Chapter 12: A Talk With Jake

When Bella woke up the next morning She awoke with a headache the size of Utah. "Ugh." She whispered before waking and getting dressed before going downstairs for a quick breakfast. She poured herself a bowl of cereal and watched as her father came down the stairs holding the side of his head as well. "You ok dad?" Charlie grumbled and said, "Yeah Bells. I'm fine. Just some crazy stuff with work last night." He then opened the cupboard that had basically a pharmacy inside it and pulled out the I-B prophen bottle. He took four with his morning coffee. "Penny for your thoughts dad?" Bella asked as she watched her father swig the rest of his coffee. Charlie looked her straight in the eye before nodding and whispered, "Last night while I was on patrol, I got a call from the station. They said a couple of kids wandering in the forest, found a dead girl's body. When they called it in, they described her as being 16 years old with long brown hair and brown eyes. I went there to go investigate but when I got there it was really bad. When I saw her lying there dead on the ground looking like an animal got her, the only thing I could think of was thank god it wasn't you Bella. I would die if anything bad happened to you." The man got tears in his eyes as he told the story and Bella went over to hug her father tightly. "I know dad." She whispered. "I'm here. I'm alright. I'm just glad you're safe too." When they separated Bella looked him in the eyes and asked, "Do they know what it was?" Charlie shook his head. "Not yet. Hopefully we'll know by the end of the day today." He smiled and kissed his daughter on the forehead. "Go get your stuff ready for school Bells. I don't want you to be late again." Bella ran up the stairs and got her stuff, hoping that today would be a little less weird.

For Alice Cullen, it was a day that was going to be filled with meditation and thought. When she had gotten home from her hunt last night her emotions were running wild. More so than they ever had before. Bella called out her name last night in an attempt to free herself from the nightmare. There was no doubt in Alice's mind that Bella was living a nightmare that seemed to be too real. The girl was in danger and there was nothing that Alice could do and she hated herself for it. That thought alone made her sick to her stomach. The moment when Bella shot up out of her bed, she looked directly into her eyes for a split second. It frightened her, frightened her to the point where she fled through the still open window. And as she ran into the forest, Alice could hear Bella's question to her. She wished that she could tell her but there were so many reasons why she couldn't. One such reason was the Volturi. Alice knew that the vampire council would come for them both if they ever found out that she had told Bella about her secret. Another reason was because Alice didn't even know if Bella would accept her, she didn't know if Bella would be scared of her after Alice told her.

Alice was so conflicted with everything that was running through her and she broke out of her meditation. She started pacing and when that didn't help she screamed in frustration and punched a hole through her wall. When she took her hand out of the plaster and wood, she felt a wave of calm fall over her. Alice turned toward the door and saw Jasper standing there looking awfully concerned. The pixie ran over to him and hugged him around the neck. "Thanks Jasper. I needed that." Jasper laughed and said, "I know that one darlin. What are you thinking about Alice?" The pixie let go of her brother and walked towards her full length window. "I don't know what's going on with me Jazz. I have so much running through me. Emotions and thoughts all at once. It's so overwhelming. I feel like I'm going crazy." Jasper nodded and let her continue. "I went to go see Bella last night." Jasper gasped. "She was asleep and she was having a nightmare. She was calling out my name and it took all of my self-control not to go to her and hold her." Alice put her head in her hands and felt Jaspers hand on her back. "Bella woke up after the nightmare became too much. She looked DIRECTLY at me. She saw me and we locked eyes for a second before I ran out the window. I-I heard her speak to me before I ran into the forest, she asked me what I was and she told me that she would see me soon." Jasper scrunched his eyebrows in confusion at this statement. "I know you won't tell her Alice. There's too much at stake to risk telling her. That doesn't mean she won't find out for herself."

That's when the two siblings heard a knock at the door. Alice smiled when she saw Edward standing at her door. "You can't stray away from her Alice. It won't be good for either of you. Carlisle told me something last night." Alice looked at the bronze haired boy in confusion. "What is it Edward?" The boy hesitated in telling her but he knew it was for the best. "Carlisle believes that she is your blood singer. Your La Tua Cantante they call it. When a vampire meets a special mortal they find that their blood sings to them. They're so drawn to each other that it's hard to stay away. Carlisle experienced it when he met Esme for the first time. They've never been apart ever since." Alice had tears in her eyes as Edward told her this. "So I'm not going crazy." Edward chuckled and said. "No Alice in fact it's the exact opposite. You would probably go crazy if you stayed away from her for so long. But you did make the right choice in staying home today. It would make it harder for you to control yourself around her. But you're good with control Alice. I think you're the only vampire that's won the fight with her demon in the first night of being reborn." Alice's demon decided to speak to her. 'You got lucky.' The pixie giggled and said, 'Yeah right. I won fair and square and you know it.' Alice looked at the clock on her bedside table and saw that it was almost time for school. "You guys better get ready. I don't think mom and dad would appreciate all of us skipping school today. Especially when you two don't need it." Edward went and hugged his sister before leaving the room. Jasper smiled at the two and was grateful that they've finally come to a mutual understanding. "I'll see you guys tonight. Just watch out for her today ok?" The boys nodded and walked to their perspective rooms to gather their stuff for school. "I'll see you soon Bella I promise." With that Alice went back to her meditation thinking of the girl that was to be her mate.

