Stephenie Meyer still hasn't returned my call about transfering Twilight to me, so I guess I can't claim to own it. *Sigh*
Chapter 4
Bella's POV
"Wakey, wakey!" Ashley wailed, pulling my covers off me.
I groaned and opened my eyes. "Is it wake-up time yet?"
"Yep. We still gotta have breakfast," she said, moving away from my bed, already dressed in hot-pink shorts and a white tank-top.
I got up and went to the bathroom. I showered and put on a black, sleeveless shirt and gray sweatpants - which were more appropriate for Forks's weather than Ashley's clothes.
My cousin and I left our room, locking up behind us and hiding the key under the welcome mat at the foot of the door, and followed the signs to the dining hall building.
The place was already half-full when we got there. There were many people, laughing and chatting excitedly, having their breakfast on the various white tables. Ashley and I went to the buffet, grabbing a plate from the stack and getting our food.
The food looked great, something I already expected. It was hard to choose - they had everything -, but I settled for pancakes, strawberry yogurt, and a glass of orange juice. I looked around and saw that Ashley was already sitting down with a group, so I walked over and sat next to her. She introduced them to me, but I forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them.
"Bells, we're all going rafting today. What do you think, want to come?" she asked me when she was done. I was still no where near done, but that wasn't surprising considering how little she'd eaten.
"I don't think so," I said, not liking the prospect of endangering my life in a raft and rapid waters. "Go ahead. I'll see you later."
"Okay," she agreed, walking away with her friends. "See ya!"
I had finished my pancakes and was eating my yogurt when the cheerful brunette guide approached me in my now empty table. Alice, I remembered. "Hi," she said. "You're Bella Swan, aren't you?"
"Yeah," I said. "How'd you know my name? I mean, with so many teens here, I doubt you'd remember all of our names."
"I don't know everyone's names, but most of them. Many people have been here before, you know," she told me, sitting down on the bench across from me. "But my brothers told me about you."
"Brothers?" I asked.
"Yep. Emmett and Edward," Alice replied. "Emmett told me he rescued you yesterday at the party."
"They're your brothers?" I asked.
"Uh-huh. Em is older and Edward is my twin. Oh, and I'm Alice. I don't know if you know that," she smiled.
"Yeah, I got here in your bus," I said. "But hey, if you're Edward's sister, you must be a Cullen, too. So you're Carlisle and Esme Cullen's daughter?"
"That's right! So you've met them?"
"Not really, I just remember them introducing themselves," I shrugged.
"Oh. So, Bella, what are you going to do today?" she asked.
"I'm not sure. Anything but rafting."
"Take a look at this, then." Alice shifted in her seat and pulled a folded piece of paper from her back jeans pocket. She handed it to me and I unfolded it. It was a list of activities for the day.
"You have water polo?" I perked up. I was in my swimming team back home, and we occasionally played that game. I gotta admit, I'm pretty good at it. It's the only sport I'm comfortable with. Must have something to do with the fact that I can't fall flat on my face in the water.
"Well, yes," she hesitated, "But it's mostly guys that take part in it."
"Oh, that's okay," I said, standing up to put away my plate. She stood and followed me. "I'm used to that. Not many girls seem to like it."
"So you're playing it?" she asked.
"Yeah," I said, "I'm just going to put on my swimsuit first. Where will it be?"
"The outdoor pool," she replied. "But you'd better hurry, because you're already kind of late. You know what, run ahead, I'll go there and tell them you're coming."
"Thanks, Alice!" I hurried out of the building and to my room. After changing into my black bikini. A one-piece suit would be better, but Ashley must've taken my out of my suitcase when I packed them back home because I couldn't find them anywhere. I didn't exactly feel comfortable in these, and their dark color made me self-conscious of my pale skin.
But I made my way to the outdoor pools anyway because I really felt like playing. When I got there, I saw Alice talking to Jacob. He was in the pool, some boys in there already, too.
"Hey," I said, approaching them.
Jacob looked at me and said, "Alice tells me you want to play, too."
"Yeah," I said, sitting down by the edge and slipping my legs in the water. It was warm, so I didn't hesitate when I got all the way in.
"I don't think that's a very good idea, Bella. Only us guys are playing," he said.
