Chapter 3: Stories
"Bella? Bella! Hey, how have you been? And who's this?" Jessica asked, feigning happiness from seeing me.
"Edward Cullen, I'm new here. My family and I just moved here this week," Edward told her.
"There's more of him?" She asked.
"Yeah, I have two other sister and two other brothers," he replied.
"I'm Jessica Stanley. You must hang out with us today. You can invite your siblings, too. Bella, I'm sure you'd understand."
"Us?" I asked.
"Why, me and Lauren," she replied.
"Oh, lovely. You know what, Edward? Don't let me hold you back, you can go if you want," I told him, pretty much wanting to cry.
"No really, Bella, it's okay. I want to stay with you," he told me.
"Guys, what's going on?" Alice asked.
"Hi, I'm Jessica, I'll be going to school with you. Lauren and I wanted to invite you and your siblings to come hang out with us today," Jessica told her, smiling.
"What about Bella? We came here with Adelle and Jade," Alice said.
"Bella has Adelle and Jade. I'm sure she can manage," Jessica added.
"Let me talk to Bella, hold on," Alice told her, pulling Edward and me aside.
"Alice, you can go if you want. Don't worry about me," I told her.
"I really don't want to go. I mean, I've only known the girl for five minutes and I already know I don't like her. But she sure likes you, Edward," Alice said.
"I know. But I want to hang out with you, Bella," he told me.
"It's okay. We have all day, go hang out with them," I told him.
"Do you like them?" Alice asked.
"Truthfully, no. Jessica tried to use me to get Mike's attention, and then when Mike started liking me a lot more than he liked her, she started hating me too. But that doesn't mean you have to hate her. Go hang out with them, I'll be fine."
"If you're sure," Alice said.
No, I wasn't. I didn't want Edward to go off with them. I didn't know if whether or not I liked him, and I was thinking it was the latter. But I also knew that he might not like me back. Actually, screw might, he probably didn't like me back. If he found out I thought I liked him, he'd probably think I was some lovesick puppy. But I wanted him to be happy, even if I wasn't. I guess it was only fair. I mean, I can still be friends with him, right? Too bad I'm getting that burning sensation in my heart when I think about letting him be with Lauren or Jessica. Or maybe I've swallowed too much salt water. Whatever the answer was, I knew I had to tell Alice. I figured that no would be out of the question, so my only possible response was yes. I'd just talk to Alice about everything later. She'd understand.
"Yeah, I'm sure." It burned to say that. Edward looked kind of hurt as he and Alice went over to Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett and walked over to where Jessica and Lauren were standing.
I watched as they walked away and all I wanted to do was go home and yell at myself for wanting to invite the Cullens to the park with us. Of course, I'm happy to have met Alice, but if I hadn't met Edward, I wouldn't be having this heartbreak.
"Bella, where is everyone?" Jade asked.
"Jessica and Lauren invited them to hang out," I told her.
"They just ditched us?" Adelle asked.
"No, Alice and Edward weren't sure. But I told them to go," I said, looking down, feeling angry tears creep up into my eyes.
"You like Edward." It wasn't a question.
"Yeah, Jade, I think I do. And it's killing me," I told her; looking up and letting her see my tears.
"Aw, Bells. You know what? Here are the keys to the Mini. Go in there, open up the sunroof, and listen to your iPod. It will make you feel better. Just lie down in the backseat on a towel. Trust me, it will be a lot more comfortable than lying wet on leather," Adelle said.
"Or you can even lie in the Jetta. I don't care. We could come with you, too," Jade added.
"No guys. I think I'll lie down in the Mini. It has a bigger sunroof," I told them, smiling.
"Okay, I parked in parking spot number 33, just leave here and go left. It's next to the stupid yellow Hummer H3. I don't know why anybody drives those; they are like 2 miles to a gallon or something idiotic like that. Just keep your cell phone on you, I'll be checking in once in a while, okay?" Adelle asked.
"Okay, sure. I'll see you guys in a bit," I told them, and then I walked away. I had to be alone.
I walked to where Adelle parked and saw the H3. There was a guy about my age who got out of the H3. He must have been sitting in there for the past while for some reason. He looked almost perfect, not as good-looking as Edward, but still very beautiful. He had black straight hair that flopped into his purple eyes in a kind of emo-ish way. Wait, purple? Who has purple eyes? Isn't that like impossible? He was also horribly pale, even paler than I am, and I've lived in Forks all my life. Even paler than the Cullens, who were pretty pale, but Edward is a bit darker than I am. I swear I must be part albino anyway. Least, Jade and Adelle love joking about that. He was also tall and somewhat boyish.
