I watched him from across the cafeteria and sighed. There he was, the boy I had been obsessed with since he first moved here, blatantly swapping tongues with a newly acquired hooch from our school. And I'd bet if someone asked him right now what her name was, he wouldn't be able to answer. He is such a player, and everyone knows that, yet all the girls' line up to date him anyways. Everyone loves him. And I had to admit, so did I. Not in the stalker I-collect-his-used-tissues sort of way, but in an I-admire-his-complete-perfectness sort of way. I truly did, along with the rest of the female population at Brookfield High School, although I'd never tell him this.
"Bella? Bella! What are you looking at?!" Alice hissed, momentarily snapping me out of my daze. She peered in my direction with her critical eyes.
"Oh, Edward sucking face with Lauren? Ugh, he is such a pig!" she yelled, gaining us a few stares from the surrounding tables.
She scrunched up a chocolate bar wrapper with her tiny hands, stood up, and whipped it at the direction of my gaze. An audible 'thump' was heard when the wrapper bounced off a glint of copper hair.
"Edward Cullen, save your tongue swapping for the movie theatres, why don't you? Some of us are actually trying to swallow down our lunches!" She shouted at him, seemingly commanding the attention of the entire cafeteria.
By this point, the whole room had gone quiet, waiting for a response from the Greek God himself. Edward looked up and grinned at Alice sheepishly.
"Oops, sorry, instinct got the better of me!" He laughed and disentangled himself from the girl-Lauren's clutch, then proceeded to eat his lunch normally, as if nothing had happened. Lauren smiled from ear to ear, obviously pleased with attracting so much attention.
"Ew, what does Edward see in that slut?" Alice seethed.
I sighed. "What every guy sees, Alice, blond hair and big boobs."
"Sometimes he can be such a caveman!" she said, her face scrunched up in frustration.
"I mean I love him and all, but I'd rather not watch my cousin make out while I'm eating! I totally just lost my appetite," Alice announced, throwing her pita wrap onto her tray. I giggled, and she proceeded to tell me about her latest shopping trip to the mall.
The beautiful boy Edward is my best friend's cousin, along with his other brother Emmett. You'd think that the three of them are blood related, what with them being so close to each other, but the truth is Edward and Emmett are only related to Alice through adoption. Alice's aunt and uncle had adopted the two boys when they were still toddlers, and moved them to Phoenix to be closer to family when they started high school. So Alice, Edward, and Emmett had lived together in Alice's upscale mansion for 3 years.
Though the three Cullens weren't blood related, they were all certainly attractive, all seemingly hand-picking traits straight from the gene pool. Alice Cullen was petite and lithe, with a height of 4'11 and the frame of a child. But despite her obvious height difference, she was absolutely stunning, with a pale smooth complexion and a gorgeous, innocent face. She had large, sparkling blue eyes and jet black hair cut short and spiky.
Emmett Cullen, the largest of the three, was built much differently. He was very tall, a height of about 6'3, with a large, bulky, muscular frame. People were often first scared of Emmett, but his infectious laughter and his happy personality quickly dispelled any negative thoughts of him. He had brown curly hair and deep, dark brown eyes, and was very attractive.
And then there was Edward. What can I say about Edward? He was utterly, heartbreakingly beautiful. He had a long, lean, muscular frame, standing at about 6'1, with a smooth, cutout magazine model face. He had shimmering emerald eyes, and his messy hair was a peculiar shade of bronze, or copper tinted brown. With all these features, he was easily the most beautiful boy in school, heck, the most beautiful boy in the city.
The bell rang then, signaling the end of the lunch period, and slowly the students started trickling towards the exit. Me and Alice followed suit towards our last period, English, which we had together. Just then a large pair of hands lifted me up off the ground and whirled me around, before crushing me into a huge bear hug.
"Emmett!" I choked out, barely able to breathe.
"Put me DOWN!" I shouted. I heard his familiar chuckling and he released me from his death grip.
"Gosh Bella, nice to see you too! Way to greet your big brother!" he said while pretending to look offended.
Since Emmett moved in with Alice I had referred to him as my 'older brother', seeing as me and Alice were best friends and in a lot of ways like sisters.
"Maybe if you hadn't suffocated me for so long, I would've had a better reply!" I answered back, while playfully punching him in the shoulder. He laughed and proceeded to tickle me in my torso.
"Hey Emmett, that's called physical abuse, you lug," said a familiar, smooth, velvet voice.
I turned around and my cheeks immediately grew hot when I met Edwards eyes.
"Bella doesn't mind, don't ya, Bella?" Emmett asked while ruffling my hair.
"By the way Eddie, where were you during practice? Coach Lawson was ready to bust a vein!"
