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Chapter Two

Classes started a few days later and it didn't take long to fall into a routine. Alice and I ended up having two classes together and I had a class with Mike as well. It was nice to know someone in at least a few of my classes. Coming from such a small town and small school to this big town and big school was pretty intimidating.

Alice and Jasper were officially a couple within a week of their "run in" as Alice liked to refer to it. Jasper was another of Emmett and Edward's frat brothers and despite Em's initial concerns; he seemed to be ok with the pairing. They made a cute couple, somewhat gooey at times, but I was happy for her, because she was very happy.

Jasper's room was next door to Mike, Tyler and Eric's room so it was easy for Alice to still hang out with us and Jasper at the same time. Although he was a junior he didn't mind hanging out with a bunch of freshman when he wasn't at the house with his brothers. We spent a good deal of time in the guy's room and it helped to make this place feel more like home. Jasper's roommate, a sophomore named Ben, had been hanging out with us as well and he and Angela seemed to be heading down the same road as Jasper and Alice.

I wasn't sure if it was in lieu of her happiness or her still wanting to live vicariously through me but she did everything she could to try and push Edward and I together. I made the mistake of telling her that I did have a crush on him and that seemed to thrill her. Even when she found out he had a girlfriend, she didn't care. "Tanya is not a real girlfriend" she said when I reminded her of this. "Em says they are about to break up anyway, something about her not being a nice person."

Mike on the other hand had other ideas. I thought maybe it was all of the new found couples but he seemed to be showing too much attention to me, like he thought we should be a couple as well. Mike was a nice looking guy and had always been so sweet to me in high school, but I thought of him more as a brother than anything else.

The morning of my 18th birthday, Alice woke me up jumping on my bed. "Wake up sleepy head! It's your big day!" I rolled over trying to get back to sleep before my actual alarm went off, but she was having no part of it. I rolled back over to face her and was surprised to see the room was filled with balloons.

"Alice, when the hell did you do this?" I groaned.

"You know me, stealth like a fox!" I swear her grin could light up all of Seattle. She bounced off my bed and walked over to her desk. She had a box full of cupcakes from a local bakery and a big yellow wrapped box waiting for me.

"Alice!" I shook my head, knowing there was no way out of her joy.

Other then the crazy way I was woken up, the day was rather calm. Alice had gotten me a new outfit to wear out. She always thought I should dress more to my body type. I think that was her way of saying I needed to show off my curves, but that wasn't my style. I liked comfort, not sex appeal.

My parents called me to wish me Happy Birthday, Emmett and the guys all sang to me. I thought I was getting off easy. Alice liked to throw parties and I figured she would do something big but she was calm. That was until the next night, which was a Friday.

We were suppose to stop by Emmett's room for a minute to pick up a sweater Alice had left there before going out to a movie. A sweater that would match the outfit that Alice had gotten me that she insisted I wear tonight. I should have known, I should have seen it coming, but I didn't. Alice knocked lightly on the door and called Emmett's name before throwing the door wide open.

"SURPRISE!"

The room was filled with people, balloons, flowers, banners and streamers. I knew my face had to be beet red. I couldn't believe she had done this. I was speechless! All of my friends were there; the ones from home and new ones that I had meet since school started. Emmett, Rose and Jasper were there and even Edward was there. I couldn't believe he was standing there in all of his glory. How the hell had Alice done this?

The night was not as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't like to be the center of attention, but Alice stayed near me, never leaving me alone for too long. Different people hovered around me all night and it was nice to get to see everyone. Alice made sure I was not monopolized by any one person especially Mike. Although she did relinquish me long enough to Emmett for us to dance. There was music, dancing, food and laughter. It was great, but all night long I found myself watching Edward. Trying to see if he really wanted to be here or if he was here just to make sure nothing got out of hand. At one point he was talking to Emmett and I swear it looked like there were talking about me with the way they were both staring at me, Em with that big goofy grin on his face. Our eyes met when they were talking and he smiled, but I looked away quickly, embarrassed that he caught me looking at him.

Things dwindled down around 1:30 am and Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rose, Edward and I were left to clean up the room. I was taking down some of the streamers when I saw Edward coming my way with a trash bag in his hands.

"Did you enjoy your party?" he asked holding the bag open for me. How is possible for a guy to have a silky voice like that?

"I did, it was great. It was very nice of you and Em to let her use your room like this."

"It was our pleasure. Alice had a ball decorating it today. Seeing how energetic she was about this, I'm surprised she was able to keep it from you."

"Yeah well Alice knows if she hadn't kept it from me, I wouldn't have come." I said while looking at her. She was grinning from ear to ear as she tried not to listen in on our conversation.

"You don't like parties?" he asked a little surprised

"No it's not that. I…well…" I stammered sounding like an idiot! "Well I'm not really one to be at the center of things I guess you could say." I looked up at him with a half grin. I should have known better then to do that. Our eyes met and I was once again speechless.

"I can tell that about you. But everyone deserves to have a little bit of attention on their birthday, especially someone like you." He put his hand on my arm, rubbing it gently. I could feel that same spark that I felt the first time he shook my hand. "Happy Birthday Bella! I hope all of your wishes come true." He smiled again and walked off, going back to clean up duty.

