Chapter Notes: Eep! You guys, I got the most reviews ever for the last chapter! There was a lot of discussion about the apology situation, and I'm looking forward to your reactions to what actually happened.
I just want to extend a thanks on behalf of Hannah and myself to everybody who offered their beta-ing services and took the time to do the test chapter. We'd like to openly congratulate and thank Lola84 over at Twilighted for taking us up on our offer to beta the new story! We're constantly talking about how excited we are, and we hope you guys will love it just as much as we're loving writing it. We're submitting it to the queue over there tonight, so keep a look out for it! It's titled, Back To You.
With that said, as I'm sure you all know, you can't have more than one chapter of a story in the queue at a time over there. It could take up to 2 weeks for this new one to get validated, and I don't want to post over here and have nothing over there, so I can't tell you if I'm going to be able to post this next week. I'm sure you guys will survive a week without me, though. ;)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: What I own: And empty Ben & Jerry's pint-sized container that wasn't even actually mine. Oops!
What I do not own: More ice cream or the Cullens/any other Twilight characters.
Chapter Song: The Jimmy Choo's – Chester French
-E-
"Fuck this stupid class," I growled, throwing my pencil against the book harshly. I ran my hands roughly through my hair before cupping the back of my neck. I glanced to the left to look at the clock; it was 6:30 PM, and I'd been attempting to complete and understand some of my Stats homework for the last forty-five minutes, to no avail . All it was doing was frustrating the living fuck out of me. I sighed and leaned back in my chair, raising my arms above my head and groaning as I stretched. I looked around the room and plopped my hands down on my lap before standing up and making my way to the hall. Emmett and Jasper had left about half an hour before to hit up the Village gym, and I was seriously wishing I'd taken them up on their offer to join them instead of staying home to try and get this week's homework out of the way early. What the hell was I on, thinking it'd be simple enough; that I could finish it in one fucking day?
I walked into the kitchen and opened up the refrigerator, pulling out a water bottle and twisting the cap off. I took a swig and leaned against the counter, facing toward the living room. Emmett's Wii console and remotes were strewn haphazardly across the living room floor and coffee table, and I rolled my eyes at his inability to clean up his mess before leaving. I had a newfound respect for his mother. I heard three knocks on the door as I took another swig of water. I pushed myself off the counter and twisted the cap back on the bottle, placing it on the counter top as I swallowed before walking over to the door. I unlocked the dead bolt before turning the handle and pulling the door open, immediately startled by who was on the other side. Bella stood there, staring at me like a deer caught in headlights. I stared back at her, trying to figure out why she'd be knocking on my door, and could only come up with one possible reason.
"Uh, Jasper isn't here..." I said, scratching my cheek.
Note to self: Shave.
"I wasn't coming for Jasper. I, um...I need to talk to you about something," she said quietly as she diverted her gaze from mine. Was she kidding me?
"Me? What the hell do we have to talk about, Bella?" I asked, perturbed. I didn't know what could possibly have been so important that she had to come and disrupt my peace, but I was pretty positive she wasn't standing there, shuffling side to side nervously because she needed to talk to me about my math.
"A lot, actually. Look, just hear me out, please? You don't have to say anything, just let me—I need to explain."
I stared at her, internally debating. I wasn't in the mood to argue, and that seemed to be all we did other than when one or both of us was drunk, however I was incredibly curious at this point to know what she had to say.
"Go on with it, then," I said, finally, as I leaned against the door.
"Okay. I don't even know where to start, really..." Then why the hell was she in front of my door? Shouldn't she have had at least a general outline of what she wanted to say before she'd knocked?
All of a sudden, she was off on this long tangent, and she went from not knowing what to say to not knowing when to shut the hell up. I'd never seen her so vulnerable and it was quite amusing, although I was having a difficult time catching up. I stared at her after she stopped shouting, trying to think of how to handle the situation. Regardless of not knowing what she had said for 97% of her rant, I did understand that she'd made the effort to come all the way here and apologize numerous times, lastly about calling me gay, which I almost laughed out loud about. I decided that we really did have a bit to talk about, but that we needed to do it calmly and intelligibly. That wasn't going to happen with me in the doorway and her in the hall, causing a scene. I didn't want to make her think she was off the hook just yet, though. I didn't know if the idea forming in my head was going to piss her off and completely cancel out the small step to civility we'd maintained just now, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity.
