AN: Guess who's back? …back again…Charlotte's back…tell a friend…
Okay, yeah, I'm stopping with the bad rapping while I'm ahead of myself. HI! I am alive! Being on set didn't kill me completely. Thank you to every single one of you for being so understanding about my need to work. For those of you who asked, I work in television production—and this has been pilot season! If anything I worked on gets picked up, trust me, you will be amongst the first to know :)
A few notes. First, thank you times a billion to laraisawkward and JBugNR for stepping in and betaing this piece of shit chapter and telling me to get over myself and write it. Yeah, you girls own my soul. Apologies to lisa89 for not waiting for you to beta it. If it sucks, blame me.
Also, voting has opened for the Twi-High Anonymous Challenge. We got 15 and entries and a whole slew of fuckawesome judges, including SebasteinRobichaud from The University of Edward Masen and crimsonmarie of Fourteen fame ;)
www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/2165753/Twi-High_Anonymous_Challenge go check it out, please!
Next, there have been some interesting questions about the prologue and some interesting theories presented on the thread. I would highly suggest you check it out in the near future. http://www(dot)twilighted(dot)?f=44&t=7126
Last, but not least…Gatsbyward won first place in the Gangsterward competition, so THANK YOU to everyone who voted. It's one of the toughest things I've ever written, and I'm so glad that you all enjoyed it too.
Okay, no more procrastination. I give you, the morning after. And a very special POV.
~Jasper~
I had always been an early riser, up with the sun to greet the morning and all that. But when I was woken up to the sounds of Bella moaning "Edward," over and over at 5:30 in the morning, I thought I was going to die…or kill them, either one.
My eye cracked open, not wanting to fully open it yet, in case I needed to pretend I was still asleep. But to my utter shock and disbelief, both parties were still asleep. There was no "them" to kill—only a "she." Apparently, Bella was a sleep talker—well, sleep-moaner. Good God. I was ruing the day they actually got together because I had a gut feeling that Bella would have no problem being vocal.
Shudder.
As Bella's moaning continued, I gave up all pretenses of sleep and pulled out Catch-22. I hoped that the complex characters and intense story would distract me from the porn-like noises coming from the other side of the room. How Edward could sleep through this, I honestly had no clue. Was he deaf? In fact, I was surprised that the entirety of Bunk Seven hadn't rushed in here to find out what was going on behind closed doors…or maybe that's why no one had come in. Privacy and all that.
"Fuuuuckkk," Bella moaned. I tried to tune her out—I really did—but the pornographic sounds were never ending. In fact, they were getting worse. Bella writhed and whimpered calling out, "Please, Edward…don't stop, Edward…harder, Edward!"
"Seriously?" I said more to myself than to anyone else as Bella's noises gained volume. I could feel my blood rushing through my body, a steady blush creeping over my cheeks, heating my ears, and a half-erection that I just couldn't will down, twitching at her every moan.
"Ung…ooohhh…yes…mmm, Edward! Ohhh, ohhh, ohhh!"
As Bella's pitch increased, I hoped we were nearing the end of the most epic sex dream I'd ever witnessed. Thankfully, it did. Relieved that Bella seemed to be happily satisfied by Dream-Edward, I threw myself back into the book.
Finally, at seven-thirty, I heard reveille, signaling the start of my day; I threw down my book to get ready for breakfast. Neither Bella nor Edward stirred as I shuffled around the room, and I figured that I could give them both until seven-fifty five to stay as they were.
To be honest, I couldn't bring myself to wake them up—not when they looked so peaceful. I had a feeling that things wouldn't go as smoothly as either of them wanted after waking up. Call it intuition, but I had a feeling that Edward wasn't quite as ready as Bella was to jump into whatever was going on between them.
Shaking the negative thoughts from my head, I made my way to the door of the bedroom, cracking it open slowly so as to make as little noise as possible. I failed miserably, though, shrieking like a little girl at the faces of Emmett, Rosalie, Jake, Tanya, and Seth, who were all waiting outside the door.
"Shit, you guys scared me."
Jake and Tanya looked the guiltiest, so I was positive they'd had their ears up against the door moments before I'd opened it. I was intrigued by their body language, though. It was as if they were magically back to friends; the sexual tension that lingered between them yesterday had dissolved into friendship. I was still astounded by their whole relationship. I couldn't imagine sleeping with someone and then just being friends with them. As it was, I'd only kissed Alice, and I was a hundred percent certain that I couldn't go back to "just friends" with her.
Ignoring me completely, Emmett pushed the door open all the way and shuffled past me into the room. I sighed as the rest of the group followed suit and followed him to observe the sleeping pair.
Rosalie and Tanya gave a small, "aww," but I could see Emmett's fists clench by his sides. I walked back in, ready to diffuse whatever situation was about to arise, and saw what they were all staring at.
