A/N: Sorry for updating THIS late ._. My laptop's charger ripped D: And well, my laptop is out of battery. . . and I don't have money. . . But thankfully, my older brother let me use his laptop and allowed me to write 6. CHANT—and for my other story, too, of course. Wow I'm so amazed at the amount of reviews i got! THIRTEEN! YAY! :D
Um, sorry this is SOOO long. Please read? Jacob tells Liv and Bella about Sam's cult problem, and Embry is involved. . . I know you already know this :P Anyways, I might have to quote Jacob from the book because I think the information is vital to the story! :D Also, we JACOB MEETS ARTHUR, ARTHUR MEETS JACOB!
Whoo! . . . -.- Well, I'm a little bummed out. I had this PERFECT scene already written, until my laptop decided to turn off. . . and I HADN'T SAVED IT! Ahh I was horrified, and had to re-write the scene. But I liked how it turned out ;P Hope you guys like it too!
Thanks everyone! I am supper glad that everyone is liking this story, reeealllly, I am! \(^O^)/
Enjoy :)
6. CHANT
DAD LOOKED LIKE he was going to explode any second now.
I anticipated this, which was the only reason why I was sitting relaxed, with my phone neatly put in my pocket. I stared out the window, trying my hardest to ignore my dad for the time being—Bella's slow driving wasn't helping. The air felt oddly uncomfortable at the moment, and I was suddenly cursing at Arthur for calling when my dad was present. Then again, Arthur didn't know my dad had been listening.
"Date? You and a boy?" Dad asked incredulously after a long pause, his face still red. I made an effort to keep the irritation off my face. Did he not think boys would ask me out? I mean, sure, Arthur's the first one, but the time would've come—and I guess the time came just now.
"Yes," I nodded importantly. "A date. With a boy." It was harder than expected to keep of of my annoyance off my voice. I grimaced inwardly. I was doing a terrible job at keeping my expressions cool.
Bella made a muffled noise—which caused me to look at her. She was staring at the front, her pale hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. I wanted to say something to her, and try to make her less tense. I opened my mouth, but no words came out.
I wasn't at all sure what to say. Bella seemed distracted, again, but not enough distracted to crash the truck, and kill us all. I was a bit pleased by this, knowing Bella was back in the world, but a bit disgruntled that Bella was a bit tense and in pain. The pain was in display on her face; her lips curled down, her eyes squinted, and her face was twisted. The reason I was disgruntled was because I thought I caused that face somehow. I had no words to say. No apologies poured out of my mouth. I was a pathetic sister.
My dad didn't seem to have noticed this. He was staring me down, with a raised dark brow, confused. "This boy's name is. . . Arthur, yeah?"
Trying to distract my mind, I focused more avidly on my dad. "Yeah."
"Last name?"
"What? You're gonna look him up?" I tried to sound teasing, but I wasn't in the mood.
Dad shrugged. "Maybe."
I sighed.
"Forbes. Arthur Forbes." I said dully. He made a grunting sound, before all was once quiet again.
When we arrived home, Bella dutifully parked the truck. She shot us both a small, forced smile before getting out of the truck without a word. Dad and I were left alone, a bit stunned, and I don't know about dad, but I was a bit hurt. She wasn't going to talk to me anymore? Was being reckless actually not helping anymore? I worried about this, and got out of the truck slowly, watching my step, and put my backpack on my arms, too lazy to sling it on my back. Dad got out after me, and closed the door. We both trudged along, silent, and wondering what was wrong with Bella. She had seemed so happy tonight. . .
"G'night, dad." I mumbled, hugging him.
He hugged me back, and ruffled up my hair. "Goodnight blonde."
I glowered at him. "Aye, respect the hair! It's not blonde! It's a light, golden brown—for your information. I got it from mom," I stated proudly.
Dad rolled his eyes. "Don't think I forgot about you and your date," he frowned. I made a face. "Go to sleep, you have school tomorrow."
"M'kay," I said. "Bye."
It was quiet. Eerily quiet. I was a bit nervous, wondering what Bella was doing. So going to her room and asking if I could use her computer was an excuse to monitor her behavior. I quickly walked up to her room, and pressed my ear to her door. No sound. I frowned now, worried. Quickly, I knocked on her door, anxious for a respond.
"Dad? Liv? What's wrong?" Bella asked softly from the other side of the door. I wanted to ask her the same exact thing; what's wrong? But of course I knew Bella didn't like suffering while other people watched (like me), so I refrained from asking.
I cleared my throat. "Uh, it's Liv." I waited for a response, and when I didn't get one, I continued. "I was wondering if I could use your computer. . .?" Now I was a bit hesitant.
There was some shuffling, and then Bella was opening the door. My eyes were instantly drawn to her tired face, the way her eyes were looking around. She seemed almost reluctant to something—as if fearing something that was to come. It took me a second to figure out what that was. She was fearing what caused her screams at night. She was fearing what made me wake up, startled and worried, at night. . .
"Come in," she ushered me in with a flick of her hand. She opened the door wider, and let me in. She closed the door after me, before turning to stare at me quizzically. "So, you said you didn't have much homework, right?"
I wasn't sure were she was getting at. "Yeah," I agreed slowly, studying her face. "Just a bit, don't worry. I just need to type stuff from a notebook Kendra and I wrote down, into the computer."
She was quiet for a moment, staring at me with slightly narrowed eyes. Bella looked to be thinking hard about something, and then she sighed tiredly, her face falling. "Want me to do it?"
My mouth fell open. Bella always told me to do my homework whenever I used to ask her if she could do it for me. If she'd told me this a year ago, I would have gladly let her do my homework. But now, it seemed as if I were to take advantage of her by saying "yes". I shook my head, closing my mouth.
"Don't worry. I want to do it." she said, staring intently at my face. She tried to smile, but it came out more like a grimace. "Please. You'll be doing me a favor by letting me."
"Is this because you don't want to go to sleep?" I ignored her last request. My jaws clenched.
"N—no."
"Bella," I sighed, and dropped my backpack to the floor. I wasn't sure if I could hug her, because she was hugging herself with her own arms. I tried to make my voice soft and reassuring, like she used to do when we were younger, and I'd tell her the boogy-man was under my bed, and she told me he wasn't. "Don't let the nightmares rule out your life. They're not real. They're visions made up by your own mind. They're not real." If I could of done anything to take away her nightmares, I would take them away from her, and have them myself. At least I would be the one suffering now, and my sister would be back to her normal self.
Bella kept an impassive face, which was astonishing—Bella's face is like an open book, and to see her keep emotions off her face. . .
