Guarding the Angel
Fandom: Twilight
Rating: Teen -- eventual M
Pairings: All canon
Comments: I've been so engrossed in my own story, it's ridiculous. Well, I currently left my writing journal with all my notes for this at my cousins' house, so I'm kinda mad right now, since I'm in a mood to write this. Oh well. I'll wing it.
[ Previously in Chapter 4]
Chapter Five
...And Feed Her to the Wolves!
That afternoon after my first day of school was spent dissecting all that had occurred.
There was no doubt whatsoever that I was immediately drawn to the Cullens. I may have only directly spoken to three of them - with only having a real conversation with two, might I add - but everything about them captivated me. Not only was it because of how beautiful they were (sure enough, this was a captivating trait... but it was more intimidating for me really), it was the way they carried themselves and had treated their status at the school. Sure, judging by Jessica's disapproving tone, they were slightly considered odd for having such close relationships within their family, but they could probably be kings and queens at the school if they wanted to. It was as if they chose to be cast aside.
It was even mentioned how they had hardly interacted with the other students, but Alice and I got along fine. I briefly remembered Jessica noting that Alice was nice. That surely had to have meant that they talked before. But being nice and cryptic were two completely different things, I found out, because Alice had filled the shoes perfectly for both adjectives in every sense of the words. To think, what she said still haunted me from the morning - "I like you already". But I don't know why I was hung up on her words really.
More words from the day had haunted me well into the evening as well. Mainly Edward's. I didn't want to think about how he told me he didn't want to be friends. In fact, I didn't want to think about him at all... but I couldn't help myself. After all, he was the most captivating of all, to me at least. Every time I thought about him, I thought of his eyes, and how they were completely identical with my imagination's rendering of a perfect, godlike creature, from the night before.
The night before was an oddity; my mind was running haywire. After all, I was granted the perfect vision of what I thought beauty should be, when I was laying on my bed. (But God help me if I remembered the face past the eyes at all!) Then I had that impulsive decision to go off into the woods, where I was met with my subconscious growling at me. That's a little embarrassing.
In fact, thinking of the growling brought me back to Biology today. I was positive I had heard it, though it could have just been my imagination. But why would my subconscious feel the need to growl at that moment? Nothing was harming me... not physically at least. Edward was shooting daggers at the time, sure, but that was nothing. On that note, I heard something snap as well, although, I wasn't too worried about that. My mind was on the fritz, so that could have just been my imagination as well. Then there was another sound that my mind was lingering on from that class period... Edward's voice.
I don't know why, but I was just so... drawn to it. And when he said my name, it sent tingles down my spine. I wonder how it would sound when he's all breathless. The thought came all the way from left field, though it still brought me blushing like mad, guilt washing over me for thinking it. To tell the truth, I wasn't so used to being so attracted to anyone in my entire life. Sure, the occasional celebrity would have me wishing, but never anything like fantasizing... which was a more accurate word for the thoughts running through my mind about Edward.
I was grateful, then, when I heard my father coming home as I stood idly in the kitchen. I didn't like the idea of using conversation with him as a distraction, but I desperately needed it, considering that cooking dinner had done nothing for the job. Glancing one last time at the pot on the stove, I looked over to my father, who had plopped himself down onto the chair at the table, which I had begun to realize was his chair.
"What's for dinner?" he asked lightly.
I shrugged. "Just some soup." I narrowed my eyes at him. "There wasn't much to work with, so I had to make do. What do you eat around here?"
He looked down at his hands fiddling at the table; I could have sworn I saw a light blush playing on his cheeks. "Well, I usually make eggs. Or order out."
Blanching, I turned back to the stew, stirring it lightly. Still facing the food, but glancing back at him, I said, "In that case, I'm going to have to change things around here. Mind dropping me off at the grocery tomorrow?"
"Actually... you won't need it."
I turned back to him. "Won't need it? The groceries? Oh believe me, we do. I don't know how you can eat like that."
A small smile played on his lips. "No, no, Bella. I meant you won't need the ride. Remember how I got you a car? Well... it's being dropped off tonight by my friend Billy Black. That means I won't need to take you to school anymore. I know how embarrassed you were to drive up with dear old dad today."
