Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Rabbit Meets The Magic Stick

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 19:

The school day on Tuesday progressed without incident. Bella and Paul headed back to the cabin because they wanted a break from all of the current strife while Jacob decided to stay after school to hang out with everyone. He loved his new school and the new kids.

“Where are Justin and Maile today?” Linda asked at the Dance Committee meeting.

“They had a ton of homework so they decided to skip the meeting. They said they’re still going to help, though.” Well, they didn’t really, but Jacob didn’t want to disappoint Linda.

“Oh, that was so nice of them. Tomorrow is going to be a big shopping day after school. We’re going to have to drive to PA for supplies.”

“Uh, PA?” Jacob asked. He knew perfectly well that PA stood for Port Angeles, but he just wanted to talk to this girl longer. She was so nice, so pretty. There weren’t girls this nice in the future except for maybe Bella. Linda was so different from Bella. He liked Linda in a non-sister kind of way; whereas Bella was like the cool and awesome big sister that he’d always wanted because his two, real sisters were like evil witches put on this earth for the sole purpose of making his life miserable.

“Sorry, I forgot you’re not from here. PA stands for Port Angeles-that’s where we’re going for supplies. You should bring some money with you because we usually just stop there for dinner.”

“Sure, sure.” He’d have to ask his grandpa for some cash for his outing.

The other kids showed up at the meeting, putting his alone time with Linda at an end. Plans were quickly finalized and the group broke up for the afternoon, leaving Jacob to his thoughts. Would it be wrong to ask her out on a date? Then again, how was he supposed to even come up with money for a date? He had no idea what to do. He decided to run back to the cabin. Paul had told him that he could get there in minutes if he ran at what he called wolf speed. He walked into the woods, then abruptly changed his plans, and decided to run to La Push instead. His thinking was always clearer in familiar surroundings.

Meanwhile…

Paul’s gaze kept falling upon Bella. She insisted on cooking dinner, even if she didn’t need to. She was so sensitive and caring. She worried about him, worried about Jacob. She worried about everyone really-like how she stood up for Tiffany Call or how she was the first to rush into help the babies in the drug den.

She was strong. He liked how she kicked Josh Uley’s ass. He deserved a good ass-kicking.

She was beautiful, too. Whenever she smiled, her eyes lit up like the sun, and took his breath away. He liked talking to her. She always listened and never gave advice that wasn’t warranted.

Paul liked her. She was the kind of girl that a guy could fall in love with. She was the kind of girl he could love. Aw, hell, whom was he kidding? He was in love with her already, and therein lay the problem. He was a wolf. A wolf had the possibility of imprinting. He could hurt her irrevocably if he ever imprinted. Could he do that to her? Was love a risk worth taking?

He decided to take a quick shower in order to clear his mind. He was thinking too much on this. He needed to concentrate on getting back to the future-not on finding a girlfriend.

As soon as the bathroom door closed, Bella went back to thinking. She was in trouble. Big trouble. She was in love with Paul-more so than she ever was with Nick or Edward. The problem was that Paul was unavailable. He was a shape-shifting wolf and they had mates, just like vampire had mates. If she dated Paul and he met his mate, she would die from a broken heart. She simply couldn’t go through another broken heart again. She just couldn’t, it wasn’t worth the risk, especially now that she was back to living her life.

Oh, why? Why did this sort of thing happen to her? Why couldn’t she meet a nice, normal boy who didn’t happen to be a supernatural creature?

No, she couldn’t risk the loss of Paul; therefore, she wouldn’t get involved with him. He was strictly off limits.

With her decision made, she went back to cooking dinner. She was saved from contemplating her dilemma more when Aunt Molly showed up to the cabin looking frazzled.

“Young lady, I have been going crazy looking for you and your friends.” She saw that Bella was cooking and asked, “What on earth are you doing?”

“I’m making dinner. Why?”

“Why are you making dinner?”

“So, we can eat.”

“Why didn’t you say anything if you were hungry?”

“Well, you work. We live at the cabin for now, and it really isn’t your job to cook for us.”

“Yes, but…” Molly stopped herself. “What are you making?”

“It’s just about done. It’s a blue cheese wedge salad and some salmon with a side of sautéed spinach.”

