Defective - Jacob Black {1}

Chapter 16: Hopelessness

Jesse talking to me didn't last long, only for them few moments to be exact. I asked what happened when he got in and he just said he had it covered. I wasn't sure how he had it covered because he's human but we'd see.

Another bad thing happened over the past few days; Quil had been avoiding school, just like Embry did but I was hoping he was just ill. He'd been ill quite a lot over the years and caught colds and the flu easily so I was hoping that was it.

This week I had decided to give Ryan more attention. We were still at our strange just before dating stage. Over the Christmas period we had only been on one more date and that was to a Christmas market in Port Angeles. It was very romantic and we did share a few more kisses. Around school he acted like we were a couple, showing me off to his jock friends which I didn't mind, but I made sure we kept the PDA to a minimum.

The obsession with Jake had to stop and the noticeable budding relationship between him and Bella was something that I couldn't stop. If I got in the middle of that I'd just be ruining their happiness and I couldn't do that to my best friend or Bella, she needed a little happiness right now. Jake had told me they were trying to find some kind of meadow that Bella had been to before, it was a challenge but they were having fun.

Bella had been joining in with her friends again at lunch and in class, she had even come up and spoke to me instead of isolating herself all the time. It was nice seeing how quickly Angela and Mike accepted her back into the group but Jess and Lauren were still uptight and sceptical.

It was one of those days where Ryan didn't want to leave my side. It was sweet despite the lack of alone time I got, he kept giving me compliments and offered to hold my books for me, I turned him down though, I was way more than capable now.

"So how's things with Jacob?" Ryan asked, leaning casually against the locker next to mine as I packed away my things. I had told Ryan that I wasn't spending as much time with Jake recently because of Bella.

"I'm still a bit jealous. She's stolen my best friend." I shrugged with an unsure laugh, it was weird talking about Jake with Ryan.

"Well you still have us, and your other friends, Ember and Quail." It's things like this that make me question why I'm getting involved with him again.

I sighed heavily in annoyance. "It's Embry and Quil." I hid my face in my locker, squeezing my eyes shut to stop the tears. "And Embry isn't our friend anymore." I took a deep breath to calm myself before I set my gaze back on Ryan.

"How comes?" Too many questions about personal life. I was getting stressed. All he knew about Jesse was that he'd become rebellious and joined the La Push Gang, crime fighters for the little people. I knew people from Forks took them as a joke and I didn't really know how to handle that kind of attention.

"He's followed in Jesse's footsteps I guess." I sighed again, rubbing my forehead to try and remove the images of Embry's retreating body from two weeks ago.

"Oh, that must suck." He was lost for words too. "Come here." Before I could respond he pulled me into his arms, kissing the top of my head as he hugged me. I rested my head against his chest, my arms wrapping around his waist as I enjoyed the moment. School was the only place I could pretend to be normal. "Bella's coming." He informed me quickly, our bodies breaking apart so I could turn to face her.

"Hey." She was actually smiling. I was in shock, what had Jacob done to her?

"Hey Bells, you seem cheery." I smiled at her as I leaned back against Ryan's chest.

"I am, do you wanna come see Face Punch tonight with a few friends, well my friends, plus Jake?" Face Punch? Yeah I liked action films but Face Punch seemed a bit extreme... Oh what the heck. "And you too Ryan!" She said enthusiastically and I inwardly cringed. Jake and Ryan together would not be good.