Love Bites

I was outside under the plastic cover that Jake had placed over the two shiny working motorbikes; that’s right we finished them just last night. I was tying blue ribbon to the handlebars while Jacob was inside calling Bella; I heard Jacob walk outside and stand on the porch watching me, when I finished with the ribbon I jogged over to my brother. We were both smiling proudly but when we heard Bella’s truck coming our smiles grew; Bella was smiling widely when she walked up to us.

“Hey Bells” Jake and I said smiling at the same time.

“Hey guys” Bell giggled.

“Let’s go!” I exclaimed excitedly; I helped Jacob place the bikes in the back on Bells truck, when all quickly climbed in.

“I know that prefect stop; no one will find us there” Jacob said smiling from ear to ear. We were slowly driving south; the dirt road wove in and out of the trees so Bella was taking it slow because she didn’t know these roads like Jake or I. When we drove up to the cliffs where everyone cliff dives we saw four figures standing there; Jacob and I knew them instantly so we weren’t worried.

“No!” Bella shouted slamming her foot on to the brake which made me jerk forward; but Jacob quickly wrapped his arm around my chest out of instinct.

“What’s wrong?” Jacob shouted back at Bella in alarm; his arm was still securely wrapped around me.

“That guy… he just jumped off that cliff! Why didn’t they stop him? I’ve got to call an ambulance!” Bella shouted before throwing herself out of the car. The look on Bells face and the way she was so worried and worked up just made Jacob and I burst out laughing; it was hilarious watching her sometimes.

“Their just cliff diving, Bella” I said in between my giggles.

“Recreation; La Push doesn’t have a mall you know” Jacob finished my sentence and I heard the anger and irritation in his deep voice.

“Cliff diving” Bells repeated me amazed; I don’t blame her. The first time I saw someone cliff diving I reacted the same way; back then I couldn’t understand how anyone would want to jump off a cliff, but then I totally understood them when I did my first jump a few years ago.

“Wow. It’s so high; it must be a hundred feet” Bella said sliding back into her truck.

“Well yeah; most of us jump from lower down, that rock that juts out halfway down” I said pointing to the lower rock where Jacob always makes me jump from.

“Those guys are insane. Probably just showing off how tough they are. I mean, really, it’s freezing today; that water can’t feel that good” Jacob said making a disgusted face.

“You two jump off the cliff?” Bella asked wide eyed.

“Sure, sure” We said together.

“A bit scary” I said.

“But kind of a rush at the same time” Jacob finished my sentence.

“I want to try” Bella insisted starting to get out of her truck again.

“Not today; all right? Can we wait for a warmer day?” I asked grabbing her wrist so she didn’t move; was she crazy? She really wanted to cliff dive; I nearly had a heart attack when I first jumped.

“Fine but soon ok?” Bells replied looking over to us.

“Sure, sure we’ll jump soon” Jacob said a bit unsure.

“But not from the top cliff alright” I told Bella who signed.

“Sure not from the top for my first jump” She said watching the rest jump off.

“You’re so weird sometimes Bells” Jacob muttered quietly and I knew we were thinking the same thing. Cliff diving isn’t as easy as it seems; well your first jump isn’t as easy as it seems, it’s such a shock for your body. I had to build myself up for my first jump; I kept running to the edge but then stop right before I jumped because I just couldn’t do it, in the end I sucked it up and jumped, it was so scary not being on the safe ground but at the same time it felt amazing. It gets your heart and blood pumping; you feel free and it’s one of the best feeling ever!

With Jacob being so over protective of me I couldn’t jump from the top cliff because he didn’t want me too; so I asked Sam if he could go with me and of coarse he agreed. Jumping from the top cliff feels the same as the lower cliff but from the top the feelings last longer because it’s higher up; but you do have to be careful with the rips and the tide. Our parents are fine with it because they used to cliff dive too but we always have to have at least one other person with you; so it’s normally Jacob and I, sometimes Embry and Quil come along too.

“So are we going to try these bikes out now?” Jacob asked a bit impatient.

“Oh yeah” Bella said while she started to drive down the road again.

“So who were those guys; the crazy ones?” Bella asked.

“The La Push gang” Jacob grumbled.

“You have a gang?” Bella asked impressed.

“Not like that. I swear, they’re like hall monitors gone bad, they don’t start fights, and they keep the peace. There was this guy from up somewhere by the Makah rez, big guy too, scary looking. Well, word got around that he was selling meth to kids, and Sam Uley and his friends ran him off our land. They’re all about our land and tribe pride.” I explained sounding slightly proud.

