Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Jacob’s voice is amused, and Bella jerks upright, glaring at him in surprised outrage.

“Jacob, it’s six in the morning. I’m tired, I’m cold, and if what you’re doing right now is insulting Carol’s ability to get us to school, you’re going to regret it,” Bella says, narrowing her eyes and daring him to say one more thing about her truck.

Jacob snorts. “How people can still think you’re straight after one good look at you, I’ll never understand.”

He’s not necessarily wrong. Straight people had an annoying habit of assuming everyone else was just like them—unless explicitly told otherwise. With words.

Bella’s extensive collection of flannel shirts didn’t seem to do the trick, somehow.

“Your words would mean a lot more if I hadn’t been forced to listen to Lady Gaga’s new album on repeat these past few days.” Bella adjusts her black aviator sunglasses before turning on the engine. “If you’re trying to imply that I’m a bigger stereotype than you, I’m afraid you’re going to lose that battle, buddy.”

“I was only trying to pass on valuable, life-changing musical knowledge to you and Charlie, you know,” Jacob tries—and fails—to reason. “If you can’t appreciate it, that’s not my fault. At least the universe knows I’ve tried.”

Bella rolls her eyes, choosing not to answer. When Jacob got like this, indulging him only made it worse.

“Do you think the new school will be that much different from what I was used to back at the Rez?” Jacob asks, changing the subject.

Bella sees from the corner of her eye how he’s fidgeting with the zipper of his white hoodie.

“I think they’re all pretty much the same, Jake. You’ll settle in no time. We both will.” Bella squeezes his hand with her free one, trying to offer some comfort, and he smiles warmly at her.

After everything his dad had done to him, Jacob had become more nervous and unsure of himself in a way Charlie swore he’d never seen before, and Bella couldn’t help but be glad she hadn’t seen Billy around town since arriving in Forks.

“I don’t want you to think this right here is going to be an everyday thing,” Bella says, her tone playful. “But today, because I’m feeling generous, I’ll let you choose the music. Okay?”

“What?” Jacob looks shell-shocked.

“Don’t make me regret it, Jacob,” Bella says, her eyes focusing on the cloudy road ahead. “No Gaga.”

She didn’t think she had it in her to listen to Chromatica for the hundredth time.

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.

It’s not like Bella hadn’t known that this would happen.

Still, part of her had been stupid—or naive enough—to hope that maybe she and Jacob would’ve been able to manage the situation here on their own.

That they would've been able to navigate the school without any kind of help.

So when they’re ambushed by an eager student with a camera around his neck, Bella has no choice but to do one of the things she hates the most.

Mingle. Socialize. Pretend she likes people.

“Hey!” the stranger greets them, way too cheerful for someone awake at this hour on a Monday. “I’m Eric Yorkie. You’re Isabella Swan, and you’re Jacob Black, right?”

“Just Bella’s fine,” she says, waving her hand, while Jacob keeps looking at Eric like he’s about to deck him in the face if he doesn’t tone down his excitement.

Sometimes, Bella had learned, Jacob could be worse than her in the morning.

“Do you guys need some help getting to your classes?” Eric offers, and Bella nods before Jacob can scare him off.

She really didn’t want to wait around for another good soul to take pity on them.

“Sure, Eric. Lead the way,” Bella says, snatching Jacob’s schedule from his hand with way more force than she would’ve liked.

“Okay, okay. Let me see what we’ve got.” Eric analyzes both schedules, making some weird noises while he does. “Alright, I think I have it. First, we’re going to drop your boy Jacob in English. Then it’s History for me and you, Bella.” He smiles her way. “How awesome is it that we both have the same timetable today, new girl?”

“God must be looking out for me.”

Jacob, who knew very well that Bella didn’t believe in God, snorts. Eric just gives him a quizzical look.

“Don’t pay him any attention. Jacob’s not a morning person. Thanks, by the way.”

Eric grins before leading them down the corridor.

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“Okay, tell me if I got this right. They don’t serve coffee here because it’s bad for our health, but pizza’s fine?” Bella’s outraged.

She wasn’t one to let herself get worked up about meaningless things, that was true, but this was a step too far.

Bella could overlook a lot. She couldn’t overlook this.

“Are we supposed to answer that?” Angela, a nice girl Eric had introduced Bella to in their History class, asks.

“Not if you want to live, you don’t,” Jacob says, taking a bite of his apple, not bothered or surprised by her behavior.

