Chapter-by-Chapter: Twilight, Chapter 6

Since it's Friday, it's a double-post day here. And unfortunately that means it's time for another chapter of Twilight but don't be too worried. This is actually one of my favourite chapters so far!

In the last chapter we saw Bella nearly fainting at the sight of some blood (not a good thing when you're hoping to start dating a vampire) and being taken care of by Edward. There was also a hell of a lot of talking, along with Bella constantly mentioning how Edward makes her feel scared and anxious and the like, which is doing nothing to endear them to me as a couple.

So on with Chapter 6: Scary Stories.

What Happens:

Bella goes to the beach with a bunch of kids from school and they hang out all day. Bella meets Jacob, a local teen from the reservation there, who tells her some local legends about how his family are descended from wolves and the Cullens are vampires. Bella then promises to share this with no one.

Thoughts as I read:

This title is Scary Stories and I can't help but think scarier than this story? Considering how literal all of these chapter titles seem to be, I doubt whether there is any hidden meaning here. My guess is that they'll go to the beach party and tell vampire stories.

After my wondering what Bella was studying in English in the last chapter, we find out here. It's Macbeth. She's reading it while she waits for her truck to be returned and then suddenly it is. And that's that.

At school the next day I learn that I'm not the only one who can't figure out what Edward is on about most of the time. Jessica asks Bella what Edward wanted her for at lunchtime and Bella replies:

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "He never really got to the point."

Bella is also still obsessing over Edward, despite his creepy weird behaviour and the knowledge that he won't be in school. I really don't get what she sees in him. Apparently she's not the only one who's interested in him though, someone's being kind of bitchy and wondering why Bella doesn't just sit with Edward and the gang all the time now, because she, like, totally, like, talked to him, like, yesterday. I was definitely not one of those teenagers at school so I cannot relate to this scenario at all.

Back home Bella chats to her father about the place where Edward said he was going camping. It's known for its bears and for not being somewhere you want to go camping. Perhaps he's planning to wrestle them or something.

I meant to sleep in, but an unusual brightness woke me. I opened my eyes to see a clear yellow light streaming through my window. I couldn't believe it. I hurried to the window to check, and sure enough, there was the sun. It was in the wrong place in the sky, too low, and it didn't seem to be as close as it should be, but it was definitely the sun. Clouds ringed the horizon, but a large patch of blue was visible in the middle. I lingered by the window as long as I could, afraid that if I left the blue would disappear again.

This whole paragraph needed to be shared here. It's all about her shock at seeing the sun. Oh honey, I live in Scotland. It's the end of May and we're still putting the heating on and wearing our winter woollies. I still don't experience this sensation when I look out the window of a morning!

I guess Bella didn't moan as much as usual in the last chapter because it seems to be sticking out at me a lot more in this one. She's having 'one of those days' because a couple of the girls going on the beach party trip are being a bit catty. This isn't helped by the fact that Mike is still after her, so Jessica's not impressed either. Luckily Bella's got the problem solved by squeezing her friend into the front seat of the car beside her for the journey, this puts Jessica next to Mike. I think Mike's somewhat disappointed by this.

I think that this next bit is part of the reason why I've enjoyed this chapter so much more than any of the others so far. There's more description of the scenery at the beach than anywhere else in the book. It's also not a bad bit of writing and I can really picture the place. Up until this point I've just been picturing Forks as being sort of grey and rain-soaked.

This chapter is educational as well. Apparently driftwood burns blue because of the salt content. I did not know this! This is also how Mike flirts with Bella, which if I was Bella would totally sell me on him over Edward.

A bunch of the teens decide to go visit the tidal pools on the beach, which is obviously pretty dangerous for Bella:

It was a dilemma. On the one hand, I loved the tide pools. They had fascinated me since I was a child; they were one of the only things I ever looked forward to when I had to come to Forks. On the other hand, I'd also fallen into them a lot.

Hehe.

She goes anyway.

I get the impression that this place must be based on somewhere that Stephenie Meyer actually knows and really likes because it's getting loads of description of the scenery. It's setting up the atmosphere well; I wish there was this much attention given to other bits of the story.

Of course, despite all the lavish description of the surroundings, Bella's way more interested in what Edward is up to right now. Girl's got her priorities straight.

Despite not falling in the ocean or any tidal pools, Bella's non-clumsy streak does not last long at all:

I tried to keep up better this time through the woods, so naturally I fell a few times. I got some shallow scrapes on my palms, and the knees of my jeans were stained green, but it could have been worse.

This is then not mentioned at all in the rest of the chapter.

