Freshmeat
Chapter 4 – Game
.:.
Bella POV
Wednesday evening was supposed to be dull night in. It was four o'clock and Rosalie, Alice and I were in our room getting a head start on the day's assignments. We had been lucky enough to be granted a triple room with three single beds. It was on the western side of the house overlooking the front yard. We hadn't expected to do much that afternoon, but apparently Carmen definitely had plans for us. At four o'clock on the dot she burst into our room, bright faced and bushy tailed, to announce the afternoon's activities.
"Girls! Get up, now. We have to go!"
"What's wrong?" Rosalie demanded, suddenly worried. No doubt she expected the worst.
"Nothing's...wrong," Carmen promised, unable to hold back her excitement. "It's just...there's somewhere you girls need to be." Upon saying this, Carmen sent me a poignant glance.
"Uh...we're kind of busy," I reminded her, motioning to the mounds of books and paper on our respective beds.
"Well, now you're un-busy," Carmen popped. "Come on. Get up!"
At that, Alice leaped off her bed, immersing herself in the excitement. "Where are we going?" she asked as she rushed to the mirror to fix her hair. "Please, please, please tell me it's a party! I've always wanted to go to one of those!"
Carmen grinned. "No. It's not a party. It's...uh...football practice."
Huh?
Rosalie and I stared at Carmen in confusion. Even Alice stopped moving.
"But we don't play football..." she told Carmen hesitantly.
"I don't mean for you guys, silly!" Carmen laughed. I didn't see what was funny. Neither did Rosalie. "I mean for the college team. You know, the Cardinals. Some of my friends are in the team and I thought it would be a good chance for you girls to meet some...good guys. We are just going to watch. Kate and I were going to go – her boyfriend plays in the team – but then I thought of you girls, and decided to ask if you wanted to join us."
Kate was a senior, Carmen's roommate and also her second in command, so to speak. Things were starting to make sense.
"Football players?" Alice questioned nervously, suddenly back to the introverted Alice from high school. I understood her hesitation. Football players had never really been nice to her in high school. "Oh, I don't know, Carmen. I don't really like Football players..."
"These guys aren't mean. I swear," Carmen promised. "I wouldn't introduce you to jerks. In fact, these guys are really cool. I've known the quarter back for years. He's really friendly."
Alice and I shared apprehensive glances. She was scared of football players and I...well, I just didn't like them. From my experience of high school football players, they were nothing but brutish jerks. However, we knew that Rosalie didn't share that opinion.
"I'm in!" Rosalie agreed, pushing off her bed. "I love football players."
To say Rosalie didn't have a type is generally true. She liked a variety of guys. However, I do have to be honest and say she did have a little soft spot for football players. It wasn't so much the football thing as it was the 'they-are-big-and-strong-and-that's-hot' thing. She liked a guy to be taller than her, and for the statuesque Rosalie, that was harder to find than it was for Alice or me. Plus, she did like athletes.
"Awesome!" Carmen exclaimed before turning to Alice and I. "Bella? Alice? Are you girls coming? Please say yes. You won't regret it. I swear. It will be fun."
Alice let out a small sigh and shrugged. Clearly she was throwing in the towel. "Sure thing. Why not? It will be fun...I guess."
Carmen smiled victoriously before turning to me and raising an expectant eyebrow. I gave her my answer straight away.
"Sure, I'm in."
.:.
Alice, Rosalie, Carmen, Kate and I arrived at the football field twenty minutes later. The team was already half way into practice, performing various drills and sprints for what I guessed were warm-ups. My knowledge about football was always very limited. For all I knew, they could have been doing something completely different than what I suspected.
Carmen led us over to sit on the bleachers. Before giving me a chance to sit down Carmen grabbed my arm to ensure we sat next to each other. Rosalie, on my other side, looked on suspiciously, but let it slide as Kate and Alice took their seats on each end – Kate taking hers' after waving at a boy on the field I presumed to be her boyfriend.
