Ch. 2: Hush Hush
A/N: Hey everybody!! Okay, we are so sorry that this took so long to get out, but we really have no idea where this story is going yet, so it took a little time to figure out what we wanted to happen in this chapter. Anyway, a huge thank you to our beta, hgbkwrm, for editing this for you guys, even when she was sick. Thank you for the author/story alerts, favorite stories/authors, and reviews. We really appreciate it. The quote in the last chapter was "Don't be such a poop" from Sixteen Candles. FYI: There is no quote in this chapter. The next chapter will have one, so sorry to those who enjoy our little scavenger hunt.
EPOV
I woke up the next morning from a restless sleep, as usual. I looked at the clock and saw that it was only six o'clock. I had nine hours before I had to be at the stadium for our pre-game practice. First stop: coffee run. I drove down to the Starbucks at Lake Mission Viejo. It was a little farther than the one by my house, but I enjoyed the serenity the lake had to offer.
After grabbing my coffee I walked down to the lake and decided to take a seat on one of the benches and people watch. It was still early in the morning but the lake was full of people getting their exercise in. There were women with strollers, exercise groups, elderly couples taking a leisurely stroll, and a young woman with light brown hair who was jogging. Hmm, she could be fun.
I caught her eye as she was directly across the lake from me and held her gaze until she looked away. As she came closer to my bench, I caught her gaze again and gave her my irresistible, or so I've been told, crooked smile. This got a small giggle from her as she continued on. I looked down but only to feel that somebody was staring at me. As I looked up, I saw the same girl staring at me but as soon as I caught her staring, she looked away quickly. This really could be fun. Time to put on the charm.
As she came back around the lake towards me, I turned my entire body towards her and just watched her until she stopped a few feet away from the bench. I motioned for her to move forward using my index finger. She came without any hesitation and took a seat beside me. She had a shit eating grin on her face and right then I knew she'd do anything I asked of her. Let's see how far she'd go for me.
"Hello. How are you this morning?" I asked, once again putting on my famous smile. Her grin seemed to grow wider by the second.
"Hi, I'm doing fantastic!! How 'bout yourself?" She was very enthusiastic for the early hour.
"I'm doing great now that there's a gorgeous woman in front of me." It was a cheesy line but she ate that shit up, meaning that I wouldn't have to try so hard with her. She mumbled her thanks and a coy smile spread across her face.
I held my hand out for her to shake. "I'm Edward Cullen." Her face lit up with recognition at the mention of my name and the shit eating grin was back. She grabbed my hand and shook it, "I'm Jessica Stanley."
"Well Jessica, I know this is very fast but I was wondering if you would like to join me for breakfast this morning."
Of course, there was no hesitation when she answered. "I would love to."
I stood up and offered her my hand. "Come with me."
The look on her face seemed to say that she'd go anywhere with me. Good because I had plans for us later. I held her hand in mine as I took her to a little café overlooking the lake.
Throughout the entire meal, she looked at me like I was a fucking God. This was good for me; it meant she would go very far for me. We'll see how that goes later tonight. After the meal was over we walked back, hand in hand, to the lake to go to our respective vehicles. At her car, she turned to me and the coy smile was back as she spoke to me.
"So, I had a really nice time with you."
"I had a really nice time with you too. I was wondering, if you weren't busy or anything, if you'd like to have dinner tonight." I had this girl wrapped around my finger, so it was no shock when she gave me her answer.
"I'd love to!!"
"After the game, I'll come pick you up."
"Great!" After she gave me her address, I walked back to my car and knew that this was the type of girl that wouldn't say no, even if I asked her to jump off a building for me.
That little adventure had killed two hours but that still left me with seven hours till I had to be at the field. I had no idea what to do with all that time so I just decided to go home. As soon as I stepped inside the door the phone rang. I walked quickly over to the receiver and picked it up on the fourth ring. "Hello?"
"Hey man. What's up?"
"Hey Emmett. Not much. What are you doing?"
"Oh you know, nothing much, just trying to maintain homeostasis."
I rolled my eyes at his answer, that was code for 'nothing'. It irritated me to get ridiculous answers like that and I let it show in my tone. "Okay, so why did you call?"