"He was busy sucking face with Lauren Mallory during lunch," Alice chimed in. "Honestly Edward, can your standards get any lower?" asked Alice in a disgusted voice.
"Dude, Lauren Mallory?! Are you nuts?! That girls a total-"
"HEY!" shouted a loud, booming voice. The four of us turned around to see the principal staring us down. "Get to class, now!"
I looked around to see the hallway was empty. Alice shrugged. "Okay, see you later, then, Emmett!" I called out to him. He smiled and waved. Then I turned, but before catching Edward giving me a look that I couldn't read. It was somewhere between confusion and disappointment. I quickly cast my eyes down and continued walking with Alice, before Edward could see the familiar red creeping onto my cheeks.
EPOV
I watched from a distance as Alice and Bella got up and walked towards their class. Trying to be as inconspicuous as I could, I paused for a while, letting other students ahead of me, so that it wouldn't look as if I was following them.
"Oh Edward," Lauren purred, coming up from behind me and stroking my arm.
"Wanna skip second and have a replay of our lunch time?" she smiled, clutching onto my shoulder.
I brushed her off quickly. "I don't think so, see you later." She gave me a pout before I turned around swiftly and headed for the exit.
I was more than a little embarrassed about what happened during lunchtime. It usually didn't happen that way at all! I was just sitting with the guys, eating my lunch, skipping basketball practice since my legs were already so sore. Then a blond chick just swooped down and locked her lips with mine, and at first I was so confused, I just went along with it. Then I felt something pelt against my head and as I put my head up, I met the disgusted eyes of my cousin. I knew who was sitting beside her, Bella, and I was too horrified to even look her way. To her, I probably looked like some womanizing man whore.
Just then, I heard a familiar laugh, one I've been hearing almost every day since I've moved here.
"Emmett! Put me DOWN!" shouted Bella.
I could recognize her voice anywhere. I turned the hall to see Emmett and Bella in a ferocious hug. For a quick second, a rage of jealousy hit me like a tidal wave. Why did he get to hug Bella like that? Why did she open up to him and not to me? Why for all this time did Bella act as if I didn't exist?
And then, as fast as the wave came, it subsided. She doesn't talk to you cause you don't deserve to be talked to, I thought to myself.
"Gosh Bella, nice to see you too! Way to greet your big brother!" said Emmett.
I always hated when Emmett called Bella our sister. She was our cousin's friend and nothing more to me, despite my efforts. But relationships came so naturally to Emmett, and in time Bella and he had forged a tight sibling bond.
"Maybe if you hadn't suffocated me for so long, I would've had a better reply!" she shouted at Emmett.
She giggled when he poked her torso, and he continued to tickle her as she squirmed and tried to get away. For a minute I couldn't do anything but stare, she was so pretty. Her long brown hair was swaying and her carefree laugh was echoing down the now-empty hallway, her little body was struggling from Emmett's grasp. I came to my senses and called from behind him, hoping to get her attention.
"Hey Emmett, that's called physical abuse, you lug," I said, and she turned towards me.
For a minute her face was unreadable, but then she quickly cast her eyes downward, and I immediately felt foolish for interrupting them.
"Bella doesn't mind, don't ya, Bella?" Emmett asked as he ruffled her hair. Oh, how I wish I could run my hands through her hair, what I've been wanting to do since the day I moved into this town.
"By the way Eddie, where were you during practice? Coach Lawson was ready to bust a vein!"
Emmett's question snapped me back to reality, but before I could answer, Alice piped up, "he was busy sucking face with Lauren Mallory during lunch! Honestly Edward, can your standards get any lower?"
I was embarrassed as I watched their facial expressions change, from confusion to disgust. I saved Bella's for last. She looked absolutely mortified. A wave of shame hit me, and I immediately regretted my shameless lunchtime PDA.
Principal Marlot came up from behind Emmett, but he was completely oblivious.
"Dude, Lauren Mallory?! Are you nuts?! That girls a total-"
"HEY!" the principal interrupted. Bella jumped with surprise and immediately straightened her posture.
"Get to class, now!" said the booming voice.
Alice and Bella looked around, and took a few steps towards their last period class. Just then, I heard a soft voice call out, "okay, see you later then," and for a minute I was filled with hope. Say my name, say my name, say my name, I thought to myself, "Emmett!" My hope turned to despair and I looked her into her brown eyes. She met my gaze and her face for a second was blank. I was hoping she would call out to me too, or at the very least smile, but her expression turned mortified once again and she turned around and walked away.
She hates you, I thought to myself. Get it together Cullen, you don't deserve her attention.
I sighed, and continued on my way to class.