After living together for a few weeks, he was more than used to her by now.

“I kept my cool waking up at an hour that should be illegal. I didn’t roll my eyes when Ms. Vinet made me introduce myself like I was five—I didn’t even complain. Not out loud, anyway. All because I was holding on to one thing.” Bella stares at her water bottle like it has personally betrayed her. “The promise of coffee. A basic human right, last I checked. But no. Apparently, caffeine’s a danger to our health now. Meanwhile, the pizza’s just over there, doing crimes in plain sight."

Jacob raises his eyebrows, clearly impressed by her ability to be dramatic. “You do know you can have one before we leave home every day, right?”

“That is not the point, Jacob,” Bella says, not really knowing what her point is but just wanting to complain about the unfairness of life. “The point is that…” she trails off, trying to think of something.

“First days suck?” a girl who has just joined the table offers.

“Exactly!” Bella nods her way. “That’s exactly my point—”

“Jessica.”

“That’s exactly my point, Jessica. The universe is trying to tell me something here, and I’m not liking it.”

Eric looks interested. “What is the universe trying to tell you, Bella?”

“I don’t know yet, but if it’s starting by denying me coffee, I’m sure it can’t be good.”

“Guys,” a blonde guy Bella also doesn’t know the name of interrupts the conversation. “I think the Cullens are staring at us.”

“What?” Jessica exclaims, her eyes almost popping out of her head.

“You’re kidding me!” Eric turns, making Bella follow his movements.

Whatever she’d been expecting to be staring back at them was nothing compared to what actually was.

At an isolated table—one Bella immediately decides she needs for herself—sit five teenagers who look less like students and more like the main cast of a CW show.

Bella has no idea how she didn’t notice them before now. 

She glances over the group, trying to take them all in—until she hits the last member, and promptly forgets how to function.

There, sitting in the corner of a packed cafeteria is a…blonde goddess.

Someone who, for all intents and purposes, shouldn’t be walking on this earth among mere mortals.

Someone who looked like she should be modeling for perfume ads in Milan, not sitting five feet away from a vending machine that only took quarters.

And somehow, someway, Bella can’t shake the feeling they’ve met before.

Golden eyes lock into hers, and her breath stutters. Her heart—the traitor—skips a beat. Her brain short-circuits just enough that Angela nearly knocking over Eric’s camera feels like divine intervention.

Bella blinks, turning her focus back to her table. While she won’t deny part of her is still intrigued by the group—by blondie—Bella knows it’s not polite to stare.

Ever since moving to Forks, she has felt like a contestant on a reality show she didn’t sign up for.

No prize, just judgment.

She’s not about to return the favor. Not if she can help it—and Bella can help it, okay? She can.

Because even if Reneé hadn’t been all that interested in teaching young Bella any type of manners, her grandmother Marie had, and staring at people you didn’t know was considered rude—or flirting—and Bella wasn’t rude.

Okay, she was. Sometimes. When the situation called for it. But Bella definitely wasn’t flirting, or about to flirt, so she stays put, waiting for the rest of the table to catch on.

They never do.

“Guys?” Bella clears her throat, making them turn. “Maybe someone could explain what’s happening to the new kids?” She gestures to both herself and Jacob.

“They’re the Cullens,” Eric says, like that explains everything. “They don’t interact with anyone here. Like, ever. Not if they can help it.”

“That’s because they don’t think we’re good enough,” a girl Bella doesn’t know—but already dislikes—says with a sniff. “Looks like that’s changed now that you’re both here.”

“We’re new blood, huh?” Bella says dryly, shaking her head. “Don’t take it so personally—” she pauses, waiting for no-name to name herself, but the girl never does. “I’m sure it’s not your fault,” she lies.

In reality, she’s about 100% sure it is her fault. Bella had barely exchanged a full sentence with no-name, and she was already mapping out an exit strategy for next time.

Jacob nudges her, and Bella gives him a look—impressed he’s managed to tear his eyes off the bronze-hair Cullen long enough to rejoin the conversation.

“They’re the doctor’s kids, Bella. Charlie mentioned him yesterday, remember?” Jacob says, and Bella nods.

“The one Charlie’s glad stayed in Forks instead of running off to some high-end hospital?” Bella asks and Jacob hums in agreement.

“They’re full of themselves. That’s the truth no one wants to say it,” no-name presses on, irritated no one’s signed up to join her hate parade.

