Forks, I Love You
Chapter 7
EPOV
Sorry it took this long for me to update, but I'm here now, so bring it on. Please give me your opinions, it's super important to me!
RPOV
"Jasper, get the fuck up, you smell like shit," I said as I got out of bed. "My room smells of alcohol and stinky man."
Jasper only rolled over with his mouth open and fell asleep again.
I sighed and pinched his upper arm.
"Fuuuuuck, Rose, c'mon. I'm practically dead," he groaned as he rolled over once more, to glare at me.
"Do you deserve to sleep in?" I inquired, returning the glare.
"I guess not," I said sourly, stretching and sitting up against my pillows. I cringed inwardly, knowing they would later smell disgusting. I would ask Grandma to help me get the stench out.
"I'll be getting breakfast, come with. I hope Gran is at one of her friends' house because I will be thoroughly embarrassed if she sees you in this state. It has never been this bad." I chuckled, knowing Gran wouldn't give a fuck.
I went downstairs and read a note Gran had left. In fact, she had gone to her friend Laurent's house. He was a retired unsuccessful french poet, who hated the world. He was a hilarious Grinch and Gran loved him.
I put on the radio on Gran's iPod dock on the counter and cut up some melon and papaya. I don't have a clue how Gran got this amazing tropical fruit here in deserted in rain Forks.
"Smells good, Rose Petals," Jasper walked up and gave me a kiss on the shoulder.
I smiled at him and cocked an eyebrow. "Took a shower? Smells better."
"Why yes I did," he laughed and pulled at one of my spaghetti straps and let it fall against my skin. "Sorry about last night." His eyes seemed to have an air of embarrassment.
"Don't worry, Jazzy, It's just, I don't know, you give me advice and you don't seem to follow it yourself," I answered, catching a glance at him.
"I know, it's illogical, I know," he said, jumping up on the counter. His fingertips patted the edge. "I know how it looks. Fucking other girls while I think about her to get off." He lifted his eyes towards mine.
"Your body moved on but not your head, man," I answered, putting down the knife to keep having the conversation.
Jasper sighed and looked up at the ceiling, "it seems so stupid."
"Your feelings aren't stupid, Jasper." I said blatantly.
"I know all that Rose, but, she keeps giving me innuendos that I can't stop thinking about. Yesterday I was drunk and all, but I know she was crying. I made her cry."
I looked at Jasper and he seemed extremely sad. I hated seeing him this way. Alice was such a stupid ass hole. Why couldn't she make up her fucking mind?
"What happened?" I walked towards Jasper and put my hand on his knee to comfort him.
Jasper was quiet for some seconds and he spilled it out.
"We had sex, Rosalie. We finally had sex. And I told her I loved her, and all she ever said during the action was 'fuck me harder, Jasper'. 'I love your cock, Jasper'. 'It's so big, Jasper'. Not once did she hear what I said to her. I had sex with her on James' bed. I came on James' bed. If he ever knew he would kill me. I can't say that I made love to her, because I didn't. I only had sex with her, because I know she doesn't love me".
I remained silent. Jasper just needed to get it out.
"It's so fucking stupid, how that bitch has a hold of me. It's so fucking childish. And that asshole, fuck, I mean, he's an asshole Rose. She told me last night that he hits her while they're having sex. He makes her bleed. What the hell is that, Rosalie?" He yelled, his hands in the air exclaiming the incredulity.
He finally looked at me, with tears falling down his face. I hated that Jasper underestimated or punished himself this way.
"My god, Jasper, can't you see what Alice is?" I asked, gripping his knee even harder than I was before.
He merely shrugged, wiping his tears away with his bare arm.
"She's a mess, Jasper, and you aren't her savior. You need to understand that. You can't fix Alice Brandon. She is unfixable. She will never be okay. I know her, and I was friends with her before you even had the guts to speak to her."
"I've heard that speech over and over again, Rose Petals," he said, not wanting to hear what he had heard before. He wanted something new and he knew that I hadn't wanted to tell him that piece of information for so long.