Shouts and calls coming from the team floated up to us as they tossed half a dozen balls around and ran between cones and bodies. I, in all honesty, had no idea what was happening. All I saw was a sea of red and white. Next to me, Rosalie was smiling with amusement and nudging my elbow when an impressive looking move caught her eye. A few minutes later Carmen started nudging my arm. Very rapidly. It was then that I knew she had something to show me.
"What is it?" I asked her.
"Do you see number eight over there in the red jersey?" she asked, pointing towards the field. I followed her and soon spotted who she was meaning, running sprints through cones.
"Yup."
"That's Jacob," Carmen explained, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips. That made me suspicious. "He's a junior, and the quarter back."
"Is that the one you have known for ages?"
Carmen nodded. "Yep. That's him. He grew up in the same town as me. I want you to meet him. He's really nice. I can see you two happening."
Her last sentence had me shocked. Clearly Carmen's underlying motives for our afternoon's activities was matchmaking, and sadly, I wanted nothing to do with it. It wasn't that I doubted Carmen's judgement. I just really didn't want a boyfriend, and if I ever did, I wanted to pick my own.
"Carmen..." I scolded.
Carmen held her hand up in defence. "I know, I know," she assured me. "You don't want to be set up, blah, blah, blah. Just...just give Jacob a try. He's really sweet, and much better than any other boys you've met so far."
Immediately I caught on to exactly what she was trying to avoid.
"This is about that Edward guy, isn't it?" I asked.
Carmen shrugged absentmindedly. "Well...kind of...I mean...No. Not completely. I just think you should meet Jacob. He has other friends on the team too. Rose and Ally might be interested."
I didn't even get a chance to reply to that.
"Oh, I'm definitely interested!" Rosalie interrupted. "Sign me up."
Carmen grinned. "Great. What about you, Alice?"
Alice shrugged, clearly hesitant. "I don't know..." she admitted. "I'm not really into football players, and I kind of have my eyes on someone else..."
Carmen brightened up at the thought of Alice liking someone already. "Oh, who is it?" she demanded. "Do you know his name? What does he look like?"
Alice was about to answer Carmen's question when Rosalie interrupted her. "No need to fit the puzzle pieces together. He's right over there. The blonde one," she said, motioning towards the bottom of the bleachers.
We all followed Rosalie's signals. As soon as eyes landed on who she meant, there were various reactions. All were due to the fact that not only was Alice's crush heading over, but his two friends were as well – Edward Cullen included. In these reactions, Alice almost squealed with delight. I groaned. Carmen looked shocked, and a bit angry. Kate, however, was the only on to speak.
"Jasper Whitlock?" she questioned. "Really?"
"That's his name?" Alice checked excitedly. "Jasper," she mouthed, testing how it rolled off her tongue. She always had a thing for names. "Jasper. I like that name. It's a nice name."
"But he's not exactly a nice person," Carmen warned.
Alice brushed off her comment. "He seems perfectly fine."
"Seems," Kate repeated, "not is."
"He's just like Edward and Emmett; a dick," Carmen added.
Alice frowned. "Now that's just rude. You can't clump them together like that."
"Wait, who's Emmett?" Rosalie asked.
"Emmett McCarty. The big guy," Kate answered.
Rosalie smiled at the answer, seductively leaning her chin on her hand and peering at the approaching Emmett. She sure did like guys with muscles.
"Oh," was all she said, already wrapped up in thoughts of him.
Carmen sent an aggravated glance at Edward – who was then walking up the stairs towards us – before turning to me and pulling on my arm. Edward was wearing that typical smirk that made me want to smack his face.
"You know what? I think we should go, Bella. We can talk to Jacob later," she told me, trying to pull me up. "Come on, come on."
Confused and startled, I looked to her in shock and stumbled my way up. "Uh...wait...what? Where are we going?"
"You guys are leaving?" Alice asked.
"Yes, we're going," Carmen answered.
"But you can't leave now," Rosalie interjected, stirred away from Emmett-thoughts. "What about those guys you want us to meet?"