"Oh come on, Ch-Dad, you know it wasn't like that," I said, trying to play it off as cool. But my father has always been a perceptive one, even if he tended to ignore what he didn't like.
"Well, Bella, either way, you're getting the car tonight," he said. "And it'd be good for you to see the Blacks. Billy is one of my closest friends, my fishing buddy. He's in a wheelchair, so he can't drive, so his son Jacob is giving their old car. Jake's a nice boy, too. You'll get along fine."
A friend sounded nice, but I was tired of all the friendliness I had dealt with today at school. Suddenly, I knew it wouldn't matter if I didn't want to meet this Jacob, because there was a knock at the door, and I'd be introduced to him regardless of what I wanted. I awkwardly shifted my weight from one foot to the other as Charlie stood up and answered the front door. When I heard some happy hellos, I made slowly walked to where everyone else was.
Immediately I locked eyes with a dark skinned kid in the doorway. His smile grew just infinitesimally, but I noticed it, and I also noticed just how cute his smile was. I vaguely heard Charlie make a remark, and the kid's smile broke into something that resembled a wolfish grin. It was adorable in a way, and I knew immediately that I wanted to be his friend. It was a different kind of need to be friends with him than the need I had with Edward and Alice and the rest of the Cullens. While I felt this pull that I had to be friends with them, I felt a certain want to be friends with this kid so much that I felt like we were friends already.
"Bella, this is Jacob, the boy I was talking about," Charlie said warmly toward me.
"I'm no boy, Charlie," said Jacob, still grinning in that wolfish way that I was growing to adore. Then he locked eyes with me with a bright stare. "You must be the Bella I've been hearing so much from your old man."
I blushed, not sure what to make of Charlie talking about me. As much as I felt like I wanted to be his friend, I felt shy as I couldn't think of anything else to reply with other than, "Yeah..." I stepped forward, determined to make myself not look like a fool. "Nice to meet you, Jacob."
"Aw, doubt you really mean that. You probably just want to get introductions over with and see your car, huh?" He was grinning at me.
To tell the truth, I completely forgot about the car, but I was glad he brought it up. Charlie said for me to go ahead and check out my new vehicle while he and Jacob's dad, Billy, talked. Jacob grabbed me by the hand as he led me out to the driveway. For some reason, I felt a carelessness wash through me. However, it wasn't a bad carelessness, since I felt simply at peace, without a care in the world. I didn't even think twice about holding his hand back; that came to me with ease, as opposed to the nervous wreck I had been around Edward.
Whoa, I was thinking about Edward again. I attempted to shake the thought of him from my mind as we reached the driveway. There, next to Charlie's cruiser was an old, red pick-up. The bumpers around the truck looked so big that it looked almost indestructible. I was instantly in love.
Jacob turned to me, again with that grin, "So, what do you think?"
"I...I love it!" I broke off from him, and ran over to the truck to further investigate it. I circled the truck, surprised at how much I was in love.
"Well, good, 'cause there's no way I'm taking it back," he chuckled. "Just be wary of going past 55."
I think I gave a slight nod, but I was still in awe. Since I was such in a high, I didn't see where my feet were going, so I ended up tripping a bit. The bumper of my car broke my fall, which saved me from a very nasty collision with the ground. And for some reason, it made me laugh. In fact, I found the idea positively hysterical that I had yet again tripped in this God forsaken town, and my new old car had saved me. My laughter must have been contagious, because soon Jacob was cracking up as well. We continued there, crouched in laughter, tears in our eyes.
Then there was that growl. Instantly, my laughter stopped and I blinked, unsure what I felt now. I was still calm and careless, but it was now accompanied with safety. Still, I gulped, thinking of that growl. It was the same growl from the night before. Why did it come up again? Then I noticed that I wasn't the only one who stopped laughing.
Jacob's eyes were cautious and alert as he looked into the trees of the woods. His eyebrows were furrowed and his slight scowl looked almost annoyed.
"What is it?" I asked him.
"Nothing, I..." he said warily, still looking at the trees as he spoke. Then he turned to me. "Just thought I heard something."