Well, it scared me.
"I know that, Vivienne." she used my full name sharply. I flinched. My parents, Bella, or teachers usually used my full name when they were either mad at me, or when I was in trouble. The emotions poured back into her pale face, and she seemed sorry. "I—I'm sorry, Liv. I didn't mean to sound like that."
I shook my head, trying to wave off my heavy heart. "Naw, don't worry about it. I'm fine." I lied, swallowing. "I was just trying to help," I said softly, regretting my earlier words.
She reached out a hand, but retreated it, grimacing. "Stay with me—tonight? Please?" she sounded in pain. Her brown eyes were no longer with me. They were in memories, memories with that Cullen guy. I glowered away from her, and shook my head again. I had to stop this.
"Yup, don't worry about it." I laughed weakly. "Go to bed. Go sleep." I shooed her away to her bed, and watched her lie down. She stared up at the ceiling, her hands folded neatly across her stomach. She looked peaceful, and I longed to join the empty space beside her in the bed—the space she'd save for me to sleep in.
I turned away from her, to turn on the computer. It was so slow. I took out my notebook from my bag, opened it to the page with all my information, and began to type away. I got frustrated half-way through typing the computer. The computer would leave off some words, because I was typing too fast. It took a while for it to catch up with me.
Finally, at three in the morning, I finished. I was dead tired, and blinked my eyes repeatedly as I saved the information into my Flash-Drive, and turned off the computer. I smiled to myself, pleased, and climbed into bed with Bella. Not even a minute passed when I closed my eyes, when Bella began to scream.
Jumping up, startled and annoyed—I tended to get annoyed and grumpy when I was sleepy—I looked at Bella, to see her face twisted in fear. I longed to know what scared her. Was it Edward? I found it hard to believe that was the reason of her unyielding terror.
It was no use trying to wake Bella. She would just keep on screaming. The only thing I could do was say, "Shh," to her, and run my fingers through her brown hair. Then, she'd stop screaming, and went back to a somewhat peaceful sleep.
I couldn't go sleep after that.
Morning arrived, and the alarm went off. The sound made me flinch, and my sleepy eyes blink tiredly. It was if something heavy was on my eyelids, reminding me that I didn't get any sleep at all. I groaned, and got out of bed. At least I had a reason to get up finally. I stretched my aching muscles, and got up.
Bella was already waking up.
"Good morning," I tried to keep the sleep away from my voice. It works, I guess, since she replied back. "I'm going to go get ready, okay?" I couldn't believe she didn't hear the croak in my voice. I left her room, my backpack in hand.
We didn't speak when Bella drove me to school. The only words exchanged between us was, "Bye." And then she drove away, too preoccupied in her thoughts. I worried that she would get into an accident if she was too distracted, but shrugged it off forcefully. Bella was responsible, I reminded myself, she won't do anything like that.
Kendra hadn't arrived yet to school, and I figured I should just go and print our information in the library. I sighed in relief when I found out it was open, and walked up to the nice librarian, handing her a dollar. We paid a dollar if we wanted to print out something. Sucks, I know.
Smiling proudly, I walked out of the library, happy and relieved that I had printed the papers. They were inside of my backpack, carefully put into a folder that the teacher had specifically ordered us to put of information in. I met Kendra outside our first class, Science, and pointed to my backpack.
"We're so ready." I said, my eyes flickering down to the model in her hands. She grinned back at me.
In the corner of my eyes, I saw a flash of golden hair. My heart skipped a beat, and I turned my head swiftly to glimpse at Arthur, my face already coated with red, but I was disappointed to see that it wasn't Arthur. Kendra snapped her fingers in front of my face, startling me.
"If you're looking for Arthur—you're not gonna find him because he's not here." She smiled knowingly.
I frowned. "Damn." Then I looked at her, almost squealing, "He asked me out!"
Her eyes widened. "What! He did? When? Oh my God!"
The rest of the day seemed to pass by like a blur. Kendra and I talked possibilities about my future date, and I told her Arthur's and I's conversation. She squealed loudly, and hugged me in congratulations. I forgot all about being tired, instead the tiredness was replaced by disappointment at Arthur not being here, but I managed to keep my mind distracted from him.
Bella picked me up after school, and her face seemed different.
As soon as I'd settled on my seat on the truck, she twisted on her seat, facing me. "Can you come with me somewhere?"
I agreed instantly. Her face was set—determined. "Sure. Where to?" I asked curiously.
"Their house." her words came out shakily.
My face fell instantly. "Oh."
What could she possibly want to do over there? Didn't she, herself, realize the painful memories it would bring back to her? Was she being masochistic? I studied her face. She too, was thinking, a frown tugging downwards on her lip. Did she like the pain?
That one thought made me mad. No, she couldn't love the pain. That just wasn't the Bella I knew. But then again, the Bella I knew wouldn't of turned into a zombie if a guy left her.
And then Bella began to drive slower. I looked out the window, glaring at the scenery. The lane appeared to be over-grown. I looked up to see the tall trees hovering us, and creating a tunnel. Bella seemed anxious about something, almost fearful.
The thick, almost jungle-like growth crawled slowly past the windows. The drive wound on and on. Soon, Bella started drive faster, and I felt the air turn edgy. Suddenly, there was a break in the trees. I peered forward, confused and a bit curious as to how the grand Cullen's house looked like. Tall ferns had infiltrated the grass around the house, crowding against the trunks of the cedars, even wide porch. It looked like the lawn had been flooded, the grass waist-high, and to me, the grass appeared like green, feathery waves.
Then I looked at the house. It emanated an aura that said; emptiness. I frowned at the creepy looking house, and looked at Bella when she gasped. Her face seemed tormented, as if she had lost some hope. I hadn't realized Bella had been driving until Bella abruptly hit the brakes.
"Bella!" I yelled in panic, breathing hard. "Don't—don't do that." I mumbled shakily. My heart was beating too fast, and not in the good way.
Bella went inside to observed the house, but I stayed inside. I figured she wanted time alone with the house that once belonged to her ex-boyfriend. No less than five minutes later, Bella was running back to the truck. She got into the car, gasping, and then began to drive away quickly. I said nothing, and kept my mouth shut.
She drove us to Jacob's, and once we passed the La Push border, she visibly relaxed. I wanted to approach the subject on how she was doing, but didn't really know how to without making her uncomfortable with me.
Jacob was—surprisingly—waiting for us. I greeted him with a hug, and couldn't help smiling back, despite my distracted thoughts. His grin was infectious.
