6. Friends

Chapter Synopsis

Bella and Jacob (well, okay, mostly Jacob) get right to work on the motorcycles, pulling them apart. They talk about Jacob, school and his friends — Quil and Embry, who show up, right on cue. Quil and Embry seem surprised to find a girl in the garage with Jacob and poke fun at him. The three boys start to talk about bikes, but since Bella lacks the Y chromosome, she spaces out.

When she finally leaves, she is sad (oh boy…) because she realizes she was enjoying herself (gasp!). Bella decides she’ll return tomorrow and go shopping with Jake for parts, and insists that she is still going to pay for everything. Bella is shocked to find that she is giggling on her way out, because it has been SO long since she laughed.

When she gets home, she tells Charlie about her day and he is super-stoked that she has a friend. Again, Bella goes on and on about how she is dreading sleeping because of the nothingness and nightmares, but, to her surprise, she doesn’t have nightmares!

In the morning, she heads out to the Black’s and it’s pouring rain. Jacob meets her outside with an umbrella (chivalry is not dead, folks!) and they head out to the junkyard and parts store to pick up what they need. The pair have fun sloshing around in the mud, and then drive two hours to the auto parts store. They chat, and Jacob says he thinks Quil likes her, to which Bella responds that Quil is too young. Jacob seems a bit miffed by this since he is the same age as Quil, but Bella explains that he seems older. They then start making up ages for each other based on stupid stuff like being able to balance a checkbook, cooking and cleaning, and putting together cars.

They go back to La Push and unload their parts. Bella discovers that Jacob has FASCINATING hand skills. It gets late, and Bella is just getting ready to leave when Charlie shows up. Jacob and Bella run out of the garage — holding hands (why, we don’t know) — and they discover that Harry Clearwater and his wife are there, too. So they all have a spaghetti dinner together on the lawn. Naturally. Bella finds herself having a bunch of fun and doesn’t want to leave (cue emo Bella), and decides that she will be back tomorrow.

Once home, Bella checks her e-mail and writes back to her mom, who has been getting really boring and straightforward e-mails from Bella since Eddie’s departure. Bella writes her mother a proper e-mail finally. 

That night, Bella cannot escape her nightmares. Though, the nightmare is different than usual. Sam Uley is there this time, but is really creepy because he doesn’t offer to help her find her way out of the nothingness that consumes her. 

The next morning, Bella goes to school and is alert (she has finally woken from her doom and gloom attitude), only to realize that everyone is ignoring her. At lunch, she sits at her normal table and starts to notice people; Lauren and Angela changed their hair (but Lauren is still a bitch), etc. etc. Angela shares a story about her and Ben (her bf). They were on a picnic and they saw what they believed to be a large bear. Angela takes some heat for this, but Bella comes to her defense. Everyone is schocked by this, since Bella hasn’t spoken in roughly four months. Momentary crickets ensue. But everyone quickly gets over it.

Angela and Mike chat with Bella through the rest of lunch, while Lauren and Jessica continue to ignore her. Bella SUDDENLY realizes that it has been exactly one year to date since she started school at Forks High, and that things haven’t changed very much. 

Best Worst Lines

“Billy’s wheelchair couldn’t maneuver the uneven ground separating it from the house.”

“Many of the words they used were unfamiliar to me, and I figured I’d have to have a Y chromosome to really understand the excitement.” (139)

“Sundays were the bane of my existence.”

“‘I’m bankrolling this party.'” (140)

“I giggled quietly. The sound made my eyes widen in wonder. I was laughing, actually laughing, and there wasn’t even anyone watching. I felt so weightless that I laughed again, just make the feeling last longer.” (141)

“A strange feeling of warmth bubbled up in my throat, despite the icy rain splattering on my cheeks.”  (Sounds to us like that feeling you get before you vomit…)

“Jacob took me on a brief tour of his tiny room while we waited to be unsupervised.”   (Oooh, scandalous!)

“‘We’ll start at the dump first, see if we can get lucky.'”

“I pulled my checkbook out, fanned myself with it, and rolled my eyes at his worries. ‘We’re covered.'”

“Like an earthbound sun, whenever someone was within his gravitational pull, Jacob warmed them.” (145)

“Had all the people she was habitually nasty to caught her behind the gym and scalped her?”

That’s What She Said Moments

“‘They fight dirty if you start on their names — they’ll tag team you.'”

“His grasp was firm; it looked like he was flexing his bicep.”

“I was enjoying myself — how strange.” (140)

“He smiled. ‘Okay, you’re getting a deal.’

‘Not to mention the riding lessons,’ I added.”

“According to Jacob, we did get lucky at the dump.”

“‘Okay, but if you’re going to get picky like that, you have to average in size, too.” (146)

“And, even though I was enjoying myself more than I’d thought possible, there was no lessening of my original desire.” (147)

“Jacob’s skill with his hands was fascinating. They looked too big for the delicate tasks they performed with ease and precision.” (148)

Things That Really Irk Us

Jacob running out to hold an umbrella for Bella as she gets out of her truck. Gag.

Jacob and Bella holding hands for no reason at all and laughing at nothing quite often. Also, Bella’s shock at being able to laugh again and enjoy herself. Buck up, Bella. No one needs to be that morose all the time.

The dragging on of the ‘giant bear’ scenario — we get it, it’s probably one of the werewolves. Please stop with all of the unneeded foreshadowing. Thanks.

Final Thoughts

We don’t even know what to say. We suppose this is Bella’s “turning a new, slightly less emo, leaf” chapter. However, we have a hunch that won’t last long because she will probably be really depressed about liking Jacob and *possibly* getting over creepyvampystalker Edward. Oh no, more inner conflict. We can’t wait.

Go to Chapter 7.