He snorted, "Well Mr. Happy Pants, I was just wondering if you wanted to head down to the gym with Jasper and I. We don't have to be at the field for awhile and I figured a good workout would help to pass the time."
I didn't have anything else to do so I figured, 'what the hell?' "Sure I'll meet you guys there in a little bit."
"'Kay. Later, bro."
"Later." I hung up the phone and walked up the stairs to get a change of clothes and my gym bag. The gym was a good place to pass the time, why didn't I think to go there?
As soon as I pulled up at the gym, I immediately spotted the Jeep and the Mustang parked next to each other. I pulled into the spot next to the jeep and grabbed my bag from the back.
I walked in and headed back to the locker room to put my stuff away and change. As I walked in, I saw Emmett and Jasper just getting ready to change into their clothes. Jasper spotted me first. He gave me a nod and said "Hey man."
"Hey. Looks like I didn't get here too late then."
"Nope we just got here a few minutes before you did."
"And we've already scoured the place and there are a bunch of hot chicks here waiting for us to sweep them off their feet," Emmett wiggled his eyebrows at the thought.
"Emmett, half the girls here probably wouldn't go for you because they're already in relationships." Jasper was always the more logical one out of the three of us and thought with his brain rather than his lower half.
"Yeah well they may want to be with real men for once."
"And if they did, they would look right over you and go for the guy standing next to you that doesn't act like a complete idiot." I added.
"You're just jealous because girls find me more attractive than you."
"Uh huh, sure they do. Next, you're going to tell me that you're the King."
"I am: of baseball."
"And what are we? Your entourage?"
"Precisely."
"You wish."
"Alright ladies, let's hit the weights." Jasper said. During the little arguments that Emmett and I got into, Jasper always seemed to play referee.
The three of us finished changing and left the locker room. We made our way over to one of the benches. "Who's going to spot me?" Emmett asked as he began throwing weights onto the bar.
"I'll do it as long as you don't try to impress the ladies by overdoing it."
"I told you I could have handled it."
"Right," I said sarcastically. "Then would you mind telling me why you couldn't push the weights off your chest causing your face to turn a lovely shade of purple?" I asked, knowing he didn't have an acceptable answer.
"I was just messing around. You know I can bench way more than 250."
"Just start off slow, ok? We don't want any unnecessary trips to the emergency room." I told him.
"Fine. Whatever." He finished putting the weights on the bar and lay down on the bench. I stood behind him and made sure he didn't have any trouble with the weight. Thankfully, he was doing fine. Jasper was off doing some other exercises. We rotated between different exercises and after three hours, we decided to call it a day.
"I'm starving!" Emmett exclaimed as we headed back into the locker room to shower and change.
"Emmett, you're always hungry," Jasper said, sounding a little annoyed. Emmett had a tendency to proclaim starvation at least five times a day.
"What? I'm a growing boy, I can't help it."
"You're twenty-three; I think you're done growing."
"That's not what my mom says."
"Do you always listen to your mommy?"
"Of course, if I didn't, she'd beat my ass."
I chuckled as I pictured his mom beating him up. It was pretty comical.
We had decided to go to Cinnamon Productions for lunch. We talked a little bit about the game that was happening later that night.
"Do you guys have any idea as to who we are supposed to meet tonight?" Edward asked.
"I have no idea, but I can almost guarantee that they're going to be three middle aged guys with beer-bellies and balding heads," Emmett sighed. He and I shuddered at the thought.
"Chill out, guys. They're fans; the least we can do is show them how much we appreciate their loyalty," Jasper reprimanded.
"Leave it to Jasper to be the diplomat in this situation," I said as I finished up my lunch.
"Someone's gotta keep the peace between you two buffoons," he defended.
"Anyway, you guys ready for our postgame party?" Emmett asked. After every home game, the three of us would go to the TGI Friday's at the Block in Orange to celebrate, whether we won the game or not. It was an unspoken tradition that we kept to under any circumstances. The only exception was if we were travelling right after the game.
"Sorry, guys, no can do." I said simply.
"WHAT?!" they yelled in unison.
"I said I can't go."
"Why not?" they asked at the same time.
"Do you guys practice that, or what? I can't go because I have a date."
