as i sat in my room, trying to concentrate on the third act of macbeth, iwas really listening for my truck. i would have thought, even over thepounding rain, i could have heard the engine's roar. but when i went topeek out the curtain — again — it was suddenly there.
i wasn't looking forward to friday, and it more than lived up to mynon-expectations. of course there were the fainting comments. jessicaespecially seemed to get a kick out of that story. luckily mike had kepthis mouth shut, and no one seemed to know about edward's involvement. she did have a lot of questions about lunch, though.
"so what did edward cullen want yesterday?" jessica asked in trig.
"i don't know," i answered truthfully. "he never really got to the point.""you looked kind of mad," she fished.
"did i?" i kept my expression blank.
"you know, i've never seen him sit with anyone but his family before.
that was weird.""weird," i agreed. she seemed annoyed; she flipped her dark curlsimpatiently — i guessed she'd been hoping to hear something that wouldmake a good story for her to pass on.
the worst part about friday was that, even though i knew he wasn't goingto be there, i still hoped. when i walked into the cafeteria with jessicaand mike, i couldn't keep from looking at his table, where rosalie,alice, and jasper sat talking, heads close together. and i couldn't stopthe gloom that engulfed me as i realized i didn't know how long i wouldhave to wait before i saw him again.
at my usual table, everyone was full of our plans for the next day. mikewas animated again, putting a great deal of trust in the local weathermanwho promised sun tomorrow. i'd have to see that before i believed it. butit was warmer today — almost sixty. maybe the outing wouldn't becompletely miserable.
i intercepted a few unfriendly glances from lauren during lunch, which ididn't understand until we were all walking out of the room together. iwas right behind her, just a foot from her slick, silver blond hair, andshe was evidently unaware of that.
"…don't know why bella" — she sneered my name — "doesn't just sit withthe cullens from now on."i heard her muttering to mike. i'd never noticed what an unpleasant,nasal voice she had, and i was surprised by the malice in it. i reallydidn't know her well at all, certainly not well enough for her to dislikeme — or so i'd thought. "she's my friend; she sits with us," mikewhispered back loyally, but also a bit territorially. i paused to letjess and angela pass me. i didn't want to hear any more.
that night at dinner, charlie seemed enthusiastic about my trip to lapush in the morning. i think he felt guilty for leaving me home alone onthe weekends, but he'd spent too many years building his habits to breakthem now. of course he knew the names of all the kids going, and theirparents, and their great-grandparents, too, probably. he seemed toapprove. i wondered if he would approve of my plan to ride to seattlewith edward cullen. not that i was going to tell him.
"dad, do you know a place called goat rocks or something like that? ithink it's south of mount rainier," i asked casually.
"yeah — why?"i shrugged. "some kids were talking about camping there.""it's not a very good place for camping." he sounded surprised. "too manybears. most people go there during the hunting season.""oh," i murmured. "maybe i got the name wrong."i meant to sleep in, but an unusual brightness woke me. i opened my eyesto see a clear yellow light streaming through my window. i couldn'tbelieve it. i hurried to the window to check, and sure enough, there wasthe sun. it was in the wrong place in the sky, too low, and it didn'tseem to be as close as it should be, but it was definitely the sun.
clouds ringed the horizon, but a large patch of blue was visible in themiddle. i lingered by the window as long as i could, afraid that if ileft the blue would disappear again.
the newtons' olympic outfitters store was just north of town. i'd seenthe store, but i'd never stopped there — not having much need for anysupplies required for being outdoors over an extended period of time. inthe parking lot i recognized mike's suburban and tyler's sentra. as ipulled up next to their vehicles, i could see the group standing aroundin front of the suburban. eric was there, along with two other boys i hadclass with; i was fairly sure their names were ben and conner. jess wasthere, flanked by angela and lauren. three other girls stood with them,including one i remembered falling over in gym on friday. that one gaveme a dirty look as i got out of the truck, and whispered something tolauren. lauren shook out her cornsilk hair and eyed me scornfully.
so it was going to be one of those days.
at least mike was happy to see me.
"you came!" he called, delighted. "and i said it would be sunny today,didn't i?""i told you i was coming," i reminded him.
"we're just waiting for lee and samantha… unless you invited someone,"mike added.
"nope," i lied lightly, hoping i wouldn't get caught in the lie. but alsowishing that a miracle would occur, and edward would appear.
mike looked satisfied.
"will you ride in my car? it's that or lee's mom's minivan.""sure."he smiled blissfully. it was so easy to make mike happy.
"you can have shotgun," he promised. i hid my chagrin. it wasn't assimple to make mike and jessica happy at the same time. i could seejessica glowering at us now.
the numbers worked out in my favor, though. lee brought two extra people,and suddenly every seat was necessary. i managed to wedge jess in betweenmike and me in the front seat of the suburban. mike could have been moregraceful about it, but at least jess seemed appeased.
it was only fifteen miles to la push from forks, with gorgeous, densegreen forests edging the road most of the way and the wide quillayuteriver snaking beneath it twice. i was glad i had the window seat. we'drolled the windows down — the suburban was a bit claustrophobic with ninepeople in it — and i tried to absorb as much sunlight as possible.
i'd been to the beaches around la push many times during my forks summerswith charlie, so the mile-long crescent of first beach was familiar tome. it was still breathtaking. the water was dark gray, even in thesunlight, white-capped and heaving to the gray, rocky shore. islands roseout of the steel harbor waters with sheer cliff sides, reaching to unevensummits, and crowned with austere, soaring firs. the beach had only athin border of actual sand at the water's edge, after which it grew intomillions of large, smooth stones that looked uniformly gray from adistance, but close up were every shade a stone could be: terra-cotta,sea green, lavender, blue gray, dull gold. the tide line was strewn withhuge driftwood trees, bleached bone white in the salt waves, some piledtogether against the edge of the forest fringe, some lying solitary, justout of reach of the waves.
there was a brisk wind coming off the waves, cool and briny. pelicansfloated on the swells while seagulls and a lone eagle wheeled above them.
the clouds still circled the sky, threatening to invade at any moment,but for now the sun shone bravely in its halo of blue sky.
we picked our way down to the beach, mike leading the way to a ring ofdriftwood logs that had obviously been used for parties like ours before.
there was a fire circle already in place, filled with black ashes. ericand the boy i thought was named ben gathered broken branches of driftwoodfrom the drier piles against the forest edge, and soon had ateepee-shaped construction built atop the old cinders.
"have you ever seen a driftwood fire?" mike asked me. i was sitting onone of the bone-colored benches; the other girls clustered, gossipingexcitedly, on either side of me. mike kneeled by the fire, lighting oneof the smaller sticks with a cigarette lighter.
"no," i said as he placed the blazing twig carefully against the teepee.
