All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer
Remember: Edward still thinks Bella is Rosalie. Bella still thinks Edward is Emmett.
After reading "Jane Eyre" I realized that it was almost 1:30 in the morning. I walked out into the hallway still hearing the piano coming from the music room. From the frustrated minor chords being played, I could tell that whoever it was probably had a bad night as well. With a sympathetic nod towards the mystery player, I left the building and walked back to my apartment.
I knew Alice was asleep, but I was surprised to find Rosalie already home from her date.
"Hey" she said crossing the living room with a bowl of ice cream and a bag of M&M's.
"Hey…you're home early" I replied.
"It's almost two in the morning Bella"
"That's early for you Rose" I laughed.
"This is true." She paused, "Well…Sam was boring. All he wanted to do was talk the whole night, about feelings, and ideas"
I raised my eyebrows, "Although I'm shocked that Sam Uley wanted to talk, that is usually a trait women find endearing" I said.
"Well I don't. Who wants to talk when you've got the hottest guy on campus within two feet of your grasp" she replied pouring the M&M's on top of her ice cream.
I rolled my eyes "Only you would be able to say that with such a sincere face Rosalie"
"Well its true….Speaking of which… it is way passed twelve, how was your date? Does the mysterious man have anything to do with your late arrival?" she asked wiggling her eyebrows up and down.
"God no." I frowned. "Believe me"
"What happened?"
"I don't really want to talk about it."
"That bad?" she asked curiously.
"Yea." I replied. I wasn't lying. It really was a bad date. I was just having a problem remembering the bad details when his beautiful face attacked my mind every five minutes. Hard as I tried, every thought that drifted through me was penetrated by pictures of him. As much as I had been repulsed and offended by him, I was intrigued and attracted to him even more.
"I'm sorry." Rosalie said. " I had a really bad date too if it makes you feel any better."
"Yea…. I think I'm just going to try and sleep." I said walking down the hallway
"Ok. Good Night." She said shoveling a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, "Hey Bella" she called, "Do you want to come to the gym tomorrow morning with me? I'm leaving at eight. That always makes me feel better after a crappy date"
I burst into hysterical laughter. The thought of me in a gym, especially at eight in the morning was truly comical. "Umm" I suppressed my laugh "Thanks but no thanks Rose, I think I'll pass"
"Suit yourself. That leaves more fabulous sweaty, flexing men for me" she replied placing her legs up on the coffee table.
"Good night Rosalie" I said closing my door behind me. I crawled into bed and almost instantly fell asleep.
The next morning I woke up to the sound of Alice singing loudly along to a 1980's one hit wonders CD. Groggy, and not quite revitalized, I shuffled out into the kitchen and collapsed into a chair.
"Good morning sleepy head!" Alice chirped, "I'm making eggs benedict"
"You're joking right?" I looked up at her. Even I didn't know how to make eggs benedict.
"Not at all. Here you go." She said placing a plate in front of me. Once again, everything on the plate looked surprisingly… edible. "Thanks Alice"
"So" she looked at me while plating her own breakfast, "tell me all about your date"
Suddenly, the delicious taste of egg and biscuit felt like sand in my mouth. How was I going to answer that question: Well Alice, first I knocked him out with a car door, and then he mocked my intelligence. After we ate in silence, he continued to be such a jerk that I left early. Oh….and I can't stop thinking about how he would look naked.
"Not my type. Kind of rude" was the best lie I could come up with.
"Oh." Her mouth tightened, "Rose said you were pretty bummed about the whole thing.
"Yea, but…I think I'm over it. I just won't be going on anymore blind dates too soon" I laughed.
The rest of breakfast was pleasant, and no more was asked about my date. I thought Alice would strap me to a chair and forcibly extract details from me, but miraculously she got the hint. I was dumping my plate in the sink when Rosalie came back from the gym.
"Mmm….what smells good?" she walked over to the counter eyeing the left overs.
"Eggs Benedict" Alice said handing her a plate.
"Whoa" Rosalie eyeballed Alice in astonishment.
"That's what I said" I replied grabbing the orange juice out of the refrigerator.
Wasting no time, Rosalie plated a heaping pile of breakfast and ate it hastily.
"How was the gym?" I scoffed. Only Rosalie could work out for two hours and feel no regrets from eating a cholesterol induced meal.
"Great. I had some serious silent flirtation going on with treadmill boy today"
"Treadmill boy?" I asked.
"You don't know treadmill boy?" Alice said with a smile "He's the only man that Rosalie deemed too beautiful to talk to"
"It's not that!" Rosalie said. I just haven't….planned my attack yet. Don't you realize by now that the way I get the men I want is by my precise planning and timing? Treadmill boy has bimbos fawning over him every time I'm there. If I don't attack at the perfect time, I'm just going to be another one of them. I have to make myself memorable"
"You are completely deranged" I said.
"Hey…I'm not the one on the middle of a dry spell. Come on Bella, how long has it been now? When's the last time you got some tail?"
I shot her a venomous look "Can we not? It's too early to start talking about my non-sex life"
Rosalie laughed "Fine, but I'm just saying…"
"Next topic." I interjected "Alice, this breakfast was awesome"
Her face lit up "Thank you! I'm going to Jaspers today to get some more recipes."
"Recipes…….right" Rosalie snickered as she placed her dish in the sink and sauntered out of the kitchen.
After a pause, Alice looked at me pensively "Bella. Rosalie is right in a way. I know your date was bad last night but sometimes I feel like you're lonely"
"In other words…You need some tail." Added Rosalie.
"I'm not…lonely…and I don't need….tail…I'm just not into the dating thing right now" Awkward conversations like this make me really uncomfortable. Luckily Alice knows when to stop.
