"Are you sure you're okay?" Bella asked for what seemed to be the millionth time.

It had been two days since the incident and Bella still felt horrible that she stayed at Jacob's instead of driving me home. After I had gotten the anonymous text, I called Bella sobbing and she came to pick me up because I couldn't walk; Jacob was with her and he had to pick me up off the ground because fear had me paralyzed. They took me straight to Charlie at the police station and sat with me as I filed a report.

Charlie had called my mom, who wrapped her arms tightly around me when she showed up to get me. Jacob had a grim expression on his face as we left the police station and I couldn't make out what he was thinking. Since then, Mom made sure that I was with someone at all times - her at the bakery, Bella at home, or at Jacob's, a police officer sitting outside our house. I was grateful that Mom was taking the situation seriously, even though we didn't have a clue who would come after me in the first place.

"Yeah," I answered with a small smile. "I'm okay."

"We don't have to go to Jacob's today. We could stay home and watch movies on the Hallmark Channel."

"You don't even watch the Hallmark Channel." I laughed.

"No, but you do." Bella smiled. "I know it'd cheer you up and take your mind off things."

"It's okay if we go to Jacob's. Besides, I heard Billy's been asking about me. If I don't go a third day in a row, the man might have his heart broken."

"Alright. I'll drive."

Ten minutes later, we pulled into the Blacks' driveway, both of us lost in thought. Jacob stood in the doorway of the garage, a grim expression on his face. His eyes scanned the area around us, as if on alert. We all were on alert, and I was sure we would be until the police caught my stalker.

"How was the ride over?" Jacob asked once we reached him.

"Silent." Bella replied, sneaking a glance at me. My cheeks flushed.

"Sorry."

"It's okay." She reassured me. "We didn't have any problems."

"Good. That's good." Jacob smiled at me before turning back into the garage. "I have snacks, courtesy of Sue."

"Geez, does everyone know?"

"Yeah." Jacob rubbed his neck, a sheepish grin on his face. "Dad told the council elders. Now they've got everyone keeping an eye out."

"Great." I flopped onto the couch and threw my arm over my face.

"We just want to make sure you're protected over here," Jacob said, reaching for a wrench. "Your mom would kill us if something happened to you."

"Yeah, I know." I let out a sign. "I just didn't want to be a burden to anyone."

"You're definitely not a burden," Jacob inhaled sharply.

"If we're going to be working on these bikes every day, we should probably include some homework. Don't want the parents to think we're a bad influence on you." Bella changed the subject, sensing how uncomfortable the topic was making me.

"You two influence me? Please."

"Um, yeah. We influence you. We're older than you." I said jokingly.

"Age ain't nothin' but a number." He stuck his tongue out at me.

"And we convinced you to secretly build us two-wheeled death machines." Bella added.

"God, you're right, you're like Satan --." Jacob gasped in mock horror as he stopped working on the bikes to stare wide-eyed at her.

"Yo, Jake, you in there?" A voice called out from outside the garage.

"Isn't that Quil?" I asked, recognizing the voice.

"Yeah."

Bella had abruptly sat up as soon as she heard the voice, reaching over to pull a tarp over the bikes. Panic was written all over her face as she struggled to grasp the tarp.

"It's cool, it's just my boys," Jacob reassured her, placing a hand on top of hers to stop the tarp. A few seconds later, Quil and Embry emerged from the doorway.

"Hey, Jake -- ." Embry started to say, cutting his greeting short as the boys noticed Bella and I. A smile broke across their faces.

"Hey Autumn." They said in unison, laughing.

"Hey, guys. How's it going?" I smiled back. "Mom hasn't seen you in the bakery lately."

"They've been busy," Jacob answered before turning to his friends. "Hey. This is Bella. Bella, that's Quil and Embry.

"So the bike building story is true," Quil said, a hint of surprise in his tone.

"Taught him everything he knows." Bella joked.

"What about the part where you're his girlfriend?"

I had been taking a sip of water when Quil asked that; the question caught me off guard, causing me to choke and sputter. Talk about awkward...

"Oh, we're just friends," Bella told him.

"Ooh. Burn." Embry laughed.

"I said she's a girl and a friend." Jacob said, scrambling his words. He avoided looking at either of us.

"Embry, you remember him making that distinction?" Quil turned to his friend.

"Nope."

"So I guess you guys have girlfriends?" Bella asked Quil and Embry, who were still laughing at Jacob. Jacob snorted loudly.

"Right. Quil took his cousin to prom."

Jacob's facial expression sent Bella and I into a fit of giggles. Embry started to chuckle as he shook his head.

"Oh yeah, that's still a riot. You want funny, Black? I'll give you funny." Quil said before making a run at Jacob, who dodges, causing a playful scuffle to ensue. Embry, clearly amused, sauntered over to Bella and I, staying out of the way.

"I got five bucks on Quil." He said casually, watching his friends.

"You're on." Bella shook his hand.

* * * * *

As the next couple of weeks flew by, most of my time was spent at school or with Bella at Jacob's while he finished the bikes. Between finishing the motorcycles and Jacob teaching Bella how to drive one, we made sure to do homework in the living room of the Black home under the surprised supervision of Billy.

On our next homework day, I drove as Bella went through her notebook in the passenger seat. Parking in my "spot" in the driveway, I noticed Jacob was already outside, waiting for us.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Jacob smiled, ducking his head as he greeted Bella first.

He held out a small, pink box to her, carefully balancing it on his palm. I instantly recognized what it was because the same boxes were in my backpack; he was giving her conversation hearts.