Back at the party there are some new faces though we only learn the names of two of them; another Jessica and a Jacob.

Oh hang on a minute. Is this Jacob as in Team Jacob?

Meyer's really getting into the swing of describing things because soon we're getting a full on description of what Jacob looks like. I'm surprised we've not got a headshot thrown in here as well. The short version would be, he's good looking.

Bella and Jacob get some time alone together giving them a chance to catch up because it turns out they kind of know each other from way back. Jacob's dad was the former owner of Bella's truck, and as children she hung around with Jacob's older twin sisters, Rachel and Rebecca. This gives them the opportunity to bond over old trucks; Jacob likes to build cars.

One of the new guys in the group tells Lauren, who's being bitchy about the Cullens not being invited to the gathering:

"The Cullens don't come here," he said in a tone that closed the subject, ignoring her question.

Bella picks up on the fact that they seem to be not allowed at this place. I'd remember this if I were you Bella, you might be safe from Edward here!

It's at this point that Bella decides she's going to take advantage of Jacob to try and get some information from him. She attempts a bit of flirting to get him on his own and they go for a stroll along the beach. During this conversation we learn a couple of things; Jacob is fifteen and the boy who says the Cullens aren't allowed here is Sam. Bella's side of the conversation is basically just her pumping him for information, though Jacob doesn't seem to have noticed this.

Jacob asks Bella if she likes scary stories and there we have the chapter title. I knew it was going to be that obvious. I pretty much called this chapter exactly!

Basically Jacob's stories are about the Quileutes and how legend says they're descended from wolves. This'll make Jacob of werewolf/shapeshifter then, won't it? He also talks about 'the cold ones' who are not allowed on this land. I realise that he's obviously talking about the vampires right now, but 'the cold ones' just makes me think of A Song of Ice and Fire's White Walkers. I can imagine why you wouldn't want them on your land!

Jacob pretty much clarifies that his people are werewolves and the vampires are their enemies (even if he is calling them 'cold ones' still). And then we get a bit of a bombshell; the Cullens are the same cold ones who were banned from the land back in his great-grandfather's time. We also finally get the word 'vampires' one hundred and nine pages into the book. Just in case you're keeping track of these things. That's roughly a quarter of the way through the story, I'm guessing it becomes a bigger deal in the later books.

It's not really clear how much of this Bella believes, but she's promising not to tell anyone so I guess she believes it a little bit. And then Mike comes looking for Bella so they rejoin the group and everything starts winding down before the rain starts. I kind of wish these chapters would end on a cliffhanger instead of just tailing off like this.

This has probably been my favourite chapter so far. I had no expectations for it and I was pleasantly surprised. I'm curious abut whether Bella believed Jacob's stories and how long it will be before she (and we) learn the truth.

And now for all the things I'm wondering about this book, I'm going to have to cut this down soon because I have a feeling some of these questions just won't be answered:

• Just why is she in Forks anyway?
• What's Edward Cullen's problem?
• Will Bella ever be able to get through a day without whinging about something?
• Why the hell did she have to get all of her teachers to sign a slip?
• Why is Bella so interested in someone who has such crazy mood swings?
• What's the deal with Edward and how did he move so quickly?
• Who are Mr Varner and Coach Clapp? Why do they get named and not the six EMTs?
• Do X-rays show concussions?
• Do people actually find Mood Swing Boy attractive?
• Has Edward seen someone about his sudden rages?
• Do Edwards colour change eyes relate to blood lust or some other vampirey instinct?
• Are Bella and Edward capable of having a straight conversation?
• Does Edward have a multiple personality disorder?
• Who would willingly get in a car with Mood Swing Boy?
• Will he switch to hating Bella halfway to Seattle and kick her out of the car/leave her behind?
• Will Edward have to be invited into Bella's house in order to enter it? What about her truck? What about shops?
• Will this be the chapter where Edward 'comes out' as a vampire?
• Are blood groups in Twilight like those in the Tru Blood books and TV series, where different blood groups taste different?
• How long will Edward continue to be friendly towards Bella before switching back to hating on her?
• Why is Bella not picking up on all of the big red flags that there is something not quite right with Edward?
• Can Edward glamour people?
• Can Edward read minds?
• Is stabbing yourself to draw blood actually on the curriculum in some schools?
• Am I the only one who thinks Edward is being really controlling?
• Is the Jacob at the beach party 'Team Jacob' Jacob?
• Is Jacob a werewolf/shapeshifter?
• Does Bella believe Jacob's stories?
• When will we learn the truth about Jacob and Edward?