a/n: again, i want to extend a huge thank you to the gals at www(dot)projectteambeta(dot)com. they are truly fabulous and just got a new website, so check them out!
Chapter 4: Moving Day
BellaPOV
I yawned for the tenth time in as many minutes. I was exhausted, but I couldn't fall asleep; my mind simply would not shut off. The memories of the last few days swirled round and round in my head.
Edward smiling at me. Edward walking with me. Edward saying my name. Edward being, well, just Edward.
Simply thinking his name gave me delicious butterflies in the pit of my stomach. A smile twitched at the corners of my mouth. Who would ever have thought that such a dorky, old-fashioned name was really code for "Über-hottie"?
Where to begin? We had known each other for barely a week.
Gosh, was that it?
We were so comfortable with each other that it seemed like a much longer time.
When we went out to lunch on Wednesday afternoon, I was afraid that it would be really awkward. My conversation skills are not stellar, yet I pleasantly surprised myself. We chatted easily and I didn't trip, walk into any doors, or spill anything. That right there signaled a successful date for me.
Wait a minute… did I just say date? Hmm. Yep, I guess I did. I could handle that!
My smile grew bigger as I thought about dating Edward. Kissing. Cuddling. Getting sweaty…
Oh, god, but what if he doesn't like me like that? Maybe he's just being really nice. I bet that's why things have gone so well. He just wants to be friends with me. Oh, man, now what do I do? I definitely like him as more than just as a friend, and now obviously I like him way more than he likes me.
I tried to squelch my rising panic. Dammit, Bella, just relax. It's 2:30 in the morning. You can stress about it all day tomorrow. Just enjoy the fantasy right now.
After taking several deep calming breaths, I started to feel better. Go to sleep, girl! You have a super busy day tomorrow with the move and all.
My eyes snapped open. Shit! The move! What am I getting myself into? What's that phrase… out of the frying pan and into the fire. Yeah, that's definitely what it feels like.
I rolled over and tried once again to relax, but Lauren's snores became louder. That decided it for me. I grabbed my bathrobe, a blanket and my laptop and headed for the dorm lounge. If I couldn't sleep anyways, I certainly didn't want to annoy myself further by listening to her snoring.
I curled up on one of the couches and surfed through my favorite blogs until my mind quieted down enough for me to feel sleepy. This time, once I closed my eyes, I went right to sleep.
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"Bella, wake up, honey," called a soft voice.
"Mom? It's Saturday -- just a couple more hours," I mumbled.
I heard a giggle then. My mom doesn't giggle. What the hell?
"Bell-a," the sing-song voice repeated.
I opened my eyes a teeny bit and groaned. "Alice? What the fuck?"
Now that I was semi-awake, the black-haired sprite jumped onto the couch next to me and practically quivered with excitement.
"Oh, come on, you sleepy-head. Today's the big move. Let's get going! Here, I brought you some coffee. It's already 9 a.m. -- I let you sleep in! And why are you sleeping on this nasty old couch anyways?"
"Alice," I grumbled. "Shut. Up."
She giggled again. "You really are a Grumpy McGrumperson in the morning, aren't you?"
"Argh! Enough! Gimme the damn coffee already." I reached out and took a sip from the cup she offered me. Oh man, that tastes good. I closed my eyes and breathed in the vapors. Chocolate raspberry coffee was one of my little indulgences, and Alice knew that. I looked up at her from the rim of the cup and mumbled a quiet thank you.
"You're welcome, sweetie. I thought you could use a little treat so early in the morning. Now get up and get moving, hon! We've got a lot to do today."
Alice watched as I stretched and slowly got up off the couch. My neck had a kink in it, probably due to a weird sleeping position on that old couch. I twisted my neck around, trying to stretch the tendons. Hopefully it wouldn't cause me too many problems today.
I went back to my room with Alice literally skipping behind me. She sometimes reminded me of a little Chihuahua: tiny, full of energy, and constantly moving, even when standing still. I shook my head; didn't that girl ever need sleep?
