How are you feeling this morning?" She asked me as I put a bagel in the toaster. I hadn't eaten anything this morning, and figured it would be a good idea if I didn't want to fade away to nothing in front of Jake.

I smiled at her. "I'm good."

"Today is your date with Jacob isn't it?" She asked.

I nodded and my smile was spread even wider. "Yeah... I really like him, Aunt Connie. He's not like any other boy I've ever met."

"I can see that. I think he's quite fond of you too, Kaylin."

I grabbed my bagel out of the toaster, forgetting that it was hot, and ran out to my van. The drive to First beach seemed to take forever, and all my mind could think about was Jacob. I was hoping he was as excited as I was to see him.

I parked the van and saw that nobody else was there yet. I grabbed my sweater and headed down the water. Just like I did the last two times I was here, I sat my bum in the sand and my toes in the water. The water was warm, which was surprising for a day like today. The wind was tousling my hair, which I should have thought of when I was getting ready this morning. I wouldn't have styled it if I remembered that when you go to a beach, there's usually wind to follow. I was lost in my train of thought when I heard a voice call my name.

"Kaylin!" It shouted.

I turned around and saw Jacob Black walking towards me. It's a good thing he was at a distance where he couldn't fully see my face, or he would have seen me wipe the drool off of it.

"Jacob," I smiled and got up. I started walking towards him. "Thanks for last night."

When he reached where I was, we started walking together down the beach. "What did I do?" He asked.

"You were just... There." I replied. "It was nice of you to stay with me when Sam brought me home."

He smiled. "No problem. But it's not like I could have gone home... I mean... My dad was there, too... and I did need a ride..." He laughed.

"Jacob Black, you're mean!" I gave him a little shove and he never budged.

He pushed me lightly on the arm and I damn near fell on my butt into the sand.

"Watch the biceps, Muscle Man! Some of us are fragile!"

The air was silent for a moment. For some reason, I knew Jacob could answer the question that had been burning in my mind.

"Jake... Do you know the Cullen's?" I broke that silence, and for some reason, I was thinking I shouldn't have.

"I know of them. They don't come here." He replied.

"Why not?"

"It's just an old legend... Do you really want to hear about it? My dad told it to me when I was a kid, I think I can still remember most of it."

"Yeah... Yeah I wanna hear it. Tell me."

We were walking slower now. Jacob told me the story of the Cold Ones and the treaty that is held between the Quileute's and the Cold Ones.

"Why did you want to know?" He asked.

I started shaking my head and looked him straight in the eyes. I told him the truth. "Jake... There's just something about Edward Cullen that I really don't like... I get the feeling that he and his family are hiding something..."

"Yep... Maybe they're Cold Ones." He gave out a little chuckle.

"But something doesn't make sense about your story." I informed him.

"And what would that be, Miss Kaylin?"

I stopped walking and looked out over the water at the storm clouds that were still brewing. "Didn't they just move here not that long ago?"

"Or maybe they just moved back."

I knew what I had to do when I got home tonight. I had to do research on this. I couldn't let Bella get mixed up with the wrong guy. But right now, all that I was going to focus on was my day with Jacob Black.

When we got back to the main part of the beach, everybody had arrived. Bella and Angela were wrapped up snugly warm in layered clothing, while Mike, Eric and Jessica all had surf suits on. In my own opinion, they were absolutely insane for going surfing on a day as cold as today – even if there was a big swell coming in. They were out of their damn minds.

"Hey, Jake!" Bella said as she ran over to him and gave him a hug.

He hugged her back, but you could tell it was a friendly hug and nothing more. Even so, I was still a tad-but jealous... I wanted it to be me that he was hugging... I wanted my soup moment to happen again. Just the thought of him kissing me made my whole body – especially my lips – tingle.

"Hey, Bells." He replied. He released his hug from around her and reclaimed his place by me... It seemed so natural. It felt right.

"Well jeez... Hello to you too, Bella." I said with sarcasm in my voice.

She laughed. "Sorry, Kaylin! How are you today? I hope you're not feeling sick or anything like that."

I shook my head and smiled. "Nah... I'm good. Us Canadian girls are built like tanks. I could go out in a freezing rain storm for hours and still not get sick. It's in my blood." I joked.

She laughed. "You're nuts, but you're hilarious."

I returned the laughter and so did Jake. Even with the chilly weather, I could feel the heat coming off of his body. He was like a portable heater, it was great.

I turned my focus over to the three whack-jobs that were going to go out surfing. Surely enough, the wind would blow one of them over when they stood up on their boards.

"So are you excited?" I asked Mike.

Eric chuckled. "It's pretty cold out, but I'm pretty sure that the fun of it won't make us come swimming back to shore."

Jessica laughed out loud. "Oh please, Eric. The only thing you have ever surfed on in your life is the internet. Today is like a babysitting job for Mike and I. At least we're going to get a few laughs out of it."

I shook my head as they continued to argue with each other. I looked up at Jake and his eyes were full of amusement. He seemed to be enjoying the little spat they were having.

