Chapter Eight:
Four words: Me, Leah, Trenchcoats, and Sunglasses. What do you get from putting them together? Chaperoning.
"Mints, check. Cologne, check. Phone charger–"
"You have everything you need," Leah interrupted Seth.
Today was his first date and with both Harry and Sue working, Leah had been tasked with chaperoning it. And I had been enlisted to help. Luckily, I had gotten off my crutches last week and was able to be discreet. The boot was still on though.
"Yea, don't worry, it's going to be fine," I added.
"I just want this to be perfect, you know?" Seth stammered, wringing his hands together. The poor thing was a bundle of nerves.
"First dates are almost never 'perfect'." I try to reassure him, "Lord knows mine wasn't. Four more words: Me, Jackson James, barbeque, and wasps-"
"That's five words-"
"Just focus on having fun." I finished, interrupting his interruption.
Leah nods, cosigning my wise words. "We'll be waiting discreetly in the restaurant gift shop. You won't even see us."
Seth eyed our outfits, "You guys do know this is the exact opposite of discreet right?"
"Shhhh my sweet summer child," I silence him, "Now go, you want to be setting down before she gets here."
—-
The date goes well, as expected. The target shows up a few minutes later. She's a timid but energetic-looking girl.
Me and Leah really only watch the first ten minutes before abandoning them to roam the store. It was surprising how much good-quality stuff one could find at a rink-dink gift shop.
There were rows of fudge and candles and embroidered shirts, all homemade. We had already gotten a year's worth of candles, crochet tops, and two batches of almond fudge.
"I thought you didn't like fudge?"
" I don't," Leah shrugged, "Too dry. My dad loves it though. I'll sneak it to him when my mom's not looking."
"Fair enough," I nod, ready to go to checkout when, like it always did when I'm about to stop spending money, something caught my eye.
"Look at these!" I pointed to a stand of necklaces with swan pendants hanging on them. All in different colors: black, gold-plated, rose gold, silver, and even a random bronze one.
Leah runs her hands over them, nodding, "They're beautiful."
"Which one should I get?"
Leah looks over them, then at me, then over them again before deciding. "You should get the black swan. It suits you."
"Really?" I ask, still unsure. The black necklace looks beautiful, but the bronze one is so unique that I struggle to just leave it.
She shrugs, "Why don't you just get both?"
"Have I ever told you what a genius you are?" I smile at Leah, grabbing both necklaces up.
"Okay, this is it. For real this time." I say, mostly to myself.
I'm loafing around, having paid for the jewelry and waiting for Leah to finish paying for the last of her things, when a tingle runs down my spine, like the one you get when someone is watching you.
I looked around and, sure enough, found a pair of eyes on me.
It was a tall, bronze-skinned man with short hair and an intense look. Instead of smiling or looking away like a normal person, he just squints even harder when I meet his eyes. His gaze is searching but I guess he doesn't find what he's looking for because he stops a few seconds later, looking just as confused as I did, and turns away.
"Leah," I tap her on the shoulder, pointing at the stranger. "That guy-"
Before I can get the words out of my mouth, Leah is already marching to the man. I follow her, unsure of what she's doing.
"Hey, Paul!" she calls out. The stranger– Paul – turns around, looking annoyed.
"Clearwater," he replies, words dripping with annoyance.
"Surprised to see you here, thought Sam was keeping you and Jared on a tight leash these days. Barely see you two without him"
Paul let out a laugh at that, "You know Clearwater, if you wanted to see Sam, all you have to do is ask. I can call him up right now-"
Leah replied, then Paul, and then Leah again, and so on and so forth.
"Hey, guys" I tried to interrupt, but they both ignored me and continued their exchange. With every word, the two grew more heated.
Then, it reached a boiling point.
Leah pulled her hand back and punched Paul across the face. Hard.
It was so fast that if I hadn't heard the sound of contact, I wouldn't have noticed it at all.
He stumbled a little bit and it was still for a moment, all three of us surprised by Leah's outburst. His surprise quickly morphed into anger, his eyes darkening.
By now we had started to garner attention, amongst them was Seth's. He obviously hadn't seen the whole thing and looked confused, his eyes silently asking if we needed help. I sent him a small, reassuring smile before grabbing Leah's arm.
"Come on," I whisper, trying to pull her away.
"Yeah, you should listen to your friend." Paul snarled, which Leah matched.
"Don't cause a scene here. You're going to ruin Seth's first date."
This seems to break through to her and she lets me pull her out of the restaurant.
My nails have just finished drying when I get the 'Outside' text. I grab my purse and head downstairs.
The girls were coming here to pick me up for dress shopping. Well, the girls plus Lauren. I wasn't exactly sure how but she and Whitney had become friends– or at the very least acquaintances- sometime after the sleepover.
The familiar sound of the game hits me as soon as the door opens. What isn't familiar, however, is the sound of Dad talking to someone.
Who could it be? I wonder as I approach the stairs. Bella sometimes watched the game with Dad, but she wasn't here right now.
I don't have to wonder long because the next second because at the bottom of the landing, stands one pony-tailed Jacob Black.
