That Little Pixie

Summary: "All I could think was this is all Alice's fault."

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters; I am not the greatness that is Stephanie Meyers.

AN: Few quick pointers, they are all human in this fic and more than likely the rating will go up in time. I also checked out the Seattle university website so this is, at the moment, a realistic fic. That may change however. This is my first Twilight fic so any feedback would be appreciated. I hope you enjoy!

I peeked another look at the clock and groaned, wishing to somehow still its hands and stop time. Or maybe fast-forward it. I really wasn't looking forward to tonight and any way possible for me to miss it was a very appealing thought. Unfortunately time control was outside of my options, and unless I had an actual accident (which wasn't out of the realms of possibility for me) Alice wouldn't accept any other reason for me to not be there.

I couldn't believe I'd agreed to do this. Seriously what could have possessed me? I knew what Alice was like, what she could get up to; a side-effect of over ten years friendship with her. She was the devil in disguise and somehow I'd been tricked into participating in her latest scheme. A scheme which was totally unnecessary for her and Rosalie, which made this even worse for me.

Shuffling the papers in front of me I returned my attention back to my job. I loved my work as a teacher's assistant, it was definitely what I wanted to do with my life. At the minute I worked in a school for three days a week and spent the other two in college so that I could get my own teaching degree. I hadn't known that I wanted to do teaching, which was why I was taking the long route to get my degree. After volunteering in my town's local school (the only option available at the time for me to get out of the house) I'd seen how much I'd enjoyed working with the children and after letting slip this fact to my dad, that was it, my future had been decided. He'd been overjoyed at the fact that I'd wanted to do something other than stay in Forks and look after him and so had pulled every string he could as a police chief and I got an interview for Seattle University. I hated that I'd have to start off my education off his back but at the same time I was so happy to be going, and even happier that it was the same university that Alice was going to.

Alice was doing a course in fashion management and had a pert-time job as a personal shopper, which she was extremely good at. So good that she was actually known around Seattle for it and the department store she worked for would do literally anything for her to make sure she stayed with them. Our two permanent salaries were perfect for us as, as a 'well done' present for getting into university, Alice's parents had bought her a house, which we now both lived in and had bills to pay for.

A buzzing from near me ankle had me diving behind the desk for my phone, part of me begging whatever higher power there was that Alice had called tonight off, even though most of me knew it was a futile hope.

Bella,

Hope you're not panicking your head off about tonight. It's going to be fun!

And no, it hasn't been called off. As if you'd be that lucky!

Rose xxx

I sighed and dropped the phone back into my bag. No, I never got that lucky with one of Alice's plans. The fact that Rose was hyped about this as well was like another nail in my coffin; when the two of them got it in their heads to do something, it happened, period.

We'd known Rose for a little over two years now. After six months living together Alice and I had discovered that our salaries only just covered the bills and since we had a spare room we decided to rent it. When Rose turned up to the interviews we already knew her as a friend of a friend and the three of us hit it off. She moved in the next week and we hadn't looked back.

Rose worked as a scouter for a local classic cars garage, where she got to go around car fairs and warehouses looking for old classics that could be fixed up. Her knowledge of cars was extensive and that fact that she was blonde and looked more likely to be a model than a cars person normally meant she could get very good deals, which then meant she got very high commission. I knew she wanted to open her own restorative garage one day and as much as she loved her job hated that the manager wouldn't actually let her take part in any of the manual work. Rose was studying mechanics and got pissed off a lot when people saw her and judged her immediately to just be a bimbo airhead. I felt sorry for the idiots who called her on it, those guys never walked away unharmed.

"Bella? What are you still doing here?"

I looked up at the sound of Miss Harding's – Carol's – voice and smiled wearily at her.

"Avoiding going home." I answered.

She just laughed at that as she moved into the classroom to stand by my desk. Carol was a good friend and had been on the receiving end of many of my tales about Alice and Rosalie and what we got up to.

"Any specific reason?"

"Alice." I growled and looked back down at my work.

Another laugh. "What's she done this time?"

"I can't. It's too embarrassing!"

"Bella..."

"No."

"It can' be worse than that time at 'Frankie's' when-"

"No! Don't finish that sentence!"

