The Transfer

A/N: So they've met, and not too amicably. Is there any hope?

Chapter 2: Settling Down, Settling In

EPOV

I couldn't continue to stand there screaming but it felt good to unleash my frustration and despair, caused by this small, brown-haired, brown-eyed demon girl. Once I'd gotten it out of my system, I uncurled my fists, unclenched my jaw, ran my hand through my hair, and I marched over to her to confront her with her newest transgression.

"What is wrong with you?" I demanded, gesturing with my flailing arms.

"What are you talking about now? There's nothing wrong with me. You're the one with the problem, Mr. Sex on Fire!"

"Yeah, you're right, I have a huge problem. You! Not that you're actually huge. That's not what I meant. Sorry if it seemed like that was what I was saying." Why was I apologizing? Why am I suddenly Mr. Sex on Fire? Wasn't I "Jerkoff?"

"What?" She was sneering at me now.

"This is my car!" I pointed to the silver Volvo, trying to make her understand.

"And…?"

"And the door shut."

"So..?"

"So, it's locked now and the keys are inside and it's your fault!"

That shut her up for a moment. I looked at her face with it's furrowed brow, her mouth agape as she stared at me, somewhat uncomprehending. Slowly she shut her mouth, biting her bottom lip with her front teeth.

"Why did you leave your keys inside it? Wouldn't that actually be your fault? Because of your negligence?" she finally asked me.

Oh for the love of…!

"I wasn't negligent! It was an accident! What are you, a court of law? I went to the trashcan to throw out some trash and I was coming right back."

"Don't you have a spare key hidden somewhere on your car?"

"No! If I did we wouldn't be having this conversation!"

"Don't you think it would be wise of you to have a spare key hidden on your vehicle for an emergency such as this?"

What? What the hell is with her?

"Aaarghhh! Now you're parenting me? I already have two perfectly good parents, I don't need a third."

"I'm sorry; I just fail to see how this whole thing is my fault."

"The door was open slightly and before I could get back over here, you backed into it with your butt and the door shut."

"Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh'!"

"Well, you should have a spare key hidden somewhere on it."

I just glowered at her.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" she squeaked, knitting her brows.

"Nothing," I told her through clenched teeth. "You've done plenty. You've done more than enough all day. I just need to get out of here. I'm going to take this cartload up to my room. Luckily I still have the key to my dorm room. You haven't managed to sabotage my dorm room, although there is still time today if you hurry. Then I'm going to go for a run to get out all of the aggression I am harboring within me, all inspired by you. When I'm calmer and in a more Zen-like state, I'll return and figure out what the hell I'm going to do about my car."

BPOV

With that, he did an abrupt about-face and strode away, grabbing the cart and pushing his cart-load up to the dorms. I stood next to my truck, watching him as he strode up the hill. He really had such an annoying attitude!

He was probably spoiled. He was so good-looking; he probably thought that he was God's gift to the women of the world. That was obvious when he'd proclaimed himself to be Mr. Sex on Fire. How conceited can you get?

But maybe that explains that incredible hair of his. Quite possibly the best example of bed-head I've ever seen.

But then the longer I watched him, the more I began to feel kind of bad. Maybe he had brought some of this on himself, and maybe he was kind of a jerk, but much of it, he had never asked for. I apparently took the cart from him in the first place, it nearly crashed into him, he sustained multiple injuries from the whole cart-cactus fiasco, and now I had shut his car door, locking his keys and wallet inside of his car.

Even if he was proclaiming himself to the world to be Mr. Sex on Fire, he probably didn't deserve most of what had happened to him, although he probably deserved some of it because he really did have such a bad attitude. But then again, he had helped me pick up and re-pack my belongings in the cart after the whole ordeal. He'd actually been kind of gentlemanly, in an extremely cranky sort of way.

I climbed into my truck to go re-park it, now that it was mostly unloaded. But, as I was climbing in, I realized there was an errand I wanted to run first.

EPOV

Somehow I had displeased the Fates earlier this morning and they had conspired against me for the rest of the day. I was so pissed off by now that I could barely see straight. As I stormed into the dorm with some of the contents from the cart, I heard Emmett's cheerful voice.

"Hey, Bro, getting all settled in?"

"No, I'm having the worst fucking day of my life!"