He looked straight at me, and I swear I saw him sniff the air before giving me a wide smile that made my stomach flip, only not in the way that Edward's smile made my stomach flip. This smile made my stomach flip from fear. This smile looked almost sadistic, plotting. In all of this fear, I hadn't even noticed that clouds had covered the sun. It wasn't going to rain, the sky was just white. But it almost looked like the boy's skin was sparkling.
Another guy got out of the car after the black-haired one. He was tall and had blond hair that was cut short but still looked messy. He was actually better looking than his son. He was probably 10 years older than the boy next to him. He looked too young to be his father, but the boy looked at him like a parental figure. Next to the older blond man came a beautiful woman with almost black eyes. She had long wavy hair and looked like a movie star. I felt a pang of jealousy that anyone could look like her. She saw where the younger boy was looking and gave him a look after sniffing the air as well. It looked as if she was telling him to back off. He smiled at her reassuringly before smiling at me once more and walking away behind the two older people. (AN, pictures of the new people in my profile. I also changed Bella's picture.)
I had no clue about what had just happened. Who was that boy? Why had I never seen him before? Why were his eyes purple? He was also deathly pale, like he'd never seen sun in his life, or like there was no blood in his system. He must have also been sitting in that car since we got there, when it was sunny. Is he scared of the sun or something? Maybe he's allergic to light. Ugh, I just want to lie down. First Edward going off with Jessica and Lauren—even though I told him to—and now I have some pale guy with purple eyes looking at me like I'm food or something. (AN, oh the irony…)
I finally willed myself to get into the car and I opened up the sunroof and welcomed the air that flowed through the car. I pulled out my iPod and lay on a towel that I had draped over the back seat and set my iPod onto shuffle and let the music consume all of my thoughts.
The songs that were played were some of my favorites. I heard Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, Let Go by Frou Frou, Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson, Dark Blue and the Mixed Tape by Jack's Mannequin, a ton of Fall Out Boy and Goo Goo Dolls, and Black Roses Red by Alana Grace. I pretty much fell asleep in that back seat and had a bunch of jumbled dreams. They were all a mix of things, I dreamt about that boy's bizarre stares, Edward with Jessica and Lauren, and the Cullens. None of the stuff I dreamt made sense to me, but that's why they are dreams. None of them ever make sense. Whenever I would get used to a dream, I would find myself starting a new one.
I was brought out of my slumber by someone tapping on the window. My eyes popped open, dazed, and I looked around trying to remember where I was and who was tapping. The person tapped again and I looked over and saw a familiar angel-like face with bronze-colored hair and beautiful green eyes. Edward.
"Let me in," he told me, his voice muffled by the glass between us.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because, I need to talk to you, please. Unlock the door." The next thing I knew his eyes were burning into mine, my thoughts slowly slipping away. What was he talking about? Oh right, unlock the door. I reached over and hit the unlock button on the door (AN, not sure if Minis have those…I drive a Jetta, like Jade, and it had a button on the door that has a lock/unlock thing on it…so yeah.) and moved over as Edward fluidly slid into the back seat.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Why are you in here, and not out in the park with Jade and Adelle like you said you would be?" Edward asked me.
"Because I felt like lying down. I was a bit tired. That and I needed some time to think," I replied, looking out the window at the twilight sky. The sun was setting, causing a beautiful array of oranges, reds, yellows, and purples.
"Do you have any idea about how worried I was when I came back and couldn't find you? I thought that weirdo with the purple eyes had taken you or something. He gave me the creeps," Edward said, touching my hand.
"You saw him too?" I was amazed, wasn't he with Jessica and Lauren? Why would he be worried about me?
"Yeah. He looked straight at Alice and sniffed the air or something, like he was catching her scent. It was almost like a dog. I was worried he had taken you when I saw his car gone and you weren't with your friends. Jade and Adelle had said they sent you out to lie down in Adelle's car, around the time that guy showed up," Edward explained.
"He's not here anymore?" I looked out the window and saw that the yellow Hummer was gone.
"No, he left, a while ago. I saw him get nearer to Alice but Jasper glared at him and he left. I didn't like him one bit. I'm just happy you are safe. Next time, just stay with Adelle and Jade, or just find me or Alice, okay?" Edward said.
"But why did it matter?" I asked, wondering why he cared so much.
"Because I care about you, Bella. I would be worried about Alice or Rosalie too. You are not exempt from my life, Bella, not even close."