"you'll like this then — watch the colors." he lit another small branchand laid it alongside the first. the flames started to lick quickly upthe dry wood.
"it's blue," i said in surprise.
"the salt does it. pretty, isn't it?" he lit one more piece, placed itwhere the fire hadn't yet caught, and then came to sit by me. thankfully,jess was on his other side. she turned to him and claimed his attention.
i watched the strange blue and green flames crackle toward the sky.
after a half hour of chatter, some of the boys wanted to hike to thenearby tidal pools. it was a dilemma. on the one hand, i loved the tidepools. they had fascinated me since i was a child; they were one of theonly things i ever looked forward to when i had to come to forks. on theother hand, i'd also fallen into them a lot. not a big deal when you'reseven and with your dad. it reminded me of edward's request — that i notfall into the ocean.
lauren was the one who made my decision for me. she didn't want to hike,and she was definitely wearing the wrong shoes for it. most of the othergirls besides angela and jessica decided to stay on the beach as well. iwaited until tyler and eric had committed to remaining with them before igot up quietly to join the pro-hiking group. mike gave me a huge smilewhen he saw that i was coming.
the hike wasn't too long, though i hated to lose the sky in the woods.
the green light of the forest was strangely at odds with the adolescentlaughter, too murky and ominous to be in harmony with the light banteraround me. i had to watch each step i took very carefully, avoiding rootsbelow and branches above, and i soon fell behind. eventually i brokethrough the emerald confines of the forest and found the rocky shoreagain. it was low tide, and a tidal river flowed past us on its way tothe sea. along its pebbled banks, shallow pools that never completelydrained were teeming with life.
i was very cautious not to lean too far over the little ocean ponds. theothers were fearless, leaping over the rocks, perching precariously onthe edges. i found a very stable-looking rock on the fringe of one of thelargest pools and sat there cautiously, spellbound by the naturalaquarium below me. the bouquets of brilliant anemones undulatedceaselessly in the invisible current, twisted shells scurried about theedges, obscuring the crabs within them, starfish stuck motionless to therocks and each other, while one small black eel with white racing stripeswove through the bright green weeds, waiting for the sea to return. i wascompletely absorbed, except for one small part of my mind that wonderedwhat edward was doing now, and trying to imagine what he would be sayingif he were here with me.
finally the boys were hungry, and i got up stiffly to follow them back. itried to keep up better this time through the woods, so naturally i fella few times. i got some shallow scrapes on my palms, and the knees of myjeans were stained green, but it could have been worse.
when we got back to first beach, the group we'd left behind hadmultiplied. as we got closer we could see the shining, straight blackhair and copper skin of the newcomers, teenagers from the reservation come to socialize.
the food was already being passed around, and the boys hurried to claim ashare while eric introduced us as we each entered the driftwood circle.
angela and i were the last to arrive, and, as eric said our names, inoticed a younger boy sitting on the stones near the fire glance up at mein interest. i sat down next to angela, and mike brought us sandwichesand an array of sodas to choose from, while a boy who looked to be theoldest of the visitors rattled off the names of the seven others withhim. all i caught was that one of the girls was also named jessica, andthe boy who noticed me was named jacob.
it was relaxing to sit with angela; she was a restful kind of person tobe around — she didn't feel the need to fill every silence with chatter.
she left me free to think undisturbed while we ate. and i was thinkingabout how disjointedly time seemed to flow in forks, passing in a blur attimes, with single images standing out more clearly than others. andthen, at other times, every second was significant, etched in my mind. iknew exactly what caused the difference, and it disturbed me.
during lunch the clouds started to advance, slinking across the blue sky,darting in front of the sun momentarily, casting long shadows across thebeach, and blackening the waves. as they finished eating, people startedto drift away in twos and threes. some walked down to the edge of thewaves, trying to skip rocks across the choppy surface. others weregathering a second expedition to the tide pools. mike — with jessicashadowing him — headed up to the one shop in the village. some of thelocal kids went with them; others went along on the hike. by the timethey all had scattered, i was sitting alone on my driftwood log, withlauren and tyler occupying themselves by the cd player someone hadthought to bring, and three teenagers from the reservation perched aroundthe circle, including the boy named jacob and the oldest boy who hadacted as spokesperson.
a few minutes after angela left with the hikers, jacob sauntered over totake her place by my side. he looked fourteen, maybe fifteen, and hadlong, glossy black hair pulled back with a rubber band at the nape of hisneck. his skin was beautiful, silky and russet-colored; his eyes weredark, set deep above the high planes of his cheekbones. he still had justa hint of childish roundness left around his chin. altogether, a verypretty face. however, my positive opinion of his looks was damaged by thefirst words out of his mouth.
"you're isabella swan, aren't you?"it was like the first day of school all over again.
"bella," i sighed.
"i'm jacob black." he held his hand out in a friendly gesture. "youbought my dad's truck.""oh," i said, relieved, shaking his sleek hand. "you're billy's son. iprobably should remember you.""no, i'm the youngest of the family — you would remember my oldersisters.""rachel and rebecca," i suddenly recalled. charlie and billy had thrownus together a lot during my visits, to keep us busy while they fished. wewere all too shy to make much progress as friends. of course, i'd kickedup enough tantrums to end the fishing trips by the time i was eleven.
"are they here?" i examined the girls at the ocean's edge, wondering if iwould recognize them now.
"no." jacob shook his head. "rachel got a scholarship to washingtonstate, and rebecca married a samoan surfer — she lives in hawaii now.""married. wow." i was stunned. the twins were only a little over a yearolder than i was.
"so how do you like the truck?" he asked.
"i love it. it runs great.""yeah, but it's really slow," he laughed. "i was so relived when charliebought it. my dad wouldn't let me work on building another car when wehad a perfectly good vehicle right there.""it's not that slow," i objected.
"have you tried to go over sixty?""no," i admitted.
"good. don't." he grinned.
i couldn't help grinning back. "it does great in a collision," i offeredin my truck's defense.
"i don't think a tank could take out that old monster," he agreed withanother laugh.
"so you build cars?" i asked, impressed.
"when i have free time, and parts. you wouldn't happen to know where icould get my hands on a master cylinder for a 1986 volkswagen rabbit?" headded jokingly. he had a pleasant, husky voice.
"sorry," i laughed, "i haven't seen any lately, but i'll keep my eyesopen for you." as if i knew what that was. he was very easy to talk with.
he flashed a brilliant smile, looking at me appreciatively in a way i waslearning to recognize. i wasn't the only one who noticed.
"you know bella, jacob?" lauren asked — in what i imagined was aninsolent tone — from across the fire.
"we've sort of known each other since i was born," he laughed, smiling atme again.
"how nice." she didn't sound like she thought it was nice at all, and herpale, fishy eyes narrowed.
