Chapter 4 - Jared & Janel
In the morning, Janel woke up and looked around the beach…The sunrise was beautiful…she moved around a little and felt something in her hand…She looked over and Jared had fallen asleep on her blanket above her head and was holding her hand. She had completely forgotten that he was holding her hand when she fell asleep the night before…Janel breathed a sigh of relief, then looked over at Janna who was mysteriously curled up with Jared's friend.
Janel felt a squeeze on her hand. And looked above her head and saw Jared looking back at her. Janel smiled softly and whispered, "Morning." Jared smiled back and his raspy voice said, "Morning…Feel like going for a walk?" Janel sucked her bottom lip in between her teeth and bit down gently on it…Jared could smell the fear setting in and said, "We don't have to go far…I just figured it would be nice." Janel said, "Okay…Just not too far." Jared stood up and held out his hand and pulled her up when she took it.
Janel couldn't help but wonder why his hand was so warm. She noticed it the night before when he guided her over to the fire with his hand in the middle of her back. They walked along the water's edge talking and getting to know each other. Jared said, "So I have to ask are you native American?" Janel said, "Yes, half Native American and Half American…Our father was part of the Quileute Tribe…And Mom was just a plain ole white girl from Forks."
Jared quirked an eyebrow at her and said, "What's your dad's name?" Janel said, "Unfortunately we don't know…Mom never told us who he was and claims he never knew about us." Jared said, "How does someone get pregnant twice from the same guy and he not know about it?" Janel said, "Mom is a great lie and she can also pull off a great disappearing act too."
Jared said, "I get the feeling you guys did a lot of disappearing acts when growing up." Janel nodded and said, "Yea…Every time she'd get divorced we would take off to a different state…Kind of like thieves in the night…Pre-pack all of our stuff and load the car during the day…as soon as like 10 or 11 pm came around we'd pile in the car and take off…Of to start a new life somewhere else." Jared said, "So what brought you to Forks?"
Janel looked down and Jared noticed sadness come across her face and he said, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Janel said, "Mom got re-married to lucky bachelor number 4, 6 months ago and she called Uncle Charlie and told him me and Janna had been getting into too much trouble and she couldn't handle us anymore…Don't get me wrong we've had our fair share of causing trouble and potentially causing most of moms grey hair…but never that bad."
Jared said, "So how is lucky bachelor turned husband doing with his new found step father role?" Janel stopped and looked to the sand and Jared noticed something changed in her…She went from smiles to complete fear…He noticed the more she was scared the strong the fear smell radiated off her. He absolutely knew something bad had happened with her step father…but until she trusted him more there was no way she was going to breath a word of it to anyone…He wondered if her sister knew. He would leave it alone for now but eventually he would want to know…He had a feeling there was more than meets the eye with the step father issue…but knew pressuring her about it now would only drive her away.
Jared said, "Hey…Wanna go to a movie sometime?" Janel smiled softly as she looked in his chocolate brown eyes and said, "I'd like that."
Janna moved around and rolled over and was suddenly aware that someone was breathing their hot breath in her face and opened one eye…She jumped back so far she nearly landed in the ashes from the fire pit the night before. Jacob was lying on his side facing her sound asleep. He looked peaceful. Janna stared at him for a while…She loved how red his lips were…She just wanted nothing more than to lean over and lick them or kiss them…or something…she just wasn't sure yet. Janna rolled back over to face away from the temptation…A few minutes later and a muscled arm snaked around her waist and pulled her back tight against his chest.
Janna couldn't help but think, 'Wow is he dreaming or reading her mind?'. At that particular point she didn't care and welcomed the peaceful sleep back into her body.