So he cared about me like a brother would care about a sister. I should have expected as much, I knew that someone who looked like I do could never hold an attraction over someone who looked like Edward. I just wish I could know what it feels like to have someone like Edward like me. But that will never happen, I just know it.
"Thanks, Edward. I'm sorry I worried you," I told him, looking out the window to avoid his eyes boring into mine. I didn't want him to see me crying. I didn't even know why I was crying! It was ludicrous to think that he had this much of an effect on me. But it was pointless; he will probably end up with Jessica or Lauren, or some other gorgeous girl from school. But I needed to stop dwelling on that, I couldn't let that ruin my night. He was here now, wasn't he? And now I was wasting time spacing out like this. He probably thought I was crazy.
"No problem." There goes that crooked smile again. Why is my heart fluttering? Heart, stop fluttering!
"Do you want to head back out?" I asked him, noticing that it was still twilight, but gradually getting darker.
"No, let's stay here for a while. I want to just relax. I mean, Jessica and Lauren are nice, but they have to have every single second filled with chatter. I like being here with you. Your presence is peaceful and, well, I like it, I guess," he told me, smiling again.
"Thanks, I like being here with you too," I told him, hardly able to contain the smile that broke across my face.
"There's that smile I love. Come on, let's talk," Edward said, motioning for me to sit facing him. I turned my body so I was sitting with my back resting against the door, holding my knees into my chest.
"About what?" I asked him. He was sitting similarly to the way I was sitting, back against the door, feet on the seat.
"Tell me a memory, a really good memory. Or something that happened in school. Or an embarrassing thing that happened, or something. I don't care, I'm not picky."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. First kiss, tripping in front of an audience, scoring the winning goal. I'm pretty sure I gave you a broad enough spectrum of ideas."
"Well, I've never had a first kiss, so that topic is out the window. I trip on a daily basis, they all sort of stick together in my mind. Oh, I know. I have one," I told him.
"Do tell, we'll deal with your lack of kissing, as well, later."
"Well, Jade does gymnastics at Klahhane Gymnastics over in Port Angeles. She's actually really good. Well, every Friday night the gym holds open gym—which is where people can come and play around on the equipment—and Jade made me and Adelle come one night. Jade is an assistant coach for open gym, birthday parties, and summer camp during the off-season, and she's dating one of the younger guy coaches. She wanted me and Adelle to meet her boyfriend whom she had recently started dating, so we went to open gym to meet him. He lives out in Port Angeles, so he doesn't go to our high school.
"So we all drove to the gym and Adelle and I had to pay while Jade went and got Cameron, who was subbing a kinder gym class because the normal coach was absent. He was actually really nice, we told her we approved. By the time we were fully introduced it was time for open gym to start. The only problem was that I am a klutz and why Jade trusted me in a gym is beyond my comprehension. So I figured that maybe if I just stay on the trampolines—away from any stationary objects that I could fall into—then I would be safe. I had already ruled out balance beams, I would probably somehow straddle the beam. And I knew I couldn't do the bars even if my life depended on it. Floor actually required skill, and I couldn't do the vault, because I knew I would trip mid-run as I raced towards a stationary object that probably didn't want me jumping on it anyway. So trampoline it was.
"It was okay for a while. Once in a while I would do a funny jump and I would land oddly or fall on my butt, but nothing bad. Well, Cameron had been watching, and he thought that maybe I should try and do a trick. He told me to do a seat drop and we would go from there. I looked at him like he had just grown three heads; I had no clue to what a seat drop was. So, he moved onto the trampoline next to me, and demonstrated a seat drop. It was really easy, just jump, and then land on your butt with your legs out and straight. He told me to keep my hands by my sides when I landed, so I could cushion the fall.
"My seat drops were really good, so he told me he was going to show me how to do swivel hips, which was a seat drop, and then you turn in the air and land in a seat drop in the opposite direction from where you started. He showed me some drills to get me prepared, and I actually did them well, so I decided to attempt the trick. I got it on my third try, so he told me to try linking more swivel hips on. I decided I would go for five, and I managed to make five. But when he told me to try for ten, on my jump in, I went too far back, so I landed on my back into my first seat drop, which caused me to ricochet back and I smacked my knee into my lip. I managed to both make an ass out of myself and give myself a fat lip. It was terrible. So after that Jade told me to either just jump up and down, or help her watch the kids. To this day Cameron still mocks me about that," I told him, finishing my very long story, and blushing as well.
Edward gave me a look that lasted a millisecond before he burst out laughing.
"Shut up! It's not that funny!" I told him as he fell onto the seat and continued to laugh. I tried not to notice that his laugh sounded like that of an angel.