Somewhere over the course of the past hour, Edward and Bella had shifted positions from spooning into a rather, um, intimate one.
Edward laid flat on his back, and Bella was—for all intents and purposes—on top of him. She had one leg hitched over his hip, and her torso was curled up flush against his chest, her head tucked neatly into the curve of his neck. And then I saw what Emmett had clenched his fists at and couldn't prevent the laughter that bubbled up in my chest from escaping.
Edward loved Bella's ass. I knew this. Rosalie knew this. Jake knew this. In fact, I think even Bella knew this—and she was pretty oblivious. In his sleep, Edward had not been afraid to claim what he loved. One of his hands rested under Bella's thigh, preventing her from rolling off him, and the other was wrapped below her waist, palming her ass.
My laughter was all it took to break the silence in the room, and soon it was filled with chatter from the gawkers huddled around the bed.
"Ten bucks says they hooked up last night," Jake whispered conspiratorially.
"No way," Tanya countered. "Look at their position. Do they look like people who have cleared the air of sexual tension?"
Rosalie nodded in agreement. "I'm tense just looking at them." Then she paused, her eyes warming and a slow smile spreading across her face. "They do look precious, though, don't they?
"Yeah, really precious." Seth's voice was sarcastic and filled with longing.
I looked up to see him trying to look anywhere but the couple intertwined on the bed, and I couldn't help but feel bad for the guy. I'd be able to recognize that nauseous, sickly expression anywhere. Heartbreak. It was rough, and you could actually feel it stabbing into his chest—no one tells you that, you know? I knew he had somewhat of a crush on Bella, but I hadn't realized how deep it actually went. From the look on his face right now, I'd wager that it was a bit stronger than a crush.
Another added complication for these two. Just what they needed, of course.
Seth shuffled into the common room, grabbed something off the couch—presumably what he'd come into the bunk for in the first place—and took off like a bat out of hell.
"So, how long were you listening in?" I asked Emmett, but Jake answered with a devious smirk.
"Since the 'Oh, Edward, don't stop, Edward's!' started coming from this room."
"What?" Edward's gravelly voice spoke up, sounding a bit peeved.
"Of course now he hears it…" I mumbled under my breath, but it was loud enough to cause Jake to start snickering.
"Hm?" Edward was still mostly asleep, his eyes still closed and his body still laced with Bella's.
Bella sighed loudly and nuzzled her head further into Edward's neck. I watched on with interest as Edward groaned and tightened his grip around Bella, which caused Jake's low snickering to increase to full on laughter.
The laughter permeated the contented silence of the room, thrusting Edward into consciousness. I saw the exact second he realized who was in his arms because every muscle in his body tensed and froze as his eyes snapped open in surprise.
They darted around the room, searching from face to face, taking in our amused expressions. "What the…" His head rose up slightly from the pillow, making Bella's face shift and turn slightly towards me. That was when I saw the small, coy smile tugging on the edges of her mouth. That little brat. I wouldn't embarrass her now—no, I was more of a gentleman that that—but I was certain that Bella was awake and had probably been for some time now, and I was most definitely going to give her hell for it later.
~Bella~
I was having the best dream ever. Edward's body felt hot over mine—it was as if he was exuding heat, but I was still shivering. He knelt between my already spread thighs, hovering over my torso as he ran his hands over my stomach, teasing my flesh with the softest touch of the pads of his fingers.
"Edward," I moaned, bucking my hips in an attempt to get his fingers to travel lower. Instead of giving in, though, he just smirked, raised one of his perfect eyebrows, and moved his hands upwards. I almost groaned in frustration…until his hands ghosted over the erect peaks of my breasts. Finally, he leaned over to bring his mouth to mine. His tongue slid against mine as his hands made the descent I had wished so hopelessly for.
"Oh God, Bella…you're so wet." His finger slid into me with ease, moving gently within my folds to brush against my aching clit. I'd never wanted anything so bad in my entire life.
"Please, Edward, please…"
And then he was crushing me, pinning my wrists over my head as his fingers thrust into me again and again. His hot mouth moved from my lips to take up residence on my neck, sucking and marking me as his own in a feverish passion.
"Edward, yes! Oh God, yes!" I screamed out as I thrashed below him.
"Oh, no—you don't get to come without me," he mumbled into my neck. He removed his fingers, making me whimper with loss. But the whimper quickly turned into a full-fledged moan as he thrust his thick cock into me. Over and over he pounded, bringing us both to the brink of insanity before slowing down his pace to meet my lips in a languid kiss.
"What are you doing?" I asked breathlessly as he pulled away. I received no answer, just a satisfied smirk as Edward resettled between my legs, before going harder and faster than I could possibly imagine.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Each one of my moans was punctuated by the sound of his forceful hips slapping against mine.
