Chapter Fifteen

[Dear Lancy:

I was invited to make a house call at Criltent's house. Harry was as welcoming as ever, and Sue's cream of mushroom soup was particularly good. I inquired about the recipe and intend to go back and try my hand at it as well. I met new friends, Lill and Seth; they were a pair of siblings, Harry's kids. I've noticed that kids on the reservation have traces of the reservation in them. Lil has the same bronzed skin as Jacob, but she's not very talkative. I've heard Jacob say it's because of her recent breakup. Well, speaking of lost love, I thought of Jacob again. I had a feeling that Bella and Edward would be together before too long, Jacob. Would he be as low as Lil after his loss?

I hope he is happy; after all, he is my best friend.

May you be at peace. Day 65 of one prayer for you.]

I had a feeling about it, but I didn't expect everything to come so fast.

Jacob still came to drop me off at school at the appointed time. I panicked and left the house. I was a little sleepy today. I slept late last night because I didn't pay attention to the time to make up for the classes I had missed earlier, and I dozed off in the car in a daze.

"Research." My head hit the glass window, hanging on top of the water droplets that also followed the shake. Fox fell all night last night. I covered my forehead and turned around, just in time to see Jacob hanging in midair.

"I didn't pull you, Lancy." He withdrew his hand to scratch the back of his head, pretending to be fine. I grunted softly and closed my eyes as I hugged my backpack.

There was a fiery warmth on my forehead, and I lifted my eyelids. It was Guy Jacob; he was rubbing the spot where I had just hit the glass. I grunted in my throat and closed my eyes in a daze.

"Bumped red, thankfully not swollen." He whispered; his palm was warm, warmer than the heater in the car, reminding me of winter nights nestled by the fireplace, warm and reassuring.

The small pickup truck drove smoothly down the highway, and I felt as if the ride to school was becoming a long one, "Lancy? " Jacob Boo nudged me awake, and I looked at him sleepily, rubbing away the layer of fog in front of me and patting my face again, much refreshed.

A silver light swept by the window; it was Edward's Tenelhon.

"I'll go first, then..." I was about to raise my hand to say goodbye to Jacob when I saw him gripping the steering wheel, his knuckles white with the force of it, and his dark eyes staring straight ahead, like a wolf poised to strike.

I followed his gaze, and Bella was getting out of the silver Volvo. Edward was wrapping his arms around Bella in a gesture of intimacy, and I suspected that Edward was playing it cool because I'd never seen him wear sunglasses before that. They were high-profile and in love. The combination of tall, handsome Edward and beautiful Bella, the odd child of the Cullen's and the new transfer student, attracted a lot of attention, and it was a scene that must not have looked good in Jacob's eyes.

I looked over at Jacob worriedly, reaching out my hand and touching him with my fingertips, when there was a loud thud, and he broke my steering wheel off, white smoke still billowing from the joint, and I stared at him blankly.

Jacob snapped back to his senses and looked at me blankly, steering wheel in hand. "Well, Lancy..." The fire that had been rolling around in his chest was replaced by a sense of guilt.

Instead, I rejoiced, exclaiming in hindsight and raising my hand to whack him in feigned anger, "Jacob! My little pickup isn't even a year old yet! Ahhhhh! ,

I threw a mess of punches, and he knew he'd done something wrong and quite simply let go of his resistance, and

"Lancy, Lancy, I'll fix it for you. Fix it; don't be mad at me."

"It has to be fixed now!" I grunted heavily, gripping his coat and glaring at him with a puff of air.

"Fine, fine, fix it right away." Jacob threw up his hands in surrender. "I'll get the parts right away. Lancy, go ahead and go to class.

"No!" I grabbed his arm and wouldn't let go; there was no telling what this guy would get into if left alone.

"So, you're skipping school? " Jacob looked at me, surprised. Maybe I've always been a good student in his eyes; he probably didn't expect me to skip class.

"What about skipping class? I'm taking a vacation." I pretended to be heartbroken as I grabbed the steering wheel out of his hand, held it in my arms, and chirped down.