I was speechless. My mind was trying to figure out what he meant when he said that. Especially someone like you. And the way his touch felt on my arm. I just stood there, looking very stupid I was sure.

Alice's giggle in my ear broke me from my trance. "I would say one of your wishes just came true." She whispered.

From that day on, Alice did all that she could to have Edward and I speaking to each other. When Edward was on duty and making rounds he would always stop by the room and say hello. Our door was usually opened so I just figured he was being polite. Alice never missed a chance to mention some random thing about me which would make me blush with embarrassment. Edward would always smile and nod his head. I could tell he was only being nice, not really interested in me or my past or future endeavors.

Mike, Tyler and Eric decided to rush Sigma Phi Epsilon which was the same fraternity as Em, Jasper and Edward. During their rush week, the Sig Eps had a party and we were all invited to go. The Sig Ep house was nicer than what I thought it would be based on some of the stories we had heard on campus about frat houses. They had a huge dance floor in the basement of the house and a small bar that sat to the left of the dance floor. There was a bathroom down stairs as well, but it was gross. Luckily having an in with Jasper and Em, we didn't have anything to worry about, as they took us upstairs to the living quarters, where the others were not allowed to go.

The music that night was great. It was so much fun just hanging out with friends, dancing and having a good time. It was crowded and hot, but we didn't care. This seemed like one of those great things we had always dreamed about the college life. As the party started to dwindle down, Jasper and Em invited us to the main floor to hang out with the brothers and the new pledges. When we got upstairs, Em offered all of us a drink from the keg.

Being a cop's daughter, I knew I should not take the offer, but I figured it was just a part of being in college as well so I readily accepted the cup of beer. I took a sip and immediately regretted it. It was bitter and not at all what I thought it would be. I didn't want to seem like a prude, so I just held onto the cup and occasionally would grimace through another sip.

Mike and the other guys seemed all too happy to take the offer and knocked back several cups in a few minutes. I could tell they all had a good buzz going and when Mike came over and sat beside me on the couch, I had a sense of dread. He looked like he had suddenly developed this large amount of courage. Maybe he thought I was drunk as well but when he sat down he put one arm around me and his other hand on my knee. I smiled at him and tired to work my way out from under his grip by moving to talk to Alice who was on my other side. When that didn't seem to work, I tried to get up to excuse myself to the restroom when Mike grabbed my hand and pulled me down into his lap.

"Where you going baby?" he asked.

"I was going to the restroom Mike." I said as I tried to free myself from his lap.

"Do you want me to come?" he grinned

"No, I think I can manage it own my own, thank you." I was able to wiggle myself out of his lap and started to walk away but he grabbed my hand to stop me.

"Come on Bella, you know I like you. I have had a major crush on you since high school." I paused for a moment, hoping no one else had heard him when Alice piped up.

"Sorry Mike, she has a crush on Edward." Just as she began saying this the music in the room stopped and everything was quiet so everyone in the room heard her. I froze in my tracks. All eyes turned to look at me, including Edward who had just walked into the room. Shit! I am going to kill Alice. I made the mistake of glancing for a moment in Edward's direction and I swear his face was as red as I am sure mine was. I looked away quickly, totally mortified.

Emmett came to my rescue, announcing to Jasper it was time for them to take Alice and I back to the dorm. Mike started to get up and come along too, but Emmett pushed him back down on the couch. "Ladies first pledge, we will come back for you guys later."

Emmett put his arm around me and led me out of the room. Rosalie, Alice and Jasper followed us.

"Thank you Em" I whispered.

"No problem, little one. Don't worry; everyone will think Alice was drunk and silly." He whispered back, pulling me in to him tighter.

The ride was very quiet. I stared out the window the whole time, replaying the whole scene over and over again in my head. First the declaration of love or should I say lust from Mike and then Alice's announcement to everyone that I had a crush on Edward, each time the scene played out, it just got worse and worse.

Em dropped us off at the dorm and left to bring the other guys back. Jasper said goodnight to Alice as I grabbed the elevator to our room. Within a few minutes of being in the room, Alice came bouncing in as if nothing had happened.

"What the hell were you thinking Alice?" I sternly said, holding back my anger so that I wouldn't scream and wake the others on the hall that were asleep.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently

"Are you drunk or just stupid?" I said, my voice raising a bit more. Alice looked at me like I had just slapped her. I had never yelled at her before let alone being so anger and cruel. She lowered her shoulders and than her eyes to the floor. "I'm sorry Bella, I didn't mean to say it so loud." She sounded so dejected.

"I was trying to help you with Mike and I thought if he knew you liked someone else he would leave you alone."

I knew she meant well and I just sighed, walking over to her and hugging her.

"I know you didn't mean anything by it. I was just embarrassed and then with the whole Mike thing before that. I just let my temper get the better of me."

"Do you forgive me?" She asked looking up at me with sad puppy dog eyes.

"Of course I do. Do you forgive me?"

"Yes" she shrilled "So what did you think about the party?"

Leave it to Alice to be able to do an about face and move on to another topic. We spent the next hour going over the night before the admissions. I feel asleep as Alice was talking and luckily she let me.