Jasper's best friends

The following morning I woke up to the sound of arguing somewhere outside my room. Thinking that Alice and Rose were fighting again I got up and walked into the living room to tell them to stop. What I didn't expect was the brunette girl standing across from Rosalie, screaming at my cousin.

"What do you mean, there's another girl he's interested in? He loves me and only me! Tell me her name! I'm gonna strangle her! Jasper's mine," the girl sneered at Rose.

"Jasper isn't yours. He was never even interested in you and now get out! We're done here," Rose said angrily.

"You have no idea! I know Jasper wants me more than anyone else. I see it in his eyes," the girl answered smugly.

She was rather short, shorter than me, but still taller than Alice, and somehow she seemed familiar.

"Rose?" I asked carefully. Both of their heads turned at the sound of my voice.

"Is that her? You bitch! I'm gonna kill you!" The girl screamed and ran towards me. Or at least she tried to because Rose grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled her back. Good thing Rose was so tall and strong. That girl didn't stand a chance.

"That, Jessica, is mine and Jasper's younger sister Bella, the one you used to bully in high school," she sneered at the girl and then looked at me, "Bella, you might remember Jessica Stanley."

I did. The moment I heard her name tons of unpleasant memories invaded my mind. Unlike Rose and Jasper, I was never popular in high school, but I didn't mind. I preferred to be left alone anyway. I hardly ever had any problems with other students, mostly because they didn't want to anger Rose and Jazz by making fun of me. There was only one student who never seemed to care about that and her name was Jessica Stanley.

She was head cheerleader and for some unknown reason she hated me from the first time she saw me. She always made fun of me, laughed at me and embarrassed me and I mostly tried to ignore her. Anytime Rose or Jasper would ask if I wanted them to help me and make sure Jessica left me alone I told them she was not worth all the trouble.

But one day in my freshman year at high school I had to let out all the pent-up frustration and hurt inside of me and started crying right in the middle of the hallway at school with other students all around me and Jessica standing right in front of me laughing.

She called me a slut and continued to make fun of me which made all the students around us laugh even more. At some point I was crying so hard I barely noticed how the laughter around me died down abruptly. I looked up and saw all people around me wearing frightened expressions. After a short while I found the source of all the fear. Rose and Jasper were towering above Jessica with absolutely livid expressions on their faces.

The next second I found myself being lead away from the scene by one of Jasper's best friends, Emmett. He was a senior and always really funny and the only one of my cousins' friends who accepted me. The only thing I knew about him was that his parents were really rich, but he didn't really care about that.

He brought me to my next classroom, asked me if I was okay and then walked away smiling. The only thing I heard about what happened to Jessica was that she was expelled from school that day and I hadn't seen her since.

"Bella? Isabella Swan?" Jessica asked me disbelieving.

"Yes, that's me. By the way Jessica, Jasper has a date with a girl he really cares about today and it's not you," I said smiling sweetly at her. One thing I learned at Columbia was to never let anyone bring you down and I was determined to never let her get to me the way she once did again.

"He…date…never…you…different…" Jessica stuttered pointing at me with a shocked expression.

"Yes, Jasper has a date today. Are you done now?" Rose asked annoyed.

Jessica just looked at her and stormed out of our apartment.

"Oh god, I forgot how annoying she is," Rose groaned and flopped down onto the couch.

"Why does she think Jasper likes her anyway?" I asked curiously.

"Apparently they work for the same company and apparently one day she dropped something and Jasper, being the gentleman he is, bent down to get it for her. Since that day she thinks he loves her. I swear that girl is absolutely insane. Jasper even avoids being in the same room as her. Once he even had to run away from her cause she was stalking him at work," Rose exclaimed exasperated.

I just laughed at the image of Jasper running away while Jessica was following him.

After having breakfast together Rose got ready to leave for work, but stopped again in the doorway.

"Oh Bella? Jasper called this morning. He said to tell you and Alice to meet him and his friends at the coffee shop at 12 p.m. and he mentioned something about a surprise."

"A surprise? He knows I don't like surprises," I grumbled. Rose only laughed and left.

Once Alice got up we spend the rest of the morning talking and joking around. I was really relieved when I heard Alice actually liked Seattle. I was always afraid that she would come here with me, but then realize how different Seattle was and that she didn't like it. Luckily that wasn't the case.

When I told Alice about the surprise Jasper was planning she was confused.

