Sadly, I don't own Twilight, but Stephenie Meyer does.
"We will be doing this project in pairs, I have chosen your partners randomly, and they will be posted at the front of the room at the end of class. The papers getting passed around right now explain your assignment, along with the grading scale. This project will count as half of your final grade. I know not everyone is a fan of group work or having to depend on another person to complete things, but when you're out in the business world you will deal with having to depend on others." Professor Banner stated as he walked around the front of the lecture hall.
"The handout that you have in front of you also lists important dates for the project, you will be meeting with me on alternate Friday's during office hours to go over what you have done and any questions or concerns you may have. After I'm finished you can come up and see your pairing, I'll also be emailing the list to you that will include the contact information you provided during the first week of class. You need to meet with your partner before your appointment during my office hours and have a brainstorming session. I'll be available during the day this entire week both in my office and by email and my office telephone. There is no excuse to come into your meeting empty handed. If you foresee yourself having issues, get in touch with me as soon as possible."
The shuffling of papers signified that class had ended and everyone pushed their way up to the front of the room, hoping to be paired with one of their friends in the class, or to not be paired with a slacker. Bella sat quietly packing up her belongs while she waited for the crowd die down, she began to stand when a textbook flew beneath her chair.
"What the f-." She started, but cut herself off when she felt someone standing behind her. "I take it this is yours." She said holding the book out as she got a look at the person for the first time. He was tall and slightly lanky; his appearance highlighted by his outdated clothes that resembled those of her father.
"Thanks." He replied, not making eye contact with her at all in the exchange.
"No problem." Bella answered as she shrugged her shoulders. The shy boy remained where he stood as Bella slid the straps of her backpack on.
"Good luck on the project. Partners always suck. I always get stuck with the kid who never wants to do anything. Fingers crossed that I actually get a decent one this time." Bella spoke, trying to make light of his tense posture.
Bella saw his mouth curve up into a small smile. His head was still angled at the floor. His only response was a shake of his head. He made no move to make eye contact with her or further the conversation. He appeared to be unsure or embarrassed with their confrontation.
Bella smiled and then proceeded to the front of the room. As she got closer to the front she noticed the awkward boy from seconds earlier shuffling down the steps behind her. She silently prayed that she wouldn't get stuck with him or someone like him. She scanned the list looking for her name, hoping to find a familiar name beside hers, one of the few people she had befriended in the class. She continued scanning the list until she landed on her name.
Swan, Isabella; Cullen, Edward.
Bella didn't recognize the name as any of those that she was familiar with in the class, which held roughly one-hundred students.
"Well, this should be interesting." She sighed before heading out of the classroom to make her way home.
While finishing up her homework for the next day's classes Bella received an email from Professor Banner with more detail than what was posted at the end of her class. It had the contact information of her partner listed. She though briefly about emailing Edward Cullen so they could get a head start on their impending project, but decided against it.
"This can wait until after dinner." She said to herself as she printed and saved her work.
Ten minutes later she was alerted to an additional new email.
From: Cullen, Edward (ecullen(at)u(dot)washington(dot)edu)
To: Swan, Isabella (swani(at)u(dot)washington(dot)edu)
Subject: Business Management 105 Project
Isabella,
Hello. Professor Banner emailed our project information at 5:37 p.m. so I'm contacting you to arrange a Business Management 105 meeting that will allow us to brainstorm for potential project topics. I am free to meet with you in the evenings. I have scheduled study time at the library after my afternoon classes from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. that I cannot miss. I can meet with you until no later than 5 p.m. as I need to be home for dinner at 6 p.m. I have a cellular telephone that I use for emergencies; it is listed in Professor Banner's email as well. I can be reached on my home telephone as well, but not after 8 p.m. because my family settles in for the night at that time.
Thank you,
Edward A. Cullen
Bella continued to reread the email, unsure of what to think of the awkward communication from the equally as awkward boy, guy, man, however you would refer to him as. Dinner time with his family? Cellular telephone? Settling in for the night? Edward sounded more like a 40 year-old man than a young college student. Chuckling at the unusual wording and unnecessary details within the email Bella hit the reply button, typing away.
From: Cullen, Edward (ecullen(at)u(dot)washington(dot)edu)
To: Swan, Isabella (swani(at)u(dot)washington(dot)edu)
Subject: RE: Business Management 105 Project
Edward,
I'll be at the library for most of tomorrow if you would like to meet up. You can just send me a text letting me know when you would like to meet. I'll have a study room reserved if you would like to join me. I'm mostly only free on in the evenings, so we might have an issue there. We'll figure it out when we meet.
Bella
As Bella finished at her computer she heard her front door unlock. In walked her roommate Alice with a pizza.
"I have dinner." She sang, the clank of her heels echoing as she reached the kitchen.
Bella joined Alice in the kitchen, taking out two plates for them.
"How was your day?" Bella questioned as she went about filling their plates.
"It was so long, I thought it would never end. I had to have lunch with Jasper's mom in between classes. I had to listen to her complain for two hours about how Jazz was wasting his time studying history when he could join the family business. Two hours of that mixed in with her wanting to know about our relationship. What am I supposed to say? Yes, Mrs. Whitlock, things are great. We went out on a date last night and your son rocked my world twice. I think not." She said mimicking what I'm assuming Jasper's mother would sound like. "Oh, but on a bright my professor postponed our textiles test until next week. She's having relationship issues and doesn't feel like dealing with tests."