"Ok. Just let me know if there is anything I can do to help" she looked at the clock "Well, I told Jasper I would be there before noon so I better get going." She placed her dish in the sink and walked out of the kitchen.
That's when I realized the one thing that Alice had not learned about cooking: The cleanup. Pans, forks, bowls, measuring cups, and egg remnant were all over the place. While I cleaned up the culinary catastrophe, I found myself thinking about him again, and lost a miserable battle of trying to stop. There was no way to get his image out of my head. Even the sound of his voice, smooth and soft like cashmere, was engrained in my mind. Bizarre is not even the word for my thought process. Clearly, he hated me, and had no problem showing it. It was the WORST date I'd ever been on, maybe the worst date in the history of dating, but all I could do was think about him as I scrubbed the kitchen clean.
Edward
By the time I felt settled again, it was past 2:00 AM. I trudged out of the music room emotionally and physically drained. Luckily, Emmett and Jasper were already sleeping when I got home. Falling into bed, I was ready for a deep long sleep but for some reason, sleep did not come easy. I spent all night trying to sleep but I just couldn't get her out of my mind. It felt insane. Everything had gone wrong on the date, but something about her was just…right. I knew she would never speak to me again, and Jasper would raise hell about me offending Alice's friend, but I usually never cared about that before. This was different. Every thing I said to her played back in my mind and cut me like a knife. All of the rude things I said seared into me, and the look she gave me before she walked out sent a ripping pain through me over and over again.
At around 7:30 I gave up on the prospect of sleep and sat down on the couch to watch TV. Emmett was already up getting ready to go to the gym. I commended his devotion to working out, but I never understood why the devotion had to kick in at 7:30 in the morning; although Emmett's theory of hot woman is that the majority flocks to the gym early, which is all the motivation Emmett needs to wake up at the crack of dawn.
"Hey…did you JUST get in?" he asked "If so I guess I don't have to ask about the date last night. Dude, you are the MAN!" He walked over to give me a high five.
I pushed his hand away "No Emmett….I'm not. The date was actually an abomination. I just can't sleep….I think I had too much espresso at the restaurant."
"Oh…sorry" Emmett picked up his gym bag and walked to the door "I'll be back around 11:00." He was not one to sit and talk about feelings. Any sign of deep conversation or sentiment sent Emmett running.
"Bye" I called after him. Jasper woke up around 10:00 and made eggs and bacon. Finally he asked the question I was dreading.
"How was the date" he said.
"Um." I looked down at my plate "It wasn't….I mean it….well I might have…we just didn't really"
Jasper sighed "You sent her running, didn't you?"
"Well" I began, "It wasn't running per se….. it was more like an angry storm-out"
"Jesus Edward"
"I know…I'm sorry. I really am" You have no idea how sorry I am, I said to myself.
Jasper said "It's ok. I just wish you wouldn't chase them all away so fast. I mean you haven't had a real date in a while. Edward…. when is the last time you….um…well…you know."
"We're going to change the topic now." I said.
"Whatever man, I just think you need to get out there a little more"
Emmett walked in at that point and grabbed some food off of the counter. "What did you do, scare her away?"
"No" I replied
"Yes" Jasper retorted.
I shot him a glare, "No. It just….didn't go well. I don't really want to discuss it any further."
"Okay" Emmett said through a mouthful. He swallowed and continued "So you know that girl from the gym I told you about?"
"The one you always want to talk to but never do" I said. Emmett had been talking about this girl for months. He referred to her as a "Cardio goddess".
"Yea. I just can't understand why she doesn't come over and talk to me! Every other chick in that place does except for her!" He exclaimed.
"Did you ever consider the fact that she may not be into you?" Jasper offered.
"Dude…..….." Emmett gestured to his well toned body incredulous at Jaspers suggestion "Anyway, she totally stared at me the whole time I did bench press today"
I rolled my eyes "Emmett, she's either not into you, or she doesn't want to strike up the first conversation. I don't get what it is about this girl that makes you so weird"
"Me neither. But I think I'm going to talk to her soon. Let her know that the Big Man digs her and wants to show her a good time"
Charming. I'm sure that will woo her. Maybe it's better if you stick to admiring from a distance" I snickered.
After breakfast, Jasper ran around frantically cleaning before his girlfriend came over. Luckily, I was safe since Emmett left for work and Alice had no idea that I was actually the one that ruined her friend's night. When she got here, Jasper opened the door and kissed her immediately. I had to admit, I was slightly jealous. The last time I kissed someone like felt like a century ago.
"Hi Edward!" Alice chirped. She was a very pretty, petite little thing, but nothing compared to – I stopped myself before I even thought about it.
"Hey Alice. Are you here for more cooking lessons?"
"You know it! But before I do that, I need to have a little talk with your friend Emmett"
Jasper shot me a glare as my eyes widened. I quickly said "Um…Emmett went to the gym…but he um….he wanted me to tell you that…he's really sorry about the date last night – he has no idea what got into him, and he feels completely and utterly awful. Really I – erm… Emmett was torn up about it all night."
"Good" said Alice, "He was such a jerk. I'm shocked that he's had a girlfriend in the past. The way she talked about it, I'd be surprised if he ever found another legitimate girlfriend, I mean he really messed up. No offense to you guys, but Bel – I mean Rosalie has dated some jerks in the past and Emmett takes the cake"
My face burned with embarrassment, Jasper chuckled as he took Alice's hand "Come on. We're going to learn how to make soufflé today"
"Yay! See you later Edward!" I watched them saunter into the kitchen and share another kiss. Jealous and annoyed I stormed into my room. It seemed that the fatigue I lacked during the night was kicking in. I fell into bed and drifted into a deep, miserable sleep.
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I know that I never update this, but better late than never. Reviews are always appreciated.