I nudged his arm. "Enjoying yourself?" I said it low enough for only us to hear.

He took me by surprise when he laced his fingers through mine. "Always." He smiled.

I blushed a deep scarlet red and I swore everyone noticed, including Bella – which was probably a nice change for her considering she was usually the one who was red-faced.

It was finally time for Jake and I to have our alone time for the dinner that he had promised me. We went back to the diner that we had our first meal together in. We sat in the same booth that we sat in that night, too. But instead of sitting across from me this time, Jake sat beside me. It wasn't until tonight that I noticed there was something different about him... He looked more chiselled. He was absolutely beautiful.

"So Kaylin, what will it be for dinner tonight?" He asked, flipping through the menu.

A slice of you, is what I wanted to say, but I kept my thought to myself. "Umm... Chicken fingers and fries I guess." I paused and looked at the clock that was up on the wall. It was 6:30. "Uh, Jake..."

"Yeah?" He never looked up from the menu.

"What time does the movie start in Port Angeles?"

"Seven, why?"

"I don't think we're going to make it." I pointed to the clock.

Jake looked up and a big smile came across his face. "Oh well... Looks like we're just going to have to stay here in La Push and watch the storm instead."

"Storm, what are you talking about? Jake it's not even thundering out." Just as those words escaped my mouth, a loud clap of thunder took over the noise of the diner and there was a bright flash of lightning in the sky over the water. "Never mind."

Our orders arrived to the table, but we never seemed to stop talking, even when we were eating. I decided that I wanted to ask him about the night before. I wanted to know why that Sam guy was shirtless and carrying me when he could have tried to snap me out of whatever state I was in - wouldn't have been too hard. Usually it just requires a small love tap to the face.

"Who's that Sam guy that carried me out of the woods last night?" Might as well open right up, you only live once, right?

"Sam Uley." Jake replied. He voice seemed to have a bit of hate in it when he spoke now. "He seems to think he runs the reservation."

"What do you mean?"

"Quil and Embry haven't been at school lately, Kaylin." He was looking me in the eyes now. "They've been with him. Both of them. They've changed, they aren't the same friends that I knew before. They don't even talk to me now."

Now that I thought about it, Quil and Embry weren't at the beach today. "I'm sure they're fine, Jake. I mean... What's the worst that's going on with them? So what if they're hanging around a bad influence. They'll learn sooner or later that they shouldn't be there."

Jake's eyes were full of worry now. They never left mine. "He's been watching me, too."

I raised my eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" I asked.

"It's like he's waiting for me or something."

I took his hand in mine, only this time I was being sincere. "Just stay away from him. That's all you have to do."

He nodded. "Yeah." He was looking out the window now.

I let go of his hand and started putting my sweater back on.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

"I want to go and sit in my van and watch this storm. It's beautiful."

"Alright then." He smiled. "I'll go pay for the grub and we'll go watch the storm."

We got to the door to leave the diner and spotted my van. The rain was coming down in sheets now. I had an idea.

"Let's race." I said.

"You're nuts, woman." He replied.

"Chicken." If he wouldn't race voluntarily, I would provoke him until he did.

"Fine. But when you lose, don't come crying to me." He gave in.

Well that was easy. "You're on."

I took off into a sprint and knew that was my first mistake. Mixing me with wet pavement and crappy runners made for baaadd accidents to happen. I felt my body start to go forward and realized that I had hit the wet ground. Damnit. I hate being accident-prone.

Jake burst out laughing and turned around to help me up. "I'll give you this win. But next time, let's get you some knee pads and bubble-wrap."

We got to my van and he helped me up inside the door. We sat in the middle seat and looked out the windshield over the water. The thunder was still loud and the lighting was flashing quite a bit.

I felt Jake's arm wrap around my shoulders. I smiled to myself and let my head rest on his shoulder.

Jake broke the silence. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." I kept my vision on the storm outside the van.

"Did you really like what happened last night?"

I raised my head up from his shoulder and looked at him. I smiled. "Of course I did."

He paused for a moment. "So you wouldn't mind if it happened again?"

I was blushing, but this time it was a full-on body blush. I swear I looked like a giant jalapeno pepper.

I leaned up to meet his lips half way. They had the same effect that they did on me last night. They were so soft, so caring, so gentle and yet so passionate. I could feel his hand rise up and touch my cheek.

He slowly pulled away, but didn't let his face go more than two inches away from mine. His eyes were still closed as he spoke. "Kaylin, you have no idea what I've been feeling for you lately..."

I nodded. "I think I do..." I gave him a small kiss. "I've been looking forward to this day all week, Jacob. Nothing could have stopped me from coming here today."

He pulled away so he could look at me. "Do you mean that?"

I smiled. "Yes, I do."

"Did you want to go out again?" He asked.

I shook my head and laughed. "Jake, save it. You know my answer and you might as well get used to the fact that I'm not going anywhere and that you're stuck with me as a girlfriend."

He was smiling from ear to ear. "Well, then. I like a girl who speaks her mind."

He leaned in and kissed me one more time – a long, passionate, body-numbing kiss.