"It's from mom—one last gift." Giving it to Lancy to move and get going, she said, "I've always treasured it." It was a pickup truck, after all.

"Lancy, it's just a small problem." Jacob tried to comfort me, but I had to admit that he wasn't much of a comforter.

I looked up, pursed my lips stubbornly, and asked with red eyes, "Minor problem?

You said it was a minor problem!" That's how it should be done, right? I've watched so many movies, but for the first time, I found it so difficult to cry in a scene; just a red eye requires me to hold it in for so long.

Luckily, I was dealing with Jacob, a silly boy with a simple mind.

"Lancy, don't cry! I'll fix it today." Jacob was completely flustered and felt even more guilty when he realized he'd never heard Lancy talk about her family before.

He didn't realize that the first time he heard it, it was in a situation like this.

He had ruined the last gift Lancy's mother had given her.

"I promise, it'll be fixed exactly like it was." Jacob reached out his hand and awkwardly tried to wipe my tears, but I didn't have any; it had been so long since I'd cried that I'd long since forgotten how to cry, and all I could do was look down and avoid his hand.

Instead, he thought I was angry and moved to explain in a rusty-forked panic.

"Really? "I hold the steering wheel, revealing his eyes. Baba looked at him and said, "Really the same?"

"Really! " Jacob looked at me nervously. "Trust me, okay?"

I nodded in silence, hanging my head in a very downcast and sad way.

"Really!" Jacob looked at me nervously. "Trust me, okay?"

I nodded in silence, hanging my head in a very sad way.

True to his word, Jacob took me to poke around for the parts I needed and then pulled my little pickup into the small storage area by his house, which was his exclusive car repair yard.

"Look, Nessie, I even assembled a Volkswagen exemption myself." He patted the little red sedan, reassuring me with proof of his ability to repair and assemble automobiles.

I looked at the car and reached out to touch it. This is the result of Jacob's busy schedule a while back. I'd heard him mention it several times when I came to see Belgium. The guy would even forget his lunch to assemble a car.

"Lancy, why don't you sit there?" He pointed to the small gray couch off to the side, and I looked up to see Jacob walking faster to collect something. I gave him a suspicious look. What did he take? Why were his cheeks red, and even his ears were starting to redden? I stole a glance at his hand behind his back; it must have been a t-shirt in his hand; it was stained with a little bit of black traces of motor oil.

It wasn't a big deal; I already knew what it would be like in a boy's air query, and it was a lot better than I thought it would be.

Jacob was in the car assembly; he had taken off his black sports coat and was wearing just a short sleeve underneath. His arms were well-muscled, and he was very focused when he moved his hands.

I realized that the baby fat on his chin had faded a lot, and the lines of his face had become much clearer, gradually showing his mature appearance. If I had the chance, I would like to see what it would be like. I rested my chin, a little sad. But I couldn't let myself dwell on such emotions, so I simply put down the steering wheel and walked over to Jacob's side, observing his repairs up close.

"Lancy, can you hold that part for me? The big piece." Well, I'm sending my labor to the door; I have no problem with that.

"Why would it be such a hassle? I thought I could just press the steering wheel up." As if I had missed the point, I hastily added, "It was a minor problem, as you said, Jacob.

"It was a minor problem," Jacob was also embarrassed as he explained, "but there was too much force being used.

"Hmph." I looped my arms and looked away from him.

His fork mashed for a moment. He lifted his arm to wipe the sweat off his face and grinned at me. "Lancy, check it out; is it the same?"

I gave him a look, lifted my hand to hold the steering wheel, and tried to turn it. "It is!

Jacob, you're awesome! Thank you!" I pretended to be very surprised, and I complimented him with a big smile.

Jacob blushed. "Actually, that wasn't hard, and I was the one who broke it in the first place. I'm sorry, Lancy; it must mean a lot to you to break your pickup truck. "

"It's okay, Jacob; you're my best friend." Lying is a difficult thing to do, although Jacob's solid heart is very easy to lie to, but the follow-up is kind of a pain in the ass; he remembers more than I do. I'll have to put today's events in my journal to remind myself of them in the future.

