Sometimes you just gotta start an online conversation, so it can lead to a IRL one.
Edward sat in his usual seat, his back to the huge annoying windows, with Alice on one side and Emmett on the other. He was currently trying to read and ignore everyone. Everyone was irritating him, and it'd been three days and Jacob hadn't texted him. He was already fuming about missing him at the party.
Not that Edward was waiting for Jake to make the first move; Edward had texted him first and got no reply.
It had taken him almost the whole revelry to craft; hey Jake. Thought I saw you at the party tonight. Had a good time?
Edward thought it was a cool, casual starter to a conversation that may well lead eventually to true love. But three days; and nothing.
He was fuming and sad and disappointed. So when his phone dinged, he only gave it a cursory glance. But when he saw it, he grabbed up his phone so fast he knocked a few of Emmett's fries to the floor, ignoring the boy's protests.
Hey sorry was out of credit just friend me on fb man.
Edward stared at his phone and frowned.
"If a guy tells you to add him as a friend him on facebook, how long is a not-creepy time to do it? In, like, an hour?" He asked the group.
"You're thinking too hard about it," Jasper told him, which was an extremely rude and accurate thing to say. As though Jasper ever thought about anything; if he thought through his actions he'd probably had realised he'd been stalking Alice the first few weeks he'd moved here, all those years ago. He was just lucky Alice delighted in his attention.
"I don't understand the problem." Rosalie replied, turning to her own phone and blanking Edward. Of course, a beautiful girl wouldn't need to follow any protocols; boys just flocked to her, much to her own displeasure.
Alice read the texts over his shoulder and shrugged, chewing the straw of her juice. "Just do it now, he's probably doing something and is too busy to find your name himself." She said.
"You are the only one being remotely helpful," Edward told her, and opened facebook on his phone to friend Jake, which was conveniently the last page he'd been on.
He'd regularly stalk through the public pictures available on Jacob Black's page; one of a child version of him and his dad cheesing in suits, one of a skinny tween Jake with a group of brown boys on a cloudy beach in swimwear and recent one of him on a couch, sticking his tongue out at the camera and holding up a piece of paper that looked a little like a sonogram.
He friended him, and stared at his phone for the rest of lunch. But Jacob didn't respond and it really frustrated him. Alice gave him a sympathetic pet on the shoulder as he headed to his last class of the day; biology.
Edward kept his phone on his desk, inconspicuous among his stationary and books, and periodically glanced at the notifications throughout the class. Still nothing.
He was in a stormy mood when he stalked to Jasper's stupid ugly car. He was the first one there though and ended up fuming by himself until Jasper arrived.
The boy strolled over to him, tossing his keys to Edward to open the trunk himself. "This is literally the worst day of my life." He declared, and Jasper shrugged.
"That says nothing, you've lived a pretty easy life." He replied mildly. "Wait – what about the day you were orphaned?" He asked.
Edward shrugged. "I just went from day care to dad's house instead of my parent's, I was thirteen months old I didn't know what was happening." He said tersely. Jasper nodded, mostly to himself, and tossed both of their bags into the trunk, shutting it and then sitting on it. Edward joined him, leaning on the bumper with a sigh.
"I hate waiting," he said softly. Jasper snorts, and thumbs over to where Emmett was ambling over, yelling goodbye to his teammates for the day.
"Well, everyone's nearly here, so get over it." Jasper replied, even though they both knew that's not what Edward was hating waiting for.
They both stepped up when Emmett came and slammed his bag into the trunk after Jasper pops it open.
Emmett glanced at Edward's sour expression, and grins a little. "Poor Eddie-boy," he coos, and Edward bats his hand away before he could try and pinch Edward's cheek. "This is the first time he's had some hormones, I'm almost mad about it." Emmett continued to Jasper, who throws back his head to laugh.
Edward frowns. "This isn't a first for me; if I didn't have hormones there'd be no way I'd watch you boys practise in those shapely capris." He said, teasingly leering forward at him. Emmett just opens his mouth and sticks out his tongue, and Edward can see his tonsils.
"I'll let Rob know," Emmett piped up, his expression cheeky, "you'd be the most attractive person ever to be interested in him!" He called as they all climbed into the car. Edward slammed the door to the backseat and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Please, don't even joke." He said with heavy disgust. "I have standards." That made them all crack-up.