My climax was building, as was his, but he wanted to make it last. Bringing one of his hands down, Edward pulled my leg upwards to wrap around his waist, angling me so that he could fill me to the maximum capacity. His other hand reached down and pulled at my ass, making sure that we were as close as humanly possible.
A surge of pleasure washed through me, making me shiver and moan his name on repeat. My heart was beating faster than I'd ever felt it, pounding from my ears to my chest to my groin, where Edward's flesh was still moving between my thighs.
"Oh, Edward, don't stop Edward!" I cried out, but…my voice sounded far away, as if it were coming from somewhere else. And it didn't escape my notice that it sounded a tad like Jake.
In fact, it was Jake. My eyes fluttered open, and I realized that not everything about my dream had been, well, a dream. I took immediate notice of my position in the bed. My leg was draped precariously over Edward's hips, aligning my center with his rather prominent morning wood, which I'd obviously been rubbing myself against in my sleep.
Edward huffed and squeezed my ass and thigh, bringing us even closer, and I used all my effort not to groan audibly. No, I wanted to enjoy every second of this for as long as possible. Instead, a contented sigh escaped my lips, and I couldn't help but to lean further into the crook of his neck, noticing that I fit perfectly there.
My moment of perfection was ruined, though, by—of course—Jake, whose laughter shook the entire room, rousing Edward from sleep nearly immediately. I felt his body freeze, every muscle tensing around mine, inadvertently rubbing his erection directly on the inseam of my jeans.
Oh Jesus. Do not freak out, Bella. Absolutely do not freak out.
Knowing he was already good to go only caused him to invade more of my senses. My restraint only stayed intact hearing everyone's loud breathing behind me. Plus, I wanted Edward fully conscious for any sexual activity we might partake in.
"What the…" I heard Edward's sleep-laced voice question as he quirked his head off the pillow. My body shifted downwards slightly, but I noticed that he still kept a firm grasp on my body, not letting me roll away...or put my leg (which was still tossed over his hips) down. I suppressed the grin that threatened to take over my face at that realization.
We lay in blissful peace for approximately 1.2 seconds before I heard Emmett's bellowing voice in my ear, "Get up, you perv!"
"Fuck you," I groaned as I attempted to get my hungover head far, far away from Emmett's booming voice. My body moved in the opposite direction, starting with my head burrowing into something soft and pliant, which I assumed was a pillow. Wrong. It was only when a low chuckling reverberated through my body, making me tremble with excitement and arousal, did I realize that I'd inadvertently rolled directly on top of Edward.
My eyes flew open as I scrambled to sit up, pressing my hands on his chest to brace myself. This did little to help, since it only brought my center directly on top of his erection…yet again. His eyes widened, and a strangled noise escaped from his mouth as I straddled him, effectively pushing myself down onto the (rather nicely-sized) cock I'd just been dreaming about.
"Fuck, I'm—" I began to apologize, seeing the panic in Edward's eyes, but I was interrupted.
Laughter filled the small room again, and I took a second to notice the other people in the room. Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Tanya, and Jake were all red-faced and clutching their stomachs as they, as far as could tell, stood and watched us. "What are you guys doing in here?"
"Apparently…watching the…beginnings…of a live…porno," Jake guffawed, his words coming out in wheezing gasps amidst his intense laughter.
Emmett turned quickly to Jake, punching him at the top of his shoulder, giving him a dead arm and silencing his obnoxious laughter.
"Oh shut up. You both know it isn't like that," Edward said, glaring at Emmett, breaking my heart and leaving it in tiny shards strewn over his sheets.
"Right." I sighed and removed myself from his bed. He had just effectively tainted the best night's sleep in my entire life, and I couldn't sit in the bed with him until he actually wanted me there. I thought maybe he'd been coming onto me last night, but apparently it had all been in my head. "Let's go to breakfast."
The room was filled with curious stares, and it took me a second to figure out that I was still wearing my clothes from the night before. And I would need to be in uniform to enter the dining hall. And then I realized something else.
"Hey, if I slept here, who the fuck is with my bunk?" My heart picked up its pace. I was going to get fired. I got drunk on my first day off and subsequently forgot about my children!
"No worries, B. I got Jen from tennis to cover for you," Rosalie explained calmly, letting my heart settle.
"Oh. Thanks," I replied awkwardly. Things with Rosalie were tenuous at best. Last night we'd begun to mend the shock and betrayal I'd felt, but it was going to take a while to gain back the trust I'd had in her.
FLASHBACK
At Edward's suggestion, I followed Rosalie back to the docks, where we could talk without the added ambience of ridiculously poorly sung rock ballads and power hits of the eighties.
