Chapter 14

The next few days passed by uneventfully, even with the knowledge that Edward was a vampire. Life was all in all, pretty dull. How life is dull when your bestfriend-turned-boyfriend is a vampire, I have no idea.

One day, when I was walking through the hall with Edward, I spotted a boy in the corner. He had dark skin, which is unheard of in Forks. Not Africa-American dark, but pretty tan. He looked Native American. There was a reservation no too far away called La Push, so I figured he must have come from there. But I knew most of the La Push kids went to school on the reservation, so it was weird altogether.

At lunch, I asked Edward about it. "Hey Edward… did you see that darker kid in the hall between English and Lit? He looked like he came from La Push."

Edward stiffened, and kept his eyes down at the blank table space in front of him. Now that I knew about him, he didn't bother choking down human food. It was like a human trying to eat dog food while keeping a straight face. "Oh… um… no I didn't see him."

Edward was trying to hide his sudden ice-over, and it was pretty conspicuous. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"Obviously something."

Edward sighed. "Bella, please. Just let it go."

I rolled my eyes, too tired to fight with him.

There was one class I didn't have with Edward: geometry. Definitely one of my worst enemies, and it made it harder not having Edward there for relief. He was good at pretty much any school subject, and usually helped me out.

When I sat down, the strange boy's dark skin caught my eye again. I looked over, and he was wearing a tight-fitting tee with denim shorts and sneakers. Weird, considering it was the beginning of November, and pretty chilly outside. With his shirt being so tight, I could see the outline of a six-pack, and his biceps were stretching the sleeves so taut I expected them to rip if he would move. I had never seen any boy my age so buff. Deep down, I had to admit he was hot.

Even though I didn't have this class with Edward, I did have it with Alice. She wasn't a huge help in school subjects… she was actually a bit of an airhead.

"Ooh Bella, I see you checking out that hottie," she teased.

"I'm not checking him out!" My cheeks flushed. "I've just never seen him before, that's all."

"His name is Jacob," Alice said. "He came from La Push with his dad after his mom died."

"How do you know this?" I asked.

"He's in my homeroom. We kinda hit in off."

I laughed. "Wasn't Jasper jealous?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not allowed to chat with the new guy?"

"I'm not allowed to look at the new guy?" I shot back.

She shrugged, and then class started.

When class was over and it was time to switch to last period (gym… also one of those things I completely suck at), I got the guts to go up and talk to the Jacob kid. I didn't know why, but I felt an odd attraction toward him. Not like I wanted to be his girlfriend or anything, but I just felt like it was a matter or life or death that I talk to him.

"Hey, I'm Bella Swan," I instantly introduced myself, holding my books against my hip. "You're new here, right?"

"Yeah," he answered. His voice was very, very attractive. "I'm Jacob Black." He held all his books by the spin with one hand, and offered the other for a shake. The guy had REALLY big hands.

We shook, and his skin felt really warm, like a coffee cup on a snowy day. I smiled, and he smiled back. "I'll see you around I guess."

"Yeah," he answered. "See ya."