I sighed and he urged me with his knee to spill it out.
"I swore to Alice I would never say a word," I looked at Jasper right in the eye and he shivered.
"You know I won't betray your trust, Rose." His eyes begged me.
"Alice will always be fucked up, Jazz, whatever happens in her life. You can't change her, only therapy can." I said and waited for a few seconds.
"Who hurt her?" Jasper asked, his blue eyes staring right into mine.
I bit my lip and closed my eyes. "I…"
"Tell me, Rosalie. Tell me why she is so fucked up," Jasper roared.
I finally got the guts to say it. "Her dad beat her up in one of his drunken rages. He almost killed her." And I felt how Jasper crashed into my arms.
Jasper had cried himself to sleep when he found out. I couldn't imagine what he felt; to find out the girl you unconditionally loved was beaten to pieces. I had no idea what he was feeling. All I knew was that I had to stick by him.
His head lay on my lap as I combed his hair with my fingers. Even though he was asleep, he didn't loosen his grip on my legs.
I heard a rumbling sound from the front door and knew it was Gran. She walked in and smiled when she saw the scene. I smiled at her and extender my hand. She took it and sat down next me on the couch.
"He seems extremely sad," Gran said, stroking one of the tear marks spread over Jasper's cheek.
"He is, Gran. I wish I could take it all away," I answered, stroking his hair again.
"Help him take it all away," she softly answered. I noticed something was on Gran's mind; her lips were pursed.
"Honey, I have something to tell you." Her small blue eyes looked directly into mine. I guess today was confession day. I nodded my head to urge her to spitting it out.
"Your mother called this morning. She wants to talk to you." Gran said staring directly at me. "I told her that I would tell you."
My eyes glassed over. "If you are saying that she wants me to call her back, it isn't happening, Gran." I looked down at Jasper and squeezed his upper arm. He moved a little bit, it wasn't long before he would wake up.
"I know. I'm just sending off the message," she answered. Then she smiled and looked down at Jasper. "I wish you two would fall in love."
"Gran that is ridiculous!" I laughed and I felt Jasper's groan. He was waking up.
He lifted his body off my legs and smiled with his eyes closed. "Hi Gran."
"Well hello there sir. You look quite bright today," she laughed softly; she got up and planted a huge kiss on Jasper's forehead. "Whatever is getting to you, say fuck you, to it. I'm heading for a little nap, sweet bits."
"Have a nice nap, Gran," Jasper answered as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands. "How long was I out?"
"About an hour," I answered, reaching for the remote control and turning on the T.V. I looked over at him and smiled.
I laughed and stretched his legs off the couch. "Well what a fucking evening and morning. I am just the queen of drama."
I made a sour face at him, just because he was.
"Petals, what was up with you and 'New Kid' last night? I haven't seen you like that since Emmett," Jasper said, scratching his head and looking over at me.
I shrugged it off, even though I was trying extremely hard not to show it. "What are you talking about? There's nothing there."
"Fuck, Rosalie, stop that shit." I noticed I activated Jasper's temper. Not good.
I looked over at him aggravated, "and what I am I supposedly stopping?" I arched an eyebrow.
"Your goddamn wall. You help others but you won't help yourself."
"Touché." I heard Jasper sigh and sighed myself. He was going to find out somehow.
"Look, it happened a long time ago, when I lived in Seattle…" I stopped for a few seconds.
He crossed his arms and waited for me to continue. I merely looked down at my lap and grabbed a string of my hair. Looking over at him I stretched my legs as well.
"I don't really want to talk about this. It happened a long time ago, it's history."
"I don't fucking give a goose's ass," Jasper said crossly, smiling at his last two words. I did too.
"Let's put it this way. We were best friends and his stupid girlfriend made us drift apart. It was about the time when Daddy got sick, but Edward didn't really know my father was ill. I never really told him, but the point is, he would've known if he wouldn't have stopped talking to me," I answered, even though I knew it was barely even the truth.
Jasper cocked an eyebrow and said, "what a douche. Why did he let his girlfriend get in the middle of things?"