"I don't understand why you're mad, Bella," she began, and the condescension in her tone hit me like a ton of bricks. "It's ridiculous for you to be mad over something that clearly doesn't involve you." My jaw unhinged slightly as he words continued to sear into my skull, giving me a pounding headache. "Are you really that insecure that you can't stand to be number two to Emmett?"
I was reeling. "You think that's why I'm mad at you?" Her eyes were fierce as she nodded sharply. "Screw you," I mumbled under my breath.
"What?" her eyes were wide with shock, and I was clearly under the influence of too much tequila, because my words spilled forth with no filter.
"I said. Screw. You." Fury ebbed and flowed through my body, warming my cheeks with a red flush. "This is so fucking unfair, you know… I'm the one who's supposed to be mad at you!" I screamed. "Emmett has kept things from me—it's part of his older brother mantra—sometimes I don't want to hear shit from him. But you? I've told you everything, Rose. Everything! There's no minute action that I don't immediately run to tell you. I guess I just assumed you would do the same. I thought Alice and I would come first. We're supposed to be best friends, and this wasn't really 'best friend,' behavior. On the day that you claimed you would always be there for me, you weren't."
"I was going to," she replied, looking distraught. "I was going to tell you yesterday after the swim meet, but you were so upset about Jasper and Alice going out already, and I thought I'd give you time to adjust to them first before springing something else on you. I thought I was being considerate…"
"Considerate to who, Rosalie? Considerate to me? By lying to me? Finding out that two of my best friends are together by finding them making out in public really isn't the best way to express that. I…I—"
"He cheated on me!" she snapped. "You want to talk about 'best friend' behavior? Yeah, okay. My best friend from home called me…" she let her eyes close and continued "to tell me that she and Royce were in love and they'd been t-together…for…" Her blue eyes opened, and I saw the pain behind them. "They'd been seeing each other behind my back for three years." Tears started to trickle from her eyes. "Bella. I…I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I lost it and Emmett happened to be there. And I r-really like Emmett. He's s-sweet, and you always tell me the n-nicest things about him. H-he would never do that t-to me."
I sighed and wrapped my arms around her shaking body, which was still convulsing as she tried to get a grasp on her sobs. "Oh, jeez." I'd never seen Rosalie cry. Yell, yes. Hell yes. But cry…never. "I'm sorry, too, Rose." At my words, she pulled back, looking confused. "I'm sorry that you felt like you had to hide anything from me. It really sucks that you didn't tell me, especially after I told you I was already feeling crappy. I know it's really fucking lame to say, but…you hurt my feelings. You and Emmett both."
"You don't seem all that pissed at Emmett, to be frank."
I rolled my eyes at her petulance. "Emmett is Emmett. He leaves me Oreos and a tub of frosting, and I can't help but forgive him. It's how we work, but it doesn't mean that I'm still not pissed off as fuck at both of you."
"So, are you going to be even more pissed if I ask you what's going on with you and Edward tonight?"
I cracked a small smile, but the anger and hurt were still present. "Maybe I'll talk to you about it tomorrow, but right now I kind of want to forget that you and Emmett exist."
She looked pained, but I was unyielding in my decision. I was going to drink and be merry and focus on the gorgeous man inside whose lap was still warm from my body. Resolute in my decision, I turned, leaving Rosalie on the docks.
"You're going to need something to wear, LB." Jake's ridiculing voice brought me back to the room, which was still filled with people. "And a shower," he sniffed my hair and scrunched up his nose, looking like a sad puppy, "you smell like ten hundred kinds of different booze."
"Shut up." I laughed and elbowed him in the stomach.
"Uh, here." Suddenly, clothes were pushed into my arms awkwardly, hanging over my arm in a haphazard mess. I looked around for the culprit just as a towel was flung at me from across the room. I sidestepped it, looking bewildered at a flustered Edward, who was looking over his shoulder at Jasper—aka, the culprit.
"Do you know where the shower is, Bella?" Jasper smirked, cocking his head to the side, which made me incredibly nervous.
"I think I can manage…"
"Don't be silly, Bella." Jasper stepped up, leaned down to get the towel he'd thrown, and linked arms with me, leading us out of the room and towards the shower. "I'll show you."
"That's really unnecessary, Jasper…" One look at his cocked eyebrow was more than enough to silence me, though. He pushed open the door to their bathroom, revealing a small one-person shower, letting me step in. His facial expression hadn't changed, and it was starting to drive me slightly insane.
"What?" Did I have something on my face or something? Oh man. I realized I hadn't even looked in a mirror yet this morning. I could potentially be a shit show.
"I just want you to know," he began cryptically, "that I know."
Huh?
"Know what?" I asked, but he just shook his head and began closing the door. "Wait!" I stopped the door with my hand and peeked my head out. "Jasper! What do you know?"
He shook his head again and winked before closing the door all the way, leaving me dumbfounded. Jasper could be such a freak sometimes. Instead of thinking about his puzzling comments, I stripped down quickly and turned the water on as hot as it could go.
