flightless bird

Chapter 5

Bella and I walked into the cafeteria for lunch the next day and placed our stuff at the table with my friends. "Hey! La Push baby! You in?" Eric asked. "What the hell is La Push?" I asked. "La Push beach down at the Quileute rez. We're all going tomorrow" Mike explained and I nodded. "Yeah there's a big swell coming in" said Jess.

"And I don't just surf the internet" said Eric as he stood up on the seat. "Eric, you stood up once and it was a foam board" Jessica said and I giggled. "But there's whale watching too. You two should come with us" said Angela. "La Push baby. It's La Push" Eric said, and I laughed once more. "Ok. I'll go if you stop saying it like that" I said before walking over to the food.

I walked to the salad bar and grabbed a tray before putting stuff in my bowl. "Hello" someone said causing me to jump and drop my bowl. I turned to see Edward catch my bowl effortlessly before handing it back to me. "Serena" he said. "Thanks. You know your mood swings are giving me crazy whiplash" I replied as I walked to the other side and added some more food.

"I only said it would be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be" Edward said as he stepped closer to me and his scent filled my nose. He smelled so nice and fresh. Unlike the other guys who smelled like they washed their clothing in bad cologne. "What does that even mean Edward?" I questioned. "It means if you were smart, you'd stay away from me" Edward replied.

"Well, let's say for arguments sake that I'm not smart. Would you tell me the truth?" I asked in reference to the van incident. "No probably not. But I'd like to hear your theories" said Edward and I huffed. "Well, I've considered radioactive spider bites or kryptonite or that you take some kind of steroid that doesn't give you muscles like Popeye or that you were shipped here from some other galaxy in a space shuttle" I said sarcastically.

"That's all superhero stuff right? What if I'm not the hero, what if I'm the bad guy" Edward replied. "You're not though. You just try to portray that you are to push me away. I want to be your friend Edward. When you're like this, you're pleasant to be around and I enjoy talking to you because you're one of the few people in this place I can have an intelligent conversation with but then you switch to this jerk and it repels me. I don't-I don't get it" I said as I looked up at him.

"I'm sorry. If you would allow me, I would like to start over" said Edward. I looked down at the ground for a moment before looking back up at him. "Ok. Well umm a few of us are going to the beach tomorrow. You should come" I offered. "Which beach?" Edward asked. "La Push on the Quileute Rez" I replied and watched as Edwards eyebrows furrowed together.

"Mmm I don't know" He said as he placed his arm on the glass over the salad bar. "Is there something wrong? There won't be many of us. Just Mike, Jess, Angela, Bella, Eric and Tyler" I asked, confused. Edward turned, looking back at my table of friends before looking back at me. "It's just a little crowded" Edward replied. "Maybe next time" I said before walking back to my table.

The next day, I was sat curled up in Tyler's van with a blanket wrapped around me as I say next to Bella. "It's freezing" said Mike as he zipped up his wetsuit. "I'm paddling out Coates" said Tyler before he ran down to the water. "I don't know if it's worth it anymore" Eric said nervously. "We drove all the way out here. I'm at least paddling out" Jess replied as she zipped up her wetsuit too.

"So I keep thinking that Eric is going to ask me to the prom and then he just doesn't" said Angela and I turned looking at her. "You should ask him. Take the reigns" I said as I looked at her. "Yeah I agree with Serena. Take control. You're a strong independent woman" said Bella. "I am?" Angela asked. "Yes" Bella and I said at the same time.

"Hey will you do me up?" Jess asked as she stood in front of Angela. "Bella!" A guy with long black hair said as he walked over with two other guys. "Hi Jacob. Guys this is Jacob" said Bella as she looked at the three of us. "Hey guys how you doing?" said 'Jacob' as he looked at all of us. I shuffled over as Jacob sat beside Bella.

"Uh Jake this is Serena, Serena this is my childhood friend Jacob" said Bella. "Hi nice to meet you" I said as I shook his hand. "What are you like stalking me?" Bella joked. "Hey you're on my Rez remember? Are you surfing?" Jacob shot back and I giggled. "Definitely not" Bella stammered. "You guys should keep Bella and Serena company. Their dates bailed" Jessica said.

"What dates?!" Eric exclaimed with wide eyes. "They invited Christopher and Edward" Jessica said with a laugh. "I was just trying to be nice that's all" I said as I wrapped the blanket around me tighter. "I think it's nice that they invited them. Nobody ever does" said Angela. "Yeah cause the Cullen's are freaks" Mike snorted and I rolled my eyes at him.

"You got that right" said one of Jake's friends. "You guys know them?" Bella asked. "The Cullen's don't come here" said one of Jake's friends and I scrunched my eyebrows as I looked at him suspiciously. Bella and Jake decided to take a walk and I tagged along. "What did your friends mean about, you know, 'the Cullen's don't come here'? " asked Bella as we walked along the sand.

"You caught that huh?" Jacob replied. "I'm not really supposed to say anything about it" said Jacob. "Hey we can keep a secret" Bella said as she looked at me and I nodded causing Jacob to chuckle. "Really it's just some old scary story" Jacob said blowing it off. "Well, we wanna know" Bella replied.

"Ok umm, did you know Quileutes are supposedly descended from wolves?" Jacob said as we continued to walk. "What? Like real wolves that walk of four legs?" I said confused. "Yeah" Jake replied as he chuckled. "Well uh that's the legend of our tribe" Jacob continued. "O-Kay so what's the story about the Cullen's?" Bella asked.

"Well they're supposedly descended from this, like, enemy clan. My great-grandfather, the chief, found them hunting on our land. But they claimed to be something different, so we made a treaty with them. If they promised to stay off Quileute lands, we wouldn't expose what they really were to the palefaces" Jacob explained.

"I thought they just moved here from Alaska" I said. "Or just moved back" Jacob replied. A scream broke the silence and I turned to see Mike chasing Jessica with something. "Well, what are they really?" Bella asked causing Jacob to chuckle. "It's just a story Bella. Come on lets go" Jake said before we headed back up to the others.

Later that night I arrived home and noticed my uncle wasn't home. As I walked up to the front door, I found it unlocked which was strange. My uncle was big on keeping the house locked up so I know he wouldn't have forgotten to lock the door. I leaned over to the garden and grabbed a thick branch, holding it tight as I quietly entered the house.

I stepped into the foyer and turned looking in the kitchen to see nothing disturbed. I walked to the living room and couldn't see anything due to the closed blinds. I pressed myself up against the wall and reached for the light turning it on. I quickly turned and nearly fainted as I looked at who was standing in front of me.

"Mom?!"