Carmen brushed off her comment. "We can do that later. Come on, Bella," she insisted, pulling on my arm. Clearly she wanted to get away from someone very quickly. My bet was Edward.
"Okay, okay," I agreed, aggravated. "Just let me grab my bag."
The whole situation was doing my head in. Suddenly, I felt very dizzy, and as I leant down to grab my bag from under my seat, I had to catch myself to stop myself from falling over. That meant nearly everything spilt out. I had to kneel down and scoop it all back up again. Rosalie and Alice were still bickering with Carmen about the sudden decision to leave. Soon, Rosalie caught on to the approaching boys and put the pieces together. Carmen was clearly not a fan of theirs. A moment later, as I stood up with my bag finally intact and shoved my frizzy mess of hair away from my eyes, the ticking time bomb ended, because Cullen's voice hit us like a wrecking ball.
"Ladies," he greeted, stepping up on the bleacher below ours' before leaping nimbly down to stand next to Alice. "Going somewhere, are we?"
Edward sent a mischievous glance to Carmen. She replied with a resentful glare. His eyes then flickered to me. That stupid arrogant smirk came back. I just looked at him blankly. Sure, he thought he looked charming as hell, but in reality he looked like an imbecile.
Alice was fawning next to him, staring at him like she was a child and he was a ten foot high lollipop. When his two friends – Jasper and Emmett – walked up behind him, Alice's focus flickered to the blonde cowboy. She was absolutely smitten.
"We were just leaving," Carmen answered sharply. "If you'll excuse us..." she tested, nodding in an attempt to get him to unblock our exit.
Edward craned his neck to the left. When his eyes flicked to Carmen a little twinkle of curiosity crossed his features.
"What's the matter, Car? In a rush? I thought you liked me," he teased.
Carmen's own cheeky grin crossed her features. "I guess you thought wrong."
Edward chuckled at her spite. Rosalie was watching the interactions with suspicion. I hadn't informed her of my discussion with Carmen concerning Edward or about my second run in with him. This was all new to her.
Edward didn't answer Carmen. Instead he just laughed off her comment and turned towards Kate. She was looking at him with a very unimpressed expression.
"Kate," he noted with a fake smile. "I haven't seen you around for what; two months?"
Kate smirked at him coldly. "Damn. If only it had lasted for longer."
Edward chuckled, clearly enjoying the cold treatment he was receiving. "Charming as ever, I see," he noted.
"Cocky as ever, I see," Kate retorted cruelly.
Edward winked at that comment. "And I wouldn't change for the world."
"Clearly," Kate spat.
"What do you want, Edward?" Carmen interrupted, growing sick of their banter.
Edward looked to her in fake shock. "What? I can't just come and say hi to old friends without wanting something?"
"We're not friends, Cullen," Kate spat.
"I wasn't talking about you, LaBow," he replied as he glanced to Carmen and then me. "I actually wanted to talk to Bella."
"Like I said, we were just leaving," Carmen interrupted.
"I'm sure Bella can spare a minute," he replied calmly, raising an eyebrow at me.
Hmm...Ah, no.
"I'd rather not," I answered simply.
"What; you don't like me either?" he asked.
"Do you really want me to answer that?"
"Humour me," he answered sharply, his expression suddenly wiped of any playful manner. "Five minutes, please?"
Edward's expression was serious. It worried me; made me wonder what he wanted to talk to me about. Was it something important? Hesitantly I glanced to Carmen. She subtly shook her head. Then I looked to Rosalie. She shrugged. At that point Edward grumbled.
"Don't worry about what they think," he growled, suddenly very angry. That look frightened me. "Of course they don't want you to talk to me, so let's just ignore them for a second. It's just five minutes, please?"
"No, Edward," Carmen reiterated. "I said we have to leave."
Edward ignored her and looked at me. The way his eyes bore into me had me startled. I wondered why he was suddenly so desperate; angry. More than anything I was concerned that something was seriously wrong. So, hesitantly, I nodded.
"Sure. Five minutes," I agreed.
