PART 1
Chapter Three:
The next two weeks went by pretty fast. I ended up going to one of swim team's practices on the first Wednesday evening. The team was not the best. They were kind of shit, but it's all I had so I told them I would join. I would be their savior and bring the team some success. It was great to have friends outside of the little misfit group of Edward, Alice, Emmett, Jasper, and Bella. Emmett had his basketball team and practically everyone else at school as friends, Alice had a small separate group of friends in her grade, Edward had Bella, Bella had Edward, Jasper had Alice and that was all he needed. Now I had swim team. I also had Alice, but whenever I was usually with Alice, there was Bella. And I hardly ever talked to Bella. She was my least favorite person. I was looking forward to actually spending alone time with Alice, even if we were at a basketball game full of people.
I had Edward in Japanese class, but that was all. I enjoyed the time I got to spend with him in class, even if we're speaking a different language and only saying simple phrases. It was the best part of my day. I would walk into class, Edward would have my seat saved for me, he would ask me about my day, I would tell him how Mike Newton tried to flirt with me, and Edward would respond "Poor kid," or how Jessica asked me where I got my Channel bag from, and then class would start. When it came to the part in class for us to orally practice dialogs with each other, my partner would always be Edward. We would play the game of mispronouncing words and laughing about it. Once class was over, Bella would come and I would leave.
Our misfit group would eat lunch together and meet up before and after school. Of course Emmett monopolized our conversations when we were together. No one stopped him though, because we all enjoyed his cheerful jokes and the stories he had to share. Alice would chime in sometimes and Emmett and her would go back and forth about nothing. I could see how they were friends before us. It never made sense to me in the first few days here how these four were ever friends with their differences.
I watched as Alice and my brother grew closer each day. He never tells me anything about Alice, but he didn't have to. I could tell he was happy and I would never push him to tell me how he felt. I just knew. Alice on the other hand, cornered me on Thursday as I was walking to class and demanded to know if my brother liked her. I told her nothing except that I would not tell my brother's business. Alice was upset, but not seriously. She would figure it out or Jasper would tell her himself.
It was now Friday evening and I was waiting for Alice to pick me up so we could ride together to the basketball game. I was told to dress in the school's colors, but I decided to stick with my black and grey ensemble. There was no way I was going to wear anything yellow or blue. I'm all for school spirit, just as long as it doesn't compromise fashion.
Alice arrived right on time. I waved Jasper goodbye as I walked out the door. He was curled up on the couch reading a book. I was surprised Jasper was not coming along just because Alice was going. I guess he had to draw the line somewhere. I hurried to get into Alice's car and took my seat in the front passenger.
"Are you ready to RUMBLE!" Alice sang to me. There was never a dull moment with her. I playfully laughed at her as she continued to sing the rest of the song, beats included, as she pulled out of my driveway.
I heard a cough come from the back seat and turned to look around to see who else was here. "Hi," Bella said as she gave me a weak smile.
"What is she doing here?" I ignored Bella and turned back to Alice.
"Bella is here because I begged her to, and eventually she said yes." Alice responded matter-of-factly.
"I thought she never came. This was supposed to be just you and me."
"I'm right here guys," Bella tried to say, but I pretended not to hear her. Alice actually didn't hear her I assumed, because she started talking just as Bella was right in the middle of her sentence.
"You're right, I'm sorry. I should have told you. But I kind of thought this would be fun if it was a girl's night out with my girls. Come on, it'll be fun."
Spending my free time with Bella was not my definition of fun. There was nothing fun about her. We clearly had different interests, albeit Edward didn't count, and we hardly ever talked. She was not my friend and I had no intentions of changing that. She was the peasant girl who cleaned out my chamber pots. It was a rude thing of me to say, but I couldn't see myself ever liking Bella. I mean, maybe if we met under different circumstances. Like if Bella wasn't Edward's girlfriend. Then maybe I'd like her. Maybe. I tried convincing myself that this had nothing to do with Edward, but my mind always went back to him.