"Then tell me Bella."

"It's stupid."

She smiled wistfully then. "If it's got anything to do with Alice, and judging by your frown it probably has, than it might be silly and out there but not stupid. I don't think Alice does stupid." She said gently.

I had to agree to that. Grudgingly, though.

"She came up with this plan," I started, giving in with a sigh and watching as Carol drew up a seat. "She kept wondering why all of us couldn't get past the first date. Or in their cases wouldn't, they were the ones dropping the guys not being dropped. And decided it was because we weren't giving it enough time. So she roped in these guys she met and the six of us are taking part in a month-long dating quest."

"Dating quest?" Carol asked, the corners of her mouth tugging upwards.

"Yes," I sighed. "We get paired up with a specific guy and have to do all the first dates we could possibly imagine together, in that month. The idea being that, afterwards, we'd know when we went on first dates again what the good signs were and the bad signs so we'd know whether to pursue the relationship or not. And don't ask me to explain the logic, I don't get it. Besides, it's Alice."

"That sounds like fun." Carol mused.

"It sounds like torture!"

"You'll just have to relax and go with it. I'd do it."

"You can have my place."

"Bella!"

"I'm serious."

Carol just shook her head. "You'll have fun." She repeated.

I just groaned.

Patting my shoulder Carol got up and left, yelling back over her should that she'd tell Ernie to come kick me out in fifteen minutes. Ernie was the school's caretaker and a sweet old man who could fix anything with anything, earning him the nickname 'MacErnie' by the staff. He was also one of Alice's 'conquests' (as I liked to call them) and was wrapped around her little finger; he'd do anything for her and they'd only met the once! Carol was sure to have mentioned I was going out with Alice tonight and so I started to pack up, knowing Ernie would come and shoo me on my way.

It really was unfair how I was made to put up with all of this. I must have done something terrible in a previous life to have deserved the dating wrath of my two best friends.

Shuffling out the door I turned all the lights off and swung back around to check everything was ready for tomorrow since I wouldn't be in. Nodding to myself I then moved out the door and almost collided wit the frame, sending me stumbling into the corridor. Swearing softly to myself I managed to recover my balance and make it to the end of the corridor before stumbling again. I hated that I was so clumsy.

Luckily I got out to my car without further incident.

Sitting at a red I heard the soft chime of my phone and reached over to my bag, keeping one eye and the stationary traffic in front of me just in case. This of course meant I wasn't fully looking at my bag and caused half the contents to get tipped all over the floor of the front foot well. Swearing again I hoped this was important and clicked to read the message.

You'd better be on your way home missy!

Preparation time for tonight starts in T-minus 1 hour!

Love you xxxx

Alice, I thought and then groaned. If she was already hyped up now she was going to be unbearable by the time we actually had to leave. I guess I shouldn't get too worried about tonight; I'd probably kill Alice before we even left the flat.

Putting my foot down on the gas I started off again, even more worried about tonight than I was five minutes ago. The drive home took about twenty minutes and even though I knew I could dawdle and stretch it to thirty-five, it probably wasn't worth the effort. If I was late Alice would be even worse and then there'd be hell to pay.

An over-excited Alice I could just about deal with. An angry Alice? No way.

Alice hardly ever lost her temper but when she did it was a sight to see, and most likely the last one you saw before you died. She and Rose were complete opposites in that way. Rose lost her temper a lot and you could always calm her down from it, it was when she was quiet that you worried.

And me? I was the peacemaker, the quiet calm one who didn't get too involved in anything emotionally. I had very little self-confidence and that led me to not take chances with my emotions. It suited me just fine, although Alice and Rose both got mad whenever I voiced the opinion that I wasn't worth something or other, or someone. They thought the world of me and as best friends I couldn't ask for more. But they just didn't understand that I didn't have their natural looks or ways with people, and somehow thought it was their duty to show me that I had.

Pulling up outside our house I parked the car and leant over to pick up everything I'd dropped in my distraction. My phone started ringing as I locked the car and one glance at the screen had my grimacing. I couldn't deal with my mother today, not with everything else as well. She'd have to wait and I'd call her back and apologise tomorrow. Tonight I had enough to worry about without all her problems too.