"Want to talk about it?"

"No! And I just want to thank you once again for putting 'Sex on Fire' on my phone as my ringtone. Thanks for making me look like an ass every time it rings. At least September is almost here and I can finally change it, you jerk"

"You were the one that lost that bet, Baby Bro."

"I don't want to get into that!"

"Those were your words exactly about that Irina girl, when you lost the bet!" Emmett guffawed. I couldn't stand it when Emmett guffawed. A chuckle or a snicker, or even a giggle was okay, but I had to put my foot down at a guffaw. Such an ass!

"You're an idiot, Em," I told him, as I took off in a huff down the hall.

I quickly dumped my things off in my room and changed to go for a run.

Once I finally got outside, rhythmically inhaling and exhaling, my legs pumping, with the wind on my face and in my hair, I began to calm down. It felt good to focus on my body as a machine; to tune everything else out. Eventually my spirits lifted and I felt a bit renewed and calmed.

I couldn't run as far or for as long as I would have liked, because my knee was still pretty banged up and beginning to throb, but at least I had worked up a sweat, I'd run off some of the irritation from earlier, and I felt a little more human. That little brown-haired, brown-eyed girl had really gotten to me earlier, pushing my buttons like she did.

I slowed down, and cooled down, pulling my t-shirt off over my head, as I returned to the dorm. I had just entered the back door and turned the corner to my hall when someone coming from the main part of the dorm came around the corner at the same time and ran smack into me. Someone's hands were flat on my naked pecs.

I don't need to tell you who it was.

You already know.

BPOV

I tried to call Charlie, just to check in, remembering that I had yet to do that. He wasn't home, so I left a message that I had arrived safely, unloaded the truck, and had begun moving in. I was glad, in a way, that I didn't actually have to talk to him; that I could just leave a message. I really didn't want to go into the whole debacle with the cart and The Hot Jerk.

I had finally figured out where The Hot Jerk lived. (Yeah, I wasn't going to call him Jerkoff anymore. I realized that I probably hadn't brought out the best in him, so it was partly my fault that he had been a Jerkoff to me.) He was actually a resident in my own dorm. So now I could live here, with him and his anger issues, the entire year. I only knew that he lived here because I had asked Dimples if he knew whether a tall, lanky, good-looking guy with wild, reddish-brownish-bronzey hair and green-blue eyes lived in this dorm or the next.

To my extreme embarrassment, he replied, "Yeah, that's my brother, Edward. But he's more than just the eyecandy he appears to be. Why do you ask, Bella Actually?" He had even waggled his eyebrows.

"I need to find him right away; I've got to tell him something important."

His eyes twinkled at me. "Don't bother professing your love for him; you're just wasting your breath. And his room is just down that hall, number 107." He pointed to the hall just past the stairway. His dimples deepened.

I ran. I had to find him immediately.

I came around the corner and smacked right into a wall.

"Unf!"

The wall said, "Unf?"

Long fingers reached out and grasped my arms, steadying me.

I realized that my own hands were resting on someone's muscular, naked chest. My fingers were splayed in the smattering of bronzey-brownish hair there.

Oops!

"Not you!" He groaned, releasing my arms as I stepped away from him and his fabulous chest.

"Yes, me," I replied, looking up at him and blushing wildly. "But don't yell at me: it's for a good reason. I have good news."

"You're dropping out?" he asked sarcastically.

"No. There's a tow truck down by your car. The driver got it unlocked, but he won't release the key to me. He needs to be able to verify that you are the owner of the car. He can't wait much longer; I had a hard time finding you. Hurry!"

He took off running, without so much as a thank you. What a Hot Jerk!

I went back down the hall and up the stairs to where my own room was. Oh well, at least I tried.

EPOV

I'd sprinted down to the parking lot, hoping the tow truck guy hadn't left. That would be just my luck, considering how the day had gone so far. But, lo and behold, he was still there. I'd hit the jackpot. I told him that my wallet was in the console, and that he could check my picture ID and my registration. He was satisfied that I was me and I was relieved to finally have something go my way today.

"What do I owe you?" I asked, opening up my wallet.

"Already paid up," he said as he climbed back into his truck.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, your girlfriend already paid. You're off the hook, buddy. Have a good evening."

My girlfriend? What the fuck?