"bella," she called again, watching my face carefully, "i was just sayingto tyler that it was too bad none of the cullens could come out today.
didn't anyone think to invite them?" her expression of concern wasunconvincing.
"you mean dr. carlisle cullen's family?" the tall, older boy asked beforei could respond, much to lauren's irritation. he was really closer to aman than a boy, and his voice was very deep.
"yes, do you know them?" she asked condescendingly, turning halfwaytoward him.
"the cullens don't come here," he said in a tone that closed the subject,ignoring her question.
tyler, trying to win back her attention, asked lauren's opinion on a cdhe held. she was distracted.
i stared at the deep-voiced boy, taken aback, but he was looking awaytoward the dark forest behind us. he'd said that the cullens didn't comehere, but his tone had implied something more — that they weren'tallowed; they were prohibited. his manner left a strange impression onme, and i tried to ignore it without success.
jacob interrupted my meditation. "so is forks driving you insane yet?""oh, i'd say that's an understatement." i grimaced. he grinnedunderstandingly.
i was still turning over the brief comment on the cullens, and i had asudden inspiration. it was a stupid plan, but i didn't have any betterideas. i hoped that young jacob was as yet inexperienced around girls, sothat he wouldn't see through my sure-to-be-pitiful attempts at flirting.
"do you want to walk down the beach with me?" i asked, trying to imitatethat way edward had of looking up from underneath his eyelashes. itcouldn't have nearly the same effect, i was sure, but jacob jumped upwillingly enough.
as we walked north across the multihued stones toward the driftwoodseawall, the clouds finally closed ranks across the sky, causing the seato darken and the temperature to drop. i shoved my hands deep into thepockets of my jacket.
"so you're, what, sixteen?" i asked, trying not to look like an idiot asi fluttered my eyelids the way i'd seen girls do on tv.
"i just turned fifteen," he confessed, flattered.
"really?" my face was full of false surprise. "i would have thought youwere older.""i'm tall for my age," he explained.
"do you come up to forks much?" i asked archly, as if i was hoping for ayes. i sounded idiotic to myself. i was afraid he would turn on me withdisgust and accuse me of my fraud, but he still seemed flattered.
"not too much," he admitted with a frown. "but when i get my car finishedi can go up as much as i want — after i get my license," he amended.
"who was that other boy lauren was talking to? he seemed a little old tobe hanging out with us." i purposefully lumped myself in with theyoungsters, trying to make it clear that i preferred jacob.
"that's sam — he's nineteen," he informed me.
"what was that he was saying about the doctor's family?" i askedinnocently.
"the cullens? oh, they're not supposed to come onto the reservation." helooked away, out toward james island, as he confirmed what i'd thoughti'd heard in sam's voice.
"why not?"he glanced back at me, biting his lip. "oops. i'm not supposed to sayanything about that.""oh, i won't tell anyone, i'm just curious." i tried to make my smilealluring, wondering if i was laying it on too thick.
he smiled back, though, looking allured. then he lifted one eyebrow andhis voice was even huskier than before.
"do you like scary stories?" he asked ominously.
"i love them," i enthused, making an effort to smolder at him.
jacob strolled to a nearby driftwood tree that had its roots sticking outlike the attenuated legs of a huge, pale spider. he perched lightly onone of the twisted roots while i sat beneath him on the body of the tree.
he stared down at the rocks, a smile hovering around the edges of hisbroad lips. i could see he was going to try to make this good. i focusedon keeping the vital interest i felt out of my eyes.
"do you know any of our old stories, about where we came from — thequileutes, i mean?" he began.
"not really," i admitted.
"well, there are lots of legends, some of them claiming to date back tothe flood — supposedly, the ancient quileutes tied their canoes to thetops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive like noah and theark." he smiled, to show me how little stock he put in the histories.
"another legend claims that we descended from wolves — and that thewolves are our brothers still. it's against tribal law to kill them.
"then there are the stories about the cold ones." his voice dropped alittle lower.
"the cold ones?" i asked, not faking my intrigue now.
"yes. there are stories of the cold ones as old as the wolf legends, andsome much more recent. according to legend, my own great-grandfather knewsome of them. he was the one who made the treaty that kept them off ourland." he rolled his eyes.
"your great-grandfather?" i encouraged.
"he was a tribal elder, like my father. you see, the cold ones are thenatural enemies of the wolf—well, not the wolf, really, but the wolvesthat turn into men, like our ancestors. you would call them werewolves.""werewolves have enemies?""only one."i stared at him earnestly, hoping to disguise my impatience as admiration.
"so you see," jacob continued, "the cold ones are traditionally ourenemies. but this pack that came to our territory during mygreat-grandfather's time was different. they didn't hunt the way othersof their kind did — they weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe.
so my great-grandfather made a truce with them. if they would promise tostay off our lands, we wouldn't expose them to the pale-faces." he winkedat me.
"if they weren't dangerous, then why… ?" i tried to understand,struggling not to let him see how seriously i was considering his ghoststory.
"there's always a risk for humans to be around the cold ones, even ifthey're civilized like this clan was. you never know when they might gettoo hungry to resist." he deliberately worked a thick edge of menace intohis tone.
"what do you mean, 'civilized'?""they claimed that they didn't hunt humans. they supposedly were somehowable to prey on animals instead."i tried to keep my voice casual. "so how does it fit in with the cullens?
are they like the cold ones your greatgrandfather met?""no." he paused dramatically. "they are the same ones."he must have thought the expression on my face was fear inspired by hisstory. he smiled, pleased, and continued.
"there are more of them now, a new female and a new male, but the restare the same. in my great-grandfather's time they already knew of theleader, carlisle. he'd been here and gone before your people had evenarrived." he was fighting a smile.
"and what are they?" i finally asked. "what are the cold ones?"he smiled darkly.
"blood drinkers," he replied in a chilling voice. "your people call themvampires."i stared out at the rough surf after he answered, not sure what my face was exposing.
"you have goose bumps," he laughed delightedly.
"you're a good storyteller," i complimented him, still staring into thewaves.
"pretty crazy stuff, though, isn't it? no wonder my dad doesn't want usto talk about it to anyone."i couldn't control my expression enough to look at him yet. "don't worry,i won't give you away.""i guess i just violated the treaty," he laughed.
"i'll take it to the grave," i promised, and then i shivered.
"seriously, though, don't say anything to charlie. he was pretty mad atmy dad when he heard that some of us weren't going to the hospital sincedr. cullen started working there.""i won't, of course not.""so do you think we're a bunch of superstitious natives or what?" heasked in a playful tone, but with a hint of worry. i still hadn't lookedaway from the ocean.
i turned and smiled at him as normally as i could.
"no. i think you're very good at telling scary stories, though. i stillhave goose bumps, see?" i held up my arm.
