Disclaimer: Me? Not Stephenie. Don't own. Just like to play with.
And here's Chapter 3 for you.
4th September 2009
Bella
The alarm clock blaring out across my bedroom was the last thing I wanted to hear at the moment. It meant I had to get out of the lovely, cosy cocoon, I called my bed.
I reached out and grabbed the fluffy thing that Alice had bought me and threw it across the wall. At least she had enough sense to buy me one that didn't break upon impact and turned off when thrown.
I grumbled, knowing that Renee would be up any moment and banging on my door for me to get out of bed. If you hadn't noticed, I wasn't a morning person.
Just as I'd predicted, Renee knocked on my door, a little less than quietly and yelled for me to get up or I'd miss breakfast. Something I hated to do because it meant that I had to wait until lunch before I could eat.
I slowly pushed back my covers and crawled out of bed, slightly relieved that it wasn't raining for once and that there was a chance of a little sun today.
I quickly jumped into the shower, washing my hair and shaving all necessary parts, because instead of English second period, I would be holding cheer practise, and being hairy at all in those little shorts was not something someone wanted to be.
I climbed out of the shower, wrapping myself in my towel and doing the same with my hair. I would dry it when I had sorted out the rest of my outfit for the day.
I walked over to my walk-in closet, flicking on the light that allowed me to see everything I had bought over the summer and that would be making its debut in the following weeks. Glancing out the window again, I decided that I would brave the possible cold and grabbed my ripped denim skirt and a dark blue button up shirt. I also picked up my dark blue pair of ballet flats from the shoe rack on the wall, deciding that they would go nicely with what I was wearing. It might only be the second day of school, but hey, no point in waiting to show off what you've got, right? Walking out into my bedroom, I placed my outfit on my bed, I made my way over to my dresser and pulled out my chosen underwear for the day.
I pulled on my lacy blue boy shorts and matching bra, giving myself the once over in the mirror. I had put on a couple of pounds over the summer, but a couple of practises and meets and I would be back down to what I was before summer started. I pulled on my skirt and found a white cami to wear under the shirt, because I wasn't a prude and didn't want to wear my shirt buttoned up all the way. But I wasn't a slut either and didn't want to give everyone a free show. So a cami was perfect. I pulled on my shirt, doing it up so that the cami was on show, but just enough to give the impression that something worth working for was underneath – which of course, it most definitely was worth it. I wouldn't be head cheerleader otherwise would I? – without coming off strong. Unlike some other girls I know.
I quickly did my make-up – a little foundation and blush, some light blue eye shadow (I was in the mood for blue today, got a problem with that?) and mascara. I swiped on some watermelon lip gloss and quickly did my hair, blasting it with the hairdryer and easing some Slick'N'Straight into it, making sure it didn't frizz at all before grabbing my jacket and bag and making my way downstairs to where our cook, Renata, was making breakfast.
My dad, Charlie was sitting at the kitchen table, reading his paper and drinking a cup of hot coffee. My mom, Renee was nowhere to be seen and I knew that she would be in the workout room, doing her yoga or pilates or something like that.
"Not in work, today, Dad?" I asked, sitting down across from him as Renata placed a small bowlful of non fat yogurt and berries in front of me and a fried breakfast in front of Charlie.
"Nope." He shook his head, smiling as he put his paper down and started his breakfast. "Day off today."
Charlie was the Chief of Police in this crummy little town, but he had a good mind for stocks and shares, so we were well off. Well, I say well off. What I mean is that when they'd been around, the only ones with more money than us were the Cullens' but that was because Carlisle Cullen was the Head of Surgery at Forks' Hospital and made a whole load of money doing it. Now that they were gone, we were the top of the heap when it came to liquidity, which meant that I got everything I wanted. Thanks to Daddy dearest.
I finished my breakfast, waved goodbye to Charlie and shouted goodbye to Renee, receiving a muffled 'have a good day' in response. Why she bothered to do that in the morning I didn't know. It wasn't like she had anyone else to impress and she had the body of a twenty year old anyway. Let me tell you, when I get to her age, I want to look that good. No matter what it costs me.
I climbed into my baby. My beautiful red Toyota Tundra and started the engine, listening to the hum as it started. I pulled out of my driveway, plugging in my iPod and hearing the Veronicas 'Popular' come on. I smiled to myself, knowing how true this song was, of me at least.
I'd gotten to the school, before the song even finished and I noticed Alice standing next to her yellow Porsche, snuggling into her boyfriend of forever Jasper. She waved as she noticed me coming around the corner and parking in my usual spot. This had been my spot since I got this baby, and I wasn't going to give it up for anyone.
"Hey." She squealed as I climbed out of the car and turned to face her, closing the door. "Guess what?" She stood there bouncing up and down in front of me, and if I didn't know Alice like I did, I would have thought that she'd drunk five or six cups of coffee already.
"What?" I asked, smiling at Jasper who was shaking his head at his girlfriend's hyperactivity. She was normally bouncy, but this was extreme even for her.
"We have a new student." She grinned at me and I stopped.
"What?" I turned to face her immediately. Normally I knew all the shit that was going on in this lousy town. If Gossip Girl was real, she would be me. How the hell did I not know that crucial piece of information? "Did you just say we have a new student?" She nodded, grinning at me. In my peripheral vision, I noticed Jacob, Rose and Emmett walking towards us, but I didn't really register them. All my concentration was on the hyperactive little imp in front of me. "Who? Where are they from? Name? Grade? Come on, details."
"I don't know what his name is, or where he's from, but I do know that he's in our year and he moved into town two days ago with his parents." She was literally bouncing as she talked and I started walking.
"How do you know that, and not know his name?" I asked, confused and she shrugged. Hell, if Alice didn't know, then no one was going to know.
"Reckon we can kidnap him before the losers in this place do?" Emmett walked up beside me, wrapping an arm around Rosalie as we walked.
