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Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.
Bella
"Alice, I just bought these exact same socks in three different colours already. I do not need any more." She gave me that damn pout. "God, fine, give them here." Her triumphant smile lit up her face, which was a stark contrast to the defeated one that graced mine.
According to Alice, I could only wear knee-length socks to Forks High—ankle socks were a big no-no in the fashion stakes. I officially hated uniforms. Like I really gave a shit about socks, but I didn't want to get into another debate, so I just complied.
"Bella, you're going to look great tomorrow. I'm so excited to see everyone's reaction to your gorgeous self." I, of course, blushed like a fool. I'd never done well with compliments.
"Thanks, Alice. But I doubt anyone is going to be looking in my direction with you and Rose standing next to me." I really wanted to change the conversation, so I said: "Now let's go pick up the last items on the list so we can go eat, I'm hungry." She shot me a playful frown.
"Bella, you don't see yourself very clearly. You truly are beautiful," Alice replied genuinely. I saw Rose walk over to us from the lingerie section, arms full of bras and things that—quite frankly—scared the shit out of me. She noticed my expression and a sly smirk appeared on her face.
"Oh, Bella, I'm glad you've taken an interest in this lingerie here. You see, silly me, I picked up the wrong size. It all looks like it would fit you, so now that you have them, you might as well go try them on." I was about to say I didn't have them but she thrust the items into my arms. Next thing I knew, I felt myself being pushed in the direction of the changing rooms. I began to feel panic bubbling in my chest, and a light sheen of sweat had started to form on the back of my neck.
"Why do I need all this? I thought we were just here to pick up school stuff?" I was giving them both my best pleading look, my eyes practically begging them.
"Well, you'll obviously need to wear underwear to school, so technically it is school stuff." That damn sly smirk had made its reappearance. I gave them both a glare before locking myself in the room to see what the hell she had actually given me.
There were bras and panties in all different colours. I gave a snort—like I'd actually wear half of this shit. I huffed loudly when trying them on just to let Evil One and Evil Two out there know I wasn't happy. Yes, it was childish, but I was just in one of those moods.
In the end, a few sets weren't actually too bad. The lace boy shorts were cute, but I drew the line at the thongs. I quickly got redressed and opened the door.
"I'll take the black, white, lilac, and midnight blue set, but the rest are going back." I stormed out to pay while they thankfully cleared the rest away. Their winning smiles made me want to lovingly punch them.
I knew their smiles were a result of the fact that they didn't have to force me to buy any of it. They realized once I'd tried them on, I would like some of the items enough to buy them myself, which just caused a small smile to form on my own face at how quickly they had gotten to know me.
We got the remainder of items on Alice's list—like seriously, she had this giant ass list. To make matters even more surreal, it wasn't even written on just plain old notepad paper either. Oh no. It had some pink flower-type border and was even scented. Yeah, the girl was also a force to be reckoned with in stationary. Who would have known?
It didn't take us as long as it should have to arrive back in Forks—Alice and her Porsche saw to that. We decided we were all pretty hungry after all of the shopping, so we stopped off at Newton's.
Newton's was the only real place to go in Forks, so it was usually packed with the locals, young and old. The older generation tended to stay at the counter, which left the booths for the younger members to sit.
When we made it to a free booth, I could see Mike from the corner of my eye slinking his way towards us. I groaned while trying to hide my face in my hands.
"What's wrong, Bella?" Before I had time to reply to Rose, Mike was standing right next to me, the smell of his cheap cologne making me feel a little nauseous.
"Hi, Rose, Alice..." there was a brief pause—he was obviously waiting for me to look at him—so I raised my head to meet his eyes. "Bella."
"Hi, Mike." I tried to place a genuine smile on my face, hoping that he wouldn't notice the effort put into it. Rose gave a snort, and it took everything in me not to turn around and give her the stink eye.
