Bella POV

After a full night of surprisingly the best sleep I had in years, I woke up incredibly rested. I went downstairs and found Charlie had already gone to work. I made myself some cereal and sat down at the kitchen table. It was very quiet, I could hear the hum of the refrigerator and some birds, but otherwise I was completely in silence, and alone.

It was a lonely sort of feeling and I knew that if things were normal, I would just get in my car and go to La Push and everything would be alright, Jacob would be there ready to work on our next project or watch a movie.

How had I let myself fall into this trap again? I focused too much on one person and when they were gone, I had nothing to fall back on. It angered me that I allowed myself to be in this situation again, it could've been different this time.

It still can be. I thought as I grabbed my flip phone and sent a text to Angela.

Hey Ang, feeling like a girls day out?

Of course, Bella! I would love that! What did you have in mind?

Want to have a picnic at Rialto Beach? I can pack the sandwiches.

Deal!

I picked up Angela and we headed off to the beach. It was easy being with Angela, she was comfortable with silence and when we did talk it flowed so easily and naturally. I was still shocked at how I hadn't even bothered to be closer with Angela, she was a true friend and a great confidant.

"So... I noticed you've been hanging out with Jacob Black a lot." Angela said innocently, breaking the silence.

"You know Jacob?" I said, surprised.

"Bella, Forks is small, and La Push is even smaller, we kind of all know each other."

"Oh right, that makes sense. Yeah, Jacob and I are….were best friends." I said with a sigh.

"What do you mean 'were', you guys aren't friends anymore?" She looked puzzled, which was incidentally how I felt about the whole thing. Suddenly, I felt like I needed to tell her everything, somebody needed to know what was going on and it couldn't just be Charlie.

"He has been acting strange, avoiding me. I'm worried about him but also so mad at the same time. A couple weeks ago he told me that this guy Sam Uley had a gang of teenagers following him around. He said that Sam was acting strange towards him like he would be next to join. It's all very bizarre and I have no idea what to think or do."

We pulled in the parking lot and grabbed our chairs and the cooler from the trunk. I continued as we made our way to the beach.

"His dad said he was sick, but Charlie saw him out with his friends so I know that's not true."

"That is strange. This happened suddenly?' She asked.

"Yes, last time I saw him we were at the theater with Mike. It's possible I scared him away that night, but I'm just so in shock because I never would have thought Jacob would do this to me. The Jacob I know would have at least explained himself instead of ghosted me."

I found a spot that looked nice and opened my chair and plopped down. The breeze felt nice on my suddenly heated face.

"What do you mean you might have scared him off? What happened?" Angela was entirely invested now, but she was so gentle and careful about how she responded, it made me want to keep telling her more and more.

"He kind of told me that he had feelings for me and that he was willing to wait until I was ready. I told him that it might never happen. What if he suddenly realized he didn't want to be led on by some jerk of a girl who couldn't figure out what she wanted." I put my face into my hands "I think I really messed up."

"No Bella! It doesn't sound like you were mean to him, I'm sure that isn't the reason why he is acting like this. Jacob is a sweet guy, I couldn't imagine him not having a good reason for acting like this" Angela sat down in her chair next to me and handed me a sandwich from the cooler.

We both remained silent for a few minutes as we ate. I looked over at Angela and could tell she was deep in thought. She really cared about me and I felt a swell of love for her. I was so glad I had asked her to hangout with me today, it meant so much to have a friend's support.

"What if we go together to confront him?" She said suddenly.

I whipped my head around, shocked.

"You think I should go confront him?"

"Yes, I think he owes you an explanation. I know it might be nerve wracking to go confront him alone so I could go with you. I could stay in the car for emotional support." She beamed at me.

I smiled back. She made a good point, he DID owe me an explanation. If he didn't want to see me anymore, he could tell me that to my face.

"Okay, you're right. I should confront him"

"Let's do it today, right now!" She said, jumping up suddenly full of energy.

"Whoa girl, hold on. Lets finish our sandwiches. Besides, I'll need a minute or two to get my anxiety under control. I'm not usually one for big confrontations." I felt my heart beating wildly in my chest at the thought of confronting Jacob. What would he say, would I make things worse?

"Oh, I have something for that." She reached down into her bag and pulled out what looked to be a cigarette, but the smell tipped me off for what it really was.

"Angela Weber! My father is the sheriff you know?" I feigned outrage.

"You'd never tell." She said with a laugh as she lit the end.

"What other secrets are you hiding?" I said, sending a smirk her way.

She passed me the joint and said, "You'll just have to hangout with me more to find out, won't you?"