Chapter Notes: I was going to wait to post this until Chapter 3 was validated over at twilighted, BUT I think I read somewhere that my twilighted supervisory beta was going on holiday, so who knows when it'll get posted. I figured you fine people shouldn't have to suffer the wait. ;) This is quite a long chapter; 9,316 words! I hope you enjoy. I finished Chapter 5 the other day, so I'll be starting on chapter 6 soon. Thank you to everybody who reviewed! It puts the biggest cheeser on my face to know that you all love the story.
I want to shout out to my lovah, Hannah! If it wasn't for her, it'd probably take me ten times longer to get a chapter posted and a new one finished, so you thank her by going and reading her awesome story, Now and Forever, and reviewing!
Disclaimer: Things I own: An awesome reversible comforter, a beloved "I Heart Nerds" hoodie, and a stick of burt's beeswax.
Things I do not own: Twilight characters. :(
Chapter Song: Out of Control – Ultraviolet Sound
--BPOV--
Tuesday was officially the worst day of the week.
As if it wasn't bad enough that I'd dealt with Edward Cullen—or rather his lack of presence and common courtesy—all day long, I was now being forced to suffer through an entire meal with him. One, which I might add, he was fifteen minutes late for. Figures.
"He fell asleep," Emmett said, sitting back down at the table and throwing his arm across Rosalie's shoulders. He'd gone outside to call...him...to tell him we'd already left the dorm and were in the DC, and to figure out why he wasn't with us. Not that I was complaining.
"He's normally always on time, the bastard. He's real reliable, Bella. And funny, too. I think you guys will get along great," Emmett droned on for the umpteenth time since we'd met up, wiggling his eyebrows. I assumed it was safe to go out on a limb, and say that I was being set up. With Edward fucking Cullen.
Kill me now, please.
"Knock it off, Emmett," Rose said, elbowing him in his chest and rolling her eyes. "It's not going to work."
"A hundred bucks says it will," he argued, sticking his right hand out towards her. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, taking his big hand in her delicate one.
"You're on." With a firm shake of their hands, they made a bet.
"You bet your sweet little ass, it's on. Prepare to lose, sugar tits," he snickered, rubbing his chest where Rosalie elbowed him again. "Oh! There he is—Eddie!" he shouted, standing up and waving his hands towards the table. I closed my eyes, rubbed my temples and exhaled deeply. I heard a chair being pushed out and opened my eyes to see Emmett walk around the table and out of my line of sight.
"He's relentless," Rosalie sighed, sending me an apologetic half-smile as I turned my gaze to her. I shrugged and grimaced slightly, not looking forward to the inevitable introduction that was going to be taking place.
"What the hell is going on?" Angela asked in a low, sing-song voice through clenched teeth as she leaned towards me.
"I'll explain later," I sighed, biting my thumb. She nodded swiftly, relaxing a bit as her gaze swept over the boy across from her, Ben, just as her gaze had swept over him every five seconds since he introduced himself. I smirked and bit my bottom lip, trying to keep it from becoming a full on grin. I felt a kick to my foot under the table and looked up to a questioning Rosalie—apparently I hadn't done too well with hiding it. I nodded my head towards Angela, subtly, then lifted my chin slightly towards Ben, switching my gaze between the two, then back at Rose. She grinned, eyes wide in understanding, and nodded.
I heard a throat clear somewhere behind me, and I turned around, still grinning, to find Emmett standing next to that hot piece of ass I'd temporarily forgotten about in the midst of Angela's lust.
"Bella, this is Edward. Edward, meet Bella," Emmett grinned, looking back and forth between us.
Sexward visibly tensed as recognition washed over his face, and it took me a moment to remember that he was, in fact, a bastard, and I should not find him remotely attractive because of that. Once it clicked, though, my grin slipped right off my face, and I was shooting lethal daggers at every crevice of his delicious looking body. Surprisingly, he glared right back this time.
"Uh, Edward?" Emmett asked, looking between the two of us nervously. Assward turned to Emmett slowly and narrowed his eyes.
"I don't do Bipolar, Emmett," he sneered, shooting me another horrendous glare. "Thanks anyway." With that, he swiftly turned around and practically ran to the fucking food carts. Emmett stood in back of my chair, stunned and completely confused. I realized, at that point, that most of the people near us had turned their attention towards the confrontation at our table.
"What the hell are you staring at?" I snapped, turning back around in my chair and folding my arms over my chest with furrowed eyebrows. Rosalie pursed her lips, looking between Emmett and me and visibly trying not to burst into laughter.
"I think you owe me one-hundred dollars, Em," she snickered, breaking him out of his trance. He trudged back to his seat, his eyebrows furrowed as well, and plopped down in the chair.
"I don't understand," he stated monotonously.
"You rarely do," Rose quipped, patting his thigh.
"I really thought—"
"That was your first mistake," she said, cutting him off as she examined her nails. I snorted and straightened up in my seat, fixing my shirt and composing my face.
I paid nine dollars for this meal, and I'll be damned if that fuckass not only wastes my time, but my money, too.
I heard Angela clear her throat to the left of me and I huffed, picking up my fork and stabbing it into my salad.
"Later," I growled, gazing at her from the corner of my eye and shoving the fork into my mouth, chewing greedily. She nodded and took a much more civilized bite of her salad as I sighed, swallowing my chewed up lettuce and taking a drink of my water. I stared over the edge of my cup at the table and furrowed my eyebrows, slipping into a trance of blank thoughts.