"So, Mike, school tomorrow, huh? New semester, new friends." Alice was looking between myself and Mike with a recognizable glint in her eye. Oh, hell no.
"Yeah, new friends are always good," he said, giving me that damn excitable puppy look again. It made me feel slightly guilty that I couldn't share his enthusiasm.
It wasn't that Mike was ugly; he had the whole sandy blonde hair, blue eyes deal—a boyish-charm about him that was likeable. It was just that I wasn't interested, and I didn't want to hurt his feelings.
I wasn't used to attention from boys, as back in Phoenix, I was practically invisible. Like I said, my mother was my closet friend. I first met Mike a few weeks back. I had walked into the diner with Rose and Em and he'd practically appeared from nowhere, introducing himself so quickly I nearly collided with a waitress. Emmett had given him a hard stare. I knew it had been unnecessary, but it made me smile that he was using the same protective attitude he had for Alice and Rose, for me, too. Mike had quickly proceeded to take our order and left the table with another smile in my direction.
Now, every time I walked through the doors, he was there, being his usual over-eager self.
"So what will it be, girls?" I glanced at my menu, trying to decide what I wanted.
"I'll have the roast beef on white," Rose said. She almost always had the same thing. The reason for this—like I've heard her say countless times before—is because she likes her 'meat.'
Alice chose the the chicken salad, while I had their famous burger, which made up for the staring every time—they were so good. I ordered all three of us some cokes, in need of sugar.
Once Mike had left with our order, and Lauren—who had given me one of her customary sneers—had brought us our drinks, I was finally able to relax a little bit. I turned my head to see Alice smiling with that same glint in her eye. I sighed. "What Alice?"
"So, Bella," she took a sip of her coke. "Mike seems to like you."
"Yeah, he seems friendly," I gave her a shrug of my shoulders, trying to show her I wasn't interested in having this discussion. Ever.
"He looks a little more than friendly, Bella. I'm surprised he hasn't tried to dry hump your leg yet. The boy practically had his tongue hanging out of his mouth as soon as you walked through the door." I coughed, choking a little on my drink at Rose's words, laughter ringing out of my mouth.
"God, Rose, give me warning before you say things like that." I had a mental image of her previous statement and shivered. Gross.
"But seriously, though—Mike's not all that bad. There are a lot worse around here. Just think about it." Alice was always trying to play matchmaker. This wasn't the first time she had done so since we'd met, and I very much doubted it would be the last. I would just have to continue to ignore her suggestions.
Mike brought over our food, and I pretended to be texting someone on my phone so he couldn't talk to me. In reality, I was just scrolling through random crap, but nevertheless, I muttered a quiet thanks and waited for him to leave before tucking into my burger. I let out an involuntary groan—like I said, those burgers were heaven. Unfortunately, my moan of pleasure caught the attention of a person at the booth next to ours: Tyler Crowley. He not-so-subtly licked his lips at me and I shifted in my seat uncomfortably. Disgusting. Lauren seemed to notice his attention towards me and sent me another death glare. Fucking great. I really wanted to shout he's all yours, as I don't date weasels but thought better of it.
Alice had sneakily paid for our meal, to which I declared I would be buying the next time. I had a real antipathy to people spending money on me, even if, like Alice said, "It's just a damn burger!"
I was stubborn and would make sure I bought the next one.
We pulled up outside her home again in no time at all. I was trying to unravel all the bags that had somehow ended up hanging off all available limbs, without causing myself an injury.
"Boys, come and help the girls unload their bags from the car." Esme was standing on the front steps of the house in all her honey-hair and warm-eyes glory. She had a timeless, classic beauty about her, and her facial expressions just screamed motherly cordiality. It made me wish I could see Renee sometime before Christmas, but I knew that wouldn't be happening. She gave me a wink as if noticing my train of thought, to which I gave her a shy, grateful smile in return.
