Chapter Five: I waited for her to write something that made sense. The pages ticked by.

Chapter five mainly concerned a day in the life of Bella Swan. Bella has had some boy issues, but Edward is no ordinary boy. So when he stares at Bella from across the cafeteria, Bella decides that perhaps the men of Forks aren't all bad, and she scoots over to sit alone with him at another table.

At this point, Bella has already figured out that something is up with Edward, but hasn't come up with a coherent theory. Edward is mysterious and dangerous and cryptic, giving way too much information for a public setting, but not enough for Bella to figure things out (yet).

So then Bella goes to class, while Edward decides to skip. In a stunning coincidence, this is the day when everyone draws blood to do blood typing! Good thing there weren't any vampires in the room. Bella can't handle blood (which, you see, is funny because she's going to fall in love with a vampire!), nearly faints, and has to go to the nurse's office. On the way, she runs into Edward.

Eventually this leads to Edward taking Bella home...by force! In what I've been told will become a common theme in their relationship, Edward becomes more than a little controlling here. Even though Bella is perfectly capable of driving home, Edward refuses to let her, not only dragging her to his car and driving her home, but unilaterally deciding that it's okay for his sister Alice -- whom Bella has never spoken to! -- to drive her truck back home for her. An isolated incident, or the beginning of a vicious cycle? You decide.

Actually, this chapter wasn't so bad. A lot happened in it, and most of it seemed relevant to furthering the plot. Bella hardly brooded at all! At times, she seemed downright happy. Still clumsy, though.

I'm going to be eliminating a couple of the end-of-post ratings. I spend most of my entries talking about the banal and/or horrible things contained in the pages of the latest chapter, which makes it kind of redundant to add a section about these aspects of the novels. However, the Will to Continue remains! I think it's the most important rating by far, especially when I get into portions of the book that will test my resolve. But for now, my...

Will to Continue: 98 (+1)
...remains high. I don't expect it to last.