"You're going to get premature wrinkles in your forehead if you keep doing that," Rosalie chided, snapping me out of it. I rolled my eyes, tilted my head back to finish off my water and gulped it down loudly, smacking my lips and belching.
"Yeah-ha!" Emmett cheered, holding his hand up for me to smack while Rose scrunched up her face in disgust.
"You're just as bad as he is."
"Oh, get off it, princess," I grinned, slapping Emmett's hand in a high five and sticking my tongue out at Rosalie. I heard something slam on the table and jumped a bit, looking to the left to see asshole Edward sitting down between Emmett and a just as surprised looking Ben with a scowl on his face. Just the sight of him pissed me off all over again and, deciding at that moment I needed a refill, I scooted the chair back from the table roughly, snatched my cup from the table and stormed across the seating area to the drink machines.
"Stupid fucking boy," I grumbled to myself, slamming my cup against the lever for water and watching it fill intently. How dare he! He missed his tutoring appointment, probably because he was too busy ordering MORE ridiculously overpriced articles of clothing, yet he had the audacity to be an asshole to me...for no reason!
I was snapped out of my internal rant by the feel of water cascading down my hand and forearm. I cursed and pulled the cup away from the machine, passed the cup to my other hand and sipped water from the top carefully while shaking my wet hand incessantly.
Typical Bella.
I took a large amount of water from the cup into my mouth—enough to make my cheeks puff out ridiculously—and wiped my hand on my jeans, slowly swallowing small portions of the water.
"Bella!" I heard exclaimed from behind me. It startled me, causing me to choke on the water I was swallowing, which in turn resulted in me spewing the remaining fountain of water in my mouth all over the floor and myself. Once all of the water was sufficiently out of my mouth and my brief coughing fit was under control, I slowly turned around to find a fellow tutor, Eric Yorkie, staring at me incredulously. I wiped across my chin with the back of my hand and closed my eyes in an attempt to compose myself.
"Hello, Eric," I replied finally. I was met with silence and opened my eyes to find him still staring at me, slack jawed. I decided at that moment that when I walked back to the table, my gaze would be locked on the floor; if Eric was staring at me like I was a retard, I couldn't imagine how everybody else would be looking at me. I rolled my eyes and sighed in agitation, slammed my cup down on the counter and leaned into it.
"Were you planning on saying anything to me, or was your plan to almost kill me then gawk at me from the start?" I snapped, glaring at him. He shook his head back and forth a few times and grinned sheepishly at me.
"Sorry, Bella. I didn't—I mean, I wasn't trying—err, are you okay?" he stuttered. I sighed and straightened up, brushing my hands over the top of my water-splattered shirt.
"I am, though I can't say the same for my dignity," I mumbled, lowering my hands to my side and slumping slightly.
"What are you doing?" he asked. I stared blankly at him, blinking a few times, then looked side to side.
"Um...eating?"
"Oh! Yeah, me too. I'm just waiting for my garden burger to finish," he replied, pointing in back of him to the special order counter. I nodded, praying that his stupid garden burger would hurry up so I could hurry back to my table before someone came out to clean up my mess.
"So, Bella," he started. I looked up at him and saw him doing something weird with his eyebrows. He had a mischievous glint in his eye and smirked, and I groaned internally.
Oh, shit. I know where this is heading.
"What?" I croaked out like a fucking idiot, as if it were really on a need-to-know basis.
"What are you doing this weekend?" he asked, flipping his hair out of his eyes with a jerk of his head.
"I'm not too sure, Eric. It's only Tuesday," I replied, grabbing my water off the counter and looking behind him, praying for the stupid little red basket to appear.
"Cool. Well, if you want, we could..."
Please, for the love of all that is holy...
As if it were a godsend, a basket with a garden burger slid across the counter, and I rejoiced silently.
"I think it's done!" I exclaimed, smiling brightly as he stopped mid-sentence. He looked behind him and saw the basket, grabbed it and turned back towards me, smiling hugely.
"Thanks. So, like I was saying—"
"Sorry, Eric, but I have to get back to my friends. They're probably wondering what's taking me so long. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" I started walking away quickly—actually, damn near running would be a better choice of words—before he had a chance to reply, and found myself back at the table in no time. I exhaled heavily and plopped down in my seat, not bothering to scoot it back to the table, and rested my head on the back of the chair.
"What the hell happened to you?" I heard Rose ask.
"Yorkie almost caused me to choke to death, and then I managed to dodge yet another very awkward date invitation," I replied, never taking my gaze off the ceiling. Rosalie snorted and Angela patted my shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she said in a highly amused tone. I rolled my head to the left and smirked at her.
"Yeah, you sure sound like it. You should feel my pain, Angie; you had to deal with it all last year." She cringed and I chuckled lightly, straightening up in my seat.
"I finally had to tell him I had a boyfriend who didn't appreciate the advances. He always asks me why he never sees my boyfriend," she added thoughtfully.
"Followed by the oh-so-original, 'if you were my girlfriend, I'd never make you come to or leave work alone', I'm sure," I snorted. She grinned and nodded, chuckling lightly.
"You are absolutely correct."
"I can't believe Yorkie's trying to play us. He's probably just trying to get to you through me. Maybe if we had someone come in and say he was your boyfriend, he'd leave us both alone."
"That's a good idea," Rose piped in. "I'm sure Ben wouldn't mind playing the part, would you, Ben?"
"Rosalie, please!" Angela whispered harshly while blushing profusely.
"What? It's just a thought," Rose replied, shrugging. I looked between Angela and Ben—who at this point were both the exact same color—and barked out a laugh. Angela nudged me with her elbow and I grinned, sighing contentedly.
