So the last chapter was Nightmare and it smacked of filler material, existing to kind of kickstart the way into the next chapter. Bella had a dream about being attacked by Wolf!Jacob and Vampire!Edward was there. She made arrangements to go clothes shopping with the girls and very little else actually happened.
Let's hope for more from Chapter Eight: Port Angeles.
What Happens?
Bella, Jessica and Angela go dress shopping in Port Angeles. Afterwards Bella goes off in search of a bookshop by herself, gets lost (of course) and meets some threatening guys. Luckily Edward shows up just in time to rescue her and begin revealing some of his secrets.
Thoughts as I read:
My guess is that this chapter will follow the girls as they shop in Port Angeles. And talk. About boys. And maybe vampires.
It had been a while since I'd had a girls' night out, and the estrogen rush was invigorating.
Right.
As they drive they're listening to 'whiny rock songs'. I'd have thought that whiny music would be right up Bella's street!
Though at least Bella is smiling right now. Has she actually done that before? Would someone care to flick back and check? If she has it can't have been more than once before now! I think the reason for the such smiling is because Mike's moved his attentions on so she thinks she's well and truly shot of him.
Bella reveals that she's never been to a dance or had a boyfriend. This shocks the other girls. It's because no one ever asked her, I can't think why that would be! It's not to be for much longer though because Tyler is apparently telling everyone that he's taking Bella to prom.
Except this is news to Bella.
So she does what any reasonable person would do when told that someone is spreading a rumour like this; she plans to run him over with her truck. This is a logical plan because Tyler nearly ran Bella over, therefore her running him over would make them even. It's so obvious.
Unfortunately for Jessica and Angela this news has well and truly spoiled Bella's mood. She's actually fuming, which I think is kind of an overreaction. Okay, so it's an annoying rumour, but why not just let Tyler know you've heard he's been saying this and put him straight; perhaps someone else started the rumour. Seriously Bella, don't overreact. Oh well, at least she did smile once.
When she manages to get Angela alone, Bella asks her about the Cullens and whether this whole missing school thing is normal for them. Answer: Yes. They spend a lot of time outdoors and camping. And the school district allows this? Perhaps it's because they are all immortal and have already completed high school three times each already.
Bella decides that she likes Angela because she doesn't ask any questions about why Bella has so many questions about the Cullens.
Done with clothes shopping, they head out into the town for a wander before eating. Bella's wanting to find a bookshop and mentions that she gets preoccupied around books. Girl, I can relate. If I was in a new town, the first place I'd head for would be a bookshop. Hell, there are places that I visit which I navigate based on the best places to buy books!
Except Bella's disappointed in the Port Angeles bookshop. It's a fairly niche bookshop, stocked with crystals and spiritual healing books. So Bella moves on.
She's just strolling through town, trying not to think of Edward (not very hard), when she happens to look up and see his car:
… when I looked up to see someone's silver Volvo parked along the street and it all came crashing down on me. Stupid, unreliable vampire, I thought to myself.
There's a weird moment next where Bella gets kind of lost, walks into some guys who say hello and then laugh. I don't get it. As we're aware, Bella has no sense of direction which is how she ends up in a warehouse district. Lost. With two of those laughing guys. Clearly this is why she had to bump into them, so she would recognise them when she got to this place.
My purse was on a shoulder strap and I had it slung across my body, the way you were supposed to wear it so it wouldn't get snatched. I knew exactly where my pepper spray was – still in my duffle bag under the bed, never unpacked.
I always remember where important things are when I don't have them with me.
Bella keeps on walking, sure they're following her but not wanting to run in case she falls over. It's not supposed to be a funny situation but the idea that she can't run away from danger because she's so clumsy is kind of hilarious. I just imagine Bella blundering around and bumping into things whenever she has to run. As she walks speedily away, she runs into two more of those guys from earlier.
It's not looking good for Bella and she's running through all her self-defence strategies when a familiar silver car appears and Bella's ordered to get in. She doesn't need telling twice. Despite everything that's happened, and the fact that she's just gotten into a car with someone that she's ninety percent certain is a vampire, Bella is surprisingly calm.
Edward's really angry. I'm guessing because he's not actually been named since he showed up a page and a half ago. He asks Bella to distract him. He must've been away learning some anger management techniques. Bella's not been involved in these classes though, she thinks that the best way distract a man in a murderous rage is to talk about how you're planning to murder your classmate for starting a rumour about you.
