"Now don't tense up like you did last time. Your body will naturally adjust, so don't fight it," Jasper coached.
"And remember, don't be afraid of it. It's big so it'll be easier once you get into a stable position," Emmett encouraged.
Jasper was talking about how my balance would right itself, and Emmett was referring to the longboard that I was straddling.
"I'd feel a lot more comfortable if you didn't make it sound so wrong," I joked, which made Em and Jazz laugh.
We were far enough into the water that it reached Emmett's and Jasper's chests as they flanked me, while I practiced getting into a stable, standing position on the board. They had taken it upon themselves to try to teach me how to surf while Alice and Rose tanned on the beach, but I didn't want to try catching a wave before I was sure I could pop up on the water without falling.
When I told the boys this, Jasper said, "Well, then what you're doing is more along the lines of paddleboarding without a paddle, but we'll go with it."
Unfortunately, it wasn't going as well as we'd hoped it would. I'd already lost count of how many times I'd wiped out, with the welts all over my body and the saltwater in my lungs as souvenirs.
"You're only having so much trouble because you're afraid of falling again," Jasper explained.
In the past the week, I'd learned a lot about Emmett, Jasper, Rose, and Alice. Jasper, who wanted to be a psychologist, was definitely playing the part at the moment.
"Can you blame me?" I joked. "During my last wipeout, I'm pretty sure the people on the island heard the smack as I hit the water."
From the beach we were on, the island was more than a couple of miles away. Even though I was just being dramatic, my last fall had been pretty bad. The entire front of my body still felt sensitive from my belly flop.
After laughing for a few moments and recalling just how bad my fall had been, the boys grew serious. "Come on, Bells," Emmett said firmly. "Get like Nike, and just do it."
"Okay," I said and then steeled myself.
The next time I tried, I managed to pop up onto the board and stay stable. When I didn't fall, I started cheering and doing an understated version of my celebration dance, a mixture of hip wiggling, shoulder shaking, and a variety of hand movements. My dance moves were minimized, but I made the mistake of moving my foot. This threw off my balance and I went careening into the water as the surfboard slipped from underneath me. Even from underwater, I could hear Em and Jazz guffawing loudly in response. I surfaced laughing along with them.
Once the three of us had calmed down, I declared with a giggle, "Okay, I think that's it for today. My ego can't take much more of this."
"Neither can your body," Jasper said, pointing to a rather nasty bruise the size of my palm on my upper thigh and a couple of scratches on my forearms.
"Ugh, everything hurts," I moaned, dull pain throbbing all over my body.
"I can carry you to shore, if you want," Emmett offered.
"Nah, it's fine," I waved him off with a smile. "But thanks for the offer!"
I gave the board to Em and Jazz then made my way back to shore. When Alice and Rose came into view, I saw that they'd set up the large beach umbrella and were lounging in its shade. When they took in my battered body, their eyes grew wide with concern.
"Holy shit," Rose said, her eyes flickering between the bruise on my thigh and the big welt on my stomach from my last wipeout.
Alice stood up and took my hand in hers, examining the small scratches on my forearms. "Jesus, Bella, are you okay?"
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," I said, waving off her concern. "I just really suck at surfing."
"What happened?" Alice blurted, her eyes wide.
"When Em, Jazz, and I were still in shallow water, I tripped on a rock and ended up falling straight through the water to the sand. There were a couple of bigger rocks that scratched me up," I explained while looking at my wounds. "But the welts are from different falls, and I got the bruise when the board flipped during a wipeout. I ended up knocking my thigh against the point of the board. But it doesn't hurt too badly, so it's not a big deal."
"Here," Rose said while handing me a towel. "Dry off while I get the first aid kit from the car."
She got up from the blanket, dusted herself off, and then headed up the beach to the parking lot. I did as I was told, toweling off as best as I could.
"Did you have fun at least?" Alice asked hopefully, and I nodded emphatically.
"Definitely," I said with a big smile.
She motioned for me to sit next to her.
"How was sunbathing?" I asked her as I sat down on the blanket.
"It was relaxing," Alice answered then stretched. "I actually fell asleep for a bit."
I started giggling. When Alice slept, her mouth always fell open and she tended to drool.
"Did Rose take pictures again?" I asked through my chuckles.
"Ugh, you already know she'd never pass up an opportunity to add another picture to her blackmail folder," Alice complained, and I nodded.
Rose was very proud of the amount of blackmail she'd collected on Alice, Emmett, Jasper, and Edward. In the past week, she'd even managed to get a couple of embarrassing pictures of me, which she adamantly refused to get rid of. Emmett assured me that this was one of her ways of expressing that she appreciated me as a friend, but Rose emphasized that she wouldn't hesitate to whip them out if she ever needed to.
"Speak of the devil," I said as Rose appeared next to me with the kit in her hand.