"Liv!" he yelled over-enthusiastically. "Bella!" he said, once he saw her getting out of the truck.
My eyes drifted towards a half-smiling Bella. It seemed to me like Jacob's smile was just as an infection to her as it was to me.
"Hey," I greeted. I was still somewhat distracted, and couldn't ignore the bad feelings I had previously had. Maybe Jacob had noticed something in my face that implied my negative feelings, but he somehow pointed them out.
"Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly.
I looked away from his face, not knowing if I could hide the truth. It felt as though I could trust Jacob with anything, and he would keep the secret safe. I felt oddly comforted in his presence, but still, I decided not to tell my friend. Perhaps Bella wouldn't want me telling anyone about our little visit to a certain place. So instead of looking at Jacob, I stared around. My eyes found Billy, who happened to be by a window.
I waved and grinned.
Billy waved and grinned back.
"Liv," Bella murmured silently from beside me, "is something wrong?"
I detected the guilty tone in her voice. I refused to make my sister feel bad; she needed someone to walk through the horrible, darkest time of her life. Suddenly, my mind wondered what else had it's darkest, loneliest time—a new moon did. I stared at Bella, trying to decipher if Bella was going through that face.
Without looking at Bella, I knew the answer to my own question.
Yes she was.
"No. I'm alright, honestly," I lied, finally looking at them. Seeing their raised eyebrows, I added in, "Well, I'm actually nervous." Now that wasn't a lie. I actually was nervous. I wondered if Arthur would call me today. . .
Just thinking about this made my cheeks flush.
Bella frowned, but nodded nonetheless.
Jacob, however, observed my blush. "Why would you be nervous?"
"Oh, no reason at all." I said quickly, smiling a bit dreamily.
But before Jacob could ask me anymore questions, I said, "Well, let's get to work, shall we?"
My formal tone made Jacob grin. I sighed in relief. He had dropped the subject for now, at least. That is all I could ask for. He'll probably forget, and won't bring it up anymore. Grinning at my sureness, I followed Jacob and Bella into the garage.
"You seriously aren't sick of us yet?" Bella abruptly asked, sounding incredulous. "You must be starting to ask yourself why you're even bothering to hang out with us."
"Nope. Not yet."
I playfully scoffed. "Pfft, like anyone would get tired of me." I grinned to show I was kidding around. Jacob met my eyes, his twinkling.
"Please let us know when we start getting on your nerves. I don't want to be a pain—I don't know about Liv."
"Okay." He laughed, a throaty sound. "I wouldn't hold your breath for that, though." Once again, his eyes shifted to meet mine. I grinned back at him, rolling my eyes.
"Who said I was gonna hold my breath?"
"Admit it Liv, you love my company."
"Nuh-uh! I just like your place, s'all."
"So you're only coming here because you like spending time—here in my garage?" He raised a dark brow. "Not because of awesome me?"
"Who said you were awesome, anyways?" I countered, smirking.
"You did, yesterday. Remember?"
I sighed loudly, nodding reluctantly when I realized he was right.. "Yeah, yeah. I do." We were inside of the garage now, and I sighed contentedly. It was warm inside, and I was starting to get a bit cold. I looked up, and stopped suddenly, my mouth dropping slightly.
The red bike was standing up, looking like a motorcycle rather than a pile of jagged metal.
"Jake, you're incredible," Bella breathed.
While I said in a wowed voice, "Impressive." And, unable to conceal my excitement, I squealed, "You're amazing, Jacob!"
He laughed, blushing. He cleared his throat, "I sort of get a bit, er, obsessive when I start a new building project." He shrugged, and his face turned solemn all of a sudden. "If I had any brains I'd drag it out a little bit."
I found myself disliking the solemn look on Jacob's face. "Why?" I side-glanced Bella, and saw that she too, was worrying.
Jacob looked down. He didn't speak for minutes, his forehead creasing. I tried to guess what was wrong, so I could tell him sorry or that everything is alright. I was beginning to get anxious—that is, until Jacob finally looked up, his brown eyes bored into mine for a brief second, before he looked away, back to the red bike.
His voice was slow, questioning. "If I had said. . ." he paused again, then shook his head. "If I had said that I couldn't fix these bikes, what would you say?"
I didn't answer right away either, because I was unsure who he was asking. He glanced up to check my expression, so I took it in myself to answer, after shooting Bella a glance and seeing that she was thinking hard. I racked my brain, and finally settled on something.
"Well, I don't know about Bella," I began, "but I would still find a way to come hang out with you. We could, I don't know, do homework? Go. . . camping?" I smiled and Jacob seemed to relax. I turned to stare at Bella who just snapped out of her thoughts.
Bella nodded along. "Yeah, we could do homework," she murmured, her forehead creasing.
Jacob went to sit down next to the bike and picked up a wrench. "So you think you'll still come over when I'm done, then?" He stared at both of us, his eyes flickering to me the most.
I stare at him for a second. "That's what you meant?" I murmured, shaking my head slightly. "Of course we're gonna come over! Silly Billy—oh wait, that's your dad. Silly Jackey!" This caused him to playfully glower at me.
"I guess we are taking advantage of your very underpriced mechanical skills. But as long as you let me come over, I'll be here." Bella made an effort to smile.
"Hoping to see Quil again?" he teased Bella. I laughed, and nodded my head quickly behind Bella. Jacob laughed along, too.
Bella smiled, rolling her eyes. "You caught me."
There was another pause in the cheerful air. I was too nervous to even try and break it. I was still too surprised at seeing Bella smile. My mind couldn't stop, but marvel at Bella's sudden cheerful mood. Jacob sighed, shaking his head with a grin on his face. I studied him for another second, before looking away, my cheeks flushing.
"You two really like hanging out with me?" he asked us, raising his eyebrows.
"Very, very much. And I'll prove it. I have to work tomorrow, but Wednesday we'll do something nonmechanical." Bella nodded.
I was confused. "Like what?" Then I turned to Jacob, "Yup, I really do like hanging out with you." It was true. When I was near Jacob, I felt my mood shift and brightened. It was as if the mere sight of Jacob made something inside of me—something that somehow didn't cease to stop or something—calmed down when I saw Jacob. I was always restless whenever I came to visit my dad on those Summers with Bella. . . and when I saw Jake, my mood would turn bright and I would relax. My dad used to joke about how "When you and Liv are married, and she's on her hormones, you'll calm her down, Jake."
Of course my young seven year old self didn't have a clue as to what my dad was saying, but it made Jacob blush, and avoid my eyes, which led to me being embarrassed, even though I had no idea what to be embarrassed about.