We heard Emmett's booming voice before he even came into sight. He slipped past Esme, stopping to give her a peck on the cheek as he passed. I saw Jasper get a mischievous look on his face and went to her opposite cheek to do the same, making sure to make a big kissing sound to get Emmett's attention.
"Mrs. C., always a pleasure." Emmett gave him a swift punch in the arm. Esme just smiled, shaking her head softly before going back inside.
"Em, your mother's a beautiful lady, she deserves to be lavished in affection." Emmett made a disgruntled face before helping Rose with her bags.
"I have to agree with Jazz. Although, the good doctor is my preferred adult in the house. He's hot." Rose was staring off into space, sighing. I didn't want to imagine the scenarios that were probably running through her head right now.
"Ewww, Rose, please. That's my dad," Alice said. She made exaggerated gagging noises, causing me to start giggling softly.
"You agree with me, don't you, Bella?" That made me stop laughing. All four of them turned in my direction. My cheeks were on fire—that alone must have given me away.
I cleared my throat, "Um yeah, he's... yes, they're both very attractive." Jasper snickered, while Rose just got a self-satisfied smile on her face. Alice and Em on the other hand, looked grossed out.
Suddenly that shifted and Alice started smiling wickedly at me and said, "Well, if we're really talking about this, then I'll come clean, too. Bella, your dad's 'stache totally does it for me. He has that whole Tom Selleck, older-man thing going on." Emmett's guffaw was the last thing I heard before I covered my ears with my hands, humming a song in my head to block them out.
I waited a couple of minutes just to be safe. "OK, enough. I don't want to hear any more." I gripped my bags tighter, making a bee-line for my house. I heard Em start talking about Mrs. Hale. I really didn't want to hear what I knew would probably be something really embarrassing come out of his mouth.
Alice's voice caught up to me. "Where you going, Bella?"
I turned towards her. "I'm just going to dump my bags off at home, and I quickly need to put the casserole I made yesterday in the oven, otherwise I'll be eating more fish, and I seriously don't think my stomach can take it. I'll be right back."
"Alright, we'll most probably be in the den. Oh, and make sure you bring your skirt. I'll go and get everything ready now." She skipped off, bags in hand alongside Jasper, and disappeared through the door.
Once home, I rushed up to my bedroom and dropped everything on my bed—I'd deal with it all later. I swiped my skirt from my closet and made my way back downstairs to the kitchen. Charlie still wasn't home from his fishing trip, so I grabbed the casserole from the fridge and placed it in the oven. I adjusted the temperature slightly as I didn't know how much longer Charlie or I would be, and I didn't want it to overcook.
I locked the front door for the second time that day, and started strolling back down the driveway, my skirt in hand. As I neared the house, I noticed the silver car from this morning parked off to the side and paused—would he have said anything to the others? I momentarily wondered if I should just turn back around. That wouldn't really solve anything, though, as Alice would just come and drag me back over. I hesitantly carried on walking, my bottom lip getting crushed between my teeth.
I got to the side entrance, and thought fuck it. I hadn't done anything wrong, so I opened the door, stepped in, and listened for any movement in the kitchen. I couldn't hear anything, so I walked in and carried on towards the den. This room was designed for fun. It had a pool table down the one end, one of those projector cinema-like screens that came down from the ceiling at the opposite end. The bookcases were filled with an abundance of DVDs. Expensive stereo systems and speakers were dotted around the room, and the door to the right led into the indoor pool.
As I got nearer, I could hear music and shouting. Emmett's distinctive guffaw spilled out into the hallway. I stood outside the already open door. They all had their backs to me. Edward was playing Guitar Hero, and what I could gather from Jazz's mumblings, he was beating his score.
I knocked loudly to let them know I was there, and all five swiftly turned to look to me. I made sure to avoid looking at Edward, and nervously started shifting my weight from one foot to the other.
I cleared my throat. "Um, I've got my skirt, Alice. Do you want to get started?" I twisted the fabric nervously in my hands, just wanting to leave already.
