Sorry this is a day late! I got scary sick this weekend and the little writing I did manage mostly had to be deleted. No one wanted to read that. All better now though, and Edward's chapter should still go up on Wednesday.
As always, I can only hope to wallow in Stephanie Meyer's shadow as I make her characters do things my mind dreams up.
Enjoy!
Chapter Three – Bibbidy-Bobbidy-Boo
Bella's POV
I felt ridiculous.
Alice had dragged me out of bed insanely early so we could make it to the mall right when the stores opened. At least she'd realized that if she wanted forward motion out of me she had to allow time to stop for coffee on the way.
Two hours of shopping and my brand new work shirt was still too tight.
Admittedly, it was tight in more flattering ways. This shirt cupped rather than flattened my chest, and it nipped in tighter than I was used to down to my waist.
My new jeans were tighter too, clinging all the way down my legs. It actually made them look long, which I hadn't known was possible. There was no hiding the fact that I have an ass and hips, the more form fitting clothes made my body seem more proportional.
I pulled the black t-shirt over my head carefully, not wanting to disturb the rollers Alice had put in my hair. She would kill me if I messed up her work. And she was scary with this new kung-fu fairy-god-roommate persona.
I had spent an hour sitting on a chair in our bathroom while she poked at my face with the torture devices she called makeup brushes. Then came the hair. I told her it was stupid to curl my hair, as I had to keep it in a pony for work. She just stared at me until I capitulated, sinking back into the chair.
I had to admit, the makeup looked amazing. Given how long it had taken, I didn't expect it to look so natural. But when I was finally permitted to look in the mirror, I still looked like me. Only enhanced.
My eyes looked huge, and the brown that I had always thought was plain seemed richer somehow. My pale skin now appeared translucent and glowing. She'd used a tinted lip balm that actually felt really good when I rubbed my lips together and the soft red seemed almost juicy. I glanced at the color name before I slipped the tube in my pocket and winced – Blushing Virgin.
How appropriate.
I glanced at my phone to check the time - 11:35.
"Alice, I've got to go in ten minutes, or I'll be late."
She rushed into our bedroom and shoved me down to sit on her bed. I felt the tug of her hands in my hair as she started carefully removing the rollers. The relief of having my hair free was short lived, as she gathered it back at the base of my neck as soon as it was all loose, fastening it in place with a hair tie. She came around to face me, pulling little strands of hair free around my face.
"Okay, you can look," she said, after taking a moment to admire her work.
I looked… hot.
It took me a few seconds looking at myself in the mirror to come up with the right word, but it was true.
I was hot.
Too pale skin had become luminous. A figure that was usually shapeless under baggy clothes now showed the curves of a woman. Drab brown eyes had deepened to a rich chocolate. Hair that was usually scraped back into a ponytail was fluttering delicately around my face and bouncing against my back when I moved.
"Alice, you are amazing."
"Oh, pffh. It's all you, Bella. I just changed the backdrop a bit. Do you need a ride so you're not late?"
I glanced at my phone again. 11:42. "Nah, I can make it on my bike. I don't want to have to walk back. You're going to your parent's tonight?"
"Yup. I'll see you tomorrow, though."
I slipped into my backpack and grabbed my keys from the table by the door, tossing a "see you" over my shoulder.
The ride to Java Jive was a nice one, even though it was still a little too hot outside. It had been warmer than was typical for mid-November, and I couldn't wait for the mild weather to finally come. I didn't miss the omnipresent rain of the Pacific Northwest, but Thanksgiving was next week and it shouldn't be a ninety-degree day.
I made it to the coffee shop with two minutes to spare, locked my bike up behind the store, and rushed to drop my things in the back.
"Hey Bella." The store owner, Denise, was up at the counter, but the shop was empty. She looked relieved to see me. "Would you mind handling things here by yourself today? It's been really slow, so you shouldn't have any problems."
"Uh, no. I don't mind at all." I'd covered the store by myself before, but Denise usually liked to have a manager here.
"I wouldn't do this to you, but Elliot fell off his bike and my husband thinks he needs stitches."
"No worries, Denise. Go, be with your family." I'd met her four-year-old son a few times when she'd brought him in for the day. If he was hurt, his mom should be there.
"Thanks so much! I'll have my cell handy if you need to reach me." She grabbed her purse and headed out the back door.
Denise had obviously done a lot of cleaning while waiting for me to arrive this morning, so there wasn't much left for me to do.
I made myself a latte, much-needed after my stressful morning, before bringing my school bag up to the counter and pulling out my journal to put some more work into the paper I had started on Shakespeare's tragedies.
I really needed a laptop.