"Finally!" A voice screamed as I slammed the front door. "I was beginning to think you'd run away."

"Trust me," I replied as I dumped my belongings by the hall table. "If it wasn't for the fact that you know everywhere I'd go I would have."

Alice laughed and came and threw herself around my neck. "Don't be silly Bella! As if I'd let leave us!"

I gagged as Alice pulled too hard on me and almost met the carpet as I tripped. Luckily two hands shot out and grabbed me at the last second, righting me.

"Or you could have accepted your fate tonight only to have Alive hospitalise you when you got home." Rosalie grinned smugly at me.

"Is that still an option?" I asked weakly.

Rose laughed whilst Alice scowled and pinched me.

"Will you just relax? We're gonna have fun tonight!"

I rolled my eyes, all the fight knocked out of me as she bounced on her feet, her eyes sparkling.

"I think we've just won her over." Rose said slyly.

"No," I protested, wanting my say in this - even if it was about my defeat. "You've knocked the fight out of me, not persuaded me."

"Either way, we win!" Alice squealed. "Now let's go get ready!"

"Alice! It's over three hours before we're even leaving!"

But my protests were hardly heard over Alice's squeals and Rose's laughter. I swear those two must hate me sometimes.

True to her form, Alice spent the next hour whizzing through all three of our wardrobes and compiling our 'perfect' outfits. As she whizzed she finally told Rose and me what little we were allowed to know about our dates. And when I say little, I mean little.

"Bella, your guy is a historian. He researches particular wars and then writes books about them... He's already got some books published so I figure he's a literary type and right up your street... Rose, you get a radio producer who I think is also a musician. He also does some touring stuff so I think he's kind of like a DJ but don't quote me on that... And I get a guy who works as a trend buyer. True, it's for a sports company but hey he must have a shopper in him to do that for a living... What do you think?"

She stopped with some tops in her arms and looked between Rose and me, where we were sitting on the landing chairs. I was thinking everything she said through whilst Rose was scowling slightly.

"Do you even know what these guys look like? Fine we have their professions but that doesn't tell us anything about how hot they are!"

"Rose..." I complained, although part of me knew this was coming; looks were high priority for her.

"What?" She snapped. "I have standards, and I'm not going through with this if they are not met!"

"That's why we have tonight silly," Alice said cheerfully, going back to her clothes picking. "If after tonight we don't want to go through with this – and I mean any one of us – then it's a no go. The guys have that rule as well. After tonight, if we all agree, we're in it for the long haul. One whole month."

"That doesn't answer my question." Rose grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

I sighed and started to turn back to my book when I realised something. Alice hadn't answered Rose. She'd said about the rules and then smiled but she hadn't actually answered the question. Alice never dodged an answer.

"Alice..." I said slowly. "Do you actually know these guys? I mean, have you actually met?"

She smiled sweetly at me. "Yes?"

"Alice!" I screamed as Rose's jaw dropped. "Not only have you practically signed us up to a solid month of dating one particular guy but now it's one month of blind dates? Are you insane?!"

"Now just let me explain-" Alice began quickly.

"I'm with Bella on this one," Rose cut her off. "How could you do this to us Alice? They could be hideous!"

"As if I'd do that!" Alice squealed indignantly. "And these guys are a catch! Trust me. They've some of the most sought after men in Seattle and I didn't just choose them at random. I had a go-between, in fact they suggested the guys to me and then offered to suggest the idea to them. And this way it's fair to all of us, none of us know who we're meeting tonight. We each have a clean slate to go off of."

"Who was the go-between?" I almost growled.

"Tanya." Alice replied, the beginnings of a victory grin tugging on her face.

Tanya was a good friend of ours from one of the clubs we went to. She was a bartender there and always managed to get us tickets to events or a booth when it was really busy. I felt a little better at this as Tanya knew us all pretty well and would do what she thought was in our best interests. She was also a bit like Rose, in the way that a guy had to look extremely good before she'd even grant him her attention. At least we'd probably have a nice time looking at our dates tonight.

"Well now I don't mind." Rose said, obviously just thinking what I had.

"See? It's not so bad." Alice said. "It's going to be great, I know it is. I have a feeling."