"Oh, that can wait a minute, Bella." She came forward and grabbed my arm, pushing me straight in front of Edward. "Bella, this is my other brother Edward, who has generously decided to grace us with his presence. Doesn't matter that we haven't seen him all summer. We would have introduced you earlier, but you see, my dear brother has quite the social life. It looks like his harem is out of service today, hence why he is here." Something told me she was pissed. Crap, did he tell her and she's mad at me for lying? I took a chance and glanced up at him, but his hardened gaze was directed straight at Alice, her own scowl directed right back at him. Thankfully, it just looked like she was calling him out on his behaviour. I involuntary found myself smiling at this fact—all five-feet of Alice calling him out on his shit. You really didn't want to get on her bad side.
He turned, and all too sudden his eyes were boring into mine, just like this morning. I gazed back, refusing to look away first, like he probably wanted. I felt my smile slipping from my mouth. I made sure to show no type of emotion on my face as I didn't want the others to guess at anything. His eyes started to narrow slightly, before he stuck his hand out to me.
"Pleasure to meet you, Bella," he said, testing me. A smirk had appeared on his lips, obviously thinking I'd back down and wouldn't touch him after what happened this morning.
I took his hand. "Yeah, you too, Edwin." Emmett roared in laughter and I gave a confused expression, tilting my head a little in his direction, but still not taking my eyes off Edward. His smirk had dropped and I could see his jaw clenching. My hand was still grasped in his, and I noticed the pressure had increased slightly. I waited a few more seconds before slipping my hand away.
"It's Edward, actually." He knew I was doing it on purpose, yet didn't call me out on it.
"Oh, I'm sorry, what did I say?" My eyes must have been sparkling in silent victory.
"You called me Edwin." Emmett guffawed again and slung his arm around my shoulders.
"Oh, Bella, you crack me up," Emmett said. I smiled in response and rested my head against his chest.
"Sorry, Edward, slip of the tongue I guess." I just shrugged my shoulders and gave an Oscar-worthy apologetic look.
"It's fine, no harm done." The fact that his response came out of clenched teeth told me otherwise.
He eventually turned away first, and I mentally gave myself a high five. He restarted his game, sound once again filling the room. I held up my skirt to Alice who was looking at me curiously. She quickly snapped out of it and nodded her head.
"Right, come on then, B. Mom's probably got the machine set up by now. You can go change in the downstairs bathroom, then just meet us in the dining room." She skipped past me, leaving the room.
"OK." I went to leave but hesitated, "Nice to meet you, Edward." He stiffened—I could tell he was still angry. For a second, I didn't think he was going to respond.
"Yeah you too... Bella." By the tone of his voice, I could tell he most likely wanted to say something else, but couldn't within present company. I let it go and left to change.
After I'd put on my skirt, I took a look in the mirror. My cheeks were flushed a deep-pink, and were a little warm. I ran the tap, splashing my face with some cold water, trying to somewhat calm my face. My braid had come half undone with strands sticking out everywhere. I took out the tie and ran my fingers through my hair, leaving it loose.
His presence and attitude had once again left me feeling aggravated. I felt an incessant need to not back down to him. I was usually a non-confrontational person, yet I'd found myself twice in one day doing the total opposite. I folded my jeans neatly and left them on the basket in the bathroom. I closed my eyes, trying to clear my brain. I turned the lock, took a deep breath, and walked out. My feet soundlessly moved in the direction of the dining room, where I knew I'd find Alice and Esme waiting to attack my already already fine school skirt.
I stumbled through the door to see needles, pins, and baskets full of different coloured thread all laid out on the huge table, with Esme standing next to a giant sewing machine. I looked down at my legs, then back to the table and sighed. This had disaster written all over it.
"It's okay, dear. I won't prick you with any of the pins or anything. I know you don't deal well with blood, however minimal. I promise to be careful." She gave me a comforting smile. How did she seemingly know what I was always thinking?
