EPOV

Hookers, Whores, and Crushes

I turned the volume knob to the right, ignoring the protests below me to, as Emmett says, "turn that pansy shit down", while I studied my reflection in the mirror.

I'll admit, I'm an attractive young man. It would be ridiculous to say that I look…unappealing. My bronze hair is in constant disarray, my eyes are bright green, and I have a lean, yet toned body.

But don't be deceived; Edward Cullen is not simply "easy on the eyes" (Not my words). I actually have a personality. Moody and silently obsessive, but a personality none the lest. I'm intelligent enough to be accepted into several Ivy League schools, though I haven't decided which to attend yet. I am passionate in music—both listening and composing. I possess a sense of humor, and my family is sitting incredibly comfortable, financially speaking.

So one would think that being attractive, smart, passionate, rich, and yet still able to obtain the moral fiber I was raised with in tact would be enough to get a girl.

Obviously not.

Because if it was enough, Bella Swan would have been out with me last night, instead of that vile Jacob Black. She would be coming to this party with me, not him. If it was enough, she wouldn't even know Black.

If I was enough, she'd love me. Not him.

Of course, I was jumping the gun a little by automatically assuming they were madly in love. Or even in like. Last night had been their first—and hopefully last—date.

She was too good for him. She was too good for anyone.

Especially myself.

Nevertheless, I wanted her.

I was selfish enough to love Bella, despite the fact I could never deserve that witty, charming, shy, brilliant, kind, and beautiful girl.

I was pulled out of my morbid musings by a high, trilling voice calling my name. I sighed and ran a quick hand through my hair, throwing on a dress shirt and walking down the stairs. "What Alice?" I asked quietly, still mopping.

The small girl ran up to me, her usually spiky black hair now curled delicately against her head and her fragile body covered by a tight red dress. She threw her hand out in font of her, using it as a stop sign. I halted immediately. Rule number one when living with Alice: stay out of her way. Always.

"What?" I asked sharply, feeling insulted.

She let her eyes roam over my outfit, appraising it for sweet sixteen party. Alice had been planning this party since she turned five, much to all of our dismay. Alice's frown quickly turned into an accepting smile as she told me in her high soprano, "You look nice." She was referring to my outfit, no doubt.

I rolled my eyes at her, giving my sister a playful smirk. "I learned from the best."

Alice ginned and smacked my arm playfully. "That you did." She agreed with me. "Bella will be here in a few minutes, so I need to go get her an outfit."

My heart leapt at the sound of Bella's name, though it shouldn't have. Alice was Bella's best friend of almost two years now, of course she would be showing up to the party early. That, and Alice seemed to think Bella needed help with her wardrobe.

I always thought she looked beautiful no matter what she wore.

Alice saw the spark in my easy and smiled knowingly at me, shaking her head incredulously. "I think you should just tell her how you feel. Kiss her; talk to her, do something, for god's sake. You are both being ridiculous."

I rolled my eyes at her again, less pleasantly this time. "No, Alice." I told her irritated, reacting to the word "both". Alice seemed convinced Bella loved me as I loved her, but if that was the case, why did she date others? I hadn't dated anyone since meeting Bella. No one else could compare.

Trying to distract myself again from such...depressing thoughts, I peered over my sister's small form to see a blonde, tall figure give me a kind and understanding grin. "Hello, Jasper." I greeted him.

"Hey, Edward."

Jasper had been a part of my family since the beginning of my freshman year, when Alice announced she was in love with a boy in my class. Later, Emmett and I sat down and had a long…brotherly chat with Jasper about a ninth grader dating our eighth grade sister. In all honesty, we tried to hate him. But Jasper had such a relaxing quality about him, it made it impossible. In no time at all, he had become an important part of the "Cullen Clan".

"JAZZ!" A loud, booming voice echoed from the floor above us, the vibrations shaking the walls. All three of us laughed as Emmett came running down the stairs, beside me in less than a moment. For someone with such large muscles, he moved at an alarming pace. "Hey, I heard you come in." he explained breathlessly. "Is Rosalie here? Did she come with you?"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at Emmett. He was ridiculously infatuated with Jasper's older sister, Rosalie, and never missed an opportunity to prove it.

Emmett saw my expression and immediately went on a defensive stance. "What, Eddie?" He sneered. I had started to walk down the stairs and away from him as he shouted after me, "Yeah, cause it's not like you've never had a crush, right?" Sarcasm dripped heavily from his words.

I spun on my heel, turning back to Jasper, Alice, and a superior looking Emmett. "I do not have a crush!" I spat at him.

Emmett rolled his eyes at me as Alice and Jasper laughed. "Oh, right. Because you don't squeal like a little girl every time Bella's name is mentioned. And you don't apply to Newton's every other month so you can work next to her." I frowned. How did he know about that? My brother continued to rant. "And you volunteer to pick her up for school every day because you're concerned. Yeah, bro. No crush there."

I was about to smack him with a witty retort when the doorbell rang and I was instantly gone. "I'll get it," I said a little too eagerly.

"Of course you will." Emmett threw after me.

I pointedly ignored him as I opened the door, perfection standing behind it.