"cool." he smiled.
and then the sound of the beach rocks clattering against each otherwarned us that someone was approaching. our heads snapped up at the sametime to see mike and jessica about fifty yards away, walking toward us.
"there you are, bella," mike called in relief, waving his arm over hishead.
"is that your boyfriend?" jacob asked, alerted by the jealous edge inmike's voice. i was surprised it was so obvious.
"no, definitely not," i whispered. i was tremendously grateful to jacob,and eager to make him as happy as possible. i winked at him, carefullyturning away from mike to do so. he smiled, elated by my inept flirting.
"so when i get my license…" he began.
"you should come see me in forks. we could hang out sometime." i feltguilty as i said this, knowing that i'd used him. but i really did likejacob. he was someone i could easily be friends with.
mike had reached us now, with jessica still a few paces back. i could seehis eyes appraising jacob, and looking satisfied at his obvious youth.
"where have you been?" he asked, though the answer was right in front ofhim.
"jacob was just telling me some local stories," i volunteered. "it wasreally interesting."i smiled at jacob warmly, and he grinned back.
"well," mike paused, carefully reassessing the situation as he watchedour camaraderie. "we're packing up — it looks like it's going to rainsoon."we all looked up at the glowering sky. it certainly did look like rain.
"okay." i jumped up. "i'm coming." "it was nice to see you again," jacob said, and i could tell he wastaunting mike just a bit.
"it really was. next time charlie comes down to see billy, i'll come,too," i promised.
his grin stretched across his face. "that would be cool.""and thanks," i added earnestly.
i pulled up my hood as we tramped across the rocks toward the parkinglot. a few drops were beginning to fall, making black spots on the stoneswhere they landed. when we got to the suburban the others were alreadyloading everything back in. i crawled into the backseat by angela andtyler, announcing that i'd already had my turn in the shotgun position.
angela just stared out the window at the escalating storm, and laurentwisted around in the middle seat to occupy tyler's attention, so i couldsimply lay my head back on the seat and close my eyes and try very hardnot to think.
第六章 惊悚故事
当我坐在我的房间里，试图把注意力集中在《麦克白》的第三幕时，我依然竖起耳朵注意听着我的卡车的动静。我本来以为，即使透过磅礴大雨，那个引擎的咆哮依然能够传进我的耳中。但当我从窗帘后往外偷看——才第二次——的时候，它忽然就在那儿了。
我一点儿也不渴望星期五的到来，但那天的情形远远超出了我悲观的预期。当然，这里面有那次晕厥事件的因素。杰西卡似乎相当渴望得到有关那个故事的谈资。幸运地是，迈克守口如瓶，所以似乎没人知道爱德华也掺和进来了。尽管，她确实问了不少关于那次午餐的问题。
“那么，昨天爱德华?卡伦到底想干嘛？”三角函数课上，杰西卡问道。
“我不知道。”我如实答道。“他一直没说到点子上。”
“那时你看上去有点抓狂。”她迂回地试探着。
