Chapter 4: The Picnic
The rest of the week passed by without incident. Lauren and Jess stayed out of my way most of the time. It was probably because I kicked up the Goth look another notch. I rarely ever smiled and I always had my iPod headphones in. Whenever they had to ask me something I would either pretend I didn't hear them or I would just keep shouting 'what?' at them. Their faces were priceless every time I pissed them off.
I woke up early Saturday morning and decided to grab a quick shower before I headed over to Alice's apartment. I grabbed all of my new clothes and things before I left so the she-devils couldn't ruin anything else. I jogged down the stairs and to my car. I climbed in and started driving to Alice's. She lived a little ways off of campus and she had a two room apartment all to herself. It must be heaven.
I arrived at Alice's apartment and walked up to her door. I rang the doorbell and Emmett opened it. He and I had become great friends and we helped each other out with anything and everything. Alice and I had turned out like that too. She had vowed that if she ever met Phil she would personally murder him for me.
"BELLA!" Emmett thundered.
"Hey Emmett," I said as he pulled me up into a bone crushing hug.
"We're going to have so much fun today!" he roared.
"Okay Emmett, inside voices," Alice whispered.
"Oh okay," he said in a hushed tone. Emmett acted like a huge three year old sometimes.
"Well let's get going, Rosalie and Edward are meeting us in the park," she said. I followed her out to her car and climbed in the passenger's seat. She climbed in too and turned on the radio. Build Me up Buttercup started playing and I was singing quietly to myself when Alice turned off the song.
"Hey!" I said.
"What? You can't sing in this car unless…you sing LOUDLY!" she yelled. I laughed and started screaming out the lyrics at the top of my lungs. Alice started to as well and I couldn't remember the last time I had had this much fun. Emmett sang along with us too and it was a lot of fun.
We got to the park and we all climbed out of Alice's car. I was helping her lay out the picnic blanket when a thought occurred to me.
"Hey Alice, who's Edward and Rosalie?" I questioned her.
"They're really cool and they are both really nice. Actually I think I see them coming over," she explained. I craned my neck to see them but no matter how much I strained my eyes I couldn't see them. Alice must be a psychic, if she could see them already. Then after a couple of minutes I could see a guy and a girl walking towards our spot.
The guy must have been Edward, and OMG was he gorgeous! Wow, did I really just say that? Anyways, Edward had tousled bronze hair and the most amazing body. From what I could see from a distance he had the perfect body build. When he got closer I could see that he had the most amazing green eyes, too. I could look at those eyes forever. I tore my gaze away from him and looked at Rosalie. As soon as I saw her my self-esteem took a major hit. She looked like a supermodel. She had the perfect blonde hair, wardrobe, and just everything else.
Alice ran over to both of them and gave them each a hug. How much I wanted to go wrap my arms around Edward. Stop it, bad Bella. I shouldn't be this interested in a guy and I haven't even met him yet. I slowly walked over and stood by Alice's side.
"……I can't believe it!" Alice finished.
"Oh, guys, this is Bella. Bella, this is Edward Cullen and Rosalie Hale," she said. I smiled and waved at them both. Edward gave me a quick smile and I thought I was going to faint. He had the most amazing smile. It was fairly crooked but that was what made it so cute. Rosalie waved back at me. She seemed pretty nice.
We all walked over to the picnic blanket and sat down. To my surprise Edward sat down next to me and on my other side was Alice. She nudged my arm so that I would stop reaching for the basket. It probably meant she had something to say.
"Okay guys I have something to tell you all." Wow, did I call that or what? Everyone had stopped talking and turned their attention to Alice.
"Well, as you all know Bella and I have become amazing friends! We've told each other everything and she practically lives at my apartment. You all also know Lauren and Jessica who Bella rooms with. They both –."
"Alice just get on with it!" Emmett yelled.
"Jeez, cool your jets Sparky. Anyway, long story short, Bella," she turned to me "will you live with me?" she pleaded.
"ALICE!!! Of course I will! I wouldn't pass this chance up for the world," I screamed. I gave her a huge hug and a smile spread across my face.