"Hey Swan," He greets, his customary smile splitting across his face.
I nod back, going to say Hello back but stumble, gripping the rail to stabilize myself.
I roll my eyes. As someone who liked to move around a lot, having my mobility limited was a real pain. You would think my body would have adapted by now but it was still unused to it as ever. I wondered if this is what Bella felt like.
"Whoa, careful there," Jacob says, ascending the steps. He gets to my level and grabs my free arm and elbow, helping to guide me down the steps. His hands are warm and steady against me.
My face burns at the contact and I use all of my willpower to keep the blush off of my face.
I can't help but stare at his face as he guides me down the stairs. It's different from the last time I saw him. His jaw was slightly more prominent, his face less full, and there was just the faintest hint of hair above his upper lip.
The changes were minuscule but for some reason, I noticed them. Why was I noticing them?
"Here we go," Jake says as we reach the bottom of the stairs.
"Thank you. Would've hated to break my legs again."
Jake laughed at that and I patted myself on the back.
"So, what are you doing here?" I find myself asking. I enjoyed spending time with my dad more than anyone, but I doubted Jacob came here just to watch the game with him.
"Right, " He reaches into his back pockets and pulls out a card. How did he fit a whole card in his pocket? The wonders of men's pants. "Here. This is for you."
It was blue, with a picture of a whale saying 'Get Whale Soon!' on the front. I smiled at it, a sucker for puns.
"You know the accident thing happened over a month ago, right?" I asked.
"Okay, you caught me. My dad sent me here. He wanted me to talk to Bella about something but she wasn't here and Charlie was watching the games, and I got pulled in."
"Billy sent you here to talk to Bella?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.
"I swear," doing a 'cross my heart' gesture. "I wanted to give you the card anyways though."
"Well, thank you," I reply.
"So, where are you off to?" he asked.
"Dress shopping. With some friends."
"Leah?" he guessed.
I shook my head. I hadn't spoken to or seen Leah since the restaurant incident. She had been pretty shaken up – and I do mean that literally. She was physically shaking as I pulled her away– by her outburst, saying she wasn't used to being that angry. She had calmed down by the time Seth came out, only saying that she didn't feel well when Seth asked what had happened.
I'd tried to call over the last two weeks to check in, but only got a hold of Harry and Sue who'd say the same thing: she was sick with a fever.
"You know I have more friends than Leah right?"
At that, he raised his eyebrows, as if to say 'Really?'
"I'll have you know, I have many friends. I'm a freaking social butterfly."
"Okay, okay" he held his hands up in mock surrender, "If you say so, Swan."
Before I could reply, a car honked from outside.
"That's me," I gesture towards the door.
"Need any help getting down the other steps?" Jacob teases.
"I think I can manage." I smile, feeling light.
Jacob follows me to the living room, where he takes his seat back beside my Dad.
I say goodbye to my Dad, smiling as I make my way out the door.
They're waiting outside in Whitney's car. Lauren looks out of place in the passenger seat of the old, beat-up Jeep Wrangler rather than the driver's seat of her blue convertible.
I opened the back door, greeting Beth and June as I slid in.
"Took you long enough," Whitney said, throwing the car in reverse before I could even fully get both feet in.
"You might want to put your seatbelt on," Beth advised as the car peeled down the street.
"I heard that!" Whitney rasped.
—-
Combined, we'd probably tried on over half the store. I myself had gone through at least a dozen dresses. Only two had stuck out though: a teal mermaid gown and the one I had on now.
It was a brown sheath dress with a haltery-top and a bedazzled neckline. I twirled around in the mirror, trying to force myself to a decision.
"You should get that one," Whitney said, from her seat. Not picky, she had already chosen her dress (the first one she tried on) and had spent the rest of the time helping me with mine.
"Really? The teal one looked amazing too."
"The brown goes with your hair. Plus, lots of people will be wearing blues and greens."
"You're right. I'm gonna go with this one." I decided. A second later, Lauren came to join us.
She wore a hot pink dress that probably would've looked loud or tacky on anyone else, but she managed to pull off.
Whitney let out a whistle. "Now THAT's what I call a prom dress."
"I thought Randy got a blue suit?" I wondered out loud.
"He did, but I'll just have him get another suit," Lauren answered, waving her hand in indifference. "It's not like anyone looks at the guys during prom anyway."
"... Fair enough." I shrugged my shoulders, looking around for Nicole and June.
"By the way," Lauren said nonchalantly, "Are your sister and Edward Cullen a thing?"
My head whips around.
"Huh?" I answer, caught off guard.
Both Lauren and Whitney are staring at me with interest.
"I heard from two little birdies–Jessica and Angela— that Bella wandered off during their trip to Port Angelos and came back with Edward, all dazed. And then the two had dinner at this fancy restaurant."
My eyes widened in shock. I did not know about any of this. She'd told me a while ago when he was acting pissy towards her in class but since then, nada. I would've certainly remembered if she did.
"Yeah, I'm sure," I answered, rolling my eyes with fake confidence. I wasn't sure at all but if Bella hadn't said anything it was most likely for a reason, and I wasn't going to out her. "I'd know if my sister was dating someone."
