Summer Girl
Chapter Nine

Hello, Upper East Siders!

Remember that shit that's been going down? Well, it's still making the fall.

B had a mad revelation at her parents' dinner party: E was her best childhood friend. Who knew! Well, my lovelies, E did.

What other secrets could he have hiding up his sleeve?

N doesn't seem too worried about her cousin—she's more worried about his potential girlfriend. What could she possibly want from little B?

I'll be watching.

xoxo,

Gossip Girl

I shivered, rubbing my hands together in an effort to warm them up. I had been sitting on the huge cement Jackson Memorial Park sign for at least half an hour, waiting for Nessie to show up.

What the hell was taking her so long? If she didn't show up in the next five minutes, I decided, I was calling the car to take me back to my nice, heated apartment.

"How does it feel to be stood up?" a voice from behind me inquired. I jumped up and spun around to see Nessie standing there wearing a puffy red winter jacket and ripped jeans.

"Nessie? Where the hell have you been?"

"Around." She flipped her red curls over her shoulder, walking toward me.

"Well, I've been out here freezing my ass off. Can we get to the point?"

"I'm trying," she said, spinning a set of keys around her gloved finger. "I asked you, how does it feel to be stood up?"

"I don't understand."

Nessie snorted. "Of course you don't. Do you remember when you told Edward you would meet him here?"

I felt my cheeks turn even redder than they already had been. "Yes," I muttered.

"I thought I'd give you a taste of your own medicine."

"All right, you did it. Point proven. I'm a bitch. Is that all?" I asked, pissed off.

"No, that's not all," she said calmly. "There are a few things you need to hear about Edward."

I stared at her, waiting for her to continue. She stared back, seemingly expecting me to say something. When I didn't, she sighed deeply and continued.

"When Edward latches on to something, he gets a bit obsessive. For example, when we were preteens and he was in the city for Christmas, he got a pair of skates as a gift. He loved those things. He always wanted to go out to the rink and skate after that—we spent more time wearing skates than shoes that vacation. When he had to go back to Africa, he cried. They didn't have time to skate in Africa, you see."

I smiled at the thought of young Edward skating, then frowned. "What's your point?"

"My point," Nessie said, "is that you're skating for Edward—except you're worse."

I blinked. "I don't get it."

"No, of course you don't," Nessie sighed out. "I mean, Edward has been obsessed with at least the idea of you all his life. In his eyes, you were his only friend; he didn't make any in Africa, since they moved around a lot. When he got the chance to meet you, his obsession doubled. Then, when he found out he was staying here—well, the obsession is off the charts."

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked, biting my lip. I didn't want to be some ideal version of the Bella Edward knew from when he was little. No matter how much he insisted I hadn't changed at all, I was different now.

"Either you date him or you leave him alone," Nessie said, crossing her arms and giving me a glare.

"What?" I asked stupidly.

"Be his girlfriend or leave him alone," she slowly repeated. "Either he gets to keep you and be obsessed with you all he wants, or he doesn't get to have you and he can move on with his life. No more stringing him along like a puppy on a leash, you get me?"

I nodded. "I get you."

"Good, because I'm fucking freezing." She turned to go and then glanced back at me. "Do you want a ride home or something?"

I shook my head. "No, thanks. I'll be fine."

Nessie shrugged. "Suit yourself." She headed down the sidewalk away from me, disappearing into the crowd of people. I turned in the opposite direction and started walking.

It took me half an hour to walk all the way home, and by the time I got there, my fingers and toes nearing frostbitten status, I wasn't any closer to what I was going to do than I had been when I left the park.

!~!

"She left you standing in the cold for half an hour? That's crazy!" Alice exclaimed.

"Totally not nice," Rose agreed. "And then she told you that you had to date Edward or leave him alone? I think she went out of line, there. It's your business, not hers."

I stared down at my vanilla latte, watching as the foam spun with the circuits of my spoon. We were at Blu's for lunch, and I had just finished telling Alice and Rose what had happened with Nessie.

"See, that's just the thing. It is her business. Edward is her cousin," I pointed out.

"Her cousin, yeah. Why should she be so involved? I hardly talk to most of my cousins," Rosalie countered. Alice nodded her agreement.