"Well, I feel like a schmuck," she mumbled. "Is today Valentine's Day?"

Jacob shook his head with mock sadness.

"You can be so out of it sometimes. Yes, it is the fourteenth day of February. So are you going to be my Valentine? Since you didn't get me a fifty-cent box of candy, it's the least you can do."

The slight flirty tone of Jacob's teasing stirred an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach. I grimaced as they seemed to forget I was still there.

"What exactly does that entail?"

"The usual - slave for life, that kind of thing."

"Oh, well, if that's all..." She took the candy from him, her expression pained. Jacob didn't seem to notice.

I cleared my throat loudly, causing them to look at me. Guilt and embarrassment crossed Jacob's face as I sighed.

"Great minds think alike, I guess." I withdrew the boxes from my bag and handed them over. "Happy Valentine's Day."

Without another word, I spun around and headed for the house, eager to get away from them. By the time they walked into the living room, I was already sitting in my spot with an earbud hooked into my ear and my English notebook opened in front of me.

Bella made eye contact with me and mouthed "sorry" when Jacob wasn't looking; I shook my head as my way of saying "I'm sorry for overreacting." I knew I was jealous of their relationship, and it wasn't fair for me to take it out on Bella. She didn't like Jacob that way, but I knew she was slowly falling in love with him. Even if she didn't realize it herself.

Jacob was piecing her back together. He made her whole just by being around her. Who was I to get in between that?

As Jacob disappeared into the kitchen for drinks, I silently vowed to stay focused on myself. Crushing on someone who was crushing on someone else hurt too much, and I knew I was better than that.

"Have you gotten any more anonymous messages?" Bella asked curiously as she retrieved her math book from her bag.

"Not recently. Every time my phone goes off, I get this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach." I admitted.

"We'll figure out who it is," she said reassuringly.

"I hope so."

The sound of buzzing pulled my gaze down to the lit screen on my phone. The color drained from my face as my brain comprehended what my eyes were seeing.

ROSES ARE RED, VIOLETS ARE BLUE. DID YOU REALLY THINK I WAS DONE WITH YOU?

"Autumn? Hey!" Bella's voice sounded panicked as the room swayed. I squeezed my eyes shut as the pounding grew louder in my ears.

Suddenly, hands were cradling my face as if careful not to break me. Warmth seeped into my cheeks as the pounding slowly dissolved, replaced by his soothing words.

"Autumn, you're okay. Come back to us. That's it, focus on me. There you are." Jacob let out a breath of relief when my eyes finally opened.

"Are you okay?" Bella leaned over Jacob's shoulder to look at me.

"What happened?" I mumbled, trying to clear my head.

"You had another panic attack," Jacob said quietly. "I remembered what happened the last time you had one."

His eyes were full of guilt as he stared into mine, checking for signs that I really was okay. Satisfied that I was, Jacob handed me a cup of hot chocolate. I smiled weakly at the sight of sprinkled cinnamon and whipped topping.

"Thank you."

"What caused the panic attack this time?" Bella asked.

I nodded to my phone and Jacob picked it up, reading the text. He swore under his breath.

"I'm calling Charlie. Bella, stay with her, okay?" Jacob got up from the floor where he was kneeling and headed back into the kitchen. I could hear the low murmur of Jacob's voice talking to Billy before calling Charlie.

"I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Bella sat down next to me. "Hey, why don't we go to a movie Friday night? We can get a group together, like old times."

"Sure." I nodded. "That sounds like fun."

"What sounds like fun?" Jacob plopped down on the couch behind us.

"Movie Friday night. You want to come?"

"Sure. I'll bring Quil, he'll be stoked about senior girls." Jacob laughed.

"Cool. We'll ask our friends at lunch tomorrow then." Bella grinned. "Did you talk to my dad?"

"Yeah. He wants Autumn to go to the station after you leave here, so they can get that text message into evidence or something."

"Mom's going to have a cow." I rested my head in my hands.

"Do you want to leave now?" Bella asked.

"No, we can get some homework done first."

"Yo Jake!" A voice hollered from outside. Confusion etched into Jacob's face as he clambered to his feet.

"Quil?"

Quil appeared on the other side of the screen door, a grim expression in his eyes. He nodded at us in greeting.

"You have a situation out here." He lowered his voice so only Jacob could hear. Whatever he said must have been bad because Jacob stormed out of the house. A few seconds later, we heard him yell.

"What's wrong?" The words had barely left my mouth when I looked outside and hissed in terror.

All four tires on my Bug were flat, slashed angrily. There was no other damage that I could see from the living room. Bolting outside, I cried out as the sight fully registered in my brain. The windows were covered in insults, written in lipstick. As I took a closer look, I recognized the lip color; someone had used my favorite lipstick, Perfect Red by NYX. I pointed it out to Bella and Jacob.

"There are only two people I know for sure who knows I wear this lipstick."

Jacob's eyes hardened as he realized who I was talking about. A few seconds later, Bella caught up, gasping as her eyes grew wide.

"Your ex-friend and ex-boyfriend."

"Exactly. Call your dad. He's going to want to see this." I grimaced at the sight of my car vandalized. Quil put a hand on my shoulder reassuringly.

"I know someone who can come replace the tires." He said.

"I appreciate the help."

"Autumn, you should probably get back inside." Jacob said as he scanned the yard with his eyes. "Just in case they're still out here."

"Okay," I said, my voice cracking.

I practically sprinted inside, an uneasy feeling washing over me when I reached the porch as if someone was watching me from the shadows. Shaking my head, I curled up into a ball on the couch and waited for Charlie to come over.