“真的？”我让自己保持面无表情。
“你知道，之前我从没见过他跟他家人以外的任何人一起坐。这太不可思议了。”
“不可思议。”我附和着。她似乎有些生气。她不耐烦地拨开了她的黑色卷发——我猜她本来希望能听到一些更有助于她编个好故事来散播的内容的。
星期五最糟糕的部分在于，尽管我早就知道他不会在那里的，我还是满心期待着。当我和杰西卡还有迈克一起走向自助餐厅的时候，我没法让自己别去看他的桌子。罗莎莉，爱丽丝和贾斯帕正坐在桌子旁，三个脑袋凑到一起聊着天。当我意识到，我不知道要等多久才能再见到他时，我茫然无措地任凭自己被卷入忧郁的深渊之中。
在我通常所坐的桌子旁，每个人都在谈论着我们第二天的计划。迈克又活跃了起来，信誓旦旦地支持着那位保证明天一定会放晴的本地天气预报员。我向来只相信眼见为实。但今天确实变暖和了——差不多有六十华氏度。或许这次远足不会变成一个全然的悲剧。
午餐的时候，我从劳伦那里截获了好几个充满敌意的眼神，但直到我们一起走出屋子，我才明白发生了什么事。我走在她后面，离她光滑发亮的银发只有一英尺的距离，而她显然没有注意到我。
“……不明白为什么贝拉”——她轻蔑地笑着，提到了我的名字——“不从现在开始就跟卡伦一家坐在一起。”
我听到她在和迈克窃窃私语着。我之前从没注意到她的鼻音是那么的讨厌，而我也被她话里的恶意吓了一跳。我跟她一点儿都不熟，肯定还没有熟到她会讨厌我的地步——或者，事实确实如我想的那样。“她是我的朋友，她和我们坐在一起。”迈克忠诚地低声回敬道，但多多少少是出于领土意识。我停下来，让杰西和安吉拉走到我前面。我不想再听下去了。
那天晚上吃晚餐的时候，查理似乎对我早上的拉普什之旅很热心。我想他是在为周末时总把我一个人留在家而感到内疚，但这是他多少年来养成的习惯，一时半会很难改过来。当然，他知道一起去的所有孩子的名字，还有他们的父母的名字，也许，还有他们祖父母的名字。他似乎很赞同这个计划。我有点想知道他会不会赞同我和爱德华?卡伦一起开车去西雅图的计划。但我不打算告诉他。
“爸爸，你知不知道一个叫山羊岩，或者类似这样的地方？我想它是在雷尼尔山的南部。”我若无其事地问道。
“知道——怎么了？”
我耸耸肩。“有些孩子在讨论着去那里野营。”
“那可不是个野营的好地方。”他听起来很吃惊。“有太多熊了。人们通常在狩猎季节的时候才会去那里。”
“哦，”我低声说道。“也许我把名字记错了。”
我差点睡过头，但一种不同寻常的光亮让我醒了过来。我睁开眼睛，看到一道明黄色的光正从我的窗外照射进来。我简直不敢相信自己的眼睛。我冲到窗前看个究竟，然后确定，那确实是太阳。虽然它不在天空中它通常应该在的地方——太低了——而且显得太远了，它本应该更近一些的。但它是货真价实的太阳。地平线上镶嵌了一圈云朵，但在天空正中，一大块的蓝色清晰可见。我在窗前徘徊着，尽可能多待一会儿，生怕我一离开那片蓝色就又消失不见了。
牛顿家的奥林匹克旅行用品商店就在镇子的北边。我见过这家商店，但我从没停下来过——我对适用于长时间待在户外的设备需求不大。在停车场，我认出了迈克的雪佛兰巨无霸越野车和泰勒的丰田花冠。当我把车停到他们的车旁时，我看到了站在巨无霸前面的那帮人。埃里克在那里，跟两个和我一起上过课的男生在一块儿。我很确定他们的名字是本和科纳。杰西也在那里，站在安吉拉和劳伦中间。另外三个女孩和她们站在一起，我记得我周五时曾摔在了其中一个女孩身上。当我走下卡车的时候，那个女孩轻蔑地看了我一眼，低声跟劳伦说了些什么。劳伦甩开像玉米穗一样的头发，轻蔑地看着我。
因此，这将成为这些日子的一部分。
至少迈克很高兴见到我。
“你来啦！”他高兴地喊道。“我说过今天会放晴的，对吧？”
“我告诉过你我会来的。”我提醒他。
“我们只要再等一下李和萨曼塔……除非你还邀请了别人。”迈克补充道。
“没有。”我稍稍撒了个谎，希望不会被抓个正着。但我同样期待着有奇迹发生，期待着爱德华出现在这里。
迈克看上去很满意。
“你要坐我的车吗？我们开这辆还有李的妈妈的迷你货车。”
“当然是坐你的车。”
他喜滋滋地笑了起来。让迈克开心实在是件很容易的事。
“你可以带上鸟枪”他保证道。我藏起了自己的苦恼。同时让迈克和杰西卡高兴可就不太容易了。我能看见杰西卡正怒视着我们。
但是深得我心的是，人数解决了问题。李多带了两个人，忽然间每个座位都派上了用场。我成功地把杰西安排进了我和迈克之中，三个人一起坐在了巨无霸的前排。迈克本来会更高兴些的，但至少杰西卡是消停了。
从福克斯到拉普什只有十五英里，繁茂浓绿的森林几乎一路裹着公路向前绵延着，宽广的quillayute河蜿蜒着在林中出现了两次。（似乎是印第安人土语，不敢乱翻）我很高兴我坐在了靠窗的位置。我们把窗摇下来——这辆巨无霸塞了九个人，会让人得幽闭恐惧症的——我试图吸收尽可能多的阳光。
当我还在福克斯过暑假的时候，我和查理一起去过很多次拉普什周围的海滩。所以那片一英里长的新月形的第一湾对我来说毫不陌生。那里依然美极了。即使是在阳光下，海水依然是暗灰色的，覆盖着雪白的泡沫，击打着灰色的布满岩礁的海岸。岛屿耸立在港湾里钢铸般平静的海面上，四面都是悬崖绝壁，怪石嶙峋，顶上长满了险峻高大的杉树。沙滩上只有沿着海边的窄窄一片是货真价实的沙子，沙地后逐渐过渡为成千上万的巨大的平滑的礁石。远远看过去，所有的礁石都是一模一样的灰色。只有当走近的时候你才会发现，每块石头下面的荫凉处都是不同的颜色：棕橙色，海绿色，淡紫色，蓝灰色，暗金色。海岸线上点缀着巨大的浮木，它们被海水漂成了骨白色，有些堆叠在森林的边缘，有些孤零零的躺在海滩上，刚好处在海浪拍打不到的地方。（隐约记得接力版这里翻成了到处堆满了骨架。。。我疯了。。。）
凛冽的风呼啸着掠过海浪，冷冷的，带着些许咸味。鹈鹕漂浮在浪头上，成群的海鸥和一只长鹰在它们头上盘旋着。云层依然围在天边，威胁着随时都可能侵袭过来，但到目前为止太阳依然勇敢地从那圈蓝天里照射进来。
“我告诉过你我会来的。”我提醒他。
“我们只要再等一下李和萨曼塔……除非你还邀请了别人。”迈克补充道。
“没有。”我稍稍撒了个谎，希望不会被抓个正着。但我同样期待着有奇迹发生，期待着爱德华出现在这里。
迈克看上去很满意。
“你要坐我的车吗？我们开这辆还有李的妈妈的迷你货车。”
“当然是坐你的车。”
他喜滋滋地笑了起来。让迈克开心实在是件很容易的事。