I stood there and watched as he drove away. Then I climbed into the Volvo and went to re-park the car.

Sonofabitch! She probably did that just to piss me off. Just to make me feel like a bigger jerkoff than I already was.

I'd embarrassed her into doing something kind and now I felt like a total ass. I didn't even know who she was or where she lived. And now I was referring to myself as a 'jerkoff'.

Once I'd re-parked in the other lot I headed back to my dorm.

Emmett was still in the entryway, but he looked like he was packing it in to go to dinner soon. He looked up as I neared him.

"Hey dickhead, are you going to just stomp past me again?

"Sorry, Emmett. It had just been a really bad day."

"Had been?"

"Yeah, things look like they're improving. But it could be a fluke. The lull before the storm and all that."

He laughed. "There's the optimistic attitude we've come to expect of you, Edward. Tell me, dude. I'm here for you, as your Resident Advisor and your brother!"

I told him the whole story and he had a good laugh. At least someone found humor at my expense. Actually, that was usually the case with Emmett. He told me she'd spoken with him earlier, asking where I lived and he'd wondered why she was trying to track me down.

"It sounds like you spent more time with that girl today than you've spent with any girl in the past three years."

"Yeah, but none of it was enjoyable, so it still doesn't count. Get off my back."

"Okay, okay, don't be so touchy. I'm just sayin'."

"Are you going to dinner soon?"

"Yeah, Rose came by a few minutes ago. I'm supposed to meet her in thirty minutes. And when I say 'supposed to,' I mean 'I'd damn well better be there if I know what's good for me.'" He smiled happily. "Join us."

"I've got to shower first, but I'll meet you there when I'm done."

I was about to take off when I spun back around to him. "Oh, hey, so you said that girl lives in this dorm…? She asked you where to find me?"

"Yeah, she's in room 208. Her name is Isabella Swan, but she said she prefers to be called Bella, actually. So I've been calling her 'Bella Actually'. You should do the same. I think she'd appreciate it if we were all on the same page." He grinned at his own wit. He did that a lot.

"You're a fool. When are you going to grow up?"

"Okay, so don't take my advice. I just felt you should know, as your advisor and all. Hey, I just had a thought. Maybe this girl is your destiny." He giggled as he said it. At least it was a giggle and not a guffaw.

I rolled my eyes. "Right. I'll see you at dinner. 208, you said, huh?"

"Yeah, later, Bro."

Once I got back to my room I unpacked a few things I needed and then headed quickly to the shower. I stood under the spray, washing off the sweat from my run and the irritation from the earlier portion of my day. I could feel the muscles in my shoulders and neck unbunching and relaxing. I thought about the small, brown-haired, brown-eyed girl trying to track me down after she had gotten a tow truck here to unlock my car. On her own dime. For me. And she didn't even know me. All she did know of me was that I was rude and I yelled a lot. Now I felt like such a dick.

Bella. Room 208. I had to go thank her. And apologize to her. Shit!

When I got up to her suite a little later it still seemed pretty deserted. There was a light on in Room 210. I could see it faintly under the bottom edge of the door. I wondered fleetingly if it was Jessica or Angela, or both of them, who had returned today. Then I saw the light under 208. I realized that the brown-haired girl, Bella, was apparently rooming with Victoria, assuming that Victoria was returning and hadn't made other plans. Poor Bella. I felt sorry for her already. Rooming with Bitchtoria.

BPOV

I still had so much to organize and put away in my room. Everything was just piled everywhere. It took me quite a while, but I made my bed first, so I would at least have a place to sleep tonight. I unpacked bags and boxes, put away shoes, and folded and hung up clothes. I organized my books and my desk. I was unpacking and organizing my toiletries when there was a knock at my door.

I opened it to find The Hot Jerk, only now I knew that The Hot Jerk's name was really Edward. But I might still refer to him as The Hot Jerk. I was going to reserve that right. He was freshly showered and changed, with damp hair and smelling wonderfully of woodsy body wash and breezy laundry detergent. He was leaning against the wall, just outside the doorway. He looked slightly embarrassed and rather uncomfortable to be standing there. He glanced down the hall a little nervously it seemed.

"Oh, hi!" I said, taking a step backward, in case I had recently done anything else to anger him. "Do you want to come in?"

