Disappointed, frustrated, and confused. These, among other emotions, were swirling through my head when I woke up the following morning. Again, I was alone. I wanted to see Edward sitting in my office chair that sat in front of my desk, or wake up to him sitting on the edge of my bed with a soft smile on his face like I used to back in Forks. Two nights in a row without it, and no sign of it happening any time soon, was almost too much of an emotional rollercoaster to handle.
Danny's ringtone interrupted my mental emotional tirade. I sighed and swiped my finger across the screen.
"Hey stranger." I put the phone between my shoulder and ear as I pulled a pair of leggings from my dresser.
"Babe, how are you?" He responded.
"I'm... fine. How are you?" I winced, noticing my mistake before Dan even commented on it.
"Bullshit. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I mean...it's complicated." I rolled my eyes at my lame excuse.
"You're going to regret that statement," he started, "Now you have to hang out with me tonight so I can pull it out of you."
"Why would I regret that? I haven't seen you in days." We had texted back and forth almost constantly since I found out about Ryan, but it had been far too long since I had actually seen him.
"I don't know, I was just trying to be sassy," I scoffed at his antics. "I was talking to the group about going bowling tonight. Do you want to come?"
I thought about it for a moment before deciding that I could really use a night out with my friends. "Yeah, of course I'll come!"
"Good. Invite your new-old friends too, if you want." I paused, halfway through pulling on my shirt. Was that a good idea?
"I'll think about it and let you know." I would have to contemplate that one, carefully.
"Sounds good, Belly-boo."
"Fuck off." I heard him laugh loudly just before I hung up. Sometimes I wasn't sure why I considered him my best friend with how much he loved to annoy me.
Not even a full second after I ended the call with Danny, my phone buzzed - indicating a text message. I should have seen it coming, but somehow I was still surprised when it was from Alice letting me know that the five of them would be joining us tonight for bowling. Obviously, I would have decided to invite them anyway, but it still made me groan as I realized I was going to be antsy for the rest of the day.
I tried to keep myself busy throughout the rest of the afternoon, washing dishes, doing homework, you name it. I would do anything to keep myself from thinking about what I was going to wear that night one more time.
Finally, I had texted Danny to come over to help me choose an outfit. He showed up way too late for me to be comfortable, but that's Dan. He threw articles of clothing at me until I gave up and grabbed a few at random. I ended up with black leggings and a dark red long-sleeved shirt, cropping up to show an inch or two of my torso.
We listened to some of our favorite songs in the car, something that never failed to loosen me up. By the time we pulled into the bowling alley parking lot I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face. We walked in to see our friends already surrounding two tables near the far side of the alley, beer pitchers on the table and cups in hand. I quickly looked around for a group of pale, beautiful teenagers, but couldn't find them as we made our way over to our rowdy friends.
"Bella!" Both of my roommates squealed like they hadn't just seen me three hours ago. I hugged them both, trying desperately to avoid getting beer spilled on me in the process.
"Hey, nice shirt," Luna said, giggling. I rolled my eyes and gave her a playful pinch. Daniel definitely raided her closet, too, which ultimately ended up being for the best as I chose to wear something of hers instead.
I let my eyes wander again, simultaneously excited and nervous to see the Cullens.
"You are far too interested in your ex-boyfriend's whereabouts for my liking, B." Daniel nudged me with his elbow.
I gave him a dirty look. "Leave me alone, Dan." I tried my best not to let a smile slip through. "It's not like I can help it."
"I knew it!" He punched the air, making me laugh despite my efforts to stay serious. "So what are you gonna do about it?"
"Well I've been trying to drop subtle hints, but I don't think he's been picking up on them." I hoped and prayed that he wouldn't ask what kind of hints. It would be difficult to convince him that my version of a subtle hint, leaving the damn window open, didn't make me crazy.
"Bella," I swear, I jumped three feet when I heard the twinkling voice behind me. I turned so fast it made me dizzy, just to see the Cullens all standing behind us, various levels of amusement present on their faces.
"Oh, hey!" I could feel my face heating up as I looked at them. "This is my best friend, Dan."
I gestured to him, looking up to see his red face barely holding in laughter. I hit his chest and he rubbed his hand down his face, hopefully trying to pull his shit together.
Each of the Cullens gave him a wave or a smile and I turned to introduce them to the rest of the group, hoping to distract myself enough to stop blushing. Edward looked just like he always did - beautiful. There was no other way to describe him with his messy hair, crooked smile, and flawless features. I suddenly felt insecure, wanting to pull at my shirt and fix my hair, but not wanting to be obvious about it. I didn't want to overestimate my ability to be inconspicuous, so I settled for crossing my arms over my stomach, a position I was very accustomed to taking.
We began the first game of bowling, deciding to go boys against girls. The Cullens occasionally missed, making me smile when they pretended to be upset about it. They cheered every time I hit more than one pin, making me laugh and blush all over again. Finally, I managed to get a strike. Edward lifted his hand to give me a high five and our hands lingered, neither one of us seeming like we wanted to let go. We made eye contact and I smiled shyly. Heading back to my seat on the girls' side. Daniel stood a few feet behind Edward, making a gagging motion with his finger. I flipped him off in response, making him laugh loudly. I saw Edward raise his eyebrow at my aggressive action and take on a smirk as I rolled my eyes.
After the game ended, we decided to go hang out in the arcade area. Dillon bought me a beer, which helped me relax significantly. We goofed off playing different games for a while before I noticed Dan and Edward going against each other in Mario Kart. I smirked, remembering Danny's cocky attitude about his winning streak and how it was definitely going to be ruined in the next five minutes. I walked up behind the two, seeing that Edward was behind by about four places.
"Edward, come on, don't go easy on him." I said, not needing Dan to be annoying about beating yet another person at Mario Kart.
"I'm not," he smiled, both of us knowing that that was bullshit.
"Edward, I'm serious." I stepped closer, actually feeling a little desperate for him to pick up the pace as Dan's stupid smile got bigger and bigger the closer he got to winning. When it was apparent that he wasn't going to listen to me, I grasped both of his shoulders and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Please, he's such an asshole when he wins. Please kick his ass."
I could have sworn I saw him shiver, but either way it worked. In the last lap he caught up to Dan and passed him seconds before crossing the finish line.
"Yes!" I shouted shoving Dan's shoulder as he glared at me from his seat.
Edward laughed and stood up. I gave him a brief hug and thanked him, trying not to look at his siblings as I pulled away.
"Guys, let's take a group photo!" One of my favorite things about Dillon was his desire to document everything because I never thought to. I nervously looked at the Cullens, but they didn't seem to be bothered by the idea of being in a photo. We all gathered around, me standing between Luna and Edward.
"Squeeze a little closer, I don't have everyone in the frame." The employee with Dillon's phone said. We all stepped in, causing Edward's chest to be pressed against my back a bit. I enjoyed those three seconds before the picture was taken far too much.
The rest of the night went too fast and I was bummed out when everyone started toward the parking lot to head home. We all said our goodbyes and when Danny dropped me off at my apartment, even though every night previous to this one hadn't been successful, I opened my window before I fell asleep.