“Lauren…” Jessica warns.

“What? I’m not the only one who thinks it.” Lauren huffs. “And it’s gross that Jasper and Alice are together. They live in the same house—they’re brother and sister.”

“You know the only ones who are related are Rosalie and Jasper, Lauren,” Angela says, shaking her head. “I think it’s nice that Dr. Cullen and his wife adopted them. That they’ve given them a home.”

Jessica thins her lips. “Angela’s right. You're just mad that Edward isn’t into you.”

“Don’t act so superior, Jessica. Last I checked, you were still pining after—”

Bella clears her throat before the argument has a chance to go anywhere.

The only thing worse than relationship drama was straight relationship drama. And Bella wasn’t about to spend her limited caffeine-free energy listening to that.

“Can someone explain to me why there’s a hole in the wall of Ms. Varner’s classroom?” she asks, steering the conversation elsewhere.

Blond guy (who she’ll later learn is named Mike) bursts out laughing before launching into a dramatic story involving the football team, a baseball bat, and two people who were into each other.

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The first day of school had finally ended.

Bella sat in her truck, patiently waiting for Jacob to finish his last class so she could go home and drink Charlie’s horrible coffee.

Before today, Bella had been living under the impression that Forks High would be able to provide her with some form of caffeine—but that illusion had been thoroughly shattered.

All Bella had left was the knowledge that Charlie’s sewage water was going to become her faithful companion for the foreseeable future.

She’s so busy daydreaming about what her life would be like if there was a Starbucks in town that she doesn’t even notice Jacob walking over.

He opens the door, making Bella jump with the noise.

“You won’t believe who my biology partner is,” he says as soon as he’s inside.

“Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta?” Bella offers. He frowns. “Lady Gaga, Jacob. And you call yourself a fan.”

“Ha ha,” he deadpans.

“Unfortunately, no.”

“Who?”

“A Cullen.”

Bella hums, resting her chin in her hand. “Well, there’s like seven of them, so you’re gonna have to be a little more specific.”

“The hot one.”

“Blondie?” Bella says before she can stop herself, her brain going straight (well, not straight) to the blonde.

Jacob sighs, pressing his lips together. "Would I call a woman hot?”

Bella knows he’s trying to make a point—but it’s a stupid one.

“If you had any sense in that thick skull of yours, yes.”

Jacob was gay, sure, but he wasn’t blind.

“The bronze-haired guy. The one I couldn’t stop staring at in the cafeteria,” Jacob clarifies. “Edward Cullen,” he says, for the first time, the name Bella will later come to hate.

“You could’ve just led with that information, buddy.”

Jacob liked to drag out dialogue like it owed him something; Bella just wanted to put him on 1.5x speed.

“Can you believe he didn’t even say a word to me the whole class?” Jacob presses his lips together. “Do you think he was uncomfortable because I kept staring at him in the cafeteria? Do you think he’s a homophobe?” He starts spiraling. “I can’t spend the whole year with a homophobe as my lab partner!”

“Take a breath.” Bella puts a hand on his arm, giving it a quick squeeze. “I’m sure pretty boy isn't a homophobe.”

“How can you possibly know that?”

“Because I’m like, ninety percent sure he’s gay,” Bella says, but Jacob doesn’t look convinced. “C’mon. No straight guy puts that much effort into his hair,” she adds, gesturing vaguely as she mimics the swoop of it.

Jacob’s face turns pensive. “I mean…when I stared at him, he kind of stared back. But then he looked at you.”

“Gay recognizes gay, my friend. I’m sure it was that.” Bella shrugs, trying to soothe his nerves. “Now, can we go home?”

“Sure.” Jacob fastens his seatbelt. “How was your last period?”

“Physics,” Bella sighs. “Mr. Banner spent the whole period talking about Newton like he personally knew the guy and was the president of his fan club.”

“I like physics. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Newton was a genius, Bella, and you should give him some praise.”

She gives him a slow, judgmental blink.

“Okay. First, don’t quote that phrase like you know it by heart. It’s weird. And second—no one in the history of the universe has ever liked physics, Jacob. No one.”

He chuckles and Bella turns her truck on.

In her blissfully unaware and naïve mind, this right here meant the subject of Edward Cullen was over. Done. Dead and buried.

Later, she’ll come to realize just how wrong she’d been.

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The second time she hears about Edward Cullen, Bella is wholly unprepared for it.

