Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer. I don't own Bella, Edward, or even David. I DO own a rather extensive baby name book because I enjoy name studies, even though I normally forget the meanings shortly after I read them. I DID order pizza in an Asian country, and YES, it was good! I've never met a soldier who looked like Edward, but I'm always open for new adventures!! ;)
Chapter: 8
"Exposition, Emptiness and an Empath"
{Song: "Gary Noise" - Linus Blanket}
When Edward got back to his room that night, he sank to his bed and laid there, as if he were in a trance. He couldn't believe what he'd nearly done. After having lied there for countless hours, he fished around in his duffle until he found his cell phone. He opened it, and before he could talk himself out of it, he dialed the last phone number he wanted to.
On the third ring, Edward frowned. Maybe this was a really bad idea – and he nearly hung up until a very groggy guy with a southern accent answered on the other side. "Edward, man – do you know what time it is?" Edward smirked. If he was going to do something his cousin was partially to blame for, Jasper was going to be here to suffer any consequences along with him.
"Of course I do, I wanted to be sure you would answer." Edward heard some rude mumbling on the other side, and his smirk turned into a smile. He hadn't really planned on waking up Jasper, he'd forgotten about the time zones...not that he'd really cared enough to look at any clocks before he called his cousin.
Jasper seemed to snap out of it, and realized the one person who never called him was on the other side of a very expensive phone call. It dawned on Edward that Jasper didn't even know where he was, apparently at the same time as Jasper seemed to have an idea of a proper comeback. "Edward, man – stop wallowing. I can feel you through the phone and you're all dead black roses and stuff." Edward rolled his eyes. He didn't believe in Jasper's supposed "Empath" abilities.
"Jasper, look, this really can't be too long..Uh.. Can you get your stupid un-used passport and catch a flight if I have a ticket waiting for you at the counter?" Edward winced, he hadn't left on the best terms with Jasper. He heard a sharp intake of breath on the other side, until he could picture Jasper's own sarcastic smirk. "Oh, now you need me there, is that it? Seriously, insulting my pristine condition passport is low, Edward. Beyond that, you do realize you could have just texted me to be at the airport and I'm there, right?" Edward's shoulders felt much lighter. He had no idea what he would find on the trip that he was planning, and he was beginning to see holes in his previously well-thought plan, yet he didn't really care.
"Jasper. Look, if you don't want to come, you don't have to. I'm just saying this is all your fault, and I ne— er, uh, I don't need to go into this jungle alone, alright?" Edward was scratching the invisible itch at the back of his neck when he heard Jasper's guffaws on the other side. "Yea, yea – blame the messenger. Dude, I'm there – I'll text you my info. Hang up and text me the skinny when it's all ready – I might as well get up and get a shower now so I can pack, thanks a lot. See ya soon." Then, the line went dead. At first, Edward wanted to be angry with Jasper for hanging up on him..until he realized that the battery in his phone had died. He shook his head, and fished around in his bag for the charger.
After he turned his phone off so that it wouldn't be roaming, he plugged it in for the short time that it took to splash some water on his face and change his clothes. Then, Edward headed to the airport to make a flight plan for Jasper. Edward smiled, things were truly simplified so much with air travel since the internet came into everyday life. He had Jasper's e-tickets e-mailed to him, and then went to a coffee shop, where they had a place to plug his phone in to text a message to Jasper. All he had to do now was wait.
And wait..and wait.
It would take Jasper a day to get there, and Edward decided to cut himself off when he finished his fourth cup of coffee. At least his phone was now fully charged, he thought to himself as he rose from his corner seat the farthest from the front windows of the building. As Edward was walking toward the exit, he felt an electric hum telling him either he was about to be struck by lightening, or else Bella was somewhere in the vicinity. His eyes darted in every direction once he stepped outside the door, and the electric hum got stronger.
