A Little Healthy Competition -
Bella Swan was excited. Today was the day that she would receive the most important news of her life. Today she would receive her acceptance into or rejection from Princeton University.
Bella sat with her best friend Alice Cullen in the cafeteria of Forks High School during lunch.
"Oh, Bella!" Alice squealed. "I'm so excited for you! You have to call me the moment you find out!"
"Oh, yes, Bella! You simply must tell us!" The two girls rolled their eyes at the boy who interrupted their conversation and sat down at their table. Edward Cullen, Alice's twin brother, spent most of his time annoying the girls, particularly Bella.
"Shut up, Edward," Alice said, nudging her brother. "No one invited you to sit with us. Or to join our conversation."
"Oh, but I heard you guys talking about Princeton, and I just had to join in," he mocked, referring to Bella's obsession with her top choice.
"Whatever, Edward. It's not like you don't act the same about Dartmouth."
"Yeah, but I actually got in to Dartmouth."
Bella raised an eyebrow. "And I haven't checked yet, so I don't know if I got into Princeton or not."
"Well, I did," Edward smirked, "and guess what? You're top school wants me, too. Isn't that exciting?"
"So exciting it makes me want to hurl," Bella replied. "You and your stupid iPhone internet access," she mumbled.
"What was that? I didn't quite catch it." Edward smirked at her.
"Just because you can afford a phone with internet doesn't make you better than me, Edward, so you can stop bragging about it."
"Because you don't brag about anything, right?"
"At least I earned being number one in the class. Your parents pay for that thing."
"I earned my spot as captain of the football, basketball, and baseball teams."
"Valedictorian still wins. Brains over brawn, or haven't you heard?"
"Yeah, well -"
"Enough already," Alice interrupted. "Can we please not get into another 'my horse is bigger than your horse' discussion today?"
Bella and Edward looked at each other.
"I think it's too late for that, Alice," Edward pointed out.
"Truce?" Bella asked, putting her hand out.
"For today," Edward acknowledged, shaking her hand.
Alice breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally. You guys really should chill out. You've been competing with each other since we were, what? Five? Six?"
"Five," they both replied automatically, and then glared at each other.
"Exactly. Doesn't it get kinda old after a while?"
"Nope," they said at the same time again.
Alice rolled her eyes. "You two are nuts."
Bella smiled at that. "And yet, somehow we are your two most favorite people in the whole world. What does that say about you?"
"I have no idea, but it can't be good."
Just then the bell rang, and the three had to walk to class.
"Don't forget to call me!" Alice shouted as she and Bella parted ways.
"I won't," Bella called back. She smiled to herself. She was so excited.
Bella anxiously paced around her small room while her computer warmed up.
"Come on, come on," she whispered, tapping her fingers on the desk as she sat down.
As soon as her computer was fully-functioning, she logged on to her account and checked her application status. She was so nervous.
Dear Ms. Isabella Swan,
After a thorough review of your application for admission to Princeton University, the Committee on Admission has decided, with regret, not to hold a place for you…
Bella sat back, stunned. She had that funny feeling in her stomach; her face flushed and tears welled up in her eyes.
"I didn't get it," she whispered. "I didn't get in. After all my hard work…"
The tears were falling in earnest now. I can't believe it, she thought, her head falling into her hands. I tried so hard. I did everything right. I did everything I could.
Princeton was her number one, and had been for forever. Her gaze fell onto a picture taped to her wall. It was of her first Christmas, and she was wearing an over-sized Princeton sweatshirt. Princeton had been the dream, and now she was never gonna get it.
Bella threw herself on her bed and started crying in earnest.
Edward was about to walk into the kitchen the following morning when he overheard his mom and Alice talking.
"Mom, I'm worried about Bella," Alice was saying. "She said that she'd call me as soon as she found out about Princeton, but I didn't hear from her all night. I have this funny feeling that she got rejected."
"Oh, Alice, you don't know that."
"What am I supposed to do? What should I say? I mean, you know how much she wanted to go there. She's been dreaming of it since before she was born."
"Alice, why don't you wait until you hear for sure from Bella. Maybe she was just so excited she forgot to call."
Alice sighed. "Yeah, I guess. I just… never mind. I'll just ask her later."