"She said that?"
"Not exactly in those words, but you definitely got the vibe." She said pausing to chew a bite.
Alice and Jasper started dating at the beginning of the summer and really hit it off. One thing Alice didn't expect was his overzealous mother who viewed every new day in their relationship as one day closer to their wedding.
Talk about pressure.
"What about you? How was your day? You look a little tense."
"I have a project due at the end of the semester for one of my introductory business classes. It's worth half of my grade and from the weird email I just received from my partner he seems a little socially inept. "
"Nice." Alice laughed extending the word longer than necessary. "You got paired up with that kid. He probably hooks his cell phone on his belt and has an obnoxiously loud default ringtone."
"You're judging this kid you've never met based on his cell phone etiquette? He refers to it as cellular telephone, by the way." Alice's laughing came out are as snort.
"Who's judging now? I at least judged him without the use of sarcasm."
"I'm not judging, just curious."
"You never know he might be one of those hot, shy boys just waiting for a special someone to let loose."
"This isn't a harlequin novel Ali, it's a business management class."
"Whatevs- I'm just saying." She said grabbing her discarded purse as she walked back to her room.
Bella rolled her eyes in response. Alice failed to realize that not everyone's life outlined like a TV sitcom, not every scenario is meant to be a fairytale.
The ding of her phone alerted her to an email. Rather than ruin her eyesight even more she opted to check it on her computer.
From: Cullen, Edward (ecullen(at)u(dot)washington(dot)edu)
To: Swan, Isabella (swani(at)u(dot)washington(dot)edu)
Subject: Project Meeting Issues
Isabella,
I will send you text by email to let you know when I arrive at the library. I prefer to study alone so I will not be joining you in your study session. My study session will end at 4:00 p.m. so we can meet then. We can meet by the reference desk at roughly 4:02 p.m. because it will take that long to pack up my belongings and walk to meet you.
Thank You,
Edward A. Cullen
Bella shook her head at the email before closing her computer. She fell back on her bed taking in her awkward conversation with Edward Cullen. Her thoughts then went to the boy from earlier in the day. She had never noticed him in the class before and judging by his demeanor she wasn't surprised. Why wouldn't he make eye contact with her when she spoke to him? Why was she even thinking about it?
Bella was startled by the appearance of Alice in her doorway. "I'm going to the grocery store, you want to go with me?" She said leaning against the door frame.
"Actually yeah, I do. I need new razor cartridges... it's getting out of control."
"Eww, Bells, that's nasty. Waxing is your friend."
"I think I'll pass. That's a lot of trust put into a complete stranger that's going to be all up in my lady business."
"You would say that." Alice jokingly scowled as she started up her car.
Minutes later they were at the local grocery store strolling through the aisles.
"Bella, will you grab some tampons when you get your razors? I need to go pick up something for Jasper."
Bella pushed the cart a few aisles down looking for her items. As she turned the corner she recognized the awkward boy from earlier in class. He was standing next to an older woman, presumably his mother. They were speaking quietly as they stared at personal hygiene items. He picked up a package of razor cartridges, tossing them into his cart.
Realizing she had been staring, Bella went to pick out Alice's tampons before hearing the women with him speak.
"Why would you pick those out, you know you always use this kind." She said handing him the product she held in her hands.
He spoke softly to her in his reply. "I-I- just t-thought it would be nice to try something new."
"Nonsense, you already know you like this one, put the other back."
"Yes ma'am." He answered her looking at the ground.
Bella thought it was odd that a grown man would allow his mother to continue to decide what was best from him beyond his teenage years. She felt sort of bad for him he was obviously shy and unsure of himself. That made her really begin to think about the boy, wondering if he made it a habit of never making eye contact during conversation.
She then tried to come up with reasons for avoidance. Did he have some weird facial deformity? Is that the reason he didn't like making eye contact? It couldn't have been just her he didn't make eye contact with he didn't look at the woman who Bella believed to be his mother either.
Why was he so weird? You can't just ask people why they're weird, so maybe he doesn't know he's weird.
An unattractive laugh escaped Bella's mouth when she realized her unintentional 'Mean Girls' reference.
Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white.
This ushered in a whole new thought process.
He probably had probably never seen the movie 'Mean Girls' nor did he know who Linsday Lohan was. Not that not knowing who she was would be considered bad. She began to wonder if he let his mother walk all over him. If so, she probably controlled all of the other important aspects of his life.
Bella froze momentarily. Thinking that she probably looked like a crazy person with the random burst of laughter and the head nodding she turned back to pretending to look at products. Why did she even care?
So he was a little different. Not everyone had to fit some conventional, stereotypical form. She thought about what he would be faced with this semester with the project Professor Banner had assigned. If he struggled to speak with her today when she was just being polite in returning his flying book, his world would be turned upside down when he was forced to depend on a fellow classmate.
As the awkward boy and the lady accompanying him moved farther down the aisle Bella snapped out of her borderline stalker-ish fantasies and continued her shopping.
She had all but forgotten the stammering, awkward boy from earlier until she heard another voice howl from the far end of the aisle.
"If it isn't Mrs. Cullen, how are you dear? I feel like it's been ages." Bella's head shot up from the eavesdropped conversation.
No. Fucking. Way.
This was Edward Cullen.
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