"No. I already told you that I draw the line at feminine hygiene products," he reminded me, pointing a long finger to the box of tampons that I held in my hand.

Yikes! I tossed the box onto my bed. "Very funny." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Sorry. Um…I didn't have a chance to introduce myself earlier today. My name is Edward Cullen. And you're…Bella?"

"How did you know my name?" And where I live? Is this going to get creepy?

"My brother, Emmett; he's the Resident Advisor. He told me who you were and which room was yours. In fact, he told me to call you "Bella Actually", but I told him to grow up. He says and does weird stuff sometimes."

"Oh." Did I want further clarification for that? No.

He ran his fingers through his slightly damp, tousled hair.

"So…I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry that I yelled at you today. And I wanted to thank you for getting the tow truck here to unlock my car. And I'm sorry I didn't thank you earlier, I just went running out of the dorm because you kind of caught me off guard when you said the guy might not wait. You didn't have to go to the trouble to do all that; I could have done it. I hope I didn't come off earlier sounding like I wanted you to do that."

He paused and looked at me carefully for a moment. He was waiting for a response, I realized. I just shook my head, feeling a little awkward.

He seemed satisfied and continued speaking.

"The guy said you'd already taken care of payment. How much was it?" He reached into his back pocket and took out his wallet, opening it up as he looked at me.

"Don't worry about it, Edward," I answered him truthfully. "I wanted to take care of it. You don't owe me anything."

"Are you sure I can't pay you for at least half?"

I shook my head at him. "No, it's okay; I got it."

He looked completely taken aback. "That's very generous of you. You don't need to do that. I wish you'd let me pay you back."

"Yeah, well, it was my fault about your car and I feel better if I get this for you."

"It was my fault too, but...well, anyway… truce, okay?" He seemed a little uncertain and painfully awkward.

"Truce." I nodded, unsure if I should say anything else.

"Okay. Well, thanks." He fidgeted, running his hands through his hair once again and looking back down the hall.

"You're welcome." I wondered why he seemed so skittish.

"See you around." He stepped away from my door, cramming his hands into the pockets of his jeans, and then took off, striding down the hall on his long legs, hunched a bit, with his head down.

"Goodbye," I called after him, as I shut the door and turned back into my room. He wasn't as terrible as he had seemed at first. He still seemed a little stand-offish and certainly a little awkward. Maybe that was just his way. Maybe he wasn't as stuck up as I'd imagined him to be. Time would tell. At least he'd had the decency to come thank me and apologize.

I felt better about living in the same dorm as him. We probably wouldn't be friends, but we could at least be civil.

EPOV

I knocked, and after a moment the door opened. She greeted me as she stood in the doorway, but she seemed to shrink away from me. She asked if I wanted to come in, but I declined of course, and then, because I couldn't resist, I'd made that crack about her tampons again. She had blushed and then she threw the box onto her bed.

I realized that I should introduce myself and I let her know that Emmett had told me her name and room number. I didn't want her to think that I was stalking her. I apologized for my behavior and thanked her for getting my car unlocked for me. I fully intended to pay her back, but she wouldn't take it. I suggested that we declare a truce and she accepted. Then I began to feel a bit uncomfortable just standing there and I was suddenly itching to get going. I was way out of my comfort zone and had been all afternoon.

As I headed back down the hall, contemplating that little brown-haired, brown-eyed girl, I realized that her eyes weren't really just brown. They were more like a rich, dark chocolate; they had depth, they were luminous.

Not that it mattered.

Luminous?

What the heck?

BPOV

I gathered up my toiletries and headed into the bathroom in the hall. There were little cubbyholes for each of us in the suite, so I chose mine and started to organize my things. There was a noise in the hall and I turned around and peeked out.

"Oh, hello!" said a petite girl with curly brown hair, as she came out of a nearby room.

"Hi!" I smiled at an apparent suite-mate.

"I'm Jessica. You live in this suite?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah. I just transferred. I'm Isabella, but everyone calls me Bella."

"Well, I can tell you anything you'd like to know, Bella. This is my third year here and I pretty much know everyone and anything going on in this dorm." She told me this with a friendly smile and a gleam in her eye. I could tell, right then and there, that she just loved her some good gossip. I'd have to remember that. And watch myself. Though what could I possibly do that would be juicy gossip, I wondered. I was probably one of the most boring girls you'd ever meet.