There was a vague buzzing, and Edward groped in his breast pocket for his phone, but came up empty. He felt a jolt of panic, and glared at Jasper.
"My phone's still in my bag!" He snapped. Jasper laughed and threw him the keys. Muttering darkly, he stalked back behind the vehicle and opened it up. He was about to rifle through his bag, when a black Prada bag was dropped onto his hands.
"Thanks, Eddie," Rosalie said absently, slipping into the car before he could retaliate. He clicked his tongue and eventually dug out his phone.
He checked the notifications and grinned. Jake had accepted his request! Triumphant, he closed the trunk and elbowed Rosalie forcefully until she scooted all the way to the other side of the car and let Edward take the middle.
"Good news, I take it?" Rosalie asked archly, grunting unattractively as he gave her one last shove as he threw the keys back at Jasper.
"Perhaps, not that it's any of your concern." Edward said airily. There was a thumping on the rear window, and Edward glanced back to see Alice waving. Jasper popped the trunk and she blew him a kiss after she dumped her bag.
She bounded into the car and took in Edward's smug expression with glee. "Jake accepted your friend request!" Alice cheered, and he leant back with a sigh.
"This is barely anything to celebrate." Emmett reminded them all, while choosing the first Michael Jackson song he heard. "We'll throw him a party when the boy sucks his d-"
Edward leaned forward and grabbed Emmett's head, shoving him downward. Emmett laughed, and Jasper snapped at everyone to calm down while he was driving.
They hadn't actually made it out of the parking lot, though, there was a queue, which Rosalie was not happy about.
Emmett was loudly complaining about someone called Richard. "It's that Jesus freak, I don't really mind them-"
"Hence your use of the word 'freak'," Alice butted in testily. She always hated that word.
"But she's like 'Jesus is white and he was seen in Milwaukee!'" Jasper said in a sarcastic tone, leading Edward to believe whoever this person probably wasn't called Richard. "Like, okay, once I took a half-bottle of Nyquil at lunch before I remembered I had an appointment, so I followed it with three large coffees, and I saw St. Maurice fighting the devil in a Krispy Kreme parking lot at three in the afternoon." He said. "Reality is subjective, is all."
"Yeah, your reality would have been." Rosalie said heavily, sounding slightly incredulous. "Please tell me you didn't drive to that doughnut shop!" She added.
"Wow, Saint Maurice," Edward said mockingly, glancing up from the message he was crafting to smirk at Jasper in the rear-view mirror. "What was he like?"
"He was black and beautiful, man." Jasper answered him, before glancing to Rosalie. "Krispy Kreme sells more than just doughnuts, babe." He said casually.
"You did drive there." She sighed in exasperation, as though her 'look both ways before you run a stop sign' type of driving was any better than Jasper probably had been on a dangerous mixture of cold medicine and caffeine.
Hey Jake, how're you today? God, that better sound normal for a facebook message.
"Who's holding up the line?" Rosalie asked, craning her neck to get into Edward's personal space, and look out the front window. Her intrusive fat head was making him clutch his phone to his chest for privacy.
"Looks like some guys from our grade. Hurry up!" Emmett yelled out the window, and shoved himself back in with a startled laugh when Jasper shoves him.
"If they key my car tomorrow, you're paying for it!" He snapped.
00
Bella was startled when she heard the yell, and damn near dropped her bookbag before she could climb into Tyler's van. It was Emmett McCarty, half-hanging out of Jasper's Thunderbird.
"Get in quick!" Jessica snapped, and Bella scurried inside and slid the door closed. Tyler peeled out of the parking lot, and Bella glanced behind them, eyes on the car.
Edward Cullen had to be in that car, it was his usual ride, after all. Bella felt her stomach swoop at the idea that her tardiness might have annoyed him too.
While the others laughed over getting heckled waiting for her, Bella pulled out her phone after it buzzed
Goofy two-shoooes … booored
It was Jake, and Bella found herself grinning. He'd been in a pretty good mood lately, which always cheered her up too. As always, because she didn't reply straight away, he called her.
"Hey, guess what?" He said instead of 'hello'.
"No." Bella replied, trying to close her bag again while the van lent into a turn.
"The son of the vaccination dude?" Jacob prompted, sounding pleased. "Keeps on messaging me! What a stalker." He said with relish. Bella laughed, and made a note to look up who exactly this guy was. Jacob seemed to be very amused by him.
