Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns everything Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: I lied! You get another one today! But only thanks to Mel, the rock-star beta behind Bitterward, who let you guys have it... and Jaxy, my beautiful pre-reader and partner in crime, who totally approved of the decision!
Enjoy!
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Alice and I arrive at the bar and find Emmett and Rosalie already sitting at one of the back tables. I'm disappointed to see Emmett has changed from his usual dirty lab hoodie to a button-down shirt.
He's so pussy-whipped by Rosalie, it's embarrassing.
Pussy-whipped, button-down Emmett only adds to my cousin's despair because now I'm the only one who looks like a hobo at our table.
Well, thank you for that, Rosalie.
Emmett was starting his second year when Rosalie and I joined the program. From the moment they met, they became inseparable. At least she ended up in the Biotech Building, and not at the Cancer Research Center, like Emmett and me. Otherwise, I wouldn't even get to spend time with Emmett during our lunch breaks.
"So, Emmett, how's my cousin doing?" Alice asks, taking a sip from her vodka tonic.
"Oh, you know… bitter, irritable, indifferent to the world… same old, same old."
"I'm sitting right here." I know where this is going, and I don't like it.
"He refused to go out with my friend, Irina," Rosalie feels the need to add, and I scowl at her.
As if having Alice here isn't bad enough.
"Oh yeah, she was too tall, or too blonde, or too dumb… Which one was it, bro?" Emmett is trying to be funny, and it's getting on my nerves.
"Shut up, Emmett. I've never even met Irene or whatever."
"Yes you did meet Irina, a couple times actually." Rosalie emphasizes her friend's name, like I was supposed to remember that.
What kind of name is Irina, anyway?
"Well, I don't remember," I concede in irritation.
"This is what I was telling you. He doesn't see anybody anymore," Emmett says to Alice. "It's like he's wearing those things… Whatchamacallit?" He snaps his fingers, in search for the word. "Those things…" He puts his hands on each side of his face as blinders.
"Blinders?" Rosalie guesses.
"Yes! Blinders. It's like he's wearing fucking blinders! Never looks at anybody. Never meets anyone new."
"He has secluded himself," Rosalie adds.
"This kind of antisocial behavior is exactly what worries me about him," Alices whispers, looking at Rosalie.
Them talking about me is aggravating, them talking about me as if I'm not even here verges on unbearable.
"Would you guys just drop it?"
"Is this about Tanya?" Alice crosses her arms over her chest.
"Oh for the love of God!" I bang my head on the table dramatically.
What the fuck does Tanya have to do with any of this?
"Okay, okay. I'll stop," Alice whispers.
"Every time you come here, it's the same." I lift my head from the table and pull at my hair, affronted.
"I just worry about you." She runs a hand along my arm, and I sigh.
"You don't have to. I'm fine." I glance at her and there's a look of disbelief on her face. "I am. I'm just tired of school, that's all. I want to start real life already. I'm going to be twenty-six this summer, and I'm still in school."
"Hell, I'm twenty-seven!" Emmett says, lifting his pint. "And look at all the fuck I give!" he chants before he proceeds to down his pint.
"Is that supposed to make me feel like less of a loser?" I wonder out loud.
"Hey," Rosalie snaps.
"It's okay…" Emmett waves dismissively, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "He has an acute case of graduate bitterness."
Graduate bitterness… yes, that is exactly what I have.
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A/N: That's it for today, ladies. Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow! Ronnie.