"Better had." I mumbled, wondering who this guy was and where he'd come from. This was the first thing in the dumbass town that had managed to escape me. How the hell had they gotten through the town without everyone knowing about it? Normally you couldn't sneeze without the whole town knowing. So how they managed to sneak in was an incredible feat. "Don't want the nerd herd getting their paws on him."
"Damn straight." Rosalie agreed and we all laughed, speculating what he would be like.
Was he preppy? A jock? Could he handle himself on the sports field? If he could then he could have potential here. Was he a skater? If he was then we could straighten that out? Was he a nerd that would require all the power Alice, Rosalie and I had at our fingertips to make him presentable? The only nerd that I knew of who had been beyond saving had been Edward Cullen. King of the Geeks. Back to the Cullens' again. Why was I thinking about them today? I shrugged it off, not really paying it any mind.
We all split off to our homeroom classes, Rose, Alice and I heading one way and the boys headed another.
"Do you reckon Jacob will ever get the memo that the two of you are over?" Rose asked, frustration in her voice. I know what she meant. I had broken up with Jacob in April and we were now in September. I mean, come on. It's been, what, five months since we were together and he's been hounding me like a lost puppy dog, begging me to go out with him again. I'd just had enough of him and wanted a change. Nothing he said or did was going to make me change my mind.
"I don't think so." I sighed as we sat down, not paying any attention to the rest of the class or the teacher for that matter.
"Well, maybe Mr. New Kid will be able to chase him away." Alice giggled and I rolled my eyes at her.
"Come on, Ali. We don't even know what he looks like yet." That only made her laugh harder and I couldn't help but smile. "Okay, maybe. If he's decent looking enough, then I'll think about it, but if not, then I'm going to have to send him on his way."
"Fair enough." Alice replied and Rose nodded adding in, "Sounds reasonable."
I had English first and I hated it. Alice was with me for this class, but Rose was somewhere else altogether. She was in mechanics. If I didn't know better then I would say that she was in that class purely because Emmett was, but I did know Rose and I knew that she probably knew her way around a car's engine better than any man I know. Surpassing even Jacob, which was a tough feat.
"We have cheer practise second?" Alice asked and I nodded, sending a mass text to the squad making sure that they knew what was going on.
I didn't pay any attention to the class, instead I passed notes to Alice for the whole hour, both of us speculating about the new guy and how the family had gotten into town without anyone knowing about it until this morning. Alice didn't know either and that was something that confused me. Normally she knew everything.
As soon as the bell went signalling the end of class, Alice and I made our way down to the locker room and changed for practise, pulling on our black Spartans vests and shorts, which had Spartans written across them and a tiny Spartans head on the hip of the shorts.
I looked up as someone threw open the door, obviously pissed off and was surprised when I saw that it was Tanya storming towards us. Was she not happy about the practise instead of having to go to Chemistry?
"What's up, Tan?" I asked, cocking my head to one side.
"That goddamn new kid." She huffed as she changed.
I pulled my hair up into a ponytail to keep it out of the way, sitting down next to her. "What about him?"
"He called me the village bike." She looked at Alice and I and we tried not to snicker because, well, it was true. "I know what you guys are thinking, but he just shot me down. Literally, gun and bang." She made the motions of the gun and I was surprised. Not by the fact that she knew how a gun worked, but because normally, no guy could resist Tanya. He must have a steel will to have done that. "And you know what the weird thing is?" We shook our heads, not knowing what could be weirder than Tanya being shot down, point blank. "He knew my name."
"Maybe you told him your name." Alice said, looking at her nails in a 'duh' sounding way. "Did you find out his?"
"That's the thing, though." She looked between us again. "I didn't tell him my name. And no one else said it. No, I didn't. I didn't get a chance to ask. He was really rude."
"That is weird." I mused, wondering what was going on with the new kid. How could he know Tanya when he's never met her before. "What's he look like?"
"Oh my God." She breathed as we stood up and made our way out of the locker room into the gym. "He's gorgeous. I didn't see how tall he was, because he was sitting down when I walked in, but I'm guessing about six foot or so. His hair was this weird colour, like a mix of red and brown and his eyes. Bright green." She giggled and Alice grinned at me. This was sounding promising and I knew that if I liked him, and told Tanya to do so, she would back off. "That's not even the best part."
"Alright guys, stretch." I called out over the gym before turning back to Tanya. "What is then?"
"Oh, his tattoos." I felt my eyes widening. Not that I would ever admit it, but I happened to love tattoos on a man. As long as they weren't weedy little ones, that is. Those just made it look like a guy was trying to be tough and macho, but was really too scared to get a decent sized one.
"What are they?" Alice and I asked at the same time, equally excited to hear about them.
"I didn't see them all, but on one arm, there was something like fire coming down his left arm and wrapping around his elbow. And there's one on his right arm, that actually looks as though it started on his neck, wrapping around his right arm and going down to his wrist."
"What is it?" I asked her and she thought for a moment.
"You know that music paper, with the lines on it?" She asked, motioning in the air as the three of us started to stretch out along with the rest of the squad.
"A musical stave, yeah." I clarified and she nodded.
"Well, it's that and it has notes travelling all the way down it as well." She smiled as she thought of it and I couldn't help wondering if Tanya was on something at the moment.
"Sounds hot." Alice noted and I nodded. Hell, if this guy was as hot as Tanya said and had tattoos, then she would be out of the way. Because no one stands in the way of Bella Swan when she wants something.
"Oh and did I mention, the piercings?"
"No!" Alice and I turned to look at her, both of us in the middle of doing the splits.
"Well, he's got two on the right side of his mouth, just there." She pointed to the right corner of her bottom lip. "One in his right eyebrow, a bar thing going across the top of his left ear and one in there of his right." She pointed to the tragus of her right ear. Hmmm . . . sounds hotter by the moment.