"You sound very threatened by it." Bella said sarcastically, finally managing to toss her bag under her seat. She really liked how much Jake was enjoying a boy having a crush on him. She felt a little iffy about how Jake wasn't making it clear whether he reciprocated or not; but she trusted him. Even if he teased this boy a little, ultimately, Jake would never string anyone along. "Having fun?" She asked him.
"Hell yeah I am!" Jacob cheered with a laugh. "He's asking me how I am, what I'm doing …."
"This sounds like a normal conversation to me." Bella said and rolled her eyes as Jake agreed with her. She pointed to her phone while sharing a look with Jess and mouthing 'Jake' at her. Jessica, who had actually hung out with her and Jake the most, grinned and mouthed back 'say hi from me'.
"Jake, Jess said hi but I gotta go." Bella said, "I'm in Tyler's van so I need both hands to cling for dear life." Jacob laughed and hang up, while Tyler shot her a look through the rear-view mirror.
"Rude!" The driver snapped. Jess laughed as she clung to Bella and begged him in a dramatic wail to watch the road.
00
The next day, Alice decided she'd go on a fact-finding mission. She even wore her own Outside Slippers; which she usually saved for test days or when she was feeling unwell. Her dad thought they were hilarious, they even kicked each other's slippers before he left for work. Edward was actually up and awake for the first time in three years, and snorted at their interaction as he was kissed goodbye.
"Love that guy," Alice said with satisfaction as their father left.
"You two are stupid." Edward retorted, before looking down at his buzzing phone with a sweet smile.
Alice looked him up and down shrewdly. "What are you doing?" She asked.
Edward didn't even stop typing on his phone. "Messaging the man of my dreams." He replied bluntly. Alice giggles; that Jacob Black had him hook, line and sinker. "What are you doing?" he shot back, eyes on her slippers.
Alice puffed out her chest. "I'm going to find out how Rosie and Em's Cupid Day date went!" She declared.
Edward was not impressed. "Good luck with that." He snorted. She whined his name at his unenthusiastic response. He looked up to raise an eyebrow at her. "What? You know as well as I do how it probably went; uncomfortable and yet deeply invested in their gross sexual tension," he explained with an airy sigh, "and Rosie skittered away and nothing was resolved. You know how they are." He said firmly. Alice huffed, even if it were true. Poor Rosie got in way over her head with that evil, older boy, and Emmett was taking it as slow as she needed!
"Don't be mean!" Alice chides him. "You know how they could be!" She counters, and for all their distance, Emmett and Rosalie had moments so sweet it made Edward roll his eyes dramatically. They knew they were attracted to each other. They needed encouragement! A push!
"No, you think you know their potential," Edward shot back, "and I know I don't care." He hopped off the kitchen island stool and stepped past her, heading to his room. Alice followed him persistently.
"You can't be mean to me today!" Alice all but whined. "You can't be mean and smitten, it's probably bad luck!" She argues, pointing to his phone. Edward scoffs at her. "I was nice to everyone until Jasper and I started up!" She added.
Edward stopped in his doorway. "No, you were just too busy being constantly on the phone with him." Edward said, holding up with own phone with a shake for emphasis. "You're also always nice." He added, his tone mocking.
"Thank you." Alice replied curtly, and he closes the door in her face.
00
Rosalie had come in the silver beast with Jasper and Emmett. In a true changing of the stars, Edward had gotten up early enough that he was driving Alice into school.
Right now, she was standing around Emmett's locker, with Samantha, Katie and Jennifer. "I have no clue why I'm getting the flak here!" Jennifer argued, her voice pitched high with resentment. Her long thick hair was pulled into half-space buns, which looked very Sailor Moon. She paired it with a pair of black jeans and a Tory Burch Ardmore sweater.
"Of course you are!" Samantha shot back. "Like you even care about freshies!" She teased her. She had her hair in pigtails tied low and loose. She was wearing a light pink long-sleeved turtleneck with a patterned white skirt.
"Like I was saying, there is a protocol!" Katie piped up. She was wearing a cropped grey sweater with light blue jeans. Her red curls hanging free around her shoulders. "It's only the start of the year! If they pass the mark; we can maybe let them do stuff for us. But that's after a deliberation period of at least half a year!"
