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"Port Angeles," Bella read.
It was too bright for me to drive into town when I got to Port Angeles; the sun was still too high overhead, and, though my windows were tinted dark, there was no reason to take unnecessary risks. More unnecessary risks, I should say.
I was certain I would be able to find Jessica's thoughts from a distance??Jessica's thoughts were louder than Angela's, but once I found the first, I'd be able to hear the second. Then, when the shadows lengthened, I could get closer. For now, I pulled off the road onto an overgrown driveway just outside the town that appeared to be infrequently used.
I knew the general direction to search in??there was really only one place for dress shopping in Port Angeles. It wasn't long before I found Jessica, spinning in front of a three way mirror, and I could see Bella in her peripheral vision, appraising the long black dress she wore.
Bella still looks pissed. Ha ha. Angela was right??Tyler was full of it.
"What is that about?" Bella asked raising an eyebrow.
I can't believe she's so upset about it, though. At least she knows she has a back up date for the prom. What if Mike doesn't have fun at the dance, and he doesn't ask me out again? What if he asks Bella to the prom? Would she have asked Mike to the dance if I hadn't said anything? Does he think she's prettier than me? Does she think she's prettier than me?
"I would really appreciate it if you'd stop listening to her mind now, Edward," Jacob said, annoyed by all the pointless drama Jessica was thinking about.
"I think I like the blue one better. It really brings out your eyes."
Jessica smiled at Bella with false warmth, while eyeing her suspiciously.
Does she really think that? Or does she want me to look like a cow on Saturday?
Bella rolled her eyes, she wouldn't ever think that.
"She seems to know you well," Jacob said sarcastically.
I was already tired of listening to Jessica. I searched close by for Angela??ah, but Angela was in the process of changing dresses, and I skipped quickly out of her head to give her some privacy.
Well, there wasn't much trouble Bella could get into in a department store. I'd let them shop and then catch up with them when they were done.
"Not a very good lookout then, are you?" Jacob chuckled, "you should always keep an eye on her."
It wouldn't be long until it was dark??the clouds were beginning to return, drifting in from the west. I could only catch glimpses of them through the thick trees, but I could see how they would hurry the sunset. I welcomed them, craved them more than I had ever yearned for their shadows before. Tomorrow I could sit beside Bella in school again, monopolize her attention at lunch again. I could ask her all the questions I'd been saving up??
So, she was furious about Tyler's presumption. I'd seen that in his head??that he'd meant it literally when he'd spoken of the prom, that he was staking a claim.
"So he's telling everyone that we're going to prom together," Bella said, angrily. She glared at the book when she started reading next.
I pictured her expression from that other afternoon??the outraged disbelief??and I laughed. I wondered what she would say to him about this. I wouldn't want to miss her reaction.
"Of course you wouldn't," Bella grumbled.
"It does sound intriguing," Jacob chuckled.
The time went slowly while I waited for the shadows to lengthen. I checked in periodically with Jessica; her mental voice was the easiest to find, but I didn't like to linger there long. I saw the place they were planning to eat. It would be dark by dinner time??maybe I would coincidentally choose the same restaurant. I touched the phone in my pocket, thinking of inviting Alice out to eat?? She would love that, but she would also want to talk to Bella. I wasn't sure if I was ready to have Bella more involved with my world. Wasn't one vampire trouble enough?
"No, I think I might like to meet Alice," Bella said.
I checked in routinely with Jessica again. She was thinking about her jewelry, asking Angela's opinion.
"Maybe I should take the necklace back. I've got one at home that would probably work, and I spent more than I was supposed to??" My mom is going to freak out. What was I thinking?
"Boring," Jacob grumbled.
"I don't mind going back to the store. Do you think Bella will be looking for us, though?"
"Looking for us... where are you?" Jacob asked. Bella just looked at him for a few seconds until he smiled sheepishly at her, "Right... you don't know."
What was this? Bella wasn't with them? I stared through Jessica's eyes first, then switched to Angela's. They were on the sidewalk in front of a line of shops, just turning back the other way. Bella was nowhere in sight.
Oh, who cares about Bella?
"Well you should if you took her with you," Jacob grumbled and he was starting to get a little worried.