Edward waited a bit before entering the room so his sister wouldn't suspect him of eavesdropping. Bella didn't get in, he thought. Interesting…
"So did you hear from Princeton yet?"
Bella looked up and saw Edward smirking at her. She squinted at him, trying to determine whether he knew or not.
"Did you get in?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.
There it was. That arrogant look was now plastered all over his face. Bella could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. "Jerk," she whispered. "You knew." She suddenly stood and ran from the room.
Edward backed up, stunned by the tears. He hadn't expected that reaction. She normally gave as good as she got.
"What the hell was that, Edward?" Alice exclaimed, slapping her hands on his desk. "What did you say to Bella?"
"It was just… nothing. I didn't say anything to her."
"Well, you obviously said something to her 'cause she ran out of here crying."
"I just asked her about Princeton." He shrugged it off.
"You overheard me this morning, didn't you?" Alice accused.
"What's your point?"
Alice was appalled. "Who are you and what have you done with my brother? The Edward I know actually has a heart and can feel some compassion." She shook her head and left to go find Bella.
Edward sat down once she left, stunned. That certainly had not gone as planned. What was he going to do now?
Bella was putting her backpack in the back of her truck when Edward suddenly appeared next to her.
"Oh!" Bella put a hand over her heart. "Geez, Edward. You scared me."
"We need to talk, Bella."
"Actually, I don't think that's necessary. I have nothing to say to you."
Bella tried to walk around him, but he blocked her path.
"Look, Bella, our relationship is… unconventional, to say the least. We aren't close, but we know each other too well to just be acquaintances. We aren't friends, but we like each other too much to be enemies. It's always just been about our stupid competitions, our stupid games. It's never been personal, right? So you have no right to be mad about this."
Bella whirled around. "Really? That's your justification for what you did? I'm the one who's at fault because I'm being petty when it wasn't meant to be personal? You made it personal, Edward, the minute you brought up Princeton. You knew, you knew it was my number one. And you knew how much it meant to me."
"You would've done the same thing!"
"No I wouldn't! I never would have said a thing if I had gotten in to Dartmouth and you didn't!"
Edward snorted. "Yeah, sure you wouldn't have. And conveniently, we'll never actually know the truth."
Bella glared at him. "Screw you, Edward. You don't know me at all if you think I would do that. I'm done. I don't want to be a part of these games anymore."
He rolled his eyes. "Come on, Bella. We both know you like playing."
"No, Edward. I like you. And I used to think that playing these games was the only way that I could get you to talk to me. But I'm done with it. It's not worth it anymore."
Bella slid passed him, opened the car door, and drove away, leaving a very stunned Edward behind.
She... liked me?
Edward shifted from one foot to the other as he waited on Bella's porch.
"What are you doing here?" Bella asked once she opened the front door.
"I'm sorry, Bella. I was a jerk, I know it. I had no right to say those things to you. It was way out of line, and I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."
"Edward, I - I don't know what to say."
"Bella, please. I know you wouldn't have said anything to me if the situation were reversed. I just… I don't know. I'm just so sorry. What else can I say to make you not mad anymore?"
Bella eyed him for a long moment, cocking her head to the side. "I don't know if there's anything else you can say." She smiled slowly. "But that apology is a pretty good start."
He heaved a sigh of relief and smiled back. "For a second there, I was worried that I had lost my competition buddy. You know I would never want to change our relationship."
Bella was slightly taken aback, thinking that she had misinterpreted his actions. "Oh, okay. Right. Of course. I mean, you wouldn't want to lose your buddy." She started to close the door.
Edward stuck his foot out. "No, wait." Edward closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "That was a lie. I would like to change our relationship. I would love to be your friend, or more, if - if you would want that… with me." Edward refused to make eye contact with her. He hadn't planned on discussing this with her tonight, but he couldn't let her close the door thinking that he just wanted things to go back to the way they were before.
"Edward." He still didn't look at her. "Edward," she repeated, placing a hand on his cheek. "Look at me."
He reluctantly raised his eyes.
"What exactly are you saying?"
He took another deep breath and looked deep into her chocolate-brown eyes, trying to judge her reaction. "Bella, do you have a date for prom yet?"