"I'll be careful," Bella said, but that didn't change her mind about wanting to be close to him like that.
I shook my head, wincing, and made myself pay attention.
"What did you talk about?" Did you talk to him, or did you make him drag every ounce of information out of you like this?
"A little of both," Jacob chuckled.
I smiled ruefully. Jessica wasn't far off.
"I don't know, Jess, lots of stuff. We talked about the English essay a little."
"Um... you did?" Jacob questioned.
"He mentioned it," Bella shrugged.
A very little. I smiled wider.
Oh, c'MON. "Please, Bella! Give me some details."
Bella deliberated for a moment.
"Well...okay, I've got one. You should have seen the waitress flirting with him - it was over the top. But he didn't pay any attention to her at all."
What a strange detail to share. I was surprised Bella had even noticed. It seemed a very inconsequential thing.
"Yeah, to you," Bella said. "But having someone flaunt themselves in front of someone you like isn't fun at all... and something that anyone would notice."
Interesting... "That's a good sign. Was she pretty?"
Hmm. Jessica thought more of it that I did. Must be a female thing.
"Or maybe it's a human thing," Jacob said, he thought it meant something, too. Of course he wouldn't have discussed this...
"Very," Bella told her. "And probably nineteen or twenty."
Jessica was momentarily distracted by a memory of Mike on her date Monday night - Mike being a little too friendly with a waitress who Jessica did not consider pretty at all.
"Hmph," Jacob huffed, his opinion of Mike, which was already low, just dropped there. He could have had at least the decency to not look at other girls when he was out on a date.
She shoved the memory away and returned, stifling her irritation, to her quest for details.
"Even better. He must like you."
"I think so," Bella said slowly, and I was on the edge of my seat, my body rigidly still. "But it's hard to tell. He's always so cryptic."
Jacob snorted at that.
"What? It's true!" Bella exclaimed.
"I know," Jacob said still laughing. "It's just so funny because we know how he really feels."
Bella give him a reluctant smile at that, even as she felt sorry for her book self for not knowing how Edward felt about her.
I must not have been as transparently obvious and out of control as I'd thought.
Still...observant as she was... How could she not realize that I was in love with her? I sifted through our conversation, almost surprised that I hadn't said the words out loud. It had felt like that knowledge had been the subtext of every word between us.
"Yeah and the other subtext was 'run away, Bella'... or 'I'm going to leave you, Bella,'" Bella said angrily; how was she supposed to know what he was thinking?
Wow. How do you sit there across from a male model and make conversation?
"I don't know how you're brave enough to be alone with him," Jessica said.
Shock flashed across Bella's face. "Why?"
Weird reaction. What does she think I meant?
"That he's a dangerous monster that's trying to be good," Jacob said.
"Who is good," Bella corrected him.
"He's so..." What's the right word? "Intimidating. I wouldn't know what to say to him." I couldn't even speak English to him today, and all he said was good morning. I must have sounded like such an idiot.
"Yep," Jacob agreed.
Bella smiled. "I do have some trouble with incoherency when I'm around him."
She must be trying to make Jessica feel better. She was almost unnaturally self-possessed when we were together.
Bella rolled her eyes; he so didn't see how much he affected her.
"Oh well," Jessica sighed. "He is unbelievably gorgeous."
Bella's face was suddenly colder. Her eyes flashed the same way they did when she resented some injustice. Jessica didn't process the change in her expression.
"Um... what does that expression mean?" Jacob questioned.
"He's not just a pretty face," Bella said and then started reading.
"There's a lot more to him than that," Bella snapped.
Oooh. Now we're getting somewhere. "Really? Like what?"
Bella gnawed her lip for a moment. "I can't explain it right," she finally said.
"But he's even more unbelievable behind the face." She looked away from Jessica, her eyes slightly unfocused as if she was staring at something very far away.
The feeling I felt now was loosely similar to how it felt when Carlisle or Esme praised me beyond what I deserved. Similar, but more intense, more consuming.
Bella frowned; she really was going to have to find out why he believed so strongly that he didn't deserve being praised.
Sell stupid somewhere else - there's nothing better than that face! Unless it's his body. Swoon. "Is that possible?" Jessica giggled.
Jacob chuckled at Jessica use of swoon again... it just was a weird thing to think.
Bella didn't turn. She continued to stare into the distance, ignoring Jessica.
A normal person would be gloating. Maybe if I keep the questions simple. Ha ha. Like I'm talking to a kindergartener.
Jacob narrowed his eyes at that... that sounded insulting to him.