In Which I Tolerate Eclipse: Chapter 15 -- Wager · 3:31pm May 22nd, 2018
Bella’s shocked at Jacob being in love with her, somehow. She tries to tell him that she likes him as a friend, as family, and that she doesn’t love him like that. Jacob, however, won’t take “no” for an answer.
“Just try not to get too mad at me. Because I recently decided that I’m not giving up. There really is something irresistible about a lost cause.”
You know, Jacob, trying to make her love you is usually a pretty good way to make her hate you. She doesn’t want you. Move on.
Jacob keeps trying to convince Bella that he’s the right one for her, not Edward, and suddenly kisses her. Quite forcibly:
His lips crushed mine, stopping my protest. He kissed me angrily, roughly, his other hand gripping tight around the back of my neck, making escape impossible. I shoved against his chest with all my strength, but he didn’t even seem to notice. His mouth was soft, despite the anger, his lips molding to mine in a warm, unfamiliar way.
I grabbed at his face, trying to push it away, failing again. He seemed to notice this time, though, and it aggravated him. His lips forced mine open, and I could feel his hot breath in my mouth.
Acting on instinct, I let my hands drop to my side, and shut down. I opened my eyes and didn’t fight, didn’t feel… just waited for him to stop.
Sexual assault, dude. What, is Edward going to cover the mental side of bad relationships while Jacob covers the physical side?
When Jacob finally disengages, Bella punches him, breaking her hand in the process. Jacob, still acting like he did nothing wrong, takes her home.
“I hate you, Jacob Black.”
“That’s good. Hate is a passionate emotion.”
What the fuck, dude. But Bella’s not much better:
“I’ll be he couldn’t even kiss you like that — because he would hurt you. I would never, never hurt you, Bella.”
I held up my injured hand.
He sighed. “That wasn’t my fault. You should have known better.” (WHAT THE FUCK.)
“Jacob, I can’t be happy without him.”
“You’ve never tried,” he disagreed. “When he left, you spent all your energy holding on to him. You could be happy if you let go. You could be happy with me.”
“I don’t want to be happy with anyone but him,” I insisted.
Is there a term for “someone you agree with, but they’re such an asshole you want to disagree with them on principle”? Because I’m feeling that way towards Jacob. CM + 2
Charlie’s at Bella’s home when Bella and Jacob get there. Upon learning that Bella broke her hand punching out Jacob because he forced himself on her, Charlie’s only response to Jacob is, “Good for you, kid.” Dammit, Charlie, now the books are warping you, too! Bella calls up Edward and has him take her to the Cullens’ to get Carlisle to look at it. Edward arrives quickly and he and Jacob have a brief macho-off outside the house, away from Charlie; Edward threatens to rip one of Jacob’s arms off if he brings Bella back hurt again, even if it’s not his fault, and he’ll break Jacob’s jaw if he kisses her again.
“What if she wants me to?” Jacob drawled, arrogant.
“Hah!” I snorted.
“If that’s what she wants, then I won’t object.” Edward shrugged, untroubled. “You want to wait for her to say it, rather than trust your interpretation of body language — but it’s your face.”
And then, just when I’m almost rooting for Edward for once:
“She is mine.” Edward’s low voice was suddenly dark, not as composed as before.
Geez. They’re treating Bella like an object to be won, to fight over. Not even, “I am hers, she is mine”, which would at least have reciprocity. And she’s listening to all this and not protesting.
At the Cullens’, upon learning that Bella punched a werewolf in the face (how is that far less badass than it sounds?), Rosalie makes a comment that, “Jasper’s going to win the bet.” Edward reluctantly explains that Emmett and Jasper have a bet going on how many people she’ll kill the first year after she becomes a vampire, and Jasper’s betting high. He’s tired of being the one with the least control. Carlisle takes a look at Bella’s hand and it’s not as bad as it feels, just a fissure in one knuckle that can be fixed with a brace.
As Carlisle fits the brace, Bella thinks about the bet, wondering what the change will be like and if the “she” she knows will survive the change. After all, she doesn’t want to drink blood now, but will once she becomes a vampire. Will she lose anything that she didn’t know she needed? Will she be unable to control herself and sink into monsterhood? Unfortunately, right in the middle of some decent pondering that could’ve been a good chapter-closer, we get this:
Edward was so obsessed with me not missing anything while I was human. Usually, it seemed kind of silly. There weren’t many human experiences that I worried about missing. As long as I got to be with Edward, what else could I ask for?
CM + 1
Clinginess Meter: 21
If the love triangle hadn’t begun yet, it officially has now. I don’t like love triangles on the best of days, and this is even worse: Bella’s a passive asshole, Edward’s a controlling asshole, and Jacob’s an entitled asshole. We’re surrounded by assholes.
We are at Spaceballs-level asshole saturation. Never a good sign.
And seriously, who responds to "I sexually assaulted your daughter" with "good job, Sport"? Disapproving of one boy is one thing, but when the other does something almost objectively worse, that is not a reasonable reaction.
Just when I thought this book was starting to get good, we are reminded that no, this is Twilight we're talking about, and Twilight is dumb. :B
*deep breath, slow nod*Ok, then. I’m calling Blade. Jacob has now convinced me that all of the supernatural stuff in this town needs a Wesley Snipes-shaped walking blender.
4866835
This is Twilight. Reason has no power here.