Her hair was wind blown and her eyes blazed with excitement. Her face was flushed from the chill of the afternoon and painted across her cheekbones was the most gorgeous blush I'd ever seen. She smiled brightly at me and I couldn't help but smile back. "Hey, Edward. How are you?" She said, her sweet smell blowing in my face. I blinked rapidly a few time and swallowed nervously. It was utterly ridiculous that Bella was having such an effect on me. Or, rather, that she always had.

It took me a moment to realize she was waiting for an answer to her question. "I'm fine, Bella." I managed to choke out. I loved saying her name; truly, it was the sweetest sound I'd ever heard. "And you?"

"I'm great."

I fidgeted for a moment, trying to ease the awkward tension between us. To my relief, Alice appeared beside me like I'd called her.

"Bella!" She shouted in joy. Then she grabbed Bella's arm, roughly towing her inside. I followed behind them like a sad puppy, sticking my hands in my pockets and lowering my head shamefully. Could I obtain any composure when she was around? Could I be anymore pathetic?

Both answers were a resounding no.

Jasper greeted Bella politely—a smile and kind embrace—right before Emmett rushed down the remainder of stairs, picking Bella up in a tight hug, twirling her around like a five-year old. It was impossible not to laugh at Emmett's big brother affections towards Bella.

"Emmett!" Bella squealed as she was not-so-gently lowered to the ground. He faced was flushing brighter than ever now, a large grin filling her magnificent face. I resisted the urge to touch her blazing cheek. "I didn't know you were home from college! How is everything going? Have you seen Rosalie around campus much? I hear football is go—Hey!"

Bella insistent—and adorable—rambling of questions was interrupted as Alice roughly took Bella's arm, pulling her up the large column of stairs with surprising amounts of force.

"Questions later." Alice directed in military format. I stifled a chuckled. It seemed that dating Jasper for so long had finally rubbed off on her. "Right now we have to get you into uniform." Uniform? Definitely Jasper's touch. She hauled Bella further along. "It's up on my bed. Come down when you're down. Hurry up!"

Bella scurried up the rest of the way, only tripping a few times, much to my amazement. Now, normally, I try my best to be the perfect gentleman around Bella.

Honestly.

But no straight man, no matter how courteous, would have been able to resist the view of Bella walking up the stairs in the most scandalous of ways. My jaw dropped slightly at the sight of Bella's gorgeous swaying hips.

Emmett's loud snickering yanked my violently from the view.

"Right, Eddie. No crush at all." He muttered after Bella was out of sight. I glared at him, but didn't bother to dignify him with a response.

"Edward!" Alice said, rushing down and taking my hand, towing me into the transformed living room. She led me towards a tower stack of CD's, waving her hand towards them furiously. "I need you to go over these and pull out the good ones, kay?"

"Sure, Alice."

She then turned to Jasper and Emmett, directing them into doing the manual labor portion of the preparations.

I spent fifteen or so minutes looking through Alice music selections—most of which came from my room—and was pleasantly surprised to see that almost all of her choices were excellent. It seems my young sister did listen to my ramblings after all.

All of a sudden a loud, piecing howl echoed from the entryway, causing me to rush on my feet and all but run to the sound of Bella's screech.

My thoughts became a blur of panic. Had Bella fallen? Was she hurt? God damn, why had Carlisle chosen to take Esme out for the weekend? What if we needed a doctor—?

OH LORD ALMIGHTY.

All of my thought stopped as if they had hit a brick wall and then knocked unconscious.

But, no. All it took was the vision of Bella.

Dressed like a succubus.

And, god, was she tempting.

Suddenly I found myself hating Jacob Black more than I ever had. And that was certainly saying something.

She had on the shortest skirt on—black silk. Her deep scarlet top was so low it peaked at the loveliest hint of cleavage, making my moth practically water with desire. Her red leather boots went all the way up to her knees; I swallowed deeply. Her face was contorted in an expression of pure rage. Was it wrong of me to find her even more attractive when she was angry? All of my blood seemed to have rushed down to one particular organ, but I couldn't find it in myself to hide or feel ashamed.

I was too completely filled with lust to do more than drool at the moment.

Bella hadn't noticed me yet, too fixated on the room to her left. "Alice!" She yelled again, her voice raising an octave.

Alice, Jasper, and Emmett quickly entered the room, the later two's expressions going from shocked to lustful to more shock within seconds.

I knew the feeling.

"You look great Bella! I knew that color would—"

"I look like a hooker, Alice!" Bella interrupted her, teeth gritted.

All four of us disagreed at the same time.

"No! You look amazing!"

"Very hot, Bella."

"Not at all!"

"What? No!"

"Besides," Emmett said, a wicked glint in his eye. "Don't you want to look hot for your boyfriend?"

Bella's entire face paled. I squeezed my fists, scowling deeply. "Boyfriend?" She squeaked out. "What boyfriend?"

"This Jacob Black I've heard so much about."

Bella blushed again, and I groaned inwardly. She did like him. Damn it!

"He's not my boyfriend." Bella whispered quietly, her gaze looking at anything and everything other than our faces. Finally her eyes met mine—for only a brief second—and she flushed brightly again. "He isn't what I'm looking for," she answered at last.

My heart rejoiced, and then dropped again.

I wasn't what she was looking for either.

A voice came from behind us, causing my head to swivel rapidly. "Who dressed Bella like a whore?" Rosalie asked, her blond hair falling to the side as she cocked her head curiously.

"Alice," we all answered simultaneously as my sister scowled.