Chapter 3
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight!
EPOV
It was an unbelievably nice day outside - quite unusual for Washington. The sun was shining, and it was a mild 65 degrees. I found myself walking through a meadow, but was overwhelmed by an immense feeling of déjà-vu.
Have I been here before?
The meadow was nearly a perfect circle, and the most wonderful wildflowers were growing everywhere.
I felt calm and at peace, as I sat down, and closed my eyes. The most wonderful smell enveloped my nostrils.
What was that? Freesias'?
I abruptly opened my eyes, only to discover the most beautiful pair of chocolate brown iris' staring back at me. Before I even knew what I was doing, I was crouched in an attack position. Everything turned red.
I felt powerful and…thirsty. My throat was burning. I lunged at the beautiful creature in front of me, throwing her to the ground with such force I could have sworn I felt the earth shake. Just as I bent down to the pulsating lump in her throat, I noticed my own hands that I was using to hold her down.
Was I…sparkling?
"Why am I sparkling?!"
I yelled. Awakened with a start, I soon realized where I was. I must have fallen asleep on the plane. As I took in my still hazy surroundings, I noticed Jasper, and Emmett sitting next to me; uncontrollable laughter spilling from them.
"What's so damn funny?"
Emmett pointed a shaky finger at me, "You're sparkling!"
I was sure that it was just a dream, but nevertheless, I looked down at my hands and arms. Nothing seemed to be unusual, but Jasper and Emmett were still laughing.
My two best friends had talked me into coming on a five day singles cruise to the Caribbean with them, and now they were laughing at my expense. I didn't even want to be here, and this made me all the more anxious to get off of the plane, and immediately purchase a ticket back home.
"Edward, you just yelled in your sleep 'Why am I sparkling?'" Jasper choked out through his laughter.
I was never one to blush, but I felt the embarrassment rise in my cheeks at Jasper's words.
Had I really said that aloud?
I looked around cautiously, and sure enough, half the plane was riddled in hushed giggles.
Great!
I put my face in my hands and grumbled quietly. What a great way to start this trip!
Thinking back to the dream I couldn't help noticing how odd it was. It felt so real. The woman with the beautiful chocolate brown eyes; who was she? Although I couldn't remember much about her, she was stunning.
Why did I want to kill her? Why did I want to drink her blood like some damn vampire?
I felt Jaspers hand slap me on the back, and pull me out of my reverie.
"Don't worry about it man, we're landing now. You'll never have to see any of these people ever again."
I dared a glance in his direction, and I noticed he was still holding back his laughter. Emmett was still knee slapping, not even trying to contain his loud guffaws. I rolled my eyes, and started out the window as we descended into Tampa. This was going to be a long week.
Once we had landed, I walked off the plane and jerked my neck back and forth a few times; trying to work out the kinks that had formed during the uncomfortably cramped plane seating. Desperately, I tried to avert my gaze to the floor, not wanting to meet the stares of those who heard my outburst on the plane.
I was hopeful that none of the women on the flight were going to be on the ship. Although I had never had trouble meeting women, (in fact it was almost too easy as most women seemed to throw themselves at me at any given moment) I didn't need this sleep talking fiasco to ruin any chance I had to get laid.
Emmett assured me that most of the women on the ship would be coming from all corners of the country, so I had no ties to anyone I met here. My friends had decided this was the best thing for me, since my recent breakup with Tanya.
"I need a beer," Emmett said as soon as we began walking through the terminal.
I looked at Jasper out of the corner of my eye, and I knew that it had already started. Emmett's idea of relaxing meant getting shitfaced, with a new girl every night. I rolled my eyes. This was going to be more of a babysitting adventure than it would be about meeting women.
After we picked up our luggage, we made our way out of the airport, and hailed a cab. The weather here reminded me of Phoenix, except there was a slight wetness to the air; humidity.
There were no mountains, but palm trees lined every street corner and strip mall. I somehow found myself already anxious to get home. I had recently taken a new job as editor of the online publication of the Metro Newspaper. It was the type of work that kept me busy constantly, and I craved it more than ever since my breakup with Tanya.
Having all this extra time to think about it wasn't helping anything. It wasn't that I actually loved her, we had been seeing each other on and off for about two years through college. She had decided that instead of just telling me that it was over, she would sleep with every guy in my office, and wait until word trickled down to me. Of course I couldn't work there after that, so not only did she ruin my trust in woman, she ruined my job.
I sighed, and tried to push those thoughts out of my head for now. Maybe getting drunk and getting laid would be good for me. If there was one thing I missed about Tanya it was the sex. It was always amazing, and now that it had been almost three months since being with her, little Eddie and I were getting anxious.
"Look at that boys," Emmett exclaimed.
He had a wide grin on his face as he was rubbing his stomach up and down. I looked towards his line of sight and noticed the huge ocean liner and the mass of people waiting to board.
"I told ya, Edward, plenty of opportunity!"
I gave Emmett a wary smile, as we got our things, and headed towards the ship. I decided to check out the scenery, and Emmett was right. There were tons of gorgeous women everywhere.
"Well, at least it won't be a sausage fest then," Jasper said.
"Yeah, I figured it would be mostly desperate men looking for no strings attached sex, and here we are crowded by women. We must be outnumbered at least 3 to 1."
No sooner than I had finished my sentence, Emmett had his big arms wrapped around the three ladies in front of us. The girls were giggling, and I thought I heard the mention of a threesome.
I fished my ticket out of my bag, and started moving with Jasper towards the ship. The girls ahead of us boarded, flashed a few cheesy smiles, and simultaneously giggled,
"Bye Emmett!"
He blew them all a kiss before turning back to us.
"Jessica, Victoria, and Lauren: I told them we would meet up with them at the club around seven."
I groaned, "You already set dates up for us? Come on Em we just got here."
I went to continue complaining at Emmett, but was cut off by the boy at the top of the deck asking for our tickets.
"Deck 4, follow the orange marked signs. You're in the bay view suite. Enjoy your stay."
We made it down to our room, and I flopped down on my bed, cautiously wondering how clean the sheets really were. Since this was a weekly cruise for singles, there was a good chance that a lot of sex took place here.
I shivered slightly, and decided to take a shower. Emmett and Jasper were ready to go out and mingle, but I needed a few. I told them I would meet them back here at five.
As they left the room, I heaved a big sigh as I made my way to the bathroom. Turning on the hot water up as high as it would go; I stepped into the hot mist. I couldn't stop myself from saying it again; this was going to be a very long week.