"Because he was getting laid Jasper. Why would he spend time with this stupid virgin friend if he could use his time getting easy sex? It seems perfectly 'teenagey' to me," I answered. I was impressed with how well I was lying.
Jasper obviously knew that I wasn't saying all the truth.
I guess my lying was worth shit.
"And that's why you still hold a grudge?" Jasper didn't seem to believe me. "Well, Petals, that's a pretty stupid grudge." He smiled.
I appreciated that he didn't push any further. He was right; I hoped I could tell him sooner or later.
EPOV
I had to get my mind OFF of her.
My father knew better than to be asking questions, so he left me alone for the day.
I had already downloaded over a thousand songs, so I couldn't listen to any more music. Plus all the lyrics reminded me of her.
Literally, I was sitting on my computer chair, throwing a tennis ball up in the air and waiting for it to come down. What a sad, sad Sunday. I definitely needed to get out.
Under the mess of the piles of laundry on my bedroom floor, I found my keys. I scrambled out my bedroom door, closing it and putting on my favorite leather jacket.
"Esme?" I lifted my voice a notch or two. "I'm heading out!"
I was already in the living room when I saw by the corner of my eye her thin silhouette. She started to come down the spiral staircase. "Where are you going, Edward?"
"Bookstore, in Port Angeles," I said slowly. I hope she could take the hint that I wanted to be alone. "Want me to get you something?"
She stopped halfway on the stairs. I have to give it to my father, she was outstanding beautiful. As long as I had known her, she had had long wavy hair, but I don't know what in hell made her cut into a short bob. She had really thick, but esthetic eyebrows hovering over her dark blue eyes. Her nose was a bit round but delicate. Her cherry lips were by far her best feature, exactly made for her ivory skin. She was not as tall as I was, but pretty close. She had a Sports Illustrated figure. By far, she was one of the prettiest women I knew, including famous and regular ones.
"We are running out of bagels honey, could you stop at the grocery store?" she asked smiling at me, getting the point that I needed extra time out.
"That's fine, see you in a bit," I smiled, turned on my heel and walked out.
The trip was pretty quick to Port Angeles, since I was triplicating the speed limit. I kept thinking about her.
Rosalie was practically the only girl I could relate to on a mental level. The only girl I spoke to about things that bothered me. She was the only one of my friends who knew what happened to my mom. And never had she said a word of what I confided in her.
Rosalie, the girl who complicated everything. She was the girl who complicated things for me. A complex mix of simplicity, that's exactly what she was.
Images of her at our old school in Seattle kept passing in my mind. Her long blonde hair gushing over her shoulders, her loud laughter filling the room, her pursing lips whenever she would get mad at me for beating her at a board game.
Her icy blue eyes, inviting always as she looked at me. That ginger smile that always reminded me of Esme, pure and happy. Her lips were always inviting but in a different way.
I stopped, impeding my mind to go further than it should.
I was relieved I didn't get lost. I had never driven from Forks before, only from Seattle.
I merely looked over at the 'Welcome to Port Angeles' road sign. I kept driving and in no time at all I was already in the city. I knew my way around thanks to Esme. We would come down because she would get sick of the city.
Since I was little, I had a thing for bookstores, mainly for the regular and independent ones. You find extremely rare things in those places.
I parked my car in front of "The Bookie Joint" and got out. I practically ran into the store, seeking refuge in all the yellow pages and the scent of uncovered stories.
I knew I wanted to read some sort of philosophical shit to inspire me a little bit. My emotions had been a bit uneasy since I got to Forks. I looked down the bookshelf catching names like Tolstoy and Schopenhauer. I smiled, since I was in the right place. I kneeled down and took "Crime and Punishment" off the shelf.
I opened the book and took in the smell of the old pages. My knees were unbending when I heard a voice.
"What are you doing here, Cullen?" It had a low-key tone, which seemed oddly familiar.
My body whipped around and saw Bella Swan holding a pair of books in her hand with a smirk spread on her lips.
