Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Or Edward – Or Robert – Damn it.

Chapter Two: You're paralyzed

When the elevator doors opened into the lobby, I had to blink a few times. The common area of Weston Hall was barely recognizable through the constant flickering of a very bright strobe light. "Monster Mash" was blaring from the six speakers that had been delivered earlier in the day, and I had to shake my head a few times to orient myself with my surroundings.

I quickly spotted my boss Ted Banner by the front desk and strode over to him, giggling at his choice of costume as a giant ketchup bottle.

"HEY MR. BANNER. HOW IS THE PARTY GOING?" I shouted at him over the music.

"IS THAT YOU BELLA?"

"YES. HOW IS THE PARTY GOING, SIR?"

"IT'S GOING GOOD SO FAR." The music suddenly went quiet while Mr. Banner was still shouting. He turned beet red and looked around the room embarrassed.

The softer song "I Put a Spell on You" came on and Mr. Banner turned to face me. "So, a referee huh?"

I knew he was trying to turn the attention back to me after being caught shouting.

"Yeah, well, it was either this or a vampire." I wasn't about to let him start in on my costume choice when his was so ridiculous. "I love yourcostume. Where's Mrs. Banner this evening?"

He turned red once again, matching his costume, and said, "She's the mustard bottle over by the refreshment table." He looked as if he was about to die of embarrassment.

I laughed at him once again and glanced over to the opposite side of the room, chuckling a bit more when I saw Mrs. Banner. She was trying to scoop some queso dip out onto her plate with a chip, and was apparently having a difficult time with it.

I quit laughing, and stopped breathing altogether when I saw who was standing next to her, desperately trying to balance her giant purse and a soda in his arms. Edward Cullen. Why was he here? I mean, I knew who he was and all – Alice had told me about him. Heck, I've even talked to him once. Well, I had said thank you when he opened the door at the Bursar's office for me a few weeks ago. That is considered talking, right?

I just never expected him to be here tonight. He was a junior like me and just as popular as Alice. She wouldn't be caught dead at this party. Wait a second, why is he at this party? He is popular. He should not be at a party for the socially inept. Well, I mean, the socially inept and poor college employees such as myself.

"Bella are you alright? You look all flushed. Is the strobe light getting to you? Here, sit down, honey," Mr. Banner was saying, pulling out a computer chair from the front desk.

I had forgotten that I was standing next to him.

"Oh," I started, shaking my head. "No, I'm fine Mr. Banner. I just, umm, I umm, need some fresh air. I'll be right back, okay," I said, walking swiftly to the set of double doors.

Once outside, I walked over to the benches in the courtyard. The area was usually full of the smoking residents at Weston Hall, and I was glad that it was unoccupied tonight. I desperately needed to clear my head. I sat down, put my head between my legs and took in deep lungfulls of air.

What is wrong with me? I had seen him before and never reacted like this. Was it the fact that he was smiling at Mrs. Banner in her ridiculous mustard costume? Was it the fact that he was holding her huge purse in his outstretched arms for her? Or was it the fact that he looked so damn good wearing the tight grey pinstriped Seattle U baseball uniform?

Of course I thought he was gorgeous. How could you not? He had a warm smile on his full lips the few times I had seen him around campus. He was tall – probably six foot two, but lanky in build. He had the strangest shade of hair I had ever seen. It wasn't brown, but it wasn't red either. If I had to describe it, I supposed it was most like the color of a penny – bronze. He had style that most guys tried to emulate, but very few achieved. I doubt he even tried – he probably just woke up looking like that.

Get a grip Bella. Stop daydreaming about Edward Cullen. You've got to go back in there and… and what? There were hardly more than fifteen people at the party, including myself. They had probably not even noticed I was there in the first place.

I was fairly confident that I had bought myself some time with Mr. Banner as well – feigning nausea always worked with men. Wait, I was faking it, wasn't I?

I sat up, and realized that I wasn't. My head swirled and I let it loll back, while I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose with my right hand.

I heard loud music blare through the double doors of the dorm as they opened and closed once again. It was only around eight o'clock by now. People would just be leaving for the evening. I hoped it was just one of those students who had a real party to go to, and not Mr. Banner coming to check on me.

"Hey, are you okay? You looked kind of green in there. Well, you still do," said the smooth voice approaching from my right.

Oh no. Not him. I'd rather it be anyone but him. Please tell me it's not Edward Cullen that just walked over to me.

I opened my eyes to find him looking down at me with a worried expression on his face.

"Oh, yeah umm – yeah, I guess the strobe light was getting to me." I bit my bottom lip. Why was he out here?

His brow creased and he cocked his head to the left a bit. "It's Bella, right? You're the RA on the women's side of my floor, the fifth floor?"

My head spun again. "Uh, yeah, I am on the fifth floor. You live here?" I questioned, jerking my head towards the door.

