Project Team Beta 2013 Writing Challenge

"Take Your Shot"

Challenge Number/Title: PTB #10 (Rules)

Date Posted:3 Mar 2013

Fandom: Twilight

Rating: M/NC17

Genre: AH

Content Descriptors: Comedy/Romance

Character Pairing: Edward/Bella

Disclaimer: SM owns all rights and characters. I'm just toying with their universe. No copyright infringement is intended.

#10 – Rule Me Out

Somewhere in your entry, include a list of five rules your character has broken. All of the rules on your list do not have to be given at the same time, but you must "list or number" the rules off. The rules can be for anything but each rule must be similar in nature to each other.

A/N: Update sooner than expected! Thank you to my PTB betas EdwardsFirstKiss and shouvley for giving this a comb through so that I could update quickly. I am taking on three challenges at once. Hold onto your hats! Writing Challenge trifecta, FTW! Longest chapter yet, as a result. I hope you like!

Take Your Shot

Ch. 10 – Lip Readers and Interrogations

BPOV

The stupid Valentine's dance had turned into a disaster. I should never have disregarded my Moving-to-Forks-Rules-to-Live-By. Rule #1: Own my inner geek girl. I failed on that one as soon as I played dress up with Alice, and it got me locked in a bathroom for over an hour. Plus, I should have stuck with my Chuck Taylors because my feet felt like they were broken after wearing heels all night. Rule #2: Don't get stupid drunk in order to uphold Rule #3: Don't dance. Double fail.

"Where's your date run off to?" someone asked from behind me.

"Huh? Oh, um, I think he just wanted some air," I replied, turning to the unfamiliar voice. It was Carmen. I only knew that because Jasper pointed her out earlier.

Carmen's eyes glinted with malevolence as she said haughtily, "Well, he wouldn't have needed air if he had come with me as planned. Thanks for ruining my last Valentine's dance, New Girl."

Who does she think she is? "I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have come here with you whether I was here or not..." I said confidently. Meanwhile, I had serious doubts. Where is Alice? I was starting to get uncomfortable, and I had a bad feeling that Carmen wanted to escalate the situation. Great, now I've broken Rule #4: Always avoid girl drama.

"Carmen," Rosalie said firmly after appearing from nowhere. I didn't really know her that well, but I was grateful for her presence.

"Ice Princess," Carmen shot back.

"I suggest you go flash your fangs somewhere else, and leave us alone," Rosalie threatened. "Better yet, maybe you could flash Newton your tits and you could end up on 'Girls Gone Wild: Forks High Edition.' I hear he's hosting the after-party, so why don't you take your skank squad and skedaddle." With that, Carmen whipped her hair at us and stalked off clumsily in her too-high stilettos.

"Skedaddle?" I asked with a laugh. "Really, Rosalie?"

"What? It was the most alliterative," she said with a smile. "Don't let her get to you. She's just jealous. Where did Edward go, anyway?"

"I really don't know, and he seemed really pissed at me, but I don't even know why!"

Rosalie clicked her teeth and sighed. "I swear that boy has his head up his ass."

I burst into laughter and explained to her that I considered him an asshat for the first week that I knew him. She then suggested we find Alice because if anyone had a clue as to his whereabouts, it would be his twin sister. We finally found her on the dance floor grinding up on Jasper. Rosalie tapped her impatiently on the shoulder with one hand, while using her other to put her finger in her mouth as she mimed that she was gagging to her brother. Jasper winked at Rosalie while I pulled Alice by the elbow to the edge of the dance floor, explaining to her that Edward had disappeared as we went.

"What do you mean, he left?" she yelled over the music.

"He said, and I quote, 'Why don't you go find Newton, since you really love him and all...'" I told her.

Alice looked more confused than ever. "Why does he think you love Mike?"

"I really have no idea..."

Since Alice was no help, we found Emmett and decided to head back to their house to see if Edward went there. Jasper stayed at the dance, just in case Edward turned up. Thankfully, Alice was able to drive since she had refused Pasty Hands' Punch, and Emmett and I were still pretty sloshed. At least Edward's car's presence in the lot meant that he hadn't tried to drive home. Unfortunately, I had to endure the most awkward car ride ever as Emmett and Rosalie all but got busy in the back of the car. I almost faceplanted on the dashboard when Emmett kicked the back of my seat. I was nearly gored by Rosalie's shoe at some point as well, but I tried my best not to pay them any attention.

We had barely gotten back onto the 101 when I spotted him. Edward was walking through the rain towards his home. With his hand still under Rosalie's shirt, Emmett surfaced for air long enough to roll down the window and yell for his brother to get his ass in the car. However, as soon as Edward saw me in the passenger seat, he said that he'd prefer to walk home.

"Emmett, how much punch did Edward have?" Alice asked.

Emmett straightened and thought for a moment. He said that he knew of at least three cups, but then Rosalie distracted him for a while and Edward was by himself, so it was probably more than that. I thought that I saw Edward drink at least one more while I was trying to get away from Mike.

Alice sighed dramatically and said, "I'll never understand why my idiot brother always wants to go for a walk when he's drunk. Whoa, Bella, what the hell are you doing?" she screeched as I all but jumped from the moving vehicle.

"Gonna talk to 'im," I slurred in a cockney accent. That was a bit odd. The heel of the shoe that Alice gave me got caught on the seat belt as I was getting out and I stumbled out of the car, landing on my hands and knees on the wet pavement. "Ow! Son of a bitch, that hurt!"