"Surprise? He didn't say anything about a surprise last night, did he? He only said he was bringing two of his friends along, right?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, maybe it has something to do with those friends of his," I mused.

"Oh god! I know! He wants to set you up with one of his friends," Alice exclaimed.

"No. Jasper and I once made a bargain to never interfere with the other one's love life and Jasper never breaks his promises," I answered.

"Hmm," Alice said, apparently as clueless as me.

As we left the house to go to the coffee shop I noticed how nervous Alice was.

"Alice, calm down, no need to be nervous. Just be yourself and you should be fine," I tried to reassure her.

"You think so?"

"Absolutely!"

We continued to walk in silence each of us lost deep in thought about what was going to happen until Alice broke me out of my reverie.

"Hey, I want you to try something today," she said happily.

"What?" I asked warily.

"I want you to do me a favor and not be shy around Jasper's friends. I want you to be your usual witty and sarcastic self."

"Do you want to set me up with any of them?" I asked suspiciously.

"No, I don't even know them. For as much as I know they could be George Clooney and Johnny Depp," Alice laughed, "But still I want you to try. We have to practice for you and Mr. Gorgeous. If you wanna have a chance with him you gotta be yourself. You should see this as the first step towards a new, confident and attractive Bella."

"Is there even a point in arguing with you about that?" I asked, rolling my eyes at her.

"Nope. None. You don't stand a chance against me anyway," Alice said cheerfully.

Once we arrived at the coffee shop I looked around to find Jasper, but when I did I felt all the color drain from my face. I grabbed Alice's arm and pulled her into a corner far away from my cousin and his friends where they couldn't see us.

"Alice," I hissed, "Did you know?"

"I swear, Bella, I didn't. I had no idea he was one of Jasper's friends," Alice said.

I peeked at my cousin and his two best friends again and there was absolutely no doubt about it. There, sitting next to Jasper, was none other than Mr. Gorgeous. I didn't know the other guy, although, just like Jessica this morning, he looked strangely familiar.

"Alice, I can't go there. Tell Jasper I didn't feel well and decided to stay at home," I said and turned to leave, but Alice wouldn't hear any of it.

"Isabella Marie Swan, you are so not going home now. This is your chance! Go over there say hi to Jasper and let him introduce you to his friends. Then you are going to talk to them like you knew them your whole life. You're going to be funny, witty, smart and absolutely intriguing and then, before you'll know it, Mr. Gorgeous is going to have the hots for you," Alice said to me insistently.

"This might work for someone like you, but not me," I said exasperated.

"Oh, will you shut up now? I have enough of this self pity. You are going over there right now and if you don't we were friends for the longest period of time," Alice said furiously.

I looked at her dumbstruck. Was she really going to end this friendship over a guy? Looking into her eyes I knew that right now she would.

"Okay. I'll try, but please don't leave me, Alice," I said desperately. I saw her eyes soften at that.

"Bella, I love you! You're my sister, but this has really been going on for too long. You could have any guy you want if you'd just do something. So, now go! I'll wait here and join you in a few minutes. Tell Jasper I had an important phone call to take. The stage is all yours," Alice said and nudged me towards the boys.

I knew immediately that there was no way I was not going to embarrass myself. But then again, who cares? I would never have a chance with him anyway, no matter how I was to act around him, so why not try what Alice said?

I put on a confident smile and walked into the direction of their table. Once I was about two tables away Jasper spotted me and smiled.

"Bella!" He called and got up to hug me. Mr. Gorgeous and the other guy turned their eyes to look at me.

"Hey Jasper," I said as he took me into his arms, "How are you? Did you already miss me?"

I tried to avoid looking at his friends.

"Of course I did! Where is Alice?" He asked looking around.

"She had to take an important phone call. She'll be with us in a second," I said and saw the relief on his face.

"So, are you going to introduce me to your friends?" I added, looking at the guy I didn't know, but before Jasper said anything the guy I was looking at spoke in a booming voice.

"What? You don't recognize me anymore Bells? I'm shocked!" He said with a mock shocked expression on his face.

I looked at him more closely then. He was huge, in every sense of the word. He was about 6 feet five inches and had the body of a bodybuilder. His hair was short and black and when he was smiling you could see cute dimples on his face. Wait a minute! This couldn't be…

"Emmett?" I asked incredulously.

"Yay, you remember!" He said getting up and taking me into a bear hug.

"Emmett…can't breathe," I choked out. He sat me down then.

"Thanks," I breathed out.

