Chapter-by-Chapter: New Moon, Chapter 9

I said I was getting back into the swing of blogging things, didn't I? If you were hoping for a blog post about my adventures in time and space I'm afraid you'll have to check back tomorrow. Today it's all about the Bella and Edward stuff. That's right, we're picking back up where we left off with Stephenie Meyer's New Moon.

When we last looked at this book (over a month ago now) Bella was getting pretty close to Jacob. There were also reports of a large bear which had been sighted in the woods, the very woods which Bella and Jacob have decided to start hiking in.

This week's chapter is called Third Wheel. Onward with Chapter 9.

What Happens?

Bella decides to host a get together with a group of her friends. Unfortunately everyone except Jacob and Mike bail on her, which makes the evening about as fun as you can imagine. And then everyone gets sick, but Jacob seems to be sicker than everyone else.

Thoughts as I read:

I'm guessing that Bella is either going to be the third wheel when she goes out with Jacob (and a friend) or Bella and Jacob are going to be hanging out and someone else will show up and be a third wheel, perhaps when things start to get interesting. Or it'll be something weird like Jacob decides to put an extra wheel on Bella's motorbike to help her with the whole not falling off thing. Let's read on and find out.

Time began to trip along much more quickly than before. School, work, and Jacob – though not necessarily in that order – created a neat and effortless pattern to follow. And Charlie got his wish: I wasn't completely miserable anymore. Of course, I couldn't fool myself completely.

Typical Bella, even when she's happy, she's looking for opportunities to be miserable. One of the reasons why she's still sad is because now she's improving on the bike so she's not hearing the Edward voice in her head as much. My guess is she's going to have to find something else reckless to do in order to help bring it back.

Suddenly it's Valentine's Day and Jacob is buying Bella 'Conversation Hearts'. Are these anything like love heart sweets? Bella seems confused by this. Perhaps Edward is the third wheel, even if he doesn't show up, he's kind of already in the third wheel in this relationship. She certainly hasn't bothered getting anything for Jacob because she's not been keeping track of the passing time.

Jacob asks her about her plans for the following day, specifically he asks if they are going hiking or to the ER. It's funny because Bella is so bad at riding a motorbike that ER is synonymous with with bike riding, hehe.

And now I think I know where the third wheel thing is coming in. Bella can't hang out with Jacob on Friday because she's hanging out with her other friends from school; they're going to the cinema, but Jacob's been invited along too so it's all good. And then Bella tells Jacob to bring Quil along too. Definitely going to be a third wheel moment here somewhere.

Of course there has been no such group from school planning to go to the cinema so now it's up to Bella to organise it all. She broaches the subject with Mike at school. Poor Mike, at first he thinks that he's going to get a date out it but he soon realises that Bella's talking about a group thing and he's suddenly not so keen. Mike twigs on to the fact that Bella's bringing along Jacob and his friends.

As it happens when the actual thing comes together there's only a handful of them going; Mike, Angela, Ben, Jacob and Bella. That's like five wheels. Mike's still trying to change the plan as well, making suggestions of more romantic films that they might like to see instead of the blood and guts fest that Bella has chosen. She's not to be dissuaded.

And then she goes home to find Jacob hanging out by her house, in his completed car. Then Mike shows up and Jacob gets a bit Edwardy-possessive about Bella. Jeez, what is it that Bella does to these guys?!

There's a bit of male posturing for a while before they are interrupted by the phone ringing. This is where the third wheel thing comes in. Ben's called to say Angela's ill and he doesn't want to come without her. Well, that's awkward. It's just going to be Mike, Jacob and Bella out for the evening. That sounds like fun. Personally, I'd just call the whole thing off. Which is exactly what Mike suggests.

Bella's all for a cancellation but Jacob's not done with his posturing yet. And Mike doesn't want to be outdone. Now it kind of seems like Bella's the third wheel while the two guys are trying to outdo one another. Bella doesn't help the situation when she then starts bragging about how Jacob build the car himself and they should let him drive. Nice one, Bella. Way to make Mike feel more welcome and less awkward.

It's then revealed that Bella doesn't like music. Well, I think she did, but she only liked music when it was composed for her by Edward. Now all music is bad. I can't imagine not liking music. I like to have something playing in the background whenever I can. Bella, not so much.

Jacob's also too young to go see the film that Bella's picked. Well done, Bella, did you not think to pick a film that your friend could legally go see?

Things really just go from bad to worse. After Bella has smuggled Jacob in to the cinema, he's really not approaching the film in the way it's intended. He takes Bella down with him and soon the pair of them are laughing at the film, finding the whole thing totally hilarious.

On the other hand, Mike's not feeling so good. I'm guessing he's either not a fan of the blood and guts fest on the screen or he's picked up the bug that's going around school. Bella follows him out to check on him and Jacob goes too, I'm guessing to point and laugh or something. It's just as well he did because they need someone to go look in the men's toilets. Jacob shouldn't find this so funny, he's going to have to drive the guy home in his recently refurbished car!

Jacob's pushing for more from Bella, he's decided now is the perfect moment to take his friendship with Bella to the next level. Something else to improve the journey home from the cinema. Bella shoots him firmly down which Jacob takes as clear evidence that she's still not over Edward:

His face was thoughtful, no longer teasing. "It's still the other one, isn't it?"
I cringed. Funny how he seemed to know not to say the name – just like before in the car with the music. He picked up on so much about me that I never said.

Jacob's starting to seem a little bit like Edward here, assuring Bella he has all the time in the world to wait for her to come around. Don't you start being a stalker now, Jacob? On my likeability levels you're almost up there with Alice! There are not enough likeable people in these books!

They talk for a little while longer. I don't really care what they're talking about. But the conversation moves on when Jacob spots the scar left by James biting Bella. And then Mike comes out the toilets, defending himself; he felt ill before the movie started. He really should've not gone. They have to put him in the car and head home but since no one was really enjoying the movie anyway, I suppose driving a puking Mike home is preferable to watching the film.

There's a weird little moment when Bella notices how hot Jacob is, temperature-wise. He's like the complete opposite of Edward.

How could I explain so that he would understand? I was an empty shell. Like a vacant house – condemned – for months I'd been utterly uninhabitable. Now I was a little improved. The front room was in better repair. But that was all – just the one small piece. He deserved better than that – better than a one-room, falling-down fixer-upper. No amount of investment on his part could put me back in working order.

And now I have the Fixer-Upper song from Frozen going round my head.

Hopefully things are about to get interesting, at least I hope Jacob isn't about to start spewing too. Bella drives Mike home and then Jacob says that he's feeling a little bit strange. I'm guessing this is the thing that his dad told him he would understand soon, the shape-shifter stuff that I've been spoiled for. He rushes off, promising to call Bella when he gets home.

Except he doesn't.

So she calls but Billy answers and informs her that Jacob made it home but was too sick to call. I'm guessing that's because he's busy turning into a werewolf or bear or something. Billy's not in the mood for chatting. And before long Bella's puking too. Congratulations, Bella. You've got stomach flu too!

After spending nearly a whole day on the bathroom floor, Bella gets better and calls Jacob to see how he's doing. Answer: No so good. He definitely does not have the same bug as her, and he's being very weird about it.

I'm sure all will be explained in Chapter 10: The Meadow. I guess we know what that means. They're going to find the meadow, and perhaps Jacob will make a revelation of his own there.