He finally spotted Bella across the street. She came into view, and then was hidden again with every stride of the guy named Donald..or Darius; whichever. She was laughing, and they were holding hands as they walked down the pavement opposite him. Edward heard himself growl, and felt his hands clench into fists. He tried to tell himself it didn't matter, and Bella wasn't his to stake a claim on like some barbaric caveman; but it didn't work. Bella turned and stopped walking when she saw Edward. She pulled her hand from Daniel's, and ran toward Edward with a smile on her face.
"Edward!" She breathed his name as she was trying to inhale at the same time. "How are you? How is your trip going? You remember David, right? We're headed to meet up with the rest of the group to have some pizza for dinner, do you want to come with us?" Her voice was flippantly polite, but her eyes told a different story. Her eyes were begging, and Edward wanted to laugh at his own insecurities. Of course she hadn't decided to settle for Devon, he wasn't her type. Edward wasn't really sure what her type was, but he was certain Derrick wasn't it.
The longer it took him to answer, the more hopeful Damien seemed to become. Edward's stomach growled, and he smiled at Bella with a smile that he hoped looked sheepish, and not as though he nearly took Dustin's head off of his shoulders. "Silly Bella. You come all the way around the world, just to order a pizza? Are you and your little missionary friends crazy?" Bella shrugged, and jutted her thumb in Darwin's direction. "It was David's idea. He and a few of the other students aren't really enjoying the local fare. I have found for myself, there aren't any variations of cashew chicken I don't like."
Edward smiled at Dennis, and offered Bella his arm as if they had stepped back two hundred years in time. "I didn't have anything else to do until my cousin gets here, so sure.. What's your favourite pizza toppings, Dudley?" Dillon's eyes hardened, and he scowled at Edward. Bella cleared her throat, and shook her head at Edward. Douglas was fuming, when he spoke in a syrupy polite tone. "Edward, my name is David; As in the one who fought the Philistines." Edward tried to act as though he was embarrassed when he apologized for his mistake; then he began to whistle the tune of a song he'd been taught as a child. It wasn't long before Bella was giggling, and singing along with his whistling. David looked like he didn't much care for the song, but he was walking behind Bella and she couldn't see his expression.
"Only a boy named David, only a little sling. Only a boy named David – but he could pray and sing..only a boy named David – only a rippling brook. Only a boy named David, but five little stones he took..."
David announced their arrival at the restaurant a little louder than he needed to, and the singing stopped. Edward smirked at Dagwood as he held the door open for Bella. If that was the way David wanted to play it, Edward felt sorry for him. He wondered vaguely if the poor guy even realized he was in the bottomless pit otherwise known as the "friend-zone" since the first time he met Bella and offered her ice cream as a "We forgot you and left you to find your own way here" consolation prize. No woman would date a guy who left her to her own devices in a foreign country, no matter how much pizza, or ice cream you fed her, Edward was sure.
Once they reached the table of other students who had obviously been waiting for a short while, Edward's suspicions were confirmed. Dilbert didn't have a clue. He would just flounder around until he found another bottomless pit to stumble into. Edward shrugged. It was just as well – Bella and Darrel..The names didn't even go together.
"Bella! We were wondering if you and David got lost or something! Bring on the pizza! Hey! Does anybody else want to go shopping on the way back tonight?" All of the girls raised their hands, and the unidentified girl who had spoken so loudly laughed until she saw Edward standing there, holding out Bella's chair for her. He smiled as he pulled out the chair from another table, and settled it between Darnell and Bella. Bella looked from the unidentified girl to Edward, and back again, before she laughed. "Everyone, this is Edward. Edward, this is everyone. The loud-mouth shop-a-holic is one of my dearest friends, Amy."
Amy's eyes seemed to glaze over momentarily, before she loudly whispered "Bella! He's even hotter than you said!!!" across the table. Edward turned to Bella and smirked as he chuckled to himself. For that bit of information, Edward was willing to buy anything for Amy in the night market they were planning to peruse on the way back to the school. He loudly whispered back to Amy across the table: "Hey, Amy! For that little bit of information, anything in the market short of being an elephant or tiger – it's yours." Amy giggled and clapped her hands as the pizza was served. She looked across at Bella and made a face at her. "Lighten up, Bella – you know we can't buy anything right now anyway; but there's never anything wrong with window shopping!" Edward was confused, were they still talking about shopping in the marketplace?
