.
Chapter 39
Motorcycle Riding
Bella
When we pulled into the school parking lot on Monday, I immediately rushed up to Alice.
"Youuuu! How dare you just throw a party!", I grumbled at her.
"Oh Bella, come on. I saw you were going to have fun," she said with a smile.
"I'll only come if you invite the wolves," I said, without much hope that it would keep her away.
She chuckled.
"Yes, I also saw that you will have more fun if the dogs are there too. So tell them to come too."
I rolled my eyes and stubbornly walked to English class.
Since Angela and I couldn't talk in math, we had to wait for lunch.
"So tell me already, what happened?", she asked me after handing me back a bag with my clothes.
I had left them at the lake in all the stress when Emmett suddenly hoisted me onto his back and ran off. I just told her that one of the Cullens was in danger and we had to fly to Italy to help her. I concealed the fact that I had to go there again in a little over two months as an immortal. In typical Angela fashion, she was satisfied with the story and did not probe further.
"Hi, Angela. I'm having a party in four weeks. Everyone is invited, including your boyfriend and his pack. You'll come, won't you?", Alice asked already full of excitement.
I would go crazy if Alice was like this for the next four weeks.
"Really! You're coming too, aren't you, Bella?" she asked me.
But Alice already answered the question.
"But of course she's coming too! What did I buy you the two dresses for while shopping?", she said and took two shopping bags out from under the bench.
"Alice, I told you I don't dress like that," I said, annoyed.
I couldn't believe she had just bought the dresses behind our backs when she said she was taking them back to the rack.
"Yes, I'll be happy to come. But I'll just wear jeans and a top ...", Angela said.
"My God! Don't be like that. I can make you do it too!", she threatened. "Besides, I'm sure Emmett and Jacob will like it, right?", Alice said, poking Emmett in the ribs.
"Sure, Bella! You looked really hot in the photo Alice sent me. Please, put it on."
And he looked at me pleadingly with his sweet teddy bear look.
I took the bag Alice held out to me and put on an annoyed expression.
"All right. But only if Angela puts hers on, too," I said and looked at her.
She smiled at me.
"After all, if we both put it on, it won't be too bad," she said with a shrug.
Alice cheered and hugged us both.
"Oh Bells. I'm supposed to tell you to call Jake still. He was worried, too," Angela added.
I nodded.
When I got home, I did the laundry and my homework that I didn't have time for on the weekend.
I wondered when I should tell Jake. It was probably better to wait so I could at least spend some time with the boys before they all hated me.
I realized that I was already lost in thought again and I didn't know a word about the last passage I had read from 'Of Mice and Men'. I had fifty more pages to read by tomorrow. When big Lennie just accidentally killed the poor puppy, it made me cry.
Just then I heard Charlie coming home and wiped away my tears.
"Bella?" he asked, as usual.
"Be right there," I said, and went downstairs to the kitchen to make dinner.
"Why do you have such red eyes? Did something happen, honey?" he asked worriedly when he saw me.
I shook my head and smiled.
"No, but I just read 'Of Mice and Men' and there was such a sad scene ...," I said as I put pans, steak and potatoes on the countertop and started cooking.
I made roast potatoes and pork steak and some salad for myself. Charlie was not the salad type.
After dinner, Charlie went to watch TV and I decided to call Jake.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Jake, it's me," I said as I walked up to the room with the phone so Charlie couldn't hear me.
"Bella! Are you all right? What happened?", he asked, upset.
"Yeah, I'm fine. And thanks for fixing it with my dad. Even if it was twelve hours late," I added, teasing him.
"Sorry, Bella. I was so tired and whenever I called, no one answered. I guess your dad was still at work. And then I just fell asleep. The next morning he was really mad and yelled at me like a crazy person. But I didn't know that much ... Can you tell me what happened?"
"Thanks, Jake, for catching that first tantrum for me," I said.
Then I told him the whole story - except for my planned transformation.
"What, you guys really put yourselves in danger to save THEM of all people?"