“你可以坐到副驾驶座上。”他保证道。我藏起了自己的苦恼。同时让迈克和杰西卡高兴可不简单。我能看见杰西卡正怒视着我们
但是深得我心的是，人数解决了问题。李多带了两个人，忽然间每个座位都派上了用场。我成功地让杰西卡插进了我和迈克之中，三个人一起坐在了巨无霸的前排。迈克本来会更高兴些的，但至少杰西卡是消停了。
从福克斯到拉普什只有十五英里，繁茂浓绿的森林几乎一路裹着公路向前绵延着，宽广的quillayute河蜿蜒着在林中出现了两次。（似乎是印第安人土语，不敢乱翻）我很高兴我坐在了靠窗的位置。我们把窗摇下来——这辆巨无霸塞了九个人，会让人得幽闭恐惧症的——我试图吸收尽可能多的阳光。
当我还在福克斯过暑假的时候，我和查理一起去过很多次拉普什周围的海滩。所以那片一英里长的新月形的第一湾对我来说毫不陌生。那里依然美极了。即使是在阳光下，海水依然是暗灰色的，覆盖着雪白的泡沫，击打着灰色的布满岩礁的海岸。岛屿耸立在港湾里钢铸般平静的海面上，四面都是悬崖绝壁，怪石嶙峋，顶上长满了险峻高大的杉树。沙滩上只有沿着海边的窄窄一片是货真价实的沙子，沙地后逐渐过渡为成千上万的巨大的平滑的礁石。远远看过去，所有的礁石都是一模一样的灰色。只有当走近的时候你才会发现，每块石头下面的荫凉处都是不同的颜色：棕橙色，海绿色，淡紫色，蓝灰色，暗金色。海岸线上点缀着巨大的浮木，它们被海水漂成了骨白色，有些堆叠在森林的边缘，有些孤零零的躺在海滩上，刚好处在海浪拍打不到的地方。（隐约记得接力版这里翻成了到处堆满了骨架。。。我疯了。。。）
凛冽的风呼啸着掠过海浪，冷冷的，带着些许咸味。鹈鹕漂浮在浪头上，成群的海鸥和一只长鹰在它们头上盘旋着。云层依然围在天边，威胁着随时都可能侵袭过来，但到目前为止太阳依然勇敢地从那圈蓝天里照射进来。
我们循路走下沙滩，迈克在前头领路，把我们带向一圈圆浮木。显然，这圈浮木之前也曾为像我们这样的成群结队的旅人服务过。那里有个摆得恰到好处的篝火堆，上面铺满了黑色的灰烬。埃里克和另一个男孩——我想他的名字是本——从树林边缘干燥的木头堆里收集了不少破碎的浮木块，然后很快在那些经年累月的灰烬上垒起了一个摇摇晃晃的木架。
“你见过浮木篝火吗？”迈克问我。我坐在其中一张骨白色的长凳上，别的女孩都聚在一起，兴奋地说着闲话，坐在了我的另一边。迈克跪在篝火旁，正在用打火机点燃其中一根比较细的干枝。
“没有。”我说，看着他把那个熊熊燃烧着的细枝小心地放到那堆摇摇晃晃的木架上。
“那你一定会喜欢这个的——看它的颜色。”他点燃了另一根树枝，并排着放到刚才那根树枝旁。火焰开始迅速地吞没着干燥的木块。
“那是蓝色的！”我惊讶地说。
“因为有盐。很漂亮，对吧？”他又点燃了一片木屑，放到木架上火还没烧到的地方，然后过来坐到我旁边。谢天谢地，杰西坐在他的另一边。她转向他，努力吸引他的注意力。我看着那堆古怪的蓝绿色火焰冲着天空劈啪作响。
我们漫无边际地闲聊了半个小时后，有几个男孩想到潮汐池周围走走。这实在让人进退两难。一方面，我喜欢潮汐池。当我还是个孩子的时候，就开始对它们着迷了。从前当我到福克斯来的时候，它们是我唯一盼望着的事物。另一方面，我也常常掉进潮汐池里。当你只有七岁，和爸爸在一起的时候，这没什么大不了的。但这让我想起了爱德华的请求——别让我自己掉进海里。
是劳伦促使我最终作出了决定。她不想去远足，而且她显然穿着不适合徒步旅行的鞋子。除了安吉拉和杰西卡，大部分女孩都决定也留在沙滩上。我一直等到泰勒和埃里克被委托留下来陪她们以后，才默默地加入了去远足的那一组。当迈克看到我加入的时候，他给了我一个大大的笑脸。
这次远足不算太漫长，虽然我一向讨厌待在林子里，因为看不到天空。森林里的绿光和少年人的笑声有一种古怪的不协调感，这里太阴森了，有一种不祥的气氛，跟我周围的轻松的调笑一点儿也不搭调。我不得不留神看着自己踏下的每一步，提防着底下的树根和顶上的树枝，很快被落在了后头。最终，我冲出了森林里翡翠色的藩篱，重新看见了布满岩礁的海岸。正是落潮时分，一条潮汐河涌动着从我们面前流过，奔向大海。沿着布满砾石的海岸上，一湾湾浅浅的水池从未干涸过，总是盈满了生机。
我非常谨慎，尽量离这些小海池远些。别的人就大胆多了，他们纵身跳过一块块礁石，准确地落在石头边上。在其中一个最大的潮汐池边上，我发现了一块看上去非常牢固的石头，便小心翼翼地坐到那里，被我脚边的天然鱼缸迷住了。一簇簇绚丽多彩的海葵在水流里永不止息地摇曳生姿，海星一动不动地粘在石头上和石缝里。一条小小的长满了白色斑纹的黑鳗鱼穿梭在绿意盎然的水草间，等着大海的归来。我完全沉浸在其中，只剩下脑海里的一小部分还在想着爱德华现在在做什么，试图幻想着如果他正在这里和我一起，他会说些什么。
男孩们最终觉得饿了，我僵直地站起来，跟着他们回去。这次我试图在穿越林子的时候跟紧些，所以很自然地，我摔倒了好几次。我的手腕上留下了一些浅浅的擦伤，我的牛仔裤的膝部被染成了绿色，但情况本可以更糟的。
当我们回到第一湾的时候，被我们留下来的那群人变多了。当我们走近些的时候，我们能看到新来者发亮的直发和红铜色的肌肤，他们是一群来自保留地的青少年，到这里来交朋友的。
他们已经开始分发食物了，当我们一个个走进浮木圈的时候，埃里克逐个介绍着我们的名字，男孩们却急不可耐地要求着自己那份食物。安吉拉和我是最后到的，当埃里克说出我们的名字时，我注意到一个坐在篝火旁的石头上，年纪比我小一些的男孩感兴趣地抬头看了过来。我坐到安吉拉身旁，迈克给我们拿来了三明治，还有一排苏打水任我们挑选。这时那群访客里看上去最年长的男孩开始喋喋不休地介绍起和他一起来的另外七个人的名字。我唯一能听进去的是其中一个女孩也叫杰西卡，而那个注意过我的男孩名叫雅克布。
和安吉拉坐在一起是一件让人放松的事，她是那种能给周围的人休息的人——她不认为需要用闲聊来填满每一段沉默。当我们吃东西的时候，她让我不受干扰地自由地思索着。我在想着，在福克斯度过的时光是那么的支离破碎，有时候时间过得飞快，模糊了记忆中的一切，只有几幅简单的画面凸显出来，比别的画面显得更清晰些。然而，别的一些时候，每一秒都显得那么的重要，深深地烙在了我的心上。我清楚地知道是什么导致了不同，但这更让我感到困扰。