" Okay ," she replies, obviously not convinced but not pushing it.
June joined us and then Beth, their dresses chosen and I put the conversation in the back of my mind as we checked out, but made a mental note to talk to Bella when I got back.
"Okay, that one's Jasper, and that one's Alice?" I asked, pointing to the short, eerie girl and the blonde boy beside her.
After getting home I had forced Bella to spill all the details about her and the Cullen boy and now she was pointing all of his family out to me across the parking lot as we stood with Jessica and Angela.
"Yes," Bella answered.
"And they're… together. Like together-together?" I asked, trying and failing to keep yuck out of my face and voice.
"Yes!" "Yes," Bella and Jessica answered at the same time.
"... but they aren't really related, and they didn't grow up together." Bella tried to defend them.
"It's still weird," Jessica muttered.
"It's not that weird," Bella replied. It was.
"Okay, okay, just show me which one is Edward."
Biting her lip nervously Bella pointed to a pale boy, who looked to be in deep concentration.
He was tall, with messy topaz-colored hair. Despite his sharp, angular features, he somehow had a baby face.
He was handsome for sure, in a Victorian-child kind of way, but he wasn't attractive to me. He was the opposite of attractive. Off-putting or even repulsive. I couldn't put my finger around why. Maybe he was too… pretty? Or too perfect.
Still, I could objectively see what Bella saw in him.
The bell rang and I said goodbye to the girls. Bella went to follow them but I grabbed her bag, holding her back a little so I could talk to her about the thing that had been poking my mind.
"So, what about Jake?" I ask flat out, directness always being a better option with Bella.
"Jacob Black?" She asked, confused.
"Duh." How many Jakes did she know here? "Is there not something going on there? I mean, you guys seemed to be getting along pretty well."
I recalled our run-in at the grocery store, and our conversation the other day when I was leaving out.
"What? No, that was a friend thing. Just a friend thing. No chance of anything romantic whatsoever."
"You sure?" It wasn't as if I liked Jacob. We had known each other since childhood and surely something would've happened by now if I did. It had to just be that his looks had changed, him growing more into himself. Yes, that was it. Nothing serious.
Still, It'd feel weird to be ogling the guy my sister had anything with so I felt better at her answer.
"Positive," she answers with no hesitation.
I nod.
"So, when are you bringing Edward home? If he's anything like his father, Dad will love him." I elbow her. If ever had no supporters in Forks, that would mean my Dad was no longer in Forks.
"We're still ironing some things out so I'm not sure, but I hope soon," Bella replied, biting her lip nervously and looking back to the spot he had been standing.
I had never seen her this invested in anyone before. She really liked him.
It seemed like the Sandman had a personal vendetta against me that night. My heart raced, a sickening combination of anxiousness and alarm coursing through my veins.
At first, I thought I might've had a nightmare and just forgotten, but this was different. It wasn't just uneasiness or confusion. I genuinely felt fear.
I could see Bella's lights on across the hallway and briefly considered going in there, curling under her covers like I often did during rare nightmares back when we lived with Renee. But something in the deepest pits of my stomach grounded me from approaching it.
I was on my fifth attempt at sleep, bordering the line between consciousness and unconsciousness. It was that state where you notice everything around you but it feels like a dream.
So when my phone rang and pulled me out of it, I almost cried in frustration. Sighing, I fumbled around my nightstand before answering, too drained to check who it was.
"Hello?" I answered, my sleepy voice at least five octaves lower than usual.
There was noise on the other side of the phone, a lot of it, but it was so jumbled up that my freshly-wake mind couldn't make sense of the words.
"Hello?" I asked again.
"He-helena-" The voice cried out.
"Leah?!" I recognized, my stomach dropping. "What's wrong? What's going on?"
"...he's gone… the-they said… and– -I can't…" she continued, words jumbling together as they seemed to fight with her cries.
"Wait, just give me one second" I answered, panicking.
Leaving with the phone still in my hand, I went to go find my dad. He was a sheriff, if Leah was in any sort of danger, he'd get to the bottom of it.
I ran to his room, throwing the door open without bothering to knock. But he wasn't there.
"Dad!" I called out, searching for him. I went down the stairs, letting out a sigh of relief as I made out his figure sitting at the table.
"Dad, Leah just called me screaming about something. You have to–" I stopped in my tracks.
The phone hung on the ground and my father sat in a chair a few feet away, as if he'd just dropped it and collapsed into the first seat he could find.
His eyes were red-rimmed and he looked … broken, a sight I had never seen before.
He sniffed, rubbing at his eyes. It was quiet for a few seconds before he let out a strangled sigh.
"Harry's dead."
Authors Note:
DUN DUN DUN! I know Harry's death doesn't happen until later in canon but I've decided to change somethings up timeline-wise.
Also, the pace will be picking up from here and I do plan on doing a Jacob POV soon. I was actually planning on putting one in this chapter, but it just didn't fit.
Thoughts, suggestions, feedback, and comments are always appreciated and thank you for reading!