"Yes. It. Is," he said between laughs.
"Gosh, I'm never telling you anything ever again!"
"No, really, I'm fine. I'll stop laughing." And the laughing did stop. For a minute. He started laughing again soon afterwards.
"I officially hate you, Edward Cullen," I told him.
"No you don't," he told me.
"Yes, I do."
"No, you don't. And about that first kiss, you really haven't kissed anyone?" He asked.
"Yes, I really haven't kissed anyone. Why are you so surprised?"
"I haven't been kissed yet either." Wait, what? Edward Cullen, beautiful, god-like Edward Cullen, hasn't been kissed yet? How does that work out?
"You haven't?" I asked, surprised.
"Nope."
"Wow."
"Why do you say that?" He asked.
"Because, I'm so average looking, and then look at you!" I told him.
"Bella, you don't see yourself clearly. You really aren't average."
Yeah, right. He's being nice. "Thanks, I guess…"
"How about we make a deal, if neither one of us gets kissed by the end of the year, then we kiss each other," he told me, smiling that crooked smile, again.
"You don't have to," I replied, wanting to kiss him, but knowing that if he kissed me, I'd want it to be a real kiss, not a pity kiss.
"But I'd much prefer to kiss you willingly than kiss someone in some dare or spin the bottle game."
"Oh, um, okay, I guess. Deal," I told him, holding out my hand for us to shake on it.
"Okay, deal," he replied, shaking my hand. "Now it's your turn to tell a story."
"Okay. I'll tell you about the one where Emmett managed to get me drunk," he said.
"Yes, do tell. I want to hear this!"
"Okay, well, we were living in Denali, a small town in Alaska, and it was a Saturday night during the summer, so it wasn't even dark or that cold. We, my siblings and I, were sitting around the house and we were trying to think of stuff to do. Emmett wanted to go play baseball, but Alice reminded him it was too late for baseball. Rosalie just wanted to go watch TV, Alice wanted to go through her closet before buying more clothes online, Jasper wanted to read, and I wanted to play the piano. The only problem was Mom wanted us to do more "bonding" which is hilarious, because we are together everyday, and she still wanted us to bond more.
"So we were watching Degrassi: The Next Generation on TV, and Emmett got up to get us root beer. We had those bottles that look like the beer bottles in the fridge, so it was an easy mistake. Of course it was Emmett, so it could have been on purpose.
"I was the only one who got beer. Everyone else got root beer, which I don't know how Emmett managed that. He's convinced us it was an accident.
"I knew it tasted funny, but I just thought that maybe Esme had picked up Sarsaparilla instead of regular root beer. Not realizing that I was drinking beer, I downed the entire thing, and Emmett brought me another 'root beer', which was really just more beer. After my second beer I started acting funny. Like I got really loud, laughed at every word that Jasper said, and started telling Alice that she was cute, because short people are cute.
"Alice was the one to realize that Emmett had gotten me drunk. She started yelling at him as I continued to act like an idiot. Emmett thought it was hilarious, and continued to egg me on. He somehow convinced me it would be fun to go streaking, which I did. He had me go outside and streak around Denali. Our parents were out, but our family friends, Tanya and her family, saw me, and called up Carlisle and Esme, and told them to come back. Emmett was grounded, and my Mom had to take care of my awful hangover the next day. It would have been funnier if Emmett hadn't filmed the whole thing."
"Oh my gosh, I have to see that tape!" I exclaimed.
"No way, that tape is going with me to the grave!" Edward replied.
"Wait, how old were you?" I asked.
"Fifteen."
"Wow, Edward. That's pretty pathetic," I told him.
"Yeah, I know, thanks, Bella."
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," I added, touching his shoulder.
"Thanks." He smiled that crooked smile at me.
"No problem," I replied, smiling back.
"Hey, do you want to head back in? It's almost 7, and I think they'll be feeding us soon." I looked out the window, it was still light outside, but it didn't get dark until close to 9 in the summer.
"Sure, let's go back. Did Jessica and Lauren leave?" I asked.
"Yeah, they said they were going to go watch movies at Lauren's house. They invited me, but I had to decline. I don't know how much longer I could have handled being with them."
"Oh, okay. Come on, I think I can smell hotdogs."
"All the way from here?"
"Yep, come on!" I told him, taking his hand and pulling him out of the car.
"Alright, alright. You must be hungry, you're literally dragging me," he replied as we walked up towards the entrance. I just hoped Jessica and Lauren hadn't change their minds and decided to stay.