The next few days passed very quickly. To Jenna's relief, Edward and the rest of the Cullens weren't at school. Bella and Jenna spent all their time together and were quickly becoming very close. Once she got over her shyness, Bella turned out to be interesting and funny. She was especially good at sarcasm, Jenna noted with amusement.

Once the weekend arrived, Billy took Jacob and Jenna over to Sue Clearwater's house for dinner. Though it was cold, they ate dinner outside in the grass under the stars. It was very pleasant. While Jacob and Seth loudly discussed something about school, Jenna and Leah chatted about anything and everything.

Leah and Jenna had grown up together and were very close friends. Jenna noticed that Leah didn't seem as cheerful and easygoing as she used to be, no doubt a result of her break-up with Sam Uley a while ago. He had dumped her for her cousin, and got engaged only a few weeks later, something that Leah was still bitter about.

Pushing those sad thoughts out of her mind, Jenna leaned forward and enjoyed the warmth of the fire. She glanced at Jacob, who was arguing with both Clearwater children about music. When Jacob was little, he used to have a huge crush on Leah, and always looked up to her. Now, listening to their playful banter, she knew it was long gone.

Instead... Jenna's mind drifted to Bella and she couldn't help her grin. She'd seen Jacob's little blush during that dinner a few nights ago, and though she'd teased him mercilessly about it, she couldn't be more excited to see where their relationship would go.

On Monday morning, Jenna, Mike, and Bella stepped out of class to find little flurries of white drifting down from the sky.

"It's snowing?" Mike said in awe.

"It's snowing!" Jenna yelled excitedly.

"Its snowing." Bella said in disgust. The other two turned to look at her. "What?" She said defensively. "Snow just means it's too cold for rain." With that, she turned around and headed for her next class.

Mike was about to say something when a large squishy ball of white stuff whizzed past his shoulder and smacked Jenna right on the face.

She blinked, the icy slush dripping off cheek. On the path ahead of them stood Eric, a horrified look on his face.

"You're on!" Jenna boomed, spitting a ball of slush out of her mouth. Reaching down, she scooped up a pile of snow, packing it hard and tight. With precise aim, she threw it as hard as she could at Eric's retreating figure. It hit him so hard in the back of his head he tripped and went sprawling on the sidewalk.

Mike roared with laughter until Angela shoved a bucketful of snow down the back of his shirt.

The morning was filled with laughter and flying balls of mush. The small snowball fight just between her friends had turned into an all-out war, and almost everyone skipped class as they were too busy lobbing snow at others or hiding behind their forts.

One brave teacher had tried to come out and stop the commotion, but was quickly shut up when a stray snowball went flying into her face. Jenna laughed until her stomach hurt. The whole time, Bella was nowhere to be found.

Soon enough, all the snow had melted. Jenna stumbled into Spanish class, cheeks flushed and still grinning, when she suddenly stopped. The smile slipped from her face.

The Cullens were back.

Rosalie and Emmett were sitting in their seats. They'd obviously been playing in the snow, judging by Emmett's wet hair. As she watched, he shook himself like a dog, spraying droplets all over Rosalie. She yelped and swatted him on the arm while he roared with laughter.

Some of the uneasiness in Jenna eased. They were acting like normal people, having fun like a normal couple would. They didn't look like bloodsucking vampires.

Moonrise | Paul LahoteWhere stories live. Discover now