I noticed that she had a white Grateful Dead tank top on. It played well with her skin, her collarbone and a bit of abdomen showing. Her tight dark blue jeans hung to her thighs ending with a pair of big black Nike tennis. She still had her pink nail polish on her fingers. Her hair hung over her breasts, impeding me to catch a quick glimpse. Her hair was actually one of her best assets. She had incredible sexy hair, if we could give it a name it was sex hair. Black Ray bans lay on the top of her head. She didn't have one ounce of make up and still looked really good.
During the whole week I had been going to school we hadn't talked that much in class. At lunch we ate with different people. I did notice that she had a good taste in rock music at least. I had seen a Led Zeppelin shirt or two and an Interpol one she took to the party in La Push. Not that many girls with a good sense of music.
"I like books. So do you?" I looked at her smiling, nodding at her books.
"Yeah, well, at least you have good taste," she answered cocking her head up. She smiled, "got sick of the Forks library"
I walked towards her, "just a little bit, and I have lived here less than you."
"Tell me about it. I'm about to finish that place off," Bella answered placing her two books on the counter. I couldn't help myself. She was buying a copy of "Mrs. Dalloway" from Virginia Woolf and "Anna Karenina" from Tolstoy.
"I guess you have taste in books," I said to her, gazing from her books to her face.
She blushed a little bit and snickered. "Of course I have good taste."
I barely smiled, only joking, when I heard her voice again. "How are you adjusting to Forks?"
"I guess okay, it's not like it's too hectic here," I laughed, looking directly into her brown eyes.
She blushed and looked down at her shoes, "well, I hope it doesn't get too boring for you. You're a up town guy." Her smile was splendid.
"Yeah, I never thought I would end up living in Forks," I answered her with disbelief.
"It's not that horrid," she said, catching on to my tone. "Hey, um, Edward, would you like to go have coffee?"
She kind of caught me by surprise. "Uhm, I guess." I pressed my tongue against my lip ring. Her eyes diverted to my mouth and back to my eyes in a second.
"We can walk, it's a bit hidden, it has jazz music and stuff like that," she said enthusiastically.
"Coffee and jazz music is a plus," I said starting to walk alongside Bella. "Thought you are more into "The Grateful Dead". My finger started poking at her shoulder.
"I like a lot of things," Bella said, looking at me, and then she winked. "But eh, I guess you are the type of guy who says they like 'good rock' and only listens to The Beatles."
I stopped in my tracks and looked at her with a sly grin. "You know me wrong, Bella."
This was weird; she wasn't hard to talk to. Not like the rest of the human population.
She looked over at me and passed her hand through her tousled hair, instantly reminding me that her hair is complete sex.
"Well then, maybe over coffee," she answered and kept her way. I had to keep up.
"So, I guess you aren't from Forks?" I inquired. I noticed for the first time she had a pretty unique profile.
"I'm from Arizona," Bella answered, looking up at me. I snickered.
"Yeah, I know, it doesn't seem so." She rolled her eyes and punched my shoulder. "You're not to tan yourself, man".
"I have a good excuse, I've lived my whole life in Washington," I answered her.
"My paleness is one of my virtues," she laughed and tossed her hair back, then looked back at em and said, "see your friends with Jasper."
"Yeah, he's a pretty chill dude," Bella smiled. "He's an awesome guitarist. Just awesome."
"I didn't know he played, do you?" I inquired, playing with my lip ring.
"I play, if that's what you ask, I'm really bad though," she chuckled and pull a string of hair behind her ear. "Someday I'll be good enough to play in front of real people."
"Wow, then you must be horrid," I winked and she laughed. "So where is th-"
Bella's phone started to ring, and she looked up at me and made a face, "sorry. Hey Alice, you are here too? Let's go down to "The Riff's Spot"! No… I'm with Edward. Okay, see you there."
I noticed she still lingered on the phone and blushed.
"Some friends will be joining us," she said, "do you mind?"
I got the feeling by the way she was twirling her hair and blushing that she might have the wrong idea.
"Uhm, yeah, the more people I get to know in Forks the better," I answered smiling.