Jess thought impatiently, before answering Angela's question. "She's fine. We'll get to the restaurant in plenty of time, even if we go back. Anyway, I think she wanted to be alone." I got a brief glimpse of the bookshop Jessica thought Bella had gone to.
"Oh," Bella said, it made sense that she would want to go to a bookshop and she would definitely want to be alone if that was where she was going.
"Let's hurry, then," Angela said. I hope Bella doesn't think we ditched her. She was so nice to me in the car before?? She's really a sweet person. But she's seemed kind of blue all day. I wonder if it's because of Edward Cullen? I'll bet that was why she was asking about his family??
"Aw... you're obsessing about Edward," Jacob teased, trying to not get too worried.
I should have been paying better attention. What all had I missed here? Bella was off wandering by herself, and she'd been asking about me before? Angela was paying attention to Jessica now??Jessica was babbling about that idiot Mike??and I could get nothing more from her.
I judged the shadows. The sun would be behind the clouds soon enough. If I stayed on the west side of the road, where the buildings would shade the street from the fading light??
I started to feel anxious as I drove through the sparse traffic into the center of the town. This wasn't something I had considered??Bella taking off on her own??and I had no idea how to find her. I should have considered it.
"You would think he could just roll down a window and sniff you out," Jacob said.
"That sounds ridiculous," Bella shook her head.
I knew Port Angeles well; I drove straight to the bookstore in Jessica's head, hoping my search would be short, but doubting it would be so easy. When did Bella ever make it easy?
Jacob chuckled at that and Bella rolled her eyes.
Sure enough, the little shop was empty except for the anachronistically dressed woman behind the counter. This didn't look like the kind of place Bella would be interested in??too new age for a practical person. I wondered if she'd even bothered to go in?
"Probably not," Bella said, what he had described stated clearly that wasn't a place that she would want to see.
There was a patch of shade I could park in?? It made a dark pathway right up to the overhang of the shop. I really shouldn't. Wandering around in the sunlight hours was not safe. What if a passing car threw the sun's reflection into the shade at just the wrong moment?
But I didn't know how else to look for Bella!
I parked and got out, keeping to the deepest side of the shadow. I strode quickly into the store, noting the faint trace of Bella's scent in the air. She had been here, on the sidewalk, but there was no hint of her fragrance inside the shop.
"See... he is trying to sniff you out," Jacob said looking pleased.
"But it looks like the sun is going to keep him from doing a thorough job of it," Bella said.
"Welcome! Can I help??" the saleswoman began to say, but I was already out the door.
I followed Bella's scent as far as the shade would allow, stopping when I got to the edge of the sunlight. How powerless it made me feel??fenced in by the line between dark and light that stretched across the sidewalk in front of me. So limited.
I could only guess that she'd continued across the street, heading south. There wasn't really much in that direction. Was she lost? Well, that possibility didn't sound entirely out of character.
"I don't like this," Jacob said, Edward was right, there really wasn't anything in that direction and the thought of Bella wandering around alone wasn't pleasant. He shook his head then; no, he was just letting Edward's panic get to him... Bella was fine.
I got back in the car and drove slowly through the streets, looking for her. I stepped out into a few other patches of shadow, but I only caught her scent once more, and the direction of it confused me. Where was she trying to go?
I drove back and forth between the bookstore and the restaurant a few times, hoping to see her on her way. Jessica and Angela were already there, trying to decide whether to order, or to wait for Bella. Jessica was pushing for ordering immediately.
"Bitch," Jacob said and then he mumbled, "Can't even wait for you."
I began flitting through the minds of strangers, looking through their eyes. Surely, someone must have seen her somewhere.
I got more and more anxious the longer she remained missing. I hadn't considered before how difficult she might prove to find once, like now, she was out of my sight and off her normal paths. I didn't like it.
"Yeah, maybe you should LoJack her or something," Jacob chuckled, but wouldn't have been surprised at this point if Edward did something like this.
The clouds were massing on the horizon, and, in a few more minutes, I would be free to track her on foot. It wouldn't take me long then. It was only the sun that made me so helpless now. Just few more minutes, and then the advantage would be mine again and it would be the human world that was powerless.
Jacob grimaced at this, but not because of the thought that Edward thought that the human world would be powerless to him, but because he was sure the fact that Edward couldn't do anything at the moment wasn't good.
