Midnight Sun (Twilight #1.5)(106)

Now she's laughing at me. Great.

Mike turned, thoughts sullen, and wandered off to change.

I leaned against the gym wall and tried to compose myself.

How could she have laughed at Mike's accusation - so entirely on target that I began to worry that Forks was becoming too aware... Why would she laugh at the suggestion that I could kill her, when she knew that it was entirely true? Where was the humor in that?

What was wrong with her?

"Nothing's wrong with me," Bella huffed.

"I beg to differ," Jacob chuckled, though he was giving her an odd look, too.

Did she have morbid sense of humor? That didn't fit with my idea of her character, but how could I be sure? Or maybe my daydream of the giddy angel was true in the one respect, in that she had no sense of fear at all. Brave - that was one word for it.

"I'm not brave," Bella mumbled.

Others might say stupid,

"So I guess you're stupid then," Jacob chuckled and Bella glared at him.

but I knew how bright she was. No matter what the reason, though, this lack of fear or twisted sense of humor wasn't good for her. Was it this strange lack that put her in danger so constantly? Maybe she would always need me here...

Just like that, my mood was soaring.

If I could just discipline myself, make myself safe, then perhaps it would be right for me to stay with her.

When she walked through the gym doors, her shoulders were stiff and her lower lip was between her teeth again - a sign of anxiety. But as soon as her eyes met mine, her rigid shoulders relaxed and a wide smile spread across her face. It was an oddly peaceful expression. She walked right to my side without hesitation, only stopping when she was so close that her body heat crashed over me like a tidal wave.

"Hi," she whispered.

The happiness I felt in this moment was, again, without precedent.

"Hello," I said, and then - because with my mood suddenly so light I couldn't resist teasing her - I added, "How was gym?"

"Argh... did he have to mention that?" Bella groaned.

"Yep," Jacob chuckled. "Besides, isn't it better that you know he's watching you... not as creepy that way at least."

"Whatever," Bella shrugged.

Her smile wavered. "Fine."

She was a poor liar.

"True," Jacob and Bella both said.

"Really?" I asked, about to press the issue - I was still concerned about her head; was she in pain? - but then Mike Newton's thoughts we so loud they broke my concentration.

I hate him. I wish he would die. I hope he drives that shiny car right off a cliff. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? Stick to his own kind - to the freaks.

"What does he mean, his own kind?" Jacob asked. "He doesn't know that Edward is a vampire."

"I suppose he means rich?" Bella said slowly, not sure of the answer herself. "That or he instinctively knows that Edward is different."

"What?" Bella demanded.

My eyes refocused on her face. She looked at Mike's retreating back, and then at me again.

"Newton's getting on my nerves," I admitted.

Her mouth fell open, and her smile disappeared. She must have forgotten that I'd had the power to watch through her calamitous last hour, or hoped that I hadn't utilized it.

"More likely the latter," Bella said, after all he had demonstrated that gift quite well during their last few encounters.

"You weren't listening again?"

"How's your head?"

"You're unbelievable!" she said through her teeth, and then she turned away from me and stalked furiously toward the parking lot. Her skin flushed dark red - she was embarrassed.

"You got that right," Jacob said.

"Well, no one asked him to watch me in Gym," Bella grumbled, her clumsiness was always a sore spot for her.

I kept pace with her, hoping that her anger would pass soon. She was usually quick to forgive me.

"You were the one who mentioned how I'd never seen you in Gym," I explained. "It made me curious."

She didn't answer; her eyebrows pulled together.

She came to a sudden halt in the parking lot when she realized that the way to my car was blocked by a crowd of male students.

I wonder how fast they've gone in this thing...

Look at the SMG shift paddles. I've never seen those outside of a magazine...

Nice side grills...

Sure wish I had sixty thousand dollars laying around...

"Um... Jacob do you want me to leave," Bella chuckled as Jacob was practically drooling at the description of the car.

"No, but I want you to get me into the Cullen garage sometime in the future," Jacob said.

"You do realize that's Rosalie's car..." Bella said smirking.

"Argh," Jacob groaned. "Why did you have to remind me of that?"

This was exactly why it was better for Rosalie to only use her car out of town.

I wound through the throng of lustful boys to my car; after a second of hesitation, Bella followed suit.

"Ostentatious," I muttered as she climbed in.

"What kind of car is that?" she wondered.

"An M3."

She frowned. "I don't speak Car and Driver."