I decided to write this next chapter in past tense instead of present tense just so it would flow better. In this chapter, we get to see just how Jessica helps Jacob & Bella become friends. Thanks so much for reading!
Jacob Have I Loved
Chapter 26
A few weeks after that night with Jake, my family and I were all prepared for our move to Sacramento. The moving day went smoothly and without incident. Stephenie and I hugged and promised we would write, call, and email every day after I was settled in my new home. Even Billy and Harry came to wish us well on that dreadful day. Graciously, Harry helped my parents and I finish loading several of the larger pieces of furniture into our pair of medium-sized moving trucks. He also vowed to my dad that he would rent out the house to a newly-engaged couple on the reservation once we arrived in Sacramento.
As I stepped into the moving truck my mother was driving down to California, I stole a fleeting glimpse of Billy, my former boyfriend's father, as he waved at us from his wheelchair in our driveway. When he saw that I was looking at him, he stopped his hand in midair and gave me an apologetic smile. Somehow, I knew in my gut that Billy was sorry that all this had to happen and that Jake and I would be apart now. Since the night of our breakup, Jake and I hadn't spoken a word to each other. It was better that way. It was easier to let him go.
Settling in the passenger seat beside my mom, I took a deep breath and prepared myself to leave my home, my tribe, my people. My mother shifted the moving truck into drive and slowly pulled it out of our driveway, following behind my dad in the second moving truck. I closed my eyes as we entered the main stretch of road that would lead us away from La Push. This was really happening, and I tried to fight back the tears as the realization finally hit me in that moment.
"Jess, look out your rearview mirror." I heard my mom chuckle as I opened my eyes.
I looked out the window at the mirror only to see Jake hurriedly running after our moving truck. His long hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and he was wearing his favorite Aerosmith T-shirt. Rolling the window down, I gave my fingers a light kiss and pressed them to the mirror.
"I love you, Jake." I whispered as I watched him continue to run after our truck. I wished with all my might that I could've stopped the truck and ran into his arms, telling him that I was staying, that I would never leave him. My heart broke again for us both. This was the last time I would ever see him.
Then, suddenly, he stopped, realizing he couldn't catch up to us and sinking down to the pavement on his knees. I continued to watch Jake until I saw his form disappear when our moving truck pulled around a bend in the road.
In Sacramento, my parents and I were settled in our new home rather quickly. It was smaller than our house in La Push, only one story, but it was large enough for the three of us. We would be able to afford a better home in a few years, my dad assured me. It really didn't matter to me. Everything I cared about was almost a thousand miles away now.
When September came around, I attended my first day in a regular public school. My new school was fairly nice, and unlike my school on the reservation, I was able to take more advanced classes in math, science, and English. The advanced classes were much more challenging, but that didn't really matter much to me as well. I was happy to have school work to occupy my time and my mind. I was happy to not have to think about making new friends or You-Know-Who twenty-four hours of the day.
Sometimes at night, I would run out into the woods behind our house and change into my wolf form. Something about being in wolf form made the hurt of losing my former home more tolerable. I felt freer, and I relished in the fact that I was the only one of my kind for now. However, some part of me wished I could have found more shapeshifters like myself to identify with and associate with. I felt so much like an outsider around the other students at school. No one could really understand what I was going through, and that made my soul ache more for my home in La Push.
Then, one night in mid-January, I awoke from a very vivid dream. In the dream, Ephraim Black came to me again. He told me that it was now time for me to help Jake on his quest once last time. I was to go back to La Push and somehow thrust Bella in his direction. I relayed that it was nearly impossible for me to do that since I didn't have a car and my parents wouldn't let me travel on a plane by myself.
"You forget Jessica that you are a wolf." Ephraim informed me. "You are now capable of moving faster than any car."
I thought about that for a minute, and he was right. "I can travel in my wolf form, but what will I do when I get to Forks?"
"You will have to figure that out for yourself, Jessica." He replied. "Edward Cullen has left Forks, and Bella is looking for a way to be reckless, almost dangerous in his absence. You must point her in a direction that will lead her to Jacob."
"What do you mean she wants to be reckless? Jake can't help her with that." I snapped back, not believing that Jake was capable of being dangerous.
"Jessica, I have faith that you will be successful." Ephraim's form began to flicker, and I knew he didn't have much time left. "Go to Forks tomorrow. Bella will be working at Newtons' Olympic Outfitters."
"Ok, I will." I confirmed, and Ephraim's apparition quickly faded from view.
The next day, I set out for Forks in my wolf form, traveling along the wooded highways, so that I wouldn't be detected. To keep my parents from worrying, I told them that I was going out with friends for the remainder of the day. Around my neck, I carried a small, canvas messenger bag filled with a change of clothes, shoes, and my wallet. I had no idea what I was going to do when I arrived in Forks, but I did know that I would do anything within my power to make sure that Jake was happy. It was the least I could do after all the hurt and pain I put him through last summer.
Upon reaching Forks, I changed back to human form and dressed. I decided if I was going to adequately get around in the town I would have to rent a car. After finding a payphone and calling a rental company, I acquired a small, hatchback automobile that I would use to help carry out my plan for Bella and Jake.
I reached Newtons' Olympic Outfitters in the early afternoon, and I parked my car in an unassuming spot toward the rear of the store. Spying Billy's old, red truck in the parking lot, the one he sold to Bella's dad last year, I knew that she was working just inside. I hurried around the left side of the store under the canopy of pouring-down rain and peeked into the large, rectangular windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of her.
As I peered into one of the windows, I heard a male voice say, "Bella, why don't you take off."
"I don't mind staying." I recognized Bella's voice reply.
