When we got back to First Beach, the group we"d left behind had multiplied. As we got closer we could see the shining, straight black hair and copper skin of the newcomers, teenagers from the reservation come to socialize.The food was already being pa.s.sed around, and the boys hurried to claim a share while Eric introduced us as we each entered the driftwood circle. Angela and I were the last to arrive, and, as Eric said our names, I noticed a younger boy sitting on the stones near the fire glance up at me in interest. I sat down next to Angela, and Mike brought us sandwiches and an array of sodas to choose from, while a boy who looked to be the oldest of the visitors rattled off the names of the seven others with him. All I caught was that one of the girls was also named Jessica, and the boy who noticed me was Jacob Black. he was a scrawny little s.h.i.t nothing like the six foot nine in the stories yet. It was relaxing to sit with Angela; she was a restful kind of person to be around - she didn"t feel the need to fill every silence with chatter. She left me free to think undisturbed while we ate. And I was thinking about how disjointedly time seemed to flow in Forks, pa.s.sing in a blur at times, with single images standing out more clearly than others.
During lunch the clouds started to advance, slinking across the blue sky, darting in front of the sun momentarily, casting long shadows across the beach, and blackening the waves.
As they finished eating, people started to drift away in twos and threes. Some walked down to the edge of the waves, trying to skip rocks across the choppy surface. Others were gathering a second expedition to the tide pools. Mike - with Jessica shadowing him - headed up to the one shop in the village. Some of the local kids went with them; others went along on the hike. By the time they all had scattered, I was sitting alone on my driftwood log, with Lauren and Tyler occupying themselves by the CD player someone had thought to bring, and three teenagers from the reservation perched around the circle, including Jacob and the oldest boy who had acted as spokesperson.
A few minutes after Angela left with the hikers, Jacob sauntered over to take her place by my side. He looked fourteen, maybe fifteen, and had long, glossy black hair pulled back with a rubber band at the nape of his neck.
"I"m Jacob Black." He held his hand out in a friendly gesture. "You bought my dad"s truck."
"Oh," I said, shaking his 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.
"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 relived 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.
"I don"t think a tank could take out that old monster," he agreed with another laugh.
"So you build cars?" I asked, impressed I can barely get the hood open on a car let alone anything else. Now if you hand me a computer I"m good to go.
"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.
"I have no idea what that even is." I laughed
"You know Ryan, Jacob?" Lauren asked - in what I imagined was an insolent tone - from across the fire.
"We"ve sort of known each other since I was born," he laughed.
"How nice." She didn"t sound like she thought it was nice at all, and her pale, fishy eyes narrowed.
she called again, watching my face carefully, "I was just saying to Tyler that it was too bad none of the Cullens could come out today. Didn"t anyone think to invite them?" Her expression of concern was unconvincing. s.h.i.t stirring b.i.t.c.h.
"You mean Dr. Carlisle Cullen"s family?" the tall, older boy asked before I could respond, much to Lauren"s irritation. He was really closer to a man than a boy, and his voice was very deep.
"Yes, do you know them?" she asked condescendingly, turning halfway toward him.
"The Cullens don"t come here," he said in a tone that closed the subject, ignoring her question.
Tyler, trying to win back her attention, asked Lauren"s opinion on a CD he held. She was distracted.
I remember something about borders for the wolves and the Cullens and some bulls.h.i.t treaties of old.
Me and Jacob had a nice little chat about everything he let slip a lot of information about old legends and such like werewolves and vampires. He really just s.h.i.t all over any kind of secret almost as bad as Hagrid but if anyone asks how I know things I"ll blame him.
anyway after a fun day at the beach and him promising to hang out some time atnnd play games I had mentioned we left the beach it looked like it was going to rain anyway.