I straightened up and grasped the door handle before saying a simple, "Okay," with a shrug and slamming the door closed. I stood with my hand against it, chuckling slightly and counting backward from twenty.
Nineteen, eighteen, you are so fucked up, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen, she's going to kick you in the balls for this, eleven, ten, nine, eight, but the look on her face will be so worth it, four, three, two..
I grinned and threw open the door, but my face instantly dropped at what was before me. She was standing there, still in shock, with tears streaming down her face.
"Oh my g—are you crying?" I asked, horror stricken. She looked up at me, eyes shining and red-rimmed, and sobbed loudly. I leaned into the hallway and looked to the right, seeing a few people staring at us oddly from across the way, and grabbed her arm, yanking her inside before closing the door.
"I—um...I didn't...uh..I'll just go and get you...something. Yeah, okay," I sputtered, scratching the back of my head before turning sharply and walking in the direction of the bathroom. I couldn't believe she was fucking crying. Surely it couldn't have been from me slamming the door on her, right? I mean, did it really matter that much that I accepted her apology? I couldn't believe that it did. I grabbed a box of tissues from the top of the toilet and walked back out and into the hallway where she remained standing, completely still. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.
"Come on," I said quietly as I grabbed her forearm gently, pulling her into the living room and over to the couch. I pushed her shoulders down slightly, signaling for her to sit, and took a seat next to her, handing her the box of tissues as she snapped out of whatever weird trance she had been in and wiped her face.
Wow, you've really outdone yourself this time, you dick.
I patted her back awkwardly as she sniffed and wiped her nose; I hated when girls cried. I never knew what the fuck to do.
"I'm sorry," I started nervously, "I was just trying to make a stupid joke out of it. I would never seriously slam the door in somebody's face, no matter how little we got along. Unless they were like, trying to stab me or had a weapon of some sort, but that's another story," I rambled, scratching my jean-clad thigh. She laughed, sniffing and wiping her nose again as she looked down at her lap. "If I had have known you'd react like this, I never would have..." I trailed off, shaking my head. She took a deep breath, glancing over at me before quickly looking back to her hands, her fingers fumbling with the wadded up tissue.
"No, it's—I'm fine. I was so nervous about doing this," she said, sounding slightly nasal as she gestured between the two of us, "that when I thought you just completely shrugged me off I—I just couldn't really deal with it. I don't even know how to explain it. It's like all the anxiety I'd been suppressing came crashing down on me and I broke. God, I feel like such a moron," she chuckled softly, shaking her head.
"No, I get it. I'm sorry. That wasn't the best idea on my part, but uh...I didn't really understand most of what you said. All I really got from it was something about a misunderstanding, and an apology for accusing me of being gay," I said, smirking. She blushed and ducked her head down lower.
"Yeah, I really am sorry about that. You were right; I shouldn't have accused you of anything. I didn't remember everything right away, but that's no excuse. It's not like I was naked or anything." She cringed and I raised my eyebrows, shifting uncomfortably as I remembered the curves of her backside. I subtly glanced down at her hips, hoping that her underwear were peeking out to give me a hint as to what they looked like today. No such luck. "Well, I wasn't completely naked," she corrected, oblivious to my attempt at x-ray vision on her lower half. "But you took care of me, even though you really had no reason to, and still managed to let me have a bit of my dignity left. And then I went off on you for not taking advantage of me? What kind of shit is that? I was irrational, as I always seemingly am around you. I swear, I'm not normally like this with anybody else, and I wish I could understand why I'm this way with you," she finished, almost pleadingly, before finally looking up at me.
"I just have that effect on women," I shrugged before grinning. She grinned back and shook her head, sighing heavily. "I haven't exactly been a saint through all of this either, though."
"Yeah, but it was my fault it started to begin with." I hummed in agreement; I wasn't going to lie and say it wasn't.
"Care to explain that? Slowly this time, please," I teased.
"Well, like I said, it was a misunderstanding. Last week..."
She went on to explain how she'd gotten annoyed because quite a few people had bailed on her tutoring session, leaving her with nothing to do for hours. Unfortunately, I was, unknowingly, the last one to do so, and when we met and she realized I was...well, me, she went off, and it progressed into what it was now from there. I had a feeling she was leaving something out, but when I called her on it she simply said, "I'll tell you some other time. Maybe."