The reactions of Carmen and Kate clearly showed displeasure. Alice didn't seem to mind either way, and as soon as Edward was out of the way she jumped on the chance to talk to Jasper. Rosalie, on the other hand, was watching me curiously, trying to figure out what in the world was going on. In all honesty, I shared her curiosity. Edward was doing my head in. One minute he was a dick and the next he was suddenly serious and concerned. I didn't want to be rude to him, but I had definitely made clear my distaste for him. Still, he continued on, for some reason that I couldn't understand.
Edward started walking away without another word. I followed, jumping over the seats of the bleachers. Eventually we got to the bottom of the bleachers on the opposite side of the others. It was only then that he turned around to me. This mysteriousness had me on edge.
"What do you want to talk about?" I asked apprehensively.
Edward glanced up to me, looking very nervous, and started pacing along the wooden boards, from the fence to the bleachers and back again. Still, he didn't answer me. His silence was irritating and unnerving. I marvelled at his rapid change in attitude from cocky as hell to a bundle of nerves.
"Stop moving, Edward," I growled. "You wanted to talk, so talk."
Edward did as he was told – stopped moving – and glanced at me apprehensively.
"This is so weird," he sighed before flicking his glance away and continuing his pacing. He shoved my annoyed gauge up another notch.
"No. The weird thing is you not talking to me like you wanted to. If you are just going to keep pacing like that I'm leaving," I said, stepping away from him. I didn't want to play his games. I didn't want anything to do with him. If he had nothing important to say there was no reason for me to stay.
As I went to move away Edward grabbed my hand and held me still. My eyes shot up to his, startled. The look he gave me set me even closer to the edge. He looked torn and nervous. He wasn't that cocky son-of-a-bitch I had met twice before. I couldn't pick out whether it was real or an act. Was he trying to gain my trust or was he legitimately not the cocky son-of-a-gun I thought he was?
"Let me go," I told him, yanking my arm away.
"Alright," he sighed, releasing me. "Alright. I'm sorry. It's just...it's just I'm not meant to do this."
I rolled my eyes at the comment. "I have a feeling that rules don't generally mean shit to you. Just spit it out, Cullen."
Edward smirked at my comment. And so returned the cocky son-of-a-bitch from previous meetings.
"It's about Full Moon on the Quad on Friday," he said. "You know what that is, right?"
I nodded. "That thing where seniors choose a freshman to kiss."
"Right," he nodded. "Well, the general rule for that thing is that seniors don't announce their picks at all. It's just supposed to happen on the night so the freshmen are left to soak in their nervous juices for the entire week, you know?"
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I know."
Personally, I thought the whole thing was pretty pseudo-harassment. I mean, being spontaneously kissed by someone you don't know is pretty dodgy, right? You know, the I-have-no-say-in-who-I-will-be-locking-lips-with thing is pretty gross. Sure, some may say I was looking too much into it, but I didn't care.
"Well, I had an idea you wouldn't like that whole rule," he continued. "So I'm going to break it."
Nice observations.
"True. I don't," I agreed. "But it doesn't matter. I'm not going."
Edward looked shocked at that.
"Wait. What?"
"I'm not going," I repeated simply.
His shocked expression still wasn't gone. "But you have to go. It's a right of passage."
"Is there some sort of law stating that?" I tested.
"Well, no, but..."
"Exactly," I popped. "I don't want to be kissed by some random guy I don't know. How is that enjoyable?"
Edward raised an eyebrow. "Well you're a bucket of fun, aren't you," he chuckled sarcastically.
What?
Asshole.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I growled.
Edward smirked. "You're boring," he answered. "You can't even loosen up enough to take part in a college tradition. You're dull."
"I'm not boring or dull," I spat, anger filling me. He had absolutely no idea, and until he did, he had no right to judge me. "Just because I don't want to be fondled and kissed by some random, sleazy member of the senior class does not mean I'm boring. It means I don't want to be fucking harassed by some jackass with wandering hands and an eat-shit attitude." Edward looked at me, shocked, as I bore into him. I couldn't help myself. His ignorance was awe-inducing. "You're such an asshole."