Samantha ended up bursting into laughter. "These rules are so convoluted!" She said.
"Rosie!" Alice called, as though that was code for the girls to stop their bitching. They couldn't really drop this all on sweet Alice, after all. Unlike Rosalie, who had a head for these things. It wasn't hard to accumulate the kinds of people she wanted in her life.
Jennifer's mother was a movie producer, and the girl was still smarting over uprooting her life after her parent's divorce. But then Rosalie was there, a noted, local girl that showed her she didn't have to lose her normal social standing just because this was a different state. Katie wasn't hard to add, either. She was mousey and easily placated; she made a vicious guard-dog, too, so it really only took Rosalie one shopping trip to show Katie the prettier side of school-life. Samantha was a surprise catch; after her mother struck nerd-gold, she showed a completely new side of herself, and all Rosalie had to do was whack Lee Stephens over the head, and Samantha sat right down with the others.
Rosalie knew she was noticeable, she just didn't care. She was good-looking and her dad had money, it was as stagnant and predictable as the moon rising every night. It wasn't hard to ensure her spot as the leader, she was, after all, quite bossy. Alice, though, was another story. Rosalie knew she could discard the other girls, but Alice was special. She was the type of girl who didn't care that she was noticeable; which just made her even more appealing. Rosalie put Jasper through some hoops for that girl; but she ultimately knew she had to approve, her and Jasper were the same type of animal, after all.
But today, Rosalie eyed Alice with some suspicion. The girl obviously wanted something from her; she kept looking at her and smiling, with that look in her eye that said, 'I'll get what I want or it'll make me sad and Jasper will send weird death-vibes at you'. She came skipping up in her Outside Slippers, fuzzy pink things shaped like kittens.
"Let's go to the Manhattan Centre tonight, babies!" Alice declared. The Manhanttan Centre took on a difference appearance at night; it had a staple dinner and the hors d'oeuvre menu made it popular with cashed-up couples in their thirties. Usually, they'd only go to get the beef wellington take away.
"Nice," Emmett agreed immediately. "I miss Paul." He added with insincerity and a sigh.
"You saw him this morning." Jasper reminded him. He threw an arm over Alice's shoulders and pulled her close to him. "What are you planning?" He whispers to her.
"Stuff and things," Alice replies cheerfully.
00
They were in gym, or free period for Sammy and Jenny, but since Alice, Rose and Katie had gym they bugged Coach Clapp into letting them join. Alice liked gym well enough; she wasn't so good with more technical games; but she was quick and she could get around the other players. Volleyball wasn't her style, but basketball and baseball were fine.
She also liked the unofficial student dress code. No-one but the dorkier jocks and future jarheads wore the school gym uniform, because it wasn't required. But for the rest of the student body; it had to be black, white or grey, and it should be brand name. Sometimes, though, Alice just wore something from Tory Sports, but Edward and Rosalie especially had attitude about it. They actually liked following the unspoken rules so Alice usually did too, to placate them.
They were stretching; which Alice usually just lay down and went into a deep bow pose until her feet were back on the ground beside her ears. She did gymnastics until she was twelve and she liked to stay limber. "So, Sammy, how'd your Cupid Day plans go?" Alice asked her, trying to look sly. It came off as a little coy, if that.
Sammy was stretching out too, mostly her quads. "Well, Lee took me to Bin Soo's for dinner and we were going to Parc Katya's for dessert, but the line was so long, we just got milkshakes at Fourth's!" She laughed at the memory, and Alice smiled. But personally, she didn't see the appeal of going to all the places they normally went.
"That sounds so sweet!" Katie said with a sigh. "It sucks being single on Cupid Day! Right, Rob?" She yelled, but he was on the other side of the gym and couldn't hear her, though she laughed anyway. Rob was with Emmett and Lee, and unlike the other seven of their teammates, they wore the black-and-white standard.
"Well," Alice said quietly, "I think it's cute. Right, Rosie?" She asked with a grin. Rosalie did not play sports; though she and her mother usually used the gym in their apartment complex. Rosalie eyed her with some suspicion, before nodding just a little.
"Right." She said quietly. Alice regarded her for a minute, and Rosalie just gave a slight shake of her head. Alice releases her feet and flops back onto the floor with a sigh. Looks like gym was a bust.