"Good to know," I responded, trying to sound positive.

"What room are you in?"

"Right there," I pointed, "room 208."

"You're rooming with Victoria?" She seemed kind of surprised.

"Yeah, why?"

"Good luck with that. I don't think she's the easiest person to get along with."

"What makes you say that?"

"She's burned through four roommates in two years. That seems excessive."

I nodded, feeling a little worried.

"So, have you eaten yet?" she asked.

"No, gosh, I completely forgot. I've been so busy moving in and getting organized."

"Are you hungry? I was just going to head to the dining hall for dinner. You can join me if you'd like."

"Sure, that would be nice. Let me grab my key and lock up my room."

BPOV

Jessica and I walked into the cafeteria. It wasn't fully staffed yet, and there weren't very many choices, but it beat the granola bars, trail mix and water bottles that I had back in my room. I grabbed a sandwich, bowl of soup and a lemonade and Jessica fixed herself a salad at the salad bar then picked up a water bottle. We sat down at a table near the middle of the room, although I would have preferred to stick to one of the side walls. I had the feeling that Jessica liked to be in the middle of things in general. She just seemed that way.

She started out by telling me about the dining hall itself; what foods were good, what was not so good, and what to avoid because it was dismal. She looked around the room, pointing out a few people she knew and telling me what she knew about them.

"Look over there." She was indicating Dimples and a knockout blond that was sitting with him over near the wall. "That big, good-looking guy with the dimples? That's Emmett Cullen, he's the Resident Advisor in our dorm. He looks like a big grizzly bear, but he's really kind of a teddy bear. And the blond girl that's with him, who looks like she's a supermodel? That's his girlfriend, Rosalie Hale, she's an R.A. in the dorm next door. She's beautiful, but she actually is the grizzly bear that Emmett is not. Don't cross her. She can be a real bitch sometimes."

I nodded, looking at the pair of them.

Jessica looked up towards the door back behind me and her eyes followed whoever had just entered. She almost appeared wistful as her eyes followed whoever she was watching. Apparently the person was coming closer to our table. Her eyes kept following as the person passed by behind me. Then she leaned across the table, closer to me, and her voice dropped.

"That's Edward Cullen." She indicated him with her eyes. "He lives in our dorm too. In fact, he's Emmett's younger brother. He's really hot, of course, but don't even bother. He keeps to himself and sometimes seems like he has kind of an attitude. He's stuck up and almost never talks to girls. Unless he's kind of cornered and forced into it. Apparently he's too good for us, or he's not into girls. Although I honestly don't think he's into guys." Her brows knitted together in thought. "What a waste," she added, after a moment, shaking her head in dismay.

I nodded, chewing on a bite of sandwich. I noticed her use of the word "us", and I wondered just exactly how she had been slighted. Interesting.

I chanced a peek over at the table where Edward was just sitting down with Emmett and his girlfriend, Rosalie. His eyes flickered over in my direction and I blushed, looking away, feeling embarrassed at having been caught staring.

"Oh, hey, there's Mike Newton," Jessica said suddenly, waving.

I noticed how her face brightened and I was glad for the distraction.

"Does he live in our dorm too?" I asked her, watching the blond guy that was now approaching our table. His hairstyle looked like a desperate imitation of Edward's hair.

"Yes. He lives downstairs in the same suite where Edward's room is. And there's his roommate, Tyler Crowley." She waved again.

Both guys stopped by our table, where Jessica made introductions, and then invited them to join us after they got their meals.

Mike and Tyler had just returned to our table when Emmett, Rosalie and Edward got up from their table by the wall and headed for the door. They had apparently finished eating and were now leaving. As they passed our table, a low, musical voice said, "Take it easy, Bella," and I turned to see Edward nod and shoot me a little peace-sign wave, looking back over his shoulder briefly, as he sauntered past and headed out the door accompanied by Rosalie and Emmett.

I smiled briefly in acknowledgement.

When I looked back at Jessica, her mouth was hanging open.

She recovered quickly, saying, "Well, that was really weird. He talked to you."

A/N: So Bella's got tampons, and Edward's got PMS. At least he apologized and thanked her, right?