The great thing about Rose is that she can apply mascara while ranting ferociously and still get it just right.
"NO! NO, NO, NO! THAT DOESN'T COUNT!"
Alice yanked open the bathroom door, still laughing, and said, "Oh yes it fucking does! You never would have said that without the existence of The Dark Side and Luke's iconic struggle against it!"
"She's right. It totally counts," I reiterated. Rose looked like she was going to jab me in the eye with the mascara wand, but I knew she would under no circumstance allow herself to be the cause of a make-up mishap, so I wasn't worried. She let out a screech of frustration while finishing with the top coat.
Months ago, the three of us had gotten into a debate regarding the original Star Wars Trilogy. Rose kept finding me and Alice huddled in the living room watching it and making absurdly dorky jokes and just generally enjoying it "far more than two ladies in their twenties should," according to Rose. We had insisted again and again that she should watch it with us, knowing she had never even given it a chance, and constantly annoyed her by making references to it that she didn't understand.
One evening when Rose was particularly frustrated by us making filthy jokes about Han Solo's space pants, Alice and I made a sort of arrangement with her. I argued that Star Wars is so ingrained in our culture that she has undoubtedly referenced it without even knowing. Alice continued by emphasizing the importance of the movies and how it was ridiculous of Rose to refuse to give them a chance. Rose vehemently protested, saying there was absolutely no way she has ever uttered any manner of "Star Wars-ism" and never would. We bet against her and the stakes were as follows: should she ever make any sort of reference to Star Wars in her speech when the subject wasn't being directly discussed, she would have to watch it with us. She agreed, assuming the day would never come.
I was still laughing triumphantly as Rose rather aggressively applied a deep red lip stain to my mouth. "Ugh, Fine, FINE," she conceded. "But not until I've had at least three very large glasses of wine."
Alice and I squealed while Rose left the bathroom in a huff. Alice, apparently having found the rest of my toiletries, spritzed some glossing serum in my hair, smoothed and fluffed, then looked pointedly at the garments hanging on the door. "I'm going to finish up the rest of dinner. And I'm going to make the salad because I don't want your clumsy ass spilling olive oil all over your new dress. But try to be down in five," she said, leaving me to get dressed - the only aspect of getting ready they seemed to feel I could do myself.
I sighed, pulled off my towel and started with the ridiculous push-up bra. It seemed a bit much to me on top of all the other primping, but then I pulled the dress on.
Oh, Alice, I should know by now never to doubt you.
The push-up bra worked flawlessly with the dress, accentuating just enough that there was a perfect balance between sexy and casual. I did a little pirouette and smiled. After feeling frumpy and gross all day, this really did lift my spirits. I slipped on my kitten-heels and headed for the stairs.
When I was about to descend, I heard Edward and Jake's voices from the living room. I suddenly felt self-conscious about walking down and essentially parading myself in front of the boys. It felt weird and I was sure it would end with me tripping half-way and landing flat on my face at the bottom.
"Wow, where did she find this Two Gallants LP? I've been looking for it for years," I heard Edward saying. I felt myself blushing slightly, trying to ignore the little flutter in my stomach. He was still looking through my collection, which made me feel terribly exposed, but... he knew Two Gallants?
"Really, you like that shit? Bores the hell out of me," Jake retorted. My muscles tensed slightly and I really just wanted to yell down the stairs that he was a philistine with no taste, but I bit my tongue. I mean, just because our musical tastes differed didn't mean I needed to call him names. Aloud, anyway.
I started down the stairs, paying close attention to my feet in an attempt to reign in my clumsiness. The boys stopped talking and I felt my face heat up further, staring even harder at my shoes until I finally reached the bottom.
Jake was staring wide-eyed at me. "Wow, Bells, you look really hot," he said. I rolled my eyes at his lack of eloquence before glancing over at my record collection. Edward had apparently been placing my copy of the The Throes back into the box but seemed to have stopped halfway through. I flicked my eyes up involuntarily and caught his; he immediately averted his gaze, coughed and continued sorting the album. Weird.
It was only a split second, but it felt longer and I started scrambling for something else to say. Then I took in the state of the living room and laughed.
"So, Alice whirl-winded on through here, huh?" I asked.
Jake scoffed. "More like exerted a brief but terrifying totalitarian regime."
Edward chuckled lightly and explained, "Uh, she had us help move around some of the bigger things. Between our muscles and her bravado it got done in a matter of minutes."