"So, Ben, you've been pretty silent," I said. Ben looked up with raised eyebrows and paused mid-chew, looking between Angela and me before resuming his chewing. "Tell us about yourself," I pressed. He swallowed and licked his lips, put his fork down and placed his hands on top of the table.
"Um...well, I'm from Phoenix," he started.
"So am I! What district were you in?"
"Arcadia," he replied, visibly relaxing. "What about you?"
"SoMo. Not exactly an area you richy, stuck-up folk travel to," I teased with a wink. He chuckled and shook his head.
"That's sort of presumptuous, don't you think?" Fuckward sneered. I narrowed my eyes and leaned forward.
"Why don't you just shut your fucking pie hole and mind your own business?" I hissed back. "I was obviously joking with him, not that it's any of your concern. I don't recall anybody asking your opinion on our—" I motioned between Ben and myself "—conversation."
"Alright," he started, slamming his palm down on the table. "I've had about enough of your shi—" Emmett slapped a hand over his mouth, effectively cutting him off. I grinned smugly, entirely entertained by the fact that the bitch ass across from me was squirming in his chair, with his protests being muffled by Emmett's large hand.
"Ugh! Gross, man," Emmett suddenly exclaimed, wiping his hand on Edward's shirt. "That was highly unnecessary."
"Your filthy hand over my mouth was highly unnecessary, you dick," Edward scowled.
"ANYway, Ben," I emphasized, shooting a quick glare towards dumb shit then looking back to Ben, "what are you majoring in?"
"Biology. Specifically, Cell and Molecular Biology."
"Interesting. What are you planning on doing with that?"
"Forensic DNA Analysis is my goal, but we'll see what I can get when the time comes," he shrugged, taking a drink from his cup.
"Too much Science for me," I replied, scrunching up my nose. "That's going to take you forever." Out of the corner of my eye I could see Emmett and Edward whispering back and forth, both with slight frowns on their faces. I chose to ignore it, though. I couldn't have cared less what they were talking about.
"It would have, but I basically busted my ass and completed most of the Sciences between my senior year and now, so, I'm doing alright," he nodded, smiling slightly. "So did Edward," he added. "That's how we met." I chose to ignore the last statement and grinned.
"Jeez, brainiac. You sound like Angela, over here, with her Calculus," I said, motioning towards her with my head. She blushed and looked down, pushing up her glasses. "She's a Physics major." The whispering between Edward and Emmett was becoming seemingly more loud and harsh, but I attempted to ignore it, still, figuring it'd calm down shortly.
"Ouch," he said, looking at Angela. "I'm taking Physics II right now, and it's a pain in my ass. I don't get how anybody could want to major in that, but then again, I'm sure a lot of people don't understand why I'd want to analyze DNA for a living," he smirked. "What's your concentration?" Angela smiled and cleared her throat, straightening in her seat.
"Astrophysics," she replied. I snickered internally, seeing her relax and become more confident talking to him within seconds.
"What's that?" he asked, leaning towards her over the table and seeming very interested in what she was about the explain. The whispering was only getting louder, and it was thoroughly beginning to annoy me. When Angela started going into an in-depth explanation of what Astrophysics was, and I was starting to lose track of what she was saying because the whispering was so loud, I put my foot down.
"I'm sorry, Angela, hold on a minute. Excuse me," I shouted at the two men across from me with a very annoyed look playing on my face. They both instantly quieted and looked at me, mouths hanging slightly open. "If you two want to be rude and gossip back and forth like women, excluding everybody else from your conversation, that's fine. However, you're making it pretty fucking difficult for anybody else to converse, so if you aren't going to join in, or have a conversation we can all be a part of, kindly get the fuck out, or shut up." Rosalie snorted and Emmett closed his mouth, looking shocked and slightly amused at my outburst, but Edward looked as annoyed as I felt.
"How about you take your own damn advice, shut your pie hole and mind your own damn business," he growled. "Or better yet, how about I shove my dick in your—OW! What the fuck, man?" he screeched, hunching over and glaring at Emmett.
"Bella is a lady, Edward. Watch your mouth," Emmett said, giving him a disapproving look.
"Yeah, she sure sounds like one," he scoffed, yelping when Emmett smacked him in the back of the head.
"Thank you, Emmett," I said, smiling angelically at him and glaring at Edward. Emmett laughed loudly, patting Edward on the back a little too hard—or not hard enough, in my opinion—a few times. Edward glared at him and shoved his arm away.
"Alright, heathens, I think we should go. Almost everybody is gone and the lady clearing the carts is giving us a serious stink eye," Rosalie said, pushing her seat out and standing up. We all hummed in agreement and stood up simultaneously. I grabbed my bag, unzipped it to take my sweater out, and closed it back up. I shrugged the sweater on, zipping it in the front before slipping the straps of my bag over my shoulders and grabbing my tray. I followed behind everyone, walking to the conveyor belt on the right where dirty trays were placed, and set it down.
"Why don't you all come up to our room?" Emmett suggested as we walked towards the exit. "It's still early; we can play Dance Dance Revolution on Wii!" I cringed and heard Rosalie laugh loudly.
"I don't think it's such a good idea for Bella to play that game," she said.
"Aw, why not?" Emmett asked, pouting. We all filed out the door and came to a stop, forming a loose circle and facing eachother.
"I'm a magnet for disaster. Something in your room, along with one of my bones, will probably end up broken or damaged at the very least if I play that game," I replied. Emmett laughed and ruffled my hair. I groaned and smacked his hand away, smoothing it down and tightening my pony tail.