"Nessie was Edward's only real friend after he moved to Africa. She was the only one his own age he really got to hang out with, you know?"

"Sure," Alice said. "But, Bella, why are you trying so hard to protect her? She made you stand out in the freezing cold for ages!"

I shrugged. "She was trying to make a point—and she made it."

Alice and Rose stared at me blankly. "I don't understand," Alice finally said.

"I guess you wouldn't," I replied, taking a sip of my latte.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose asked indignantly.

My answer was cut off by hands on my shoulders and a chipper "Hello, ladies." I turned in my seat to see Edward smiling down at us.

"Hey, Edward," I said, grinning at him. "What's up?"

"I wanted to ask you something, actually. Will you come over here?"

"Sure." I got up and followed him over to an empty space near the door, shooting a glance back at Alice and Rose, who didn't return it as they usually did. I frowned.

"Sorry for dragging you away from your friends," Edward said, fidgeting nervously with the bottom of his tie. I grabbed his hands and moved them to his side.

"You seem to have gotten the bloodstains out of that," I said without thinking.

He smirked. "Not really. I had to get new ones."

I winced. "Sorry. My fault."

"It's not a problem, Bella."

"Right. So, what did you want to ask me?"

"Will you go skating at the Rockefeller with me on Friday?"

I blinked, remembering the story Nessie had told me. "Sure," I answered without really thinking.

Edward flashed his million dollar smile at me. "Great! I'll pick you up at eight, then?"

"Okay."

He turned to go back to the group of friends he'd come to Blu's with, and I walked back to our table on autopilot.

"What did he ask you that put that shit-eating grin on your face?" Alice asked.

"We're going skating at the Rockefeller on Friday."

"Ooh, a hot date," Rose cooed. "Are you going to get any action from that hot piece of man?"

I frowned. "I'm not going out with him because of his looks. I'm going out with him because I want to get to know him better. I must have had a reason for being his friend when I was little. I want to figure it out." I paused, looking at Alice and Rose. "You're so... so vapid for only thinking about his looks."

A silence hung over the table during which we all stared at each other. Then Rose got up, grabbing her jacket and purse off the back of her chair.

"Fine then. I'm sure you don't want to hang around me if I'm so vapid. Have a nice life, Bella." She stalked off. Alice followed, shaking her head at me in disapproval.

I watched them go, an odd feeling building up in the pit of my stomach.

!~!

I stood in the lobby of my apartment building, holding my Nike skating bag awkwardly in one hand and adjusting my left brown Ugg boot so that it stayed on my foot properly. It was five before eight, and I was expecting Edward to show up any minute.

Sure enough, he walked in the doors not a minute after I'd put my foot comfortably down, his signature grin glued to his face.

"Hey, Bella."

"Hi, Edward."

"You all ready to go?" he asked, putting an arm around my shoulders and guiding me toward the freezing outdoors.

"Sure am," I said, hefting up my bag to show him.

"Perfect." He opened the door of his car for me and I got in, closely followed by him.

We sat quietly for a bit before he broke the silence by asking, "Have you gone skating before?"

"Uh, yeah, a bit."

"Just a bit?" he teased.

I stared at my lap, fidgeting with the fingertips of my gloves. "Yeah, well," I mumbled.

Edward laughed and grabbed my hand. "Stop fidgeting." I watched as his fingers wrapped around mine. I liked how that looked. "You've never been skating before, have you?"

I immediately turned red. "How did you figure that out?"

"I just had a feeling. Don't worry, I'll teach you."

"I'm going to feel like such an idiot," I muttered.

"Now, now. You can't be an idiot when I'm your teacher." He laughed, his eyes sparkling. "Cheer up, short stuff."

"Hey! Since when am I short stuff?"

"Since now," he quipped, ruffling my hair. "Hey, maybe we should get you a helmet."

"Oh no. No, no, no. I am not wearing a helmet."

He laughed his melodious laugh again. "No problem—I won't let you fall."

I smiled up at him, leaning into his side. For a moment, it seemed he was staring into the depths of my soul, and then our lips whispered against each other. They barely touched, but it seemed as though the very earth had shifted beneath us as we kissed.

