I wake up the next morning surprisingly spry. The first thing I do is reach for my hearing aids. I can hear the echoes of people chatting, like shapes in the fog. Once I turn them on and put them in, I look over at the table.
"Morning," Embry says, waving over at me.
Turning, I see both him and Jacob at the table. They are already dressed, and Jacob still has his glasses on. I've not met a blind person before, but I had assumed they would wear their sunglasses less frequently. They are less useful than hearing aids, and I don't wear them all the time.
I wipe the sleep out of my eyes. It's crusty and thick. There are the dried remnants of drool on my chin that I try to scratch away.
"You look like you slept well," Embry says, gesturing up to my messy hair.
"Yeah," I say. "Where's Quil?"
"He's just getting dressed," Jacob says. He feels along the table until he grabs his glass of orange juice, which is barely filled, and brings it up, shaking, to his lips.
"He's not hungover?" I ask. The guy had like nine beers last night. At least, I think it was nine. Most of my memories aren't the clearest.
Jacobs snorts, and orange juice bubbles up in his glass. He puts it down and coughs.
"None of us really get hangovers," Embry says, moving from the stove to pass Jacob a napkin.
Jacob rubs the napkin over his lips, before curling it into a ball and putting it down.
"Here," Embry says. He plates the last of the pancakes, a ginormous stack, and turns the oven off. "I'll go check on Quil."
He runs upstairs and so I make my way over to the table. I sit across from Jacob, careful not to touch and startle him this time. Now, for the first time, we are really alone. In the light of the kitchen, with no distractions, I get a good look at him.
He's broader than the others. His jawline is chiselled, and he's clean-shaven. His cheekbones are strong. Everything that isn't muscle is bone. He looks hard. He looks rough.
But the silence between us is beginning to kill me.
"So," I begin, looking him over, "where did you go to school?"
"Quileute Tribal School," he says.
I plate him a pancake, "I passed you some food, just so you know. Do you want syrup?"
"I'm okay, thanks," he takes his fork and knife and, carefully, begins to cut up the pancake.
We sit in silence, my fingers playing with the edge of the tablecloth. Before I'm halfway through mine, he's already done his first pancake. I pass him a second and a third. I'm beginning to get used to how much these guys eat. I wonder if Jacob struggles to work out, given how clumsy he is generally.
"High school seems pretty cool," I tell him.
"Well, it was a K to 12," he tells me. "It was small. You kind of know everyone."
"That's still people to know," I was only surrounded by four families growing up. There were 18 of us in total. That was my whole life before coming here. "I only knew like, two kids my age."
He pauses, and turns his head backwards. "What's taking them so long?"
As if on cue, Quil and Embry make their way downstairs. They are giggling to themselves.
"What's so funny?" Jacob asks.
"Nothing," they answer in unison. They each take a spot at the table.
"Were you eavesdropping?" Jacob demands, his voice raised.
"Chill," Quil says. "It's not like you have any proof."
"I don't need any proof to whoop you ass," Jacob says.
Quil laughs again. Embry stiffens, looking down at his plate with drooping eyes. What exactly were they listening for? Maybe Quil is trying to set us up because we both are disabled? I'd like to think better of him than that, but really, I don't know what to think.
I hear something buzzing over on the couch. I get up from my spot and stalk over, to notice that my phone is ringing. Leaning down, I pick it up.
"Hello?" I ask, my ear pressed tightly against the receiver.
"Hey, it's Alice!" her voice is very quiet on the other end.
"Can you speak up? It's hard to hear you," I point out.
Quil walks over to me. He takes the phone, presses a button, and then Alice's voice comes blaring out.
"Sorry," she sighs. "I forgot it might be hard for you to... I can get you a new phone. One that's more compatible with you!"
"One phone is fine enough, thanks," I reassure her. Quil goes to grab the phone again but I shoo him away.
"Are you interested in going shopping with me?" she asks. "I heard Sam and Emily's wedding is in, like, three weeks. Are you going?"
"Yes!" Embry shouts over.
"Oh," Alice says. "Am I on speaker?"
"Yes," I say, wincing. I don't want her to be mad at me.
"Hi everyone!" she shouts, and her voice becomes even louder. "Hope you're all doing well after the party."
Jacob clears his throat. "You know us, Alice. We're always on our worst behaviour."
"You guys are such dogs," Alice says. "Anyway, shopping? How does that sound? I can bring Rosalie and Bella too. It'll be fun. The closest place we can go is Port Angeles."
I guess, if I'm going to a wedding, I'm going to need a dress. Besides, I need to practice my people skills as much as possible. "I don't have any money."
"Alice will pay," Jacob says for her.
"Absolutely," Alice agrees. I wish I could see her expression and get a better sense of what she's thinking.
"Okay," I tell her.
"Great! Get Embry to meet us at the limits at 11 o'clock!" she says. "Bye, everyone."
"Bye!" a chorus of voices answer back. Even mine is amongst them. Then, I hang up.
I glance over at the clock. It's already 10 in the morning. Without bothering to finish my pancakes, I race up the stairs. From there, I commandeer the upstairs bathroom. I shower and blow-dry my hair. Then, I put on the nicest set of clothes that Emily bought me, and race back down the stairs.
When I'm down there, Jacob is gone, but Embry and Quil are cleaning up.
"So," Embry says, looking from Quil to me. "Jacob is planning on staying here now."
"We were thinking of putting Quil and me in the same room since there are enough beds for all four of us," Quil explains. "You'll take Embry's room. Is that cool with you?"
I nod, even though it makes me feel guilty, "I can just take the couch."
"How will your arm heal on the couch?" Quil shakes his head. "Trust, this is the best option."
"Oh, and while you were in the shower, I heard back from one of the restaurants," Embry says. "They want to interview you tomorrow. I gave them your cell number to call back at."
"Speaking of which," Quil makes his way over to the couch and grabs the flip phone. He scoops it up and begins typing in it. "Now, you'll have my number and Quil's too. In case you ever need to get a hold of anyone except Alice."
Are all people this kind?
"Okay," I say, taking the flip phone when he hands it to me. "Where did Jacob go?"
"He's just in his room," Embry says.
"Probably tinkering away," Quil shrugs his shoulders. "He likes cars and motorcycles. He's always riding them around."
"Well, was," Embry corrects, eyeing Quil.
"Right," Quil says, a bit too quickly.
Pocketing my flip phone, I help them put away the rest of the mess we've made from breakfast. In just a few short hours, they will be doing it all over again for lunch, and then dinner. I don't understand how they can cook so much food.
"It must have sucked to lose his sight," I tell them. "I wouldn't know what it's like. I've never been able to hear properly. Not that I remember anyway."
They don't answer me. I assume it's a topic that's off-limits, so I drop it. Still, I want to know more about Jacob. I'm drawn into him. Probably because he's the only other person with a disability that I've ever encountered. Probably because he seems kind to everyone but me. I'm learning more about myself the farther away I am from the people that brought me up. Like, I like a challenge.
"We should go cliff-diving," I say. "It sounds fun!"
"No!"
Quil and Embry speak at the same time.
I laugh, shaking my head at them both. "Come on. It'll be a good time."
"I don't think we can," he says, trailing off. "Jacob really doesn't want us to go."
"You should get going anyway," Quil says. "Time flies."
He grabs the keys to the car off a hook on the wall and throws them to Embry, who easily catches them. From there, I wave Quil goodbye, and we head off out of the house and into his car.
~~~~~
It's been a while, but I've just had my life so jam-packed full of things that I didn't notice, to be honest. Well, I'm happy to be back on the saddle. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Exciting things are to come!