"Well, we can go over the complete inventory of what piercings Mr. New Kid has after practise." I clapped my hands indicating for everyone to get up. "Let's go, guys."
*~*~*
Practise went as well as could be expected and we'd made a lot of progress by the time lunch came around. We only had one tumble today and that was when Garrett was a beat off and missed Lauren's foot on the two-to-one pyramid. Other than that it went well.
Alice, Rosalie and I filed into lunch, seeing that Lauren, Tanya, Jessica, Mike, Tyler and Jasper were already seated and chatting about, what seemed to be the highlight of conversation today: the new kid.
"Where are Emmett and Jacob?" Rosalie asked, sitting down next to Alice who had parked herself next to Jasper, as to be expected.
"They're off grabbing the new kid." Mike explained. "You know, before he makes the devastating choice of, where do I sit in the cafeteria." Everyone laughed at that, because everyone knew it was essential to sit in the right place in the cafeteria. Where you sat depended on what crowd you were in. And we definitely didn't want the new kid to be sucked into one of the nerd crowds, such as the one Eric Yorkie headed. I frowned thinking about Yorkie. He was fun to mess with, but not as much fun as Edward Cullen had been. Now he was just hilarious to get to. Some of his reactions had been priceless.
I looked up as the doors opened to reveal Emmett and Jacob walking in. Emmett had his arm around the new kid and I couldn't see his face clearly, but I saw what Tanya meant about his hair. It was an odd colour. I wonder if he dyed it that colour to stand out.
They sat down at the table a few minutes later after what I assumed was Emmett lecturing him on the safety that wasn't the cafeteria food.
"And this is our table." I heard Emmett's booming voice and Jacob sat down next to me, flinging his arm across the back of my chair. I stiffened, wanting to tell him to move his arm, but I didn't want to start a scene in the middle of the cafeteria. I was the one who knew everyone else's business. I didn't want everyone else knowing my business. That was the way it worked. "Ed, this is Rose, Jazz, Alice, Mike, Ty, Lauren, Jess, you've met Tanya and this is Bella. Everyone, this Ed. He's the new kid." Jeez Emmett, like we'd never know that if you didn't tell us.
I looked up at this 'Ed' and saw that Tanya had not adequately described him. He wasn't just gorgeous as she'd put it, he was beautiful. I know that's not really something that a guy wants to hear, but hey, if it's true, then it's true.
Lunch passed without incident, just as I knew that it would, the only new excitement being that the new kid, Ed, had a brand new Audi R8, that the guys seemed to go nuts over. Oh, and Rosalie of course. I could tell that she wanted to see under the hood of that thing. Not that it really mattered to me. I didn't understand anything about cars. That was one thing that I didn't really like about Jake. He was always talking about cars or football. And yeah, I get that I'm a cheerleader, but that does not mean I want to be talking about sports all the damn time. It seemed that Ed wasn't really paying attention when the other guys were talking about football either. He seemed to have a distant thoughtful look on his face, and I wondered if he missed wherever it was he had come from.
Before I had the chance to ask him though, the bell signalling the end of lunch rang and he was gone. He was gone so quickly, it was like he hadn't only been here for half a day. Like he had been here before.
Weird.
I said goodbye and made my way to Biology. I hated this class already and it was only the second day of school. Mr. Banner creeped me out. How the hell was I going to last all year with this class.
I looked up to the front of the class and saw something that might help get me through the year. Ed was standing at the front of the class and Mr. Banner was pointing towards my desk. The only empty desk left because I had literally death-glared at any of the freaks that tried to sit near me. There wasn't one of my friends in this class. Well, now there was. This was a perfect chance to make my move.
"Hmm. . ." I smiled at him as he approached the table. "My lucky day."
"What?" His entire body language seemed to change as the words left my mouth, as if they meant something to him. Something I was missing.
"Well," I shrugged, smirking at him. "Not everyone gets the new kid as their biology partner, do they?"
He shrugged at my response and I knew that he wasn't going to be easy to crack. I could handle a hard nut though – pun most definitely intended. "Also the new kid has already done AP Biology in his old school." Well, gorgeous and has brains. Who would've thought?
"Where did you live before you moved here?" I asked, hoping to find out some things that no one else had about this mysterious new boy that had moved to our town, causing a stir. Alright, I was being nosy. Got a problem?
"Chicago." He replied and I waited for him to elaborate, but I didn't get one, so I knew I was going to have to press a little harder.
"You miss it there." Of course he does you nimrod! He's just been moved thousands of miles away from his home. You'd miss it too if that happened to you.
"Yeah." Was his only answer.
What the hell? He obviously knew who I was around the school, because even after a day, people knew about me. I was the head cheerleader. I was in charge of the social order at Forks High. I didn't like you, then you were at the bottom. Like that loser Edward Cullen. Freak.
This guy was definitely Swan-worthy and I would have to tell Tanya to back off. That he was mine. She wouldn't be able to argue with me, because she wanted to keep her spot in our group. Seeing as I was the one who dictated who was in and who was out, she wouldn't argue with me. And this guy was definitely in. We'd have to spruce up his fashion sense a little, but that would be no problem for Alice. Of course we would let him leave the piercings in, because they were just hot.
I had to get this guy interested in me, because Bella Swan does not do desperate. "What do you miss most about Chicago?" I asked and he started at my question. I had leaned closer to him as not to draw attention to our conversation. Banner was boring the hell out of everyone yapping on about cells so everyone was practically asleep anyway.
"My friends." He replied shortly his tone a little different to what it had been before. Well, soon he's going to have new friends and he'll forget all about those losers in Chicago.
"I guess that's what I'd miss if I had to move away." But would I really? I don't know. It's not like any of the people I actually hang around with know the real me, do they? They don't know why I do the things that I do. They don't know why I behave the way that I do. Hell, when they were talking about that loser Edward Cullen at lunch, they didn't know why I used to treat him the way I did. But that's not something I was going to think about now. He was long gone. And Ed was here. I needed to focus on him, because I was going to get that piece of man meat.