"I'm so flattered!" she said jokingly. "What did I ever do to deserve such high praise?"
I laughed as I said, "Alice and I were just talking about your blackmail collection."
"You mean my pride and joy," she corrected then gently took my forearms in her hands. "Alright, let's disinfect your scratches," she said and then helped apply antibiotic ointment to my forearms.
"There's not much else we can do for the rest of me, huh?" I asked with a fake pout.
"Aww, sorry. Looks like you're just going to have to put on your big girl panties and suck it the hell up," Rose teased me.
I playfully flipped her off as she sat next to Alice. While Rose and Alice talked about a big party that they were supposed to go to, I flopped onto my stomach and rested my head on my arms. Before I knew it, I'd fallen asleep to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach and the sun heating my skin.
I woke up to the sound of Alice and Rose arguing with someone.
"… such an ass, Edward!" Alice all but screeched.
I figured that Edward had come back from whatever he'd been doing with Friday. That wasn't her name. I didn't know what her name was, but neither did Alice and Rose. They had nicknamed Edward's regular companions based on which day of the week he usually saw them. They said it was easier than trying to remember their names, since there were five of them and they weren't worth the brain space.
Edward hadn't hung out with us since Monday, instead choosing to meet up with girl after girl while Alice, Rose, Jasper, Emmett, and I bonded. Rose and Alice started complaining to me about it yesterday, and even Jasper and Emmett seemed like they were uncomfortable with Edward's behavior.
As for myself, a small part of me was disappointed that he'd turned out to be just another asshole who thought it was okay to use women as playthings. Granted, Jasper had told me that Edward didn't really have to do anything to get girls to fall into bed with him. In fact, he said that girls usually approached Edward and he blew most of them off. But still, Edward didn't have to take advantage of their willingness and their feelings for him.
Unknowingly, I'd hoped that my initial judgement of him was wrong. My disappointment made me question whether the way he helped me with Charlie and how well we got along on Monday was just part of a plan to get me into bed with him.
"Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?" Rose demanded. "You've been avoiding us all week."
"Look, Edward, if this is your stupid way of avoiding your feelings for a certain brunette, you need to cut that shit out right now," Alice squeezed out between clenched teeth, sounding angrier and fiercer than I'd ever heard her.
"I just don't want to deal with someone whose massive amount of baggage has turned her into a stone cold bitch," Edward explained, his tone hard.
I tried to avoid flinching, even though I felt like I'd been physically hit. I knew that I hadn't been nice to Edward at first, but I thought we'd gotten past that.
"Shut the fuck up, Edward," Rose said coldly. "You know better than anyone that we all have baggage and how it's affected us."
"And if you tried to get to know Bella a little better, you'd understand just how wrong you are about her," Alice said angrily.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Edward grunted.
"I don't know why we even tried," Alice fumed. "You didn't listen to a single word we said."
"Just let him be the stubborn douchebag he is," Rose said flippantly. "It'll bite him in the ass, anyway."
A few tense moments of silence ensued, and I stayed still, debating what I should do. I wanted to go back to sleep so that I wouldn't have to deal with Edward, but I could feel my skin starting to get sunburnt. Alice decided for me when she reached over to shake my shoulder gently. I made a show of sleepily turning my head in her direction and blinking slowly at her as I stretched my arms.
"Hey," she said, smiling sadly at me. "You're starting to burn. You should probably join Rose and me in the shade, or at least flip over."
"Okay, thanks," I mumbled then moved to lay on my back.
I glanced over at Edward, who was staring at the sand intently. Like he had been for most of the week, he was pretending like I didn't exist. Alice sent him a menacing glare, but he didn't see it. She sighed then checked the time on her phone.
"We've been here for a while," she said. "Do you guys want to head home?"
"Yeah, we can finally show Bella the basement, and we can watch Netflix or something," Rose said then moved to stand up. "I'll just go get Jazz and Em."
"I'll get them," I said, standing up quickly. I didn't really want to get stuck packing everything up with Edward. I went back down to the water, trying to catch a glimpse of Emmett and Jasper. When I spotted them, I yelled their names until they turned around. I waved my arms to let them know to come back to the beach, and they started making their way to me.
A group of teenage boys, who had been tossing a football back and forth before I caught their attention with my actions, started whistling and hollering at me. Instead of saying anything to them or even glancing their way, all I did was lift a single middle finger in the air in their direction. A collective "ooh" ran through the group and immature laughter followed.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw them start shoving each other as they moved in my direction. I stood my ground, raising an eyebrow at them as they got closer. Finally, the group stopped a couple of feet from me, and one of the guys sauntered up to me. His eyes trailed slowly from my feet, stopped at my breasts, and stayed there. I nicknamed him Creep.