This made the lump in my throat hard to swallow. Did he hear the same growl? Was it not my imagination? ...Did that mean I really wasn't alone in the woods last night and there could've been a creature waiting to get me? But then what did that make the growl in class today? I was going to ask him, but I immediately stopped before coming off as silly. Silly, that's what this whole thing was.
"Come on, let's get back in," Jacob said, still in that wary tone.
He reached out for my arm, and hooked his own with mine. I was a little taken aback by his forwardness, but to tell the truth, I was becoming a little worried too. His carefree presence would put me in a better mood, so I only tightened our grip. He smiled down at me. I hoped my own smile didn't look like the grimace I was trying to hide.
Inside the house, I immediately freed myself of him, which was all for the best anyway, since our fathers were giving us calculating looks. I rolled my eyes. Just as I figured; Charlie was trying to set me up with his best friend's son. Not a chance. Jacob felt like a friend, nothing more. Besides, he's no Edward. The back of my mind was giving me terrible advice, so I tried to shake the thought off... but I couldn't help it. Was I honestly comparing Jacob to Edward and basing my attraction simply on that? I felt inexplicably bad for Jacob at that moment; I would've given him a chance... heck, I would've probably liked him... were it not for meeting Edward already. Edward, after just a day of knowing him, had completely taken over me.
Both Billy and Jacob were invited for dinner, but they'd insisted not to stay, since I'd have to make more food (I'd only made enough soup for two). So, they left not long after, with Jacob giving me a very lingering hug. I returned it with as much vigor, but I tried to let him know when I looked in his eyes that I wanted us to be friends. I think he got it, judging from the look of disappointment as he left. However, Charlie definitely didn't catch on to this, so he had bothered me all throughout dinner about how nice of a boy Jacob is.
I wanted to tell him to shut it, but I felt bad. Besides, that guilt in the back of my mind ate at me, and told me to shut it. That was one guilt I would be listening to. After all, I was still saddened over separating from my mother...
This new train of thought had me melancholy, so I excused myself from Charlie when he started watching his sports programming, and went straight for my new room. The walls were still bare, and my things were still packed, somewhat, so I got around fixing the room up. Then, not long afterwards, I was asleep.
In my sleep, I dreamed of angels.
[ Continue onto Chapter 6]
Rating: Teen -- eventual M
Pairings: All canon
Comments: I've been so engrossed in my own story, it's ridiculous. Well, I currently left my writing journal with all my notes for this at my cousins' house, so I'm kinda mad right now, since I'm in a mood to write this. Oh well. I'll wing it.
[ Previously in Chapter 4]
Chapter Five
...And Feed Her to the Wolves!
That afternoon after my first day of school was spent dissecting all that had occurred.
There was no doubt whatsoever that I was immediately drawn to the Cullens. I may have only directly spoken to three of them - with only having a real conversation with two, might I add - but everything about them captivated me. Not only was it because of how beautiful they were (sure enough, this was a captivating trait... but it was more intimidating for me really), it was the way they carried themselves and had treated their status at the school. Sure, judging by Jessica's disapproving tone, they were slightly considered odd for having such close relationships within their family, but they could probably be kings and queens at the school if they wanted to. It was as if they chose to be cast aside.
It was even mentioned how they had hardly interacted with the other students, but Alice and I got along fine. I briefly remembered Jessica noting that Alice was nice. That surely had to have meant that they talked before. But being nice and cryptic were two completely different things, I found out, because Alice had filled the shoes perfectly for both adjectives in every sense of the words. To think, what she said still haunted me from the morning - "I like you already". But I don't know why I was hung up on her words really.
More words from the day had haunted me well into the evening as well. Mainly Edward's. I didn't want to think about how he told me he didn't want to be friends. In fact, I didn't want to think about him at all... but I couldn't help myself. After all, he was the most captivating of all, to me at least. Every time I thought about him, I thought of his eyes, and how they were completely identical with my imagination's rendering of a perfect, godlike creature, from the night before.
The night before was an oddity; my mind was running haywire. After all, I was granted the perfect vision of what I thought beauty should be, when I was laying on my bed. (But God help me if I remembered the face past the eyes at all!) Then I had that impulsive decision to go off into the woods, where I was met with my subconscious growling at me. That's a little embarrassing.