"Little Miss Perfect has a fault; who knew?" Edward snorted, rolling his eyes. I was about to tell him where he could shove his probable 3-inch dick when Angela, obviously sensing my arising anger, stepped in.
"Yeah, sure! That sounds like fun, doesn't it, Bella?" she asked, smiling and looking at me with wide eyes—a silent plea to keep my temper under control. I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply through my nose and exhaled out of my mouth a few times then opened my eyes when I felt my anger was slightly subdued.
"Actually, it feels pretty nice outside. I think I'll go for a walk," I said as we began walking the short distance towards the Towers.
"Bella," Emmett whined, stressing the last syllable.
"Emmett," I replied, teasingly, stopping once again in front of the doors. "I'll make it up there eventually, I'm sure. Give me your room number."
"1350," he replied with a nod.
"Here, give me your backpack. I'll take it up so you don't have to walk around with it," Rosalie offered, holding out her hand. I shrugged it off and handed it over, thanking her.
"Alright," I smiled and nodded. "If you're ready to leave before I make it up there, Ang, just call me, okay?" She nodded and rubbed my upper arm, smiling sympathetically at me. I shrugged and half-smiled, saying my temporary goodbyes to everyone and continuing up the slight hill while they walked inside.
I tried to clear my brain for the first few minutes of my walk; deep breaths in, exhaling slowly, and repeating to motions. When I'd calmed down significantly I looked around the area lit by rows of lamp posts and noticed I was already at the Student Services Building. It wasn't quite far enough, so I continued along the narrow pathway between the Student Health Center and Burk Hall, towards the bookstore. My mind began reeling as I thought back to the dinner fiasco.
What the fuck was doucheward's problem? I had every rhyme and reason to be annoyed with him; he'd wasted my time, and my energy by not showing up. It was a hell of a fucking hike to the front of the school, especially when it was for no reason. He, on the other hand, had absolutely no legitimate reason to be a total dick to me. And the nerve he had! I'm not stupid; I knew what he was about to say before Emmett cut him off by injuring him. It was along the lines of what Rose told Jessica earlier in the day, and while the idea of his dick in or around my mouth wasn't exactly appalling, under the circumstances, it was pretty fucking inappropriate. I didn't appreciate it.
"Well fuck him, and his dick!" I exclaimed out loud. Upon realization that I'd practically shouted that to absolutely nobody, I quickly surveyed the premises, looking for anybody in the vicinity. I was in front of the bookstore by that point, though, so there were a few people giving me strange looks. I concluded that five people witnessing my seemingly schizophrenic outburst versus fifty was endurable, though, and continued walking toward the quad area slightly embarrassed.
"It is San Francisco," I reasoned with myself, mumbling aloud, again. "It's not like that was the first or last outburst they'll witness."
"Or the weirdest," a male voice added from behind me. I whirled around, clutching my heart, and inhaled sharply. I recognized the face instantly, though, and relaxed, releasing the breath I was holding. I hunched over, resting my hands on my knees, and started hyperventilating slightly.
"Sorry, sorry," he said, grimacing. "I didn't think it would scare you that much. Are you okay?"
I held up a finger, closing my eyes and fighting to regain composure and normal, even breathing. Once I calmed down, I stood upright, exhaled deeply and smacked his arm.
"Dammit, Jasper. Don't you know you shouldn't sneak up on a girl who's walking in the dark alone?"
"Yes, but I didn't think that applied to girls that shout profanities about a guy and his dick when they're alone, on school grounds," he replied, smirking slightly.
I'd met Jasper not too long after I met Rosalie. I had walked into Towers one day for my shift and saw her verbally abusing a guy who didn't seem to pay any mind to what she was saying. I'd scolded her mid-rant, and apologized profusely to the guy, who seemed highly amused. Rose then told me where I could shove my lecture, and informed me that the guy was her "idiot brother"—her twin, to be exact. We'd hit it off just as easily as Rose and I had, and he'd found a place in my heart just as quick as Rose had as well.
"Yeah, yeah," I replied, rolling my eyes. "What are you up to?"
"Just got out of class," he replied, lifting his book and binder for emphasis. "What about you? I'm assuming your lack of school necessities means that isn't the case for you."
"Your roommate is a prick, and I needed to get away from him." He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"Which one? I didn't know you knew either of them."
"Dickward," I stated simply, shrugging. "And I didn't know either of them until today."
"Really? I figured you would have said Emmett. He can be kind of...overbearing...sometimes."
"Nah, Emmett's cool," I replied, sighing.
"So, what'd Edward do to piss you off, then?"
"He—do you want to walk with me for a little bit?" I asked, motioning towards the other end of the quad. He nodded and we walked side by side through the massive, circular space.
"Well, first, he totally ditched the tutoring session he had scheduled with me, which annoyed me enough considering he was the fifth person in a row to do that to me," I ranted. "Then, when I had to work in Towers earlier, he had this package of ridiculously overpriced clothes, and he had all the time in the world to come and pick THAT up, but he couldn't bother to make an appearance at the tutoring session he scheduled? That's fucking stupid!" I screeched, flailing my arms. Jasper pressed his hand against my arm, lowering it.
"Calm down, Bella. Breathe," he teased. I huffed and furrowed my eyebrows.
"I'm not even finished! Then, I got dragged to the DC with him, and Emmett and Rose and the like, and he was a complete asshole! He almost told me he was going to shove his dick in my mouth to shut me up, Jasper. His penis. In my mouth. And I just met him today. He is vile."