I spent the rest of the class silently appraising him through the corner of my eye. He was tall as Tanya had said, probably about six foot two. Not overly muscled, more like a basketball player than a football player. Not as high up on the school ladder but still extremely desirable. Maybe I could get him to try out for the team. Gently persuade him as it were.
I had never found piercings too attractive before, but maybe that was because it had been on Jake. He had seen something about getting pierced and inked and had gotten his lip done, right in the centre. It didn't look good. I told him to take it out and never wear it again. He did without any arguments. He never really divulged why he got it done, but I couldn't really care less.
But on this Ed, piercings looked incredible. With the two in the bottom right hand corner of his mouth, and his eyebrow and the bar thing going through the top of his ear, I couldn't help wondering if there were any more we didn't know about.
As I looked him over, I noticed that there was a small scar on the side of his head just above his eyebrow. I could have sworn I knew that scar. Something was telling me that I did know that scar, but I had just packed it away with all the other crap I wanted to forget and well, forgotten about it.
Thinking about that damned scar got me through last period and had me even more confused than before.
"Wait, what is she doing?" Rose asked quietly and pointed to where Tanya was leaning against the Audi that Ed had said was his.
"Isn't that the new kid, um, Ed's car?" Alice asked, although she knew full well that it was.
"Yeah." I nodded, and we stopped to watch what would transpire between Tanya and Ed. I reminded myself to tell her to pack it in. Because I wanted him.
"She's gonna be in trouble." Rose smirked as she watched him approached his car, his movements lithe and panther-like. There was a fluidity to his movements that I hadn't seen before, what with his jacket flung over his shoulder and his black messenger back moving with his legs and whacking against his firm ass with each step. Hmmmm . . . . Anyway, focus.
"Why do you say that, Rose?" Alice asked her, breaking me out of my ogle Ed moment.
"Because all Audi drivers are the same." She explained, sounding professional in an instant. I loved that about Rose. She could see like the bitchy airhead of the group – which in actual fact, Tanya was the airhead, closely followed by Lauren and Jessica – but that was just a ploy to make people insecure in their opinions of her. She was really quite intelligent. Especially when it came to cars. "They like to drive fast and they hate anyone sitting on, leaning on or doing whatever with their car. Some of them can be pretty anal about their cars. I've noticed it."
"Wow." We watched as he opened the door as Tanya spoke to him and got part of the way in. He said something pretty sharpish to her and she stood up. I could see what Rose meant about some being anal about their cars. And I could also see what she meant about driving fast. As soon as he closed the door he was out of the parking lot and around the corner faster than I had seen anyone drive.
"That's an R8 for you." Rose sighed as Tanya walked over to us, seeming slightly downtrodden but still scheming. "Get blown off again?" Rose asked in the most unsympathetic voice I'd ever heard.
"Don't worry. I'll get him soon enough." She smirked, seeming sure of himself.
"Actually no, you won't." I told her and she straightened up, her mouth dropping open.
"What?" She gasped in disbelief. "Why not? Are you saying that he could say no to me for too long?"
"No." I shook my head, smiling at how dumb this girl was. But she was amusing to keep around. "What I'm saying is, you won't be going after him anymore."
"And why is that?" Ooh, getting brave, are we?
"Because he's mine." I smirked at her and her face fell, knowing that if I wanted him then she would have to give up or else risk being at the bottom of the social food chain. She'd seen what I'd do to people at the bottom, and that wasn't somewhere she wanted to be.
She didn't say anything, but just huffed and stormed off, getting in her car and driving away. I could tell that she was put out and wanted Ed for herself. But I didn't care. I wanted him. And I was going to have him.
"So, got the hots for the new boy, huh?" Alice grinned at me and Rosalie smirked knowingly.
"He has potential." I told the two of them and they nodded, approvingly. "He's a little rough around the edges, but we'll get those smoothed out in no time."
"Definitely." Alice nodded. "Anyway, my mom wants to go shopping. Something about a formal dinner party she has to attend with my dad in Seattle. So, I'll see you tomorrow."
"My dad wants Jazz and me home. Later."
The three of us split off into our different cars, all heading in the same direction to begin with, but branching off into different roads the further away we got. Rose and Alice didn't understand why I had a truck instead of a little car like they had. My answer was that a little zippy car wasn't me and that I wanted something big and hulking. Just because. It wasn't that I didn't like Alice and Rosalie's cars because they were nice, but the truck was more me.
I pulled into the driveway, cursing my parents because their cars took up all the space in the garage. Why they couldn't have added to the garage, rather than expanding the driveway I didn't know. It would have made things so much easier. For me at least.
Both of my parents were home, which wasn't surprising, seeing as I learned from Charlie that he had a day off from the station today and my mother was always home at this time anyway. She didn't need to work. As long as my father's eye for stocks and shares kept on the ball, she was a kept woman. He had the sense to put a load of the money into bonds and investments should the stock market crash as it had done. We didn't need to worry. My dad had even told me that we had enough so that I would never have to work and could still maintain the lifestyle I had now. Which wasn't too shabby if I do say so myself.
"Isabella." I heard my mom call me from the sitting room.
"Yes, Mom." I hated it when she called me Isabella, but I'd learned to live with it. She said it was a lot more feminine than just Bella, so that was what she would be calling me from now on.
"We're going over to the Cullens' for dinner tonight." I stopped in my tracks. Did she just say Cullens?
"Wait." I held my hand up, sitting down on the sofa. "The Cullens?"
"Yes." She nodded, smiling widely. "They're back. I ran into Esme in the store today. I do say, being away from this place certainly seems to have done her good."
"So they're back for good?" I asked, wanting complete clarification from her.
"Yes." She nodded again, not seeing where I was going.