在我们吃午饭的时候，云层开始向前推移，偷偷地蚕食着蓝天，随时都有可能冲到太阳跟前，在海滩上留下长长的阴影，让海浪变得一片漆黑。他们吃完东西以后，开始三三两两地散开。有些走下海滩走到海浪的边缘，试着跃过波涛起伏的海面跳到岩礁上。另一些人聚拢在一起，准备再来一次潮汐池远征。迈克——杰西卡像影子一样跟着他——起身向村里的一个商店走去。几个本地的孩子跟他们一起去。别的孩子则加入到远足中去。等到他们都七零八落地走光了的时候，我独自坐在我的那根圆浮木，劳伦和泰勒占据了那个不知是谁想着带来的随身听。三个来自保留区的青少年围着篝火坐着，包括那个名叫雅克布的男孩，还有那个最年长的表现得像个发言人一样的男孩。
过了几分钟，安吉拉和那帮远足的人一起走了，雅克布漫步过来，坐到了我身边她的位置上。他看上去只有十四岁，或者十五岁，一头光滑平直的黑发被拢到头后用橡胶圈束着放在颈背上。他的肌肤很美丽，像丝绸一样光滑，是赤褐色的。他的眼睛很黑，深深地嵌在他高高的颧骨上。他的下巴依然留着一点婴儿肥的痕迹。总的说来，是一张相当俊美的脸。但是，我对他长相的良好印象被他说出口的第一句话给毁了。
“你是伊莎贝拉?史温，对吧？”
就好像是到学校的第一天又历史重演了一样。
“贝拉。”我叹息道。
“我是雅克布?布莱克。”他友好地伸出了手。“你买下了我的车。”
“哦。”我如释重负地说着，握了握他光滑的手。“你是比利的儿子，我应该记得你的。”
“不，我是家里最小的孩子——你可能还记得我的姐姐们。”
“蕾切尔和丽贝卡。”我立刻想起来了。我到这里的时候，查理和比利常常把我们丢在一起，好让我们在他们钓鱼的时候忙个不停。我们都太害羞了，所以没能更进一步成为朋友。当然，当我十一岁的时候，我终于把我的怒火发作了出来，终结了钓鱼之旅。
“她们在这儿吗？”我审视着海边的那群女孩，想知道我现在还能不能把她们认出来。
“不，”雅克布摇着头说道。“蕾切尔拿到了一份奖学金，到华盛顿州念书去了。瑞贝卡和一个萨摩亚冲浪运动员结了婚——她现在住在夏威夷。”
“结婚，哇哦。”我大吃一惊。这对双胞胎只比我大一年多一点而已啊。（哼哼哼，人不能太铁齿。）
“那么，你觉得那辆卡车怎么样？”他问道。
“我很喜欢，它跑得好极了。”
“是的，但真的太慢了。”他大笑起来。“查理把它买下来的时候我简直如释重负，当我们家拥有这样一辆出色的好车时，我爸是不会让我再装配一辆车的。”
“它没那么慢。”我伉仪道。
“你试过开到时速六十英里以上吗？”
“没有。”我承认。
“很好，千万别这样做。”他龇牙咧嘴地笑了起来。
我不禁向他露齿一笑。“在事故里它表现得相当好。”我为自己的卡车辩护道。
“我认为就算是一辆坦_克也摧毁不了这个老怪物。”他又一次大笑起来，赞同道。
“那么，你会组装车子？”我对此印象深刻，于是问道。
“那得是我有空的时候，而且只是局部装配。你不会碰巧知道我能上哪儿弄一个1986年产的大众兔子的制动缸吧？”他打趣地补充道。他有着亲切沙哑的声线。
“抱歉，”我大笑起来。“我最近没见过这种东西，不过我会替你留意的。”就好像我知道那是什么东西一样。他实在是个容易攀谈的人。
灿烂的笑容在他脸上一闪而过，他看着我的眼神，显然是我正在学会辨别的那种。我不是唯一一个注意到这一点的人。
“你认识贝拉，雅克布？”劳伦从篝火那边发问道，我想她说话的腔调可以称得上是粗野无礼了。
“可以这么说，从我出生时起，我们就相识了。”他大笑着说，又一次冲着我微笑。
“真棒。”她的声音听起来一点儿也不像是觉得这很棒的样子，她暗淡无光的死鱼眼眯缝起来。
“贝拉，”她一边唤着我的名字，一边仔细地盯着我的脸看。“我刚才还在和泰勒说着，今天卡伦家没有一个人来实在是太糟了。没有人想要邀请他们吗？”她关切的表情看上去很假。
“你是指卡莱尔?卡伦医生一家吗？”我还没来得及对劳伦的挑衅进行反击，那个高大的年长的男孩忽然开口问道。他真的更接近于一个成年男子而不是男孩，他的声音非常地低沉。
“是的，你认识他们？”她带着几份优越感问道，半路转过头去看着他。
“卡伦家的人不会来这里的。”他的语气里带着这个话题到此为止的意味，毫不理睬她的问题。
泰勒试图夺回她的注意，他问了劳伦对他手上的一张cd的意见。她被分了神，不再继续这个话题了。
我注视着那个声音低沉的男孩，对他所说的话震惊不已。但他已经移开了视线，凝视着我们身后的黑暗的森林。他说卡伦家的人不会来这里，但他的语气暗示了更多的信息——他们不被认可，他们是被禁止的存在。他的态度给我留下了一个奇怪的印象，我试着不去注意这一点，但没有成功。
雅克布打断了我的沉思。“那么，福克斯已经让你发狂了吗？”
“哦，我得说这是一种保守的描述。”我做了个鬼脸。他心领神会地咧嘴一笑。
我依然反复思索着那个针对卡伦一家的简短评论，然后灵光一闪。这实在是个愚蠢的计划，但我想不出更好的办法了。我衷心希望年轻的雅克布对应付女孩子还没有太多的经验，这样他就不会看穿我显然是出于同情的，另有企图的调情了。
“你想和我一起去沙滩上走走吗？”我问道，试图模仿爱德华做过的那样，从眼睫毛下往上看。我当然知道，自己不可能做到和爱德华所做的相同的效果，但雅克布已经足够心甘情愿地跳起来了。
当我们一路向北，穿过多孔的礁石向浮木海堤走去的时候，云层最终铺满了天空，让海水变得黑暗起来，气温也下降了。我把手深深地揣进我夹克衫的口袋里。
“那么，你，满十六了吗？”我问道，学着我在电视上看过的那些女孩的样子眨巴着眼睛，尽量不让自己看起来像个傻瓜。
“我刚满十五岁。”他承认道，显然对我的奉承很是满意。
“真的？”我脸上堆满了虚伪的惊讶。“我还以为你的年纪会更大些。”
“就我的年纪而言，我的个子比较高。”他解释道。
“你常去福克斯吗？”我狡猾地问道，就好像我在期盼着一个肯定的回答一样。我觉得自己的声音听起来像个白痴一样。我很害怕他最终会嫌恶我，指责我的虚情假意。但他还是很高兴。
“不太常去。”他皱着眉承认道。“但等我把我的车弄好以后，我就能想去就去了——等我拿到驾照以后。”他稍微修正了一下。
“刚刚和劳伦说话的那个男孩是谁？他似乎老了些，不像是跟我们一起玩的年纪。”我刻意地把自己归类为年轻人，试图更明白地表示出我更喜欢雅克布。
“那是山姆——他十九岁了。”他告诉我。
“为什么他要那样说医生一家呢？”我一脸天真地问。
“卡伦一家？哦，他们不被允许来保留区。”他看向别处，望着远处的詹姆士岛。但他已经证实了我所认为的自己从山姆的语气里听出的东西。
“为什么不能呢？”
他回过头看着我，咬住了唇。“噢，我不应该说这些的。”
“哦，我不会告诉任何人的，我只是有点好奇而已。”我试图让自己的笑容显得更诱人些，但想着自己是不是做得有些过火了。