"Fuck the date. You have to be there, it's tradition!" Emmett yelled, slamming his cup on the table.
"Sorry, can't break my promise. What would she think of me?"
"I'm sure she'd understand if you told her you had to reschedule. Why would you plan a date when you know about Friday's?"
"I can't reschedule, I don't have her number. It slipped my mind. It's one time; you're not going to die without me there."
"We might," Emmett added.
"Yeah, I'm sure you're just going to drop dead right in the middle of drinking your beer."
"Hey, it could happen. You never know," Emmett said.
"I'm sorry, ok? What more do you want me to say?"
"Emmett, just drop it. We can still celebrate without him," Jasper said, acting like the mediator once again.
Thankfully, they did drop the subject and we left the restaurant shortly after. When I got home, I sat down at my piano and began stroking the keys. Eventually, the tune morphed into the song I wrote for my mother, Elizabeth. Playing the piano always relaxed me, and after the small argument at lunch, I definitely needed to cool down.
Once I considered myself calm enough, I tried to find something to do to pass the time before I had to be at the stadium. We were playing the Los Angeles Dodgers today, so I studied up on their players' weaknesses. I absolutely loathed their starting catcher, Jacob Black. He and I had actually played Little League together and we were the best of friends if one could believe it. Once high school came around, we went to different schools and hung out with different people. Eventually, we became enemies on the field.
An hour later, I hopped into my Volvo and raced to the field. Normally, I would've taken my Ducati, but I had to pick up-what was her name again? Jenna? No. Jennifer? Definitely not. Jessica! Hah, I got it!-for our date. During the ride there, I prepared myself to meet the three fans and answer any questions they had. There was no doubt in my mind that these guys would probably be freaking out at the chance to meet three of the best Angels players. Who could blame them? Emmett, Jasper and I were the shit.
BPOV
"Come on, Bella! Hurry up!" Alice called from downstairs.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I yelled back. "Can she be anymore annoying?" I asked out loud to no one in particular. Or so I thought. Mo answered my question with a whine, which I laughed at. I completed my outfit by lacing up my white Converse. Alice had forced me to wear my Angels replica jersey and denim shorts. She did try to force me into a pair of heels before she realized it would make me look like a S.W.F. Translation: Single White Female, which we were, but we didn't want the whole stadium to think we were looking to "get some". I grabbed my bag and headed down the stairs, Mo at my heels. "Alright, I'm ready." Alice was wearing her pink jersey, as promised, and Rosalie was wearing a replica jersey with "McCarty" and his number embroidered on the back. We were all wearing denim shorts and white Converse.
"Took you long enough. Let's go, I don't want to be late. Move, move, move!" Alice yelled.
"Yes, Ma'am," I answered with a salute as I walked out the door. We all hopped into my car and were off to the game. Alice and Rosalie were on the lookout for other people who they thought were going to the game. We rolled down the windows and blasted the radio, singing along with every song we knew.
Alice couldn't sit still in her seat. It almost reminded me of the energizer bunny on crack. "Alice, calm down."
"I can't, I'm too excited! I just have this feeling that something good is going to happen at the game tonight, and I want to find out what it is."
"Okay, but that's still not a good enough reason to be bouncing in your seat." Just then, something dawned on me. "Alice?"
"Yes?"
"You had coffee, didn't you?" I accused.
She looked away, out the window, "No, what would make you think that?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that you can't sit still and you keep fidgeting."
"No, I didn't have coffee, Bella."
"Yes, she did," Rose said from the back seat.
Alice gasped and turned around in her seat so fast, she was a blur. "Traitor!" she screamed. "You said you wouldn't tell her!"
"That was before you decided to go all psycho on us. And, I warned you that if you started getting on my nerves, I was going to tell Bella, so it's your fault for taking that risk." Rose said with finality.
Alice turned around in her seat with a huff. "You're still a traitor," she muttered.
"Am not," Rose countered.
"Are too."
"Am not."
"Are too."
"Stop it!" I intervened. "What are you guys? Two year olds? "They kept going a few more rounds before inspiration hit. "If you guys don't stop, I will turn this car around and you will not be able to meet the guys." That got them to shut up.