We entered my room and I changed into some old jeans and a sweatshirt. Alice turned her nose up at my choice of clothing, but I couldn't care less. She could be the fashion plate. I had manual labor ahead of me today, and jeans and a sweatshirt were perfect. However, I did French-braid my hair into a long plait down my back, knowing that a simple ponytail would probably get messy and in my way later on.
Lauren was still sleeping, so we stayed somewhat quiet. We each picked up a bag of clothes I had packed the night before and brought it down to my truck.
Ahh, my truck. I freakin' loved that beast. Charlie had bought it for me back in high school, and it totally suited me. It was a faded red Chevy originally made in the Fifties, with bulbous fenders and lots of dents and rust. One of Charlie's buddies had replaced the engine, so it ran great. It was beautiful and nearly indestructible, definitely my kind of vehicle. I heard no end of shit about it from my friends, especially when it backfired or idled too loudly, but I didn't care. It was my beast, and I was fond of it.
Alice and I made several more trips down to the truck while we waited for Jasper to come by to help with the heavy stuff. By this time Lauren was awake, but went right into the shower and didn't pay us much attention. Like me, I think she was glad I was leaving and didn't want to get in the way of my departure. When the room was emptied of my stuff, Alice and I pulled ourselves into the truck's cab while Jasper jumped into the back, and we headed over to my new dorm.
The dorms in Butterfield Row were quiet, as it was still only ten o'clock on Saturday morning. Why Alice insisted on getting here so early was beyond me, but I kept my mouth shut. I was too happy to be leaving Lauren to really care what time it was. Of course, the caffeine in my system contributed greatly to my enhanced mood, so I even had a smile on my face when I drove up to Arnason Hall.
Butterfield Row was one of the oldest residential areas on campus, and as such the buildings were smaller and had lots of character. Like the other three dorms in the area, Arnason had four floors with a brick exterior and white decorative quoins on the outer corners of the building. The rooms on the top floor had dormered windows, and my inner child did a little happy dance at the thought of having a romantic window seat up there in my new room.
Each of us grabbed a bag from the back of my truck and followed Jasper into the building. We easily found room 407, as well as a note stuck to the door:
Jasper, went to get coffee, door's open –R
Jasper opened the door, then stood aside and ushered me into my new room. My breath caught as I looked around. I couldn't believe I was actually going to be living here.
The room was large, easily twice the size of my previous one, and was neatly partitioned into sleeping and living zones; two separate area rugs defined each space. The bed closest to the door acted as a sofa, with a motley assortment of pillows tossed along the back. The designated sleeping bed was tucked into the far corner and featured a drapery rod suspended from the ceiling, upon which hung a beautiful gauzy material for added privacy.
Looking around further, I noticed that not one, but two dormered windows enhanced the far wall. I was a little disappointed to see that custom-built desks were already in place in the dormers, until I remembered Alice's knack for decorating. I knew she would help me transform one of those desks into the perfectly cushioned reading alcove I craved.
The morning light streamed in through the windows and cast a warm glow upon the three of us. I turned to Alice and just grinned, speechless. I was in heaven.
"Welcome home, Bella," she smiled as she and Jasper embraced in an affectionate hug.
I put my bag of clothing down onto the sofa-bed, looked at my friends, and then cried out, "Last one down to the truck buys lunch!"
Alice, Jasper and I raced down the stairs, good-naturedly pushing each other out of the way. Alice and I made it back to the beast at the same time, and when we turned around we noticed that Jasper was strolling calmly toward us.
"Hey, Jazz, this was supposed to be a race," I taunted him.
"Now ladies," he smiled, "what kind of gentleman would I be if I let you buy me lunch on this fine, fine day?"
I snorted and rolled my eyes. Alice jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. "Oh, Jazz, you're so sweet!" she exclaimed.
Jasper and I decided to tackle the heavy stuff next, correctly assuming that trudging up four flights of stairs would get old quickly. I sighed. It would have been nice to have an elevator, but I was willing to forego that modern convenience if it meant that I could have such an awesome room.