"I see that, but I still want to. When I played back in Phoenix, there were no girls in the team, either."
"Things can get a little rough. A girl could probably get hurt," he objected.
"You're such a guy, Jacob," Alice said, putting her hands on her hips. "You have to let her play."
"That's right, and I can take you on," I said, looking behind me and counting how many people were in. "You have 13 people in here, Jacob. You need one more player. Me. Please?"
He sighed, "Okay, fine." He turned around and said, "Guys, easy on Bella here, okay? She's also playing."
I snorted. Alice was right, he was such a guy. "I'm good at it, really. You don't need to spare me."
"Yeah right," he looked away, but I'm sure he rolled his eyes.
"I mean it," I said, starting to get annoyed. "I bet I can beat you."
"So how about this, you're captain of your team, and I'm captain of mine," he proposed.
"You're on," I agreed.
"I'm in Jacob's team!" A guy in the pool shouted. Many others joined in. Seems like no one wanted to be in the team led by the girl. Sexist bunch of kids.
"See, Bells?" Jacob smirked, draping an arm around my shoulders. "This is a guys' game. You girls should spend your time doing your nails or learning how to cook and stuff."
I shook his arm off, now officially annoyed. "I'm going to make you take that back, Jacob."
He looked and the others and smiled, "I'll let you choose your players first." I didn't like the fact that he said it like it gave me a huge advantage and like I needed it. Jacob would be a sore loser, and it was obvious. It made me all the more eager to beat him.
I didn't know how these boys played, so it didn't give me that much of an advantage. I chose 6 other random players to complete my team, ignoring their whines and protests once I did. Jacob took the other players, and we retreated to different sides of the the pool, where the goals were already set.
"Let's kick some ass!" Jacob shouted from his side, inciting his team to yell and throw their hands up in the air.
"Guys, let's get our strategy straight here, please," I told my team.
Minutes later, we were ready to start. A crowd had gathered around the pool, and Emmett, wearing a red Speedo and a whistle around his neck, was the judge.
"Ladies and gentlemen, get prepared for the match of the century! Mister Jacob Black versus Miss Bella Swan! Who's gonna win? Place your bets!" he shouted and brought the whistle to his lips. "Black, Swan, ready? Game on!" he blew the whistle and threw the yellow ball in the pool.
I broke into a swim, reaching the ball before Jacob, who had also been going for it. I grabbed the ball and threw it to Brady, one of my team members. Instead of going after it, Jacob smacked into me.
"Hey," I protested.
"Sorry," he smirked. He didn't sound sorry.
The ball was now with Colin, another boy in our team. Colin threw it at the goal, but Jacob's goalkeeper caught it. His team now had the ball, and they were advancing on us. I swam towards the boy who held the ball instead of backing up like the rest of my team. He tried to throw the ball to someone else, but I caught it in midair, swan around him, and towards their goal. When I was close enough, I shot at the goal. The goalkeeper didn't catch it and I scored. The crowd cheered and, smiling, I retreated.
My scoring must've taken Jacob by surprise, because he didn't leave my side after it. He was always there, behind or in front of me, and made sure our bodies were always touching. I tried to keep a distance, but he kept coming and rubbing against me. I think he was trying to distract me, but I wouldn't let him win.
I stole the ball from his team whenever they got it, having to pass it straightaway because of Jacob's closeness. I could feel his anger rise as our team scored. Gee, he really needed to loosen up.
"Here!" I yelled, waving my arms above me when one of my team members got the ball. He threw it at me, and I caught it. I started swimming toward the goal when someone hit me hard. I let go of the ball and coughed as water invaded my lungs. It had been Jacob, of course, and he, now holding the ball, swam toward our goal. He shot it and scored.
Okay, that was low. He didn't need to run over me like that. More determined than ever, I went on offense mode.
My goalkeeper threw the ball at me, and, instead of passing it to someone from my team, I swam towards the goal. I knew it was a risky thing to do, given I was far from it and I could only hold the ball for 30 seconds or it would go to the other team, but I did it anyway. Guys dove at me and my team members screamed for the ball, but I dodged them all and kept on going, always keeping the ball in front of me. I felt someone grab my legs behind me, almost drowning me mid-swim, but I kicked and thrashed and continued forward. When I was close enough, I got into position to shoot at the goal, but stopped halfway through the arm-throwing motion. The goalkeeper dove to the right side, like I knew he would, and only then did I shoot it, scoring in the left side of the goal.