In fact, thinking of the growling brought me back to Biology today. I was positive I had heard it, though it could have just been my imagination. But why would my subconscious feel the need to growl at that moment? Nothing was harming me... not physically at least. Edward was shooting daggers at the time, sure, but that was nothing. On that note, I heard something snap as well, although, I wasn't too worried about that. My mind was on the fritz, so that could have just been my imagination as well. Then there was another sound that my mind was lingering on from that class period... Edward's voice.
I don't know why, but I was just so... drawn to it. And when he said my name, it sent tingles down my spine. I wonder how it would sound when he's all breathless. The thought came all the way from left field, though it still brought me blushing like mad, guilt washing over me for thinking it. To tell the truth, I wasn't so used to being so attracted to anyone in my entire life. Sure, the occasional celebrity would have me wishing, but never anything like fantasizing... which was a more accurate word for the thoughts running through my mind about Edward.
I was grateful, then, when I heard my father coming home as I stood idly in the kitchen. I didn't like the idea of using conversation with him as a distraction, but I desperately needed it, considering that cooking dinner had done nothing for the job. Glancing one last time at the pot on the stove, I looked over to my father, who had plopped himself down onto the chair at the table, which I had begun to realize was his chair.
"What's for dinner?" he asked lightly.
I shrugged. "Just some soup." I narrowed my eyes at him. "There wasn't much to work with, so I had to make do. What do you eat around here?"
He looked down at his hands fiddling at the table; I could have sworn I saw a light blush playing on his cheeks. "Well, I usually make eggs. Or order out."
Blanching, I turned back to the stew, stirring it lightly. Still facing the food, but glancing back at him, I said, "In that case, I'm going to have to change things around here. Mind dropping me off at the grocery tomorrow?"
"Actually... you won't need it."
I turned back to him. "Won't need it? The groceries? Oh believe me, we do. I don't know how you can eat like that."
A small smile played on his lips. "No, no, Bella. I meant you won't need the ride. Remember how I got you a car? Well... it's being dropped off tonight by my friend Billy Black. That means I won't need to take you to school anymore. I know how embarrassed you were to drive up with dear old dad today."
"Oh come on, Ch-Dad, you know it wasn't like that," I said, trying to play it off as cool. But my father has always been a perceptive one, even if he tended to ignore what he didn't like.
"Well, Bella, either way, you're getting the car tonight," he said. "And it'd be good for you to see the Blacks. Billy is one of my closest friends, my fishing buddy. He's in a wheelchair, so he can't drive, so his son Jacob is giving their old car. Jake's a nice boy, too. You'll get along fine."
A friend sounded nice, but I was tired of all the friendliness I had dealt with today at school. Suddenly, I knew it wouldn't matter if I didn't want to meet this Jacob, because there was a knock at the door, and I'd be introduced to him regardless of what I wanted. I awkwardly shifted my weight from one foot to the other as Charlie stood up and answered the front door. When I heard some happy hellos, I made slowly walked to where everyone else was.
Immediately I locked eyes with a dark skinned kid in the doorway. His smile grew just infinitesimally, but I noticed it, and I also noticed just how cute his smile was. I vaguely heard Charlie make a remark, and the kid's smile broke into something that resembled a wolfish grin. It was adorable in a way, and I knew immediately that I wanted to be his friend. It was a different kind of need to be friends with him than the need I had with Edward and Alice and the rest of the Cullens. While I felt this pull that I had to be friends with them, I felt a certain want to be friends with this kid so much that I felt like we were friends already.
"Bella, this is Jacob, the boy I was talking about," Charlie said warmly toward me.
"I'm no boy, Charlie," said Jacob, still grinning in that wolfish way that I was growing to adore. Then he locked eyes with me with a bright stare. "You must be the Bella I've been hearing so much from your old man."
I blushed, not sure what to make of Charlie talking about me. As much as I felt like I wanted to be his friend, I felt shy as I couldn't think of anything else to reply with other than, "Yeah..." I stepped forward, determined to make myself not look like a fool. "Nice to meet you, Jacob."
"Aw, doubt you really mean that. You probably just want to get introductions over with and see your car, huh?" He was grinning at me.
