I let out a sharp breath when I saw how many reviews, "Favorite Story/Author," and "Story Alerts" my story had. This was impossible!
Before I knew it, I was typing the next chapter at super-speed, the two tests coming up tomorrow completely forgotten. Unfortunately, a rustle of paper under my arms stopped me.
Oh, yeah. The tests. Dang it.
Pouting, I closed my laptop, and continued to study.
This is exactly what happened when I saw all the alerts and reviews I received. I really wanted to update the next chapter right then and there, but I had to study D: I'm so sorry, you guys and gals. Well, as I promised, I will be making the list of all my wonderful readers. I decided to call the list the "List of Gratitude" because that's what I'm doing when I make this list. Thank you, everyone. You have no idea how much it means to me to have such wonderful readers.
First, my reviewers: Charmedfan90, -X-Jake's-Girl-X-, I Wish I Was Mizz Cullen, jacob black rulez, Haylie Winchester, MissColly, and vamp1001.
Next, everyone who added me to their "Favorite Author" list: Charmedfan90, I Wish I Was Mizz Cullen, and jacob black rulez.
Third, all the people who added my story to their "Favorite Story" list: Charmedfan90, I Wish I Was Mizz Cullen, gabbyy, Emmett's Sex Toy, miriamne, and vamp1001.
Last, but definitely not least, all my readers who added my story to their "Story Alert" list: Charmedfan90, -X-Jake's-Girl-X-, I Wish I Was Mizz Cullen, emzlovesmidi, jacob black rulez, Chinese Miko, and Haylie Winchester.
Before we move onto the story, I want everyone to know that everything in this story, except the plot, belongs to Stephenie Meyer. The plot, however, belongs to me. Please remember that it isn't nice at all to steal people's ideas.
That's pretty much it. Enjoy the chapter!
Edward froze, too, and slowly pulled his hand back.
He spun around quickly and started to walk away, but I reached out and placed a hesitant hand on his back before he could even take his second step towards the door leading out the theatre. I knew that he would just shake off my weak, human touch and run away as fast as possible without attracting attention to himself.
This was why I was shocked when Edward just froze to my touch, as if it had turned him into a block of ice.
"Edward," I whispered. I knew he heard.
Edward sighed and turned around to face me.
I appraised him from head to toe. He still had the hat on. It was a plain beige one. His brown coat was buttoned up, with its collar tilted up slightly. His khaki pants stopped about one centimeter from the ground and covered the tops of his dark brown leather sneakers. His whole outfit screamed designer, so Alice was probably still shopping for the family.
Alice. Oh, how I missed her. If I had the luck to see her again, I wouldn't complain about her giving me makeovers and buying ridiculously expensive things for a month. I hoped that she was happy, where ever she was right now. I made a mental note to ask Edward about Alice later. That was, if he stayed long enough for a chat.
"Bella." Edward's voice was still velvety, as I remembered. I hadn't heard it for a long time, since that awful day when I went cliff diving for the first-and last-time in my life. The day Jacob and I shared our first kiss. The day I realized I loved Jacob.
I looked up at his face, and it annoyed me to see that the hat covered most of his face. Without thinking, I reached up to lift it off his face.
I gasped.
I hadn't been expecting any change in his face. I knew better. And, as I had guessed, his face had stayed the same. However, I was still shocked by how identical this face was to the one I had seen on the first day we met.
His tousled hair was still the beautiful, unique bronze shade. His skin was still just as pale and impenetrable as it had been before.
But when I looked up into his eyes, I couldn't even recognize them. The eyes that had been a soft shade of gold the last time I had seen him in the woods were pitch black now. The greatest difference, however, was the sadness in them. My heart ached painfully as I gazed into his sad eyes, and I dropped my gaze.
Why did I feel this way? Wasn't I completely over Edward? I belonged to Jacob now. He was my whole world. So why did I feel like my heart was splitting into two pieces at the sadness in his eyes?
Before I could think anything else, I heard a loud voice call my name.
"Bella!" Oh, no.
I spun around to see a relieved Jacob jogging towards Edward and me. It didn't seem like he had seen Edward yet.
I felt the hat being torn out of my hands. In my peripheral vision, I saw Edward put it back on.
Jacob stopped about ten feet away from us, finally taking in Edward. He frowned and continued to walk towards me, but he was careful now.
A pair of arms wrapped protectively around me. Jacob leaned and whispered in my ear. "I waited, but you didn't come back. I just came out to see what was keeping you so long. I thought you were having trouble carrying all the food by yourself . . . but I didn't expect this," he said, jerking his chin towards Edward.
Jacob straightened up and faced Edward. "I don't meant to be rude, but who are you?"
As I watched Edward, biting my lower lip, a laughing couple entered the theatre. A breeze came in through the narrow opening, and blew past Edward, to Jacob.
I watched as Jacob's eyes grew wide. In a short second, his surprised expression turned livid, and a growl ripped from his chest.
"Show your face, leech. We need to know who you are."
Edward slowly lifted the hat off his face. Jacob's eyes narrowed into angry slits.
"I can't believe you have the guts to come crawling back here after what you did to Bella," Jacob hissed. He started to vibrate head to toe.
To my surprise, Edward tore me away from Jacob's grasp and wrapped his own arms around me.
"What are you doing?" I hissed, struggling to free myself from his grasp. It was no use.
"He isn't safe right now. Give him time to calm down," Edward murmured.
"What are you talking about? You're the one who needs to go hunting. I need to help Jacob. Let me go!" I struggled again.
"Let her go, bloodsucker," Jacob growled quietly, still vibrating convulsively.
Edward deliberated for a moment. Finally, deciding that his stubbornness was causing Jacob to get even more upset, he let me go. I rushed to Jacob without hesitation. Jacob would never phase with me so close to him. I trusted him.
I wrapped my arms around Jacob, pressing my face to his chest. I rubbed his back soothingly, waiting for him to calm down.
When I saw that he wasn't calming down, I started to whisper his name.
That helped al lot. In a minute, he was back to his normal, composed self. I pulled away, but kept an arm around his waist.
I glanced up at Edward's face. It was composed, but his eyes held utter pain. But why would he be pained at the sight of me with Jacob? He didn't love me. I had only been one of his distractions.
"I see you have moved on, as I had wished," Edward said.
I looked up at Jacob lovingly. He looked down, and smiled at me. "I did as soon as I found someone to move onto."
"Bella," Edward started hesitantly." May I speak to you privately? There's a few things I want to discuss with you."
I stared at him, then at Jacob. I was pretty sure this was not even easy-going Jacob would allow.
"Jacob? Do you mind?" I asked.
He stared at me, searching my face for something. He sighed in defeat after a long wait.
"Fine," he said.
I smiled, and stood on my tip toes to kiss his neck. I turned to Edward, who was also smiling a little bit on the edges of his lips. His smile was somewhat confident. I stared at him, confused.
He stared back, but didn't answer the question in my eyes.
"When?" Jacob asked, breaking the silence.
"Now would be perfect. And no, you can't come with Bella. I said a private talk. You can stay a few hundred yards away, just outside your hearing range. I'll drop Bella off where you are when we are done talking," Edward answered.
Jacob stared, confused, for a moment. Then, realization hit him. "You can read my mind?"
"Yes," Edward smirked. Then, his smirk suddenly turned to agony. Seeing that agonized expression made me panic.
"What are you doing?" I yelled at Jacob.
"Nothing," he smiled, and Edward regained his composure.
Edward put on his hat, this time only covering his head like he was supposed to. "Let's go, Bella."
I squeezed Jacob's hand, and followed Edward out.
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