One week of classes had passed and Jacob had failed to mention his name even once.

That means Bella’s none the wiser when he decides to broach the subject again.

She’s sitting at an isolated cafeteria table she’s managed to claim as her own—courtesy of her ability to intimidate a few nervous first-years into giving it up—when a sudden noise jolts her out of her reverie.

“Edward Cullen!” Jacob whisper-hisses, pretending he hadn’t just scared the life out of her by slamming his tray down like a neanderthal.

Bella stares at him like he’s lost it.

“It’s been a week. A week, Bella. And he still hasn’t said anything. Today we actually had to work together, so I asked if I could look through the microscope first, and instead of answering like a normal human being, he just nodded! No words. No sounds. Nada.”

“I wish he was my lab partner,” Bella says before she can stop herself, and immediately regrets it.

Edward was weird, and every time he looked at her this week, it was in an even weirder way. If he wasn’t gay, she’d be halfway convinced he was interested.

“No, you don’t.”

”No, I don’t,” she repeats, agreeing with him. “But Jessica isn’t any better, honestly. Yesterday, I had to hear her explain the entire plot of Riverdale to me, Jacob. I don’t even know what the fuck Riverdale is.”

“It’s a TV show,” he says, waving her off. “You’re not missing much. First season was okay, then it just... spiraled.”

“Oh, I know.”

Jessica’s one-hour monologue had made sure of that.

“What do you think his problem is?” Jacob comes back to it.

“Pretty boy?” Bella shrugs. “No idea. Maybe he’s shy. Maybe he’s rude. Maybe he thinks human interaction is beneath him. Who’s to say?”

“Remember when Lauren said the Cullens thought they were better than everyone, and you made fun of her?” Jacob asks, trying to sound reasonable but failing miserably.

Bella scoffs. “I didn’t make fun of her.”

Jacob gives her a look.

"Okay, I did. But she’s Lauren. If a Cullen blinks too slow, she takes it personally,” she pauses. “She’s very obsessed. I’d avoid her too if I were them. Hell, I’m not them and I already do.”

Jacob doesn’t say anything, so Bella keeps going.

“You’re making a storm out of a drop of water. Just be glad your lab partner doesn’t make you want to pull out all your hair. Things could be so much worse.”

She thinks of Jessica and her ability to speak a thousand words per second. She thinks of poor Angela, silently praying for divine intervention every time Lauren opened her mouth.

Jacob huffs. “Him ignoring me makes me want to pull my hair out.”

“Because you crave acceptance,” Bella says. It’s easier saying this than pointing out he wanted something else entirely.

Like Edward Cullen’s tongue in his mouth.

“Fine. What do you think I should do?”

“Forget he exists,” Bella says. “He’s playing a game and you’re falling right into it.”

This wasn’t her first rodeo with this move. Her mother had basically invented it, and Bella knew that the best way to react was, ironically, not to.

“You think so?”

“Yes. Can you fake being unbothered? Like, acting super chill even though you're being aggressively ignored?”

Jacob presses his lips together. “Probably not.”

Well. So much for the Edward Cullen saga being over, Bella thought.

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The tenth time Bella hears Jacob complain about Edward, she’s ready for it.

She’d even go as far as to say she saw it coming—saw the moment his eyes started twitching, the way he had sat down next to her at the kitchen table with all the subtlety of a minor earthquake.

“Edward Cullen is the most confusing person in this whole damn town, and that’s saying something,” Jacob announces. “Can you believe he—”

Bella tunes him out, eyes drifting back to her homework.

He snaps his fingers in front of her face. “Are you listening to me?”

Bella drops her pen. “Jacob, we’re really doing this again? Look, like I’ve told you a million times, I don’t think you’re the problem, okay? I’ve never seen any of the Cullens talk to anyone at school—or outside it, for that matter. They seem like a close-knit group that keeps to themselves. I’m sure it’s nothing personal.”

Well. Almost sure.

Because lately, it kind of felt like the Cullens were going out of their way to not keep to themselves—at least when it came to her.

Rosalie Hale, for example, seemed to appear at every hallway Bella turned into. And while Forks High could feel like a shoebox, that was still suspicious.

To make things even weirder, Emmett Cullen always looked like he was on the verge of striking a conversation with her before one of his brothers or sisters interrupted him—and by one, Bella meant Rosalie, who was almost always the culprit.