I told myself to suck it up and deal with Bella being with us tonight. It didn't turn out to be such a hard task since Bella never says much. We stood in the student section of the crowd and cheered on the basketball team. Emmett blew me a few kisses while he was on the court. I had to admit, it was really cute of him. Every time he did it, everyone would follow where he threw the kiss and they'd all look at me. I liked the attention. A girl told me I was really lucky to have Emmett as a boyfriend, and I politely told her that we weren't together. Did people think we were? I did let Emmett openly flirt with me all the time. And besides Alice, he was practically my closest friend here. I tried imagining us together. We would make a good looking couple.
To my surprise, Forks won the basketball game. I watched as Emmett basically carried the team to victory. I had a lot fun with Alice. She was kind of person who knew all the cheers and chants, who screamed and yelled at all the right moments. It was thrilling being next to her. I was so involved in the game that I hardly forgot Bella was with us. She was on Alice's other side and she was the kind of person who didn't cheer or yell. She just stood with us and watched the game.
We waited after the game to congratulate Emmett. When he finally came out the locker room and found us, he picked me up and spun me around. "We won!" He said as set me down. Usually I would have hated if someone picked me up like that, but coming from Emmett I did not mind it as much. "So, whose parents aren't home tonight because we're partying." He opened up his duffle bag just a little for us to peek. Inside was a bottle was some cheap fruity vodka.
"Where'd you get that?" Bella asked him.
"I got this from a friend of friend. And no, we can't go to your place since your dad's a cop. Rosalie what about you?" I shook my head no. My parents are home and I think they would not approve of this.
"We can go back to my house. I'll just let Edward know that we're partying." Alice pulled out her phone and began texting her brother. I was a little shocked at how casually they were about this. They were planning to drink. Alice of all people. I never suspected. I shouldn't have gotten as excited as I was though. Tonight there would be booze and Edward. Probably a terrible combination. What the hell.
Pulling up into the Cullen's driveway I spotted my car already there. Alice informed me that she also texted Jasper telling him about the little party they were throwing. It would just be the six of us apparently. Which was okay. There wouldn't have been enough vodka for any more people anyways. Emmett pulled in after us in his huge Jeep. When we got inside, Jasper and Edward were sitting around, probably talking about the book Jasper was reading earlier. I had noticed that those two had similarity hobbies.
"Who's ready for shots?" Emmett yelled and went straight to the kitchen and started pulling out small glasses. He really made himself at home. I wondered if they did this often.
We all went to gather around the kitchen to take shots. After the first shot, Jasper stopped, saying that he would probably be the one to drive the rest of us home. God bless his heart. After two more shots, Bella quit. Typical. If there was one person I could pick out from our group to back down so soon it would have been her. After our forth shot Alice stepped out. She was tiny so she had a legitimate excuse. Emmett, Edward and I kept going till the bottle was empty. I lost track of how many we were at. Maybe six or seven in total. Alice turned on some music for us and she began to dance. I was starting to feel pretty good so I joined her. I glanced over at Edward to see if he was watching me, but he was talking to Bella. Emmett was watching me though. I went over to sit on his lap.
"Do you guys do this often?" I asked him. He responded with a yes and then said some other things after that. I got distracted watching over his shoulder what looked like Edward and Bella having a sort of disagreement.
"Who wants to put this empty bottle to use? Now we have six people we can finally play spin the bottle." Emmett said as he lifted me off of his lap and grabbed the empty bottle of vodka. I, of course, agreed since my only kissable options were either him or Edward. It would be a win-win either way. It appeared that everyone else also mutually agreed as we all made a circle on the floor.
"I don't think this is fair for Edward and me," Bella said.
"Oh come on Bella. Lighten up!" Emmett patted her on the back. "I'll go first." Emmett spun the bottle and it landed on Bella. Everyone looked to Edward, but he didn't object, I could tell that he trusted his friends. So Emmett went to lean in and give Bella a kiss on the forehead. "See? It's fun! Ok, Edward you're next." Emmett handed the bottle to Edward. So when Edward spun the bottle it just happen to land on me. Here was my chance, I get to kiss Edward. I've been secretly dreaming about kissing him even though I keep swearing to myself that I needed to get over this little crush.