"I see. Well, I'm going to go help with dinn..."
"Yes, won't you please?" Rose said with mock sweetness. I turned around and she and Alice were balancing nearly the entire meal in their arms, heading for the huge coffee table in the middle of the room.
"Ha, sorry guys. I'll um, grab the wine, I guess," I offered lamely.
"That's all your good for!" Alice called out.
"And what would do without me?" I yelled back on my way to the kitchen.
Dinner was surprisingly smooth and easy, considering we basically had a stranger in our midst. We mostly just made small talk while the boys scarfed down the meal, offering the occasional grunt. Eventually, though, Rose and Alice started grilling Edward, who looked rather startled but was very compliant.
"So, you're a drummer," Rose disdainfully stated, rather than asking.
Edward gulped down his bite of pasta while nodding, apparently missing Rose's disapproval. "Yeah, I've been playing since I was about ten or so. Been in a few bands but nothing very good or long-term or anything."
"And now you're playing in Jake's band?" Alice chimed in.
"Yeah, I just came to the city to finish up my degree and - "
"Degree in what?" Rose demanded.
"Music Education. But yeah, I've just sort of been couch surfing and looking for a place. I met Jasper at a party and he mentioned their band needing a drummer, so..."
"Jasper's the singer and lead guitarist," I clarified to the girls.
"I still can't believe you two haven't met the guys," Jake said, frowning slightly.
Alice rolled her eyes. "Well, you know Rose's thing about musicians..."
"Hey! I told Bella she could invite them over once we finish dinner. And there are other people around to distract from the smell."
"Rose! Why do you assume all people in bands around here are smelly? Jasper and Emmett shower regularly as far as I know," I laughed.
"If you say so. Anyway, let's clear up. People will probably start coming over soon."
"So you're having a party or something tonight?" Edward inquired.
"Yeah, we wanted to celebrate Bella officially moving in. You down? It'd give you a good feel of what it's like around here, I guess, and we could talk roommate stuff. And I assume the band is coming over..." Alice said, looking at Jake, who was still stuffing his face with what had to be his fifth helping.
"Mmhm, aw caw em un uh min," Jake garbled.
"He'll call them in a minute," I translated. I knew his "mouth overflowing with food" language all too well.
"You're sure you don't mind? I could go grab some beer..." Edward offered.
Jake finally swallowed his food and chimed in. "Good idea. Too much wine makes me all goofy and weird."
"Jesus, even more so than usual? Yeah, you'd better make a PBR run," Rose said, gathering dishes.
Jake just rolled his eyes, clicking away on his phone. "You wanna run to the store, man?"
"Sure," Edward replied while helping clear the table.
"We've got these, thanks. You guys go ahead," I said, reaching for the plates in his hands. My pinky accidentally grazed one of his fingers as I took them and again, I tried to ignore the strange little jolt I felt. As I glanced up, I noticed a slightly bemused expression appear and quickly fade on his face. I frowned at myself inwardly for even making the observation.
"Okay, well... do any of you need anything?" he asked, after coughing slightly.
"We're good!" Alice and Rose chimed from the kitchen. I just smiled awkwardly and turned to follow them.
As soon as the front door closed, the girls burst into their assessments of our potential roommate.
"So polite, and he's going into Music Education? That's really -"
"He's fairly well-groomed for a musician, so that's a plus -"
"I bet he has sexy aspiring-professor-friends -"
"WHOA. Alright, I agree, he's definitely a solid candidate. But maybe we should see if there are other people looking..." I started.
Alice frowned. "We have been looking for other people, for weeks now. He seems like the perfect solution. What, are you worried about all the girl-boners he's going to give you? That he'll be TOO helpful with the dishes?"
"Ugh, Alice. I'm just saying, we're kind of jumping the gun here..."
Rose snorted. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind jumping THAT gun."
"ROSE! And furthermore, if you're all scrambling to toss your panties in his face, I really don't think that would be an ideal roommate situation," I argued.
"Oh, please. He's sexy, but he's not my type, nor is he Alice's. I think your panties are the only ones with potential to be tossed, here," Rose quipped.
"I'm dating Jake, for Christ's sake!" I almost shouted.
"Alright, so then we all agree that this seems like a pretty sound solution, assuming he'll be cool with the lease and agree in the first place?" Alice posited, raising her eyebrows at us. She was always good at choosing the best times to state her case.