Shortly after their banter ceased, we arrived at the stadium. Alice nearly bolted out of the car to get to the ticket booth, where we were to pick up our tickets and passes. "I think she's a little excited," I said.
"I'll say," Rose agreed. By the time she and I caught up to Alice, she was waiting for us by the security check, tickets and passes in hand.
"We have to go to the Team Store to show them our passes. Someone is going to lead us to a private meeting room, where we will meet the guys. Once the meet and greet is over, we'll be led to one of the suites for the game. I'm so excited!!!" she squealed, causing me to cover my ears.
"I just have one request for you, Alice."
"And what would that be, Bella?"
"Please, no caffeine. We don't want another repeat performance from the car."
"Deal." We pinkie promised and headed to the Team Store to show them our passes.
We walked into the store and all we saw was a sea of red. They offered everything from shirts and jackets to mugs and bumper stickers and everything in between. Alice walked right up to the cash register and explained that she had won the contest and we were there to meet the guys.
"Of course, just let me get somebody to lead you over to the meeting room. JASON!" the woman called. A tall guy with long, dirty blonde hair came over with a smile on his face.
"Yes?" he asked.
"These young ladies are here to do the meet and greet with the guys. Could you show them to the meeting room please?"
"Sure no problem." He turned to us and said "This way please." He held his arm out to allow us go first. He had a great smile and it seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face.
Alice was the first one out the door and she was jumping up and down clapping. "Oh my gosh!! I'm so excited!"
Jason laughed at her and turned to me. "Wow. She really does seem excited about this. I've never seen anyone so thrilled to see some guys."
"Yeah well she feels like something good is going to happen tonight and she's really anxious to see what that is." Again, he smiled and it was infectious, I couldn't help but smile back at him.
As we walked, there were humongous posters of all the Angels players throughout the stadium. After walking for a little while longer he stopped and turned to all of us, "Well, here we are." He opened the door for us and we walked into the room. There was a long table with many chairs surrounding it and couches along the wall.
"Wow!! Can you believe it?" Alice asked, her voice full of eagerness.
"Yes I can. Otherwise how else would we be in the meeting room of the Angels?" Rose said. Alice did the most mature thing possible and stuck her tongue out at her.
"Okay ladies. The guys should be here so why don't you each take a seat and I'll go see if they are ready to come down."
"Okay." Alice and Rose replied, sitting down at the same time.
I turned to Jason and said my thanks before taking a seat next to Rose.
"Oh, something good is going to happen right now. I'd bet my entire wardrobe on it." Alice said as she sat in her seat fidgeting. I just rolled my eyes at her and shook my head.
"I have to agree with her, Bells. I have a good feeling about this, too." Rose said.
"Okay, whatever." I was just excited to be here, I didn't need anything special to happen.
Alice and Rose both gave me a look and continued talking about all the different possibilities that could come from this day. I had to admit, listening to them and hearing all the different possibilities was making me surprisingly anxious. I was getting a serious case of Restless Leg Syndrome just sitting there. Finally, after what seemed like hours, we heard someone knock on the door. The room became completely silent as Jason stuck his head in the door.
"Are you guys ready?" All three of us nodded our heads like we were a bunch of bobble heads. "Okay then." He opened the door wide and in walked the three best players on the team.
The first player was easily identifiable because of his size. Emmett McCarty. He was Rose's favorite player so I looked over at her and she had a coy smile plastered on her face. She had always said that Emmett would be "fun to play with". It seems like she'd get the chance to try out her theory.
As I looked back towards the door, I was able to recognize the second player by his long, curly, blond hair: Jasper Whitlock. As soon as he walked in the door his eyes went directly to Alice and her beaming smile. I couldn't help but notice that Jasper, literally, only had eyes for Alice. I couldn't help but smile at their obvious connection.
For the last time, I looked back to the door and saw the most beautiful pair of green eyes staring intently at me. His eyes were hypnotic and I could find no reason to look away. Those eyes could only belong to one person. Edward fucking Cullen.
A/N: Alrighty, the song that goes with this chapter is Hush Hush by The Spill Canvas (our new favorite band). There will be links that correspond with this story posted on our profiles. We are both more than open to comments and criticism, so don't be shy about that. Thanks again!