After David had finished praying over the food, Bella still had her head bowed, and she covered her eyes with her hands. Edward was looking at her with a puzzled expression on his face when she finally placed her left hand politely in her lap, and reached for pizza with her right. She was trying extremely hard to avoid any eye contact, and then nearly dropped her pizza in her lap when he whispered in her left ear. "Bella? Why can you only window-shop?" She shivered as his breath tickled her ear, and then she smiled a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Because, Edward – we all made a vow. While we're still enrolled in the school, we're not allowed to date or court anyone. Some of the students are engaged, but they had to put their relationships on hold while they're here."
First, he was angry; until he realized this meant none of the male students were his competition. Theycould "window shop", but were bound to the same vow. He smiled back at Bella kindly, and whispered in her ear again. "Oh, so this evens the playing field. When do you wear the cap and gown?" Bella elbowed him in the ribs. "It would take 2 years to wear a cap and gown. I'm only here for six months." Edward's eyes danced with amusement. "Oh, so you're all drop-outs before you even begin? That's new." Bella rolled her eyes at him, and put a piece of pizza on the plate in front of him before she answered. "We're not drop outs, a lot of us will most likely end up signing back on for more semesters. I only signed up for one semester because that's all they could spare me at work." Edward sighed and started to eat his pizza. He realized there was so much about Bella he still didn't know yet.
Bella's neck crooked in his direction, and she had a puzzled look on her face. "Edward? Did you say something earlier about your cousin meeting you? I thought you were here to get away from everything?" Edward nearly beat his head on the table. He hadn't meant to let that slip. The last thing he needed to do was introduce his cousin of the same faith to Bella. Out of anyone he'd ever met, he would have to say Jasper was the best possible match for Bella. Then again, Father Jasper hadn't been swayed in all of the twenty-two years of his life. Edward smiled, he saw how this could be worked to his advantage with Bella. "Yea, uh – he's had his passport since he turned nineteen, but he hasn't ever had a chance to use it. After he found out where I was, he wanted to come and join me here. I didn't really have anything going, so I said he could come over and hang out with his older cousin whom he thinks hung the stars." Bella and Amy smiled at each other across the table. Amy was the first to speak. "Edward! Bella said you didn't have any brothers, and that kinda bummed me out – but does your cousin look anything like you?"
Edward laughed and shook his head. "No. That's not really likely, he's adopted. He has blonde hair, and is a civil war re-enactment nerd. Last year, he took a bayonet in the shin. Even my aunt and uncle laughed at him when he came home with the stitches that Uncle Carlisle had to sew up for him on the field as a souvenir." Amy rolled her eyes, and mumbled something about Bella having all the luck. Edward winked at Amy, and quickly added: "Oh, and he's studying to become a minister. He's just a fake soldier on several Saturdays out of the year." Amy winked back. "Oh, in that case – when do we get to meet him?" Edward drank a little of his limeade to keep the girls in suspense a little longer than necessary. "Oh, he's coming in tomorrow on the first flight in. Would you like to meet him, Amy? I could arrange that, before we head off for the mountains to live like the resourceful manly men that we are."
Amy clapped her hands and squealed. Bella shook her head at Edward and told him he didn't know what he'd gotten himself into. Edward shrugged. An introduction between Jasper and Amy would afford him another visit with Bella. He didn't care if he was being unrealistic about things, there was something special about Bella. It was as if around her, a weight was lifted and he could breathe. She was like a drug, and he couldn't get enough of her.
A/N: I realize this story seems to be getting updates slower and slower, as if we're walking uphill...but, siriously – I'm getting ready to embark on my second trip to Asia in a couple of weeks!! Also, I apologize if you get multiple e-mails of this story being updated..I never seem to find my boo-boos until it's been uploaded and updated! ^_^
