Circus ▷ Jacob Black

SEVEN

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SEVEN; DESTINY LIES WITH YOU

JACOB WAS GROWING very worried about his imprint. Imogen had collapsed on the ground after discovering Jacob's transformation, and after he shifted back and rushed to her side, she was currently sitting still, blankly staring straight ahead.

"Imogen? Please, say something. The silence is killing me," he murmured, trying to balance the back of her head in his hands without scaring her.

She suddenly jolted at the contact and stood up, avoiding Jacob's hefty gaze. "Um, I have to go. My shift starts in a few, and I really cannot miss it," she stuttered out, struggling to pick up her bag off the floor.

Jacob frowned, rising to his feet. She still refused to look him in the eye. "Im, I know you're scared-"

"Scared?" She laughed drily. "No, no, why would I be scared? It's not like the guy I've been getting to know for these past few months suddenly just turned into this giant animal or anything. No! That would be crazy."

She continued to laugh in small intervals, causing him to become more and more worried by her state of mind. He placed his hands on her shoulders and lifted her chin up so that she could look at him. Her bottom lip was trembling and Jacob was unsure about what to do.

In her mind, Imogen couldn't stop thinking. She had been running through every memory she possessed with Jacob, trying to spot moments where she could have seen this coming.

Who was she kidding? What kind of person is supposed to predict that people transform into werewolves?

"Imogen, tell me what you're thinking. Let me help you understand," he whispered. He was surely doing insane things to her heart — it was beating faster than it ever has before.

"I really have to make my shift, Jake," she spoke softly, not taking her eyes away from his. He was pulling her into some kind of trance and she had no idea how to break his spell.

He frowned and dropped his hands back to his sides. "Alright. I hope to see you later, then?"

"Yeah, yeah," she nodded, but she could hear the hesitation in her voice.

After Jacob let her leave, Imogen was walking at a rapid pace to Mr. Wok's. It was a far walk, considering she wasn't willing to spend another second with Jacob by allowing him to drive her to work.

As she listened to her feet crunch the twigs laying on the forest ground, she was still trying to grasp the events of the day. She was unsure if she was ready to open the door to the supernatural. Her curiosity was surely swallowing her whole, but she couldn't afford to be entertained by such ideas. She was leaving for college soon, and Jacob just threw an obstacle in her plan.

She still had numerous questions looming in her mind — did Bella already know? Why did Jacob choose to tell her? Were all those boys from La Push wolves like Jacob?

She understood that obtaining the answers to these questions would be easier if she simply asked the source itself, but she couldn't find it in herself to face Jacob again. The thought of him being an enigma to her world, a fantasy that people write about was so frightening to her.