I moved down one more window, and there she was, leaning over the display counter beside the register. Bella looked for lack of a better term—horrible. I'd never seen her look so pale, skinny, and frail. She looked lifeless, and then I remembered Ephraim saying that Edward's family had left Forks. Maybe, Edward broke up with her, causing her to become a shell of who she once was. I knew Bella was completely smitten with Edward, and his absence probably plunged her into a deep pit of despair. What she needed now was a friend. Someone who could pull her out of her state of loneliness. Someone like . . . Jake.
"See you Monday." Bella's voice awoke me from my thoughts.
Observing that she was coming toward the entrance to the store, I crouched down under the window and listened for her footsteps. Her feet pounded the puddles toward her truck, and I raced back to my rental car, still trying to remain undetected. I heard the roar of her truck's engine spring to life just as I entered the shelter of the hatchback.
As I pulled my car out the parking lot behind her, I noticed a bumper sticker on a blue, mid-sized truck to my left. It read: "Sometimes, kismet happens." I had to laugh at the irony of its words. Kismet meant destiny or fate, and it was my destiny to point Bella in Jake's direction. I still had no idea how I was going to do that exactly. I hoped something would give me a sign as I followed Bella's truck down the path to her home.
Then, I realized that Bella wasn't going home. Her truck kept turning down roads that were unfamiliar to me and looped around aimlessly in circles. What the hell was she doing? Did she know I was following her?
Unsure of what her true intentions were, I decided to keep a wider distance between our vehicles just to be cautious. I didn't want her to call her father and have me arrested for stalking her, which was exactly what I was doing.
Unexpectedly, Bella's red truck came to a halt on a street called Russell Avenue. I remembered traveling down this street before many years ago with my parents on our way into Forks for some reason or another. I pulled my car to the side of the road about a hundred yards away from Bella's position and waited, watching her truck for any signs that she was going to exit the car.
What the hell was she doing? Was she going to visit a friend who lived nearby?
The suspense was about to kill me when something caught my eye. Two rusty, rundown motorcycles were sitting in the front yard of one of the houses with a sign attached to them: FOR SALE, AS IS.
Knowing that Jake and Embry loved working with cars and motorbikes, I started to devise a plan. Bella wanted to do something reckless and dangerous. If I could get Bella to notice the bikes, maybe she would think of Jake. Maybe, she would take them to him for repair. I finally had my sign.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, and then reopened them. Rummaging through the glove compartment of the rental car, I found a black permanent marker. I tucked it into the pocket of my jeans and cautiously began to exit the car. Crouching low, I moved slowly toward Bella's truck and eventually found myself right under her passenger side window.
Pulling up my head ever so slightly, I peeked into her window and noticed she was slumped over the steering wheel. For a moment there, I thought she was dead. But then I heard a soft whimper and a sniffle as if she was crying. Something inside me wanted to comfort her, but I knew I couldn't right at that moment. I had to stick to the task at hand. Plus, she would probably think I was a freak if I made my presence known.
I hurried over to the pile of branches and leaves on which the bikes were placed and found a piece of worn cardboard. Maybe, if I made a sign big enough for her to see, it would catch her eye and she would notice the bikes. I positioned the cardboard on the ground, retrieving the marker from my jeans pocket.
Racking my brain for something to write, I remembered the bumper sticker I saw in the parking lot at Newtons' Olympic Outfitters: "Sometimes, kismet happens." Carefully, I began to write the saying in large capital letters across the piece of cardboard. When I was finished, I stole a glance back over at Bella's truck, noticing that she was staring straight ahead out the windshield.
Realizing I didn't have much time left before she would notice me, I speedily leaned the sheet of cardboard against the mailbox in front of the house in her direction. I heard the engine of her truck cut off, and I realized I wouldn't have time to get back to my car without her seeing me. Thus, I paced my way into the cover of the trees on the opposite side of the house.
I watched as Bella got out of her car and let the rain douse her hair and clothes. She just stood there, staring blankly out at the road and houses before her. I kept screaming out to her in my mind. Read the sign! Read the sign! Look at the bikes! I hoped by some kind of miracle that she would hear my silent calls to her.
Suddenly, Bella looked around, and her demeanor told me she was about to leave.
No, don't leave! The bikes, Bella! The bikes! I yelled at her in my mind again, gritting my teeth in frustration.
Then, Bella stopped, and her eyes finally saw the sign. As if something just hit her in that moment, she flew toward the house and ran right up to the front door.
YES! A smile filled my face, for I knew my plan had worked. Bella wanted the motorcycles, and something inside me told me that she was going to take them home no matter what the cost might be.
As I watched, a boy in his early teens came to the door, and I listened intently to every word they both said. He was going to give her the bikes for free, judging from the fact that his mother wanted them gone as soon as possible. They talked for a few more minutes, and then he offered to help her place the bikes into her truck bed.
After they hoisted the bikes safely into her truck, I heard something that solidified that my plan had been successful.
"You know what? That's okay. I know someone who builds cars." Bella's voice suddenly filled with elation, and I could see she was smiling from where I stood. She was thinking of Jake. Someone who could help her get the bikes back into working order.
"Oh. That's good." I heard the boy reply, and Bella revved the truck's engine and slowly pulled away from the curb.
As soon as the boy reentered his house and closed the front door, I darted straight back to my car in the drizzling rain. Once inside, I rested my head against the steering wheel, taking a deep breath.
The weight of what I had just helped to accomplish rained down on me like the drops of precipitation outside my window. Bella was going to see Jake, and Ephraim's plan was finally set further into motion. Tears began to stream down my face, for I knew what the next step in my purpose would be. I cranked the engine to my rental car and reluctantly followed her truck toward La Push.
Attn: All quotes taken from New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended. Please review!