"What about Edward?" I asked, trying to seem nonchalant but by mom smirked at me, as though she knew something was going on. I knew that she had the wrong end of the stick and thought that I liked him. Of course, I was just happy because I had my favourite playgeek back in Forks.
"I don't know." She mused, probably thinking over her conversation with Esme. "She didn't mention him. I don't know if he came back with them. She didn't mention when he was back in school or anything, which I guess she would have, wouldn't she? Maybe he's in boarding school somewhere. I do remember her saying before they left that he wasn't happy here. That he felt like he didn't fit in." Because he was a geek and a freak, that's why. "We'll find out tonight, won't we?"
I nodded, standing up and making my way up to my room. I flopped down on my bed and sent Alice a text.
To: Pix
From: Bell
Guess who's back in town.
3
Her reply was immediate.
To: Bell
From: Pix
Who? Who? Who?
Tell me, tell me, tell me.
3
I couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm, but I was confused as to why she didn't know about this. Alice normally knew about everything.
To: Pix
From: Bell
The Cullens.
I wasn't surprised when Shopaholic by Verbz started playing on my phone. I should have known that she would call rather than text back.
"Are you serious?" Was the first thing that came through the receiver.
"Well, Renee says we're going over to theirs for dinner tonight." I told her and she laughed into the phone.
"Finally, someone will get to see the elusive Cullen mansion." I nodded, even though she couldn't see me. My parents had been for meals at the Cullens house before, but I was always doing something else, so I hadn't seen it, and apparently, the drive to the house was so concealed that you could barely find it when you did know where it was in the middle of the day. So finding it when you didn't know where it was was nigh on impossible.
"Oh, yes." I giggled down the phone.
"What about Edward?" I could hear the smirk in her voice and I knew what was going through her mind. On the outside, Alice looks sweet and unassuming, but hell, she could be as evil as me or Rose. And she had the innocent look on her side, so she was the last to be suspected.
"Renee said that Esme didn't bring him up in conversation, which is weird." She hummed in agreement. "Renee thinks that he's still wherever they went at some boarding school or something."
"That sucks." She whined and I knew that she had been looking forward to having our little geek playtoy back as well.
"Tell me about it." I sighed and rolled over onto my front, grabbing a magazine and flipping through it.
"Anyway, enough about the loser." I could practically see her waving the subject away. "What about this new kid, Ed?" Funny how the names were similar, huh? Edward and Ed. Meh, coincidence. I didn't mention this to Alice. She would have thought it was weird and laughed at me. "He something you're interested in?"
"Definitely." I grinned and she giggled.
"I wonder how Jacob's going to take it." She mused and I knew that she was looking for something to wind him up with. She didn't like Jacob and made no secret about it.
"Why should I care?" I continued to flip through the magazine. "I mean, it's not like we're together anymore, is it?"
"He obviously thinks that there's a chance you will be getting back together." She was right and I hated it. Jake didn't seem to get the idea that we were done. Over. Fin. "I mean, come on, the guy went out and bought a black version of your truck, for Christ's sake."
"Trying too hard, is all." I sighed, jumping off my bed. "He'll get the picture soon enough."
"Especially when you have Ed wrapped around your baby finger." She giggled and I couldn't help but giggled along with her.
"Well, hopefully that won't take too long." I walked around my room, twirling a piece of my hair around my finger. "Though he wasn't very talkative, was he?"
"Probably just overwhelmed with being in a new place." She sighed and I heard some rustling on the other end of the line, meaning that she was still out shopping with her mom. That woman was worse than Alice, which is a hard feat. But hey, she had to have got it from someone, right? "Did you find out where he was from?"
"Yeah. He's from Chicago."
"Well, is it any wonder he's freaked?" She asked in a tone that said, 'duh, wake up Bella'. "He's from a big city, where you see people you don't know every day. Now he's been dumped in a tiny town where everyone knows everyone else's business. Got to be weird for him."
"True." I nodded, looking out my window at the dense wood that surrounded my house. "Anyway, soon he'll forget all about Chicago and realise that moving here was the best thing his parents could have done."
"Have a plan, do we?" Alice asked a sneaking lilt to her tone.
"Not as such. I'm going to play it by ear and then gently mould him to what he should be." I told her.
"Sounds like a good plan." She agreed and of course it was. I'd come up with it,
"Isabella!" I heard Renee calling up the stairs. "We're going now, darling."
"I gotta go." I told Alice and she sighed.
"Alright. Tell me how it goes with Geekazon."
"Definitely." I hung up the phone and went downstairs, not being bothered to change at all, seeing as it was only the Cullens' we were going to. Wasn't some excuse to get dressed up now was it? "Let's go."
"Is that what you're wearing?" Renee's nose crinkled slightly at my outfit.
"Yes, Mom." I sighed, rolling my eyes, making Charlie chuckle. "It's not like we're going to the White House for dinner."
She rolled her eyes at my obvious dislike for her evaluation of me. One that was constantly going on. Either I was too thin, or had put on too much weight. My clothes weren't up to date with the latest fashions in London and Paris – when of course, they were. She seemed to have something to complain about when it came to me. Honestly, if she didn't complain there was something wrong with her.
We climbed into Charlie's Mercedes and he pulled out of the driveway. I don't know what I was expecting from the drive but apparently the Cullens' lived in the middle of nowhere with a mile long driveway. At least now, we would have some idea of where it actually was, in case little Eddie Cullen has come back. This was turning out to be a pretty good day.
When Charlie turned off into the Cullen driveway I saw what he meant about not being able to find it if you didn't know where it was. It really was hidden. And . . . long. Maybe what they'd said about it was true. That it really was a mile long driveway.
We pulled up to the house and I couldn't help but feel my jaw drop. If I'd thought my house was big – which it undoubtedly was – this was huge. Maybe we were eating at the White House after all and I just hadn't noticed the length of the drive.