As I stepped into the shower, I realized that it was filled with the boys' toiletries. I sidestepped Jake's AXE shampoo and body wash quickly, not wanting to smell like a male stripper all day, leaving me with three other options to choose from. I picked up all the bottles, examining their contents. The first was a lemon-scented shampoo, which I recognized as Emmett's, but I decided that I was still a little too pissed at him to use it. The second was unscented body wash and shampoo from Dove, which I had almost squeezed into my hand when I saw the label of the last bottle.
It was a girly looking bottle by Nexxus, but when I opened it – oh good God – I nearly orgasmed just from pure scent alone. It was as if someone had bottled Edward and put him into a neat little package. I read the ingredients over quickly, wondering what could possibly result in such an amazingly fresh and crisp fragrance, surprised at what I found there: bamboo extract, chamomile, and orange blossom…really?
Unable to resist, I poured a huge amount into my hand and lathered it into my hair. An unstoppable moan escaped my lips as the steam became imbued with the scent, filling my lungs with each deep breath. I'd be surrounded by Edward all day.
There was a quick knock at the door, but before I could respond, I saw a flash of bronze at the door. "Fuck!" I cried out as the shampoo ran into my unblinking eyes.
"Bella?" a voice called out from the still-opened door, but it was a different head of bronze than the one I had been expecting.
"Yeah?" I managed to squeak out.
"I'm driving home now, and—" there was a pause before a muttered, "Go away, you miscreant! If Bella wanted you to see her naked…" I wasn't able to hear the response, but my skin burned under the hot water at the idea of someone trying to get a look at me naked…unless it was Jake or Emmett or Jasper…because that'd be disgusting. "Anyway, I didn't want to leave without saying 'bye,'" Tanya continued. "I had so much fun with you last night. Teddy has my number if you ever want to call, and hopefully I can make it up here again before the end of the summer."
I heard Jake bellow a loud, "Fuck yeah!"
"Thanks, Tanya. Drive safe!" I called out loudly, laughing as she closed the door again.
I finished the rest of my shower in record time, not even bothering to shave (because really, how did I know whose razor was whose—and what parts of their body it shaved if it was hanging out in the shower *shudder*). But as I hopped out and began to put the clothes that had been shoved at me on, I realized two very important things—one, the clothes, without a doubt, belonged to Edward—and two, I hadn't worn a bra last night and had no clean underwear to put on. Fuck.
As I stood staring at the pile of clean clothes, there was another loud bang at the door. My breath caught and my body jumped as Emmett's booming voice called out, "Come on, LB! Hurry the fuck up! The water is off, so what the fuck are you doing in there? Some of us have to pee! You better not be doing anything dirty."
Frustrated, I responded, glaring at the door, "Sorry, Em, but 'dirty' is the problem. I don't have any fucking clean underwear!"
Emmett sighed loudly, dropping his forehead against the door in resignation. He knew I had a thing about not wearing underwear. It really weirded me out for some reason. And I was already wearing someone else's clothes—Edward's clothes. "Can Rosalie run back to my bunk and grab me some?" I asked, oddly hopeful.
"No can do, LB. She went to walk Tanya out and was going straight to breakfast." There was a pause, and I heard Emmett step away from the door. "Wait there. I have an idea!" His footsteps walked further away and my heart constricted with panic. Was he honestly going to leave me in his bunk in a towel until after breakfast?
"Fuck! Emmett!" I yanked the door open, thinking that—like Rosalie—everyone had gone up to breakfast already. "Don't leave me here!" I was in for a huge shock as three pairs of eyes focused on my wet, towel-covered body.
Jasper immediately blushed and averted his eyes to the floor, but I didn't have time to notice anyone else's reaction because soon Emmett's body hovered in front of my own, blocking my view with his hulking stature. His hand slipped down and passed a pair of black boxer briefs into my hand. As I opened them up to check the size (which was extra small), I noticed that they had the Batman symbol on the front and started giggling.
"They were given to me as a joke," Edward groaned.
"Sure they were." I laughed, relieved that I'd have underwear to put on. As I was giggling, Jasper seized his opportunity and ran into the bathroom, throwing back the clean clothing at me before shutting the door behind him.
"Jasper!" I yelled, banging on the door.
"Go change in my room. I've had to pee forever!"
I growled and stalked past Emmett into Jasper's room, causing Edward's eyes to widen exponentially as he scrambled for this own clothing and ran out of the room. Nice.
I guessed we weren't going to have that whole morning after, "oh yeah, it was totally normal that we slept in the same bed and woke up with me sleep humping you," conversation yet. Today was going to be weird. I could feel it already.
