DISCLAIMER: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.
Bella's POV
"Edward". Alice snapped.
The way Alice said Edward's name was slightly frightening to me. It made me think she had been mad at him before she even heard about my run in with him earlier today.
"Hey Al, I didn't know this girl was your roommate! We met this morning, didn't we Becky?" he said, smiling at me, stepping around Alice and I, settling himself onto the futon.
How many girls had he bumped into today?
"It's Bella". I snapped.
"Oh, my mistake. Please forgive me," he said, flashing a brilliant smile. Ugh, Bella, don't fall for it. He's obviously used to getting away with things like this with girls. Well, he wasn't getting away with it with me. Instead of responding, I just raised my eyebrows and walked away, sitting at my desk. He had obviously come looking for Alice and I wanted him out of here as soon as possible. I took out the application for the Admissions job, and pretended to concentrate hard on it.
"Alice, mom keeps calling me, she wants me to come home to help her around the house. Can you call and cover for me? Lie if you need to? Thanks sis". He said quickly, kissed Alice on the cheek, and then jogged out of our room and back down the stairs. Alice just stood there, as flabbergasted as I was. Then, a wicked grin came over her face, and for just a moment, I was scared. She grabbed her cell phone off her desk, and scrolled through her contacts, finding the number she'd been looking for. She hit send, and held the phone to her ear, biting back laughter. I heard a woman pick up on the other end, and then realized what the grin on her face was about.
"Hey Mom! It's Alice!" She exclaimed into the phone, listening to her mom's response.
"Yeah, he actually just stopped by. He wanted me to tell you that he's too busy man-whoring the campus to come home and help you out. However, Jasper and I would love to come and help you out." She paused for another moment, smiling at her mother's response, and winked at me. Her evil plan had actually worked.
"Mom, of course Jasper doesn't mind. It was his idea". I laughed out loud, clamping my hand over my mouth so that Mrs. Cullen couldn't hear me. I fell onto my hands and knees in laughter, and Alice had to turn her back from me to keep her laughter quiet. It was obvious what she was doing, to me at least. She wanted her mother to like Jasper more than Edward, and based on the conversation and what I could hear of Esme's responses to Alice it was working brilliantly.
Turns out, Jasper was more than happy to head home this weekend to help Mrs. Cullen out. Furthermore, he was actually ashamed he hadn't been the one to think of it. Southern gentlemen. Why couldn't he have a brother? It was easy for the Cullen's to go home at a moments notice, as they had a private plan at their disposal anytime they wanted it. Jasper helped Alice pack a few things (and by a few things I mean a few suitcases) for the weekend and they left quickly. I was relieved that Jake and I would have the room to ourselves; I wanted to get details on this girl of his, and I knew he wouldn't say much in public.
Jake called me when he pulled into campus and I ran down the steps to meet him outside my dorm. I nearly fell at least 3 times, and would have if I wouldn't have been holding tightly to the railing. I jumped into his waiting arms, squeezing him tightly. As soon as I was wrapped in his arms, all my feelings of homesickness melted away.
I gave Jake an abbreviated tour of campus, and showed him my dorm room. We went to dinner at a small café off campus that was popular with the students. It was an Irish pub, and was a lot of fun on a Friday night. He spent the entire time gushing about Kristin, telling me everything he knew about her. He was quite taken by her and I couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Not really of her, because I certainly didn't want to date Jake. The mere thought made me shiver in disgust. He was like an older brother. But recently, I'd never had to share Jake. We were best friends and did almost everything together. It was obvious that once he began dating this girl, she would take my place as his best friend. Slowly, the homesickness that had melted away in Jake's presence began to creep back into my heart.
After dinner, Jake and I picked up a movie at Blockbuster and stopped by an ice cream shop for ice cream. We walked slowly back to my dorm, talking about classes and our professors.
"Oh! Bella!" He stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk laughing.
"What Jake?" I was startled, and a little concerned.
"I totally forgot to tell you about my roommate!" He chuckled, swatting at my upper arm playfully, walking again.
"Oh? What about him?" I was intrigued.
"Total freak show. He enjoys setting himself on fire. Oh, and his favorite movie is The Notebook, and I wish I was kidding. At first, I thought it was just a line to get the ladies, but it is obviously not. He also has the names of his children picked out." By now, we were walking of the stairs of my dorm, both doubled over in laughter.
"Bella, I saved the best for last, when we were safely in your room", he said as I got my keys out, unlocking the door, and stumbled inside. We plopped down on the futon, and I sat against the arm of the futon, bringing my knees to my chest as I finished my ice cream.
"Alright. Tell me, I can't handle the suspense any longer." I laughed. What on earth could this roommate do that was worse than all of the other stuff?
"When he laughs…" Jake had to pause the story until his voice was under control through the laughter. "He has to whisper 'moose poop' to stop!" (A/N: I actually met someone this summer that did that, and it was hilarious)
Oh. My. Gosh. I burst out laughing, nearly falling off the futon. Spending the weekend with Jake was just what I needed. He was a wonderful friend; I just wish that our colleges were closer together.
Monday morning, my cell phone rang as I was getting ready for class. Alice still hadn't returned, but she'd texted me late last night to say that she'd be home late Monday night.
"Hello?" I was glad I'd had tea earlier, so that my voice was no longer heavy with sleep.
"Hi! Is this Isabella Swan?" a friendly, unfamiliar voice asked.
"Yes, this is she". I was curious. Who would be calling me at 9am on Monday?
"Hi, this is Sandy from Admissions. We wanted to offer you a job!" She said, excitedly.
"Great! Thank You!" I was so excited; I needed the money so badly.
Things were finally starting to look up. My best friend had just visited, I had an awesome roommate (who didn't whisper weird things to stop laughing), I loved my classes and now I even had a job.
Next Chapter: Edward confronts Bella for standing him up.
