CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
"I still can't believe that you got me in trouble with Henry." Jay says as she and Bella make their way over to their table in the school cafeteria.
"Me?" The older girl questions. "I can't believe you got me in trouble with Henry."
"You're the one who crashed the damn bike." She argues. "Now, he says that I'm not allowed on mine until I'm old enough to get a motorcycle license."
"You mean the old family friend that you're living with is forcing you to obey the law?" She says sarcastically. "The audacity."
"Okay, you know what? You can be replaced." Jay says, and Bella chuckles as they both sit down with their friends.
"I did see something in the woods." Angela's arguing with the others.
"Totally. Baby, I believe you." Eric says, holding her hand.
"No, he doesn't." Jessica shakes her head. "He's just trying to get lucky." She says, and he laughs as he looks at her.
"No, okay. It was jet black and huge." The raven-haired girl insists. "On all fours, it was still taller than a person... A bear, maybe?"
"Or an alien." Mike interjects. "You're lucky you didn't get probed."
"Hey!" Jay throws a grape at him. "We only talk about aliens if it's Stitch...or E.T."
"Actually, you're not the only one who's seen something in the woods." Bella says, and everyone then looks at her. "My dad's been getting reports at the station. Like, five hikers have been killed by some bear, but they can't find the bear." She tells them, and Angela turns to glare at her boyfriend.
"Bad Yogi." The youngest mutters as she throws a grape up into the air and catches it in her mouth.
"Last time you clowns doubt my girlfriend." Eric says, shooting a pointed look at Mike.
"Ooh." Jay chuckles. "Jess was right. Someone is angling to get laid."
"So crude." Mike shakes his head at her, and she smirks. "And so tiny. It's not right."
"It's fun." She counters. "Keeps me entertained."
"Hey, speaking of entertainment..." Bella gets her attention, and the younger girl looks at her as she pops another grape into her mouth. "We're still going tonight, right?"
"That depends. Can you behave yourself?" Jay asks, and she smirks.
"Yes."
"Okay, but Kim refuses to watch another horror film. I promised we'd go with action this time."
"Rambo?" Bella asks, and she nods. "Cool. We should get a bunch of people to go. Do you guys wanna go see Rambo with us tonight?" She asks the others, and Eric's immediately excited about the new plans.
"You'll call Jake?" Jay asks, and the older girl nods.
"Is Jared coming?" She asks.
"Hm-m." Jay shakes her head. "He, Paul, and Embry are doing something with Sam. I guess those four are becoming quite inseparable." She tells her.
"Wait..." Jess then gets her attention. "Isn't Paul the guy from the diner that you were flirting with, and then at the beach? And aren't you dating Embry now?" She asks.
"Yes, and no." She says. "He broke up with me."
"And now they're hanging out together?" She asks, and Jay nods.
"Mhm."
"Their loss." Mike says, seeing that she's trying not to seem upset by the situation, and Jay offers him a small smile. "You can do better, you're only fifteen." He tells her.
"Thanks." Her smile widens, and he nods.
That night, a bunch of them are at the theater in Port Angeles, and Jay's leading the way to get snacks with Kim and Jessica following right behind her. Jess had to buy the younger girls' tickets because the film's rated R, and she thinks that watching them run around now is hilarious.
"Where's Angela?" Jay asks as she turns to look at Jess.
"She got the stomach flu, so Eric stayed back to take care of her." She tells them.
"How adorable." Kim hums.
"And disgusting." Jay mutters, making the others laugh. Then she goes up to buy their candy, drinks, and popcorn for the movie.
The six of them make it into the theater and see that it's already pretty packed. "There's three there, and three over there." Jake points out the seats.
"I wanna sit higher up." Jess pulls Jay with her, and the younger girl then quickly reaches out to grab Kim's hand.
"And we've been abandoned." Bella chuckles as she watches them make their way up the steps to the first three seats that Jake pointed out.
"Later, Bell!" Jay calls over her shoulder.
About an hour into the movie, during one of the action scenes, Jess points out a guy that just stood up and bolted for the door. "Hey, is that Mike?" She asks.
"There's Jake and Bella." Kim says when she sees them trailing after him. "Should we go see what's going on?" She asks, and Jay sighs.
"Fine." The youngest begrudgingly gets up and the other girls chuckle as they follow after her.
The three of them see Jake and Bella talking, but there's no sign of Mike. Rather than going over to their friends, they start messing around in the otherwise empty lobby. Kim and Jess start throwing their popcorn back and forth, trying to catch it in their mouths, and Jay's cheering them on. She starts doing a victory dance, and they both shake their heads as they look at her.
"She seems to be in a better mood right now than usual." Jess says.
"Yeah, 'cause she's all hopped up on sugar and caffeine." Kim tells her, and they both start laughing.
Jay points out when she sees Mike walk out of the men's bathroom, and the older two girls start in his direction. The youngest hangs back for a second, and then runs over and jumps on Kim's back. She lets out a scream as they both fall to the carpeted floor. The three girls are all laughing until they hear what's going on between Jacob and Mike.
"What is your problem?" The latter questions.