"Yeah, I'm in 534. I'm right in the middle of the hall by the elevators," he said, relaxing his brow.

How had I missed that? I'm never going to the bathroom again. He might see me! God, I'm pathetic.

I sat there stunned for a moment, until I realized I was gaping up at him with my wide stupid eyes.

"You're Edward," I said. I didn't even make it a question. He must think I have a disability of some sort.

He grinned and I noticed it was a bit crooked. I blinked a few times realizing I must really look stupid to him. He simply continued grinning at me and sat down on my right.

"Yeah, I'm Edward. Edward Cullen."

Kill me now. He had only introduced himself, yet somehow it came out as smooth and as debonair as James Bond. I was really going to faint if he kept it up.

"I totally didn't mean for that to come out like that. I, umm, crap, I sounded like an idiot," he said.

I noticed a faint blush creep onto his cheeks. My face heated up. I bit my lower lip again and looked down at my lap.

A few tense moments of silence passed before he spoke again. "Bella," he said with concern. "Are you feeling better? Do you need me to get you some water or something?"

"No," I blurted out kind of loudly. I didn't want him to leave yet. "No," I said again, softer this time. "I'm feeling better now."

I turned my head in his direction and was surprised to find that he had scooted closer to me. I looked up at his face when I felt the weight of his stare. His eyes bore into mine and took a quick intake of breath when I noticed the deep shade of green they were. I had to remind myself to breathe again, or I would surely pass out.

He grinned at me once again. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he turned towards the double doors when the song "Thriller" escaped into the silence around us. Mr. Banner stepped outside, looking around intently before spotting us. I sneaked a glance at Edward's profile and saw that he was chewing on the inside of his left cheek, and I could swear his eyes narrowed a bit when Mr. Banner made his way over towards us.

"So the baseball player found the referee," Mr. Banner said, now standing in front of the bench we were sharing. "Bella, I brought you some water, but it seems that you are feeling better. The party is already winding down and most of the staff is about to leave, including my wife and I."

"Really?" I questioned, reaching for the water bottle Mr. Banner was extending towards me. "But it's still so early." I looked down at my watch and noticed it was 8:30. Had I really been out here with Edward for thirty minutes already?

"Yeah," Mr. Banner said once I looked back up at him. "The refreshments went kind of fast and once they were gone, the party was pretty much over. You know how it is with the staff," he said, chuckling.

Just then, the doors opened and Mrs. Banner came out followed by a couple dressed up as a caveman and cavewoman. She stood outside of the doors, wishing the couple a good night, before glancing over at her husband with an expectant look upon her face. Several other people exited the doors and walked past, saying their goodbyes to everyone and thanking them for the party. I turned my attention back to Mr. Banner.

"So, the DJ is packing up right now and the janitors will be in overnight to clean up, so I guess I'll see you on Monday for the RA meeting Bella. Edward," he said, turning his attention towards him, "Thanks for coming down to help out tonight. I'll see you on Tuesday. Good night." Edward nodded once to him before waving politely to Mrs. Banner.

Mr. Banner walked over to his wife, who waved in our direction, and then they walked out into the street towards the employee parking lot. I watched the Banners walk towards their vehicle for a moment before returning my attention back to Edward.

"What did he mean about Tuesday?" I asked, curious of the nature of their relationship.

"Oh, Mr. Banner never misses a Seattle U baseball game. He played right field in the eighties apparently. I've known him for three years now, and he asked me to come and help out tonight – so, here I am," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

That was odd. If he knew Mr. Banner so well, why had he reacted so strangely when he walked over towards us? I looked back down at my lap and scrunched up my brow in frustration.

"What are you thinking about now?"

I turned back towards him. "Me?"

"Yeah you," he replied. "You look confused."

"Oh, umm, well." I blinked slowly and swallowed.

"Well what?"

"I don't know. I just, I mean I didn't know that Mr. Banner played baseball. He doesn't strike me as the jock type – neither do you though," I mumbled, rolling the water bottle around in my hands.

"Well referee, you don't look like the sports type either," he said, tipping the brim of my cap. I looked over at him to find a smirk cross his lips.

"Oh, yeah," I said, embarrassed at my lame costume choice. "I didn't know we had to dress up until this afternoon and this was the only costume option I had."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I love costumes and all, but this was a last minute deal for me too," he said.

"But you play baseball. It's a good costume. Mine is stupid. I worked at the Foot Locker last year before getting my job as an RA this semester." I was rambling for the second time today. I really had to learn to stop doing that.

"I don't play baseball," he said in a determined tone.

"But, you said you knew Mr. Banner from baseball." Hadn't he just said that?

"Yeah, I know him from baseball."

Now I was confused. I cocked my head to the left in a questioning manner and pulled my eyebrows together. "You've lost me again."