"I don't want to play this anymore. It isn't fun." Edward said. What? We were about to have the best first kiss and he doesn't want to? It was probably Bella's fault and he was doing this for her.
"You're such a pussy," I mumbled at him loud enough for everyone to hear. That was probably the wrong thing to say if you wanted a guy to kiss you. But really, at about now those six or seven shots were drowning me mentally.
"Well you're a bitch." He mumbled back to me. If he didn't sound so serious about it I would have joked it off. Everyone awkwardly sat there in shock at this turn of events.
"No I'm not. What did I do to you?" Now I was getting defensive. I knew I should just leave it but he insulted me. That was something I would never want to hear from him. He was supposed to be on my side. This was Bella's fault.
"It's not me. Bella tells me how you treat her. She worries that you don't like her." Edward's voice was beginning to rise. I could tell where this was heading and I was too fueled to stop.
"Maybe if Bella didn't whine about everything, I would like her just a tad bit more." I would have gone to say so much more if Emmett hadn't interrupted.
"Woah, let's calm down here."
I couldn't continue to sit with them, so I got up and left. Without thinking, I went to go stand outside on the balcony, purposely slamming the door. I shouldn't be overreacting like I am. I blame it all on the shots I took of that cheap vodka. It was a stupid idea to come out on the balcony in this cold weather, but it was my nearest escape exit. Now I was stuck out here.
I heard the door open and shut behind me, and a blanket placed over my shoulders.
"I'm sorry for what I said about you." Edward joined me. "It was out of line." He stood with me in silence for a while. He was really a gentleman and I was thankful for the blanket because I was freezing. I was still upset at him, and instead of being mature and apologizing back I just stood there. "Don't you have anything to say?" I shook my head. "You don't want to apologize for anything?"
"I have nothing to apologize for." Which at the moment felt true because I was still upset. Edward didn't push any further and left me alone. Because I was stubborn I stayed out on that cold balcony with the blanket he had given me now wrapped tightly around my body. A few minutes later Jasper came and got me to take me home. He knew me so well and he knew that I would have stayed out on the balcony all night if I had to. Thankfully Emmett and Bella were not riding with us. I didn't bother asking Jasper how they were going to get home when he had promised them a ride.
When we got home I went straight to my bed. I was drunk, an angry and irrational drunk. I wouldn't be surprised if any of them never talked to me again. It was that bad, I told myself. But somehow I felt like I just made the biggest mistake. My friends all hate me now, and Edward hates me the most. I started crying into my pillow until I fell asleep.
I woke up the next morning to someone tapping my shoulder. I opened my eyes to find Jasper sitting on the edge of my bed, with a glass of water and a muffin for me. I closed my eyes and grunted.
"Rough night?" He asked. I opened my eyes just so that I could roll them at him. I sat up and took the water he offered and then the muffin. I instantly felt a headache in my head and my stomach sore.
"Thanks Jaz. Listen, I'm sorry about last night." I began, but he cut me off.
"No need to apologize." He assured me. But now that I had sobered up, I realized I had made some stupid mistakes last night. I insulted Edward, said bad things about his girlfriend to his face. I mean I do it all the time, but I never vocalize my dislike towards Bella. And then when he tried to reach out and apologize, I shut him out. Of course Jasper was there for me, he would always be.
"What have they said about me?" I asked him. I could see him deciding on what to say.
"Well Emmett thinks you're hot when you're upset. Alice doesn't understand what happened. Bella feels like it's all her fault, and Edward hasn't talked to anyone."
I knew Alice would probably want answers. I wouldn't be surprised if she left me texts or randomly came over today to talk. And yes, this was all Bella's fault. She clearly told Edward things about me that weren't true. I had always been nice enough to her right? It bugged me that Jasper didn't know anything about Edward.
Jasper sat with me while I finished my muffin and drank all the water. I then handed him the glass back and he left. I decided to shower and get dressed and go to Alice and Edward instead. I had some mending to do.
