Enchanted

I nervously ate my food with Jacob next to me. I was tense the whole time and had to force myself to swallow. He wasn’t a monster but he was a wolf, and that was almost just as bad. But something made me want to give him a chance.

Jacob seemed too busy eating all my food to make conversation. As he ate I could still feel glances he took at me. I kept my eyes trained on the window that peered outside. It was a sunny day and looked nice outside but in La Push I bet that could change in an instant.

As Jacob finished the last of his food he looked at the clock. It read noon. He sighed loudly. “I have to get going in a bit. I don’t have time to take you back to Port Angeles right now.” A frown crossed my face. Was I going to get to go home at some point? “I can drop you off at Sam’s. You can talk with Emily,” Jacob tried to appease me. “I’m sure Seth would be there. You can hang out with him too, if you’d like.”

“Is it alright if I just stay here?” I asked. I stood up and began to pick up the dishes and put them in the sink. “I don’t want to be a burden on Emily. And this way I don’t have to go outside.”

“You don’t want to go outside?” asked Jacob bewildered. I shook my head no. I liked the outdoors but I didn’t trust them anymore. “Alright,” said Jacob slowly. It was obvious he was unsure about the idea.

“Have Seth come over and babysit me,” I offered. I was betting that was his problem. I cook too much, I mused as I continued to pile dishes in the sink.

“Good idea,” said Jacob looking a little relieved. He immediately moved off and I could hear him pick up the phone. I went still and listened intently into his conversation.

“Hey, Emily, is Seth there?” asked Jacob. “Is he the only one? Yeah, that’s fine.” There was a pause in the conversation as I was guessing Emily was transferring the phone. “Hey, can you do me a favor?” asked Jacob, his voice a bit on edge. “Can you watch Alyssa? Yes, right now, I have to patrol. Stop whining and get over here,” growled Jacob and slammed the phone down.

He turned to me but immediately made himself calm down at my slightly alarmed look. “I couldn’t get Seth,” he said apologetically. “Paul is coming over.”

“Paul?” I asked confused. I don’t remember Paul. Honestly, all I know is Jacob and Seth at this point.

“He’ll probably be a bit rough and insensitive but he means well and he’ll keep you safe.” ‘Safe from what?’ I wanted to ask. I kept my mouth shut though. Something told me I didn’t want to know. I already knew enough.

“I’ll see you later,” said Jacob with smile. I came up with a half smile in return and then Jacob was turning and going out the door. I turned on the faucet and began to run hot water into the sink. I plugged it and it slowly started to fill with water. Eventually steam began to rise from the water and I knew it was good. I rifled around for some dish soap and after searching for five minutes, finally found it.

I got my iPod out of my pocket and placed it on the counter. Turning the volume all the way up, I took out the headphones and let it play some music. For some reason, I hated sitting in silence. It bothered me and somehow it always made me a tad afraid.

As I was washing dishes I heard the front door open and close. I turned around to see Paul come into the kitchen. He didn’t look happy to be here. He stopped and leaned against the counter, not bothering to start conversation. A Taylor Swift song came on and he groaned loudly. “It’s bad enough I’m here to babysit,” he complained. “Now I have to listen to this!”

Frowning I dried my hands and then picked up my iPod. I looked through my long list of songs before settling on something I don’t think he’d hate. I looked up at him questioningly as the song started to play. “Not bad,” he admitted. Roman’s Revenge by Nicki Minaj began to fill the kitchen as I gently washed off the dishes.

As I finished washing the dishes I began to put them away. The song changed to Ni**as in Paris by Kanye West & JAY Z. “You just got more awesome,” said Paul smiling. I sent him a smug smile, glad that he liked my music. I was obsessed with it. I grabbed my iPod and turned it off once I was done with everything.

I passed by Paul into the living room and watched him warily out of the corner of my eye. “Boo,” he said sarcastically as he followed me into the living room. I turned around and glared at him harshly but he just rolled his eyes. I sat down on the couch and curled my feet up underneath me. He sat down on a chair next to the couch and reached for the TV remote.