Or maybe that was just the car stopping.

Edward glanced out the window, then back at me. "We're here," he sing-songed.

I groaned as he pulled me out of the car, hauling my bag along. "Do we have to do this?"

"Hey, you agreed to come with me."

"Yeah, but you did some kind of hypnotizing thing with your eyes or something. I'm hardly accountable."

"My eyes hardly have hypnotizing powers," he protested as we walked through the doors.

"You would be surprised," I shot back.

"Nah."

We continued our banter into the changing room, where Edward discovered that my skates were brand new and taught me how to use the skate sharpening machine, which freaked me out considerably.

"I'm supposed to reach in there? But it's hot!"

"Oh, calm down, Bella. You're not going to get hurt."

"How do you know?"

"I grabbed the other skate for you, didn't I? And am I fine?"

I eyed him critically. "I'd have to say... no..."

He elbowed me in the gut and pulled out my skate for me. "Go put your skates on, short stuff."

"Don't call me short stuff!"

"Short stuff," he repeated. I glared at him.

I handled the putting on of the skates pretty well, but then I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to tie the things up and ended up whining to Edward, who continued teasing me as he expertly tied them for me.

"How do you know how to tie them when yours are the guy version or something?"

"Hockey skates, Bella," he said patiently. "And I don't know, I just do. From watching my mom, maybe?"

"Hmph," I grunted, trying to get to my feet and balance on the pieces of metal. I ended having to lean on Edward just to walk. "How am I supposed to do this on ice if I can't even walk on the ground?"

"You'll be fine," Edward insisted.

"Yeah, on Mars I'll be fine."

We made it to the ice and, as long as I held onto Edward's hands, I managed to stay upright.

I was having some trouble with the moving part, though.

"Just... slide your foot. Yeah, like that. Now slide the other one... whoops!" He caught me under my arms and set me back upright. I grabbed on to his hands again.

"I can't do this, Edward. I can't."

"Yes, you can. Just keep gripping my hands like you're having a baby and we'll be fine."

"Like I'm having a baby?"

"Well, it's like you're trying to break all my bones. I'm guessing that's how it feels to be the husband."

"Psh, whatever. Let's do this."

"Okay, why don't we try me pulling you? Just so you can get the feeling, sort of." He began to skate backwards, pulling me along with him.

"This is really weird," I commented.

"Fun, right?"

"I dunno."

"Admit it, you think it's fun."

"I dunno."

"Short stuff thinks skating is fun!"

"Shut up!"

"Never, short stuff." He let go of my hands and kept skating. "Come and get me!"

I screamed as I continued to glide across the ice. "Edward!" I screeched.

He laughed, skating up beside me and grabbing my hands again. "You're fine, silly."

"Don't ever do that again. I could have ended up flat on my ass."

"But a pretty little ass it is," he wisecracked. "What are those, Applebottoms?"

"Uh huh."

"Do you have boots with fur, too?"

"Nuh uh."

"Unfortunate. I guess the whole club won't be looking at you."

"Preferable."

"I'll be looking at you, though."

"That's all I want."

Somehow in the next five minutes we ended up in a bathroom stall, still wearing our skates and having a heavy make out session to match our heavy winter outerwear.

"I kind of just want to rip all this winter shit off you," I mused as we paused to take a breath.

"Mmmm," he hummed, looking down at me.

All of a sudden, his expression changed from one of content to a frown, and he pushed away from me.

"I don't get you," he said.

"What?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

"I don't understand," he repeated.

"You don't understand what?"

"You," he said simply.

"Elaborate, please?"

"You said you were still dating Jacob, right?"

"I guess so, yeah."

"Then why are we doing this?"

"Edward, I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, Bella, you know damn well what I mean. You say you're still dating Jacob, but here you are, making out with me in the washroom at the Rockefeller Center." He paused, studying my face. "I think you need to resolve whatever's going on with Jacob before we go any further."

"But—"

"Thanks for the date, Bella. I had fun," Edward said as he let himself out of the stall.

"So did I," I whispered inaudibly, closing the door behind him, locking it, and sitting down on the toilet seat lid, staring at the tiles on the floor.

What now?