"Maybe we can go to our place," Bella turned her head to stare pointedly at me when she continued, "and do homework. I know a certain someone who is falling behind with their homework. So, why not do homework?"
I grimaced. Homework. Hurray.
"Do we have to?" I whined. "I mean, okay, I waited last minute for one homework assignment." I crossed my arms, and posed my head up in the air indignantly.
Jacob looked back and forth between Bella and I. I smiled wryly at him, and shrugged. I had been used to this side of motherly Bella. But seeing as how Bella had been acting O.C.C. herself, I refrained from scowling at her, and muttering stuff behind her back—that's what I usually did when "her end" had come.
"Homework might be a good idea." Jacob said, making a face. He succeeded in bringing the attention to himself, which I was relieved.
Bella frowned at him, which meant I was forgotten. I gave Jake the thumps up behind her, and he discreetly smiled when Bella looked down at the floor when she next spoke. "Yes, it is a good one. We have to start being responsible—"
"Hey!" I began to protest, cutting Bella off. "I'm already done with my homework! That means I'm the most responsible one out of the three." I liked the sound of that; I'm the most responsible. .
"Jacob isn't, though, because he's working too much on the bikes."
That shut me up. I sent Jacob an apologetic look.
Bella turned around, and shook her head. "As I was saying," she continued, "We have to be responsible, or Billy and Charlie—"
Once again, I cut Bella off. I rather enjoyed seeing her get a bit frustrated by this; it showed emotion on her face, at least. "Hem, hem. I believe the correct term is, dad. Billy and dad."
Jacob was chuckling.
My sister had her eyes narrowed on me. I gestured towards her, grinning. "You were saying, dearest sister of mine?"
"Billy and dad," she paused to stared at me. I gave her a look that said much better, "aren't going to be so easygoing about this." She made a gesture indicating the three of us as a single entity. I mimicked her.
"Yeah, about that. . . we should spend some time outside the garage. I overheard my dad and Charlie talking about, uh, us." He flushed, avoiding my eyes.
"About you and me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "What about?"
"Well, they think. . . we're going. . . out?"
My face was on fire. "What!"
So perhaps I was over-exaggerating. But who cared at the moment, when my dad thinks I'm actually dating Jacob? Maybe that's why he was confused and a bit angry with me when he found out about Arthur. I think he thought I was cheating on Jacob. Oh that father of mine, how silly he can be sometimes. I mean, sure I knew he has been hoping of Jacob and I getting together, but—but I don't see him as that, sort of. I was confusing myself with all this internal dilemma.
Jacob liked my reaction, I suppose, because a bright grin appeared on his lips, and he positively beamed. "Yup."
I guess he liked it when I agreed with him. I guess he liked the fact that I found both our father's assumptions were outrages. I shrugged it away, and proceeded to calm myself, and get my face back to normal.
Bella cleared her throat, her brown eyes looking back and forth between us, a crease forming between her brows. "Anyways," she said, "homework once a week?" she proposed. As I was opening my mouth to let out a whine—just to irritate her, and see her wonderful reactions—she spoke again, "Or make that twice a week. Sound good?"
No!
I kept my mouth shut, though, knowing Bella had heaps of homework everyday. More than I did. All I did was glower down at the ground.
Jacob suddenly sighed, causing me to look up. H was reaching over to his toolbox to a paper grocery sack. He pulled out three hands cans of Seven Up, cracking one open and handing it to me with a sheepish smile, once he'd seen my raised eyebrow. He opened the second, handed it to Bella, and then he opened one for himself, holding his up in a ceremoniously way.
"Here's to responsibility," he toasted. "Twice a week."
"And recklessness every day in between," Bella emphasized.
I wanted to say something, feeling a bit left out. "And I want to say some words," I began, and noticed their questioning faces. "Bedaz, doodles, Woody, lilypup, boypip. Also, I wanted to say that I'm glad you're my friend, Jake. You're starting to become my best friend," I flushed. He beamed.
Grinning, Jacob held his can up into the air, before Bella and I followed his example. Bella's and Jacob's can touched mine, sealing the toast.
It's funny how time seems to pass by quickly when you're having fun. Before I knew it, the sun was sinking behind the horizon, and twilight was taking place. I rather enjoyed this time of day because it was neither day nor night. I loved the prospect of it being unique.
The first thing I noticed when I entered my house was the insistent whining coming from Squirt somewhere around the house, which made me worry. The second thing was the mouth watering aroma filling the house. With delight, I conclude that dad had brought pizza! Bella had tried to apologize for not coming to cook, but dad and I rolled our eyes, and watched the basketball game on the TV.
"I don't mind," he assured her. "You deserve a break from all the cooking, anyway."
School Tuesday was utterly fantastic. Arthur was waiting for me in front of the school, causing Bella to frown. I was unsure why she had a look of worry flashed across her eyes. I mean, Arthur didn't even look dangerous, if that was why she was worrying. How can someone as adorable as Arthur be dangerous? Ah, right. Don't judge a book by it's cover. But he wasn't dangerous!
Arthur and I were glued to the hip the whole day. He sat next to me in all our classes, and even in lunch. He kept on smiling at me shyly, his gray eyes boring into mine. . . and it would seem like we would stare into each other's eyes, that is, if Kendra wouldn't keep on clearing her throat.
He looked at me once more, smiling. His dimples showed. "We have a lot of homework today," he sighed. I grimaced. I guess Bella had been right to make the "twice a week do homework" toast.
I nodded, nibbling on my apple. "A lot," I agreed.
"So, are you going to do anything today?"
Kendra was snickering beside me. I pinched her arm, and she squeaked in protest.
"Nah, just hanging out." I replied casually, wondering where he was getting at.
"Oh," he murmured, thinking. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out for a walk, today? I mean, with out dogs?"
I blushed. The idea of me being alone with Arthur. . . was making my dreams come true. "Sure," I said coolly, proud of myself for not squealing in delight and jumping him. "I'd like that." That was sort of a lie.
I'd absolutely love that.
After school, Arthur and I walked home—together. I swear he was going to grab my hand, but I guess he chickened out, and kept his hand to himself. Damn him.
"I'll wait for you outside, with Squirt." I nodded, smiling up at Arthur. I was suddenly afraid I'd turn to goo if I kept on staring at him, so I quickly looked away, blushing.
He nodded. "That's the plan."
"Great. Um, so. . . hurry," I pushed him playfully, nudging him towards the right direction.
He didn't respond. And it startled me because he was staring in the direction of my house; his eyes were furrowed.