"Can I help you?" I asked flatly.
"I hope you can," he said, smirking suggestively. "My boys and I are having a disagreement, and we need you to clear something up. They think you were blowing us off with that finger of yours." He stepped closer to me, his eyes finally meeting mine. "But I think it was an invitation, and I'd love to accept."
Before I could even open my mouth to reply, Edward's voice sounded from behind me. "Like hell it was," he said, moving and angling himself so that he was blocking the asshole's view of me.
"Who the fuck are you? Her boyfriend?" Creep questioned Edward.
"Just a friend," Edward answered.
"Then who are you to keep her from getting with me if she wants to?" he retorted. He directed his next question to me, "Don't you want me, baby?"
"Hell no," I said, the disgust clear in my voice and in my expression.
"You heard her," Edward said firmly. "Now walk away."
"Don't tell me what to do, asshole," Creep said, stepping closer to Edward. Edward was taller, but Creep was about the same build as Edward.
"I'm advising you the best course of action so that you don't end up unconscious, dickhead," Edward retorted menacingly.
"You think you can take me? I fucking dare you to try," he replied, his expression full of aggression.
"You two need to stop this," I said as I maneuvered myself to get in between them.
I was facing Edward, and I gently pressed against his chest, trying to make him step backwards. He didn't budge.
"Please, Edward," I said firmly. His eyes met mine and they softened at whatever they found there. He sighed and took a couple of steps backward.
"Pussy," Creep taunted and Edward whirled around, his arm pulled back and ready to punch the guy in the face.
"Don't!" I warned Edward, pushing against his chest earnestly to keep him from hurting the douchebag. Now I was pissed. I turned around, my expression thunderous even as I held Edward back from getting into a fight.
"Make no mistake, you fucking creep," I spat. "Edward might be able to beat you senseless in a minute, but I'd take you down in a second by kicking you right in the balls. If you'd like to avoid that pain, then you need to leave. Now."
"You should do as she says," Emmett said lowly from behind Creep, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed. Jasper was next to Emmett, mirroring his threatening pose.
He looked between Jasper, Emmett, and Edward for a couple of moments, sizing them up. Then he eyed me and snarled, "You ain't worth shit anyway, bitch."
I rolled my eyes at him. Why did creeps always resort to insults when a girl rejected them? I made a shooing gesture at him and his group, and they slinked away. I huffed then turned to Edward.
"What the hell was that?" I demanded.
His eyes widened. "I was trying to keep that sleazy fucker from harassing you."
"I could've handled it. You just made it worse!" I argued.
"Sorry for giving a shit," Edward said sarcastically.
"Oh, so you give a shit now?" I asked with raised eyebrows. "After you've completely ignored me the past four days? Since I'm a stone cold bitch with a massive amount of baggage?"
Edward was silent.
"You don't get to treat me like that and then pretend like you care when it's convenient for you, Edward," I said and then pushed past him to go back to Alice and Rose. When I reached them, they already had everything packed and were watching me curiously.
"What the hell was that?" Rose queried.
"It was just some creep that I could have handled on my own, but your asshole of a brother made things worse," I said with a shake of my head. I crossed my arms over my chest irately, and Alice wrapped an arm around my waist and started leading me to the car.
I silently fumed. How dare Edward think that he can flip flop between ignoring and insulting me and then acting like he cares about me! What the hell is his problem? I may not have been nice to him at first, but I sure as hell don't deserve to be treated like this.
I was so lost in my mental ranting that I didn't realize Alice had put me in the Jeep with Edward while the rest of our group piled into Rose's car and then sped off.
"Frickin' Alice," I muttered angrily as I yanked my seatbelt down to buckle myself in.
Edward cleared his throat, but I made a show of looking out of the window intently. He sighed heavily.
"I went over there because I saw the way those guys were bothering you," Edward explained. "And then when I heard that creep coming on to you, it pissed me off because it was obvious that he was an asshole."
"I could have handled it," I exploded. "I dealt with guys like that all the time at school."
"Yeah, but-" Edward tried to say, but I cut him off.
"I handled you, didn't I?" I challenged. "In fact, I did such a great job that I made you completely ignore me for half a week because you thought I was a frigid bitch. And I didn't even try."
Edward began, "You know it's rude to eaves-"
"And it's ruder to talk shit about someone when they're two feet away from you, even when you think they're asleep," I snapped.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward flinch. He abruptly pulled the car over to the side of the road and parked.
"I don't think you can park here," I commented, peeking out of the window. "I'm pretty sure this is a red zone."
"We'll only be here for a couple of minutes," Edward waved it off. He turned in his seat to face me, meeting my eyes. "I'm sorry. What I said was stupid." I opened my mouth to say something, but he cut me off before I could even begin. "Jesus Christ, Bella, shut up. Just let me finish," he said exasperatedly, and I smirked, finding his frustration amusing.