He could not believe it.
"Yes ... But anyway, we all got out in one piece. So, do you want to go motorcycle riding again?", I suggested. I still wanted to spend as much time as possible with Jake. "Angela could come too, if we can find another motorcycle and you could show her how to do it," I said.
I wanted to make sure that after he had finally crossed me off his friends list, he still had a motorcycle partner.
"Yeah right!" he said enthusiastically. "How about next weekend?"
"Yeah, sounds good."
I hadn't been on a motorcycle in a while, and if Angela came along too, it would definitely be even more fun.
When I told Emmett that I wanted to go motorcycle riding with Jake and Angela, he didn't believe a word I said at first.
"Stop it, Bella. You won't get two meters without tripping over a little stone," he said with a laugh.
"Shut up. Why don't you come and see for yourself," I suggested.
But he said he would come another time, because he wanted to settle some things for Alaska on the weekend. He said it would be good if we had a house far away from all people. As long as I was still wild.
So I went to Jake's on Saturday with just Angela.
There stood Leah with two motorcycles and looked at me a bit annoyed.
Jake hugged us both and lifted the four motor bikes onto my truck.
I wondered if it would even make it to the racetrack with that much ballast.
"Leah's coming too, it's okay. She and Seth have bikes too, but Seth can't. So I already have a motor bike for you, Angy," he said cheerfully once everyone was in my truck.
At the racetrack, my Chevy came to a gasping halt.
I really wanted to teach Angela how to drive, so Leah and Jake had fun together on the racetrack and hit the gas.
I envied her a little. I wondered why Leah was so cold to me. We actually used to get along quite well. After all, she was the only girl in the pack. I admired her and she was like a big sister to me.
When I had shown Angela all the holds, Jake came over and said he wanted to continue.
So I got on my motorcycle and hit the gas.
I quickly caught up with Leah and we had a little race, which she won in the end.
"Ha ... I kicked your ass!", she shouted when she stopped, and I arrived right after her.
Jake and Ang had been driving for a bit and didn't hear us.
"Leah, what's wrong with you?", I asked.
"What do you think, vampire lover?", she said bitchily.
"Is that why? Because I'm dating Emmett? You just need to get to know them. After all, the others in the pack kind of get along with them."
"Hah ...! Yes, of course, I should meet with them for a coffee. Surely that would solve all problems!", she said mockingly.
I didn't understand why she was so aggressive.
"You of all people should understand me. You knew me when I was still with Sam! But then your fucking bloodsuckers came, and all this werewolf crap started. First Sam changed and then he got imprinted on Emily! Just like that, he didn't love me anymore. And then all of a sudden I joined the pack too and had to listen to Sam and the others thoughts on a daily basis. Don't you think I have a right to be mad at your bloodsuckers?" she screamed around.
I was shocked because I had never thought about it.
"But it's not the vampires' fault," I stammered somewhat quietly.
"Sure! If they had never come here, none of the guys would have turned into a wolf and everything would be the way it should be. Without imprinting, mind reading and all that stuff! And you ... you were like my little sister. And now you're hanging out with those who messed up my life," she said reproachfully.
I didn't know what to say. I had no idea that the wolves were turning because of the vampires.
"Leah, the Cullens didn't know you were going to be like this because of them," I tried to placate her.
"BUTTON YOUR YAP! I don't give a shit about your fucking Cullens," she said and drove away on her motorcycle.
I stood there transfixed.
I had never expected that so much anger had built up in her.
After five minutes, Jake was with me.
Angela could already drive a little bit. Only in second gear, but still.
"Where's LeeLee?" asked Jake.
I shrugged my shoulders.
"Must have gone home. She was pretty angry. But I suppose you'll already see it in her thoughts," I said. That's when the party came to mind. "Oh yeah. Alice is throwing a party in four weeks and the pack is invited too, as is the whole senior class. Please come too!", I begged.
And Angela also tried to persuade him. In the end he agreed, because he actually liked parties. And he could already stand the vampire smell.