I rolled my eyes at this but internally sighed. Alice's feelings were usually right.

"Now I'm finished, so let's get ready!"

I groaned as Alice dragged me to my feet and pushed me through my doorway.

"Outfits on and no arguments!" She yelled. "We are knocking these boys' socks off tonight!"

Thirty minutes later we were all dressed and I was once again considering mutiny. Alice had really gone beyond herself this time, I could almost admit that I looked sexy, which is a word I never used in conjuncture with myself. I was wearing a tight black skirt that ended just above my knees with a slit on the right-hand side. My top was a deep red colour with black and silver sequins embedded all over it that hung just on my shoulders and revealed just a hint of cleavage. A red and silver choker and matching earrings went with the top and Alice had dug out some red eye shadow that matched it as well. My hair was down but puffed up slightly so that it framed my face, a different parting adding more notice to my eyes. Silver high heels with a red buckle finished off the outfit. Staring at myself in the mirror I couldn't help but let a smile take over my face; I looked good. I knew the feeling would be gone in a few minutes when I saw Alice and Rose but right now I felt good.

"Ready?" Alice squealed, her voice sounding shrill as it came from way too close to my ear.

Turning I saw her dressed in a light blue dress that hung from around her neck in a halter style. It had white ribbing around the chest and it flowed down to reveal a white underskirt. The effect when she spun on the dance floor would be fantastic. Silver bangles covered one of her wrists and went with her earrings and the band in her hair.

She grinned happily at me as I heard footsteps from the landing. "We are going to rock tonight!"

Rose entered the room and took a sharp intake of breath. She looked stunning. Dressed in a tight red boob tube with black lace along the edges that held the top together at the back, criss-crossing over her bare back and a black rah-rah miniskirt, she was going to knock guys' eyes out. Finishing off her outfit was matching red high heels. Her hair hung curled and loose around her shoulders, hiding her black and red earrings.

"We are the bomb." She said simply as she came to the other side of me and looked into my mirror.

"And with that thought..." Alice said. "Let's go!"

I sighed and took one last look at myself in the mirror, trying to hold onto the self-confidence I'd felt just a few moments ago. Shaking my head, I grabbed my black jacket and followed the other two out, a feeling that even though I wasn't especially looking forward to it; something was going to happen tonight.

It took us another twenty minutes to get to the club, where Tanya would be introducing us to our dates and as the time increased the more antsy the each of us got. Rose got more confident, putting extra sway into her hips as she walked; Alice got more excited, grabbing onto us and hugging at random intervals; and I got more nervous, so I spent longer staring at the ground hoping not to trip.

As soon as we walked through the door I spotted three guys I hadn't seen here ever before. They were all sitting at the bar, dressed in dark shirts and trouser jeans and looking incredibly sexy. One was big and buff, obviously a muscle man, with thick dark hair; the second was tall and lanky with blonde hair; and the third... The third was gorgeous. He was tall and lean with muscles but not the kind that screamed at you, like the other guy's. He had bronze hair that seemed to stick up all over the place and I suddenly had to clench my hands by my side with the need to run them through it. I was about to berate myself for this, I didn't even know the man, when he turned around and his eyes locked on mine. I almost gasped. They were a shimmering emerald green, smouldering under the surface with a startling intensity.

"Girls!" A voice called out to us and it took me a moment to recognise it as Tanya's. "I'm so glad you're here! Come on, the guys are already here. Let me introduce you!"

And she started to lead us towards the bar. Suddenly my throat was dry and my nerves were no longer about embarrassment, they were about what these guys would think of us. Although when I said 'guys' and 'us' I really meant 'him' and 'me'. This couldn't be happening; I never ever got this lucky.

"Fellas!" Tanya called as she stopped us in front of the three hunks. "These are the lovely ladies I told you all about. Now here are the rules, you have tonight to spend with one of these girls and that girl only, and during that time you get to decide whether you would like to spend the rest of the month with that certain lady as we discussed before. Now on with the introductions! Alice this is Emmett, Rose this is Edward and Bella this is Jasper."

The next second I found myself standing in front of the blonde and I realised that no, I never ever did get that lucky.

And then all I could think was this is all Alice's fault.