“It’s getting ridiculous. The worst part is that the council takes them seriously. Embry said that the council actually meets with Sam; Embry also hear from Leah Clearwater that they call themselves ‘protectors’ or something like that” Jacob’s voice was full of disgust and resentment.

“You don’t like them then” Bella guessed quite easily because Jake’s hands were balled into fists.

“Does it show?” Jake asked sarcastically.

“I don’t” I whispered for only Bell to hear. Jacob and Bella kept talking about them; Jacob explained that they were always showing off, that one time we were at the shop and they showed up, Paul looked like he was going to fight us but Sam stopped him, about Sam staying in La Push when he should go to collage and no one caring about it. I decided to let Jacob do all the talking because I knew his strong dislike for Sam, Paul and Jared; I on the other hand don’t see anything wrong with them and Jacob hates that I like them.

“You missed the turn” I told Bella who did a u-turn.

“Thanks for the heads up” Bells muttered.

“Sorry I wasn’t paying attention” Jacob murmured as his reply.

“You can stop anywhere along here” I pointed out and Bella parked her truck. I helped Jacob get the bikes out of the truck; I knew Bella had hit a nerve when she was asking about Sam, I honestly didn’t blame Jacob for feeling the way his does about Sam, that’s way I don’t give him a hard time about it.

“Happy belated birthday! Are you ready for this?” Jacob smiled half-heartedly.

“I think so” Bella seemed unsure.

“We’ll take it slow” I promised. When Jake leaned the bikes against Bells truck and made sure everything was in the right places; she grabbed my arm so I wouldn’t go help my brother.

“What’s really brothering him? About the Sam thing, I mean? Is there something else?” Bella asked in a whisper; I quickly shot a glance over at my brother, I wasn’t sure if I should tell Bells or not.

“It’s just the way Sam treats Jacob; it creeps him out a bit. You know, the council is meant to be made up of equals; but if there’s a leader, it would be our Dad. We’ve never been able to figure out why people treat him the way they do. We think it has something to do with his father and his father’s father; our great-grandpa, Ephraim Black, was kind of our last chief that we had, and they still listen to Dad, so maybe that’s why. Nobody treated Jacob differently until now” I explained quietly to Bella.

“Sam treats him special?” She asked in surprise.

“Yeah; Jake says it’s like Sam’s waiting for something to happen to him, like Sam’s waiting for Jacob to join his gang” I whispered looking over at my brother.

“He doesn’t have to join!” Bella whispered harshly.

“No he knows that but it’s Embry; his been avoiding everyone lately. He missed a week of school; every time Jake, Quil and I went around to his house he hasn’t there, then when we did see him he looked terrified, but he wouldn’t talk to us, he wouldn’t tell us what’s wrong” I whispered looking back over to Bella.

“Then just this week; out of nowhere, he’s hanging around with Sam and the rest of them, he was on the cliffs today Bella. They bugged him even more then they bugged Jake. He didn’t want everything to do with them; but suddenly he’s following Sam around. It’s exactly what happened with Paul and Jared; it’s starting to freak Jake out a bit” I explained to Bells in a low whisper.

I was riding around on the black bike while Jacob taught and showed Bella all the different but important parts of the bike that she needed to know; when I pushed the bike to a speed that was fast but still controllable I was shocked when I heard the smooth, velvet, deep southern voice that I loved, it shocked me so much that I instantly staled the engine. I shook my head a few times to get away from his voice; I slammed my foot down onto the peddle making the engine roar to life again, I drove back the way I had come and stopped right near Bella and Jacob.

We both watched as Bella speed past us; Jacob hopped onto the back of our bike just incase Bella needed our help. I started to drive slowly forward when we were losing sight of Bells; but then I sped up faster when she came off her bike and into the trees. Jake jumped off when we got closer; so I skidded to a stop which was easier without Jacob on the bike because I had to tilt the bike onto its side to stop.

“Bella! Are you alright?” I asked panicking; she was bleeding from a huge gash on her head. Jacob took our bike back to get her truck; I helped Bella into her truck while Jacob placed her bike in the back. We sped home and dropped the bikes off; then we when to Bella’s place so she could change and clean herself up, I helped her with that and then we were at the hospital. Bella made up a story about her tripping in our garage and hitting her head on a hammer; I was just glad that she was going to be alright.