I love to write longhand when it's for fun, but writing an essay for school on actual paper was a pain in the ass. I had a little bit of money in the Renee Fund, but I knew I would be hearing from her before too long and that small amount would most likely disappear. So, for now I tried to resign myself to getting most of the work down on paper and typing things up in the computer lab.
I was doodling swirls into the margin of the journal when the bell above the door rang.
Cool green eyes met mine as I looked up. He was here.
He was more casually dressed than usual today. He had on a black t-shirt that had some boxes on the front that looked like they were from the periodic table. Tan shorts stopped just below the knees, showing me my first glimpse of his legs. The light dusting of hair would feel rough against my much smoother skin.
I caught myself, realizing I'd been staring at him for a good fifteen seconds. Jumping off my stool, I slid my journal into my bag and turned back to smile at him.
"Hi," he said, giving me his little crooked grin that made me think of inappropriate things.
"Hey." Oh, so clever, Bella. I reached out to grab a cup. "Same as usual?"
"Yeah, thank you." His grin had turned sheepish.
I had to go up on tiptoes and lean across the counter to get to the hazelnut syrup. I had managed a few pumps when he made a strange, coughing sound in the back of his throat. I glanced over, wondering if he was okay. He was facing the windows like he always did, but his whole body was tensed, as if he was in pain.
"Crap," I muttered, under my breath. He turned to look over at me, curious. "I lost count." I tossed the cup in the garbage and grabbed a new one. His face went blank as I started pumping syrup in the fresh cup, but he didn't turn away this time.
I counted carefully, not wanting to have to start over again, and finished making his drink. He still looked a little dazed when I set it on the counter between us.
"Um, everything okay?" I asked. He was acting really strange.
A quick gust of laughter burst out of him and he smiled at me again. "Yeah, just a little distracted." He pulled a five out of his wallet and handed it to me. "I… I'm Edward. I've seen you pretty much every day for the last two weeks and it's just funny that I don't even know your name."
"It's Bella."
"Pleasure to meet you, Bella," he said, a sparkle in his emerald eyes. Those eyes combined with the sound of my name in his honey-velvet voice rocked me to my core, sending a spasm of heat down low into my stomach.
I guess this is what people mean when they talk about feeling the earth move.
I hadn't quite figured out how to make my lips move again by the time he picked up his drink and headed to his usual table by the windows.
Edward.
I know his name. Does that make me less of a creeper?
I really don't think it does. Especially as the only thing I can think of is that now I have a name to go with the fantasies. Now, when I picture my hands buried in his bronze curls and that perfect mouth against my neck, I can imagine moaning out his name.
Edward.
Shaking aside the daydream, I pulled my notebook back out. One look at my start on analyzing the themes in Hamlet and I knew I wouldn't be able to focus.
Enough Shakespeare. I needed something that would make it impossible to let my mind drift. I made a face as I pulled my math textbook, calculator, and notepad from my bag. It was the sort of torture that was guaranteed to keep me from being distracted by anything else. Hopefully even Edward.
I was tapping my pen on the paper and glowering down at an idiotic word problem – seriously, it was asking me to calculate the length of fencing for some stupid field – when his voice startled me.
"Are you trying to gouge a hole in that notepad?" I hadn't noticed him getting up so I was surprised to see him standing by the counter again.
I glanced at my notepad and saw that I had been stabbing it with my pen so hard the paper was dented. Knowing he would have been able to hear that from even from his table, I looked up at him apologetically. "Sorry, that must have been annoying."
"Nah, I was just worried for the counter once the notepad lost the battle," he said, his half smile flashing at me. He turned his head a little to the side, reading the title of my textbook. "College Mathematics – so you're a liberal arts major?"
"Yes, English Literature. And for some reason, I still need to know how much fencing a farmer needs for his fields."
His delicious chuckle sent shockwaves through my stomach. I wanted to make him laugh again. It might have to become my main goal in life, right after remembering how to breathe.
"And here I thought that everyone needed to know that." His tousled hair fell across his forehead as he leaned over my book, pulling it around so he could read the problem. He made a scoffing sound in the back of his throat. "They make these questions so unnecessarily confusing. May I?"
His held out his hand and I stared at it for a moment. He bit his fingernails. Long, slim fingers tapered to ragged nails that had been bitten to the nail bed.
"Could I use your pen?" he asked, still waiting with his hand out.
"Oh, uh, sure." I blushed as I put the pen in his hand.
Within minutes, he had drawn a picture on my notepad, showing the important bits from the question and walked me through how to use the picture to find the answer. It actually made sense.
"First time for everything…" I mused, putting the finishing touches on my answer. I glanced up to find him looking at me. "I hate math, and it's never really made sense before."
"Happy to help." He took a breath, as if he was going to say more, but then paused as his phone chimed. He pulled it out of his pocket and frowned down at it.
"Problem?"