"Fine," I huffed. "But let's just take tonight to hang out and get to know him a little better, alright?"
"Agreed," Rose and Alice chimed at the same time.
"Well, we're going to go freshen up. Bella, you don't need any freshening so it's your duty to get music and alcohol set up. People are going to start showing up any minute," Rose said, dashing for the stairs with Alice in tow.
++o++o++o++
I had the living room cleared up, Merlot and ever-handy plastic wine glasses out, and one of my party playlists coming from the surround sound when the boys came back, carrying boxes of PBR.
Jake nodded towards me, saying, "The guys are coming over in fifteen or so," as they headed towards the kitchen to throw their beer in the fridge. I nodded back before flicking back through my playlist, suddenly self-conscious. Then I realized I was being stupid, put my iPod back down and poured myself a glass of wine, desperately hoping it would calm my inexplicable nerves.
"Great song."
I spluttered slightly into my glass, then tried to cover it up with a cough. God, Bella, why the fuck are you so awkward?
"You know The Lyres?" I asked, trying to recover with at least a modicum of social normality.
"Oh yeah, they're great," Edward replied, cracking his beer. "I always wondered though, what exactly he meant by 'She Pays the Rent.' Is she like... his sugar-mama, or does she, you know, PAY the rent... in a different way," he began to trail off, as though suddenly realizing that his sexual interpretation of the lyrics wasn't exactly appropriate.
I could feel a blush rising in my cheeks, so I took a quick gulp of wine before replying. "I, uh, I've actually wondered the same thing. Have you heard the slower version?"
He gave me a relieved smile. "Yeah, yeah. I can never really decide which one I like more."
I beamed. "Same!"
Jacob then walked into the room, providing his contribution to the conversation with a loud belch. "Bleh, PBR."
Edward nodded. "Tastes like piss, but it's economically sound."
"You're welcome to the wine," I offered Edward.
"I think you all should get to know me a little better before you see me wine drunk," Edward said with a slightly crooked grin. Holy shit.
"Why, do you get 'goofy and weird' as well?" Rose interjected, traipsing down the stairs. Apparently "freshening up" meant squeezing into a skintight red bandeau dress and stilettos. I couldn't quite contain my smirk.
Edward glanced at her briefly before turning back around. "Something like that," he said, still grinning a bit.
"Isn't that kind of the point of any alcohol, though?" I asked rhetorically. The boys chuckled and I leaned into Rose.
"Hey Jessi R.," I whispered, holding up the wine bottle to her. She smiled at the nickname - I used it whenever she looked like Jessica Rabbit, which was fairly often, truth be told. She held out her glass, whispering, "Is it too much?"
I cocked my head, giving her the nah, really? face. "When isn't it?"
She pouted slightly.
"Oh, stop that. You look hot as hell," I said, setting down the bottle and clicking my glass to hers. We each took a sip before we heard a knock at the door.
"I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT," Alice cried, flying down the stairs like a whirling dervish and throwing the door open.
"Kate, Irina!" She squealed.
They exchanged greetings while pouring into the foyer. I vaguely remembered Kate and Irina - they were old friends of Alice's family and she had them over on occasion. I had never felt particularly comfortable around them, but they were nice enough. I noticed there was another girl behind them.
"Alice, this is Tanya, our new roommate," Kate explained. Alice smiled and shook her hand, introducing herself and then continuing the introductions around the room. Tanya appraised the boys (with an especially long and unnecessarily seductive once-over of Edward) before turning a cool eye on Rose and me. She quickly recovered from her sneer, swapping it with a saccharin smile, her syrupy voice saying, "Hello" before turning her eye back on Edward.
This gave me an irrational twinge of anger. Rose glanced over at me and very subtly rolled her eyes before taking another sip from her glass. Alice was oblivious from her spot in the room and began handing out cups and pouring wine.
"Slow Hands" by Interpol came on and Rose squealed, grabbing my hand and beginning to spin me.
"Rose! Awkward people in white dresses holding wine should never twirl!" I reprimanded, trying to twist around while maintaining my composure. She laughed at me and started shimmying her body against mine. I rolled my eyes, sipping impassively as she danced, before hearing another knock at the door.
Jake went for it this time, swinging it open to admit a loud chorus of manly greetings. The band.