"Jesus, Bella! Are you alright?" Edward asked as he helped me up. Hey, he called me 'Bella' again! Once he believed I was fine, though a bit scraped up, Edward distanced himself from me. His behavior hurt me more than the actual fall. To hide my reaction from him, I ran back to the car and changed into my sneakers. Once I was more comfortable, I ran up to him and stared at him for too long without speaking—I didn't know what to say.

Alice was following us slowly in her car, trying to encourage us to get in. Emmett and Rosalie had all but disappeared from view while Edward reaffirmed that he would be walking home. I waved Alice off, but I wasn't sure if I'd be walking with Edward or by myself. If I was smart, I would have just gotten back in the car. But I'm not smart, so I told her to leave.

"Why did you follow me?" he finally asked.

I took in Edward's stern expression and answered, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I don't know what happened back there, but you seemed so angry. I thought it was because of Carmen, but did I do something wrong?"

"You didn't do anything." His comment was so dismissive that I felt my eyes prick with tears. Crap, there goes Rule #5: Don't cry because of a boy. His face softened slightly when he saw that I was getting upset, but he didn't seem any less angry with me.

"Well what was with that Mike comment, then?" I asked, still puzzled and doing my best not to start bawling in front of him. Edward just turned on his heel and kept walking.

We continued walking another block, but I was getting tired from keeping up with him. Apparently, Drunk Edward was a borderline power-walker. His silent treatment was upsetting me even more, so when we neared the library, I chose to sit on a bench to catch my breath while I watched him disappear around the next street corner.

The wind blew, and I shuddered from the chill. I took off my shoes, trying to massage my poor feet back from numbness. I heard footsteps approaching me, thinking that Edward had finally returned to his senses and come back to apologize.

"Hey there," an unfamiliar male voice said to me.

Oh, crap. Where's that pepper spray my dad gave me when I need it? "Um, hello," I replied, putting my shoes back on. I kept my head down, searching the ground for a rock or broken glass, or anything with which I could maim this creep if needed.

"Well, aren't you all dolled up?" he asked lecherously.

I finally looked up at him and recognized him. James. "Uh, yeah. I was just heading back to the dance at Forks High. I think you know my date...Edward Cullen?"

James' eyes momentarily flashed with hatred when I mentioned Edward. He calmed his expression and continued, "Oh, is that so? You must be Bella. Well, I am headed there as well. Want me to walk with you?"

I was getting the serious creeps from this guy. "No, thanks. I was just waiting for Edward. He'll be here in just a minute. No offense, but who invited you to the dance? It's not like you live that close to Forks." I probably should have left it alone, but my curiosity won out.

"Well, my friend Carmen invited me. Do you know her?" he asked with an edge to his voice. I told him that I knew of her, but didn't know her personally.

James continued, "Well, Bella—your name is Bella, right?—she isn't a fan of yours at all. But, hey, at least now I might get some action tonight in the form of angry-get-back-at-my-ex sex. So thanks, for that. See you at the dance, beautiful Bella," he added before finally walking away from me.

I let out a huge breath that I must have been holding, as my adrenaline subsided and the shakes kicked in.

"Why are you sitting down?"

"Bloody hell!" I shrieked. I never even heard Edward come up behind me. Maybe my dad was right about taking some self-defense classes at the station. I was already pretty paranoid but not nearly as perceptive of my surroundings as I thought.

Edward saw James walking off in the distance. "What the hell is he doing here?" he asked angrily. "Are you friends with him now, too?"

Well, that hurt. "No way, that dude gives me the willies. Carmen invited him. I sat down because I was tired, okay? I couldn't keep up with you. Plus, my feet hurt from earlier, and I still feel very wobbly. Fucking Newton," I said angrily.

"Isn't that what you want?"

"Huh?" What is he talking about?

"To fuck Newton," Edward spat.

"What the—why would you think that?"

Edward explained that he saw me talking to Mike at the dance. He said he saw me tell Mike that I loved him and wanted to sleep with him.

I was so angry that I stood up to shout at him. "You are a complete...asshat! I never said anything of the sort!"

"I saw you, Bella. You were walking away from him and you said to yourself, 'I think I have to fuck you tonight.'"

I wracked my brain, trying to come up with a reason for his enormous error. When I finally figured it out, I burst into hysterical laughter until my eyes started watering. I finally asked Edward, "Have you seen the Seinfeld episode with the lip-reader?"

"You mean where she mistakes sweep for sleep?" Edward asked, obviously confused about where I was going with this.

I rehashed, verbatim, what was said during my conversation with Mike. Edward had mistaken "olive juice" for "I love you" and "I think I have to vacuum tonight" for me wanting to sleep with Pasty Hands. His expression as understanding dawned on him was priceless.

"Just so we're clear," he said, "you don't want to sleep with Newton?"

"Definitely not."

"Well, okay then. I'm sorry for getting angry with you over nothing. Would you be interested in going back to the dance, considering we were there less than thirty minutes?"

I smiled at his invitation. "Sure, as long as you don't think it will be a problem with Carmen and James there. I was at the dance a lot longer, just stuck in a bathroom. Thanks for rescuing us, by the way."

Edward looked at his feet as his cheeks flushed. A blushing bloke. How adorable. We turned to walk back towards school, and Edward sent a text to his siblings letting them know of our plans. Since Jasper was still there waiting for us, Alice replied that she had made it home but would be heading back soon. Emmett texted back with an evil-looking emoticon, saying that he would need a little more time. Eww, TMI!

A/N: This chapter continues over the next two, as it was split up from before...