If that wasn't enough to ring some alarm bells in Bella's head, Edward still seemed to find a way to stare and be inconvenient every single day.

“You’re not listening,” Jacob says. “I wasn’t complaining about him ignoring me. Not this time. I was saying that he finally spoke to me. Like, out of the blue.”

Bella looks up, eyebrows raised. “He did?”

“Yeah. He even invited me over to his house to start our biology project. Crazy, right?”

“I mean...not really? It’s smart to start early.”

Jacob rolls his eyes. “I don’t mean the project, Bells. I mean him inviting me after all this time,” he says before doing his best puppy dog look. “You know, you could come—”

“No.” Bella cuts in. “Hard pass. I’m not tagging along to the house of a guy I don’t know.”

“C’mon, please? There’s something off about him. He ignored me for weeks and now he’s being weirdly nice? That’s not normal.”

“Right. People can’t be inconsistent. Or complicated. They should just pick a choice and stick with it forever. This is real life, not a book."

God, Jacob’s worldview could be so black and white sometimes.

He frowns, missing her point. “I can’t believe you’re defending him after everything.” "

“I’m not defending him. I’m defending common sense.”

Jacob runs a hand through his hair. “I’m a people pleaser, okay? I spiral when I'm ignored.”

Bella rolls her eyes, resisting the urge to say that she knows—that she's seen him spiraling nonstop for weeks.

“You could invite him here,” she offers. “If he’s a jerk, I’ll kick him out. If he ignores you, I’ll tell him to fuck off. Win-win.”

A dream scenario, really.

“I can’t reschedule now, Bells—I already said yes.”

“So go.”

Bella would never understand Jacob's need to overcomplicate everything in his life.

“I just think it’d be easier if you came with me,” Jacob fidgets. “I’m still not convinced he’s not a homophobe. And if something’s off, I’d feel better knowing I could leave. That someone has my back.”

“So it’s not me you want, it’s Carol.”

“Well, I haven’t gotten my license, so technically I need you too.”

Bella sighs. “If I did say yes…and I’m not, what am I supposed to do while you guys work on your project? Just stand there? I’m not even in your year. I don’t know what Banner’s teaching you.”

I don’t even like the Cullens, she thinks, but doesn’t say.

“Don't sell yourself short, Bells. You're pretty great at striking a conversation with people you don't know.”

“That's called being polite, not an extrovert, Jacob. There’s a difference.”

“What if I go and it turns out he is a psychopath? What if his whole family’s in on it, and they bury my corpse in the woods?”

Bella raises an eyebrow. Jacob’s been watching too many horror movies lately.

“That escalated quickly, buddy, but...okay. If that’s the case, explain how me going helps the situation. At least if I stay here, I’m not dead. And if I’m not dead, I can report your murder.”

“I’ll owe you one.” Jacob’s voice softens. “You know what happened with my dad, and I would feel safer with you there. That way, if something felt off, I’d be able to leave. If I’m alone, then…”

“Alright, alright. Say no more. I’ll go.”

Billy Black was a son of a bitch. Of that, Bella was sure.

“Even if it’s weird?” Jacob grins.

“Yes.”

“Even if it gets you killed?”

“Even if it gets me killed, buddy. Even if it gets me killed.”

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It’s a longer drive than she expected.

So long, in fact, that Bella starts to think maybe Jacob had the right idea in dragging her along.

“Are you sure this is the right path?” she asks, eyeing the road ahead with suspicion.

There’s nothing but green in every direction, and Bella has to admit: if a masked killer wanted to leap out of the trees, this would be the perfect place.

She can picture it all, unfortunately.

They escape the ambush here—barely—only to discover they’ve walked straight into a trap.

The road? A setup. The house? A lair. The killer? Edward Cullen, obviously. Jacob’s crush—and now, potential murderer.

Bella, naturally, would be the first to die. The lesbian. They never lasted.

While she spirals, Jacob is still glued to his phone, oblivious to the fact that the truck is practically stopping.

“Edward said to follow the road to the end. There’s an intersection—turn left, go a little further, and we’ll get there.”

“And we’re trusting him why, exactly?” Bella asks, resisting the urge to do a U-turn and go home.

Jacob looks at her like she’s crazy. “Because it’s his house?” he finally notices the drop in speed. “Why are we stopping?”

