Bella hummed as she flipped idly through the newspaper. Nothing exciting, of course, but what could be expected in a town like this? Only one thing slightly caught her eyes, but it happened all the way in Seattle- two mysterious deaths in one week. Vampires? Bella quickly shook the idea out of her head and continued to turn the pages. The only news that had actually taken place in Mansfield was that Ms. Junré's cat had gotten stuck in a tree. Ms. Junré was the oldest women in town- eighty two years old. She lived alone because her husband had died six years ago, and owned the town pharmacy.
"MOM!" Alice's scream from upstairs interrupted Bella's thoughts.
"Yes?" Bella called back exasperated. Alice had a loud scream, and she used it often.
Footsteps pounded quickly down the stairs, and then the kitchen door was thrown open with Alice standing in the doorway. Her face was a fiery shade of red and her hands were curled into fists. "WHERE IS MY PINK SKIRT?"
Bella sighed. "I don't know, sweetie," she said impatiently. "Maybe in the laundry. And you don't have to yell, I'm standing right here." Alice glared, and then turned on her heels without another word. Her loud footsteps were heard as she stomped back upstairs, then her door slammed. Bella collapsed in a kitchen chair. As much as she loved her daughter, Alice was so difficult sometimes, especially since she'd been introduced to the Cullens. Bella and Edward had talked for a while in the privacy of his bedroom, and they had agreed it would be best to just stay friends. Of course it hurt Bella, but she knew it was best. Besides, she could still see him almost every day.
Twenty minutes later, Alice was finally out of the house. Bella was glad; she had a lot to do, and to start she headed to the grocery store. The limited cabinet space could only hold so much food, and grocery shopping was often necessary.
Bella pulled into a parking spot and cut the engine on her car. She grabbed her small purse off the passenger seat and pulled out the grocery list as a reference.
The only grocery store in town was small, but it worked. It had enough, and just that. Bella was looking down, reading her list when she bumped into something hard, but when she looked up she realized it was a person. A huge person. "Sorry," she muttered, and tried to step around him, but he grabbed her arms and kept her from moving. "Bella Swan," he said, sounding amazed, but also a little humored. Bella looked up at the sound of her name, and looked into the young man's eyes. His intelligent, black eyes. "Jacob," she managed to choke out. He laughed, but stopped abruptly. Still holding Bella's arms in place, Jacob leaned in to kiss her.
Bella immediately held up her hand and ducked down her face. "Um, Jacob. How old are you," she asked. Of course she knew it was hypocritical, having kissed a seventeen-year-old only three days ago, but it was the best excuse she could think of.
Jacob sighed and looked away. "Twenty-two," he mumbled reluctantly. "But it's just a number," he added hopefully.
Bella smiled apologetically at him. "I'm forty-eight, Jake," she began. "I think that's not the right number for you. Besides, didn't you imprint or something?"
Jacob shook his head in response. "Never happened to me," he sighed. "Everyone else, but not me." There was pain and sorrow in his eyes, and Bella didn't miss that. She grabbed his hand, saying "I'm sorry Jacob." Then she turned to walk away.
"Can I at least have your number?" he called after her. Bella willingly agreed to that- they could still be friends, no number could change that. "Cool, I call you tonight," Jacob promised.
Bella nodded, and smiled eagerly, but was still nervous by her every move, not wanting to lead him on. "Okay, talk to you then!" she replied gleefully.
Driving home, Bella thought about her little reunion with Jacob. Was it all just coincidence, about her and Edward and Jacob, all at once? Of course she was excited, but she knew it was still strange. She also thought about what she would tell her daughter. Jacob would hang around a lot, about that she was positive, but would Alice need to know what he was? Would she be able to take vampires and werewolves? The more she thought about it, the more Bella was convinced that her daughter should know. It wasn't something she should keep a secret. The only problem was Jacob, if he would mind.
Alice arrived home late again. Bella wasn't bothered or surprised; this was normal Alice behavior. She had quite a social life, and was always hanging around after school with her group of friends. It was just stressing after her day, though "Alice," Bella began. Her palms were beginning to sweat and she felt lightheaded. She had no idea how her daughter would take it.
"Yeah Mom?" asked Alice impatiently. She obviously had no idea about what she was about to learn.
"Well, I kind of, um… bumped into another old friend of mine today. His name is Jacob Black and…"
"Great, another old friend," Alice interrupted sarcastically. "These seem to work out so well."
Bella laughed weekly, then continued, "Well, yeah. I guess you could say that. He's only twenty two now. But… um… he… he is werewolf."
"Yup, okay Mom," replied Alice, brushing it off.
"No, really. It's true. Come on, Alice. Vampires. There are werewolves too. You have to believe that."
Alice's head immediately looked up, her eyes were wide with alarm. She most definitely believed now. "WHAT?" she screamed, then calming down a bit said, "Mom, he could kill you. If you're ever hanging out with him around the full moon, do you know what would happen?"
Now Bella laughed. It was weird to her what others thought of werewolves, but of course she was the only one to know the truth. "Full moon doesn't affect them," she explained. "They only phase when they get angry. And he's not a werewolf anymore. Um, when he was sixteen he first phased. He was very tall, build like a full-grown man, because, well, they don't age. Um, then he would phase if he ever got angry, or if he ever needed to. I was friends with him, and also with Edward. Unfortunately, werewolves and vampires are arch-enemies. Werewolves only exist because of vampires; to fight vampires. Now, though, Jacob was able to stop phasing long enough to become human again. He's twenty-two." Bella looked up for the first time to see her daughter's reaction.
