When I opened my eyes this morning, I saw a clear yellow light streaming through my window. I couldn’t believe it, but when I looked out the window, there it was, the sun and a patch of blue sky surrounded by clouds on the horizon. I beheld the sight for a while, afraid that if I left the window, the blue would fade away. But that was rubbish so I prepared to get ready for the day.
I went to Newton’s Olympic Outfitters to meet up for the beach trip. It’s just north of town. Since I’ve never had the need to buy camping equipment I’d never stop there in normal circumstances. I recognized Mike’s Suburban and Tyler’s Sentra in the parking lot. I saw the group standing around the van. Eric and two other boys I had class with; Ben and Conner, Jess flanked by Angela and Lauren, three other girls; one of them I remember falling over yesterday, she gave me a dirty look and whispered something to Lauren as I got off my truck. At least Mike was happy to see me. Lauren eyed me scornfully.
“You came! And I said it would be sunny today, didn’t I?” Mike said with delight.
“I told you I was coming.” I reminded him.
“We’re just waiting for Lee and Samantha unless you invited someone.”
“Nope.” I lied. But I sorta wished for Edward to show up.
Mike offered shotgun and I could feel Jessica glowering. It was easy to make Mike happy but not both Mike and Jessica. Lee brought 2 people so every seat was necessary. I managed to squeeze Jessica between Mike and me in the front seat of the Suburban. She seemed appeased even when Mike wasn’t too graceful about it. La Push is only 15 miles from Forks. Dense green forest edge the road and the wide Quileute River snakes beneath it twice. I was glad I had window seat. I’d been to La Push many times with Charlie so the mile long crescent beach of La Push was familiar to me. The view is breathtaking. The water was dark gray, even in the sunlight, white-capped and heaving to the gray, rocky shore. The beach only has a thin border of sand and then spreads out into pebbles and rocks of different colors but look uniformly grey at a distance. Bleached driftwood trees scattered the tide line and forest fringe.
We made it to a ring of driftwood logs that by the look of it have been used many times before. There was a fire circle already in place. Eric and Ben gathered driftwood and built a pyramid shaped pile on the ashes of a past bonfire.
“Have you ever seen a driftwood fire?” Mike asked me.
“No.” I said as he lit the pile of driftwood with a lighted twig.
“You’ll like this then. Watch the colors.” He lit another branch and the flames licked the dry wood.
“It’s blue.” I said surprised.
“The salt does it. Pretty isn’t it?”
He lit another piece and sat by me. Jess was on his other side and claimed his attention. I watched the blue and green flames crackle towards the sky. When the boys wanted to hike towards the tidal pools I felt conflicted. I love the tide pools. When I was a child they were one of the only things I looked forward to when I had to come to Forks. But I also fell in them a lot, which is not a big deal when you’re 7 and with your dad. I remembered Edward’s request; that I not fall into the ocean. The girls stayed behind, Lauren had the wrong shoes for hiking, so I got up quietly to join the hiking group. Mike smiled when he saw me join them. The sky disappeared when we entered the woods, the murky and ominous green light seemed at odds with the light banter around me. I fell behind soon enough since I walked carefully, trying not to trip on roots or get hit by branches.
It wasn’t long before we reached the rocky shore where the shallow pools that never completely drained were teeming with life. I leaned over a bit to look into the ocean ponds. The others were fearless, jumping over them. I sat on the fringe of the largest pool and was amazed by the little aquarium below me. The rock I was sitting on looked and felt stable, I was sure I wasn’t going to fall. I got completely absorbed by the vibrant sea life but there was a part of my mind that was wondering what Edward was doing. I tried to imagine what he would say if he were there with me. We headed back when the boys got hungry. I tried to keep better time through the woods and naturally, I fell a few times. The damage was superficial, I scraped my hands and stained the knees of my jeans.
When we arrived to First Beach, the teenagers from the reservation had joined our group. Food and introductions were passed around. The youngest of the La Push kids noticed me when my name was called. That’s when I first noticed Jacob Black. I sat by Angela and ate a sandwich Mike gave me. It was peaceful sitting by Angela, she doesn’t feel the need to chat between silences. People started to drift away as they finished eating. It was getting darker, the ocean looked like liquid onyx. I was left alone on my driftwood bench as everyone else explored around. That seemed like a good opportunity for Jacob to take Angela’s place next to me. He looks about fourteen or fifteen, has long black glossy hair pulled back with a rubber band, and his skin is a beautiful silky russet color. My positive opinion of his looks was quickly marred by the first words that came out of his mouth.
“You’re Isabella Swan, aren’t you?” he asked.
It was the first day of school all over again. “Bella.” I sighed.
“I’m Jacob Black. You bought my dad’s truck.”
I recognized the name but not the face. He explained that he was the youngest and that I probably remembered his sisters. Rachel and Rebecca were often my company when Billy and Charlie went fishing together during my childhood summers in Forks. I wondered if I could recognize his sisters among the girls but Jacob informed me that one of them was in college and the other was married in Hawaii. The twins are only a little over a year older than me.