“Maybe I’m rethinking everything. Maybe the whole ‘Cullen family of psychopaths’ theory isn’t as far-fetched as I once believed. Maybe, well, driving into the woods like we’re starring in a low-budget horror movie isn’t filling me with confidence either.”

“Bells, this is Forks. Everything’s a road in the middle of the woods.”

She squints at him, not swayed. “Fine. But if I die because you have a crush on Edward and you survive? I swear to God, Jacob, I’m haunting you for eternity.”

She presses the gas again, and the truck lurches forward.

“What?” His outraged scoff gives him away immediately. “I do not have a crush on him. I don’t even, like, like him. That’s insane.”

“The first time you saw him, Jacob, I nearly had to scrape your jaw off the floor.”

“You say that like you weren’t impressed by them. I saw you too, don’t forget that.”

“I didn’t stare.”

“Exactly my point. You’ve been actively dodging them ever since that day. That’s not normal. You’re the only person in school—not even just school, in town—who does that.”

“It's called having a life, Jake. You should try it sometime.”

“You think I don’t know you, but I’m observant. I’ve seen how hard you go out of your way not to look at Edward’s sister.”

”Edward has a sister?”

Jacob gives her a knowing look. “You think Rosalie is hot. Admit it.”

Rosalie.

Hearing her name is enough to affect Bella even the slightest bit—enough to make her recollect all the times she'd spotted the girl at school with her perpetual 'I'm better than you' attitude.

“I’ve seen Cate Blanchett up close, Jake. Up close.” Bella lifts her chin with dignity. “That’s an angel. My future wife. The one I named my truck after. There’s no room in my heart for anyone else, and frankly, I’m insulted you’d suggest otherwise.”

“You’re way too good at lying. You know that, right?” Jacob shakes his head. “You should get that checked out.”

Bella doesn’t answer.

She doesn’t even look at him. No, sir. Her eyes are now totally focused only on the road.

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As soon as they reach the Cullens’ house, Bella pulls the truck to a stop, her eyes widening in spite of herself.

Tucked behind a ridiculous amount of trees is the most beautiful house she’s ever seen—sleek and modern, all glass and angles.

Bella had expected something weird. Maybe something old. What she didn’t expect was a forest hideout so polished it probably belonged to a Bond villain with strong opinions about open floor design.

“If there’s a koi pond inside, I’m leaving,” she mutters.

Jacob doesn’t hear her—he’s too busy gawking at the glass walls and towering pines. “Wow. Now that’s living.”

Bella shuts off the engine and unfastens her seatbelt. Next to her, Jacob’s expression shifts—wonder slipping into visible anxiety.

“I think I’m having second thoughts. What if I text him and say something came up?”

Bella, who just drove twenty minutes through what was basically a scenic horror movie set, is not about to turn back now.

“Jacob. Let’s go. If we’re getting murdered today, I’d prefer it to happen sooner rather than later.”

“This whole ‘bring it on, death’ vibe you’ve got going on? Not exactly comforting.”

“Well, why drag it out?”

“Says the person who drove like a snail the entire way here.”

“Jacob, let me remind you that I’m only here because you asked me to. If I want, I can leave. So be nice, yeah?”

He gives her a look—half amused, half bewildered. “Did you have coffee today?”

“Yes.”

“Then why are you in such a mood? Wanna talk about it? Wanna share?”

Bella briefly considers throwing her keys at his head. All she wanted was to finish her homework and watch something dumb on TV.

Instead, she’s here. Standing in front of a literal mansion in the woods because Jacob has a crush.

Bella exhales, asking the universe for some patience. When she opens the truck door, the outside air hits her with force.

“You ready?” she asks, rubbing her hands together for warmth.

Jacob grimaces.

“Not even a little. But let’s go.”

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The walk to the Cullens’ front door is quick, and with every step, Bella can feel Jacob growing tenser behind her.

“You should ring it,” she says once they’re there. He’s the one who got the invite, after all.

Jacob nods and smooths a hand down his white T-shirt like that’s going to magically unwrinkle it.

He’d actually tried today—left the khaki shorts at home, went for light-wash jeans, the whole deal.

Bella hadn’t bothered. She was still in her school clothes: ripped black jeans, a turtleneck, and her most beat-up pair of white Nikes.

If she was going to die in a serial killer’s foyer, she might as well be comfortable.

“You look fine,” she says, trying to be supportive. “Relax. Edward’s definitely going to think you’re hot.”

Jacob gives her the finger before ringing the doorbell.