"What the fuck? Are you serious?" he asked incredulously. I nodded matter-of-factly. "Well, the package was Alice's doing, I know that much. I don't know about the tutoring thing, though. He never mentioned that to me. All the rest, though...wow. I mean, that really, really doesn't sound like him, Bells."
"Well apparently, that's the version of him I get. Lucky me," I scoffed. "Who's Alice?" I questioned, looking up at him.
"Alice is...Alice," he said, laughing lightly and shaking his head. "She's...she's pretty amazing. More specifically, though, she's his best friend. She goes to the Art Institute and is majoring in fashion, so she's constantly buying him designer clothes. She does it to Emmett, too—she's his sister—but not as much as Edward. She says that Emmett can hold his own when it comes to dressing himself, but Edward is a lost cause." He chuckled and shook his head, a faint smile playing on his lips as he sighed contentedly.
"Uh oh," I said, nudging him as a smirk crept onto my face.
"What?" he asked, looking down at me with a smile still on his lips.
"I know that look; that's a look I've never seen on your face. You like her, don't you?" I asked in awe. His lips twitched and he turned his head back, facing forward, and I could tell even in the crap lighting that he was blushing.
"Aw, Jazz, you're blushing!" I exclaimed, reaching up to pinch his cheek.
"Shut up!" he laughed, swatting my hand away. I slowed my walking to a stop and he stopped as well, staring at me questioningly.
"Come on," I said, nodding my head back towards the dorms. "Lets go join the party at your place, and you can tell me all about her." He smiled shook the hair out of his eyes, falling in to step next to me again. I linked my arm through his as we started our trek back to the Towers.
"Well, she's short. Shorter than you, even, and I didn't think that was possible," he teased, winking at me.
"Hey! Five-foot-four is perfectly average, thank you. It's not my fault you and your friends are freaks, and fucking tall as Sasquatch."
"Sure, sure," he said, smirking. "She's got crazy, short, spiky black hair, and she's always ridiculously energetic. But more than that, she's got a good heart, and she does everything and anything she possibly can for the people she cares about. I've never met anybody like her."
"Aw, Jasper. That's sweet," I said, sighing and patting his arm. "So..." I trailed off.
"So, what?"
"So, have you asked her out?"
"No!" he shrieked, his voice cracking slightly. I snorted out a laugh and looked at him incredulously.
"Why the hell not?"
"There's so many reasons that it just...wouldn't be a good idea," he sighed, scratching his neck.
"Which is basically another way of saying you're just too chicken shit to do it," I retorted.
"No. Well, not really. Okay, maybe a little, but it's still true! I mean, I live with her brother and her best friend. They're both real protective of her."
"So? They're your friends too; they know you enough to know you wouldn't harm her."
"That's pretty irrelevant when it comes down to it," he sighed. "Plus, I don't even know if she feels the same. It's so hard to tell with her; she's so loving with everybody." He huffed and I could tell he was getting frustrated, which was completely out of the norm for Jasper. He was always the calm one; the one who calmed everybody else down.
"Relax, Jazz," I said, rubbing his forearm soothingly. "I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. She would be a goddamn fool not to want you back. You're pretty much perfect," I said with a smile, bumping into him slightly.
"Aw, shucks," he teased, nudging me back. I looked around and realized we were already walking alongside the Towers. I tensed up as an automatic reaction, knowing I was going to have to face the dick wad in a matter of minutes. Jasper held the first door open for me then swiped his ID card, opening the automatic doors. He seemed to sense my tension, and threw his arm across my shoulders as we walked towards the elevators.
"Don't worry. I'll put him in place if he starts anything," he said, winking and pressing the up button.
"What time is it?" I asked as the doors opened and we walked inside. He pressed the button for the 13th floor and the doors closed.
"Uh," he started, pulling his phone out of his pocket and flipping it open. "7:30." I nodded, leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes, trying to focus on anything but the moving elevator that was reaching the destination far too fast for my liking. I heard a ding and opened my eyes, seeing the doors open.
"Come on," he said, but I stayed still. "Come on," he drawled, grabbing my wrist and pulling me out of the elevator. I groaned, but complied, dragging my feet on the ground and following behind him as he turned to the left and walked all the way down the hall. He fished his keys out of his pocket when we reached the door and shoved the long, gold key in the lock, turning it and pushing open the door. I followed in behind him, stepping aside so the door could slam shut and instantly I was hit by the raucous noise from the living room.
I peered around the corner and saw Emmett flailing around like a complete idiot on that damn DDR mat, with a goofy grin on his face and his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth. I burst into hysterics, leaning against the wall for support, gasping for breath.
"Aw, man!" I heard Emmett whine. "You messed me up, Bella! I was so close to a perfect score."
"Sorry," I managed in between breaths, looking up at him. "You just looked fucking ridiculous." I burst into hysterics again at the mental image.
"Just for that, I'm making you play against me." I stopped laughing immediately and looked at him wide-eyed, which made everybody else in the room laugh.
"I don't think so," I said, shaking my head.
"This isn't negotiable," he said, stepping off his mat and bending down to retrieve a box from under the small entertainment center. "Come on, get over here." He opened the box and pulled out the mat, unfolded it and laid it on the ground next to the one he was using.
"Alright, but it's your funeral," I said, walking over to him. He restarted the game console and grabbed the other remote, hooking an additional piece into it.
"I can take you. No worries," he said, grinning.
"You haven't been subjected to the wrath that is Bella's clumsiness," Jasper piped in. "She single-handedly took down a line-up of belly-dancers just by trying to get to the bathroom, once. It was like a freak domino effect." I turned around and glared at him, blushing as I remembered the disaster that was dinner at a local Moroccan restaurant. He and Rose laughed, obviously replaying the event in their minds, and I grunted.