Edward was still staring at me with wide eyes. It took him a few moments to shake his thoughts together.
"Wow. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just..."
"Forget it," I said quickly, brushing off any more possible awkward conversations. I didn't want that; especially not with him. "Just forget it."
"I've never thought about it like that," he acknowledged.
"Why did you even bring it up?" I asked, desperately trying to change the subject.
"It doesn't matter," he answered quickly, seemingly trying to cover up his tracks.
I clicked on immediately.
Holy shit.
I narrowed my eyes and took a step closer to Edward, peering at him suspiciously. "You've got to be kidding me. Were you going to break the rule...for me? Am I the freshman you were going to choose?"
Edward gaped at me. "What are you talking about? Of course not. Don't flatter yourself."
Nervous Edward had returned.
"You were, weren't you?" I persisted. "You were going to ask if you could kiss me."
"Oh God, shut up," Edward growled.
"Come on. You can tell me the truth. Was the King of Stanford really going to ask for the permission of a lowly freshman for a kiss on Full Moon on the Quad? Really?" I teased.
Edward was still pacing. Only now, he seemed furious. He was running his hands through his shaggy bronze hair in stress. A second later, he growled, and spun around to face me.
"You know what?" Edward spat. "Maybe I was going to ask you if it was okay. Maybe I was trying to be a good person and treat you with respect instead of thrusting a random kiss on you. Maybe I was trying to be good to you and show respect like you asked. Maybe I was trying to change. But now you can just forget it. I don't even know what I was thinking."
What he said made me back-track.
In our last meeting, I had asked him to change – to be respectful. Now, he was doing just that, and I was shoving it back in his face with a laugh and a disbelieving attitude; not believing that he could change and be a better person. I was a horrible person for doing that.
Then, there are always two sides to every story. There was still an actual reason why I believed he was a dick. That was the way he treated Tanya. Sure, he could jump down my throat when I acted on the suspicions of his real motives, but wasn't there some legitimacy to my claims? There was a reason why I laughed at his new found attitude. That was the way he had acted on the two previous days. I couldn't just forget that and believe he had undertaken a major revamp of his personality. There had to be something more to it. I also had to consider Carmen's warning. It made me weary of all of his approaches.
"Alright then, Edward," I tested. "So you're trying to change, right? That must also mean that you apologised to Tanya as well, right?"
Edward snapped back to reality at the mention of her name. "Er...well...that's different..."
"No, it's not different," I reiterated. "You treated Tanya like a piece of dirt, and that's not on. Until you apologise to her and give her a heartfelt reason why you broke it off, I don't believe you've changed one bit. And until then, I don't want a single thing to do with you. I definitely don't want to kiss you."
"Seriously?" Edward demanded. "You're still hung up on that? Jesus, it's like I have to move heaven and earth just to talk to you! You've got to be the most demanding girl on the planet. I've never had to work this hard for a girl before!"
Huh. Arrogant jackass.
"You don't need to move heaven and earth, Cullen," I explained. "Just become a decent human being. That shouldn't be hard work."
"Well it fucking is," Edward spat under his breath. He then sighed loudly and walked over to the fence, leaning against it. After a few moments he gathered his composure. "Alright, so if I apologise to Tanya you will let me kiss you at Full Moon on the Quad?"
"No."
"Then what the hell is it going to get me?" he demanded.
"If you think I'm going to bargain with you about this you are sadly off course," I growled. "I won't swap my company for your good deeds, Edward. That's not how life works."
Edward threw his hands up in the air. "But that's what you've been asking me to do! If I apologise to Tanya you will talk to me. That's what you said!"
"Actually, I didn't," I reminded him. "I've told you numerous times I don't want anything to do with you, and I meant that. When you asked me to use my imagination and give you one thing to do that would make me be able to deal being around you, I said apologise to Tanya. And strangely enough, you haven't done that. I won't hang around with someone who I have to tell to apologise to a girl they hurt. Clearly you have noconscience, because you can't get this through your head. I'm not going to be your teacher and give you a gold star on your 'treat people with respect' homework every week. You're not meant to get a prize. It's meant to be something you do naturally because you want to. I don't want anything to do with someone who can't do that."
