Chapter 19
The next day, Esme and Carlisle cleared me to go to school again, if I would only promise I would stay with Edward the entire time. That wouldn't really disrupt our lives at all, so it kind of worked out.
It was all good… until geometry. God-damned geometry.
I was ready to slam my face against my book during factoring, until Jacob leaned over to help. "Having trouble?" he asked, even though his smile knew the answer.
I nodded. x2 – 9x = 14… who uses this stuff?
"Take out the x," he explained, writing "x(x – 9) = 14" on my paper. Then he did all this stuff with the numbers I couldn't even follow. I could only pay attention to the smoke and pine tree scent of Jacob. It was so oddly appealing. When he finished the problem, I thanked him, trying not to look at him and feed my sudden attraction.
"So… what exactly is going on with you and that Edward kid?"
"We're just friends," I quickly blurted out.
"Oh… kay?" he lightened the mood with a laugh. "Well whenever I see him, he's poised in front of you… like he'd take a bullet for you or something."
I knit my eyebrows. "I don't see it," I lied.
"If it's okay with him, some friends and I are getting together at the reservation tonight. We're gonna have a fire and just cook some hot dogs and stuff. You interested in coming?" he asked just as the bell rang.
I started to gather my things. I wondered if this would be a good opportunity to find out what was going on with the Quileutes. "Um, sure."
"Do you know how to get to the reservation?"
I opened my mouth to say yes, but then I realized I had no idea where La Push was, much less how to get to it.
"How about this. My brother Seth has his own truck. Give me your address and I'll pick you up."
"Sounds good." I scribbled my address on the edge of my notebook and ripped off the corner.
"Oh, and one more thing: if I were you, I wouldn't bring Edward."
"Why?" I asked. But Jacob turned and disappeared down the hall before he could hear the question escape my lips.