"Have you ever played this game?" Emmett asked, messing around with the remote before handing it over to me.
"Briefly," I replied, taking it from him. "Not on Wii, though."
"Well, it's basically the same. Only difference, really, is that you have to use your hands when you see the diamonds. If it's on the left side, you move your left hand, if it's on the right, you move your right hand." I nodded, understanding at least that much. "Alright, pick your character," he said, choosing his instantly. I moved my remote around, but I couldn't get it where I wanted it to go; the pointer kept veering too far in the opposite direction of where I needed it be.
"Dammit!" I grunted, furrowing my eyebrows. "How the hell do I do this?" Emmett snorted and motioned for me to hand over the remote, asking me what character I wanted and selecting it for me effortlessly before handing it back. The image on the TV shifted to read the name of the game briefly before the start screen came up, showing the characters.
"Alright, baby. It's on!" he howled, stepping onto his mat. I cringed and did the same, praying silently for minimal injury as the music started.
"Disco inferno? Really, Emmett?" He grinned and shrugged, leaning forward in what I assumed to be his starting stance. The arrows started coming and as soon as they lit up, he was bouncing around like an asshole again. I was trying desperately to pay attention to my character, shifting my gaze between the screen and my mat and stiffly moving my feet back and forth, side to side while twitching my hands when the diamonds showed up. I heard everybody cackling behind us, cheering us on.
"I can't believe she hasn't tripped yet!" I heard Angela exclaim through her laughter.
"Hey!" I exclaimed, still desperately trying to concentrate. "Shut the fuck u—shit!" I yelled as my right foot somehow got caught behind my left heel. I felt myself falling over and clenched my eyes shut, waiting for the nightmare to begin; I could only hope that nothing of value was destroyed.
I felt myself fall into Emmett's side. He yelped in surprise, and lost his balance, causing us both to topple over. I heard another voice yell out and a crash, but we were sprawled out on the floor before I had a chance to see who and what else was affected by my incessant clumsiness. I groaned and sat up, looking around to see Ben, Emmett, and Edward—he'd been so silent, I'd forgotten he was even in the room—staring at me with their jaws hanging open. That didn't surprise me, considering they'd never witnessed my capabilities. Angela was hunched over in hysterics, her hands cupping her mouth, Rose had a huge, knowing grin playing on her face, and Jasper—wait, where the hell was Jasper?
"Get off of me, fucking Judas!" I heard him yell, though it was slightly muffled. Emmett snapped out of his trance and looked side to side before rolling over to reveal Jasper sprawled out, gasping for air on the ground.
"Shit, Jasper, are you okay?" I asked, scrambling to my knees and crawling over to him frantically.
"I'm fine," he huffed, groaning as he sat up. "I can't say I'll be so lucky the next time he falls on top of me, though. Jesus, Em, how much do you fucking weigh?" he asked, rubbing his chest.
"195 pounds of pure muscle, baby," he grinned, flexing his arms. I stood up and held my hand out to Jasper, helping him up when he grabbed it.
"Maybe next time you'll listen," I scolded, turning to Emmett and frowning.
"No way! That was the best thing I've ever experienced!" he chortled, standing up and plopping down on the sofa next to a still-awe-stricken Edward. I rolled my eyes and sat on the arm of Rosalie's chair.
It was silent for a few minutes, then out of nowhere I heard snickering. I looked to the right and saw Edward shaking with laughter that was growing louder by the second, until he was outright guffawing. Everybody turned to stare at him incredulously, not understanding what the hell he was laughing about since nothing had been said.
"I can't—she just...toppled, and, and Em—Jazz—slow...motion—crashed!" he howled, smacking his hands together upright then pushing them down a full ninety-degrees to the right. I narrowed my eyes at him and huffed.
"It wasn't that fucking funny," I grunted.
"The hell it wasn't!" he shouted through his laughter. After 30 seconds of continuous, annoying laughter, I was done.
"That's it, I'm leaving," I said, standing up and looking around for my backpack.
"Oh, please. I'm sure you're plenty used to people laughing at you," he snickered, a huge grin still on his face.
"Fuck you," I hissed, thoroughly pissed off.
"I already said I don't do Bipolar, but thanks," he scoffed. I whirled around to face him, narrowing my eyes and slowly inching towards him with my finger pointed in his direction.
"I'm about 10 seconds away from shoving that up your ass, so keep talkin', cock sucker," I threatened, pointing behind his head to the long, thick, metal rod holding up the lamp. Before he had a chance to respond, Angela was out of her seat and dragging me away by my arm.
"Okay, I think it's time to go, now," she shouted, leaving me in the hallway next to the door and walking to the open closet to grab my bag.
"Here," she said, thrusting it at me and whirling me around by my shoulders. I grabbed the handle on the door and threw it open, storming into the hallway. "Bye, everybody. It was nice to meet you all," she shouted as she came into the hall behind me, holding the door open slightly.
"Only two of you!" I shouted as the door started closing. There were a chorus of goodbye's as the door slammed shut, and I stomped down the hall towards the elevators. There were people coming out of one, and I rushed past them, not caring if they were staring at me like I was a lunatic.
"Bella," Angela started once we were inside and on our way down.
"Not now," I growled. She nodded and silently stepped out of the elevator once it reached the main floor with me trudging behind closely, a scowl etched on my face.
We walked from the Towers to the apartment in complete silence, with me fuming internally and her allowing me to, but once the front door closed she didn't spare a second before the interrogation began.