I turned slowly to look at my house, and saw dad, Billy, and Jacob. My first thought was oh crap—I was suddenly worried for Arthur. What if dad planned on shooting Arthur? He sure looked like he wanted to shoot Edward when Bella had brought him to our house last year for the first time. . . and that was also the time when Bella had decided to flee from the house, leaving dad and I panicked and worried.
Shaking my head to shoo away those unpleasant memories, I looked at all their faces; dad was eyeing Arthur, Billy was frowning, and Jacob. . . Jacob for the most part looked like he's seen something horrible. His eyes kept flickering to me, then to Arthur, until they finally settled on me, assessing my face. I waved, and he just smiled a dim, non-Jacob smile.
I frowned.
"Well," I muttered, "crap."
Arthur suddenly grabbed my hand, and I looked at him, my face on fire and my mouth wide open. He smiled at me, one of those dimply smiles I adored, and shook his head. "No, I'm glad your dad is here," he said. "It's actually great."
I found myself unable to respond. I was off in La-la land. Arthur's hand was so soft, and warm. I wonder how his hugs felt. . .
"Liv?" I heard my dad's voice. I was suddenly taken out of my trance, and I stared at Billy, dad, and Jacob. They were in front of us all of a sudden. When did they get here? "Are you okay?"
"Y—yeah. Why?" I made a face.
"Your face, honey," he chuckled weakly. "Looks funny."
"Hello Chief Swan," Arthur said, sounding respectful. He stood straight and stretched his free hand out, to shake dad's hand. Dad shook his with a little too much force than needed to, and I sent him a glare.
"You must be Arthur Forbes." Dad said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, sir."
"Ah. . . and why are you holding my daughter's hand?"
"Oh, well, see—I wanted to ask you something." His grey eyes sent me an uncertain look, and I was suddenly worried.
"What's wrong?" I asked, and refrained myself from saying baby. I don't think anyone would be. . . cool with me saying baby to Arthur.
He simply sent me his dimple smile, before turning to Billy and Jacob. He greeted Billy with same respect, but when it came to Jacob, he suddenly wore a macho face. I accessed his face; hard, cool, and adorable. He greeted Jake with a curt nod, and Jacob did the same. Odd.
I smiled at Jake, and said in a playful tone, "Missed you."
Arthur didn't seem to like it much. He seemed. . . jealous! And, well, more uncertain.
Jake smiled somewhat triumphant of something. "Me too."
And then he came forward, and enveloped me into a warm hug. I was overwhelmed at how much I liked it, being hugged by him. I found myself hugging him back—releasing Arthur's hand on the way—and laughing against his warm chest. I didn't want to pull away, which again, surprised me. I felt so comfortable. . . it felt so right to hug Jacob. . . and it scared me.
So with a great deal of reluctance, I pulled away from him, my face warm. I turned to Arthur, and made an effort to smile, feeling a bit guilty suddenly. He shook his head and chuckled weakly, turning to face my dad again, and his face was a bit troubled, but he seemed confident when his grey eyes flickered over to me, and found me gawking at him. And now one of those adorable dimply grins appeared, and he unexpectedly reached for my hand again—shooting Jacob a sharp stare—and wrapped mine in his. This, of course, made me flush.
"Chief Swan—"
"Call him Charlie." I interrupted, grinning. I sent dad a stare that said to defy me.
Dad sighed, while Billy chuckled. "As Liv said, call me Charlie, kid."
Arthur laughed nervously. "Okay, Charlie. I wanted to ask you something, to make sure it was okay with you." He sent me a nervous glance, his grey eyes bored into mine, and I was sure I turned to goo. He squeezed my hand, before clearing his throat. "I wanted to ask you if I could ask Livi to be my girlfriend."
In that one instant, I felt myself really turn to goo. He wanted me to be his girlfriend, which was one of my many dreams in life; be Arthur's girlfriend.
"Have you asked her, yet?" Dad asked in a gruff voice. Arthur shook his head.
Grey eyes flickered to mine, and stared at me with such intensity, I felt like we were the only ones standing here. He bent down in one knee, and I felt like squealing, but refrained from doing so. He dug something through his pockets, and took out two rings, one light blue, the other grey. I stared in confusion, wondering if he was going to propose, and wasn't sure if I was ready to get married yet. I mean, I wanted to graduate first, and then study to become a doctor.
"Liv," he said in a soft voice. "Will you be my girlfriend?"
"Y—yes," I found myself whispering, and with a sudden urge to cry. This had to be the most happiest day of my life.
His answering smile made the day even more perfect; he took the grey ring, and then held it out for me so I could read what it said: Art in grey words. He slipped it into my outstretched fingers, slipping it into my index finger. He smiled at it, before showing me the blue ring that read: Liv in blue words, and slipped it into his fingers. I was amazed at how happy I felt.
Someone cleared their throat, breaking me out of my happy bubble. My head turned to the source of the sound, which happened to be Jacob. He looked uncomfortable, and I felt myself blushing. I sent all three of them a half-hearted, apologetic smile.
"We're boyfriend," Arthur said, standing up and wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
"And girlfriend," I ended, with a wide smile.
"Unless, of course, you hurt her. . . I'm a cop, with a gun—that's all you need to know."
Dad just had to ruin the moment.
"Dad!"
"What?" he asked innocently, before chuckling, and patting Arthur in the shoulder. "But seriously kid, don't hurt my baby."
I smiled and shook my head. Arthur's phone rang, and he picked it up. Turns out, he had to leave. I was upset, sure, but his mom needed him. He kissed me in the cheek as a farewell—and I was tempted to accidentally turn my head. I watched him go for a moment, before turning to face dad, Billy, and Jacob, grinning like a fool.
Today turned out to be such a wonderful day. This was my blissful abyss.
The next night, I found myself being dragged into Jacob's and Bella's study session. Jacob didn't have his usually enthusiasm, but when I smiled at him, he'd smile back, his eyes brightening and his face would turn happy. That's why I smiled at him a lot this day.
"School sucks," I muttered, and sneaked my Harry Potter book out of my backpack, and began to read. It was unexpectedly taking away from me. "Hey!"
Bella shook her head. "Homework." Was all she said.
Think, fast.
"I need to read thirty minutes!" Smart, smart.
She threw me a stare that said she didn't believe me, but very hesitantly, she gave it back to me, sighing. Jacob chuckled, and asked if he could see the book. He flipped through it disinterestedly, and I felt a bit offended at his next question. "Is it good or something?"
"Good?" I muttered incredulously, and Bella muttered something around the lines of don't to Jacob. "It's the most amazing book in history!"