"Hey guys, come on in! There's beer in the fridge," Jake was saying, ushering them into the room.
"BELLS!" Emmett bellowed, immediately bounding toward me. I was grateful I had the foresight to set down my glass before Emmett threw me into the air, nearly crushing my ribs while lightly ruffling my hair.
"Hey Emmers!" I squeaked out before he set me back down.
"Ooh, look at you, all girly and shit," Emmett teased. I cocked my head, unsuccessfully suppressing a smile as I retorted, "It's been known to happen."
He chuckled before glancing over at Rose, who was wearing an expression I really could not place.
"Em, this is my roommate Rosalie," I said as he quickly thrust his hand forward. "Rose, this is Emmett, the bassist in Jake's band."
"It's great to finally meet you, Rosalie."
Rose laughed lightly, as though she was slightly taken aback, and placed her tiny hand in his massive bear paw. "Nice to meet you," she replied.
"And over there is my other roommate, Alice..." I trailed off as I caught Alice's eye, realizing she'd been looking my way. She thrust a thumb toward Jasper, who was chatting with Jake and Edward, with her mouth agape. Fortunately, Emmett didn't see this, not having noticed her miniscule stature in the corner.
"Al!" I half-yelled, beckoning for her, before I noticed Jasper on his way over to me.
"Hey kiddo," he greeted me in his slight, pleasant Southern twang, throwing his arm around my shoulder and giving me a sideways hug. "How are ya?"
"I'm good. Saved some wine for you," I said. We had a running joke that he was was the "refined" one in the band. "Oh, and this is my roommate, Rose."
"Pleasure to meet you," Jazz said as they grasped hands.
"Wait, why does he get to call her 'Rose'?" Emmett asked.
"Because he's drinking wine, so he has an automatic 'in' with the girls," she joked.
"See how being the 'refined one' pays off?" Jazz said. His laughter trailed off rather quickly, and I noticed Alice had finally made her way over.
It was like the fucking sea parted or something. Jasper and Alice ignored everyone else, staring at each other and holding out their hands, introducing themselves. I glanced over at Rose and Emmett and both of them shrugged.
"Well, I'm gonna go grab a beer," Em said, heading towards the kitchen.
++o++o++o++o
The party was in full swing and the bottle of Merlot I had opened for myself and hidden under the sink was getting rather low. Feeling pretty damn tipsy, I weaved in and out of the rooms, stopping to chat with people now and then. I had been sitting outside catching up with one of my old classmates, Angela, and hadn't realized how long we'd been talking. I peaked into the living room, trying to assess the situation among my friends.
Jasper and Alice were in the same position they'd been all night, leaning towards each other in Alice's weird "chair" things, apparently oblivious to the world around them. I smiled - it actually made a lot of sense, though I'd never considered it before. Jake and Paul were nearby; Jake was laughing drunkenly at some undoubtedly crude joke Paul was telling. Rose was talking to one of our pretentious looking neighbors. I was considering stepping in to save her, but then she giggled and touched his arm. Ugh... I'd check on her in a little and intervene before she made that mistake.
I decided it was a fine opportunity to slip out onto the roof for a bit. I enjoyed these parties, but there were always points where I needed a little break. I grabbed the last of my wine, slipped up to my room and climbed out my window.
Ah, much better. It was breezy and a bit quieter, since people generally kept inside or in the backyard and my bit of roof hung over the front porch. I fumbled around for my cigarettes; it was a disgusting habit, but I hadn't quite 100% quit. Jake was always very condescending about it, so I had a tendency to sneak away and do it in private. And on a warm summer night, alone on the roof - well, fuck it, I thought.
As I exhaled my first drag, I heard the front door open and close, followed by the flick of a lighter. I almost went to peer down and see who it was when the door opened again and I heard Tanya's stupid, simpering voice.
"Oh, Edward! I didn't know you were out here."
Yes you fucking did, I thought, rolling my eyes and taking another drag.
"Oh, hey there," Edward replied.
"Mind if I bum a smoke?"
"No problem."
"Having fun?" Tanya asked coyly. I could practically see the furious batting of her false eyelashes.
"Yeah, I am," Edward replied, sounding somewhat listless.
She scoffed. "I got dragged along by my roommates. It's alright, I guess, but not really my scene. I'm not fond of coming over to this part of town."
I glared in the direction of her voice, willing her to feel my supreme annoyance through the rooftop.