"Oh, no. Just my sister." He slid it back into his pocket. "I, uh, if you ever want help… I'm pretty decent at math."
"Thanks," I smiled up at him. "You always seem pretty busy when you're here, though. I'd hate to cut into your study time."
"I really don't mind." His eyes met mine, sincerity shining in their green depths.
"Maybe… well, I have an exam the Friday after Thanksgiving and I'm kind of terrified."
"Let's get you un-terrified, then," he said with a grin. "We could study here, or go somewhere else when you're not working if it's too difficult to focus. I'm pretty free over break."
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'm only scheduled for a few shifts that weekend, so I'll have lots of time."
"Cool, do you think you're okay to make it through the rest of that?" he asked, gesturing to my homework assignment. He probably wanted to get back to his own work, hopefully without my jackhammer pen as background noise this time.
"Oh, sure. I'll just draw pictures, like you showed me."
"Okay, then. I'm here if you need help," he offered, smiling when I nodded.
He settled in by the windows and went back to work and even math wasn't enough to keep my focus from drifting to him every few minutes. An hour later, I hadn't finished a single problem.
I looked out the windows as a flash of movement caught my eye, shocked to see Blonde One walking toward the door. I wouldn't have thought it was possible, but she was wearing even less clothing today than she had been yesterday. A bright pink tube top stopped a few inches down her rib cage, showing at least a foot of stomach above tiny jean shorts. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, drawing more attention to the makeup she'd applied with a very heavy hand. Her lip-gloss had to be a quarter inch thick.
The ring of the bell on the door brought Edward's head up and his mouth dropped open.
Maybe it was just Alice's voice echoing in my head, but he certainly didn't seem happy to see her. The look on his face was more mixture of horror and disbelief.
"Tanya, what the –"
"Heya, baby. Miss me?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him and plopped down in the other chair at his table. She ran a critical eye around the shop, while Edward appeared to pull himself together.
"Does this place have anything good?" she asked, sounding doubtful.
"Uh, the coffee..."
"Ooooh, what are you drinking?" Without waiting for his answer, she grabbed his cup off the table and took a sip, leaving a smear of her pink lip-gloss on the lid.
"Ew." The word came out in three syllables as she set the cup back in front of him with a disgusted expression. "What the hell is that, E?"
The words were out of my mouth and ringing through the quiet coffee shop before I consciously decided to speak. "Four shot ten pump hazelnut mocha."
Tanya turned toward me, seeming to notice me for the first time. Her eyes narrowed on me and I had to fight the urge to flee.
"What, do you have Tourette's or something?" She was staring at me like I was something she'd found stuck to the bottom of her shoe.
"Uh… no, that's his drink." I stammered, not sure why I had decided to draw attention to myself.
"You memorized his drink?" Her over-tweezed eyebrows rose, and she smirked nastily at me.
"I make it nearly every day. It's the kind of drink that sticks with you."
She gave me another bottom-of-her-shoe glance and then turned back to Edward.
'So, baby, I was thinking we could go to the Rec Center and hang out by the pool, since it's so nice outside today. Then grab dinner later."
So much for the not-his-girlfriend assumption.
But Edward looked almost… pissed off.
"I can't, Tanya. I've got to finish some homework and then I'm heading out to my parent's house for dinner tonight."
Burn. He totally just slapped her down.
Tanya stared at him like he'd just grown another head.
"You have a good day," he added, hooking in his headphones and tucking them into his ears.
She gawked at him for a few more seconds, but he seemed totally absorbed in his textbook. She got up and rounded the table. Leaning over next to him, her over-glossed lips pressed against his cheekbone and then broke away with a smack.
Her eyes darted over toward me and I quickly dropped my head, not wanting her to catch me watching them.
"You have a good day too, baby," she cooed at him, before flipping her ponytail over her shoulder and stalking out the door.
As soon as she was out of sight, I glanced back to Edward. He was frozen in place with his mouth open, a bright pink lip print visible on his cheek.
His head dropped forward onto his textbook.
"I'm sorry about her," he said, looking at me from where his head lay on the table as he took the headphones off.
"Well, she seemed… nice." I tried not to laugh at his expression.
"That's like saying nice kitty to a man eating tiger," he muttered, and I lost my fight against the laughter.
"So, not your girlfriend, then?" I pried, needing to be sure, and the look of disgust that crossed his face set me laughing again.
"No, not my girlfriend. I prefer them declawed." He got up, and brought his cup to the garbage. "And not coated in slime," he added, taking a napkin from the dispenser and wiping at his cheek.
"I could have just given you a new lid," I quipped, not bothering to hide my smile anymore.
"Nah, she might be venomous." He leaned one side against the counter, looking at me with those sparkling green eyes.
"Do you want another drink?"
