Eclipse (Twilight Saga #3)(38)

"Where's your family?"

"My parents took the twins to a birthday party in Port Angeles. I can't believe you're really going to help me with this. Ben's pretending he has tendonitis." She made a face.

"I don't mind at all," I said, and then I walked into Angela's room and saw the stacks of waiting envelopes.

"Oh!" I gasped. Angela turned to look at me, apologies in her eyes. I could see why she'd been putting this off, and why Ben had weaseled out.

"I thought you were exaggerating," I admitted.

"I wish. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Put me to work. I've got all day."

Angela divided a pile in half and put her mother's address book between us on her desk. For a while we concentrated, and there was just the sound of our pens scratching quietly across the paper.

"What's Edward doing tonight?" she asked after a few minutes.

My pen dug into the envelope I was working on. "Emmet's home for the weekend. They're supposed to be hiking."

"You say that like you're not sure."

I shrugged.

"You're lucky Edward has his brothers for all the hiking and camping. I don't know what I'd do if Ben didn't have Austin for the guy stuff."

"Yeah, the outdoors thing is not really for me. And there's no way I'd ever be able to keep up."

Angela laughed. "I prefer the indoors myself."

She focused on her pile for a minute. I wrote out four more addresses. There was never any pressure to fill a pause with meaningless chatter around Angela. Like Charlie, she was comfortable with silence.

But, like Charlie, she was also too observant sometimes.

"Is something wrong?" she asked in a low voice now. "You seem . . . anxious."

I smiled sheepishly. "Is it that obvious?"

"Not really."

She was probably lying to make me feel better.

"You don't have to talk about it unless you want to," she assured me. "I'll listen if you think it will help."




 

 

I was about to say thanks, but no thanks. After all, there were just too many secrets I was bound to keep. I really couldn't discuss my problems with someone human. That was against the rules.

And yet, with a strange, sudden intensity, that's exactly what I wanted. I wanted to talk to a normal human girlfriend. I wanted to moan a little bit, like any other teenage girl. I wanted my problems to be that simple. It would also be nice to have someone outside the whole vampire – werewolf mess to put things in perspective. Someone unbiased.

"I'll mind my own business," Angela promised, smiling down at the address she was working on.

"No," I said. "You're right. I am anxious. It's . . . it's Edward."

"What's wrong?"

It was so easy to talk to Angela. When she asked a question like that, I could tell that she wasn't just morbidly curious or looking for gossip, like Jessica would have been. She cared that I was upset.

"Oh, he's mad at me."

"That's hard to imagine," she said. "What's he mad about?"

I sighed. "Do you remember Jacob Black?"

"Ah," she said.

"Yeah."

"He's jealous."

"No, not jealous . . ." I should have kept my mouth shut. There was no way to explain this right. But I wanted to keep talking anyway. I hadn't realized I was so starved for human conversation. "Edward thinks Jacob is . . . a bad influence, I guess. Sort of . . . dangerous. You know how much trouble I got in a few months back . . . It's all ridiculous, though."

I was surprised to see Angela shaking her head.

"What?" I asked.

"Bella, I've seen how Jacob Black looks at you. I'd bet the real problem is jealousy."

"It's not like that with Jacob."

"For you, maybe. But for Jacob . . ."

I frowned. "Jacob knows how I feel. I've told him everything."

"Edward's only human, Bella. He's going to react like any other boy."

I grimaced. I didn't have a response to that.

She patted my hand. "He'll get over it."

"I hope so. Jake's going through kind of a tough time. He needs me."

"You and Jacob are pretty close, aren't you?"

"Like family," I agreed.

"And Edward doesn't like him . . . That must be hard. I wonder how Ben would handle that?" she mused.

I half-smiled. "Probably just like any other boy."

She grinned. "Probably."

Then she changed the subject. Angela wasn't one to pry, and she seemed to sense I wouldn't-couldn't-say any more. 

"I got my dorm assignment yesterday. The farthest building from campus, naturally."

"Does Ben know where he's staying yet?"

"The closest dorm to campus. He's got all the luck. How about you? Did you decide where you're going?"