It was too soon to say we were past all the bullshit, and we were nowhere near friends, but I had no doubt that, if she could keep her crazy episodes to a minimum and I could control myself better, we could at least be friendly.
"Well, now that it's all settled, let's move on to the more important matter at hand," I said, putting my hands behind my head and leaning back on the couch, crossing my outstretched legs at my ankles.
"Which is?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"How bad you want me," I grinned, wiggling my eyebrows. She kicked my foot and I laughed as she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hey, I'm just repeating what you told me!"
"I was drunk!"
"People are most honest with they're drunk," I said matter-of-factly. "But I won't push it. You'll realize it soon enough." She scoffed as I stood up, stretching. "It's actually pretty perfect that you're here, though. I need help with my Stats homework."
"Psh, I'm not on the clock," she joked, standing up. "What's the problem?"
"I'm stuck on section three of chapter three right now," I said, walking towards the hall and motioning for her to follow. "I want to get it all done today, or at least most of it. I hate having to worry about it for the entire week." I walked through the door of my room, glancing back to make sure she was behind me. She nervously entered the room, looking around. I turned and sat back slightly on the edge of my bed, folding my arms across my chest and crossing my legs at the ankles again as I stared at her in amusement. "Don't worry," I said, startling her as she turned her gaze to me. "If I didn't take advantage of you while I was drunk, I won't when I'm sober. Plus, I'm gay, remember?"
"I said I was sorry," she grumbled, walking forward more and stopping in back of my computer chair as she shoved her hands in her pockets.
"Yeah, but I'm going to enjoy giving you shit about it for a while. You didn't honestly think I'd let it go that quickly, did you?" I asked with a smirk. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, half-smiling. "Anyway, your co-worker is under the impression that I really am gay, so if you could keep up the pretense around her, I'll be indebted to you."
"What? Who?" she asked, leaning her shoulder against the armoir.
"I don't remember her name. I just called her 'you' and she didn't seem to mind," I shrugged, scratching my cheek roughly. Stupid facial hair. She snorted and turned so that her back was against it, looking at the side of my bed as her eyebrows furrowed in contemplation.
"Hmm," she hummed, exhaling through her nose as her eyes narrowed slightly. "Obviously it isn't Rose. LeeAnn, maybe? Red-headed? Beastly?"
"No," I said, shaking my head. "Although, when we were walking to your place Saturday night she was at the front desk, shooting death rays at your back."
"She's a cow." I barked out a laugh and she smirked, her shoulders shaking with silent laughter. "She is! I can't stand her. Anyway, uh...lets see. What'd she look like?"
"A whore," I replied bluntly.
"Jessica!" she exclaimed immediately.
"Yes!" I agreed, snapping and pointing my index finger at her. "There we go, Jessica."
"Why does she think you're gay?"
"I may have led her to believe I work in a shop that specializes in male cosmetics. On Castro." She laughed, an incredulous look on her face, and I joined in. "I may have also skipped out the doors." That sent her over the edge. She braced herself with her hands on her thighs and laughed hysterically, her face scrunched up and her eyes squinted shut.
"Why would you do that?" she choked out.
"She wouldn't leave me alone!" I reasoned. "Her and her stupid fucking friends keep sexually harassing me every time they see me. I figured she'd run her mouth and maybe they'd leave me be."
"That was probably a really smart idea, actually. Oh, man. Thanks. I needed that."
"Glad to be of service," I smirked, pushing myself off the bed and going over to my computer chair before sitting down. She walked over to the bed and leaned against the foot of it. "Alright, back to the original topic. I need help, now that you've had time to take in where I get naked and imagine me doing so," I said, turning to look at her with a wink. She punched me in the shoulder and I laughed, rubbing it over my shirt.
*
"Thanks so much, Bella. I really appreciate it," I said, walking her to the door.
"It's no problem," she replied, shrugging her shoulders and turning around to face me. "Thanks for not killing me." I chuckled, shaking my head.