I noticed her lower lipped trembled almost unnoticeably.
"Yeah sure," Bella said, pulling more hair behind her hair.
We started to walk uphill and Bella kept looking away from me. Maybe I was too harsh on the way I gave my point. I took a heavy breath and put my hands in the pockets of my jacket.
"So… how long have you and Alice been friends?" I asked, trying not to make her feel bad.
"Uhm, probably since middle school. We've always been good friends," she answered smiling. "I know she's super hyper but she's really cool when you talk to her."
Bella practically read my mind.
"Probably, I barely spoke to you guys at the party," I said.
"You barely spoke to anyone. Were you there for like five minutes?" Bella asked me teasing.
I laughed and pulled my hands out of my pockets, "yeah, I really didn't know anyone there. Jasper told me about the party and wasn't there when I got there."
Bella got serious for a few seconds, "he got really drunk and left early."
I was about to keep going on with conversation when we both heard, "Bellaaaaaa!" Definitely Alice.
Bella looked ahead and ran to hug her friend. Two guys were standing behind Alice, one was lanky and the other one was really buff. I slowly walked up while Bella said hello to everyone.
"Guys this is Edward. Emmett you know Edward. Edward this is James and well you know Alice," she said smiling, standing in the middle of us.
"Yo Edward, finally wee hang dude," Emmett was the first to give me hand. I took it, and he pulled me into an embrace.
"You were at the party last night right?" James said, handing me his hand. I shook it but remembered Jasper's reaction to this guy.
"Yeah, I was with Jasper and Rosalie," I said and noticed Alice got really stiff. There was a quick exchange of looks between her and Bella. Emmett looked to the sky; I'm not sure if that was intended or he's just weird.
"You guys took off early, man, shit got harder," James said, he was fighting against the wind putting his hair in his face.
"Hi, Edward, haven't seen you much at all," Alice said quietly, I guess trying to make a good impression.
"I don't see you guys at school much, though," I said, trying to keep up conversation.
"Yeah, I know. Everyone's talking about you but we never see you," Alice said, her finger pointing in between Emmett, Bella and she. "Whom do you sit with?"
"Jazz," I answered.
James abruptly sort of interrupted the conversation, "let's get going guys, I need my fancy coffee."
Everyone looked over at James who had already started walking up. I looked over at Bella who was staring at Alice. Emmett was now gazing at the traffic.
"Sorry, he's sort of in a bad mood," Alice answered Bella's looks. "Let's go guys." She ran up and looped her arm with James'. It sort of looked like they were bickering and then I remembered Jasper leaning on Alice during the party. Maybe that's what was bothering James, and I sort of mentioned him in the conversation, fuck. Way to go.
"Whatever, man, I want my Banana Frappuccino asap," Emmett said smiling.
I got a good vibe from Emmett, normally he should be superbly intimidating, but I guess it was the curly brown hair and big dimples that gave him away.
"Ugh, Emmett, please stop with verbalizing text message language. I hate it when you do that!" Bella said laughing, messing with her hair.
"Don't care," Emmett answered chuckling while Bella punched him in the arm.
"Fuck you, you aren't invited to coffee sessions anymore," she laughed, putting her Ray-Bans on.
Emmett laughed and put his arm around Bella and hugged her. "You know you love me, 'Cow Bells', just imagine your coffee breaks with only you and James man." He jokingly cringed. "He's worse than bad coffee."
I snorted. Who in fucking hell talks like that?
Emmett finally let go of Bella and looked at me. "He has better days I promise."
"He seems older than us though," I answered.
"He doesn't go to school man, he's a dropout," Bella answered smiling. I guess she didn't want me to have a bad impression of James, as if I cared about the guy.
"Oh," I answered, not knowing what to add.
"Nice intro Bella, anything but awkward," Emmett answered for me, laughing while so.
We walked up and I saw a huge sign, 'The Riff's Spot', with a saxophone next to the letters in cursive. Emmett held the door for all of us to go through.