Alice's mouth was hanging open, and her eyes were wide, and full of fright and confusion. When she spoke, it sounded shaky. "You. They. A werewolf? And vampire? I… I. How. Don't exist. This doesn't make any sense Mom."
Bella tried to comfort Alice. "Don't worry sweetie," she said. "I promise, it's all normal. I was shocked too, when I found out. It was tough, but I promise, you don't have to worry about it. They're, well, they act human." Bella really didn't know what to say. It was too much for her daughter. Should she have left Alice with her father? Bella didn't want that; he was too self-absorbed.
They made it through the night. Jacob never called. Alice came down the next morning and seemed to be normal again. Of course, she acted kind of strange. The smallest sound would make her jump a foot out of her chair. Bella offered to let her skip school, it was the least she could do, but Alice refused. Maybe she just needed some normal human time, with maybe a couple vampires.
The phone rang around eleven. It made Bella jump; people don't often call her, and the house had been dead silent all day. She laughed quietly to herself, then answered it. "Hello," she said.
"Hey Bella," replied the cheerful voice on the other line.
"Jacob!" Bella smiled. He hadn't called the night before, as promised, and she had felt forgotten.
"Sorry I didn't call last night. Got held up in La Push," explained Jacob, as if he had read her mind.
"La Push?" asked Bella. That was over an hour away, and Jacob wasn't a werewolf anymore- what could he possibly have been doing there?
"Hey, just because Sam and I don't phase anymore, doesn't mean the rest don't. They're still sixteen." Bella could definitely hear the laugh in Jacob's voice; he was obviously pleased with himself that he had been one of the first.
"That's cool Jacob," said Bella. "Another campfire where you throw down a couple cows at a time?" Though Bella had only been to one campfire, it was her favorite part about Jacob being a werewolf. She had remembered so well all the stories, but also how much the boys had eaten.
"Exactly!" replied Jacob with a laugh. Bella laughed too, something she missed being able to do.
"Why don't you come down to my place tonight?" she offered. Jacob agreed eagerly, so Bella gave him her address and told him to come over around five.
After Jacob had hung up, Bella began cleaning the house. Jacob was coming over that night, and she was excited.
It was a little after five when three small taps sent Bella rushing to the front door. She paused for a moment to take a deep breath and compose herself, then opened the door to see Jacob's smiling face. "Jacob!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "Come in, please, meet my daughter Alice."
Jacob's head perked up at the name, and his cheerful expression was gone for a moment. "Alice," he questioned darkly.
"Yes, named after Alice Cullen," smirked Alice, who had just walked into the room. She looked exceptionally dressed for a one-guest dinner. Her shirt was low-cut with ¾ length sleeves and she wore her mini denim skirt. She had also applied a lot of make-up.
To Bella's discontent, Jacob looked pleased by her daughters appearance, and looked her over one too many times. "Let's go inside," suggested Bella sharply, and led the way in. With one last smirk at Jacob, Alice turned on her three-inch black heels and followed her mother into the kitchen.
"It's wonderful you could come, Mr. Black," cooed Alice as she sat down. "I've wanted to meet you so much. My mom talks about you all the time." She paused, then with a mischievous grin on her face added, "Well, when we're not at the Cullens place." She smiled as the room went silent to let this sink in.
Suddenly Jacob looked up angrily at Bella. "You told her didn't you?" he asked harshly. Bella looked away guiltily. "Dammit, Bella! Why'd you do that? What if she tells someone? For a little extra gossip? If she lets it slip about us, then those filthy bloodsuckers! I can't believe you would be idiotic enough to do that!" Bella bit her lip and put the ravioli on the table the turned around to lean against the counter and stare out the window.
"I felt like she needed to know," she whispered. "I mean, it's my old life. And your twenty-two. How could I explain to her that you're an old friend?" Bella blinked a few times and tried to choke back tears.
"I don't know Bella, but you should have figured something out!" Jacob shouted. "This isn't up to you! Did you ever consider that? The whole world can't know about werewolves and vampires. Do you know what life would be like?"
Bella opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted when Alice shouted, "Hey! You ever considered maybe I wouldn't tell anybody? Maybe I don't want to seem like a freak, and I don't want to be put in a freaking asylum! Okay? Does anybody actually trust me with this?"
Jacob and Bella were silent. Finally Bella spoke. "Of course I trust you," she said. "Why do you think I would tell you?"
Jacob glared. "Just don't tell anyone," he growled. "If anyone finds out…"
"I'M NOT GOING TO TELL ANYONE!" shouted Alice.
"Fine," mumbled Jacob. "Don't let it slip or anything though."
"Alright. Now that we have that settled," snapped Bella, "let's eat." She sat down in a seat between Jacob and angrily served herself a huge helping of ravioli, much more than she would be able to eat.
"Look, Bella, I'm sorry," said Jacob.
"Okay, Jacob," replied Bella plainly. She didn't feel ready to forgive him. They all ate dinner in silence, then Jacob immediately left without a thank you or a goodbye. Alice stomped upstairs without a word, and then Bella's world went black.