No sooner had we started working on my homework, Emmett came barging through the front door, asking me of—no, screaming at me in reference to Bella's whereabouts. When he came into the room and saw her standing there, he looked between us, grinned, ran out of the room then out of the front door again, leaving Bella and I to stare at the place he'd stood thirty seconds prior in awe. Jasper appeared in the doorway right after and explained that, when they'd entered the lobby after working out, Rosalie had demanded that Emmett rush up here and make sure Bella was still alive, then report back to her at the front desk.
"No problem," I repeated with a smirk.
"Thanks for listening to me, too...and for being so cool about it. It was more than I probably deserved from you, after all this," she added, looking down and kicking the carpet with the toe of her shoe.
"It's, uh...it's cool," I replied, running a hand through my hair before shoving my hands into my pockets. "Thanks for apologizing, I guess."
What the hell was I supposed to say? She had been acting really fucking cool for the two hours or so that she'd been here, and to be completely honest, it was unnerving. I was walking on eggshells, waiting for her to blow up on me at any second, and I knew I'd be doing so for a long while. She nodded and shoved her hands into her pockets as well, rocking back and forth on her feet.
"Okay then. So...I guess I'll see you soon?" she asked, looking up at me. I nodded and brought one hand out of my pocket to the back of my neck, rubbing it firmly.
"Yeah, sure," I agreed, walking closer to the door and pulling it open for her. She muttered her thanks, shouted a goodbye to Jasper and walked out the door with a small wave. Before it had a chance to completely shut, though, she pushed it open and walked back in.
"Edward?"
"Huh?"
She kicked me in my calf and I flinched, bending over to rub it.
"Ow, what the hell was that for?!" I shouted.
"It'll be your balls if you make me cry again." She smirked and walked down the hall, and I stared at the door as it slammed shut, flabbergasted. I leaned against the wall, exhaling heavily. That kick had really fucking hurt.
"What the hell was that about?" Jasper demanded, coming out of his room. "I mean, I'm all for you two being cool; you guys are both my friends and it sucked that you hated each other so much, but that's just it. You guys loathed each other. What the hell happened?" I groaned and rolled to the left before walking forward, limping slightly, into the living room. I plopped down on the couch, one foot on the arm rest and the other planted firmly on the floor as I slung an arm across my eyes. I heard footsteps and the creaking of one of the chairs before Jasper said, "Well?"
"She really is Bipolar," I said, snickering. Jasper didn't find it amusing, apparently, and I cleared my throat, quieting down. "She apologized. I accepted. She helped me with the rest of my Statistics homework, and now she's gone."
Before he could reply, the sound of the front door bursting open again signaled Emmett's imminent arrival, and I lowered my arm to my chest, leaning my head back as he came to stand right at the end of the couch, staring down at me.
"I talked to Bella," he announced. I raised an eyebrow and sat up slightly, looking at Jasper quizzically. He shrugged and lifted his ankle to rest on his knee, gripping it with his hand.
"How...delightful for you?" I said in the form of a question, shaking my head slightly.
"She was waiting for the elevator when I came up," he continued, ignoring my sarcasm. "Rosie said she came to apologize. Is it true? Did you kiss and make up? Did I win?" he asked eagerly. I sat up and stared at him like he was the dumbest fucking person in the entire world because, well, at that moment, he pretty much was in my eyes.
"Win what, you dipshit?"
"It doesn't matter, just answer me! Are you guys cool now?"
I started to turn my head away from him and did a double-take before completely averting my gaze and shrugging. "I guess," I replied, standing up and walking around him.
"Hey! Where are you going?" he shouted. "Where is he going?" he repeated, I assumed to Jasper, as I walked down the hall to the room and shut the door, pushing the lock in. I went over to my computer desk and sat down, pulling my lap top closer to me on the desk and flipping it open. I pressed some keys to take it out of hibernation mode and pulled up Safari, typing in the Northwest Airlines website to book my ticket home for Spring Break.
I heard thumping down the hall that could only be Emmett's footsteps before the door knob jiggled a few times. I smirked and opened one of the drawers, pulling my iPod out. I stuck the ear buds in my ears and hit the menu button, scrolling to the 'Shuffle Songs' option as he started knocking on the door, demanding that I let him inside since it was his room, too.