I instantly recognized Jaleel Shaw's sax solo; if they had Jaleel Shaw playing, then it was a really good spot. I couldn't help but smile seeing Bella walking to the rhythm of the music. James was still in a bad mood I guess, because he kept whispering angrily with Alice.
The place was full of green and brown, except the tables and chairs were golden. We all sat down by a large window with a view of the bay.
I noticed again that Bella was still bobbing her head to the music; I guess she really liked jazz music.
"So Edward, liking Forks parties much?" James asked. I saw that Alice sort of nudged him in the ribs lightly.
"They're chill, I guess, I've only been to one." God, conversation is hard.
"You barely stayed though," Bella repeated, looking up at me. She was sitting right next to me. I could tell she had freckles over her nose and she had black strands of hair in her now up-do.
"Was one enough my man?" Emmett said, reading the menu. "I mean if you went to James's place, that's the most hardcore you'll get."
"It was alright," I answered curtly.
"Uhm, you should totally get the caramel flavor cappuccino, it's really good," Alice said; I guess she noticed my awkwardness.
"I guess I will," I answered smiling at her.
In front of me sat Alice, practically jumping in her seat now that the waiter had seen us. Her shiny black hair cut into a bob, was all over the place. She was really pretty, now that I looked at her more carefully. Her dark blue eyes scanned the menu, and when she finally decided, lowered the menu and let me see those light pink lips. Yeah, pretty, not my type though.
James ordered next, pulling his long brown hair into a ponytail. His green eyes didn't even look at the waiter while he asked for a vanilla frappe. I rather liked his green and black plaid long sleeve shirt he was wearing. His Ray Bans were about to fall off his head.
Emmett sat next to me on the left, finally happy to be ordering his fancy Frappuccino. He had an exuberating smile plastered on his face.
Bella, on my other side, took her time on the menu, her dark brown eyes darting all over the menu. This time I noticed her lips were rather unique; red from the cold, her upper lip was rather thin, her cupid's brown rather enunciated. Her lower lip was full, and she was biting it lightly while she made her decision. At last, she opted for a chai tea.
I didn't want to keep anyone waiting, and even though I didn't want it exactly, I ordered a regular cappuccino.
"What are you doing next weekend?" Emmett asked me, still playing with the menu, even though the waiter had left.
"Uhm, I don't have plans," I laughed and scratched the back of me head. Wow I sound really lame. But fuck, who plans their next weekend on a Sunday?
"Well, a whole lot of people are camping at First Beach next weekend, you should totally come!" Bella said, smiling. "Right, Alice?"
"Ugh, I'm missing that one," James said, looking down at Alice. She looked up at him and pouted her lips.
"Sorry, I have plans with my friends up in Olympia," James answered looking at her and then looked over at the bay. Yeah, I guess last night's party was a total failure between those two.
"Man it'll be cool," Emmett said, looking over at James with a face, "loads of beer." He lifted his hands to make a point. "Loads man, never ending beer. And pot, but beeeeeer."
"Sounds cool man, I'm in," I said and looked over at Bella who smiled widely at me.
"So Cullen," Emmett said, keeping up the talk, "we have no classes together, that's lame man."
I didn't really know what to say, "uhm, yeah I know, sucks."
"I can call you Cullen right," he asked, putting down the menu.
Where the fuck was my coffee. I thought I was only going to have to make conversation with Bella.
"Yeah, McCarty," I said, feeling a little bit more comfortable, now that Emmett was taking reign of the conversation.
Emmett chuckled and scratched his head. "So Cullen, have any ladies gotten your eye? Loads to choose from here in Forks." I don't know if he was kidding or actually being serious about it.
"Uhm, actually no," I said kind of nervous.
"Oh c'mon man, loads of hot chicks," Emmett said winking. "How about Stanley at the partaaaay," he laughed, "she couldn't get off of you, man."
I widened my eyes and made exaggerated movements with my hands, "most definitely not Stanley. Not fucking ever."
Alice started laughing and Bella just rolled her eyes at her.
"God, Alice, leave Stanley alone," she said, moving her hair again. I guess the girl has a tick.