"Right now? You're my problem. Feelin' sick? Maybe you need to go to the hospital. You want me to put you in the hospital?" Jake asks as he stands up from the steps that he and Bella have been sitting on.
Kim gets up, watching them closely as Mike jumps back, and Bella quickly grabs Jake's arm to stop him from hitting Mike. She's trying to calm him down as Jay then gets to her feet. The youngest has absolutely no idea what's going on, but she can tell that it doesn't seem...normal.
"Jacob, you're really hot." Bella says suddenly as she looks down at their hands. "Like, you feel like you have a fever. Are you okay?" She asks as she looks up at his face.
"I don't know what's happening." Jake says as he starts breathing heavier. "I gotta go." And then he just walks away from them, leaving the theater.
"Wasn't he your ride?" Jess asks, and the youngest nods. "I can take you guys home." She says, and Jay looks over at her.
—
A few days later, Jess pulls her car up outside of Jay's, and they see Paul standing outside on the porch. The older girl smiles as she looks at her friend. "I cannot get over how hot he is." She says, and Jay rolls her dark eyes.
"Okay, thank you, go in the house." She says as they climb out of the car. "Jared's not here, he and Kim have a date tonight." The little brunette tells Paul.
"I know. I came to see you." He says, and Jess smiles as she turns to look at her.
"Get in the house." She pushes her, and Paul smirks as he glances between the two girls. "What do you want?" The younger girl asks after the door closes behind her friend.
"Honestly? I just wanted to see you." Paul tells her. "It's been driving me crazy, but I can't get you out of my head."
"Well, that's unfortunate for you. 'Cause I've barely given you any thought." She starts for the door, and he reaches out and grabs her hand.
"I don't believe that." He says as she stops walking. "Jared told me that you'd been wanting to thank me for the stuffed animal."
"That was almost two weeks ago." She turns to look at him. "What's going on with Jake?"
He hesitates for a second, surprised by the sudden shift in conversation. "I don't know what you're talking about." He says, and she nods.
"Tell me, do you think I'm stupid? Or just clueless?" Jay questions, and he just looks at her. "I try to ignore it, telling myself that whatever you and Jared have had going on since before I got here was none of my business, but now it's affecting my life.
"I mean, the unexplained disappearances where you're gone for days or weeks at a time. You talk about not wanting to feel what you feel for me, and Kim said something about her and her imprinter, and how someday I'd understand. Granted, she was drunk, but still..." She looks at him as he grinds his teeth. "Then you tell me that I should be with Embry, and you should stay away. So, you disappear, again, and then so does he. And then he finally shows up, only to break up with me.
"And he's talking about how he's sorry that he isn't the one who can give me the answers that I deserve. And he showed up with a haircut and a new tattoo — which is strange enough as it is, but then I talked to Bella earlier, and she told me that she went to see Jake at his house. And he got a haircut and a new tattoo — the same tattoo as you."
"It's a part of our tribe." He says, and she nods.
"Yeah, I know. That's not the point." She shakes her head. "Embry called you and your friends hall monitors on steroids, and Jake called you guys a cult. Now they're both suddenly hanging around with you, and you all...
"You're all sixteen or seventeen, and you all look like you're in your twenties. Your skin is hot to the touch, and you're never cold. I mean, it's late on a February night in Washington, and you're only wearing shorts. You don't even have shoes on.
"The entire reservation keeps calling you guys a cult...and what the hell am I supposed to believe? It's not like you tell me anything when you do bother to show up, and Embry won't talk to me anymore."
"We're not a cult." Paul says.
"And why do I believe you? Honestly, why?" Jay questions. "You've never given me any reason to believe a single thing that you say. You told me that I was wrong to think that you don't care about me, and that I'm wrong to think that you and I aren't friends without Jared and Kim, but if this is how you treat the people that you care about..." She scoffs. "Who needs enemies when they have friends like you?"
"Jay..." He takes a step forward when she turns for the house again, neither of them paying any mind to the car that's pulling up outside the house.
"I told you... When we were working on that Shakespeare stuff, I told you that honesty was important to me." She looks back at him. "I think the most honest thing that you've ever said to me was that you don't want to care about me. Well, if that's the case, Paul, then just leave me the hell alone. 'Cause I am so tired of getting hurt."
"I'm not trying to hurt you."
"Every time you come back, and we spend time around each other...I start to care more and more about you, and then it hurts that much more when you just disappear without a word, like it's so easy for you to walk away." Jay shakes her head. "I've already done this before — dating the older guy with a complicated family, and raging anger issues. It didn't exactly go well for me then, and I can't do it now." She tells him.
"I wasn't really that bad, was I?" A male voice gets their attention, and they both turn to see Tyler leaning against the car that pulled up before.
"You were a dick, and you know it." She says, and he nods. "What are you doing here, Ty?"
"I needed to get out of Mystic Falls, thought I'd come see my favorite person." He says, and she smiles as she looks at him. "Now's not a bad time, is it?"
"No. No, not at all. Paul was just leaving, and I should probably go talk to Jessica." She says, and the Quileute boy grinds his teeth as he glares at Tyler. "Just give me a few minutes, and then we can go for dinner so that we can talk."
"Sounds like a plan." Tyler nods.