Chapter 3
EPOV
I had a feeling if I let go of her hand before we made it back to the others she would try and book it for the door again so held on tight. I would never admit to anyone, but I actually enjoyed tonight. Instead of staring at me the entire time, my partner barely looked at me at all. The few times she did, I noticed her eyes. They were a peculiar color, somewhere between dark green and brown and what looked like a hint of blue. They were actually quite beautiful, like the person they belonged... What the heck was I saying?! She didn't even like me. It was obvious by the glares she kept sending my way. Of course that could be because I won't give her her hand back. Not yet at any rate. We finally made it over to the others, and from the sounds of it, we were headed out to dinner at Red Robin. I could deal with that. I liked those BBQ wraps they had, just without the ranch.
"Bella, can Edward ride with you. Rose and Em want to be alone, and my car and hold 4 people."
"Guess I don't really have a choice do I," she muttered grudgingly. Since I was standing next to her, I leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I don't bite…much."
I watched as her face flushed red yet again. I wasn't the only one to notice either.
"Well Bella, this has got to be some kind of record. 4 times in one night. And don't think I missed that little fumble of your on the dance floor." She then turned to address me. "Nice save by the way. How are your feet? No bruises or broken toes I hope."
"Not one. Bella did very well," I said glancing down at the topic of discussion to give her a quick wink.
"Again I am impressed. No ambulance this wee, Bella they are gonna think you moved out of town." My eyes got wider at this news, but as I looked down at Bella, I could see she needed rescuing.
"So are we gonna eat tonight or what?" I asked, turning quickly back to the others.
"Rose and I need to close up shop, but that shouldn't take to long. If you and Bella wanna leave now and get us a table that would be great."
"Works for me if it works for the driver," I said looking at Bella again to see that she had more or less returned to her normal skin tone.
"Let's go," she murmured, turning to leave, and pulling me with her. We barely made it out the door when she stopped. Confused, I looked down to see her staring at me with a grateful expression on her face.
"Thanks for that. She doesn't really know when to stop. It gets kinda old."
"You are very welcome," I replied with a slight nod. Again I saw that smirk cross her face as she said, "Can I have my hand back now, I kinda have to drive."
It was my turn to flush red as I relinquished her hand motioning for her to lead on. She walked over and stopped next to a red truck that had to be 100 years old. I walked around to the passenger side door as she got in and leaned across the cab to unlock my door. I got in and put my seatbelt on as she turned the ignition. The roar of the engine actually made me jump and I looked over to see Bella with a full blown smile on her face, teeth and all. She was actually quite pretty when she wasn't glaring, as I had seen her do all night so far.
"It's a beast I know, but its mine. I saved up for 2 years and I am quite proud of it." She said all this with a laughing tone and I couldn't help but smile along with her.
"It has a certain charm I suppose."
We drove mostly in silence to the restraint about 15 minutes away. We walked in and the seating hostess took one look at us and started staring.
"Table for 6 please, our party will be joining us momentarily," I said casually. She grabbed 6 menus and led us over to a corner booth, all the while throwing "subtle" glances back towards Bella and me. I sighed quietly as she seated us.
"Your server will be with you in a few moments." And with one last glance, she hurried towards the kitchen.
"I take it that happens a lot?" Bella asked once the hostess left.
"All the time, it gets really annoying. That is usually why I don't go out a lot. Everyone always stares at me like I'm a human freak show. I wish I knew what they were staring at so I could at least try and do something about it." I sighed, dropping my head on my arm that was resting on the table.
Bella laughed at my dramatics. "It's nice to know you're not conceited."
"About what?"
"Your looks," she said simply. Before I could question her further, the others joined us. However, with a comment like that, I found myself wondering what she thought of me.
BPOV
I heard the others long before I ever saw them. I assumed the booming laugh that I heard was Emmett and sure enough, a couple seconds later they all came around the corner clutching their sides. Their laughter increased in volume as the caught sight of us and made their way across the restaurant drawing stares from all around. They half slid half collapsed into the booth pushing Edward and me to the left edge which suited me just fine. 1) I was left handed and 2) if I was on the edge, I could make a run for it much easier. Once they had all calmed down enough I started the questioning.
"What the heck was so funny? I think the windows were rattling in their frames."
"Yes, do tell," Edward commanded from my right.
They all took one look at Edwards curious face and busted a gut all over again. We glanced at each other and I leaned in. "I think we missed something."
"I think you might be right," was his reply. Our questioning was put on hold as our server showed up at that moment.
"My name is Lauren and I will be your serve this evening. Can I get ya'll started with something to drink?" No one missed the way she only spoke to Edward, eyes wide in awe. This brought me snickers from across the table.
"What'll it be," Edward leaned over and asked. "Wait, wait let me guess." He closed his eyes and pretended to concentrate. "I am gonna have to go with… a Shirley Temple."
He was right! My face must have registered my surprise, because he chuckled. "Am I right?"