"What's it about? A romance book? Vampire falling in love with human girl, and then this werewolf falling in love with her too?" he joked, reading the title silently.
"Don't even joke about that! Eww no, I wouldn't read that! Harry Potter is about friendship, good versus evil—"
"Let's get back to homework." Bella interrupted, sounding annoyed. She hated it when I talked about my passion for Harry Potter.
"Romeo and Juliet sucks," I muttered under my breath, grabbing my book when Jacob handed it back. She visibly stiffened, and I was worried I'd said something wrong. But she went back to work, a little unfocused now.
Friday was the garage, and Saturday, after being stuck home re-reading Harry Potter books, was homework again. Dad spent the day fishing with Harry. When he got back, we were all done—feeling very sensible and mature about it, too—and watching Monster Garage on the Discovery Channel. I wasn't really interested in it. I was rather busy daydreaming about Arthur.
"I probably ought to go." Jacob sighed. "It's later than I thought."
"Aww!" I whined. "You were the only fun thing around here." I pouted.
He laughed at my unwilling expression—it seemed to please him.
"Tomorrow, back to work," Bella said as soon as we were all safe in the truck—she had agreed to drop off Jake home. "What time do you want me to come up?"
There was an unexplained excitement in his answering smile. "I'll call first, okay?"
"Sure." Bella frowned to herself. I stared at Jake with a raised eyebrow. His smile widened.
The next morning, I found myself washing dishes, while Bella was vacuuming the living room. When the phone rang, I yelled, "Got it!" And went to receive the call. I was hoping it would be Arthur; but the voice who spoke at the other end wasn't his.
"Hello?" I asked eagerly.
A chuckle responded. "Hey Liv," Jacob said in an unusual formal tone.
"Hello, my friend," I laughed. "What's up?" I was a bit bummed out that it wasn't Arthur, but I'll live.
"I believe that. . . we have a date" he said, his tone thick with implications. I furrowed my brows.
"Um, that's weird. . . going out in a date with my sister, best friend, while I already have a boyfriend—" And then I got it. "THE BIKES ARE DONE!" I screamed so Bella could hear me.
"Yeah, they run and everything," Jake chuckled weakly.
Bella was suddenly behind me, and ripped the phone away from me. "Jacob, you are absolutely, without a doubt, the most talented and wonderful person I know. You get ten years for this one."
I glared at her, and muttered, "What are you talking 'bout?"
"It's a game Jake and I are playing."
"Oh." I frowned. I didn't like being excluded.
"Cool! I'm middle-aged now." I heard Jake exclaim over the phone.
I hang out with people who are obsessed with age.
Bella laughed. "I'm on my way up!"
"Um, okay," I muttered awkwardly.
"Headed to see Jake," Dad said as we hurriedly walked past him—we clicked on Jake just a few minutes ago.
"Yep," Bella replied as we jumped inside her truck.
"I'll be at the station later," Dad called after us.
"Alright!" I yelled for both of us.
"Where's the fire?" Dad said, and it seemed like Bella hadn't heard him.
I smiled at dad, and yelled, "In yo' dreams!" He merely chuckled.
Bella parked the truck off to the side of the Blacks' house, close to the trees, to make it easier for us to sneak the bikes out. When we got out, a splash of color caught my eye—two shiny motorcycles, one red, one black, were hidden under a spruce, invisible from the house. Jacob was prepared.
"Wow." I was awed.
There was a piece of blue ribbon tied in a small bow around each of the handlebars. Bella and I were laughing at that when Jacob ran out of the house.
"Ready?" he asked in a low voice, his eyes sparkling when they met mine.
"You don't even need to ask!" I giggled, feeling high. I could already imagine wind whipping through my cheeks. . . And then a chilling image appeared on my head; me sprawled on muddy ground, blood pouring out of my head, and my chest still, eyes wide—lifeless.
Jacob brought a hand on my shoulder, and I jumped slightly, gasping. "Whoa Liv. You alright? You look a little pale," he murmured, frowning.
I made an effort to smile, and shook my head. "Nah, it's my natural color."
"No—well yeah," he agreed, chuckling. "But your cheeks are always rosy, and well, they weren't a second ago. They're rosy again, though." He smiled softly at me, and it made my face warm.
"Let's go," Bella said, faking enthusiasm. It seemed as though she was seeing the bad side of riding a damn motorcycle, too.
I gulped.
I'm not a chicken.
I'm a cougar.
Roar.
I kept on chanting that inside my head; trying to calm my heart down.
Jacob loaded the bikes into the bed of the truck with ease, laying them carefully on their sides so they didn't show.
I made faces at his back, "Show off."
He turned and simply grinned at me—he had no dimples.
"I know a perfect place where no one will catch us," he said, his voice higher than usual with excitement.
We drove south out of town. The dirt road wove in and out of the forest–sometimes there was nothing but trees, and then there would suddenly be a breathtaking glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, reaching to the horizon, dark gray under the clouds. We were above the shore, on top of the cliffs that bordered the beach here and the view seemed to stretch on forever.
I was ignoring Jacob and his babbling about mechanics and stuff—I was nodding here and there for his benefit so he could see I was listening, sort of—and instead, I was paying close attention to the giant cliffs outside the window. I was amazed at how tall they were, and I wondered if anyone had ever jumped from them.
That was when I noticed four figures standing on a rocky ledge, much too close to the precipice. I couldn't tell from the distance how old they were, but I assumed they were men. Despite the chill in the air today, they seemed to be wearing only shorts.
"Huh?" I mumbled, furrowing my brows at the guys. Jacob stopped talking.
As I watched, the tallest person stepped closer to the brink. And then the weirdest, stupidest thing happened: he threw himself off the edge.
"No!" Bella shouted, stomping down on the brake.
"What's wrong?" Jacob shouted back, alarmed.
My voice had left me for a moment, before I turned to Jacob, eyes glaring at him. "Did you not see what just happened! That guy threw himself off that damned cliff! We got to help him or something! What if they call us in for questions?" I was freaking out.
Bella jumped out of the truck, and I jumped out, too. I stared over the ocean, trying to spot the guy in the water, but having no luck. I felt my eyes water, and I was too focused on looking for the guy to even try wiping the tears in embarrassment.
Jacob laughed from behind me, and I spun to stare at him wildly. Was he joking?
"W—hat's so f—fun—ee?" I hiccuped, and this time I did try to wipe away the tears.
"They're just cliff diving, Livi. Recreation. La Push doesn't have a mall, you know." He was teasing, but there was a strange note of irritation in his voice, and he seemed sort of guilty. By then, the laughing had escaped from his face, and he was frowning. "Sorry for laughing."