Edward was growing more and more aggravated. Throwing his hands up in the air, he growled at me. "I'm trying though, Bella. Damn, I am trying. Why else do you think I brought up this kiss thing?"
"You're right," I acknowledged with a sigh. "You tried. But Edward, that doesn't change much. You did it to get a pay off. That's not the point of being a good person. Tanya's still hurting, and you're still a dick to most of the people you meet."
Edward bit his lip to stop himself from answering straight away. With a sigh he walked over to the bleacher to sit down. He buried his head in his hands and slowly took deep, calming breaths.
After a minute, he spoke. "You're right. You are. I haven't apologised to Tanya." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a mobile phone. "But I will now."
Before I could say a single thing Edward was jumping over the bleachers, heading towards the back and dialling his phone. I was left there, shocked, wondering what the hell was going on.
Ten minutes passed. Edward was talking very fervently into his phone. I found myself sitting on the bottom bleacher, watching the football practice play out. Every so often I flicked my glance to the others. Alice and Jasper were talking together – Alice very excitedly. She was actually blushing, which had me amused. Emmett and Rosalie were also with Alice and Jasper, having their own conversation while also chatting to the other two every so often. Carmen and Kate, however, were not very happy at all. I tried to avoid looking at them.
Once he was finished Edward came back down the bleachers and stood in front of me.
"Done," he popped, slipping the phone back into his pocket. "I apologised to her and let her down easy. I have cleansed my soul. Is that alright?"
I raised an eyebrow. "It's going to take a lot more than that to cleanse your soul. I have a feeling it's pretty dirty."
"Most girls like to get a little dirty though," he drawled with a smirk.
Jackass was back.
My expression didn't change as I looked at him. "See? You haven't changed one bit."
Edward snapped back to reality then. "I...I was just joking."
"This isn't the right time to make sex jokes," I rebutted.
Edward nodded. "Alright. Okay. You're right. I deserved that. But I have changed. I swear... And...I know that my apology to Tanya does not win a kiss, but can't it make us...I don't know...acquaintances?"
"Acquaintances?" I asked. "No, Edward. I don't know..."
"Don't," Edward told me, holding his hand up. "Don't make any excuses. I know I'm an asshole. I know you don't want anything to do with me. It's just...I am changing. Just...don't shut me out right away, okay?"
"Edward, I don't-"
"Please?" he begged. "Acquaintances is all I ask for. Give me one chance. Can't you see I'm trying?"
Things were getting too weird between us. His rapid changes in attitude were giving me whiplash. Standing up and moving away from him, I shrugged.
"I know you're trying," I agreed. "But I just can't."
Simply, I didn't trust him – I didn't trust what he was doing. I couldn't pick out whether it was genuine or an act, and that scared me. I was constantly reminded of my discussion with Carmen. Sure, it was pretty ambiguous, but she said he was dangerous and didn't settle well when he wanted something he couldn't have. And in honesty, I trusted Carmen's judgement more than I could ever trust him. The fact that he had tried to swap a good deed for payment hit another nail into that coffin. I didn't know if he was really trying to change or if he was just trying to add another notch to his belt. To trust him, I had to see him change without wanting anything in return.
Before Edward could reply I shrugged and walked off the bleachers and back to the house.
.:.
I was working on my week's assignments, my head half in the clouds, when Alice and Rosalie arrived home. Their entrance was very loud. I could hear them even as they walked up the path outside. As soon as the front door swung open their banter hit me like a big yellow school bus. When they got into our room, Alice was exuberant. Her cheeks were brightly coloured and she skipped over to her bed like a ballerina. Rosalie and I both watched, amused.
"What's got her so happy?" I asked Rosalie as she walked over to her own bed.
"Whitlock," Rosalie popped as she sat down.
"Jasper Whitlock," Alice corrected, narrowing her eyes at Rosalie before turning to me and plastering on a smile. "Oh, he's so nice, Bella!"