Well, the house was white, for starters. It looked modern and yet strangely Victorian at the same time. It was an odd combination, but it totally worked. One side of the house was made completely of glass for all three storeys; the only thing breaking up the enormous window was the frames running through the wall, meeting with where the different floors in the house were. I worked out that there were three floors to the house and the possibility of a basement. I wasn't sure about that one, so I didn't worry about it too much. I wondered how many bedrooms this place had. Maybe I would be able to find out tonight. I wanted to be able to have a bit of a snoop. Just because that's who I am and what I do.
We walked up to the house and Charlie rang the doorbell. We didn't have to wait long for the door to be opened by a smiling Esme who leaped into Renee's arms as Charlie and I skirted around them, being ushered into the house by a chuckling Carlisle. He and Charlie exchanged pleasantries, shaking hands and smiling at each other as friends who hadn't seen each other for years did.
But I couldn't see the one person that I wanted to. "So, where's Edward?" I asked and Esme turned away from Renee, looking out towards where I guessed the rest of the house was.
"He should be down in a minute." She smiled at me, walking towards the doorway and up the slight step that lead there. "I'll go and get him."
"Bella, how come you didn't mention him before?" Wait, what? Me! I was supposed to have mentioned him. Why didn't I get that memo. "When is he back at school?"
"He started back today." Esme clarified as she made her way towards the stairs. Wait, today?! WTF? "Edward." I heard Esme sigh as she rounded the corner. Seems like geeky has finally made an appearance. Since when did he start back today? I would have definitely noticed that. "Where have you been? Our guests are here."
"I hear that." I heard him reply, his voice not sounding as it had when he'd left, but familiar all the same.
"I thought I said smart-casual." I heard Esme scold hi slightly in the same tone that Renee often reserved for when she didn't approve of my fashion choices. Like she knew what she was talking about. She got all of her advice from me after all.
"Right. The shirt makes it smart and rolled up sleeves is casual. Embodies what you wanted, doesn't it?" That's funny. I don't remember geek boy ever talking like that to . . . well, anyone. Maybe he was different at home. Nah! Couldn't see that.
"Smartass." I heard Esme laugh as she walked back into the foyer. I heard her heels clicking past me.
"I know." Was his innocent reply. I couldn't help but smile at his response. It seems that geek boy has grown some balls. At least with his parents anyway.
"Bella." Renee's elbow nudged my arm lightly and she nodded to something behind me. "Say hello to Edward." Her eyes held something that I wasn't used to with Renee. It looked like surprise. Weird.
At least I had my playtoy back. I turned around, being sure to let him know that just because he'd been away for two years, didn't mean we'd forgotten about him. It only meant that we had two years worth of games to catch up on. And catching up was something I planned to do. Starting tonight.
I froze when I took in who was standing there in the doorway, smirking at me. It was the new kid from school. Ed.
"Hello, Isabella." How did he know my full name? It hadn't been used in front of him today. I had been introduced and addressed as Bella. Not Isabella.
You had to be kidding me. The new kid was Edward fucking Cullen. The guy that my group had become so enamoured with at lunch today. And he hadn't said a word. Not that I could blame him mind you. But still, it would have been nice to reminisce with him, don't you think. But how . . .? How could Edward Cullen have turned into . . . this? I mean, it just wasn't possible. But it had to be. Because he was standing in front of me, right now, a smirk on his face. A face that might I had had skin smooth enough for television. He didn't have his glasses anymore and I noticed that his eyes were a bright green. Didn't know that before. His bottle-top glasses were always in the way.
"Hello Edward." I tried to put as much venom and dislike into my words as possible, but all that seemed to do was amuse him.
He stepped down the step he had been standing on, sauntering his way across the foyer and past me, stopping briefly next to me. I could feel the heat of his body and smell the delicious scent of him. It didn't seem artificial. It smelled just like . . . well, him. "You really should find out more about people before inviting them to join your group." He whispered and I stiffened, feeling the heat of his breath on my neck. You've got to be kidding me. I couldn't be feeling this way. About a geek. Though, I don't think he could really be classed as a geek anymore, could he? I mean, he doesn't look like a geek at all. He's most definitely not geek criteria when it comes to appearance. But what about personality? In my experience geeks and nerds, don't have them. Or they're so boring and bland there's just never any point. Like that Yorkie freak. All he ever talks about is some dungeon game that I'm not even going to go into. Apparently Jake knew someone who could hack into his account and had changed all of his criteria or whatever. That was funny when he sat there fuming the next day because he couldn't get into his account. It still wasn't as fun as tormenting little Eddie though. Which could now resume.
Dinner was . . . well, dinner. Edward didn't say much to anyone, clearly not happy that we had been placed next to each other. I, on the other hand, thought that it would be the best time to start the wind-up Eddie game we all used to play. If he was taught before school tomorrow, then there was a good chance he would snap sooner, which was always fun to see.
"So, Edward." I looked over at him, getting nothing but a hum in response. Git didn't even look at me when I spoke to him. He should really remember who he's sitting next to, shouldn't he? "How come you didn't tell us who you were at lunch today?" I asked, knowing exactly why he didn't. Because he didn't want it to be like it used to be. Sorry, Eddie. Not going to happen. It's going to be a lot worse.
"You never asked." He replied, a smirk on his face as he looked up at me. If he thought that he was going to psych me out, then he was one hundred per cent wrong. Count on that.
"Don't you think that's kind of rude?" I asked, making my tone all innocent as I continued to move my food around my plate, so I didn't have Renee drawing attention to me, as she always did. "I mean, we all thought you were new. And you didn't have the decency to tell us that you weren't. Only that you were a returning student. We wouldn't have brought you up at lunch if we'd known." No, we would have made you bring up your lunch.
"No." He chuckled, placing his fork on his plate and shaking his head slightly. "I could only imagine the welcome I'd get if you'd known I was coming back." Could you really? "Not something I'm interested in. Excuse me." I guess he didn't realise that whether or not he was interested in it, it was something he'd have to deal with.