"Go to Rosalie's place!" I shouted before pressing the middle button and turning the volume up as loud as it would go. I typed in all of my information on the website and grabbed my Visa Check card from my wallet, oblivious to anything other than Nirvana's "In Bloom" blaring into my ears. I hit submit when everything was filled out, wrote down my confirmation number before closing my lap top, and made my way over to my bed. I hopped onto it and rolled on my back, resting my iPod on my chest and my hands behind my head as I closed my eyes, tapping my feet in the air to the beat.
Emmett would figure out sooner or later that the key to our front door doubled as an instrument to pop open the lock to our room, if he really cared enough to get in.
I turned and waved to Jasper one more time as I walked up the ramp to the door of my Chem lab Wednesday afternoon. To say I was nervous was an understatement. Naturally, I hadn't seen Adrian since the weekend fiasco, and I had been stressing all morning about how she would act. I didn't know if she'd be pissed and completely ignore me, pretend it never happened, or be plain out cool about it. I mean, it wasn't as if we were together or anything; she had no real reason to get mad about it, right?
Well, I thought to myself as I grasped the handle and, with a deep breath, turned it, pulling the door open. You're about to find out. I walked inside and looked around the room to find...no Adrian.
"The hell?" I muttered as I furrowed my eyebrows, turning to the left to walk towards my stool while scanning the room again.
"She had to run to her car to get some papers she forgot to grab," I heard, and I looked to the source of the voice: Ben.
"Oh. Okay," I said, shrugging off my backpack and throwing it down before straddling my stool. I rested my elbows on the counter and leaned towards him. "Did she say anything to you?"
"Just 'hi'," he said with a shrug.
"Did she seem pissed at all?" I asked lowly, looking around our area to make sure nobody was listening in.
"Nah," he replied, shaking his head. "She wouldn't to me, though. I didn't do anything."
"Guilty by association," I joked, nudging him with my elbow.
"Always am," he smirked, rolling his eyes.
"So, how are things with Angela?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows as I straightened up in my seat.
"Good, good. I'm pretty sure she's a keeper." He looked down at his notebook and scribbled random shapes onto the blank piece of paper, a faint smile on his lips.
"I'm happy for you, man," I grinned as I raised my hand, smacking him on the back before gripping the back of his neck and shaking him side to side slightly. He laughed and started to say something before the door swung open.
"Sorry, guys. I got everything this time, I promise," Adrian said, coming into the room with a few thick folders filled with papers. I tensed up and stared at her as she crossed the opposite side of the room to the front, plopping to folders down on the desk.
"Ow, ow, OW. DUDE, I'm pretty sure you're about to pop my spinal accessory nerve." I snapped my head over to Ben and realized that my hand, still gripping the back of his neck, had tensed up with the rest of my body. I hissed and let go quickly, cringing slightly.
"Sorry, I didn't realize...shit, are you okay?" I asked, worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he assured me, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Is there a problem back there?"
Ben and I looked up to the front and saw Adrian staring at us with a quirked eyebrow. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows before looking away, silently telling me that I could answer her.
Thanks, man. I mean, what are friends for, right?
"Nah, nah. Just a little neck massage gone wrong," I said, laughing nervously. She nodded and scanned the rest of the class with her eyes, telling us to turn to page 87 as she started explaining the lab we'd be doing. I exhaled loudly and pinched the bridge of my nose.
"Fuck," I mumbled, laying my arms out straight and resting my forehead on the cool counter between them. This was going to be a long fucking class.
*
"Cullen, I need you to stay after for a minute," Adrian said, her eyes never leaving the paper she was writing on as she leaned against one of the counters at the front of the class. I stopped and looked over at Ben as he hesitated at the door, glancing between us curiously. I shrugged and shook my head slightly, running a hand through my hair as I looked over at her then back to him with a heavy sigh.
"Go on, it's fine," I said, nodding my head towards the door as I heard something rip, then the sound of crumpling paper. "I'll talk to you later." He nodded and waved, pushing his way out the door. I stared at it as it clicked shut, sighed heavily and turned around, walking slowly towards her.
Here it comes...
"Hey," she said, standing up straight and placing her palms on the counter.
"Hey, yourself," I replied, stopping to the side of it and leaning my hip against the edge.
"How was your weekend?"
"It was okay." I nodded, looking around nervously. It was quiet for a few moments before I asked, "yours?"
"Mine was good," she replied quickly.
More awkward silence.