As always, her enthusiasm for the opposite sex had me amazed. I suppose there is a first for everything.
"Tell me what happened," I said with a smile.
Alice giggled behind her hand. Rosalie watched with wide eyes – obviously concerned about her friend. She absolutely resentedwhen girls got all giggly over boys. She didn't believe in love – only sex.
"Oh, Bella, he's so charming. And nice. And southern. He grew up in Texas and he still has that cute southern drawl. You know how much I love a southern drawl."
Rosalie raised an eyebrow. "You've never liked southern drawls before!"
"Oh, shush!" Alice scolded. "He's just so...nice. And charming. And southern."
"You've said that," I reminded her.
Alice ignored me. "I think I'm in love."
Oh shit.
"What?" Rosalie demanded, her mouth hanging open in shock.
Alice smiled dreamily. "I think I'm in love," she reiterated.
She was so naive. It was entertaining, but worrying.
"Oh shit," Rosalie sighed.
"Alice," I interrupted. "Honey, trust me. You're not in love. You're in lust. You can't love a guy after one meeting."
"Two meetings!" Alice claimed. "And I am in love. Love at first sight."
Rosalie fake-gagged. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. Love at first sight does not exist!"
"Yes it does!" Alice insisted. "Didn't you see the way he smiled at me? He loves me too!"
"He was being polite!" Rosalie rebutted.
"Well...well...you love Emmett!" Alice claimed. "I could see it!"
Rosalie gaped. "What in the world? I don't love Emmett. That's just silly."
"But you kept touching him and giggling!"
"That's called flirting," Rosalie explained. "I don't love him. I just love his muscles."
"Well, I don't care," Alice huffed. "I love Jasper."
"Ally, sweety," I interrupted. "Please don't say that. You barely know the guy."
"But I do!"
"Ally, sweety, no, please. Okay, listen. You don't know him. Please just promise me that you won't act on this...love for a while. You heard what Carmen and Kate said. He's not really that nice," I tried.
"Don't judge him just because he hangs around with Edward dickhead Cullen," Alice growled. I couldn't help but laugh at that. Her expression was hilarious.
"Speaking of dickhead Cullen," Rosalie interjected. "What were you guys talking about? It seemed pretty...animated."
The reminder of my conversation with him made me groan loudly. I didn't want to remember how confused I was about him.
"It was nothing," I told her. "It was just about that Full Moon on the Quad thing. I told him I wanted nothing to do with him because he's an ass. He didn't take that too well."
"You really said that?" Rosalie asked, disbelieving. "Why?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
Rosalie shrugged. "Well...it's just...he's hot. And he's clearly into you. What could it hurt?"
"What could what hurt?"
Rosalie smirked. "Getting to know him."
I looked at her, shocked, and shook my head quickly. "My dignity. My pride. Every moral fibre in my body."
"He's that bad?" Rosalie asked.
"You have no idea. He said he's trying to change, but I don't trust him."
"Wow. Wow. Wow. Wait. What?" Rosalie demanded. "He's changing? For you? Huh! He does like you!"
I frowned at her. "No, Rose, he doesn't."
"Yes he does! Why else would he say he's trying to change? He likes you!"
"No, he doesn't," I reiterated. "He just doesn't like the fact that I want nothing to do with him. It's that whole 'I can't have you, so I want you even more' thing. He's playing a game and I'm not falling for it."
Rosalie's mouth formed a little 'o' then. "Oh...He's one of those guys."
"Hence why..."
"You want nothing to do with him," Rosalie reaffirmed. "I got it."
.:.
Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I've had a really busy few weeks, and right now I'm recovering from my wisdom teeth removal operation, so I'm sorry if this chapter isn't up to par. I'm in a lot of pain. Anyway, all of you readers and reviewers are amazing. Seriously. You all make my day. Thank you so much. Please do review and tell me what you think of this chapter. Do you agree with Bella that he is just putting on an act or do you disagree and think he is legitimately trying? Are you on Edward or Bella's side? I'm really interested to hear your thoughts.