AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Theory," Jacob read.
"Can I ask just one more?" she entreated instead of answering my demand.
"No... I said it was my turn," Jacob said, laughing.
Bella rolled her eyes.
"But seriously, don't let her ask another question," Jacob said. "I want to know what she's thinking already."
This time Bella chuckled.
I was on edge, anxious for the worst. And yet, how tempting it was to prolong this moment. To have Bella with me, willingly, for just a few seconds longer. I sighed at the dilemma, and then said, "One."
"Hm... I don't know if one would be enough," Bella said, and Jacob groaned.
"You really are going to stretch this out, aren't you?" Jacob asked and Bella shrugged.
"Well??" she hesitated for a moment, as if deciding which question to voice.
"You said you knew I hadn't gone into the bookstore, and that I had gone south. I was just wondering how you know that."
"Good question," Jacob chuckled. "I bet he's wishing that he didn't let you ask it now."
I glared out the windshield. Here was another question that revealed nothing on her part, and too much on mine.
"I thought we were past all the evasiveness," she said, her tone critical and disappointed.
How ironic. She was relentlessly evasive, without even trying.
"Well, it beats being purposefully evasive," Bella said defensively and Jacob laughed at that and the face she was making.
Well, she wanted me to be direct. And this conversation wasn't going anywhere good, regardless.
"Fine, then," I said. "I followed your scent."
Bella smiled because he answered honestly again.
I wanted to watch her face, but I was afraid of what I would see.
Jacob chuckled at that.
"Um... that wasn't really that funny," Bella said to him.
"Sorry... it just sounded so human," Jacob said and that got a smile out of Bella.
Instead, I listened to her breath accelerate and then stabilize. She spoke again after a moment, and her voice was steadier than I would have expected.
"And then you didn't answer one of my first questions??" she said.
"Ha... I knew you wouldn't stop at just one," Jacob said.
"Well at least this isn't a new one," Bella shrugged looking amused. "I must be thinking that I have to get answers out of him as long as he's being honest with me..." she added thoughtfully, and she was now frowning. It was sad that her book self really had no idea what Edward was thinking... or how much he really cared about her.
I looked down at her, frowning. She was stalling, too.
"Which one?"
"How does it work??the mind reading thing?" she asked, reiterating her question from the restaurant. "Can you read anybody's mind, anywhere? How do you do it? Can the rest of your family???" She trailed off, flushing again.
"I don't seem to recall you asking him all that," Jacob said and Bella shrugged, laughing again.
"That's more than one," I said.
She just looked at me, waiting for her answers.
And why not tell her? She'd already guessed most of this, and it was an easier subject that the one that loomed.
"But I want to know about the one that looms," Jacob grumbled. "Stupid bloodsucker allowing her to stall."
"No, it's just me. And I can't hear anyone, anywhere. I have to be fairly close. The more familiar someone's??'voice' is, the farther away I can hear them. But still, no more than a few miles." I tried to think of a way to describe it so that she would understand. An analogy that she could relate to. "It's a little like being in a huge hall filled with people, everyone talking at once. It's just a hum??a buzzing of voices in the background. Until I focus on one voice, and then what they're thinking is clear. Most of the time I tune it all out??it can be very distracting. And then it's easier to seem normal," ??I grimaced?? "when I'm not accidentally answering someone's thoughts rather than their words."
Bella smiled again, imagining Edward when he was first turned doing just that. For some reason... though she knew it wasn't right, she imagined Edward as a little boy. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that it was associated with him learning something as he would when taking his first steps or talking for the first time. She could also picture a vague image of Carlisle, Edward's father, helping him learn how to work though this.
"Um... what's so amusing about that?" Jacob questioned her when he noticed the look in her eyes.
"It's nothing," Bella shook her head and motioned for Jacob to keep reading.
"Why do you think you can't hear me?" she wondered.
I gave her another truth and another analogy.
"I don't know," I admitted. "The only guess I have is that maybe your mind doesn't work the same way the rest of theirs do. Like your thoughts are on the AM frequency and I'm only getting FM."
Bella frowned at that, it made her sound like a freak.
I realized that she would not like this analogy. The anticipation of her reaction had me smiling. She didn't disappoint.
Jacob started chuckling at that point; he could see quite clearly her reaction to that.
"My mind doesn't work right?" she asked, her voice rising with chagrin. "I'm a freak?"
Jacob laughed loudly at that. "That's right, I'm glad you finally agree with me."
"Shut up, Jake," Bella glared at him.
Ah, the irony again.
"I hear voices in my mind and you're worried that you're the freak." I laughed.
She understood all the small things, and yet the big ones she got backwards. Always the wrong instincts??
Bella huffed, more annoyed by that because of her slight embarrassment.
Bella was gnawing on her lip, and the crease between her eyes was etched deep.
"Don't worry," I reassured her. "It's just a theory??" And there was a more important theory to be discussed. I was anxious to get it over with. Each passing second was beginning to feel more and more like borrowed time.
"Then ask your question already," Bella said. "I really want you to get past this borrowed time thing."