"Sometimes I have a problem with my temper, Bella." He was whispering, too, and as he stared out the window, his eyes narrowed into slits.
You don't say, Edward! We hadn't even noticed!
Oh and he wants to hunt down the guys who were trying to attack Bella. Not sure becoming a vigilante vampire is really the best course of action, mate.
Jessica and Angela have obviously been wondering where Bella has been. Edward orders Bella to tell them that she's okay and then they'll all be able to have dinner together, which Bella does and learns that Jessica and Angela have already eaten. So they obviously weren't that worried then, were they?
Edward's going to take Bella out to dinner alone then, and drive her home afterwards. Sounds like a date to me. Oh no! That means Bella and Edward alone together, that always equals unintelligible conversations!
Using either money or magic, Edward scores the couple a private table and Bella criticises him for 'dazzling' people. I said he was glamouring people, didn't I? Edward's more concerned with watching Bella closely in case she goes into shock. I'm not entirely sure why she would. Perhaps because she's finally getting a date with the man of her dreams?
He's also not eating anything, which is making this dinner date kind of one-sided. I always find it really awkward to be eating when the person I'm sitting with isn't. Then again, Edward's just all round weird. When realises that she left her coat in Jessica's car, Edward suddenly removes his to give to her; except a moment before Bella wasn't aware of him even wearing one. Then Bella starts inhaling his 'delicious scent' from the jacket. Weird.
Bella brings up the subject of Edward's weird colour-change eyes and how right now they're light but she would expect them to be dark, or something. I think she's figuring out how that eye colour-change thing works. Except for the fact that he's quite crabby right now which should give him dark eyes. Bang goes that theory then. She promises to elaborate on her theory if he answers some questions for her.
She posits that if a person, who obviously isn't Edward, could read minds, how could they find someone and how could they know they were in danger. At this point Edward seems to realise that Bella's been stalking paying more attention to him that he realised. You'd think if you were going to spend your time reading someone's mind, you might notice if half the time they were thinking about you!
"I was wrong about you on one other thing, as well. You're not a magnet for accidents – that's not a broad enough classification. You are a magnet for trouble. If there is anything dangerous within a ten-mile radius, it will invariably find you."
And he classes himself as trouble. And he's found her.
Bella touches Edward's hand and we're reminded how cold he is. Oh, and that he's hard, like stone. Well that's a turn on.
At least we're learning that Bella's not the only one with stalker skills. Edward followed her here to Port Angeles. Then he announces Your number was up the first time I met you. That's not creepy at all.
And he continues, telling Bella all about how normally once he's 'heard' a person's mind, they're quite easy to find but Bella's been causing him some problems. This clearly means that he's had to work extra hard to be a successful stalker in her case. He did also see what those guys were planning to do to her and he was good enough not to kill them for it. I think if Bella wasn't going to go into shock before, she might be feeling that way inclined now!
Then they leave. And we get an actual cliffhanger ending to a chapter for once (that is, instead of Bella going home to go to bed). As they get into the car Edward tells Bella that it's her turn to talk. I wonder what she'll say in the next chapter.
This one was definitely a better chapter than the last one. Edward's stalkerish behaviour is definitely not excused but at least it did kind of come in handy. I'm glad we're finally getting answers to some of the questions we've been asking since the beginning. And I got a cliffhanger as well.
I feel kind of spoilt right now!
As the list of questions was becoming rather unwieldy, I've cut it down to just the questions I'm asking myself in each chapter, so here goes:
- Have we seen Bella smile before in this book?
- If yes, in which chapter was that?
- Why hasn't the school district cracked down on the high number of absences from the Cullen family?
- Has Edward been having some anger management classes?
- If Jessica and Angela were so worried about Bella, why did they go eat dinner instead of trying to find her?
- Were Jessica and Angela actually worried about Bella, or were they just pleased to have gotten away from her for a while?
- Why does Edward seem to think Bella's about to go into shock?
- Why do Edward's eyes change colour?
- Why didn't Edward realise Bella spends all her time thinking about him when he read her mind?
The absences question went through my mind while watching the movie.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure all will be revealed eventually. At least, I hope it is soon!
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