* * *
My classes dragged by slowly. After having the day off yesterday, my brain wanted nothing more than to shut off for the rest of the day, but instead it had to put up with whining campers who only wanted to chat and ogle Jasper instead of working on their assignments.
I knew that camp was supposed to be fun, but it was really grating my nerves that I hadn't been able to accomplish a single lesson plan today. Also, I was still frazzled from this morning's events…and the fact that I knew I was wearing Edward's clothes (including his underwear) and was swimming in his scent all day. Technically, I could have gone back to my bunk to change after breakfast, but I couldn't bear to part with the soothing presence of the clean smell by choice.
Plus, Jasper had been taking all day to slowly clue me into what he knew. Yes, I'd been awake in bed with Edward for a little bit before I'd admitted to being awake. Sue me for wanting to enjoy that just a smidge! Apparently, Jasper thought it was hilarious and continued to mock me mercilessly throughout the day.
Only one more class to get through today, I chanted to myself. One more class, and then I could lay down and imagine that this morning had gone down a different route—maybe one where my group of friends hadn't been the biggest cock block known to man.
The campers meandered in slowly, taking their places at the low wooden tables, already looking bored. Jasper was in the midst of explaining the life of George Seurat and pointillism—the making up of an image by using only tiny dots—when a flustered-looking camper ran in.
She held up both her hands in apology and turned to me, staring at me with big brown eyes. "Bella, Edward wanted me to tell you that it's his fault that I'm late, and he's really sorry."
My face must have betrayed my shock at her statement because the girl felt it necessary to continue.
"We were working on my new project and he didn't hear chimes ring for next period. So, when he asked me what I had next, and I told him I had Fine Arts, he…um…" she blushed, looking uncomfortably at my face "…he swore, and then he told me to apologize to you specifically for making me late."
"Okay, well, thank you…" I drifted off, feeling bad that I didn't remember the girl's name.
"Maggie."
I smiled as warmly as I could and gestured for her to take a seat, which she did gratefully. Her flustered attitude and clear contempt for being in the center of attention reminded me of myself as a camper.
I found myself watching Maggie with a closer eye than I had with any of the other campers as she submerged herself into the work, focusing on creating a beautiful pointillism piece, using her own hand as the model.
"That looks great, Maggie." I leaned down to point out my favorite aspects of her shading, causing her to blush and smile shyly. She was incredibly talented, and I admired her focus, even when the people surrounding her were caught up in conversations about the latest rumors they'd heard floating around camp.
As class was wrapping up, I pulled Maggie aside before she could escape. "Am I in trouble?" she squeaked nervously.
"No, not at all. I wanted to let you know that I wasn't mad at you at all."
"Are you mad at Edward?" Her face looked incredibly worried.
"What? No, of course not."
She sighed loudly before smiling and nodding. "Good. He was so nervous that you were going to be mad at him, and I—" Maggie's blush overtook her entire face as she whispered, "—I wouldn't want to get Edward into trouble."
Aww. I loved this camper. She loved Edward, too. I couldn't help but add in my two cents to help her feel more at ease. "He is really cute, isn't he?" Her blush intensified as she nodded some more, trying to avert her gaze from my prying eyes. "I'll go let him know neither of you are in trouble right now, okay?"
A wide smile overtook her face and she yelled out a goodbye as she ran off toward the bunks. I decided to follow my own words and go visit Edward.
The shack was completely empty when I arrived, though. Seeing as I already knew the lock combination, I just opened it up and went inside. I could wait for Edward in the shack, right? That wouldn't be creepy at all.
The last time I'd been in the shack alone, I'd been so miserable, thinking that Edward had stood me up. But today I wanted to make new shack memories. Better shack memories. Happier shack memories.
I sat down in Edward's chair and looked around, making myself at home there. Surrounded in Edward's scent, sitting in his seat, I felt oddly close to him. There were storyboards strewn around the desk from, what I assumed was, his last class.
As I looked at the empty boxes, images of a new animated film flooded my mind about a shy flower who wished she could move from her spot in the garden. She sees all her friends and family get picked to be in bouquets week after week, and she's so sad by herself. Finally, when her wish comes true and she gets picked to be in the bouquet, she realizes that all of her friends have been picked have been denied their life source, hidden away from the sun, forced onto a shelf until they wither and die. A little depressing, yes, but it fit my state of mind.
Gathering a group of colored pencils, I started to plot out each frame until I realized I was missing something…music. I needed music when I was drawing, so I moved the mouse around and turned the monitor to the iMac back on. I browsed through Edward's iTunes, chuckling as I went. My browsing ended when I found a playlist filled with rap. Who knew that little emo Edward listened to rap?
Immersing myself in the heavy beat, I began to draw. The images flowed naturally as I mumbled along with the lyrics.
Tonight I want a slut, will you be mine?