"As a matter of fact you are," I said with an indignant sniff. "How did you know?"
"I'm clairvoyant." He said tapping his temple.
"It's nice to meet you Claire. That is such a cute name!" I said cheerily, grinning.
The rest of the table busted up again.
"Ha ha, real funny Bella." He said, poking my side causing me to jump and squeak slightly. "Oh, so she's ticklish is she." He stated attacking my sides with his fingers. I tried unsuccessfully, to wriggle away without jumping out of the booth.
"Stop Edward, we are in a restaurant!" I managed to get out between laughs. He relented, and I managed to catch my breath. "There will be payback, make no mistake," I said wagging my finger in front of his face. Our drinks came then and I was saved from the strange expressions on the others faces.
"Have we decided what we want yet?" Lauren asked after handing out the drinks. I noticed she was no longer staring at Edward, she was looking at me. Actually glaring might be a better description.
"Um, ill have the, uh, BBQ burger please," I stuttered, confused by her attitude towards me. Edward rescued me again.
"I will have the BBQ wrap, but with not ranch thanks." The rest of the table proceeded to give their orders. Both Al and Rose got caesar salads, Jasper got a cheese burger, and Emmett got 2 pot roast burgers.
"Hey," Jasper called to me across the table. "Don't let her get to you. She's just jealous." At this, the others started grinning.
"Ok, honestly guys what have you been laughing about all night?"
"Go on Emmett, explain." Rose said through giggles.
"Me?! Why me?!" he exclaimed.
"Because we just met him," she gestured around the table at the rest of us. "And he is your brother."
"Fine," he grumbled. "On our way in here, the hostess was talking to the other waitresses." He hesitated.
"And?" Edward and I prompted at the same time, then looked at each other and started laughing.
"Continue."
He looked over at Rosalie. "I can't believe you are making me tell them…. Ok so the hostess was telling the waitresses about this guy she just seated and how he had these dreamy blue eyes and beautiful angel face with gorgeous red brown hair yada yada," during this his voice went up an octave as if imitating a teenager at a pop concert. "Anyways we stuck around for a few minutes to see who they were talking about and she pointed right at you. The other girls looked and started fanning themselves and stumbling all over the hallway." By this time our meal had come but we were all laughing to hard to eat. Except Edward. He was sitting there his mouth open in a very unattractive way his face bright red. I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt and I was gasping for breath. We finally calmed down enough to start eating, but Edwards face was no longer bright red and completely shocked. He was slightly pale, his lips pressed into a hard line.
"Lighten up bro, I would be asking for numbers if I didn't have such a wonderful girlfriend already."
"Nice save," Rosalie said, lightly punching him in the arm.
We finished up the meal soon after. But Edward didn't say anything the entire rest of the meal. We rode back to the studio so Rose and Jazz could pick up their cars.
"Well, it was nice to meet you," I said as we pulled up and parked outside the studio. "Thanks for the dance."
"It was my pleasure. Are you going to be at the class again on Tuesday?"
"Alice usually finds some way to get me there."
"I'll see you then," he grinned a crooked smile that left me momentarily speechless. He got out of the car and turned around, one hand on the top of the door, one on the roof, and leaned down to see me. "Have a good night," he said with a wink, and closed the door.
"You too," I called back after a moment still stunned.
I drove home in a bit of a haze, put my pajamas on, and climbed into bed, wondering all the while about Mr. Edward Cullen.
"At least I have something to look forward to on Tuesday," I thought to myself as I rolled over, clutched to Baldy (my teddy bear. Yes I sleep with a stuffed animal) and fell asleep.
EPOV
"What were you thinking? You've never acted that way before! You barely know her!" I scolded myself the entire way home which didn't take very long because I was driving faster than usual. All I wanted was to get home and sleep it off. I pulled into the driveway and saw Emmett's jeep. Great. I would just bet that he was sitting there waiting to ambush me. I knew that if he didn't see me downstairs he would just barge in my room and interrupt my dreamless sleep so I shut the front door and walked into the living room. Sure enough, he was sitting on the couch playing Halo. He minute he heard the door shut, he paused his game and turned to look at me, a huge goofy grin on his face.
"Have fun tonight, little bro?"
"It was alright I guess," I had had enough time in between the restaurant and now to cool down after he made his little "announcement" about the waitresses. "I am gonna head up to bed. Are mom and dad home yet?"
"No, moms pulling a double and dad got called in for an emergency bypass. He left about 20 minutes ago."
"Alright, ill see you in the morning then. Night." I said on a yawn heading up the stairs. As I got ready for bed I tried to think of things to distract me from thinking of Bella, but it didn't work. My mind kept going back to her. How easy it was to talk to her without having to worry about her falling on her face because she was staring at me. "Bella seems to be able to fall on her face no matter how she tries to prevent it," I thought. On our way into the restaurant, she stumbled slightly on the pavement but it didn't seem to faze her. I chuckled at the memory. That Bella Swan was something else entirely, and for some reason I could wait to learn more.