"I'm a mother, I've had years of practice at reading my children." Shit, there she went again with the psychic stuff again. I knew I should have been freaked out by it, but Esme was the kindest woman I'd ever met, so I knew there was nothing to worry about. Also, I now understood where Alice got her uncanny ability from.
I just nodded in response. "Right, where do you want me?" At this point Alice walked through the door with the biggest pair of scissors I'd ever seen—they looked like fucking garden shears. God, help me.
Edward
My eyes rolled back in head. My breaths became laboured. With one last thrust into her mouth, I came, spilling down her throat. She started moaning at this, which made it a good job I'd already finished, as that sound was enough to make any dick go soft. I pulled back out of her mouth, tucked myself in and zipped up. I ran a hand through my hair, gave her a quick peck on the top of her head for her efforts. She was still on her knees—eye level with my crotch—licking her lips while trying to scramble to her feet.
"Thanks, Jess. I'll see you at school tomorrow." I didn't feel like reciprocating, not that I ever did. She was used to it.
"Okay, Eddie. I'll wait for you in the parking lot before class in the morning then." She could wait all she wanted, didn't mean I'd be meeting her there. That was the problem with some of those girls; they gave you head a few times and automatically thought you had a thing together. If she didn't have a mouth like a hoover, I wouldn't even have bothered with her. She wasn't ugly, but Christ was that girl fucking annoying. She was constantly rambling on about one thing or another. I'd gotten pretty good at blocking her voice out of my head, but sometimes it was just impossible.
I'd just gotten into my Volvo when my phone beeped, signalling I had a text. I flipped my phone open, looking to see who it was from. The screen read, James. What did the dickhead want now?
Over at Ben's. You coming over or what?
I looked at the clock on the dashboard. It was still pretty early and I didn't have anything better to do, so I pulled away from Jessica's and drove through the few streets that separated the two houses. Ben's father was hardly ever home. He worked away a lot and his mother worked at the hospital alongside my father as a nurse, so she was also absent quite a bit. This only really fuelled his drug habit, as he had no parental guidance or supervision. He could basically do what he wanted without the fear of being caught.
I cut the engine and stepped out, locking the door behind me. I strolled up to the front door, kicking random bits of gravel along the way. I stopped with my hand mid-air, but knew there was no point in knocking, so I just let myself in and went into the lounge.
I was greeted with a room full of smoke. "Fuck, open a window or some shit. It stinks in here." I slid the patio doors open to allow some fresh air in, allowing the smoke to hopefully start making its way out. I plopped down in the nearest chair to the doors and ran my hands languidly down my face. My fingertips hovered over my stubbly jawline... damn I really needed a shave. Also, I was in desperate need of a shower, as I wanted to get Stanley's spit off of me.
"Oh, someone's a little testy this morning. What, haven't you been able to find one of your bitches to get you off or something?" James and Laurent were both sniggering on the couch, while Ben was in one of the two chairs in the room. He put out his joint in the ashtray on the table beside him, shaking his head at James' words. He didn't really like the way we treated girls.
"For your information, James, I've just gotten back from Jess's, so that's obviously not the problem. I just woke up with a headache, alright? And you know how I hate the smell of this shit." I moved my arms around, motioning to all the smoke. It was true, I never touched the stuff.
"Plus, I had a run in with some fucking shrew in my driveway this morning, so I'm just not in the mood for anyone's bullshit." I sunk further back into the chair and sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose and closing my eyes from the onslaught of smoke that was beginning to make them sting.
I peeked my left eye open and saw Ben had silently nodded his head in agreement. Laurent fiddled with his pansy ass hair and James gave me his usual twisted smile. Asshole.
He put up his hands. "Fair enough. So who's the shrew that's got you so riled up, Eddie? I haven't seen you this pissy for a while." I shot him an angry stare. I knew he only called me Eddie to get a rise out of me—he knew how much I hated it—and fuck if it didn't work.
