Waxing Gibbous

Scary Stories (B)

A few minutes after Angela left with the hikers and Alex slumped down in the sand, Jacob sauntered over to take her place by my side. He looked sixteen, maybe seventeen, and had long, glossy black hair pulled back with a rubber band at the nape of his neck. His skin was beautiful, silky, and russet-colored; his eyes were dark, set deep above the high planes of his cheekbones. He still had just a hint of childish roundness left around his chin. But he was tall.

I heard on of the boys comment about Alex drinking soda and thought that was weird. But from what the others told me and from what I've seen of Val she was a helicopter mom on steroids.

"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?"

It was like the first day of school all over again.

"Bella," I sighed.

"I'm Jacob Black." He held his hand out in a friendly gesture. "You bought my dad's truck."

"Oh," I said, relieved, shaking his sleek hand. "You're Billy's son. I probably should remember you."

"No, I'm the youngest of the family — you would remember my older sisters."

"Rachel and Rebecca," I suddenly recalled. Charlie and Billy had thrown us together a lot during my visits, to keep us busy while they fished. We were all too shy to make much progress as friends. Of course, I'd kicked up enough tantrums to end the fishing trips by the time I was eleven.

"Are they here?" I examined the girls at the ocean's edge, wondering if I would recognize them now.

"No." Jacob shook his head. "Rachel got a scholarship to Washington State, and Rebecca married a Samoan surfer — she lives in Hawaii now."

"in the land of constant sun and temperature" Alex spoke up with a chuckle. The others around laughed with her. "and little babies running around."

Jacob laughed and nodded with Alex.

"Married. Wow." I was stunned. The twins were only a little over a year older than I was.

"So how do you like the truck?" he asked.

"I love it. It runs great."

"Yeah, but it's really slow," he laughed. "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," I objected.

"Have you tried to go over sixty?"

"No," I admitted.

"Good. Don't." He grinned.

I couldn't help grinning back. "It does great in a collision," I offered in my truck's defense.

"that's not a lie." Alex commented, taking a break from talking with the boys. Reminding me of the destruction of her car. Part of me was jealous that she didn't have to worry about money in any way, I mean she had a sports car and then it gets destroyed, not of Alex's fault, then she gets a new one almost immediately. Then her house... she was definitely the rich kid of Forks.

"I don't think a tank could take out that old monster," Jacob agreed with another laugh.

"So, you build cars?" I asked, impressed.

"When I have free time, and parts. You wouldn't happen to know where I could get my hands on a master cylinder for a 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit?" he added jokingly. He had a pleasant, husky voice.

"Sorry," I laughed, "I haven't seen any lately, but I'll keep my eyes open for you." As if I knew what that was. He was very easy to talk with. Different than some of the others, not that talking to Alex was hard, but I was afraid to say something wrong. Jacob flashed a brilliant smile, looking at me appreciatively in a way I was learning to recognize. I wasn't the only one who noticed.