He turned it on and the weather channel was still on. Paul flipped through the channels until he found some show he liked. We watched the TV silently until Paul muted it and looked at me in exasperation. “Why don’t you talk?” he asked.

“I talk,” I argued indignantly.

“I’m not going to bite you,” he reasoned. “These teeth are for something else,” he said grinning. Something told me I really didn’t want to know what that something else was. But I also had a feeling I’d know sooner or later.

“I don’t know that,” I argued. “You’re a wolf.”

“And you don’t even find that mildly cool?” I shook my head ‘no.’ I didn’t find being a wolf ‘cool.’ I found it terrifying.

“Why are you so scared of us?” he asked. This question wasn’t as insensitive as the others. He actually seemed curious and interested. I cocked my head to the side, debating if I should answer or not. “Come on, I want to know why I’m the big bad wolf.” I couldn’t help but laugh slightly at that.

“Alright, but only because you begged me to.”

“I did not!” he said resentfully although I ignored him.

“It’s because I have always had these dreams. I’ve had them for as long as I can remember. They’re nightmares really. They’re mostly about wolves or werewolves. I’ve had wolves chasing me in my sleep, eating me, eating my dog. They always want to kill me.” I shuddered slightly as I recalled the dreams. It always sent a chill down my spine and I didn’t feel safe.

“How many of these nightmares have you had?” he asked.

“Around twenty or so. Which I would imagine to be an unusually high number for one type of nightmare.” I fiddled with a loose string on the couch feeling slightly embarrassed at what I just told him.

“Don’t you think that’s a little ridiculous to be scared of them because of your dreams?” he asked. Yup, Jacob was right. He was rough and insensitive. But I could also tell he didn’t really mean it. It was just the way he was.

“How would you feel if you grew up knowing that something kept trying to kill you?” I countered. “And I was talking about twenty or so of different nightmares. Those same ones have often been repeated. And you may think it’s ridiculous but that’s how I feel.”

“I guess,” he relented. “It’s better than Jared’s fear of spiders. Nothing is pushing that. He’s just a baby.” Paul smiled and I shyly returned the smile. I still wasn’t fully accustomed to them. It usually took me awhile before I was comfortable with people. “What do you say we get out of this house?” offered Paul. “It’s boring.”

“And what would we do?” I asked.

“We can go to Sam’s. Emily should be making lunch soon.”

“Ah, the real reason,” I teased lightly. Paul glared at me playfully and I found myself giggling. It was weird to think that I could be okay enough to joke around with a wolf.

Paul got up and exited out the door into the warm air. It was definitely nicer than it had been before. I hesitatingly followed behind him. I quickly put on my shoes before I shut the door behind us and then lightly jogged up to him. I stopped moving once I saw where Paul was headed.

“Come on,” urged Paul. “It’s a short cut and if we took the roads it’d be twice as long.”

“I’d rather take the roads,” I said swallowing loudly. There was no way I would want to set foot in that forest with the giant wolves. No way.

“I’m the babysitter and that puts me in charge. Now come on. Don’t be a baby.”

“I am not a baby,” I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. “I just don’t want to go in the woods that houses big, scary wolves.”

“The only ones out there are Jacob and Quil. Trust me. Neither of them is going to hurt you.”

“There are bears,” I argued. I did not want to go in those woods at any cost.

“That’s why you have me, darling,” he said sending me a smirk. “Jacob would rip me to pieces if I let anything happen to you. You’re safe.”

“I don’t trust you.” I remained in the same spot and I could tell Paul was getting tired of this. He wanted to go and eat.

“Well you can trust that I’ll throw you over my shoulder and walk you through these woods. Or you can come willingly. Take your pick.”

I marched forward towards the woods, practically stomping my feet. “I hate you,” I said as I passed Paul and went into the woods. He simply laughed and followed along behind me.