"Ah. Well, actually, this might end up being my part of town... assuming Bella, Rose and Alice will have me."
"Oh, well, I guess it has its charm," she said with an unmistakable iciness. "Anyway, I heard you're here for Music Education. That's pretty cool."
"Yeah. I mean, I used to give guitar and piano lessons to kids in high school and I always really enjoyed it, so..."
"That's so adorable," she she cut him off. I could hear her shuffling, presumably closer to Edward.
He laughed. "I guess? I don't know, I like music and I like working with kids, so I thought it just sort of made sense." He cleared his throat. " Are you going to school here?"
"Yeah. I'm in Fashion and Design. I was just always modeling for my friends in the department my Freshman year, so I figured, why not make it my major?"
I nearly vomited off the roof.
"Oh, well... that sounds interesting. You'd probably get to travel if you really made a career out of it, which would be cool."
"Mm. You would, too, if your band takes off, right? You do have a very 'rock-star'-ish look about you," she murmured. Oh, this was just too much; I couldn't resist any longer and found myself shifting ever so slightly to peer over the edge. I could just make out her hand going for his hair. Brazen, this girl. She took a few strands between her fingers and said, "I think I'm going to head back in. Join me?"
I wished I could see his expression. He sniffed and said, "I'm just going to finish my cigarette..."
I saw her flick her half-smoked stub onto our steps, right past a very obviously placed ash tray. "I'll see you in there, then." I leaned over a bit more and saw her sashaying her ass with a bit too much force before I shifted back, stifling a giggle.
In my fairly drunken state, I briefly considered hollering something out to Edward, making fun of him for the Tanya exchange, but ultimately thought better of it. I heard him go back inside and contented myself with sitting at the edge, sipping what I told myself would be my last glass.
A couple minutes went by when suddenly I heard the door to my room open and close. I thought it must be Jake or one of the girls, so I stood up and peered in.
It was Edward.
He leaned against the door with his eyes closed, pinching the bridge of his nose, before slowly opening them and turning toward the window. I was just staring at him like an idiot. He jolted upon seeing me, then looked embarrassed.
He came up to the window and leaned his head out. "Hey, I'm really sorry. I, uh... could I come out there for a minute?"
"Yeah, sure."
He climbed out much more gracefully than I had, ran his hands through his hair and let out a dry, sardonic sort of laugh. I lit another cigarette before he went to do the same.
"So um, are you okay?"
He cleared his throat. "You know that girl... Tanya?"
I let out a little laugh. "Yeah... well, I mean, I met her when you did, but that's about it." Aside from that whole eavesdropping thing just now.
"...Yeah. Rose said it was cool if I used the bathroom up here and next thing I know, Tanya's trying to corner me in the shower. I mean, Jesus."
"Oh. Wow. Well, hey, you're already making friends," I said, totally unsure of how to respond.
He pressed his lips together as if suppressing a smile. "I don't know that she's a friend I want to make."
I laughed lightly and turned to pick up my glass.
It all happened very quickly. My heel caught on a divot in the roof, causing me to lose my footing. I started to teeter over, a horrible wash of adrenaline and dread overtaking me as I realized what was about to happen. My breath caught and then -
I felt cool hands gripping me tightly, one on my shoulder nearest the edge and the other around my waist, pulling me back. I whirled toward Edward and he had us against the brick wall, as far away from the edge as possible, in a matter of seconds.
His grip loosened for a second, but I was shaking so hard I almost collapsed, and it tightened again. "Hey, hey, it's okay, it's okay."
I was panting. "Oh my god, oh my god ohmygodohmygod..."
"It's okay, you're okay! Hey!" I couldn't focus on his words; the ground was still whirling below me. I felt his fingers on my chin as he gently moved my face to his.
"It's okay."
My breathing finally started to settle as I stared into his absurdly green eyes. And then I flushed furiously. How fucking embarrassing.
"Thank you," I finally choked out. "You... you just... thank you."
"It's okay. Let's just get you back inside." He let his hands fall and moved away so that I could climb, shaking and stumbling, back through the window. He grabbed my things and climbed in after me. I sat down on my bed, still not fully there. When I looked up, he was rubbing the back of his neck, looking awkward. "I'll um... I'll go get one of the girls... or Jake..."
I opened my mouth to respond, but no sound came out. It didn't matter, he was already out the door.