When Bella got to school, she saw Jacob standing next to his motor bike. Everyone that walked by him looked at him with either lust or envy in their eyes. Bella giggled as she thought of Jake dating someone that wasn't one of the reservation. It was like the one law with the Quileute's. Bella got out of her truck and walked the short distance over to her best friend. "Hey Jake." She said as she hugged him. Jake smiled and hugged the girl back around the waist. "Hey Bells, you holding up ok now that you're back home?" Bella sighed and said, "Oh my god. I'm so glad I'm home Jake. You have no idea." The boy nodded in understanding. "I know you miss your mom though." Bella nodded. "Yeah I do. I emailed her last night asking her how her and Phil are doing. I'm hoping for a reply tonight." She looked over Jacobs shoulder to see the silver Volvo and the huge jeep make their way into the parking lot. Bella watched as Edward, Tanya and Jasper stepped out of the Volvo. Her heart sped up when she didn't see Alice come out of the car. 'Where are you Alice?' She thought. 'Relax Bella. There's still one more car.' She tried to reason with herself but when she only saw Rosalie and Emmett come out, her heart sunk into her stomach. Bella's head and shoulders also sunk as she realized that Alice wasn't coming to school today.

Jacob followed his friends gaze and when he saw the Cullen children the hair on the back of his neck stood up on end. "Bella, do you know them?" Bella nodded and said, "Yeah a couple of them are in my classes. Edwards in my biology class and Alice is in my art class. She's not here today though." Bella sighed as she said this. "Hey Bella!" She looked up to see Jasper walking up to her. "Hey Jasper, what's up? Is Alice ok, I didn't see her with you today." Jasper nodded before saying, "Oh yeah, she's fine. Just has a little bug that she's gotta get rid of. She was actually wondering how you were doing and she told me to ask you if you were ok." Bella smiled at the thought that Alice asked Jasper to see if she was ok. "Yeah I'm fine. Just a little knick on the finger. It's already healed." The blonde empath looked to the boy behind Bella and he felt a certain caution around him. "I'll let you two get back to your conversation. I'm sorry to interrupt." Jasper bowed his head then walked away to join the rest of his family. As Bella watched him go, she saw Edward with his arm around Tanya and a smile on his face. He looked at her and waved before heading inside. 'Well that's weird. Yesterday he seemed to hate me.'

"Bella!" She heard Jakes voice in her ear. "Yeah?" She saw the look of uneasiness on his face and she asked, "What's wrong Jake?" The boy took her by the shoulders and said, "You need to stay away from them Bella. They're not who they say they are." Bella shrugged the boy's hands off of her. "What's wrong with you Jacob? You're acting crazy." Jacob shook his head and said, "No I'm not. I'm telling the truth. You need to stay away from them or you'll get hurt." Bella thought about Alice and how she seemed so drawn to the girl. It was that one emotion that fueled her response. "No I won't. They're not dangerous. I mean yeah they're a little weird but they're harmless." Jacob growled and threw up his hands. "Alright Bella believe what you want but don't say I didn't warn you." The boy got onto his bike and started it. "Just be careful Bella. And when you get a chance, head over to the library over in Port Angelus and read up on the Quileute legends ok? I think you'll find it very enlightening." Jacob then drove off into the distance. Bella shook her head and started walking up the stairs and into the school. 'What the hell is wrong with everyone here?'

At lunch, Bella sat with Mike, Jessica, Lauren, Angela and Eric. She looked over at the Cullen table wondering if there was some truth to Jacobs's statement. The one thing she knew was that she missed Alice. She missed the little pixie and everyone knew it. Angela most of all. Angela looked over at the Cullen table a lot also, but for a different reason. She looked over at the table because of a certain blonde boy with golden amber eyes. She sighed and put her chin in her hand as she starred at Jasper once more. Angela had a crush on him since the start of school. They had gym and math together. He was so nice to her and polite too. A real gentleman. When Bella noticed her friend in an absent minded state, she followed the girl's line of sight and it lead over to the blonde Cullen that wasn't taken. "Hey Ange, do you have a crush on Jasper?" Angela sighed and said, "Yeah...wait, what?" Bella laughed as she caught the girl's confession. "You like Jasper Cullen don't you?" Angela blushed and ducked her head as she said, "Yeah I think I do. But it's more than that you know? I feel drawn to him for some weird reason. He's so nice to me and polite. He doesn't treat me like a nerd and he doesn't ask me to do his homework. That's a lot more than I can say about some people." She looked over to Jessica and Lauren who were to immersed in the conversation that Mike and Eric were having about football. "I understand Ange, trust me." Bella said as she thought about the one Cullen that was absent from the table.

When the bell rang at the end of lunch, Angela and Bella walked together to the biology room. They wanted to talk but they were stopped by a high shrill voice that made them both cringe. "Hey guys, wait up." Jessica ran toward them with Lauren following closely behind them. "Yes Jessica. How can I help you today?" Bella asked with a sarcastic tone. Jessica seemed to miss that and went on. "Well Lauren and I were wondering if you guys had your prom dresses yet." Bella died inside a little bit as she heard that there was a prom for sophomores at the end of the year. "Jessica, you do know that prom isn't till the end of the year, right?" Angela asked the girl. "Of course I do Angela, but my point is, if you don't get the good dresses when they come in, you won't get one at all." Jessica and Lauren laughed. "We were wondering if you guys want to come to Port Angelus with us this weekend. Saturday would be good." Bella and Angela looked at each other and since they didn't have anything better to do this weekend they decided to endure the torture of dealing with the two popular girls while they shopped for a dress. "Fine. We'll go." Angela said while Bella nodded in agreement. "I have to take a trip up there anyways." Bella said. "I heard they have a good library up there." Jessica and Lauren just looked at her like she had two heads and said, "Ok great. We'll pick you guys up at like 10 I guess." Then the two walked away to get to their classes." Bella felt like she was going to die of boredom when they hung out this weekend, but she needed to go. She needed to head over to the library to check up on the Quileute legends that Jacob told her about. It was Wednesday today so she had a couple more days until she would be able to learn the truth about the Cullen's.