After God knows how long, Emmett called the last minutes of game. There were no other rounds, and he winner of this match would be final. I was tired, and I'd surely be dripping with sweat if I weren't in a pool. I didn't even know what team was winning, mine or Jacob's, but I was pretty sure it was his. My team didn't play, just kept passing the ball to me, making me do all of the work and score about 98% of our goals.
I was swimming back to my side after scoring another point when I saw him. My Adonis, Edward Cullen, was there, standing in the now huge crowd gathered around the pool. He was next to Alice, watching me. Not the game, but me. I splashed some of the warm pool water in my face in hopes to hide my furious blush.
I was overwhelmed with the sudden urge to impress him. I was well aware of the ridiculousness of it, but I didn't want to make a fool out of myself. I looked away from Edward and snapped back into the game. One of the boys in Jacob's team had the ball, and was swimming towards our side.
"Get him!" I yelled and pointed at the boy holding the ball. Every single boy in my team swam towards him, like I knew they would, overwhelming the poor boy. He stopped and looked around desperately for someone to pass it to. As fast as I could, I swam forward, just in time to see the boy dry pass the ball to Jacob, who was across from him, on the other side of the pool. I lunged, effectively grabbing the ball in the air. Before their team could react and go into defense mode, I swam towards their goal again and shot the ball at the water, 1 meter away from the net, as hard as I could. It bounced back up and scored.
I could only hear the sound of Emmett's whistle before hell broke lose. The crowd started cheering and the guys inside the pool started getting out, receiving smacks and high-fives.
"Who won?" I swan to the edge of the pool, waiting for an answer from anyone. Everything was chaotic, and no one answered me straight away. Before I realized what was happening, though, Edward was standing next to me, outside the pool.
"You won, Bella! Your team, I mean," he said, smiling widely. "But, in my opinion, you did all the work."
"Seriously?" I asked him, a dazed smile plastered on my face.
"That depends on what you're talking about," he replied. "Seriously, you won. But the part about you doing all the work was just me trying to make you feel special."
I laughed in joy, knowing he was kidding by his tone, and splashed some water at his dark jeans. He extended both arms towards me. "Come on, I'm pull you out."
I reached above me and took his hands, which were slightly cooler than mine. A devilish little plan had just been worming itself into my mind when he added, "And don't you even try to pull me into the pool because, one, you won't be able to, and two, I'll be real pissed if you do."
Well, crap. He just read my mind. I blushed and smiled, letting him pull me out and feeling a twinge of disappointment when he let my hands go almost immediately. The cold air from outside hit me like a wave, and I shivered involuntarily. That reminded me of my attire, and I felt myself heat up again in another blush. I can't believe I'm standing here, talking to Edward, only clad in bikinis.
"Need this?" A girl's voice said from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Alice, smiling and holding a huge white towel.
"Thank you!" I said in relief, turning around and taking the soft towel and wrapping it around myself in a thick blanket. "You're a lifesaver!"
She smiled and looked at her brother. "Eddie, Rose is asking to see you in the office."
"You're kidding? Right now?" he asked.
"Yep. Sorry, bro. I know you had other plans," she reached over and patted his shoulder.
"What are you doing now?" he asked her.
"Nothing much. Jasper took the rafting group and some other people went rock-climbing, but my group passed up swimming in the lake to play water polo here with Jake," Alice replied.
"Can't you trade shifts with me?" he asked.
He laughed and said, "Hell no!"
"Please?" he begged.
"Nope!" she popped the 'p' to emphasize it.
Edward narrowed his eyes at her but smiled. They turned their attention back at me and he said, "Sorry, I gotta go. Wouldn't want to keep Rosalie waiting."
"'kay," I nodded. "See ya."
"See ya," he repeated and turned around, walking away from the crowd at the pool and towards the buildings.
A/N: I'm not sure what to add in this Author's Note, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to ask you to review! So please do! :)