My right leg bounced up and down in aggravation. I sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "That's the thing—I'm not really sure who she is. I mean, I think it could be the Chief's daughter who just moved in next door. I know Alice has befriended her or some shit, and it looked as if she came from that direction, but I can't be positive."
James's gaze drifted off to look out the doors. "The Chief's daughter, huh?" James had had a grudge on Charlie for a while due to a couple of previous arrests in the past. Whatever he was thinking wouldn't be savoury. "What does she look like?"
I searched his face, wondering why he was so interested. "What's it to you, James?" He met my gaze. His eyes held no emotion, just blank and expressionless.
"What? It's a simple question. I'm just curious, I guess. After all, I'll be meeting her in school tomorrow anyway, and what sort of good citizen would I be if I didn't introduce myself to the helpless new girl?"
"That's the thing; there is nothing good about any of your intentions. And she seems anything but helpless." He put a hand over his heart, faking hurt. I shook my head laughing.
"She's medium height, long brown hair, brown eyes, pale." I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing what else I could say.
"So, is she attractive?" That threw me. I hadn't really thought about it.
"I don't know, she isn't ugly. But like I said earlier, she's a fucking shrew. She won't fall willingly at your feet like all the other girls in Forks." There was a gleam in his eye now. I could see that my description of her had sparked his interest.
"Well, I haven't had a good challenge in a while. If there is one thing I love, it's the hunt." A sadistic grin swept across his face, his cold eyes brimming with excitement.
I rolled my eyes, leaning my head back to stare at the ceiling. He was going to need all the luck he can get. In fact, I hoped she rejected his sorry ass.
"I think she sounds alright. I mean, it's about time someone has the sense to say no to either one of you." Ben took a sip from his drink, looking as nonchalant as ever.
"No one has ever said no to Edward Cullen. If I wanted her, I could get her. I just don't want to." Laurent chuckled, taking a break from his obviously fascinating hair.
"I think you're just afraid the little new-girl from next door will be the first to say no to you. Also from your demeanour, it sure looks like she did a number on you to evoke such a hostile reaction." I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from lunging across the room at him. Again, why did I hang out with this prick?
He carried on. "She's probably too good for you anyway. Plus, it would be a waste if she were to settle for you when I'm here." James gave a throaty laugh and pushed Laurent's shoulder. Yeah, real fucking hilarious.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." I glanced at my watch—I couldn't stay here with these two douches any longer. "Alright, I'm out." I pushed myself out of the chair and stopped, remembering something.
I turned to Ben. "You need a ride for school tomorrow, or are you good?" He thought for a minute, absently drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair.
"Yeah, a ride would be good. Thanks, man." I told him I'd be back to pick him up at eight-thirty. I gave them all a nod, and walked out without another word.
I came to the entrance of my driveway, and for some frustrating reason found myself being unusually cautious. I half expected the girl to just fucking appear again. I eventually made it to the end of the driveway and pulled over towards the side, cutting the engine. I grabbed my iPod and slammed my door behind me, feeling stupid for being so paranoid. I noticed Alice's Porsche was parked in its usual spot next to Emmett's Jeep; so they were back from shopping then.
I walked in to see Em, t-shirt tied around his head like a damn bandanna, playing Guitar Hero. He was attempting Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry. He was doing this gay ass dance and was singing so bad that I was convinced we would have a fuck load of cats trying to claw their way into the house and join him with his rendition. He looked so ridiculous that I couldn't help bursting out laughing. I grabbed my sides, trying not to fall over from the force of it.
Jazz spun around and couldn't help but join me in my hysterics. Em just ran and tackled me to the floor, roughing up my hair and playfully jabbing me in my sides.
"Fuck, Em, that's the funniest shit I've seen in ages." I pushed him off me and wiped the tears from my eyes. Jazz was still trying to collect himself, struggling to push himself off the wall he was leaning on to make his way over to us.