The words cliff diving buzzed inside my head, and I was a bit dazed. "Why would they to that. . .?" My voice trailed off as a second figure stepped to the edge, paused, and then very gracefully leaped into space. He fell for what seemed like an eternity to me, finally cutting smoothly into the dark gray waves below.
"Wow. It's so high." Bella said. "It must be a hundred feet."
"Well, yeah, most of us jump from lower down, that rock that juts out from the cliff about halfway." He pointed out his window. The place he indicated did seem much more reasonable. "Those guys are insane. Probably showing off how tough they are. I mean, really, it's freezing today. That water can't feel good." He made a disgruntled face, as if the stunt personally offended him.
"You've jump off the cliff?" I hadn't missed the "us." I was upset with Jacob, and once we were all back, safely inside the truck, I found myself staring at Jacob's brown eyes. I didn't want him to get hurt. It seemed dangerous. It was dangerous.
"Sure, sure." He shrugged and grinned. "It's fun. A little scary, kind of a rush."
We all looked back at the cliffs, where the third figure was pacing the edge. I'd never witnessed anything so reckless in all my life. My eyes widened at Bella's next words.
"Jake, you have to take me cliff diving."
"No," I said firmly. "Don't be stupid. You're clumsy, and throwing yourself off a cliff with your bad luck?" I said, glaring at her, furious. "You could die!"
Jacob was frowning at Bella. "Liv's right, Bella. You just wanted to call an ambulance for Sam," he reminded her. I was surprised that he could tell who it was from this distance.
Wasn't Sam the guy who brought Bella out of the woods when Edward stranded her?
"I want to try," Bella insisted.
"Not today, all right? Can we at least wait for a warmer day?" Jacob said, and shot me a look. I looked away from him. Why was he agreeing to this?
"Okay, fine. But I want to go soon," Bella said, smiling.
"Soon." He rolled his eyes. "Sometimes you're a little strange, Bella. Do you know that?"
"And suicidal." I muttered under my breath, looking down. Why was she so insistent in finding ways to kill herself? Oh wait—she wanted to hear Edward. I sighed, closing my eyes.
"And we're not jumping off the top," Jacob added in.
My eyes snap open, and I looked up, looking between Jacob and Bella. "Oh yes. Like not jumping from the top would make it less dangerous," I said sarcastically. Jacob squeezed my shoulder, and I sighed. I heard him murmur sorry, and I shrugged.
I watched out the window, fascinated, as the third boy made a running start and flung himself farther into the empty air than the other two. He twisted and cartwheeled through space as he fell, like he was skydiving. He looked absolutely free—unthinking and utterly irresponsible.
"Fine," Bella agreed. "Not the first time, anyway."
"You are not jumping from the top, Bella." I growled, narrowing my eyes. "It's too dangerous." And, if she did want to jump from the top, I could just tell dad. She would hate me for it, but at least she'd be alive to hate me.
"Are we going to try out the bikes or not?" Jacob sighed.
We continued our journey, me a bit upset and worried for Bella.
"So who were those guys—the crazy ones?" Bella asked, and this made me curious, too.
He made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat. "The La Push gang."
"A gang?" I said, sounding amazed. "Wow."
He laughed once at my reaction. "Not like that. I swear, they're like hall monitors gone bad. They don't start fights, they keep the peace." He snorted. "There was this guy from up somewhere by the Makah rez, big guy too, scary-looking. Well, word got around that he was selling meth to kids, and Sam Uley and his disciples ran him off our land. They're all about our land, and tribe pride. . . it's getting ridiculous. The worst part is that the council takes them seriously. Embry said that the council actually meets with Sam." He shook his head, face full of resentment. "Embry also heard from Leah Clearwater that they call themselves 'protectors' or something like that."
Jacob's hands were clenched into fists, as if he'd like to hit something. I'd never seen this side of him.
I found it hard to believe that Sam Uley was doing anything bad. I admired him ever since he'd found Bella in the woods. Hearing Leah's name in the conversation made me more interested. They were protectors. Though I didn't say this out loud, noticing the disliking tone in Jake's voice.
"Not a fan of their's?" I asked.
"Does it show?" he asked sarcastically.
"Well. . . It doesn't sound like they're doing anything bad. Just sort of annoyingly goody-two shoes for a gang." I sighed. At least Bella didn't see them as bad people either. After all, Sam had found her in the woods.
"Yeah. Annoying is a good word. They're always showing off–like the cliff thing. They act like. . . like, I don't know. Like tough guys. I was hanging out at the store with Embry and Quil once, last semester, and Sam came by with his followers, Jared and Paul. Quil said something, you know how he's got a big mouth, and it pissed Paul off. His eyes got all dark, and he sort of smiled—no, he showed his teeth but he didn't smile—and it was like he was so mad he was shaking or something. But Sam put his hand against Paul's chest and shook his head. Paul looked at him for a minute and calmed down. Honestly, it was like Sam was holding him back—like Paul was going to tear us up if Sam didn't stop him." He groaned. "Like a bad western. You know, Sam's a pretty big guy, he's twenty. But Paul's just sixteen, too, shorter than me and not as beefy as Quil. I think any one of us could take him."
I shivered, imagining the face Jacob had described of that Paul guy. I remembered Paul Lahote faintly from last September, but not much.
"Isn't Sam a little too old for this kind of thing?" Bella asked quickly, trying to shoo away something invisible.
"Yeah. He was supposed to go to college, but he stayed. And no one gave him any crap about it, either. The whole council pitched a fit when my sister turned down a partial scholarship and got married. But, oh no, Sam Uley can do no wrong." His face was set in unfamiliar lines of outrage—outrage and something else I didn't recognize at first.
It all sounded really so strange. But I didn't get why Jacob was taking it so personally. I peeked over at his face, hoping to find an answer. He was suddenly calm, staring out the side window.
"Why are you taking this. . . personally?" I asked quietly, searching his face.
It was quiet for a brief minute.
"You can stop anywhere along here," he said after the brief pause.
Bella pulled over and cut the engine, and we all got out. Jacob headed around to the back to get the bikes—and suddenly, I found myself thinking that Arthur couldn't bring down the bikes as easily as Jake did. Jacob was strong.
He smiled half-heartedly as he pushed the red bike to Bella's side. "Happy late birthday. Are you ready for this?"
"I think so." Bella muttered, unsure.
"We'll take it slow," he promised. Bella gingerly held it, observing it.