"So, Bells, you have changed quite a bit. Or at least I can't remember you looking so hot," Emmett said and winked at me while grinning hugely.

"You look pretty handsome yourself and apparently you got even huger over the last few years, though I thought that was impossible," I laughed.

"Haha! Never underestimate Emmett Cullen," he said, pumping his fists into the air as if he was boxing with someone. That made me laugh really hard.

"I really missed you Emmett. I haven't laughed this hard for ages," I said once I caught my breath.

"And of course you missed handsome teenage me protecting you from the outside world," he said playfully.

"Certainly!" I laughed. I turned back to Jasper then who gestured with his hand towards his other friend, Mr. Gorgeous, whose eyes I had avoided up to that point.

"This, Bella, is Emmett's and my other best friend, Edward Masen. We got to know each other while attending Harvard Business School," Jasper said.

Edward. So that was Mr. Gorgeous's name. A name that fit him perfectly.

"It's nice to meet you Edward," I said extending my hand and looking up into his eyes for the very first time since I entered the coffee shop. They were sparkling like emeralds.

Just like two days ago he took my hand, brought it to his lips and kissed my knuckles and just like two days ago I blushed furiously which made him chuckle.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, too, Bella…again," he whispered the last word, so only the two of us could hear it.

"Jasper told us a lot about you. It will be great to get to know you better," he continued with his eyes glued to mine. I couldn't avert my eyes from his.

"Hey! Enough flirting over there Eddie," Emmett said loudly making us jump. Edward turned to glare at him and Emmett seemed to see something in Edward's look that made his jaw drop.

"Oh," was all he said.

I was confused and looked at Jasper who was staring at me with an unfathomable expression on his face. I could see in his eyes that he was suppressing some strong emotion.

After standing there in an uncomfortable silence for a few more seconds we decided to sit down. Edward held a chair out for me like a real gentleman and smiled at me when I thanked him. The others settled down then, too, and Emmett started talking immediately. It was only then that I noticed I was sitting right next to Mr. Gorgeous himself who was still looking at me. I looked over at him and cocked my eye brows in question, but he merely smiled.

Jasper was still watching me which was making me feel slightly uncomfortable. It seemed like none of us really paid attention to what Emmett was saying and I could see him start to protest when Alice decided to join us. Jasper's focus on me was immediately broken once he noticed Alice. He hugged her tightly and I saw Emmett looking at me with a million questions in his eyes. I winked and grinned evilly at him as an answer. The moment he understood his grin matched mine and I knew what was about to come.

"What is going on?" I heard Edward whisper next to me. I turned towards him and smiled.

"You'll see."

He smiled at the hint of evil in both, my eyes and my voice.

"So Jasper, that's the lady you wouldn't shut up about last night on the phone?" Emmett asked with a big grin on his face. Jasper's smile though faltered almost instantly.

"Emmett," he hissed.

"What? I'm just asking! I wanna get to know the future Mrs. Jasper Hale. What's your name pretty little lady?" He said.

My eyes grew huge and I looked at both Jasper and Edward in alarm. Oh oh.

"What's up?" He whispered to me concerned. I just shook my head and nodded towards Alice's purple face.

She was absolutely furious. One thing you should never even think of doing if you want Alice to be your friend was to call her little in any kind of way. Of course, that was exactly what she was, being only four feet ten inches tall (or rather short), but it was a very touchy subject for Alice.

"What did you just say?" Alice asked trying to control her anger. She was absolutely scary.

I guess that was exactly what Emmett thought because I could see the smile leave his face and hear him gulp loudly.

"How are you little lady?" Emmett asked timidly.

"You, me, outside, now!" Alice said pointing first at Emmett, then at herself and then finally at the back door.

Luckily for the rest of us Emmett complied and walked outside with Alice right behind him, still fuming.

"Jasper, if you value Emmett's life you should go out there and try to hold Alice back. It can get quite nasty when she's furious like that," I said. Jasper's eyes widened and then he ran after them.

"What was that?" Edward chuckled next to me.

"That was my best friend Alice and her typical reaction to being called 'little'. Never do that if you want to see the next sunrise," I said laughing.

"I'll keep that in mind. How long is this going to take?" Edward asked laughing with me.

"Well, it depends on how smart Emmett is. If he's not arguing or contradicting her they should be back within the next half an hour. If he does, then the only thing we can do is pray for his soul. And if I recall correctly Emmett has never been the brightest, so let's start making arrangements for the funeral," I said, still laughing.