"Sorry about Saturday night," she said, finally. I frowned in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we were dancing, and then I just sort of...wandered off." My ego almost got the best of me, and I bit my tongue to keep from saying that I was the one that "wandered off"; right into the arms of a drunken minx named Bella.
"I—" I also stopped myself from saying, "I hadn't even noticed"; that would have gone over just as well as proclaiming that I'd been the one who ditched her. "It's all good," I said finally, shrugging nonchalantly. I looked around the room, puffing out my cheeks and exhaling slowly. I heard her sigh and I looked back over to her.
"Look, the reason I wanted to talk to you was...Well, somebody from the class went and complained to the Dean of Science and Engineering."
"About?" I prodded, frowning slightly.
"My behavior with you in class."
"What?" I asked incredulously. "Who the hell did that? And why?"
"I don't know who did it. He wouldn't tell me. He just said a student came in and accused me of flirting with one of my other students to the point that it was offensive, and that by law, he had to ask me about it."
"What the fuck," I said, loudly. "That's some fucking bullshit."
"I agree," she nodded, raising her eyebrows.
"Well, what'd you do?"
"I denied it through my teeth, of course. And since there was no evidence and I'd had no prior complaints, it was my word against whoever complained. I just have to watch my back from now on, though, so I needed to let you know what's going on."
"I'm sorry," I said, sincerely. She shrugged and looked up at me with a half-smile.
"It's not your fault." I narrowed my eyes and pursed my lips before tilting my head to the right, a smirk forming on my lips.
"Were you?" I asked.
"Was I what?"
"Flirting with me."
"You should already know the answer to that," she replied, rolling her eyes.
"Should I?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Yes."
"Well, I don't," I pressed.
"Don't you have somewhere you need to be?" she said, playfully feigning annoyance.
"Yup."
"Well then take this and get out of here." She shoved a torn, folded up piece of paper in the front pocket of my jeans and I looked down at it, confused.
"What is it?"
"You'll see. Go on, get out of my class."
"Psh, you know you don't really want me gone."
"Edward," she warned.
"Okay, okay. I'm going. See ya." I waved and walked out of the door, the ramp creaking under my weight as I walked down it. I started towards Thornton Hall and climbed the steps quickly, knowing I'd need to take any and all shortcuts I could so that I wouldn't be late for my tutoring session. I pulled out the piece of paper in my pocket as I walked down the deserted hall, toward the front of the building, and unfolded it. There were a bunch of numbers written on it, and I stared at them in confusion before counting the digits.
One, two, three, four......eight-nine-ten...
I instantly fished out my phone from my pocket and hit the buttons to create a new text message. I simply put "?"and entered the number before hitting send. As I exited through the front of the building, my phone buzzed, and I opened the text message from the unknown number.
They can't complain about what they don't know. I won't stop if you won't.
I grinned and hit reply.
I'm all in, baby.
Score: 1 for Cullen. Ca-ching.
~º~º~
"Have a good day, Edward," Bella said, smiling.
"You too, Bella. Bye." I waved and walked across the hall, smiling and greeting Angela at the help desk as I signed out. I waved as I departed, chuckling softly at the fact that I'd said 'goodbye' not even a full 60 seconds after I'd said 'hello' as I walked down the hall.
The tutoring session with Bella had gone just as it always had, minus the uncomfortable tension. I'd still been hesitant as I'd walked into the room, expecting her to suddenly retract her entire apology and go psycho on me again, but when she'd smiled brightly and asked how I was doing after I'd approached the table, I relaxed. Since we'd gotten through the first section's homework in the last session, and she'd helped me with the last two when she was at my dorm (that was still odd to think of—her in my dorm, not trying to kill me, and vice versa), the only one I really needed to review was the second section, since that was the only one I'd done by myself. I had explained to her how I'd completed it, and she quizzed me on some of the formulas and had me do a few other problems that weren't homework before declaring that I sufficiently knew the chapter on Statistics for describing, exploring, and comparing data.
We'd still had a little over half an hour left after all of that, so we'd started talking. I asked a bit about Phoenix, remembering that she'd said that was where she was from, and about her family. She'd asked about mine, and we'd just gone back and forth as such for the remainder of the time. She really had seemed like a person I'd hang out with when she wasn't acting like a woman going through menopause.