"Jake. . ." I murmured suddenly, and Bella stared at Jacob with concerned eyes.
"Yeah?"
"What's really bothering you? About the Sam thing, I mean? Is there something else?" Bella asked for me. I watched his face. He grimaced, but he didn't seem angry. He looked at the dirt and kicked his shoe against the front tire of his bike again and again, like he was keeping time.
He sighed. "It's just. . . the way they treat me. It creeps me out." The words started to rush out now. "You know, the council is supposed to be made up of equals, but if there was a leader, it would be my dad. I've never been able to figure out why people treat him the way they do. Why his opinion counts the most. It's got something to do with his father and his father's father. My great-grandpa, Ephraim Black, was sort of the last chief we had, and they still listen to Billy, maybe because of that. But I'm just like everyone else. Nobody treats me special. . . until now."
That caught me off guard. "Sam treats you. . . special?"
"Yeah," he agreed, looking up at me with troubled eyes. "He looks at me like he's waiting for something. . . like I'm going to join his stupid gang someday. He pays more attention to me than any of the other guys. I hate it."
"You don't have to join anything." I found myself saying, and stomping my foot on the ground. "He can't control you, and I won't let him drag you into this gang of his." My respect for Sam quickly disappeared. This was really upsetting Jacob, and that infuriated me. Who did these "protectors" think they were?
"Yeah." His foot kept up its rhythm against the tire.
"What?" Bella asked.
He frowned, his eyebrows pulling up in a way that looked sad and worried rather than angry. "It's Embry. He's been avoiding me lately."
The thoughts didn't seem connected, but I wondered if I was to blame for the problems with his friend. "You've been hanging out with me a lot," I reminded him, a bit sheepish. Bella frowned.
"No, that's not it. It's not just me—it's Quil, too, and everyone. Embry missed a week of school, but he was never home when we tried to see him. And when he came back, he looked. . . he looked freaked out. Terrified. Quil and I both tried to get him to tell us what was wrong, but he wouldn't talk to either one of us."
I stared at Jacob, biting my lip, worried—he was really frightened. But he didn't look at either me or Bella. He watched his own foot kicking the rubber as if it belonged to someone else. The tempo increased.
"Then this week, out of nowhere, Embry's hanging out with Sam and the rest of them. He was out on the cliffs today." His voice was low and tense.
He finally looked at me, his eyes flickered to Bella, before landing on me again. "They bugged him even more than they bother me. He didn't want anything to do with them. And now Embry's following Sam around like he's joined a cult. And that's the way it was with Paul. Just exactly the same. He wasn't friends with Sam at all. Then he stopped coming to school for a few weeks, and, when he came back, suddenly Sam owned him. I don't know what it means. I can't figure it out, and I feel like I have to, because Embry's my friend and. . . Sam's looking at me funny... and. . ." He trailed off.
"Have you talked to Billy about this?" I whispered, feeling terrified all of a sudden. Something was going to happen. And I knew couldn't prevent it.
Now there was anger on his face. "Yes," he snorted. "That was helpful."
"What did he say?" Bella asked softly.
Jacob's expression was sarcastic, and when he spoke, his voice mocked the deep tones of his father's voice. "It's nothing you need to worry about now, Jacob. In a few years, if you don't. . . well, I'll explain later." And then his voice was his own. "What am I supposed to get from that? Is he trying to say it's some stupid puberty, coming-of-age thing? This is something else. Something wrong." He was biting his lower lip and clenching his hands. He looked like he was about to cry.
Something inside of me, deep down and buried, was trying to resurface. I was scared and shocked as emotions swirled around me; an urge to come forward and hug Jacob—to tell him everything was going to be alright. I couldn't resist long enough, and it wasn't long before I gave into the feeling, the temptation, and threw my arms over Jacob.
I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressing my face against his chest. He was so big, I felt like I was a child hugging a grown-up. It felt so right, so good, to wrap my arms around him, I was overwhelmed at how much I found myself enjoying this.
"It's gonna be okay," I whispered against his chest. Arthur and I were the same height, though he was like two inches taller. His hugs didn't feel as. . . good as Jake's. Jake's felt complete somehow. "If they keep bothering you, I'll call dad. He'd bring out the gun," I promised. "Just don't be scared. Bells and I are here for you. We can beat them up, too. Bring Quil for help."
He was frozen for a second, and then his long arms wrapped hesitantly around me. "Thanks, Livi." His voice was huskier than usual.
We stood like that for a moment, and it didn't upset me; in fact, I felt comforted by the contact. Jacob was very warm.
"If this is how you're going to react, I'll freak out more often." Jacob's voice was light, normal again, and his laughter rumbled against my ear. His fingers touched my hair, soft and tentative.
I giggled a bit, before pulling away to stare at him in the face. Bella was standing to the side, once again, observing us. I felt my face flush, and I was quick to disentangle myself from Jake.
"You make me feel like a dwarf," I muttered. "And you're only 'bout two years older than me, right?"
"Nope. According to Bella, I'm in my forties."
"Oh, that's right." Bella said, smiling.
He patted my head. "You're like a little doll," he teased. "A porcelain doll."
"What are you talking about? I'm a toy wrestler." I made a pose, flexing my nonexistent muscles.
Bella sighed. "Don't start with the albino jokes, Jake."
"Seriously, are you sure both of you aren't?" He stretched his russet arm out next to mine—Bella put her arm, too. My skin looked lifeless compared to his, but Bella's was even paler, if that wss even possible. "I've never seen anyone paler than you. . . well, except for—" He broke off, making Bella look away.
"So are we going to ride or what?" she demanded, some new set of confidence and determination on her face that hadn't been there before.
"Let's do it," Jake agreed, grinning down at me. I gulped.
I'm not a chicken.
I'm a cougar.
Roar.
A/N: Yes, I know, LONG. I'm deeply sorry about that. Did it make up for the lateness of this chapter? I hope it did! I started chapter seven yesterday when I finished this one, and I'm hoping that I won't get lazy, and slag off from reviewing. But I'll have more time, I am in Spring Vacation! \('o')/
Not a lot of Arthur & Jacob, I know. But you should all know that they don't like each other much; Arthur knows somehow, that Jake likes Liv, and yet Liv doesn't. Bella is starting to notice too, that Jake likes her. I promise, I HAVE A LOT OF JAKE AND ARTHUR interaction coming up! I'm sooo excited for it! Drama, sheesh.
Um, can I please get reviews? I love them, I do, trust me. They make me so happy. Thank you, again, for the amount of reviews in my last chapter :') They made me SO happy.
REVIEW!