I read Twilight so you don't have to // CHAPTER 11: COMPLICATIONS
Wherein we learn Bella's favorite color...it's more boring than you think.
A Summary:
More games of 20 Questions. Edward warns Bella that she can’t be around when he hunts, as she might seem like prey. The chapter ends with Jacob and Billy Black showing up, and Billy clearly recognizing Edward for what he is.
Outfits:
We have one!! It’s basic but we have one!!
I pulled on my brown turtleneck and inescapable jeans, sighing as I dreamed of speghetti straps and shorts.
—Bella, pg. 226
Bella’s choice for wearing the brown turtleneck becomes clear later in the chapter, where Edward asks for her favorite color:
“Brown,” she says, with the solemnity of someone revealing a deep truth. She goes on a little rant about how everything is supposed to be brown—rocks, trees, dirt—and how the green of Forks just feels all wrong.
I kind of get it. She misses the desert. She’s homesick, and brown is symbolic of comfort, memory, home.
But at the same time, she takes it all so seriously that it’s funny. Yes, Bella, you are the heroine of a sepia-toned indie film. We see you.
My Thoughts:
I’m nearly halfway through this thick-as-heck book, and we’re still stuck in a time loop: 20-questions, awkward biology classes, and Bella tripping in gym. I swear I’m not trying to be a broken record but the book genuinely goes in circles for over 200 pages.
At this point, I’m skimming whole sections just to stay sane. This chapter is no exception, so I’m doing you all a favor and skipping to the highlights. You’re welcome.
Edward drives Bella to school, asks her about brown, asks her about what CD she’s currently listening to:
He asks about her favorite gemstone and she “blurts out topaz before thinking” (pg 229). She follows this up by saying, “I suppose if you asked me in two weeks I’d say onyx” (pg. 230), because Edwardo’s eyes turn from butterscotch to black when he’s hungry.
Bllllllleeeeeeaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh.
Also! We get a book title drop!!
The book’s called Twilight because the sun is going down! Hooray!
No, actually, Edward gives us a tiny bit more to go off of:
Sure, it sounds poetic. Moody. Symbolic. But I feel like it’s trying really hard to be deep without actually saying much. That kind of wistful, capital-E Ennui would make sense for classic vampires who literally can’t be in sunlight without bursting into flames. But Edward and fam? They seem just fine. They go to school and drive fast cars and stuff. They're not burned by the sun, just mildly inconvenienced by it.
So if twilight is the “safest” time for Edward, it’s less “the tragic melancholy of a cursed immortal” and more “this lighting is flattering and no one will notice my diamond skin.”
(He hasn’t shown Bella why he can’t be sunlight yet, btw, so there’s a teaser for you).
And if “darkness is so predictable” then so is this book. Ayoooooooooo~
No, but if darkness is predictable, then Twilight is practically clairvoyant. Every time Edward opens his mouth, I can already hear the sigh, the vague warning, the cryptic half-truth, and Bella falling over herself.
xoxo