"I'm an intern in the University athletic department. You know, a college employee – just like you Bella."

There was no way in hell he was just like me. I knew better. This is Edward Cullen we were talking about. Everyone on campus knew who Edward was. No one but Alice and my sixteen co-habitators of the women's wing of the fifth floor knew who I was.

I was still looking at him with a confused expression, so he continued.

"I'm going into sports medicine. I'm double majoring in kinesiology and biology in preparation for medical school in a year and a half. I used to play, but I blew out my rotator cuff freshman year, and it still isn't what it used to be after two surgeries." He circled his right shoulder for emphasis.

I was stunned. I would not have pegged him for the intellectual – doctor type. But then again, I would not have pegged him as a jock either. I had never seen him hang out with the big baseball players of Seattle U, but how would I know who he hung out with? On the rare occasion Alice dragged me out, I was a wallflower and chose to just people-watch instead of actually interacting with them. Our paths had just never really crossed, but I knew who he was – or I thought I did.

I shook my head once more, realizing I had stayed silent when it was clearly my turn to respond.

"A doctor, huh? Have you always wanted to go into sports medicine?"

His eyes drifted thoughtfully up to the right before landing on mine once again. "It's funny you ask. I never wanted to go into medicine." His crooked grin reappeared.

I smiled at him, hoping he would continue.

"See, my dad is a doctor. So naturally, I wanted nothing to do with medicine and was focused completely on baseball. A couple of friends from high school and I were recruited to the team, but when my shoulder went out, I knew I was done. Can't pitch with a bum rotator cuff, you know." He circled his right shoulder once more, holding onto it with his left hand this time.

"Anyway, the University has an awesome sports medicine department, and I figured since I couldn't play anymore but still loved the game, I might as well help those who still can. Plus, you can only avoid becoming like your parents for so long."

I started laughing and snorted, much to my embarrassment. He looked at me with the same confused expression I had given him only moments ago.

"What did I say?"

"Oh nothing, it's just that you hit the nail on the head," I said through my now controlled giggling.

"Oh yeah," he started, amused. "Your mom or your dad?"

"My mom of all people. She's a bit, err, eccentric you could say, but she's a writer."

"Mmmm," he replied, nodding his head. "A creative mind, huh? What does your dad do?"

I laughed again. "My dad is the police chief of Forks. It's a really tiny town up in the Olympic Peninsula."

He raised one eyebrow in surprise. "Yeah, I know where Forks is. It's about an hour away from Port Angeles, where I'm from. My dad is head of the cardiac wing of Port A Memorial."

"Oh my gosh – that's so strange. Alice used to drag me up there twice a week during high school to go shopping. And my friend Jacob and I drove over every other Friday last summer to go to the movies."

"Jacob," he said, with a strange tone in his voice. "Do you mean Jacob Black?" His forehead scrunched up once again.

"Yes – umm, do you guys know each other or something?" I couldn't understand why his mood had changed so quickly. He seemed so surprised at finding out that we had lived so close before, but now he seemed almost angry.

"He was an all-star a few years ago, right? Didn't he get recruited to some big college out east or something?"

"Oh, right," I said. He knew him from baseball, of course. What is it with guys and sports? I'd never understand.

"Yeah, he was MVP our senior year. He got recruited by UT to play for the Longhorns. He has a real high RBI, whatever the heck that means." I shrugged my shoulders and smirked.

One thing I loved about having Jacob as a friend was that he knew when it came to sports, I didn't get it. He never shoved that stuff down my throat. He never had to though – his girlfriend Leah was his biggest fan and cheerleader. She couldn't get enough of his stories. She even came over when Charlie would invite Jacob to come watch the Mariners play.

I looked back up at Edward and noticed that he was once again biting the inside of his left cheek. "So you two came over to watch movies a lot? I was away from home most of the summer, so I didn't get to see any." He shrugged and looked down into his lap.

I bit my lip again. I was confused by his sudden animosity towards me. Why was he suddenly acting so angry? Oh crap – maybe he thinks Jacob is my boyfriend. Wait – why would he be angry because of that? I'm probably reading too much into this. He's probably just ready to go now that I'm obviously feeling better. I mean, I have kept him out here for god knows how long now. I decided to test him.

"Yeah, Jacob's girlfriend Leah hates movies, and so does Alice, so Jake was always my go-to friend for all of the stupid ones that I just had to see." I looked directly into his eyes to gauge his reaction.

His crooked grin reappeared. I smiled back at him.

"Well, did you see any good ones that I need to go rent? I haven't seen a movie in ages."

"Nah, they were all dumb. I'm a sucker for good advertising. I hate it when you go to see a movie, and all of the good parts from the trailer have been left on the editing room floor."

He was still grinning at me, so I decided to delve a bit further. I set the bottle of water down next to me on the bench and put my hands on my knees, pulling my shoulders toward each other.