I weaved my way through the corridors until I approached the stairwell and started down them quickly. I looked down at my pocket as I reached the first door and pulled out my phone to check the time; five minutes after four. That gave me enough time to grab something to eat, drop everything off at the dorm and head out for work. I pressed on the metal bar with my elbow, pushing the door open with my back as I shoved my phone in my pocket. I turned back around to face forward once I was outside and halted my steps as I looked down into smiling, icy blue eyes.
"Alice?" I asked, confused, blinking a few times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. Though why I would be hallucinating Alice of all people was beyond me.
"Uh huh," she said, peering around me. I stared at her and furrowed my eyebrows, turning around to see what she was staring at, but finding nothing.
"What are you doing here? And what are you staring at?" I asked as she stood on her tip-toes, attempting to peer over my shoulder.
"Nothing," she said, clasping her hands behind her back—I couldn't understand how she managed to do that, considering the white bag slung over her shoulder was the size of a fucking boulder—and looking up at me with a smile. "I just...you know, I haven't really seen you lately, so I thought I'd come hang out."
"I just saw you on Saturday," I pointed out, raising an eyebrow.
"For a second," she retorted, darting her gaze to the door when it swung open. I looked behind me again and grabbed Alice's upper arms gently, pushing her back as I scooted forward to move out of the guy's way. She peered around me again, bending down and to the side slightly to look in the open door and up.
"Alice, what the hell are you doing?"
"Nothing, jeez," she said, straightening up. "Where are you off to now?"
"Home, to drop this off," I said, tugging on one of my straps. "Then I'm going to grab something to eat."
"I'll join you, then! And yes, please get take thing away," she said in disgust, turning to walk down the concrete. I followed, catching up to her in two strides, and shook my head.
"Why do you hate my back pack so much, woman?"
"Because it's hideous. I've always hated those damn contraptions. Who the hell even wears them?" I stared at her blankly before looking around, obviously, and waving my hand side to side.
"Um..everybody."
"Well, not me. Even as a kid, I never wore them. They aren't necessary."
That much was true. She'd always just had some sort of bag that held everything she needed in it until high school. Then she'd just stopped bringing one all together, since she had a locker.
"I have to work tonight," I said, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
"I know," she replied.
"How did you—" She tapped her temple and I nodded; of course. The midget knew everything.
"I'm coming with you," she said, cheerily. "Ashlyn will be there, and she'll keep me company."
"Ashlyn doesn't work tonight."
"I never said she'd be working," she chirped. "I brought a few things to occupy myself in the meantime, so don't worry." She patted her bag before swinging her arms back and forth. I didn't bother to argue. She had her mind made up, and she was completely incorrigible at times as such. She started rambling on about something completely irrelevant, moving her hands around wildly as she spoke, and I grinned; that was my best friend.
"I love you, kid," I said, slinging an arm around her shoulders and bringing her to my side.
"I know," she said, wrapping an arm around my waist, and I chuckled and kissed her forehead with a loud smack before dropping my arm and intertwining my fingers with hers, swinging our arms back and forth.
*
"Are you going home for Spring Break?" Alice asked as she stabbed some lettuce from her Chicken Cesar Salad.
"Where else would I go?" I replied, taking a bite of my Chicken sandwich and chewing. Eh. Café Rosso had nothing on Café in the Park.
"I don't know. You might have decided to stay here," she shrugged, shoving the fork into her mouth. I swallowed my bite and took a drink of my Dr. Pepper.
"Nah. I'd rather do absolutely nothing in my home."
"You're so boring on breaks," she chastised, taking a drink of her Green Tea. "I'm glad I won't have to try to drag you out this time."
"What do you mean?" I asked with a frown.
"Em and I are going to stay with Grammy over the break."
"What? But your parents always go in May. Why are they changing it up now?"
"They're not going." I stared at her blankly.
"But...Grammy lives in TexaAAAAAAS, I see what you're doing, you little shit!" I exclaimed, pointing at her. "You're going so that you don't have to be away from Jasper! And Emmett's going so he doesn't have to be away from Rosalie."
"No, we're going to visit our Grammy, because we weren't able to last year when our parents went, and we miss her. It just so happens that she lives in Garland, where Rosalie and Jasper are from."
"Uh huh," I said, rolling my my eyes.
"It's true! And Rosalie and Emmett have been together for a while now, and her parents want to meet him."