Alice greeted me with a hug which was usual. So meant that she was not upset, and that as a good sign. She then started with asking what had happened last night. I weighted my options on what I should tell her. I went with telling her everything, from the beginning. I had to let someone in on my inner turmoil. By now I trusted Alice, and I knew she could handle the truth. So I told her how I first though that Edward was the most beautiful guy I've ever seen. And how he made me nervous whenever we were together. How we kind of flirt in Japanese class, and how I just get this vibe that we should be together. I then laughed about the 'be together' part, because that was unlikely and I felt silly for ever mentioning it. And then I told her how I maybe might be a little jealous of Bella because she was with Edward. And how last night I was just drunk and said some things that wasn't nice. Truthful I really wanted to kiss Edward, and he backed down because his girlfriend didn't trust me.
The whole time Alice just nodded and listened to me. It felt good to finally tell someone how I was feeling. When I was all done I could see the look of sympathy on Alice's face. I quickly told her that I did not need any sympathy. We went on to start talking about how much fun we were having before last night's short argument between Edward and I. She then told me that after I left, Jasper came back and took Bella and Emmett home. Edward didn't say anything, but she could tell he was brooding. Even after all that I told her, she encouraged me to go talk to her brother.
Alice said that he was upstairs in his room, so I went to go find him. The door to his room was cracked open when I got there. I hoped he had not heard all that I told Alice. I gently knocked on the door and heard him say come in. I entered his room. He was seated at his desk back towards me.
"Alice?" He asked. He hadn't bothered to turn around to see who was at his door. I walked closer and it looked like he was busy concentrating on writing something.
"Actually, it's Rosalie." He turned around and saw me, then quickly turned back around and to hide whatever he was writing. He then got up and faced me. I studied him for a split second. He was in a t-shirt and sweatpants. This was probably the most comfortable I had ever seen him. And probably his most sexy look. I threw the thoughts right out of my mind once they came in. Now was not the time. We were both in his room...Stop. I had to tell myself to stop and concentrate on what I was really here for.
"I came to apologize. I'm sorry for last night." There I finally said it. I might have meant all that I did say last night but I was truly sorry for ever hurting his feelings. It was the last thing I wanted. I wanted him to like me, so that meant I needed Bella to like me. As much as I hated, I had to befriend Bella. I would do it for him.
"Me too. I didn't mean what I said about you." And he did look truly sorry. Edward stuck his hands in his jeans pockets looking somewhat nervous. "I was just going to ask Alice if she wanted to get lunch, did you want to join us?"
"Sure." I tried to sound super casual because on the inside I was screaming 'yes.' I ended up riding with them to a local diner. Things were back to normal. I had not had the chance to spend time alone with just Alice and Edward yet. I enjoyed their company. I really felt like I belonged with them. About half way through our meal, I spotted Bella and who was probably her father across the diner, getting up to leave. I wished that they wouldn't come this way, but we were close by the exit. It was inevitable.
"Hey guys," She stopped to say. We all greeted her. Edward got up and kissed her cheek. I watched her blushed after he did so. Did she have to be so fragile like? It was annoying. But I promised myself that I'd to be nice to her so maybe that should start with my thoughts.
"Did you want to stay and chat?" I offered. Everyone was looking at me like I was crazy. I probably was, because I was secretly scheming to get close to Bella in order to get closer to her boyfriend.
"Thanks, but my dad and I was just leaving."
"No, it's okay. You can stay with your friends." Her dad said. Now I didn't like her dad.
Bella joined our booth. I tried making a somewhat of apology to her for last night. She thanked me and we all continued with our conversation. It wasn't the same as when Bella wasn't with us, and I just wished that she would leave. But I smiled at her and talked to her. I would continue this act.
Another few weeks went by. It was now mid-February. I continued to befriend Bella, although my true feelings still told me that she was annoyed me in everything she did. At least it was making everyone else happy, mainly Edward. Things were different now though. Edward and I didn't spend most of the time giggling at each other in Japanese anymore. We were actually doing the work like we were suppose too. Somehow, even though I was doing all the right things now, I felt like we were growing apart.