"Which brings us back to you," I said, divided in two, both anxious and reluctant.
She sighed, still chewing her lip??I worried that she would hurt herself. She stared into my eyes, her face troubled.
"Aren't we past all the evasions now?" I asked quietly.
She looked down, struggling with some internal dilemma. Suddenly, she stiffened and her eyes flew wide open. Fear flashed across her face for the first time.
"What?" Jacob asked.
"You know if you just read the book, we probably would have known by now," Bella said to him.
"Whatever," Jacob mumbled sheepishly and started reading.
"Holy crow!" she gasped.
I panicked. What had she seen? How had I frightened her?
Then she shouted, "Slow down!"
"Oh," Jacob said, pure amusement in his voice, before both of them started laughing.
"What's wrong?" I didn't understand where her terror was coming from.
"You're going a hundred miles an hour!" she yelled at me.
Bella was about to comment, but she really didn't want Jacob to laugh at her again. But really... why did he have to go that fast?
She flashed a look out the window, and recoiled from the dark trees racing past us.
This little thing, just a bit of speed, had her shouting in fear?
I rolled my eyes. "Relax, Bella."
"Are you trying to kill us?" she demanded, her voice high and tight.
"We're not going to crash," I promised her.
She sucked in a sharp breath, and then spoke in a slightly more level tone. "Why are you in such a hurry?"
"I always drive like this."
"Well at least I know that's true," Bella said. "Hm... I don't know if I'm going to be riding in his car too much."
"If you look at Edward, I'm sure you wouldn't notice anything," Jacob said, and then chuckled. "You'll be dazzled by him..."
"Shut up," Bella blushed and Jacob laughed harder.
I met her gaze, amused by her shocked expression.
"Keep your eyes on the road!" she shouted.
Jacob and Bella laughed at this... for Bella thought that laughing was just easier to do at the moment than worry... Edward wouldn't let anything happen to her after all.
"I've never been in an accident, Bella. I've never even gotten a ticket." I grinned at her and touched my forehead. It made it even more comical??the absurdity of being able to joke with her about something so secret and strange. "Built in radar detector."
"Very funny," she said sarcastically, her voice more frightened than angry.
"Charlie's a cop, remember? I was raised to abide by traffic laws. Besides, if you turn us into a Volvo pretzel around a tree trunk, you can probably just walk away."
"And now he slows down," Jacob said. "Well, you seemed to know how to make him listen to you."
"Probably," I repeated, and then laughed without humor. Yes, we would fare quite differently in a car accident. She was right to be afraid, despite my driving abilities?? "But you can't."
With a sigh, I let the car drift to a crawl. "Happy?"
She eyed the speedometer. "Almost."
Was this still too fast for her? "I hate driving slow," I muttered, but let the needle slide another notch down.
"This is slow?" she asked.
Jacob was laughing as he read this. "You really are afraid of the strangest things."
"Enough commentary on my driving," I said impatiently. How many times had she dodged my question now? Three times? Four? Were her speculations that horrific?
"No... they are just that true," Bella said, suddenly a little worried herself, "I hope he's doesn't freak out about this."
I had to know??immediately. "I'm still waiting for your latest theory."
She bit her lip again, and her expression became upset, almost pained.
I reigned in my impatience and softened my voice. I didn't want her to be distressed.
"I won't laugh," I promised, wishing that it was only embarrassment that made her unwilling to talk.
"Oh... I'm sure you won't," Jacob sighed, he was become tense again.
"I'm more afraid that you'll be angry with me," she whispered.
I forced my voice to stay even. "Is it that bad?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
She looked down, refusing to meet my eyes. The seconds passed.
"Go ahead," I encouraged.
Her voice was small. "I don't know how to start."
"Why don't you start at the beginning?" I remembered her words before dinner.
"You said you didn't come up with this on your own."
"No," she agreed, and then was silent again.
I thought about things that might have inspired her. "What got you started?? book? A movie?"
I should have looked through her collections when she was out of the house. I had no idea if Bram Stoker or Anne Rice was there in her stack of worn paperbacks??
"Nope," Bella shook her head, she was pretty sure that she wouldn't have been able to figure out what Edward was by what she knew about vampires.
"No," she said again. "It was Saturday, at the beach."
Jacob groaned that; his first fear was confirmed and the second was sure to come true any second now.
I hadn't expected that. The local gossip about us had never strayed into anything too bizarre??or too precise. Was there a new rumor I'd missed? Bella peeked up from her hands and saw the surprise on my face.
"He knows what beach you were at... how could he not figure this out?" Jacob hissed, in a foul mood because of what he was sure was going to happen and he wanted it out there already.
"I ran into an old family friend??Jacob Black,"
Jacob sighed again, it was true then... great.
"I'm sorry," Bella said.
she went on. "His dad and Charlie have been friends since I was a baby."
Jacob Black??the name was not familiar, and yet it reminded me of something??some time, long ago?? I stared out of the windshield, flipping through memories to find the connection.
Again there was a tense, almost angry quality to Jacob's voice as he read this.
