Blinded

Angela was finally graduating and not only was I going to the graduation ceremony, I was going to the party at the Cullens’ house. Everybody was excited about it because no one has ever been to the Cullen house - aside from Bella, of course.

I put a dress on and let Aunt Cara do my hair, which, according to her, looked good when she curled it and put it in a half ponytail. I was hopping in my seat on the way to the graduation not only because I was happy for my cousin, but I was excited to go to a party. Every time there was a party hosted by one of my fellow students at my school in Italy I was always stuck at home because Dad was out so much. On the night of one of those parties was actually the night that Dad performed his double homicide on our unsuspecting neighbors.

When we sat down I heard the familiar voice that belonged to none other than Jacob, and he was sitting next to Charlie, who was next to Uncle Steve, next to Cara, next to me. He was so far away but I heard his voice perfectly amongst the hum of other voices.

The graduation went by slowly but I was so proud of my cousin I didn’t care if the ceremony took so long. When they announced the graduating class I heard Jacob holler along with Charlie for a certain Bella Swan. I cheered for Angela even louder, which is weird because I usually tried to stay unnoticed.

We took pictures, gave our congratulations to Angela and her friends, and my aunt and uncle told Angela to make sure to get me home before it was too too late. They understood a party full of teenagers was going to last well into the night. I kissed them goodbye and hopped into my high school graduate cousin’s car.

“Whoa, Alice doesn‘t kid around,” Angela said in awe.

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously.

She explained to me about the lights hanging on the trees along the pathway up to the Cullen house. Then, when we arrived at the massive house with glass walls, strobe lights, different colored lights going on and off - mind you this is what she told me - she told me how inexplicably massive the house was. She said it was no wonder Bella loved Edward so much. She was kidding of course.

We walked in and the hum of voices mixed with music hit me. I could smell food, perfume, and seconds after a sweet, almost incense scent. It was a nice scent, and I’ve learned that it was a scent that belonged to Alice. She was a hugging type, and every time she hugged me I smelled that wonderful smell. I wanted to know what perfume she used.

“Glad you two could make it,” Alice said with a giggle that sounded like the melody of wind chimes. “Want refreshments? Food? We have plenty.” Before either Angela or I could answer she said, “Bella, Edward, and Jessica are over this way.”

She grabbed my hand and led me over to the three friends she mentioned and I heard a familiar voice somewhere in the crowd. It was drowned out by the sound of my nickname, called out by Mike Newton. His voice got closer as he greeted us and put his arm around me.

“You guys should dance,” he suggested. “Both Bella‘s should! Bella-palooza!”

“Dancing,” Bella commented, taking a breath in. “That‘s a bit dangerous for me.”

“Mike, do you not remember when she fell down a flight of stairs last spring?” Jessica pointed out. “Her? Dancing? She would literally bring the house down.”

The rest of us laughed, but it was missing the wind chime sound of Alice’s laugh and the soft ringing of Edward’s. I stopped laughing and excused it as a cough when I felt the slight tension emanating off of Bella and Edward.

After we mingled for a bit, I heard Bella walk off and go towards something that made the familiar sound I heard earlier. That husky voice of his was not hard to miss. Soon enough Edward and Alice stalked off too, after asking me about my violin playing, and it was just me sitting on the stairs, letting Angela have fun with her friends out on the dance floor. Dancing wasn’t my thing either. I prefer making the music rather than dancing to it.

“Do we have a loner here?” that deep-voiced friend of mine asked. “Why aren‘t you out there with your cousin shaking your tail feathers?”

“Because my tail feathers are damaged,” I answered. He chuckled. “What are you doing here?”

“I was invited by Bella,” he answered, coming up the stairs and taking a seat next to me. “And I don‘t know why I came.”

When he sat down I felt his closeness, my arm touching his shoulder and my leg touching his. The heat of his skin was expected, but still it always caught me off guard. I wanted to know why his skin was always so hot - why his and his little pack’s skin was so hot. When I met his friends I remember being surrounded by heat.

“Because you want to be with your best friend?” I asked, making suggestions even if his statement wasn’t meant to be answered.

“Yeah, I guess,” he answered. I felt his arm go around my shoulders. “I‘m with her right now.” I felt him become tense, his arm locking, and then he pulled it away quickly. “We are friends, right?”

“Jacob, really?” I laughed. “Yeah, we are. Sometimes I wonder, but yeah, we‘re friends.”

“Why would you wonder?” he asked. “I know I‘m complicated, but you have to take me as I am, bat attitude and all. I thought you knew we were friends. I sure considered us friends after I came over the first time.” I was just quiet and listening to him, like I am most of the time, but I think he took my silence as something else. “I know I‘ve been gone a lot and I haven‘t spoken to you much, but there‘s just . . . something that I have to fight off.” His voice got quieter and I wondered if I was meant to hear what he said next: “And I don‘t want you to get hurt in the process.”

I nodded to show I understood. We sat in silence for a little while only because I am not much of a talker at the best of times and I figured he was just figuring things out. His body still felt tense, and I just listened to his random sighs, constant shuffling, and soon I heard someone calling his name.

“I‘m coming,” he said, and I felt his body shift. “Mariabella, I‘m sorry. I‘ll make it up to you. It would definitely be easier if you came over to my side of the forest.”

“That sounds awkward and evil,” I stated. He chuckled. “You‘ll have to pick me up. It‘s not like I can walk through the forest to find your little spot.”

“Not like you haven‘t tried walking through the forest anyway,” he stated. “Idiot.” I scoffed. “It‘s true! Do you know how dangerous it is out there for just a regular human, let alone someone who . . .”

“Who‘s blind, yes,” I finished. “Still, I was curious.”

“That‘ll get you killed.” I didn’t know if that was him joking or being serious, but since I can tell the slightest change in tone so easily, I could hear more seriousness than kidding around in his statement.

“So you‘ll pick me up . . . tomorrow?” I suggested.

“Wednesday is better. I‘ll pick you up late because we‘re having another bonfire down at the beach,” he said. I cocked an eyebrow. “We as in me and my friends.” I nodded and grinned. “Excellent, see you then.”

He walked off then, and I hear an unfamiliar name mentioned, something about a red head and a woman named Victoria.