"Congratulations Bella!" everyone chorused. I gave everyone a hug because I figured they were all in on the plan. I got another petite hug from Alice, a bear hug from Emmett, a sweet hug from Jasper, a gentle hug from Rose, and before I had realized it Edward crushed me against his chest. I inhaled his heavenly scent wishing I could stay in his arms forever. We slowly released each other and then I suddenly became very aware of everyone staring at us.
"Oooh, Bella's got a crush!" Emmett yelled out like a three year old. I took an immediate step back from Edward and I chanced a look at his face. Edward looked fairly hurt that I had stepped back from him, no, he couldn't have looked hurt. That must have been my imagination. After Edward and I's scene everything went back to normal. I started a conversation with Edward and we found out that we both had a lot of similarities.
After a while everyone had dispersed and Edward and I were left alone. Everyone else at our little 'party' had been a couple, I realized. Alice and Jasper and Emmett and Rose. Edward and I were now quizzing each other about our favorite things.
"Favorite color?" he asked.
"Green," I replied hurriedly. Uh-oh, he had to have noticed my mistake. If he had asked me any other day I would have responded black or red. The only reason I said green was because of how his eyes had entranced me.
"Your turn," he said while giving me a crooked smile.
"Okay, how about favorite band?" I asked.
"Shinedown or Paramore," he replied. "You?"
"Wow me too; I love both of those bands!" I said. We both shared a laugh and looked up at the sky. Somehow we had both ended up on our backs staring up at the stars.
"So Bella, where do you go to school?"
"I go to U of W, what about you?" I was secretly praying that he went to the same school. Wow, I was falling head over heels for this guy. I had barely known him for more than twelve hours and I already was in love with him. Wait, love? How could I be in love with this dude already? I put it off for another day and focused back on where I was now.
"I go there too," he said with a hint of excitement in his voice. I almost jumped for joy when he said that. "Well, I have class in the morning so I better get going," he said sadly. We both stood up and went to find our friends. Edward went one way and I went the other to locate them. I came up to some trees where I had heard giggling. I found Alice and Jasper making out next to a tree.
I walked away quietly thinking about taking a bus to get back to Alice's apartment. I would spend the night there and then get my things tomorrow after my morning class. I found Edward sitting on a park bench and he patted the spot next to him. I sat down and turned to face him.
"So did you have any luck finding Alice and Jasper?" he asked.
"Actually yeah, um, they were kind of making out next to a tree so I figured I better not disturb her. What about Em and Rose?"
"It was actually the same situation," he chuckled.
"Well I better let you get to bed, actually I have a class tomorrow morning too," I told him.
"Its okay, do you need a ride to get home?"
"Yeah would you mind?"
"No, Alice lives a couple of blocks down from me so it's fine." He led me to his car while we kept up quizzing each other about our likes and dislikes. His car was a silver Volvo with the schools sticker in the windshield. He held open the door for me and I sat down. Edward quickly crossed over to his side and got in the car.
We arrived at Alice's apartment and he walked me up to the door. Alice had given me a key at the picnic and I was nervously fiddling with it. Edward had been silent on the way to the door looking like he was making a decision.
"Well, thanks for the ride Edward, I really appreciate it."
"Your welcome, Bella," my heart skipped a beat every time he said my name. "Well, I hope you have a good night and sweet dreams," he said. He reached his hand up and cradled my face in his palm. Edward slowly leaned towards me and I closed the gap touching my lips to his. At first, it started out as a simple and sweet kiss but grew more passionate. We both leaned back coming up for air and he smiled my favorite crooked smile at me. He gave me another hug and a kiss on the lips. He turned and left waving when he got into his car.
I walked into the apartment and to the couch in a daze. I sat down and squealed excitedly. Edward had just kissed me! That wonderful and beautiful boy had just given me the best kiss of my life! I laid back and closed my eyes. What a perfect night this had been. I wonder what this made Edward and me now. Boyfriend and girlfriend?
I pondered my question while I got ready for bed. I crawled into the bed and turned off my reading light. I fell asleep that night, for the first time ever, with a smile on my face.