"I've missed you this summer, baby bro." Emmett was nearly a year older than me and Alice, but due to the date and month his birthday fell on, my parents were given the choice of which grade to put him in, and my mother being the way she was, decided that we should all be together.
"Yeah, yeah." I gave him a playful shove on the shoulder.
I glanced around us. "So where is everyone?"
"Dad's in the garage doing some work on his car, and Mom's around here somewhere. Alice and Rose just got back from shopping with Bella, so I'm sure they'll be down here any minute." So the shrew had a name.
"So, who exactly is this Bella?" I was staring somewhat intensely at my brother, wondering if my deduction of her was accurate.
Em looked away for a minute before continuing. "She's the Chief's daughter. She moved here from Phoenix. Her mom recently got remarried, so she shipped herself back here. I'm surprised you haven't met her yet; she's practically been living here these past weeks." Jasper slipped past us to sit on the couch, resting his right ankle on his left knee.
"Well, I haven't exactly been around now have I?" He gave me an eye roll, before lazily dropping onto the couch next to Jazz.
"No, I don't suppose you have. You're pussy whipped." I flipped him off. "Anyway, she's great: funny, intelligent, kind-hearted. I already kind of think of her as a sister. She just sort of fits with us, you know?" Of course Emmett would take over the protector role. Despite his intimidating exterior, he was a teddy bear, the joker among us. He very rarely lost his temper; only those who truly deserved it ever faced his anger.
"Yeah, I have to agree with Em. Plus, the girls adore her. Alice especially." Well shit. She was fucking loved by everyone. They obviously hadn't met 'Bella the Bitch' yet.
"She sounds..." I swallowed my own feelings down, "nice. I'm glad Alice has..." I was cut off by a very angry twin standing in the doorway. Hands on hips, tapping her right foot briskly against the carpeted floor. Her eyes were dangerously narrowed in my direction, her pout in full force. I wondered if it was because she had heard about what had happened this morning.
"Oh, look who it is! So nice of you to join us. To what do we owe the pleasure, Edward?" I turned my back on her, not wanting to deal with her sarcasm, and selected a new song.
I heard her huff. Her feet stomped in my direction. "By the way, you have Stanley lip-shit on your ear, so you may want to go and wash it off." Emmett of course found that hilarious. Rose came up behind Alice and gave her a tap on the back, a silent congratulations, I'm sure.
I just carried on playing. Jasper was trying to put me off by shouting random crap as I was getting close to his highest score.
A loud knock broke us all off. I spun round to see the witch herself standing there, shifting her weight awkwardly from foot to foot. I was on edge, just waiting for the flying monkeys to follow her through the door. I also noticed she wouldn't meet my gaze.
She cleared her throat after a moment. "Um, I've got my skirt Alice. Do you want get started?" I turned my attention towards my sister who was smiling excitedly. She bounced her way towards Bella, brushed her question aside and pushed her straight towards me.
"Bella, this is my other brother Edward, who has generously decided to grace us with his presence. Doesn't matter that we haven't seen him all summer. We would have introduced you earlier, but you see, my dear brother has quite the social life. It looks like his harem is out of service today, hence why he is here." I was now openly glaring. I didn't want her giving out information about me to this girl.
My eyes involuntarily moved to Bella's face. She had a smile on her lips. Why the fuck was she smiling? Her eyes were unmoving from mine, her gaze intense. Then her smile fell, her face completely expressionless.
I stuck my hand out towards her. "Pleasure to meet you, Bella." I smirked at the surprise etched across her features. I knew it would be difficult for her to pretend to play nice with me, and didn't think she'd take my hand. Everyone was silently watching our exchange.
I was shocked when she gripped my hand back. "Yeah, you too, Edwin." I clenched my jaw; Emmett's laugh was ringing through my ears.