"Oh, I know some better things to do in the mean time than funeral arrangements," Edward said smiling. I noticed then that his smile was slightly crooked which made my heart stop beating for a little while. He truly was gorgeous.

"And what would that be?" I asked curiously.

"Can I ask you a question?" He asked.

"Sure, go ahead," I answered, somewhat curious about what was to come.

"In what kind of relation are you and Jasper? He's been telling us so much about you, especially lately."

"He did? I hope you heard some good things. Anyway, I am Jasper's cousin, but since I moved in with him, his sister and his parents when I was five - my parents died in a car crash - he calls me his sister."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," he said immediately, apparently horrified about making me sad.

"It's okay, I hardly remember my parents. Momma Lillian and Daddy Richard are like parents for me now," I said smiling when thinking about them.

I could see relief on his face. He was apparently happy he hadn't insulted me in any way.

"So, can I ask you a question now?" I asked.

"Sure," he said nervously, running his hand through his already messy hair. Why was he so nervous? He wasn't like this when he kissed my hand before or two days ago.

"So you're a nerd?" I asked trying to lighten the mood.

He looked at me surprised and questioningly. Apparently he had no idea what I was referring to.

"Harvard Business School?" I said, stressing the first word.

When he finally comprehended he burst out laughing. It was a contagious laugh and I couldn't help myself and started laughing, too. It took us a long time to calm down and stop our laughing fit.

"Are you prejudiced?" He asked still chuckling.

"Yep! Harvard equals nerd," I said still laughing. It was then that a voice interrupted us.

"Says the girl who graduated from Columbia. You're such hypocrite, Bella." I had to laugh at Alice's comment. Of course she was absolutely right.

Jasper and Alice laughed with me while Emmett and Edward just stared at me dumbfounded.

"What?" I asked them.

"You went to Columbia?" Emmett asked me.

"Yep. Columbia Graduate School of Journalism," I said proudly.

Right then Rose came walking up to us.

"Hey guys I'm done for the day. Mind if I join you?" Rose asked.

"Not at all. Here have a seat," Emmett said before anyone else could reply and jumped up to hold a chair out for Rose. We all looked at Emmett in surprise. Not even in high school has he ever shown any gentlemanliness, so this was a surprise for all of us.

But Emmett saw none of the looks we gave him because he only had eyes for Rosalie. I looked at Jasper and saw that his overprotective side was about to burst through. I nudged Alice and nodded towards Jasper. She understood immediately.

"Actually Rose we just wanted to leave, but why don't you and Emmett stay a bit longer? You'll have to catch up on a lot of stuff, won't you? It's been such a long time since high school," I said casually.

Jasper's eyes turned towards me in a glare, but I ignored him completely and got up. Edward seemed to understand what I was doing and got up as well and bid his friend goodbye after shortly introducing himself to Rose. Jasper was still shooting daggers in both Rose's and my direction when Alice finally decided to intervene. It was unbelievable, Jasper knew Alice for less than 24 hours, but still she had complete control over him already.

"Yep, sorry we can't stay any longer. You two have fun," she said and towed Jasper towards the door where Edward and I were already waiting.

Rose nodded towards Edward, Alice and me thankfully and then glared at Jasper before giving Emmett her undivided attention.

Once outside Alice and Jasper went a short distance away from us to say goodbye to each other privately.

"Thanks for the nice time Edward. I had a lot of fun," I said looking at him. He smiled at me again and his smile made my heart stop once more. It was kind of tender and soft and so different from before.

"I did, too. When will I see you again?" He asked quietly, nervous again.

"Just come and visit me while I'm at work. It gets really boring after a while," I said smiling softly.

"Okay, I can do that."

"Bella, come on! Let's go home," Alice said coming up beside me.

"Okay, let's go. Have a nice day Edward," I answered.

"You too, Bella," he said and I thought I saw a bit of sadness in his face as I left. I'm sure I just imagined it.

When we reached our apartment Alice started to squeal.

"Okay, it is so time for a couch meeting once Rose gets back," she said.

Couch meetings were pretty usual for Alice and me. Every time one of us had any kind of problems or a story to tell we would call in a couch meeting. The only rules were that we had to speak the truth and nothing but the truth.

Alice was right. After today all three of us probably needed a girlfriend to talk to, a girlfriend we could tell everything and trusted. Of course it was not hard to guess what the topic of tonight's meeting would be.

"Oh yes Alice, yes it is."