To tell the truth, I completely forgot about the car, but I was glad he brought it up. Charlie said for me to go ahead and check out my new vehicle while he and Jacob's dad, Billy, talked. Jacob grabbed me by the hand as he led me out to the driveway. For some reason, I felt a carelessness wash through me. However, it wasn't a bad carelessness, since I felt simply at peace, without a care in the world. I didn't even think twice about holding his hand back; that came to me with ease, as opposed to the nervous wreck I had been around Edward.
Whoa, I was thinking about Edward again. I attempted to shake the thought of him from my mind as we reached the driveway. There, next to Charlie's cruiser was an old, red pick-up. The bumpers around the truck looked so big that it looked almost indestructible. I was instantly in love.
Jacob turned to me, again with that grin, "So, what do you think?"
"I...I love it!" I broke off from him, and ran over to the truck to further investigate it. I circled the truck, surprised at how much I was in love.
"Well, good, 'cause there's no way I'm taking it back," he chuckled. "Just be wary of going past 55."
I think I gave a slight nod, but I was still in awe. Since I was such in a high, I didn't see where my feet were going, so I ended up tripping a bit. The bumper of my car broke my fall, which saved me from a very nasty collision with the ground. And for some reason, it made me laugh. In fact, I found the idea positively hysterical that I had yet again tripped in this God forsaken town, and my new old car had saved me. My laughter must have been contagious, because soon Jacob was cracking up as well. We continued there, crouched in laughter, tears in our eyes.
Then there was that growl. Instantly, my laughter stopped and I blinked, unsure what I felt now. I was still calm and careless, but it was now accompanied with safety. Still, I gulped, thinking of that growl. It was the same growl from the night before. Why did it come up again? Then I noticed that I wasn't the only one who stopped laughing.
Jacob's eyes were cautious and alert as he looked into the trees of the woods. His eyebrows were furrowed and his slight scowl looked almost annoyed.
"What is it?" I asked him.
"Nothing, I..." he said warily, still looking at the trees as he spoke. Then he turned to me. "Just thought I heard something."
This made the lump in my throat hard to swallow. Did he hear the same growl? Was it not my imagination? ...Did that mean I really wasn't alone in the woods last night and there could've been a creature waiting to get me? But then what did that make the growl in class today? I was going to ask him, but I immediately stopped before coming off as silly. Silly, that's what this whole thing was.
"Come on, let's get back in," Jacob said, still in that wary tone.
He reached out for my arm, and hooked his own with mine. I was a little taken aback by his forwardness, but to tell the truth, I was becoming a little worried too. His carefree presence would put me in a better mood, so I only tightened our grip. He smiled down at me. I hoped my own smile didn't look like the grimace I was trying to hide.
Inside the house, I immediately freed myself of him, which was all for the best anyway, since our fathers were giving us calculating looks. I rolled my eyes. Just as I figured; Charlie was trying to set me up with his best friend's son. Not a chance. Jacob felt like a friend, nothing more. Besides, he's no Edward. The back of my mind was giving me terrible advice, so I tried to shake the thought off... but I couldn't help it. Was I honestly comparing Jacob to Edward and basing my attraction simply on that? I felt inexplicably bad for Jacob at that moment; I would've given him a chance... heck, I would've probably liked him... were it not for meeting Edward already. Edward, after just a day of knowing him, had completely taken over me.
Both Billy and Jacob were invited for dinner, but they'd insisted not to stay, since I'd have to make more food (I'd only made enough soup for two). So, they left not long after, with Jacob giving me a very lingering hug. I returned it with as much vigor, but I tried to let him know when I looked in his eyes that I wanted us to be friends. I think he got it, judging from the look of disappointment as he left. However, Charlie definitely didn't catch on to this, so he had bothered me all throughout dinner about how nice of a boy Jacob is.
I wanted to tell him to shut it, but I felt bad. Besides, that guilt in the back of my mind ate at me, and told me to shut it. That was one guilt I would be listening to. After all, I was still saddened over separating from my mother...
This new train of thought had me melancholy, so I excused myself from Charlie when he started watching his sports programming, and went straight for my new room. The walls were still bare, and my things were still packed, somewhat, so I got around fixing the room up. Then, not long afterwards, I was asleep.
In my sleep, I dreamed of angels.
[ Continue onto Chapter 6]