I tried to keep my smile in place. "It's Edward, actually." She was faking ignorance. Making out she didn't know what she had said. From the glint in her eyes, I knew she fucking did it on purpose. I repeated what she had supposedly accidentally called me, Emmett once again cracking up. He got up off the couch and slung his arm around her shoulders, congratulating her on her humour. She had her head resting on his chest, eyes still glued to mine. She pretended to be all apologetic and shit.
I managed to get my response out of my tightly clenched teeth. "It's fine, no harm done." I focused my attention back on my game, not wanting to look at her victorious expression.
I heard Alice say something about a skirt and heard her leave the room. I sighed in relief thinking that Bella had left also, so I stiffened when her voice floated back to me.
"Nice to meet you, Edward." I hesitated for a moment before replying.
"Yeah you too... Bella." I heard the scurry of her feet leave the room. I paused my game, both my hands tugging my hair.
Rose broke the silence. "Well, that was a little weird. She usually finds it difficult to keep eye contact with people she doesn't know, but your gazes were locked the entire time." I just shrugged my shoulders, not wanting to draw any more attention to it.
"Perhaps she feels like she already knows me or some shit, most likely due to all the crap you've told her about me."
"Nope, wouldn't be that, we haven't really discussed you. Alice thought it might scare her away if she found out about your womanizing ways." That surprised me. Usually Alice didn't have a problem spouting my business to an eager listener.
"It could just be our Edward's charm dazzling all the ladies." Jazz pinched my cheeks before I slapped his hand away.
"Don't flatter him any more, for God's sake. His ego is already taking up too much valuable space in this town. Plus, I don't think Bella is the type of girl to get dazzled. I mean, you should see the way she handles herself around Newton. He's continuously pining over her at any available moment, and she keeps her cool. I would have already punched him in the balls by now." Em, Jazz and I all winced. Yeah, the boy had a face only a mother could love, but still, just, ouch. Rose placed a quick kiss on Emmett's lips before she left the room, probably to go in search of the others.
I stretched my arms above my head, yawning while doing so. "I'm going to go shower." I got to the foot of the stairs before Em called me back.
"Hey, Alice is driving the Porsche to school tomorrow as it's Bella's first day and all. She wants to make sure she arrives in style, so she said the Jeep was out. Bella, of course, thinks it's all ridiculous, but there is no deterring Alice when her mind is set. So, can we..."
"You want to know if you and Jazz can get a ride with me? Yeah, that's fine. We've got to make a stop on the way to get Ben, as his car is still in the garage, so we'll need to leave here about eight twenty."
"Thanks, dude." His arm made its way around my shoulders, and he pulled me into a giant bear hug. "We really did miss you this summer, bro."
"Can't breathe here, Em." He set me down again and I said, "Yeah, I missed you too. Well not all the time, especially not when I'd..."
He laughed, shaking his head. "Yeah, I get the picture." Chuckling, I made my way up the stairs and into my bedroom.
After my shower, I walked over to my dresser and pulled out a pair of boxers and sweats, slipping them both on while simultaneously trying to remember where I had put my cigarettes. I checked my desk and found them, along with my lighter, nestled among some books.
I pushed the door to the balcony open, walking out into the cool evening. I placed my elbows on the rail, lit my cigarette and inhaled, taking a welcome drag. I heard the crunching of gravel from below me, my attention caught. I looked down to see Bella making her trip down the driveway back to her house. My tongue snaked out of my mouth, running itself over my bottom lip, before I placed the cigarette between them once again. I wondered to myself how one girl could suddenly make herself a permanent fixture in my family. I didn't like the fact that she had been so easily accepted; what made her so special?
I put my cigarette out on the rail, a firework of embers flying out due to the sudden impact. Once they had all died out, I dropped it into the half empty flower pot to my right, making sure not to litter them around the grounds to keep Mom happy.
Doors locked, I took one last look out towards the curious girl before I stretched my hands out on either side of me, finding fabric. I swiftly pulled the curtains closed, effectively blocking out the last remaining light, and Bella's retreating form with it.