He saw my smirk and narrowed his eyes at me, even as his own lips started to curve at the corners. Before I knew it, we were both laughing at ourselves and our situation. Once I was able to stop, I slapped his shoulder, but with no real malice.
"Damn it, why can't I be angrier at you?" I demanded, almost whining.
"Ouch! Fuck, Bella, that hurt!" Edward pouted.
"Oh, stop being a baby," I rolled my eyes. "You deserve a little punishment for being such an ass this week."
"Which I'm trying to apologize for, if you would stop interrupting me," Edward snarked, running his hands through his hair. He took a deep breath then began again, "I'm sorry I was such a dick. I just don't think that I'm good for you."
I raised my eyebrows at him and questioned, "What is that supposed to mean?"
"I'm not a good person," he explained. "You shouldn't be around me and-"
"Stop right there, Edward," I interjected. "Don't use that brooding, self-loathing bullshit as a lame excuse to justify being a jerk. First, it's not cute. Second, I don't believe it for a second. If you were such a terrible person, you wouldn't have helped me with Charlie and when those guys were harassing me. I may hate the way you use girls, but for a quick second on Monday, I actually thought we could get along."
He was silent. I sighed then asserted, "You don't have to tell me why you decided to be an asshole. Just hop off your mood swing and decide whether or not you can handle being my friend, because I refuse to deal with your indecision."
"Okay," Edward said simply.
"Okay," I repeated.
"Okay," Edward nodded then exited the parking spot, resuming our drive back to the dock. He was quiet, so I assumed that he'd decided not to be my friend. Of course it stung a little, but maybe it was for the best.
We were fairly quiet during the rest of the drive, just listening to the radio. A song that I didn't recognize came on, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Edward start to mouth the lyrics. I tried not to be too conspicuous with my staring so he wouldn't stop. By the time the second refrain started, Edward was singing quietly, his voice smooth, rich, and low. I closed my eyes and listened to the soothing tones of his voice, but then I got distracted by the lyrics of the song.
I started thinking out loud, almost ranting. "Okay, this song is super catchy, but it really makes no sense at all. Why can't he feel his face? Is he that drunk or high? I feel like that's a red flag moment, when you should know that you really need to stop. But why is it only when he's with her that he can't feel his face? What if she's poisoning him? I just really think that he should be more concerned than he is, you know?"
Edward started laughing so hard that I was concerned he'd crash the car. He didn't stop laughing until he pulled into the parking space next to Rose's car a few minutes later. I'd only been thinking out loud, so I was a little annoyed that he found my inner musings so hilarious.
When his laughter finally died out, he looked at me with a wide smile on his face. I froze and took in the beauty of his expression as my heart stuttered. I couldn't fight the smile that graced my face, stretching from ear to ear to match his.
"You're so…" he shook his head, his wide eyes searching my face for something.
"Funny, intelligent, beautiful? Take your pick. They all fit," I teased.
He shook his head, smirking. "I was going to say ridiculous," he corrected.
I shrugged then finished for him, "-ly awesome."
Edward sobered quickly, his eyes darkening with intensity. His eyes searched mine, and I looked back at him curiously.
"I don't have the strength to stay away from you anymore," he declared after a moment.
"You know there are ways you could have said 'I want to be your friend' without sounding creepy," I pointed out, smirking.
He rolled his eyes. "Don't make me regret my decision so quickly, Swan," he cautioned playfully.
"Please," I joked. "I'm the best decision you've made in a while, possibly ever."
Without waiting for his reply, I climbed out of the Jeep and found the others waiting for us. Edward followed my lead and exited the car, tossing the keys to Emmett.
"We almost thought you guys killed each other on the way home," Emmett said, grinning widely.
Edward scoffed, "Believe me, I thought about it."
My jaw popped open in indignation, "Hey!"
"She made my apology so difficult, interrupting me over and over and over," he complained to his adoptive siblings.
"Why would I make it easy for you?" I asked with a shrug of my shoulders.
"I don't know, but you could try being nice every once in a while," Edward complained jokingly.
"This is me being nice," I smirked.
Alice interjected before Edward could say anything, "Thank god things are back to normal."
Instead of responding to me like I thought he would, Edward flicked his gaze between his sister and me. A small smile played on his lips as his eyes settled on mine. "Yeah," he said, his eyes bright. "Thank god."
I'm so sorry this took so long! I started it right after I posted chapter 5, but I just couldn't quite make it feel right.
But it's here now! I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think :)
Next up, we have the party, where there will be drinking, dancing, and bad decisions. Since the chapter is already written because it was part of CCPE and I just have to edit, it should be up sooner rather than later, so please follow if you haven't yet! There's so much more to come.
Thank you so much for reading!