Bella's Time Part 2

It took about thirty minutes to arrive at Bella's house. I knocked on the door. The door swung open and Bella jumped into my arms.

The shock of which really threw me for a loop, but should I had been surprised? This was our time, and she was happy to see it happen.

I had my doubts about how she was going to be when I arrived, but it seems like she is at least happy to oblige my selfish desires to be around her for now.

"Nils!" she shouted, hugging me tight. I immediately started smiling. I hugged her back tightly. I loved this. She was a ray of sunshine when she was ready.

"Come in!" She grabbed my hand and started running inside.

I laughed. The ache in my legs didn't matter at this time. Funny, when I was having fun, it almost seemed I forgot it completely. I looked around as quickly as my eyes could. "Where are your parents?"

"They're out." She said, laughing. "We have the place all to ourselves! We can do whatever we want."

The house was similar to mine in shape, room structure. The only difference was the items and the overall ambiance of her house.

There was more light basking in the abode, and it gave the flooring a shiner gleam. The light reflects off the walls, leaving a lighter shade of the brown coat of the cut wood.

It definitely was a warmer place than my dull dark, 'every window always had a curtain' residence.

I grinned, for I felt joy standing in her house. "Great! So, what are we going to do?" I asked excitedly.

She shifted her hands forward and let them fall to her sides. "I don't know."

Guessed enthusiasm does not lead to grand ideas, I reckon. I said, "I've never had the freedom to do anything I wanted to do before, so I am not sure myself."

She stares into the kitchen absentmindedly, then her brows furrowed. "Can we bake blueberry cookies?" she said, as if asking herself.

She looked at me as if looking for approval. Honestly, I was just happy to spend time with her. Anything would have been fine, so I said, "Sure. Do you know how to make them?"

Bella twirled, and her dress bounded and rocked with the shifting frame of her body. I looked away as heat traveled up the back of my neck. She said, "Yeah, I mean, I've seen Annie make them before. They're my favorite cookies, so I really watched her when she was making them."

I nodded at her. "Yummy! Okay while you do blueberry cookies." She moved into the kitchen and I followed. Their kitchen was a lot more crowded and a lot more untidy.

Things were confusedly laid around, but within the chaos, there seemed to be organization. Bella stopped in front of the counter. "I'll do um…" She looked at the collection of pots stacked up on one another in confusion. "I know, I'll make my specialty!"

Bella had a specialty?

She moved to the other side of the counter and reached for a piece of pig meat, a banana, and some peanuts. Okay, this was a weird selection. She saw me watching and grinned. "Just wait, you'll see," she said.

My eyes were rife with curiosity, but my stomach lurched with scorn, I supposed. This better be good.

I non-verbally said with my face I was not judging, but I was really judging. What in the world was she going to do with those ingredients?

Sugar, powdered wheat, an egg, blueberries, vanilla bean, some salt and oil placed in my lap. I mixed the ingredients in a bowl and made my dough. The process was nice and was enjoying this more than cleaning meat.

There was also the sight of just seeing the ingredients mesh together nice and slowly. Changing color and almost seeming sickly in its first impression, then it morphed into the milky white dough I mixed into a hardened misshapen ball.

I watched her as she cut the meat into thin strips, which she then put over the fire until it was brown and slightly crispy.

She then took the peanuts and a grater, grinding the peanuts into a powder, which she then mixed with a small amount of olive oil and water to make a paste.

Bella sliced the banana in chunks. She then grabbed some homemade flatbread and the peanut paste smeared on the flatbread. Once that is done, a few strips of the pig meat aid on top, followed by the chunks of banana.

She rolled it all up and made a few more. I shook my head in confusion and turned my attention to my dough.

Small balls were made of it when I broke it up and rolled each piece separately. They were placed on a metal sheet that rested over the fire. I left them until they turned golden brown. A piece of fabric I saw lying around. I took that up.

I winced, for I was pricked by a needle which already had a string in it. Someone must have been sewing it and left it there. I studied the material to see the pattern of the sewing and picked up where they left off.

"You know how to sew?" Bella asked with those big swelling eyes aimed at me.

"Yup. Sometimes I'd help Annie to get out of going hunting." Joel probably knew I was doing it on purpose too. He always gave me that silent glare meant for cowards, I assumed.

Well, I was not a coward anymore. I could not be with the situation as it was. No choice was left up my sleeve to do anything other than move forward.

Her smile made her face so bright and beautiful. I nodded and kept up the swift movement of a hand across the fabric. "You're full of surprises Nils Stylus," she said.

I smiled. "Here." She handed me the concoction she prepared.

I stared at it. It looked presentable, so I was not disgusted by the appearance. The history behind this meal was what was travelling through my mind. The ingredients kept rolling around in my mind and I just could not get myself to like it.

"So, this is your specialty?" I asked.

She replied, "Yup." I twisted my lips in response, and she giggled at my apprehensiveness.

I looked at it with skepticism.

"Try it!" She said, her eyes wide, a smile on her face.