I heard you was freaky from a friend of mine
Now I hope you don't get mad at me
But I told Nate you was a freak
He said he wants a slut, hope you don't mind
I told him how you like it from behind
I was totally in my groove when I heard the sound of two bodies colliding. I was able to turn in my seat just as Edward stumbled forward, with an unsteady Seth right behind him. After regaining composure, they both stood in silence, watching me closely.
"Hey." I waved awkwardly, a small quasi-salute before turning back to my drawing. They both stared at me with unreadable expressions on their faces, and it was making me just the slightest bit uncomfortable. I was glad I had something else to focus on besides their probing stares.
"Are we interrupting something?" Seth's voice came from over my shoulder, and I could feel the heat from his body escaping thickly into the air behind me.
"No, just…" I nodded toward my paper and tried my very hardest not to shudder as Edward placed his hand on the desk next to the paper, leaning close to my head to look at the drawings in front of us.
"Is there a script for this animation yet?" he asked, curious.
"Uh, kind of…" I nodded towards the separate page with my overall storyboard.
"It looks kind of intense," Seth noted, dragging a finger along the edge of the page.
"Well, it's adult animation," I explained.
I felt Edward's hot breath on the back of my neck as he leaned in to nudge my shoulder playfully. "Adult animation? Bella, if you wanted to watch porn, there's a whole stash right here," he joked, wrapping his arm around my shoulders to reach the mouse and drag it towards his photos folder.
"Oh, shut up." I laughed and turned my head to look at him, ready to continue my berating, but my breath caught. Edward wasn't looking at the screen at all. No, he was looking at me—very nearly through me, and I could feel my heart pick up pace. I needed a second to swallow before I continued. "It's not adult like that," I squeaked out as I averted my eyes, turning them back to my drawing.
"Sure, sure, Bella." His chuckle was light and breathy in my ear, and I could feel every inch of my skin prickling at the sound of it.
As it died down, an odd silence came over the room just as the song switched to R. Kelly's "Ignition (remix)." The suave tones combined with the thoughts of looking at porn with Edward caused me to break out into laughter again.
"Speaking of which, seriously, Edward, what is this raunch-tastic playlist for?"
His head came next to my ear, whispering in the naughtiest tone I'd ever heard him use, "What do you think it's for, Bella?"
Panties drenched now. Sexy times in the shack soon, please. Kay, thanks.
Suddenly, a throat cleared behind us, and I realized that Seth was still in the room. Funny. I'd completely forgotten about his presence. "Hey, Edward, don't you have to get ready for the talent show tonight?"
Edward straightened up stiffly, leaving me missing his body heat immediately. He ran a hand through his hair and shrugged. "Yeah, I should…go. Um, hey, are you going to be filming tonight?" he asked Seth.
"Yup. Or I assumed I would be." There was another pregnant pause where they stared at one another. I almost felt like I was invading a moment or a silent conversation…or something. As they continued to be weirdos, I pushed out from the chair and got up, piling my drawings and putting them on the shelf above Edward's computer, out of the campers' way. "Unless Bella wants to help?" Seth looked hopeful, and I smiled back.
"Me? Help film?"
Seth nodded hesitantly. "Should we go set up the camera?"
"Sure."
As Seth grabbed the tri-pod and the rest of the equipment, I remembered why I had originally set up camp in the shack first of all. "Oh! Edward!" He turned around, quirking an eyebrow in my direction. I blushed, realizing how overly excited I sounded. "Uh…I wanted to tell you that I got your apology…from Maggie."
A look of understanding flashed across his face, spreading into a soft smile. Oh, yes. My insides are turning into goo. All of a sudden, his arm was being wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me into his side as we trekked out of the shack and up the hill towards the theater.
"Good," he said as he squeezed my shoulders tighter. As if I would fight him off. Please. "Because I would hate for you to think—" Edward cut himself off before pressing his nose into my hair suddenly, making me feel super self-conscious. "Hey, you smell like me."
My neck got hot, a steady blush creeping up over my cheeks at his ability to smell his shampoo on me. I chanced a small glance upwards at him, but his nose was still pressed against my hair, so I couldn't see his face. "Uh, yeah…" I trailed off, looking for anything to distract him from his recent discovery. "Sorry I didn't ask or anything, I just figured…"
And then I saw it. The trip board. The perfect distraction.
The older age groups would be going on their first overnight trips next week, and I had forgotten that they were going to put up the list of chaperones tonight before the talent show to see which counselors were going to be on which trips.
"Hey! Trip advisor list is up!" I pulled away slightly, grabbing Edward's hand and dragging him up the steps of the front porch.
Usually, new counselors didn't get assigned to the overnight trips, but I hoped that I would be able to go. I knew that Emmett and Jake and Edward would all be put on the same trip—to Quebec with the oldest age group—they always were.