He stood up and made his way out through a doorway. I heard a door slide open and closed and decided to follow him as his mom started to apologise for his behaviour. It was kind of weird. Geek boy was never that up front. Maybe he had grown some balls in Chicago. Not that they'd do him any good here.
"So," I opened the door to find him standing there, his back to me, leaning on the railing that surrounded three quarters of the house, along with the decking on the outside of the house. I also noticed the stream of white smoke that was clouding around his head every so often. "You think that just because you've got some tattoos, piercings and smoke, you're not the same little geek you were when you left?" He didn't acknowledge my presence behind him, which was just rude, if you ask me.
"Shut the fucking door." He mumbled after a minute before another cloud of smoke slipped from his lips. "It was shut or a reason."
"Right." I slid the door closed and step towards him. He obviously didn't want his parents to hear that he was being chewed out by a girl. The daughter of his mother's best friend at that. Who knows what he'd get if they knew that. Maybe they'd even think that he liked me and that's why he put up with me. I was sure he hated me. And I wanted him to. "Don't want Mommy and Daddy to hear?"
"No." I scoffed in response. "With the door open the smoke goes into the fucking house. Or was that too obvious for you to realise?" What the hell? Was he saying that I was stupid? He must have thought that I was thick or something. And since when did he speak like that to . . . anyone. "What?" He slowly, lazily turned to face me, taking another drag of his cigarette and I couldn't deny it was one of the sexiest things I'd ever seen. What the hell? Did I just say that the former school geek was . . . sexy? "Not expecting me to talk back? Expecting that same little geek that left two years ago?" Would he blow up if I said yes? "Newsflash Bella: He's gone. You were right?" About what? "That Edward was a pathetic loser but then again, it's good to know that he's not here anymore, isn't it?"
I didn't want to let him on to how glad I was that geeky Edward wasn't here anymore, and that this new Edward was in his place. "Right." I tried to play off what he'd said, not really sure how it was coming off. "No one ever really changes, Eddie." I knew that he hated that name, which was why we used it. "You're still that same geek. You always will be. No matter how much you don't want to be, you'll always be a geek."
"Whatever you say, Bella." Wait, what? That had not been the answer I was expecting. He was admitting that he was still a geek? Well, it looked like this was going to be a lot simple – and a lot less fun – than I thought it would. "But you know what that means, don't you?" He had started walking towards me, smoke escaping from in between his lips with every word he spoke, and I couldn't deny that it was making my knees feel like goo as he placed a hand either side of me, leaning in to whisper something in my ear. "That means you'll always be a two-faced bitch, with no real friends. Have fun with that." What the fuck did he think he was talking about?! The bastard. How dare he question my friendships when he didn't have any here himself. He smirked at my silent response to his words, but didn't allow me to say anything back to him. "The Edward you used to know might have rolled over and taken everything your little horde threw at him, but me. No, no. no." He shook my head in a mocking way. "I am nothing like the Edward you used to know. I fight back. And believe me, it doesn't matter that you're a girl. Fuck with me and I will give as good as I get. So here's a little tip: Do. Not. Fuck. With. Me. Little girl."
He pushed away from me and sauntered back into the house, a smirk on his face.
I didn't follow him in, pulling out my cell and pressing speed dial two. Alice picked up after the first ring.
"Bella!" She squealed at me, obviously hyper off of something. Was she high again? I hoped not after the last time. "How's it going at geek central?"
"That's just it." I said quietly, not wanting mine or Edward's parents to hear me on the phone. "Wait. Who's there?" I asked, hearing some kind of ruckus in the background.
"Oh, just Em, Rose, Jazz and Jake. You know, the usual." I could hear the fact that she was shrugging in her tone and thought that this was a perfect opportunity.
"Put me on speakerphone." I told her. She started to question me, but I told her to do it anyway and she did, probably completely high and confused. "Am I on speaker?" A round of 'Hi Bella' told me that I was. "You guys have no idea what I've found out."
"What?" Rosalie asked, sounding completely bored. Which knowing her, she was.
"Well, you know that the Cullens' are back in town?"
"What?!"
"No!"
"Oops."
The last one was from Alice who knew that she was supposed to tell the others about something like this. When we found out something huge like this, we always told Alice so that she would tell the others. She was the worst at keeping secrets, so it made sense.
"Alice, I'll deal with you tomorrow." I told her and I heard her sigh. "Yes, the Cullens are back."
"Since when?" That came from Jasper, who didn't sound as excited as the rest of us, but then again, he'd never really seen why we were cruel to Edward. Ever the pacifist was Jazz.
"I don't know." I shrugged as I started pacing on the decking outside the Cullens' house. "My mom ran into Esme today when she was out shopping."
"So the geekazon is back." I heard Emmett sing with glee. He had always enjoyed humiliating Edward. More so than I did, actually. I always wondered about that.
"Actually, no." I said slowly and they all went quiet on the other end.
"You don't mean that your mom's guess was right and he's in boarding school?" Alice questioned sounding disbelieving, which wasn't surprising because Renee's guesswork could do with a lot of improvement. And I mean a lot.
"No."
"Then what?" That voice was Jacob. He was sounding as confused as everyone else and I knew that this news would get them all going.
"Well, you remember that new kid that sat with us today?" I hoped they would get it through those words.
"O. M. F. G!" Rosalie and Alice had got it and I heard a couple of 'no ways' as the words sunk into the guys minds. "Are you serious?"
"Well, he was the one I had to sit next to at dinner. With Mommy Esme and Daddy Carlisle. It's him. He's back and I hate to say it, but I don't think he's a geek anymore."
"Maybe not." Emmett's voice laughed, booming into my ear. "But he's still going to be fun to play with."