00
Edward drove up to the Manhattan Centre, with only beef wellington on his mind. So he was very surprised to see a familiar red car in the parking lot.
"Jacob …?" He asked softly, Alice already climbing out of the car's passenger side. But Jasper was in the back, and he'd heard him.
"You have that boy on the brain, even now?" Jasper asked, looking amused, before he followed his gaze and grunted a little. "Oh it is him." He muttered, climbing out of the car while adding that he wasn't dealing with this.
Edward scrambled out of the driver's side, locked the door and raced over to the red car and the boy climbing inside.
"Jake!" He called out, and the boy glances up. His head is tied into a loose ponytail and he was wearing nothing but a singlet, sweatpants and some beat up runners. Edward had never seen him in something so casual; it was kind of exciting.
"Oh, hey Edward." Jacob said, smiling just a little. "What're you doing here?"
"Getting some food, you?" Edward asked, for some reason feeling more out of breath than a brisk jog to the other side of the parking lot would warrant. Jacob held up a bag with the Manhattan Centre's logo on it. "So … you like the food here?" He asked, and almost kicked himself for the stupid question.
Jake just seemed amused, though, and nodded. "Sure. Hey, I gotta get going, don't want it getting cold." He said, tossing the bag into the car. "See ya." He added, waving and climbing inside. Edward waved when Jacob pulled out of the park, and drove off.
Edward looked back, and saw four very annoying people looking at him.
"Go get the food!" He shouted, and Emmett and Alice ran straight to the back entrance, laughing, while Jasper followed at a more sedate pace. Rosalie, as she was wont to do, performed her best impression of an oak tree, staying rooted to the spot until he walked to her.
She looked disgusted. "That boy's toying with you." She told him, so matter-of-factly that it irked him.
Rosalie had barely any insight into the budding relationship between Jake and himself. She was just projecting. "Don't be such a man-hater." He told her, trying to keep his tone light as he walked to the back entrance after the rest of their group.
She keeps pace beside him, "You're not subtle; he knows you like him." She told him. Edward actually thought that was true; Jake seemed to regard him with a lot of calm and a little amusement. Like he could tell how deeply Edward had fallen for him, and was enjoying the attention.
"If that's the case, I'll just move the timeline up a little." Edward replied. He, of course, wanted Jacob to enjoy his feelings; it certainly meant he wasn't disgusted by them.
Rosalie raised an eyebrow as he opened the door for her to walk in. "That confident?" She asked.
"Unlike you." Edward shot back. Her dancing around Emmett was even making Alice impatient, at this point. "Jake's a good person; he honestly is." He continued. "He may know my feelings, and he may not return them, but he's not being malicious." He said with conviction. Jake was sweet, and Edward couldn't believe he was being toyed with.
Rosalie snorted and strutted through the door, as though the faith in his voice repelled her. He grits his teeth and walks into the restaurant, knowing full well he was right.
00
Rosalie confronted Alice when they were brushing their teeth in Alice's bathroom. The boys were dicking around in Edward's room, which seemed to involve a lot of grief for the host, as they could hear thumps and Edward's loud disapproval.
"What do you want, Alice?" Rosalie asked after she'd flossed. "You've been giving me eyes all day." She added.
Alice looked at her with her already large brown eyes widening. "No, I haven't! You know I only have eyes for Jasper!" Alice argued, and gave a laugh that Rosalie did not smile at. For a moment, Alice doesn't seem to be willing to talk, but, like always, she admits defeat with a sigh. "… I wanna know how your date with Emmett went." She said, pouting up at her.
Rosalie rolled her eyes. She was pleasantly surprised that none of their friends had given her a hard time over the date; even though only Edward, Jasper and Alice knew about it. It had been a nice date; but she wasn't willing to have a little chat about it. There was something much too fragile starting for Rosalie to entrust it with anyone right now.
"Top secret, bae." Rosalie replied tersely, moving onto brushing her hair and steadfastly only looking at herself in the mirror. Alice looked like she wanted to protest, but kicked at her own fluffy white bathmat dejectedly.
"Fine." She said with feeling. But she couldn't pry; she herself was quite private about her time with her boy. She had to respect the idea that the usually ever blunt Rosalie might want to do the same this time.
Yeah they're kind of getting there! Next chapter: another party, and this one is a good one!