"So, what where you doing that kept you from the exciting night life of Port Angeles all summer?"

"Oh I know. I really missed out on the night life by staying here all summer." He gestured over his shoulder to the dorm entrance.

"You stayed here in Weston Hall? What on earth for?"

"Well, Division one of the College World Series started in June, so we all had to go to Omaha for the beginning of the summer. I've been traveling with the team since my freshman year, so I've just kept my same old dorm room this whole time." He bit his bottom lip and I could tell he was embarrassed to tell me that he'd been living in Weston for the past three years.

"Yeah, Weston is kinda my home away from home, you know?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I guess it's alright. I lived off campus for a while, but rent and tuition was getting ridiculous on a referee's salary," I explained, looking down at my stupid costume.

"So, I took the RA job the second I had enough hours to be considered for it. I don't think my poor old truck could take another year of driving the thirty minutes across town to the mall for work. This way there's no need for it." I gestured across the street to the parking lot.

"See that old red Chevy parked next to the shiny rich-looking silver car over on the left? Yep, that bucket is mine." I shrugged again and grinned at him.

He looked embarrassed.

"What?" I had to question him when I noticed the same faint blush from earlier creeping onto his cheeks.

"Yeah, umm, that's my car parked next to your truck."

Kill me now.

I felt my cheeks burn and knew that they were at least fifty times redder than his were. I brought my hand up to my face and smacked my forehead, hard.

Just then, a loud rumbling engine from the street caught my attention. I looked up to see a giant Jeep on huge wheels stop in front of the dorm. The driver hopped over his door and started jogging over to us.

"Edward," the guy called out, "Are you ready to go or what?"

"Yeah," Edward replied. I stood up to go inside and put an end to the mortification I was currently dwelling in, but lost my balance – of course.

I closed my eyes and braced myself with my hands for the fall, but instead I felt two strong hands grasp my waist. I opened my eyes to find Edward's face just inches from my own. I could feel his hot breath on my face. I blinked several times, unsure of what to say or do.

"Hey Edward, do you need a minute with your friend?"

"Jasper, this is Bella," Edward said while he set me upright onto my feet. "Bella, meet Jasper," he said, indicating his friend. Then he looked back at me and said, "Bella's from Forks."

"Oh yeah," Jasper questioned, raising his eyebrows.

I broke Edward's gaze to nod at Jasper before looking back at him.

"Yeah," Edward replied, without taking his eyes off of me. "Bella, Jasper was one of the players that got recruited out of Port A to come play up here. We went to high school together."

I nodded again. I couldn't seem to find my voice. I had just made a complete fool of myself talking about his car, and then I ended up in Edward's arms right after that. I didn't know what to say. I bit my lower lip again. It was quickly becoming a habit around him.

It wasn't helping that Edward and I seemed to be in some weird kind of staring contest.

Jasper decided to break the silence. "So, Edward, umm, you ready or what? I've got to tell you about this amazing girl I met this morning. She's supposed to be at the party."

I shifted my weight from foot to foot, unsure of what to do. I looked down.

"Yeah, umm, sure," I heard Edward say. "Give me just a minute, ok?"

"Sure dude. It was nice to meet you Bella," Jasper said. I looked up to respond, but he had already turned towards his Jeep.

"So Bella," Edward began, "I've got to go. Do you, umm, want to go to another party?"

I looked back down, suppressing a smile by biting the inside of my cheek like he had done earlier.

"No thank you Edward. I think I'm just going to go to bed already. There's probably a strobe light at that other party, and I'd just get sick again."

He looked down at his feet and I followed his gaze with my own eyes. He was shifting his weight around now, and looked like he was trying to think of what to say next.

I let him off the hook. "Have a good time, Edward. It was really nice to meet you."

He looked up at me with a somewhat forced smile. "It was really nice to meet you too Bella."

Jasper honked his horn and Edward turned around to flip him off.

"Sorry about him, he's a bit impatient," he said, turning back to me.

"Not a problem. Have fun at the party."

"Ok." He began to bring his hand up, and I almost thought he was going to extend it for a handshake, but instead he brought it up to his mouth and bit one of his nails. He dropped it just as quickly. "Goodnight, Bella."

"Goodnight, Edward."

And with that, he turned towards the jeep, and I turned towards the double doors.

The music was from Jasper's Jeep was cranked up so high that I could hear it inside. I turned towards the elevators, smiling. Just before the elevator doors opened, I decided to catch one last glimpse of Edward.

I looked up just in time to see his face turned in my direction, before the Jeep pulled out into the road.

A/N: Kim: I love you more than Robert too. And that is a fucking HUGE deal!

So I got a ton of hits, a ton of Favorites, and a ton of Story Alerts, which is great, but for the love of Pete – Please review this mother. I like it when you do. Ah lot.