但他向我微笑着，显然已经上钩了。然后他挑起一侧眉头，声音变得比之前更为沙哑了。
“你喜欢听惊悚故事吗？”他用一种不祥的语气问道。
“我太喜欢了。”我热切地说着，竭力用眼神鼓励着他。
雅克布溜达着向旁边的一根浮木走去。这根浮木的根须张牙舞爪地伸展着，像是一只巨大的苍白的蜘蛛的无数只细腿。他轻巧地跳到其中一根扭曲的树根上坐下来，我坐在他的下方，坐到了树干上。他俯视着岩礁，一抹笑意在他宽厚的唇边上徘徊着。我看得出他正在努力组织语言。我专注地让自己的眼睛流露出兴致勃勃的神情。
“你听说过我们的古老故事吗？我是指，关于我们的来源——奎鲁特族？”他开始了。
“没有。”我承认道。
“嗯，这里面有很多传说，其中有些的内容可以追溯到大洪水时期——按照推测，古代的奎鲁特族人把他们的独木舟绑在了山上最高的一棵树的树顶，像诺亚方舟一样幸存了下来。”他微笑着，向我表明了他并不太相信这些历史。“另一个传说则声称我们是狼的后裔——现在这些狼依然是我们的兄弟。捕杀狼是违背部落法律的行为。”
“然后是关于冷族的故事。”他的声音压得更低了。（the cold one，我忘了中文版是怎么翻了。。。直接自己掰一个）
“冷族？”我问道，不再掩饰自己的阴谋了。
“是的。关于冷族的故事和狼的传说一样古老，有些则更近些。根据传说的内容，我的曾祖父曾经认识他们中的一些人。他和他们订下了条约，让他们远离我们的土地。”他转了转眼睛。
“你的曾祖父？”我鼓励着他说下去。
“他是部落的长老，和我爸爸一样。你知道，冷族和狼是天生的死敌——嗯，好吧，不是普通的狼，而是那些可以化成人形的狼，比方说我们的祖先。你可以称他们为狼人。”
“狼人会有敌人吗？”
“只有一个。”
我诚恳地看着他，希望能掩饰住自己不安，让他理解为钦佩。
“所以，你看，”雅克布继续说道。“冷族向来是我们的敌人。但在我曾祖父的时候，我们的领地里来了一群不太一样的冷族。他们不像别的冷族一样狩猎——他们也不会威胁到我们的部族。所以我的曾祖父和他们签下了休战协定。只要他们保证离我们的领土远远的，我们就不拆穿他们苍白的真面目。”他向我眨着眼睛。
“如果他们并不危险，那为什么……？”我试图理解他的话，但努力不让他发现我在认真地思考着他的幽灵故事。
“人类和冷族靠得太近总是有风险的，即使他们像这个小团体一样已经文明开化了。你永远不能知道他们什么时候会忍耐不住饥饿。”他故意让自己的口吻里带上了浓浓的恐吓的味道。
“你说的‘文明开化’是什么意思？”
“他们声称他们不会狩猎人类。以此类推，他们大概能在某种程度上用捕食动物来替代。”
我试图让自己的声音显得漫不经心些：“那这跟卡伦一家有什么关系呢？他们很像你的曾祖父所遇到的那群冷族吗？”
“不是的。”他故意顿了顿。“他们是同一群人。”
他一定认为，我脸上恐惧的表情纯粹是被他的故事吓出来的。他开心地笑了，然后继续说道。
“现在他们的人数增加了，又增加了一个新来的女性和一个新来的男性，但剩下的还是原来那帮人。在我曾祖父的时代，他们就已经听说过那个领导者，卡莱尔。他来过这里，然后在你们的人到达以前就走了。”他抗拒地一笑。
“他们究竟是什么？”我最终问道。“冷族到底是什么？”
他阴郁地笑了。
“饮血者。”他用冷漠的语气答道。“你们的人称他们为吸血鬼。”
在他回答以后，我看向起伏不定的海面，不敢肯定我的表情是否已经泄露了一切。
“你浑身都起了鸡皮疙瘩。”他兴高采烈地大笑着。
“你是个很棒的说故事的人。”我称赞他，依然盯着阵阵浪涛。
“不过，确实是相当疯狂的内容，不是吗？难怪我爸不让我们跟任何人说这些。”
我依然没法控制自己的表情，只好不去看他。“别担心，我不会出卖你的。”
“我想，我刚刚违背了条约。”他大笑起来。（一语成谶）
“我会把它带进坟墓的。”我保证道，然后哆嗦起来。
“不过，说真的，什么都别跟查理说。当他听说我们中的一些人自从卡伦医生开始在医院里工作以后就再也没去过医院的时候，他对我爸大发雷霆。”
“我不会说的，当然不会。”
“那么，你会觉得我们是一群迷信的土著还是别的什么吗？”他开玩笑地问道，却有些许担心的意味。我始终没把视线从海上移开。
我回过头，尽可能正常地冲他一笑。
“不会。但我觉得你很擅长说惊悚故事。我还在起鸡皮疙瘩，看见了吗？”我抬起我的胳膊。
“好极了。”他笑了起来。
然后，海滩上的碎石发出的喀拉喀拉声提醒我们有人来了。我们同时猛地回过头去，看见迈克和杰西卡在十五码外的地方，向我们走来。
“原来你在这里，贝拉。”迈克如释重负地喊道，把手举过头顶用力地挥舞着。
“那是你的男朋友吗？”雅克布留意到了迈克的语气带着嫉妒的味道，于是问道。我很惊讶，原来这是那么的明显。
“不是，显然不是。”我耳语道。我对雅克布充满了感激之情，想要让他尽可能更高兴些。我转过脸去不再看迈克，向他眨了眨眼睛。他笑了，我笨拙的调情让他很是高兴。
“那等我拿到驾照以后……”他开口说道。
“你一定要来福克斯看我。我们得找时间聚一下。”当我说这些的时候，我感到一阵内疚，知道自己纯粹是在利用他。但我真的很喜爱雅克布，他是那种很容易和我成为朋友的人。
现在迈克已经走到我们跟前了，把杰西卡落在了几步之外。我能看出他的眼睛正在估量着雅克布，看上去对他明摆着的年幼感到很满意。
“你上哪儿去了？”他问道，尽管答案就摆在他面前。
“雅克布刚刚和我讲了几个当地的故事，”我主动说道。“相当地有趣。”
我温和地向雅克布笑了笑，他冲我眨了眨眼睛。
“嗯，”迈克顿了顿，在看到我们的友谊之后，他重新评估了情况。“我们正在收拾东西——看上去快要下雨了。”
我们都抬起头，看着阴森森的天际。看起来确实是要下雨的样子。
“好吧。”我跳下来。“我来了。”
“很高兴再次见到你。”雅克布说道，我敢说他是在小小地奚落了一下迈克。
“我确实很开心。下次查理来看比利的时候，我也会过来的。”我保证道。
他咧开大嘴，开心地笑了。“那一定很棒。”
“还有，谢谢。”我真挚地补充道。
当我们踩着碎石向停车场走去的时候，我拉上了兜帽。几滴雨水开始落下来，打在石块上，染出了一个个小黑点。我们走到巨无霸那里的时候，别的人已经把所有的东西都放上车了。我宣称自己已经坐过副驾驶座了，这次便爬进后座，跟安吉拉和泰勒坐在一块儿。安吉拉只是盯着窗外，看着越下越大的暴雨。劳伦从中座扭过头来，占据着泰勒的注意力。所以我可以单纯地把头靠在座位上，闭上双眼，努力不再去想任何东西。
