"No, I think you're very good at telling scary stories, though. You could probably outsell R.L. Stine." I said, accidentally making the reference again. It was lost on him.
"Cool." He smiled, playing it cool even though he didn't know who the world's greatest children's literature author was.
And then the sound of the beautiful beach rocks clattering against each other ominously warned us that someone was approaching. Our heads snapped up at the same time to see Mike and Jessica about fifty yards away, walking toward us. Even though it was two people walking towards us, I then realized that they were each about half a person, so my earlier estimation was probably about right.
"There you are, Bella," Mike called in relief, waving his arm over his head like he was waiting to be rescued from the deserted, barren island that was Jessica.
"Is that your boyfriend?" Squaw asked, alerted by the jealous edge in Mike's voice. I guess it was so obvious that even a wolf-man could pick up on it.
"No, definitely not," I whispered sensually. I was tremendously grateful, and eager to make him as happy as possible.151 I winked at him, carefully turning away from Mike to do so. He smiled, elated by my inept flirting.
"So when I get my license... ," he began.
"Your whale-hunting license?" I cut in.
He gave me a weird look. "Bella, I don't hunt whales."
"Oh."
"So when I get my license... " he began again.
I finished his sentence for him, feeling so close to him already that I wondered if I was cheating on Fredward emotionally. "You should come see me in Forks. We could hang out sometime." I felt guilty as I said this, knowing that I'd used him. But I really did like Squaw. He was someone I could easily be friends with, as long as he didn't mind me staring off into space when he was rambling on about car parts,.
Mike had reached us now, with Jessica still a few paces behind and reaching out for the back of his shirt so she could have something, anything, to hold onto. I could see his eyes appraising Squaw, and looking satisfied with his obvious youth.
"And where have you been?" Mike asked, twitching a little, though the answer was right in front of him. I've been in Squaw, Mike.
"Squaw was just telling me some local stories," I volunteered. "It was really interesting once he stopped going on and on about Noah's Ark, and started telling me things that relate to my relationship with Fredward."
I smiled at Squaw warmly, and he grinned back.
"Well," Mike paused. He frowned, as though he had just microwaved a bowl of soup and carried it all the way to the living room before realizing it was still cold. Mike was carefully reassessing the situation as well as his horsebrain was capable of doing.
151. Bella has now entered into a cycle of non-satisfying relationships with men that border on domestic abuse. She believes that her purpose on this Earth as a female is to satisfy as many men as possible, without giving them the satisfaction of actually caring about them.