We decided to take my dorm-size refrigerator next, which although was not heavy, was awkward and difficult to carry. Jasper hefted it in his strong arms and followed Alice, who held the doors open for us. I brought up the rear with a box of books.
On our next trip Jasper and I each grasped a handle of my black steamer trunk. "Good Lord, girl, what do you have in here?" he groaned as we started up the stairs.
"Uh, just some books, some art supplies, miscellaneous stuff," I replied breathlessly, trying to keep my grip.
"Miscellaneous stuff, huh?" Jasper wheezed. "Sure it's not a dead body or gold bullion?"
As we rounded the next flight, I heard an oddly familiar voice call out.
"Hey, Jazz, is that you? What the fuck are you doin', man?"
I looked up to see none other than Edward, standing in the hallway wearing only black flip-flops and a towel draped low around his hips, obviously on his way back from the showers. His normally tousled hair was damp but still haphazardly arranged, as if he had quickly towel-dried it and then left it alone.
If I thought he was gorgeous with his clothes on, he was absolutely stunning with them off. The cobalt blue towel was a sharp contrast to his pale skin, and I was mesmerized by the v-shaped abdominal muscles it tantalizingly exposed.
My eyes continued to roam, feasting on his defined six-pack abs and mouth-watering pecs. His torso could have been an alabaster carving for all of its perfection, and my gaze caressed each dip and swell of those muscles. A poet, perhaps, could have done it justice, but I was content to simply drool. He was muscular but not bulky like a body builder; I had never liked that look anyways. Instead he was sinewy, with a leonine grace and tawny hair lightly covering his chest.
I had admired his broad shoulders before, but to actually see the smooth muscles under his pale skin… mmm. I really wanted to touch the few freckles I saw there, and then see if those biceps really were as firm as they looked.
If it was possible for a person to spontaneously combust, I would have been incinerated instantly. This guy was almost too beautiful to look at, and I couldn't tear my eyes away. When I finally brought my gaze up to his face, I saw him looking back at me with a mixture of surprise and amusement.
Oh shit, shit, shit, he caught me staring at him! Uh, think, Bella. No, first close your mouth. No one needs to see you gaping like a codfish.
My efforts to regain my composure evaporated when all hell broke loose. In my shock and drool-filled haze, I unthinkingly let go of the steamer trunk, causing Jasper, who was behind me, to lose his balance and almost fall down the stairs with it.
Alice quickly jumped out of the way, shrieking, "Incoming!"
As the trunk gained momentum, I watched in sickening horror as it collided with a tall blonde girl just coming up the stairs.
"What the fu--? AHHHHH! GOD DAMMIT! GET THIS FUCKING THING OFF ME!" she shouted.
The trunk had only fallen down about seven stairs to the landing below, so luckily it was not going too fast. Still, it had enough weight and momentum to pin the girl's leg to the wall.
"AH, FUCK ME, I THINK MY FUCKING LEG IS BROKEN! SOMEBODY GET THIS FUCKING THING OFF ME RIGHT NOW, GOD DAMMIT!"
Jasper and I flew down the stairs and pulled my trunk off the girl. She lay there glaring at me for a second before she started up again. "Who the fuck are you? Is this thing yours? I'll have your ass for this, bitch."
At that moment, I didn't care if she hated me or not. "Are you okay? How's your leg?"
"How the fuck do you think my leg is?" she cried. "It fucking hurts!"
Jasper then leaned over and said, "Uh, maybe this isn't the best timing, but Bella, I'd like you to meet Rosalie. Rose, this is Bella, your new roommate, or whatever you want to call her."
"You're fucking shitting me," she spat at him. "No god damn way. I don't want her anywhere near me."
Rosalie then looked me straight in the eye and sneered, "There's no way in hell this little freeloader is getting anywhere near my room. Get her the fuck out of my sight!"
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a/n: so, whaddaya y'all think of Rosalie? and where the hell was Edward when all of this was happening? (don't worry, you'll find out in the next chapter, which I have already started).
and I am not too proud to beg, so please ... REVIEW!
did you like it? hate it? what annoys you? what do you love? (I love all opinions!!!)