"I don't know guys." I bit my lip. Something I hadn't done in years. "I don't think he's the same as he was. Sure he was fun to mess with then, but something tells me this new Edward isn't going to be much fun." I thought back to the words he'd spoken to me before he'd sauntered back into the house. Would he really get me back if I did anything to him? He'd said that it didn't matter that I was a girl. Did it really not. Would I push him that far. My decision was easy to make.
Yes.
Yes, I would.
Purely because a chance to piss of the ever geeky Edward Cullen was not something I could give up. I could not and would not pass it up.
"Look, Renee's calling my inside, I've got to go." I told them as Renee saw me from where she was in the house and waved at me to get off the phone and go in. I hung up and walked back into the house.
"I swear, you need surgically removing from that phone." Renee grumbled and Esme laughed as she came down the stairs.
"Don't worry." She ran an arm down Renee's in a friendly way as she passed her. "Edward's the same. I've just had to practically wrestle him off of his."
"Well, it's different for him, isn't it?" Renee looked at Esme who looked up at her, expecting an elaboration, I'm sure. "I mean, all his friends are in Chicago. He must miss them."
"He does." She nodded, looking down at the plates in her hands. "He really came into his own there. Of course, I could have done without the piercings and tattoos, but they're just him finding out who he is. And I will say, that the one on his back is incredible."
"Really?" Renee's eyes went wide which surprised me. She hated tattoos with a passion. She kept telling me that if I ever got one, I would be out of the house faster than I could say 'no allowance' – which I hadn't gotten in about three years because I had my own credit card to do whatever I wanted with anyway. "What is it?"
"Oh, wait." Esme held up a finger and walked out of the room, coming back in a moment later with a laptop in her hands. She placed it down gently on the table and started it up. "Carlisle took some photographs of it, because he actually loves all types of art and everything like that, though he wasn't too impressed about it being on his son, but we can't change that now, can we?"
She plugged in the password and clicked around for a second. I actually found myself wanting to see what Edward had on his back. It had to be pretty extravagant to get Esme's seal of approval.
"Here we are." She pressed one more button before turning the laptop around to face us and I couldn't help the small gasp that escaped my mouth.
It was Edward's back, but it wasn't what all the guys had told me about him being thin and weedy from gym two years ago. It was muscled, defined in all the right areas just as his outfit today had shown. His shoulders were broad and the biceps of his arms that hung by his side were well defined, showing obvious strength. Even though it was just his back, he was gorgeous and I knew that I would definitely be getting it if anyone found out I was thinking that.
But the art that adorned his back was incredible. Just as the canvas was. The tiger and the dragon seemed to be moving around his muscles, making their way up and down his back in the easiest way possible. The night sky that created the canvas for the yin yang, tiger and dragon was incredible, the detail going into the clouds and stars that littered his shoulders and the small of his back, where it obviously dipped under the waistline of the jeans he was wearing in the photograph. Is it really bad that I wanted to see the actual art for myself, and dare I say . . . lick it? That's just gross. Right?
"Incredible, isn't it?" Esme breathed breaking me out of my licking Edward's back fantasy that didn't actually seem so gross anymore.
"What's incredible?" I heard a voice from the doorway and looked up to see him standing there, leaning against the doorframe.
"The tattoo on your back." Esme clarified, standing up and smiling at him.
"Why are you looking at that?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Well we were talking and the subject got onto your back tattoo and I wanted to show it to Renee and Bella. I thought they should see it, especially since I'm so bad at describing things." She explained and he shrugged.
"Why didn't you just ask me?" His eyes were glittering devilishly as he smirked at me. Did he know what I had been thinking as I'd been looking at the picture? He couldn't have done.
"What do you mean?" Renee asked, completely confused as Edward shook his head and turned around, taking off his shirt to reveal a black wife beater underneath. I could see the shoulders of the tattoo, able to see the whole thing as he removed the wife beater.
It looked even more incredible than it had in the picture. With him standing there the ink clearly visible, it looked as though the tiger and dragon were 3D, as though they were coming off of his skin, ready to attack each other without a moment's warning.
He turned around, pulling the wife beater over his head and I could have sworn I saw something on his chest glinting in the light, but it was so brief that I must have been imagining it.
"Well," Renee cleared her throat, looking pointedly at me as I turned to look at her. "We should be heading off now. Edward, that tattoo is incredible."
"Thanks." He nodded, smirking at me again as he slipped his shirt back on, not doing it up again. He made his way over to me and I didn't move, not knowing what to do. He took hold of my hand gently and brought it up to his lips, gently brushing them against the back of my hand, the warmth of his lips contrasting greatly with the cold steel of the rings in his lip. He looked up at me with a smirk. A smirk that I didn't trust. He was playing with me. Playing the game I had set in motion more than seven years ago. And at the moment, he was winning. And he goddamn knew it as well. "See you at school tomorrow, Bella." The way he said my name made me gulp audibly as though there was something behind it. Some secret that I was supposed to know.
I followed Renee outside, to where Carlisle and Charlie were standing, leaning against the car talking about some guy stuff together. I didn't know what they were on about and I really didn't care.
I climbed into the car and looked back up at the house to find Esme standing on the porch waving to us and Edward in the doorway behind us, that same smirk on his face as he watched my parents get in the car and us reverse down the driveway.
"Well, that was nice, wasn't it?" Renee was always so bubbly and upbeat all the time but it was a surprise to hear Charlie respond with the same amount of enthusiasm as she did. "You know, Esme and I were thinking that we could get together once a week. You know, one week we come to their house, the next week they come to ours. What do you think, Bella?" I hummed in response, not really listening to whatever it was she was prattling on about. I was trying to focus on where this new, bolder Edward had come from.
And what was his weakness?
If he had any.
I know it's pretty much Bella's view on the day, but I felt it needed to be shown what she was thinking throughout the day when it came to the new kid and the dinner at the Cullens. We'll be moving on and back to Edward in the next chapter. If you want one that is.
What do you think?