Breaking Dawn

Chapter 16: Saturday, August 19th

I wake up to my bedroom empty of Jake. He must have gone back to the reservation. I sit up and find an extra blanket over me. Thanks, Jake, I think to myself.
I swing my feet to the side of my bed, thinking about yesterday. What happens with Charlie and my mom now? They surely would notice that I've stopped aging, maybe not for a while but they would eventually. Could I wait to tell them for ten years, would that be too noticeable?
I rub my eyes as I walk towards the stairs, almost falling down them. I catch myself on the rail, luckily quietly, and make my way downstairs.
"Morning Bells," my dad says, watching tv on his favorite flat screen. He has his uniform on, which is weird for a Saturday.
"Good morning," I mumble. "What's with the uniform?"
"Just had to go check out something early this morning, no big deal."
"Oh," I say quietly. "What do you want for breakfast?"
"I was thinking you and I could go out to eat," he says. "Just down to the diner."
I nod. "Yeah, sure." I didn't have any plans today anyhow, and I could afford to spend time with Charlie.
"Also," he stands up, turning the tv off, "I was thinking you and I could go fishing today."
I watch his expression carefully, trying to see if he is joking. "I don't think giving me a hook is the best idea..."
"You'll do fine, I used to bring you fishing all the time when you were smaller."
It's true, I loved fishing with him when I was a kid. I knew how to put a worm on and take fish off, but surely I'd forgotten by now. "I don't have a fishing pole or my fishing license."
He reaches into his back pocket, then hands me two things. One is my driver's license, the other is... my, fishing license? "Hope you don't mind, I borrowed your driver's license so I could buy you your fishing license," he says calmly.
"But I still don't have a pole," I remind him.
"I have an extra," he smiles. I fake a smile back. There is no way I can tell him that I actually don't want to go fishing, he already bought me my license and has it all planned out.
"So when are we going?" I ask. "I need to shower, but I'll be ready after that."
"As soon as you're ready, I just gotta change out of my uniform."
I nod. "Um... okay," and I walk away.

My shower isn't peaceful, it's full of thoughts such as what if I hook myself? What if I hook Charlie? What if the boat tips?
I am a bad luck magnet, as Edward says. I sigh. Oh, Edward, he must be so upset about everything.

I put on a sweatshirt and rainboots, expecting that I will get cold and wet. My dad walks over as I'm putting on my boots. "Jacob's going with us," he says.
I look up at him. "What?"
"Jacob is going wi-" he starts to repeat.
"I got that," I cut him off. "Did you invite him?"
"Uh, sort of," he rubs his neck. "He called the house and wanted to talk to you, and I told him you were getting ready to go fishing, and that he could come along if he'd like."
I sigh. I get a nervous knot in my stomach. Edward, I think, he's going to be upset.
Charlie has always enjoyed when I spend time with Jake because it means I'm not spending time with Edward. Plus, he is friends with Billy, so he thinks especially highly of Jake.
"Alright," I say. It's not worth fighting against, I don't want to upset Charlie or Jake.

I end up in the back seat, Jake and Charlie in the front. They are chatting away about their new fishing poles, and what they plan on catching. I try to keep up, but it's all nonsense to me.
When we arrive, Jacob effortlessly gets the tiny boat in the water, holding it steady so I can climb in.
"See," Charlie says as we set out on the water, "it's not that bad."
Jake and Charlie cast out almost nonstop, catching pike, bass, and pickerel. I catch nothing, to my content.
"You gotta jig it," Jake says.
"I have to what?" I ask.
"Jig it, kinda tug on it," he shows me what he means.
I do as he says, but not nearly as well as he does it.
"It's all in the wrist, look," he does the slightest snapping movement with his wrist to flick the fishing pole upwards. "Might catch more if we were fly fishing, but that would definitely confuse you."
Charlie chuckles. "Bells fly fishing? I'd pay you to see that."

The day goes on, and I manage to only catch one fish. They say it's a rainbow trout, but that means nothing to me. I didn't even want to touch it.
As we come into shore, I accidentally put a hook in my finger.
"Ouch!" I exclaim.
"Bella, leave it in, I'll take it out once we're on shore," Jake says, examining my finger. He cuts the line so I'm not attached to the fishing rod anymore.
I get out of the boat and wait by the truck. My finger is bleeding, making me nauseous and light headed. I sit on the ground, closing my eyes.
"You okay Bella?" Jake asks.
"Yeah, fine," I lie to hide the embarrassment.
"You don't look so good, are you sure everything is okay?"
"I just don't like blood," I tell him.
I hear him let out a small laugh. I look at him, with anger slowly filling me.
"Bella, it's not that much blood," he says.
"I know, I'm just not that good with blood." I close my eyes again. "It smells bad."
"Blood doesn't have a smell, Bella," he laughs.
"Yes it does, it smells like rust."
He grabs my hand and pulls the hook out almost instantly. I let out a small noise of pain, and bite my lip.
"Thanks for the warning," I wince.
"It's the anticipation that's the worst, now put this on it," Jake rips off a small piece of his shirt and hands it to me.
I tie it around my finger loosely, because tying it too tight will surely hurt it more.
"You caught two things today," Jake says. "One of them being yourself."
"Ha ha," I say sarcastically, "go help Charlie with the boat."
He does as I said, and I climb into the car. I need to go see Edward, I feel bad for spending the day with Jacob.
"So how about lunch?" My dad asks, sitting in the driver's seat.
"Um, well I was going to go eat with Edward," I sat quietly.
I hear Jake snort from the back. I turn around and glare at him. I know what he's thinking, Edward doesn't eat food, he drinks blood.
"Oh," Charlie grumbles.
"Actually," I say, trying to not hurt Charlie's feelings, "I can eat with you." I fake a smile.
If Edward was envious of Jacob before, I can't even imagine how he feels now.