"Sorry, he hangs on everyone, Bella," Alice replied covering her mouth in laughter, "it's not new."
Bella rolled her eyes again, smirking, and turned to me, "so apart from Stanley, no girls at all Cullen?"
"Well, the only girl I've really hung out with is Rosalie Hale," I answered, her name tingling on my tongue.
Emmett stared at me dumbfounded. I was rather impressed with how far his jaw was hanging. Alice sort of adjusted herself in her seat. James didn't even look at me, and Bella pretended to look out the window.
What the fuck?
"I mean, I knew her from Seattle," I said, rather worried I bombed the conversation and the whole getting together for coffee.
Thankfully the waiter came and handed out everyone's cup. He was rather quick for my taste.
"Your friends with Rosalie?" Emmett asked me, finally closing his jaw.
I guess Rose didn't have that many friends in Forks.
"Uhm, well, it's been years since I've seen her. I was surprised to see her here," I answered, feeling quite nervous. I decided not to offer any more information.
Alice kept looking around the table. "Rose is chill. She's a case though."
Definitely not friends with Rosalie.
Emmett started fidgeting his fingers and took a deep gulp out of his frappe. "Yeah, Alice, she is chill."
"She's cool, I mean she's stand offish, but she's pretty nice when you get to know her," Bella chimed in, mixing her tea with the spoon on the side.
I decided to play the innocent card, "yeah, she's cool. We were at the party last night." I felt Alice's eyes on me and noticed they darted over at Emmett and Bella. James was quite oblivious to our conversation. I rather envied him for a few seconds.
Nobody spoke for a few seconds and Emmett spoke, thank God, "so Bella, I saw your dad today…"
I sort of muted out the rest of the conversation, nodding when I needed to and laughed in the right moments. To be real, I only laughed at Emmett and Bella. Alice sort of wandered off with James in their own conversation. We probably had been there for an hour or two. I chimed in when I felt the need of saying something, probably because I had been quiet for a long time.
Bella looked at her watch and grimaced a bit, "I should get going, my dad's going to be mad I'm late."
Emmett looked at his watch and looked back at her, "dude, it's five. Grounded?"
Bella laughed lightly, "yeah, ditched again. I better get going."
Emmett asked for the check and the waiter came immediately, utterly staring at Bella. "That would be fifteen dollars and twenty cents." He smiled at her, but she seemed rather oblivious to her effects on the guy.
I took out my two dollars and Bella added it to the change Alice and James had left; they had long left the table, probably to go fuck. The waiter left, with a sad face, probably caused by Bella's ignorance.
"Poor guy, Bella, you didn't even look at him dude, harsh," Emmett said, putting his arm on her shoulder as I held the door.
"What guy?" Bella asked, looking up at Emmett who had about two heads on her.
"The waiter, man," I said, laughing, "I even felt the pain."
Bella turned crimson and ducked her face, "god, sorry, I didn't even see him." She lifted her head and looked at us, "was he cute?"
Emmett crossed his arms and gave her a sour look, "is pimply your type, Cow Bells?" I had to laugh at that.
Bella just smiled and rolled her eyes at Emmett. She leaned up and gave him a hug. "See you at school, Emmett, go home."
"Whatever Cow Bells, don't make the cop rant, we need ya at that camp!" Emmett said, messing Bella's hair up. He turned to me and stretched out his hand. "Cullen, nice hanging out with ya man," he said, "don't ditch the camp, it's only for us cool people, us with swag."
"I won't, McCarty," I said taking his hand and getting pulled into an embrace. I guess Emmett is a hugger.
He finally let go of me, "my car's this way, see you two pretty ladies at school." And with that, he turned on his heel and started to walk up the street.
"I parked my car at the bookstore, so I go this way," she said, turning her body towards the opposite direction.
"I did too, walk with you," I answered smiling, probably because the conversation was a bit easier.
We started out in silence, and rarely was that comfortable, but with Bella and her being a stranger, it seemed rather okay. It was getting kind of chilly and I noticed she started rubbing her hands. I felt kind of bad not giving my jacket.