“So how do you like the truck?” he asked.
“I love it. It runs great.” I admitted.
“Yeah but it’s really slow. I was so relieved when Charlie bought it. My dad wouldn’t let me work on building another car when we had a perfectly good vehicle right there.”
“It’s not that slow.”
“Have you tried to go over sixty?”
“No.” I admitted.
“Good. Don’t.” he grinned.
In my truck’s defense I said it does great in a collision and he agreed. He was very easy to talk with. I asked him about his mechanical experience and I was impressed that he was building his own car out of spare parts. I didn’t know much but told him I’d keep an eye out for a part he was looking for. Lauren suddenly jumped in to ask questions. She’s so annoying and almost evil in her ways. When she asked about the Cullens, the tall man-boy said “The Cullens don’t come here.” to close the subject. I knew he meant something more when he said that. Lauren got distracted by Eric but I couldn’t stop thinking about what he said. Jacob asked me something about Forks driving me crazy yet and then I did the unthinkable: try to flirt with poor Jacob to pump him for information. I asked him to walk down the beach with me. I fluttered my eyelids the way girls do on TV and made small talk about his age and worked up to asking him about Sam, the one who spoke about the Cullens. Jacob confirmed my suspicion about Sam’s hidden meaning in his words. I asked him why but he’s not supposed to talk about it, it’s a Quileute thing. I did my best to seem alluring and he smiled, changing his mind and opening up.
“Do you like scary stories?” he asked.
“I love them.” I enthused.
A smile hovered on the edges of his lips. “Do you know any of our old stories, about where we came from? The Quileutes I mean.”
“Not really.”
“Well, there are a lot legends. Some of them claiming to date back to the flood. Supposedly the ancient Quileutes tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive like Noah and the ark. Another legend claimed that we descended from wolves and that the wolves are our brothers still. It’s against tribal law to kill them. Then there are the stories about the cold ones.”
“The cold ones?” I repeated, not faking my intrigue.
“Yes. There are stories of the cold ones as old as the wolf legends, and some much more recent.”
His story rang a bell in my brain. According to legend, Jacob’s great grandfather knew some of them and that he made the treaty that kept them off Quileute land. The cold ones are the natural enemy of the wolves that turn into men like his ancestors. When a pack of them came to their land and claimed to be different than the rest of their kind, the tribe elder, Jacob’s great grandfather, made the truce with them. If they promised to keep off Quileute land, the tribe wouldn’t expose them to the pale faces. Jacob winked when he said that last line. I was confused and tried to make sense of his story without being too obvious.
“There’s always a risk for humans to be around the cold ones, even if they’re civilized like this clan was. You never know when they might get too hungry to resist.” Jacob explained.
“What do you mean civilized?”
“They claimed they didn’t hunt humans. They supposedly were somehow able to prey on animals instead.”
“So how does it fit in with the Cullens? Are they like the cold ones your great grandfather met?”
“No. They are the same ones.”
He must have thought my expression was fear from his scary story.
“There are more of them now, a new female and a new male, but the rest are the same. In my great grandfather’s time they already knew of their leader, Carlisle. He’d been here and gone before your people had even arrived.”
“And what are they? What are the cold ones?” I finally asked.
“Blood drinkers. Your people call them vampires.”
I stared out at the rough surf.
“You’ve got goosebumps.” He chuckled.
“You’re a good storyteller.”
I had a lot to think about. I guess Jacob confused my critical anlyzing with being spooked by old legends. He violated the treaty by telling me the story and told me not to tell Charlie. I promised him that I wouldn’t tell a soul. Mike and Jessica caught up with us after a while.
“There you are Bella.” Mike called.
“Is that your boyfriend.” Jacob asked me. It was obvious Mike had a thing for me.
“No. Definitely not.” I whispered to him.
“So when I get my license…” Jacob mused.
“You should come see me in Forks. We can hang out sometime.” I told him with a tinge of guilt. I used him but he seems friendly. I like him.
Mike appraised him and was satisfied by Jacob’s obvious youth. It looked like it was going to rain so we had to pack up. I said my goodbyes to Jacob and told him I’d come back next time Charlie went to see Billy. His grin was huge. He seemed pleased and I was satisfied. When we got to the parking lot, a few drops began to fall. So much for the sun. I crawled into the backseat of the Suburban, giving up shotgun.
When I got home I told Charlie I had a lot of homework and that I didn’t want anything to eat. He was absorbed by a basketball game so he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. I locked myself in my room and listened to a CD Phil had given me for Christmas. Linkin Park is one of his favourite bands. At first I thought it had too much bass and shrieking, but by the third time I had listened to the CD, I knew all the words to the choruses. I really like the band after all, once I got past the blaring noise. I’ll have to thank Phil. The music made it impossible for me think, therefore I completed my mission.