Naturally, my eyes went to that piece of paper first, seeking out the Quebec trip. My mouth nearly fell open in shock as I saw my name nestled between Jake and Emmett's names…shortly followed by Edward and Danielle from water ski.
Wait, what?
"Wait, what?" My filter was broken today, apparently, as my thoughts tumbled forth from my mouth. "I…um…Quebec?"
Suddenly I was spun around to face my best friend, who had been noticeably MIA all day. Seriously, that girl appeared and disappeared faster than a senior citizen's erection.
"Holy God, Bella!" Alice squealed. "You're going to Quebec? I have never been more jealous of anyone in my entire life! You get to sleep in a hotel room! And go shopping and go to restaurants and have so much fun! Do you remember our trip to Quebec? And the boys we met on the cruise ship?" She giggled, pulling me into a hug. But I was awkwardly tugged back seeing as my hand was still firmly encased within Edward's.
"Um, Edward?" He looked spaced out, so I held our clasped hands up in front of his face. Finally, he came out of whatever deep thoughts he'd been lost in and looked apologetically at me as he released my hand.
"Oh, right…I'm gonna…just…" he trailed off, nodding towards the theater.
As Alice continued to babble about how lucky I was and how much fun I was going to have, I realized the potential for this trip. An overnight in a hotel with Edward? Yes and please. My imagination went wild as images of us intertwined between sheets flooded my mind. But then I remembered—hadn't that been a real opportunity last night? And he hadn't taken it. Instead, he'd squelched it and told me, "it wasn't like that."
Today had done nothing to give me any hope that Edward viewed me any differently, but I couldn't let go. And I was starting to think that I really should.
"Hey, Bella." Seth nudged my shoulder with the tip of his tri-pod *gigglesnort* bringing my focus back to my surroundings. "Should we get this set up?"
I acquiesced, seeing as Alice had already darted off to wherever she needed to be next, and followed Seth to the balcony of the theater.
After climbing up the ridiculously narrow stairs, I realized that I'd never been up here before. Sitting on the balcony was a counselor privilege, and I knew that coming up here was a favorite afterhours activity—the perfect location for any debaucherous behavior.
The space was fairly cramped, too close to the ceiling for a full-grown person to stand all the way up. I shuffled through, kicking up clouds of dust as I went—clearly there hadn't been enough debauchery up here this summer…yet. I couldn't help the slow grin that spread across my face as I watched Edward rehearse with Emmett and Jake for their hosting gig tonight.
"Earth to Bella," Seth whispered, poking me in the arm.
I scowled and went to poke him back, but he already had his hands up in surrender. "Wow, you are touchy today," he joked, pulling up two chairs for us to sit in. I spaced out again, day dreaming about the trouble Edward and I could potentially get up to in this tight crawl space, when I felt Seth poke my arm again…hard.
"What?" I snapped, shouting a little too loudly for the small theater. His face dropped, and I felt bad. It wasn't his fault that he was stepping on my Edward fantasies. If anything, it was good that he did. "Sorry," I apologized.
"No worries. I was just asking, um, what happened last night? I'm guessing good things." He nodded his head in the direction of Edward, who was staring in my direction, most likely because I'd just had a crazy spastic outburst in a confined space. I met his concerned eyes with an easy smile.
"Hm?"
"Did something happen between you and Edward?" Seth asked, flat out.
I didn't really know how to answer the question. "Um, maybe?" And then, because no one had really been asking me what happened or how I felt about anything, I verbally vomited all over Seth. "I don't know, actually. We were kind of drunk, and he's touchy-feely to begin with, but then we ended up sleeping together. Not like sex sleeping, cause, yeah, I'm still a virgin, but like slumber sleeping. Except we woke up all on top of one another and he didn't pull away, but maybe he was just tired and hungover? And oh my god, I'm so sorry, you don't want to hear any of this, do you?"
Seth's eyes had glazed over slightly, and I knew that I'd pushed the whole "let me be your friend," card a little too far. "Sorry," I continued to apologize.
"Bella, it's okay." He leaned closer, placing his hand on my knee in a comforting—as opposed to creepy—manner. "I told you I'd be here for you, didn't I?" I nodded, unsure of how cool he was with this whole thing. "And, uh…" A slight flush appeared on his cheeks, and I wondered what the hell could fluster him. "I won't tell anyone you're a virgin if you don't want me to."
"Shit." I had just told him that, hadn't I? I'd literally spewed out whatever had come into my mind, and of course that had to be throw in there somewhere. "Yeah, um…please don't."
"Don't worry." He squeezed my knee in another gesture of assurance, but all I felt was an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia and suffocation.
As the campers filed into the theater, I sat in uncomfortable silence with Seth. He'd said not to worry, but as I watched Edward gracefully take the stage, smiling widely at all the campers, I couldn't help but do just that.