"Okay, what the hell was that?" she demanded as I made my way towards the couch.
"Can I sit down first, please? Christ," I muttered, plopping down on the couch and frowning at the blank screen on the TV.
"Alright, you're sitting down. Spill it."
I sighed, kicked off my shoes and brought my knees to my chest as she sat on the other end of the couch, facing me.
"There's nothing to spill. He's an asshole, and he pissed me off," I stated simply with a shrug.
"That much was obvious, Bella. I didn't even know you knew him," she said skeptically.
"I don't," I mumbled, picking at the couch.
"Then how can you dislike him so much already?"
"Why are you so keen on defending him?" I snapped, narrowing my eyes at her.
"I'm not, I'm just trying to understand. And don't get cross with me, I didn't do anything," she scolded. I sighed and leaned my head against the back of the couch.
"Sorry," I mumbled, rolling my head to the left to look at her. She smirked and rolled her eyes, tilting her head to the side.
"It's fine. Now, what the hell did he do to piss you off so bad?"
"He's the asshole that skipped out on the tutoring session earlier," I huffed, crossing my arms. There was silence for a few seconds before I heard Angela laughing quietly. "What the hell is so funny?" I growled, glaring at her.
"He didn't skip out on you, Bella. Even if he had have, though, what do you care? People always skip out on you, and you didn't seem too upset when you left."
"Yeah, sure he didn't. And I wasn't pissed off until I got to Towers and saw his fancy $500 sweater and jeans combo package. I mean, who the fuck spends that much on a sweater and jeans?!" I screeched, exasperated all over again. "Assholes who like to waste money and other peoples' time. Assholes, by the name of Edward Cullen."
At some point I'd apparently begun talking to myself, forgetting Angela was even in the room while I seethed quietly until she snorted out a laugh.
"What?"
"He didn't skip out, Bella. He came into the office not too long after you left to fix his schedule because someone—and it wasn't me!—messed it up during registration, then decided to change it without telling him."
Oh. Shit.
"Well, If he hadn't have been so lazy and actually taken care of it earlier, this wouldn't have even been a problem!" I argued, refusing to admit defeat.
"He had a class, Bella, not that it even matters. At least he's serious enough about getting tutored to come in and fix it in the first place. Wasn't that the initial problem?"
"I—no, well, kind of, but—"
Shit. I got nothin'.
"Bella! You're being irrational, what the hell is wrong with you?" she asked incredulously.
"I'm a girl! I'm allowed to be irrational!" I shouted, standing up and throwing my arms in the air.
"Okay, crazy, I think you need to turn in for the night," she said, standing up. "Sleep it off; you'll be over it in the morning." She patted my upper arm and turned me around, shoving me towards the hallway and to my room. I obliged, knowing she was right, and walked into my room, flicking the light switch that turned my bedside lamp on and shutting the door.
Truthfully, I didn't really know why I was so pissed. Well, besides the obvious fact that he was a complete dick. Okay, so maybe I did. I was pissed because I had made an assumption based off of clothes—who does that?—and a gorgeous face. I was pissed off at myself, but I would have rather acted pissed off at him. I knew I was being irrational, but I hated admitting that I was wrong. I didn't want to admit or accept that I was wrong, especially since the realization that I'd glowered at a complete stranger all afternoon for absolutely no reason was setting in.
I groaned loudly and flopped face first onto my bed, laying there in silence for a few minutes. I sighed into the comforter and crawled back on my bed, standing up and unbuttoning my jeans. I slid them off and crawled into bed, pulling up the covers and wiggling around to get comfortable. I groaned, realizing I forgot to turn the light off. I didn't feel like getting up so I reached my arm over and turned the lamp off, leaving the switch flipped up on the wall. The red numbers from the alarm clock shone brightly in the pitch black of my room.
9:05 PM; earlier than I normally would go to sleep, but at that moment, I didn't really really care. Despising someone unfairly was extremely exhausting. I rolled onto my stomach and folded my arms under my pillow, reveling in the cool feel of it on my warm skin.
"Damn you for being so fine, Assward," I mumbled into my pillow. Maybe if he had have dressed stupid and had a huge beard I wouldn't have been so irrational. I definitely still would have been annoyed, but he could have saved us both a lot of grief by just being a little bit ugly. "Yeah," I agreed out loud with my thoughts through a yawn. "It's still his fault."
I closed my eyes, snuggling into my pillow and sighed contentedly before falling quickly into a deep slumber.
My eyes fluttered open slowly as my alarm clock blared. I groaned and reached over slowly, smacking my hand on top of it blindly, trying to turn it off. Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to make a clock sound like twenty geese were honking in your ear to wake you up? I would have liked to meet him, so I could have kicked him in the nuts for such a stupid idea.
I buried my face into the pillow and groaned. It was 11 in the morning; I shouldn't have been so tired still, especially considering how early I'd fallen asleep the night before. I sighed and rolled onto my side, throwing my legs over the side of the bed and sitting up. I stretched and yawned, scratched my stomach and hoisted myself out of bed. I trudged sleepily towards my bedroom door, not bothering to put on any pants since I knew Angela would be on campus already, and opened it, turning to the right and walking through the living room to the kitchen. I went to the cabinets and grabbed a plate, set it on the counter top and walked over to the freezer. There was a folded up piece of paper attached to the clip magnet with a note from Angela written on it:
Bella,
Here's your most recent schedule for the week—yes, another one. I didn't get a chance to give it to you last night, but considering the circumstances, it's probably better that I didn't. The session isn't until 3, though, so you have plenty of time to get your head out of your ass.
Love you!