When Valentine's Day came, everyone had someone. Jasper and Alice finally made their relationship official to us. It wasn't a surprise to anyone. I was so happy for them. They were the definition of soulmates even if they'd only known each other for a little over a month. When Emmett showed up to school on that day, he had brought me a bouquet of roses, so fitting for my name. I was certain I saw Edward roll his eyes. I was worried that Emmett might have wanted to make our relationship official, even though there wasn't really a relationship. Emmett was one of my closest friends by now. We would flirt and talk all the time. I realized we were similar in vanity, and strong in our personalities. We got along in ways I did not with Edward. I knew Emmett wished to call me his, but I could not. By now I had thought that I'd be over Edward, but I wasn't. He still consumed my thoughts.
Alice had confronted me and asked me to help her with a secret project. She wouldn't tell me what it was though. I had to wait to for her to tell me on the night that she actually needed my help. I went over the Cullen's house Saturday evening after receiving a text from Alice. 'It's time,' was all it said. When I got there, everyone was gone except Alice.
"Don't hate me for this but I could really use your help." I could tell this was going to be something I would not like. I agreed anyways. I was bit curious what she needed help with. "Tonight is Edward's and Bella's anniversary and I wanted to make them a special dinner."
"No." I started heading for the door. After all that I told her she wanted me to help make their anniversary dinner.
"Wait! Please, no one else knows how to cook. I know how you feel about everything, but I could really use some help. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't dire." Alice pleaded.
"Fine, but I'm leaving before they get here." I was only doing this for Alice. I wanted to be a good friend to her. She agreed that she didn't need my help serving the food just preparing it so that I could leave after. Unfortunately for me, Edward and Bella arrived way earlier than Alice had planned. They were supposed to be seeing a two hour movie, but I guess they bailed. Alice started setting the table and asked me to grab the bowl of salad to put out. Just I grabbed the bowl Edward and Bella appeared at the kitchen entrance.
"Surprise!" Alice ran over and hugged her brother and Bella.
"What is this?" Edward asked, looking completely confused as to why I was holding a bowl full of salad and Alice yelling surprise.
"You weren't supposed to be back for another thirty minutes. We've made you a surprise anniversary dinner, but it's not done yet."
"I already ate," Bella said. And for some reason that pissed me off. Of course she already ate. Of course she had to ruin plans. Without thinking, I threw the bowl of salad at the ground. It didn't matter if it was going to break, which it did. The sound of shattering glass shocked everyone. Bella looked like she was going to cry, and ran off. Alice went after her, leaving Edward in the kitchen with me. A broken glass bowl and salad lay on the floor between us.
"Why did you do that?" Edward broke the silence.
"I didn't even want to be here." I chided.
"But that doesn't mean you throw glass bowls at the floor."
"I'm tired of trying and pretending to like her!"
"So all of this time you've been pretending?" He seemed a little hurt at that.
"I did it for you. I thought…"He cut me off, not letting me explain.
"You thought what, Rosalie? How was any of that productive? I thought I knew who you were."
"You've never known who I am and if you think you do just because we knew each when we were young, then you're wrong. That was thirteen years ago!" I started raising my voice. He paused after that and didn't say anything for a while. I could tell he was deliberating.
"You're jealous aren't you? Of Bella?" I was not expecting him to say that.
"The last thing I am is jealous of her. I just don't like her and I never will." I folded my arms.
"Well I guess that settles things then."
"I guess so."
I left the kitchen crime scene, with Edward just standing there. If Edward thought I was jealous of Bella, I would prove him wrong. I called Emmett once I got out to my car. There was something I wanted to ask him.
A/N: So I've released the first 3 chapters within 3 days to get things rolling. Unfortunately, I won't be continuing this pattern. I have no definite plan when chapters will be out, but stay on the look out! Also I'm doing this all on my own without anyone to check it, so I am sorry if it's full of grammatical errors. But thank you to everyone who has read so far!