"Understandable," I said, nodding as I bit into my sandwich again. "Well, shit. I'm going to be all alone."
"Cry me a river. You'll have your parents."
"No," I corrected, "they're going to be in Chicago."
"Then go with them," she shrugged.
"I don't want to go with them."
"Then shut the hell up and stop complaining!" I huffed and took another bite of my sandwich, pouting as I stared off down the pavement.
"Jasper wants me to meet them, too," she mumbled. I stopped chewing and looked over at her as she pushed a piece of chicken around the bowl. I started chewing again and swallowed, licking my lips.
"I take it you don't want to?"
"It's not that, I just...it's too soon, isn't it?" she asked, dropping her fork. "I mean, we haven't even been together for a week!"
"But you'll have been together longer by the time break rolls around," I pointed out.
"Only for a month longer. That's still too soon."
"Alice, it's not like you're some stranger he picked up off the streets. He knows you; he's known you as long as Emmett's known Rosalie. It just took him a little longer to act on it." She sighed and nodded thoughtfully.
"I guess you're right. I mean, it varies from relationship to relationship, right? I don't know. I'll just have to wait and see how things are when the time comes."
"Then what was the point of stressing out over it right now?"
She kicked my calf and I laughed, bending down to rub it. What the hell was with girls and kicking in the leg? We finished eating as we talked and joked about random things; just having some of our old, quality "best friend" time that I hadn't even realized I'd been missing quite so much. At around five, I suggested we head out, since I had to be at work by six. We walked over to the Creative Arts building, catching the shuttle that picked up there and taking it to the front of the school, since both of us were full and completely disinterested in walking the food off. The commute took a bit longer since there was five o'clock traffic to worry about, but we got to the store ten minutes to six nonetheless. We went in and I greeted Seth and Eli at the bag check-in as I hopped up onto the platform, reaching out a hand to Alice and helping her up. She pushed me out of the way and hopped off behind the registers before flitting her way towards the employee room. I sighed and followed after her quickly as the other employees working the registers watched her in alarm. When I walked in she was hugging Gabe, who was sitting at the table with papers scattered, beaming.
"Hey, Gabe," I said, walking over to clock in.
"How ya doin', Edward?"
"I'm okay," I nodded. "This one decided she needed to tag along," I said, nodding to Alice.
"You don't mind, do you Gabe? I can stay in here, right?" she asked innocently.
I rolled my eyes; Alice had accompanied me to work numerous times. From the moment Gabe had met her, she'd had him wrapped around her itty-bitty finger, so when she "knew" he was working, she'd tag along, knowing he wouldn't make her leave. I always got scared that it would end up getting me fired or causing me trouble at the very least, because that's just not normal; to have your best friend tag along to your place of employment while you work. Alice could work her charm like no other, though, and no issues had arisen from her presence. At least, none that I'd known about. Maybe it was because she was tiny. People always thought tiny was fucking cute.
"Of course, Alice. You know you can," he said, patting her hand that was resting on his shoulder.
"Well I have to work, so enjoy yourself," I said, walking toward the door.
"I always do," she replied.
"Oh, hey, Edward. Switch with Mackenzie at register three in trade-ins. She was supposed to be off at 5:30."
"Will do," I said, walking out and turning to the right, heading back towards the bag station. I hopped through the openings and jogged over to the side door, leading behind the registers at the trade-in counter. I told the girl—Mackenzie—at register three that I would take over, and she thanked me before heading out.
True to Alice's prediction, Ashlyn showed up about two hours later. Alice came out at exactly the right time and walked through the store with her before heading back into the employee room for the duration of my shift. The ten employees that were left at closing, including myself, cleaned up and counted the money in the registers, shelved all of the trade-ins we'd received, then called it a night.
I took Alice back to the Academy and made sure she got into her dorm room safely before hugging her goodbye and kissing her cheek. I walked the few blocks to the Montgomery station and took the M-line all the way back to the school, trudging my way tiredly through the campus and back to the dorm. I didn't bother paying attention to who was at the desk as I went through the lobby, and when I walked through the front door I headed straight for my room, barely kicking off my shoes before plopping down on the bed and falling asleep.
End Notes: I hope you guys enjoyed it! Review and you MIGHT get two chapters the next time I post. :D