“No rice?”

“No, we’ve been eating too many carbs. I promised Jake I’d cook healthy.”

“He’s very concerned with healthy eating, isn’t he?”

“Well, he should be. His father lost use of his legs due to uncontrolled diabetes and Jake is his main caretaker. It’s bad enough that the guy swills more beer than water and won’t remember to take his medications unless his son reminds him. Anyway, Jake does his best to cook healthy foods, and so do I.”

“I’ve heard you mention carbs before. What do you mean by carbs?”

“Carbs stand for carbohydrates. There are good carbs and bad carbs. Good carbs are things like leafy greens, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, brown rice, and whole grains. Bad carbs are things like potatoes, white bread, white rice, sugar, and soda. Bad carbs cause a drastic spike in insulin resulting in lack of energy. The empty calories in bad carbs store itself as fat. Carbohydrates are important to the body, but just the right kind.”

“Oh, my. I never knew that.”

“It’s understandable. It’s information that scientists discover in the future. It’s also important to know that I’m not strict about practicing what I preach like Jake is. He has to be because he’s his father’s primary caregiver, but most of us do things in moderation. For example, I love fries and mashed potatoes, but I won’t have them all the time. If I have spaghetti, I’ll have regular pasta instead of the healthy stuff because I can’t stomach whole wheat pasta. I like brown rice and I don’t mind whole wheat bread, though. A couple of times a week, I make dessert and Jake usually comes over to my house for it because he won’t keep it in his house.”

“Your generation is much more conscientious about health than mine.”

“I suppose so, but I think I’m more focused on it because of my mother and because of Jacob. I feel bad for him. Billy Black isn’t helpless. He just chooses to be. He has use of his arms and his brain. For example, his arms seem to move enough to be able to go fishing with my father. It’s like he stopped living after Aunt Sarah died in a car accident. I don’t think Jacob should be responsible for his father at the expense of stunting his own growth, which it is already.” She shrugged her shoulders and got back to the subject of health. “Also, regular exercise is extremely important to keep your body and mind healthy. Speaking of which, when I get back, I have to start going to the gym. No more pining for Edward and Nick. I am done with all of that. It’s time for me to start living for me again,” she affirmed out loud. “It’s so funny, I took much better care of myself in Arizona, before I became involved with boys. I think I’ll take a hiatus from relationships-maybe for my whole life. They’re too complex.”

“Alright, Bella. This isn’t about Jacob or health. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Like I said, it’s too complicated.”

“Fine. Then let me tell you about complicated. Complicated is when you’re a white woman in love with a Quileute man at a time when it was frowned upon. It’s still frowned upon, to this day, and it’s 1987. We suffered discrimination from everyone: my parents, his parents, all of Forks and La Push. There were businesses that would not serve us because we were a mixed couple. They claimed it was against the Bible. Even our church wouldn’t accept us. We were stubborn, though, and eventually got married. The naysayers were all proven wrong, and it has been worth all of the strife. Love isn’t sweet words, romance, and being swept away. Love is hard work. It takes hard work to love someone, but it’s worth every minute of it.” She patted her hand. “Now, make me a plate of food. The smell is so tantalizing that I think I’ll self-combust if I don’t eat.”

With tears in her eyes, Bella hugged her Aunt Molly, who squeezed her tightly and stroked her hair. “It stinks to be a teenager. Take it from me, I know. It’ll get better, honey, I know it will.” She took a good look at her niece. “Now, will you let me perm your hair?”

“No way.”

She put together three plates and laid them out on the table. Paul came out of the bathroom, freshly showered, clad only in a pair of pants. He noticed Aunt Molly and said, “I should go and put a shirt on.”

“Oh, no, honey. You’re fine just the way you are. We Swans don’t hold with all that formal nonsense. Just relax.” She winked at Bella who was also enjoying the sight of his chiseled, bare chest. “Well, come on, sit down and eat, young man. The food is getting cold.”

They enjoyed a leisurely meal together, Aunt Molly and Paul both praising Bella for her stellar culinary skills, which she claimed she had to learn because neither of her parents could cook. According to her, it was a survival skill. They thought it was a special talent.