He glanced at his phone and made a face before answering. "No, I have to head over to my parent's. My sister's texted four times." He bit his lower lip and my breath caught at the sight. "I really am sorry about Tanya. She had no right to be unpleasant toward you."
"Don't be silly, she's hardly the first of that sort I've had to deal with here. One of the hazards of working so close to a college campus." And I'd put up with Tanya coming around if it meant I got to see Edward every day.
"Are you working tomorrow?" he asked, almost as if he'd read my mind.
"No, I have the day off. I've got a huge paper due Monday and I've got to hole up and finish it."
"Oh." He glanced down for a moment, and then started gathering up his things. "I guess I'll just see you Monday, then."
He hesitated on his way to the door.
He pulled a scrap of paper and pencil from his bag and scribbled something on it before setting it on the counter. At the top of the paper, in a script that seemed too elegant for a boy, he'd written Edward. Under it… was his phone number.
"Uh, in case you get stuck. On your homework."
Was he blushing? I was too stunned to know what to say. I think I pulled off a semi normal smile and he turned to go.
"Have a good weekend, Edward," I managed.
"You too, Bella." His crooked smile dazzling at me as he backed out the door.
~o~
The rest of my shift moved slowly, with very few customers and no cleaning to occupy me. I ended up finishing my math homework, drawing pictures to help, and thinking of Edward the whole time.
The only interruption to the boredom was not altogether welcome. I was packing up my textbooks when I got a phone call from my mother.
"Hi, mom. How've you been?"
"Oh, Bells, it's been forever since we talked. How's school going?" Her question surprised me, as my mother usually jumped at any opportunity to talk about herself. Typically, we didn't have time to get around to me.
"Uh, it's good. I only really have one hard class this semester, and I'm feeling okay about it." I pulled my hair over my shoulder and played with the curls, twisting one around my finger.
"What class is that?"
"Um, math," I answered. Wait, why are we still on me? Who are you and what have you done with my mother?
"Oh, honey, you always hated math. I hope it's not too stressful." She paused for a second, but I was too stunned that she remembered how I felt about any subject to jump in with a response. "I was wondering what you were up to on Monday night?"
Here we go.
"Well, I usually work until seven, but I should be free after that."
"Any chance you'd be able to get off a little earlier? I was hoping we could do dinner somewhere around six. There's this nice little Italian place down the road from me and I can make a reservation."
I sighed, careful to keep the noise from the phone. Reservations meant I was going to be dipping deep into the Renee Fund.
"I can ask my boss, mom, but I won't know for sure until tomorrow. She's got some family stuff going on right now."
"Oh, that's perfect, honey. I can't wait to see you. Oh, and there's someone I want you to meet."
Oh, no.
"Mom, am I coming to dinner with you to meet a new boyfriend?" I was grateful the store was empty, as I'm sure my expression was a little horrifying.
"Uh-huh," she chirped. "His name is Phil and you're going to love him."
I doubt that. My mother's taste in men was atrocious. How she'd ever ended up with Charlie was beyond me, as he was far more stable than her usual sort. He was actually gainfully employed.
"Sure, mom." I could handle a couple hours with my mother and some social reject. I just hoped I didn't end up having to pay. "Hey, I've got to get going – I'm working right now. I'll let you know for sure tomorrow."
"Kay, Bells. Talk to you then!" Well, at least she was happy.
I called Denise's cell as I walked out the back door and left her a message about leaving early on Monday. Then I shook off the worry, knowing there was no point in stressing about it until I actually had to.
Alice was gone for the night, and even though I didn't feel like going home to an empty apartment, I was so not going to the computer lab to finish my essay. There would be time for that tomorrow.
I took my time biking back to the dorms, as the temperature had dropped to a bearable level with the setting sun, and thought about Edward.
I knew his name. We'd actually had a conversation.
I let myself into the dark apartment, stripping out of my work clothes on the way to my bedroom. I pulled on a comfy pair of sweats and an old t-shirt.
He wanted to help me with my homework. He gave me his phone number.
I washed the makeup off my face and brushed through my hair, admiring the way the curls moved to frame my face before pulling it up and out of the way.
He wasn't dating the blonde. He said he'd see me Monday.
I walked through the apartment, turning on every light. Deciding it was just to quiet, I set up my iPod in Alice's speaker dock and set Debussy playing through the sound system.
He had smiled at me. I had made him laugh.
I pulled the slip of paper with his name and number out of my backpack and carefully programmed him into my phone. Then I turned on the oven and pulled the bag of flour out of the pantry. If I baked enough cookies, there still might be some left over by the time Alice came home.
They speak! *heart fluttering wildly*
Reviewers get my undying devotion - and of course a teaser of Edward's POV. Both are priceless, so PLEASE REVIEW!
