Juliet Swan in Twilight | A Jacob Black Love Story

Chapter Nine: December

          December left me extremely bored. The Cullens caught wind of the library needing renovations and he graciously donated enough money for the library to be fixed. However, it left me without a job and I spent my time exploring Forks on my own. There were some hikes I looked forward to exploring when it was warmer and I kept mostly to myself in my room where it was warm. On the first Saturday of December, Billy and Jacob stopped by as usual and Jacob and I hung out in my room. I was admiring his facial features and long dark hair. He and I were talking about winter on the reservation and he wasn't going to be coming over anymore because he and Billy had other responsibilities to tend to. He and I were both disappointed but he hung something over my desk.

          "It's an early Christmas present. I don't know when your birthday is but I hope you like this. Made it myself," he said bashfully.

          It was a beautiful black and blue dreamcatcher. There were some dried flowers that hung at the end of the white rope. One of them caught my eye.

          "It's beautiful, Jacob. Thank you. Is that-" I asked as I touched the mistletoe.

          "Y-Yeah," he said, blushing.

          I went through my desk drawer and pulled out some brown paper wrapped jars in a cloth bag, "I-I, uh, I made a few calls and I got these for you and Billy. It's a specialty set of jams and jellies from Hawai'i."

          He accepted the bag and shuffled a bit, "Wow! Thanks, Julie."

          I blushed and sheepishly kissed his cheek, "U-Um, merry Christmas, Jacob."

           He was red and bent over to kiss my cheek warmly, "Merry Christmas, Juliet."

          I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest and he shyly left my room. I touched my cheek where he kissed me and I was so happy. This has to mean he likes me. I hope so. I really do like him. I admired his gift and went downstairs when they had to leave. I didn't know when I would see him again, but I hoped it would be soon. During winter break, I experienced my first snow and I spent most of my time alone until Dad came home from work. I spent a lot of time perfecting my snow angels and snowmen. Making snowballs was a lot more difficult than I anticipated but I got to work as a babysitter for the kids on my street. It gave me some extra spending money and I got a lot of mail from family and friends for Christmas. Most of what I sent them were things unique to Washington.

          One day, I was in Forks, completely bundled up, when I walked into Edward. It was different seeing him outside of school and he seemed just as surprised to see me.

           "Juliet," he said softly, "I'm sorry. Are you injured?"

          I laughed, my breath visible in the frigid air, "I should be asking you. I did walk into you. I'm sorry about that. Aren't you cold?"

          He was only wearing a jacket and looked at the falling snow, "I'm used to the cold. There's no harm done here. Merry Christmas and I hope good things come in the New Year."

          "You, too. See you at school," I said sheepishly and shuffled into a warm bookstore, running from the falling snow.

          I went through the bookstore for cookbooks and hoped I wasn't too rude to Edward. It makes sense if he's used to the cold since his family did live in Alaska. I was looking forward to the New Year. Oddly enough, school resumed not long after New Years and the snow was melting earlier than usual. I didn't mind, but it did cause more black ice on the roads.