In Which I Tolerate Eclipse: Chapter 10 -- Scent · 3:26pm May 12th, 2018
For some reason, Edward leaves before Jacob arrives. He says that, although he doesn’t feel any personal antagonism for Jacob, it’s easier for them. Whatever. As long as they’re not trying to out-macho each other, I’m good. Edward pops out and Jacob pops in. Jacob’s still shirtless, although we actually get an explanation this time: his clothes don’t change when he does, so keeping the number of clothing items down reduces the number of things he has to take off or replace when he gets wolfy.
Jacob sniffs around Bella’s room for a while. When he gets out, he still finds a way to try to out-macho Edward, asking Bella what it’s like having a vampire boyfriend and a werewolf friend. She says they’re both nice. All set, Jacob decides to leave, but then asks her if she wants to come to a bonfire party in La Push that night. All of the other wolves, plus some friends, are going to be there. Bella says she’ll ask, prompting a very interesting question from Jacob:
He made a noise in the back of his throat. “Is he your warden, now, too? You know, I saw this story on the news last week about controlling, abusive teenage relationships and-”
“Okay!” I cut him off, and then shoved his arm. “Time for the werewolf to get out!”
Yep. Jacob’s right.
The moment Jacob leaves, Edward returns. He’s picked up her mail on the way; in there is a letter from Dartmouth that he suspects is an acceptance letter, as it looks like his. Bella doubts she’s Dartmouth material, but, according to Edward, Dartmouth thinks she’s Dartmouth material. They debate a little on where to go — Bella still wants to go to Alaska — before the washing machine stops early. Bella fixes it and offhandedly mentions to Edward that she wants her stuff back from Alice. Except Alice never took any of Bella’s stuff. Confused, Edward asks a few questions and realizes that all the things taken were things with a lot of Bella’s scent on them. The vampire who visited her house was the one who took her clothes. Which, to be honest, I thought was the case as soon as Edward showed up at Bella’s door saying a vampire had visited her, but I guess the thought never crossed what passes for Bella’s mind.
Edward quickly calls Carlisle for some advice, then gets the day’s paper. He checks on the latest story from Seattle; the murders are getting worse and the police are still baffled. All that can’t just be the work of one vampire, he says. Normally, “infestations” like this are cleaned up by the Volturi to keep vampires safe, so the threat of the Volturi visiting is usually enough to keep vampires subdued and in control; he wonders if anyone’s told the newborn vampires about the Volturi at all. If that’s the case, then it’s possible the situation could be resolved peacefully; they go to Seattle and explain the rules to the newborns. For some reason, he doesn’t want to go until Alice sees something about what’s going on there, even though Alice seeing something and it getting misinterpreted caused a whole slew of trouble last book.
Cough. There’s a vampire out there who wants to kill Bella. Cough. Maybe she’s involved, too? Cough.
That business settled, Edward asks Bella if she wants to go to the bonfire party Jacob mentioned. Yes, Edward’s been eavesdropping while Bella talks with other people. Warning sign. Bella says it’s no big deal, but Edward says he’s fine with her going; if she thinks werewolves are safe, then a pack of werewolves is one of the safest places to be. His only conditions are to drive her to the boundary line and take a cell phone so she can call him when she needs to be picked up.
After getting permission from Charlie to go, Bella decides to take the opportunity to return her motorcycle to Jacob’s garage after she drove it away from La Push. In the Cullens’ garage, Bella finds another, newer, sleeker motorcycle waiting alongside her old one. Edward thought she’d like it. It’s probably supposed to be romantic, but it comes off as really shallow. Things turn a little bit awkward when Edward realizes that motorcycling is something she does with Jacob, not for fun. Still, he’s pleasant enough as he takes Bella to the boundary line. Jacob’s waiting for her with his car and greets her enthusiastically, prompting Edward to leave quickly. Bella tells Jacob not to push his luck, but Jacob ignores her as they load her motorcycle into the car.
Clinginess Meter: 15
Hmm. More plot development. (With lots of padding, but oh well.) More zero-clinginess. Eclipse isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it’d be. It’s not great — it’s not even good — but it’s not the bottomless well of nothing that New Moon was.
”How dare you assault me with your dastardly facts!!”