"Are you cold?" I asked, and started to pull of my jacket.
"No, I'm okay, really," she said, pulling her hands up to stop me. "We're only a few blocks away."
I shrugged, "your loss to wear the jacket of Edward Cullen."
Bella smirked, "yeah, big loss for me. I think I'll pass." She laughed a little more.
"Didn't think you were the hardcore type," I smirked, waiting for her reaction.
"You barely know me, Cullen," she said, parting her lips with the last word and arched one of her eyebrows. "I'm pretty hardcore." She smiled.
"I should get to know you a little better," I said. Wait fuck, what was I doing?
"Then you should sit at our table for lunch tomorrow," Bella answered, still rubbing her fingers.
Why the fuck was I flirting with Bella?
Fuck, how do I get out of this?
"Yeah, I'll look for you," I answered shortly. Jesus, what was I doing?
Bella stopped short, and when I looked up at her, I noticed the bookstore sign behind. Thank god.
She walked over to a big red truck, practically only held together by the tires. She turned over her shoulder, "see you at school, Cullen."
I pointed at her truck, in disbelief that she owned such a bomb, "This is your car?"
"Yeah," Bella answered taking a step back and looking at her truck. "I think it suites me."
I thought she needed a ladder to get into the vehicle, damn, the girl was tiny. Her engine squealed like a dying hyena. I chuckled when I saw her blushed face, when she finally noticed everyone on the street was staring at her.
"Sorry," she mouthed at me and pulled out of the parking space. I waved and took out my keys. I practically jumped into the seat and listened to my engine purr, au contraire to Bella's monster truck.
I remained still for a moment. It had been a long time since I sort of flirted at all. I hadn't had any girls in a long time. I always tried flirting before and it never worked, I guess because at the end I always remembered what I talked about with Rosalie. And that would pretty much fuck up any action with other girls.
I kept the house music for distraction on my way back to Forks. Why was Rosalie even here? Out of all places, she was here. It had to be fricken luck, or destiny, who knows. All I knew is that I was here and so was she.
I closed my eyes for a second, and saw her face, her beautiful face. I could almost feel her, my fingers tingling at her image, wanting to touch her, smell her.
Imagining Rosalie and our prior conversations deleted any doubts of my intent of flirting with Bella away. As I drove into Forks, I turned off the cd, since I decided to let Rose's image flood my head.
For an instant, I remembered Esme and her bagels. So I drove to the Wal-Mart, so I was thoroughly impressed that Forks even had one. I pulled into the parking lot and was not surprised that everyone was here. Guess it's a reunion central.
I ran in since it started to rain. I walked through the aisles looking for the bread section. I sort of jogged and noticed some girls I recognized from school staring at me in awe. I smirked and kept going my way. I looked up and saw the bread sign and turned into the aisle.
I froze when I saw a long pair of legs and a glorious blonde mane, standing in front of the brownie mixes. It had to be her.
"Uhm, Rosalie?" I asked, my hands trembling in excitement.
The blonde locks swished as her face revealed, icy blue eyes looking directly in mine, but I twisted inside when her lips turned into a frown.
"Edward."
"Can we talk?" I was so nervous I could barely speak. I hadn't moved since I saw her.
"In Wal-Mart?" She snickered, looking down the aisle. Her eyes darted back at me.
"No, but somewhere," I answered, scratching my hair and pulling at my lip ring.
"Rose Petals, huuuurry uuuuuuup," I heard a familiar singing voice coming from behind us. "Oh hi, New Kid. Sup Edward?"
I turned around and pretended to smile, "hi Jazz."
It could've been worse I guess, at least it was someone that I liked.
"Buying magic brownies too?" He walked by me and stood in the middle of Rosalie and I.
"Um, no, actually bagels for my step mom," I answered, looking at Rosalie. Her eyes were still on me.
"Well," Jasper said, arching an eyebrow and cocking his head while he looked at us, "care to join magic brownie time?" This time he looked at Rosalie.
She arched an eyebrow, her eyes still on me. It was this time or never.
"Yes."