Ang
I blinked a few times and re-read the last line over and over again. Get my head out of my ass? She thought my head was up my ass?
"Well good morning to you, too," I grunted, unfolding the paper. I scanned the print for Wednesday and thanked the higher power that there was only one session scheduled for the day.
Until, of course, I saw the name of the person I was supposed to tutor.
"Oh, come on! I mean, really? Is this your idea of a fucking joke?" I shouted, waving the paper in the air and looking at the ceiling. I wasn't sure what I was expecting to happen, but all I got in return from my rant was silence, and gratitude on my part that I only lived with one person who was already gone.
I sighed and threw the paper on the counter next to the fridge, went back to the freezer and pulled out a hot pocket. I unwrapped it, put it in the little crisper pocket, and shoved it in the microwave, setting it for 2 minutes and pressing start.
I stood next to the microwave with my back against the counter and stared at the offending piece of paper across from me. I understood at that point why Angela had told me to get my head out of my ass. Edward Cullen was my tutee, and, above all of the bullshit, it was my job to tutor him to the best of my abilities. I'd already rationalized that I basically had no reason to hate him—initially, at least—and that, more than likely, his attitude toward me was a direct result of my sudden and seemingly unjustified resentment toward him upon our first meeting.
The microwave beeped, signaling that my hot pocket was finished, and I took it out, setting the plate aside to let it cool before I ate it. I bit my lip and narrowed my eyes in concentration; Angela was right, as usual. I had to figure out some way to make the situation better. Maybe if I was able to explain myself and my actions before our session began later in the day, he'd understand, and we'd be able to start fresh.
I wasn't so sure that would work, though.
"It'll have to do," I muttered, grabbing my plate off the counter and walking into the living room to watch TV.
~º~º~
By 2:30 PM, I was showered, dressed, and ready to head out the door for my tutoring session with Edward. Since it was the only thing I had on my schedule for the afternoon—I was working a night shift at Mary Ward Hall, so I'd be able to go back home before work—I only brought the necessities for the session: a Statistics book and a binder with all the class notes I had when I'd taken the course. I didn't feel like hiking all the way up there, though, so I opted for the lazy route and headed across the street to the shuttle stop in front of the dorms; it would make a stop at the front of the school before heading to the Daly City Bart station.
It pulled up at 2:40, and I climbed on, taking a seat in the right, middle section. There was one stop made in the back of the Stonestown Galleria before the drop off in the front of the campus, and with ten minutes to spare, I climbed off the shuttle and headed into the building, taking the elevator to the third floor and walking down a few corridors until I reached the right room.
"Hey," I said to Angela as I walked through the door. She swiveled in her seat from behind the sign-in desk to look at me and smiled.
"Hey, feeling better?"
"Yes, actually. Thanks for the note," I said, smirking. She grinned and shrugged, placing her elbow on the desk and propping her chin up with her palm. "Is he here?" I asked, slightly afraid of her answer as I reached in my back pocket for my ID card and made my way around the desk.
"No, not yet," she replied, scooting out of my way. "It's four minutes to three, though, so I'm sure he'll be here soon." I nodded and set the book and binder down on the desk and brought up the program to clock in, swiped my card, then stuck it back in my pocket.
"Okay," I said, still nodding, and wiped my hands on my jeans. "I'm gonna get set up, so just send him over when he comes." She nodded in agreement and handed me my paper name tag to place on the table. I grabbed my things, walked out the door and across the hall to the room where the sessions took place. I took an empty table fairly close to the door, but in front of a dry erase board, in case I needed to demonstrate anything. I placed my name tag in the center of the table, along with my book and binder, and sat down, waiting for him to show up. No more than 2 minutes later, he strolled through the door, looking at a piece of paper, then looked up and around. When his gaze landed on me, he paused, then walked forward infinitesimally, eyes narrowing as he turned his focus to my name tag. He looked at his paper, back up at me, then my name tag, and immediately turned on his heel.
I blew out the breath I didn't know I was holding and followed hurriedly out the door after him and into the room Angela occupied.
"Edward, wait, let me—" I started.
"No," he stated simply, shaking his head before turning to Angela. "No, absolutely not. Change this, please."
"I can't," she said, biting her lip and looking between me and Edward.
"What do you mean you can't? My schedule was changed before! Change it again!"
"There's only one other math tutor, and he doesn't have any more openings," Angela said, cringing slightly.
"There has to be something you can do!" he pleaded, gripping the desk so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.
"I'm sorry, Edward, there really isn't. Besides, she's the best math tutor we have. She's your best bet, really," she said, nodding encouragingly. He looked between me and Angela a few times and, realizing he basically didn't have a choice if he wanted help, stood up straight, smoothing out his expression.
"Fine," he said shortly, staring harshly at me and clenching his jaw. "I guess I'll just have to endure it." He turned on his heel and walked past me quickly, leaving me stunned in place.
"Bella, are you okay?" Angela asked, worriedly. I blinked rapidly for a moment, looked at her and nodded once roughly.
"I'm great," I replied, turning on my heel and walking back across the hall and through the door, over to my table, where he was seated with his jaw clenched again.
Rational Bella was out the window, once again. I was willing to explain before, but he wouldn't even listen. That was perfectly fine, though. If that was the way he wanted to play, I'd more than willingly comply.
Chapter End Notes: Thanks for reading, y'all! Make me happy! Review, pleeeeease? :D
P to the S: Does anybody feel like making a banner for me? Haha, I don't really feel like doing it myself, but I'd like one. Let me know if you're interested, or if you whip one up, go ahead and e-mail it to me at
Thanks!