Jacob went to wash his hands and came back.

Jacob went to wash his hands and came back with a case of beer, which I was not surprised to see.

After all, nine out of ten things I've seen spirits do after a breakup are drink.

I'm not surprised.

Humans believe that alcohol can paralyze the brain and take one's mind off of the pain for a short time, but

...I sighed mentally as I recalled the faces of those who cried out in pain after getting drunk.

Maybe it would be more painful, too.

Jacob brought back the case of beer, which I guessed maybe Billy had secretly hidden away.

I walked over and bumped him with my shoulder. "Billy will clean you up! You're underage

"Yet!" I intimidated him on purpose.

"It's okay; as long as you don't say anything, Lancy, Billy won't know." Jacob

He shook his head as he sat down on the small couch and snapped open a can of beer with a thousand crisp movements.

I reached for it, but Jacob avoided it.

He tossed me a bottle of juice, and I narrowed my eyes at him until he averted his gaze vainly. "Lancy, you're a late bloomer too.

"Don't make me an accomplice, or I'll rat you out!" I made a face at him before quickly snatching a can of beer out of the case. "I haven't had a drink yet; am I not allowed to try one yet?"

"Lancy, you don't have to keep me company." Jacob pursed his lips; his head was bowed, so I couldn't see his expression, but I could hear the gloom in his voice.

"Who's keeping you company?" I sat down next to him and touched his after snapping open the pull-tab.

"It's obviously for those who see it, Jacob; come on, you can't even spare a can of beer for me." I took a small sip, smacking my lips with the satisfaction of having my curiosity satisfied. I got to drink the beer! Although it was under such circumstances,.

Empty cans soon appeared on the floor and I hadn't finished mine yet. "I'm not going to take care of you when you're drunk, you Jacob."

I looked up abruptly at his reddened eyes, which held so much loss. Even I, it seemed, was sad, and I reached up and covered his eyes.

"Lancy," he called my name, and I answered him lowly.

He looked down and laughed at himself, but I felt very bitter when I heard it, "I'm a coward.

I was a little saddened to see him dejected. It turns out that even the most cheerful person can become disheveled and sad when they lose that person like they've lost their sun.

"It's not like that," I loosened my hand and cupped his face, "You just cherish her too much, and your attitude is always cautious when facing someone you cherish, so Jacob, you're not a coward, and your heart for Bella is very precious," I told him seriously.

I listened quietly as Jacob told the story of his relationship with Bella, who had grown up with a different kind of bond.

"Then I rarely had the chance to see Bella again. Renee and Charlie divorced and took her away from Forks. In the beginning, Bella would come back for a while during the summer, but then no, she had lived in Phoenix long enough that she didn't like the damp, cold places anymore.

"I always expected to see her again until the day I got my wish, Lancy. Do you know how happy I was?"

"Know know know," I deliberately teased him with a long-drawn-out tone, "I'll never forget how silly you looked back then."

I thought back to that time when Jacob was so full of Bella when I hadn't even met Bella yet, but it was as if I already knew Bella because of Jacob's incessant chanting.

"Lancy!"

"But Jacob," I tilted my head at him with my chin in my hand, "Bella and Edward are already together. You have to wish her happiness. Because doesn't like someone mean you want her to be happy?"

"I. ...," Jacob looked ahead a little blankly, and I saw his lips quiver as his tone trailed off, "I know, I know, Lancy. He's just, he's been looking at Bella for so long, that's the girl he's been looking forward to since he was a little boy, the girl he's been waiting for.

The girl he'd been waiting for, but suddenly, everything had changed.

Jacob got a little choked up, and my heart sank as I listened to him. Felts are uncontrollable, and they're not as simple as words make them out to be, but I didn't know how to help him, and I wished I could help him.

I patted him on the shoulder and said at length, "I think you should look at yourself and become a better version of yourself.

"So, a thousand cheers!" I raised my beer, "To better you tomorrow."

A big gulp of beer went down, and my head started to spin, but it didn't matter, tomorrow would be a new day.