Words with Friends Chapter 21
Today was the day. I couldn't stop looking at the time and calculating how many hours it was until eight PM. Yes, it took me a few seconds. I wasn't a math major and I was excited. And nervous. So very nervous. Class provided little distraction, very little, but it was something. I hadn't really needed the cell phone vibrating on the desk behind me though. Fearing that I'd brought my vibrator to class with me was not fun.
These past few days had been interminable. Edward had been traveling, so we'd hardly talked except for little emails on his end. And I felt like an idiot writing huge ones to him, so I wrote short, sweet ones back. Mostly they were about how we missed one another and couldn't wait until he was home. There was some talk about the whole Spring Break thing, which made butterflies take off in my stomach. I had less than two weeks now to tell Edward that I knew who he was. I hoped to God he wouldn't change his mind about coming to see me then. Had I really done anything so wrong? The odds of finding him were astronomical. And I'd liked the person I found before I knew for sure it was him. Hopefully he'd understand that.
I'd considered not telling him at all, but Rose was right. There were too many unknowns if I didn't do that. If we met and we were as great in person as we were on the computer, I didn't want that hanging over my head. I wanted to enjoy him and have him enjoy me. I'd had a relationship filled with lies last time and I didn't want to start a new one, if that's what we were doing, with any. He needed to know.
So did Alice. I'd made up my mind. I was telling her tonight. She was all excited about Jasper and no longer thinking she had Edward, so maybe she'd be happy that I found him. I knew she'd be pissed that I hadn't told her, but hopefully she'd forgive me. I didn't want anything putting a damper on my call with Edward tonight.
On top of the fact that our emailing had been sporadic, our WWF had been nonexistent. First their server was down, which of course couldn't have happened when my ass comment was sent, thanks stupid game, but then Edward's phone wouldn't pull it up. His frustration over that had made me laugh. I told him that at least the people of Australia weren't caught up in the lotion shortage. He hadn't been amused.
Lotion…hmm, would he have some on hand tonight? Did I want him to? I'd never had phone sex before, though Tyler had fumbled through some sexy talk from time to time over the summer. He wasn't good at it and I wasn't about to play with him on the phone. What did it say that I was likely willing to do it with Edward? It said that Edward was super sexy and his words turned me on, that's what it said. Gah!
I stopped off at Starbucks and got a coffee and blueberry muffin to eat before I went to the library. May as well work on the stupid paper my lovely professor had seen fit to assign right before Spring Break. I took out my laptop to fire off a quick email to Edward. He couldn't call me if he didn't have my phone number, could he?
Edward,
Hopefully you're home safe and sound and sleeping. Your body has to be all messed up from the time changes, huh? I know when I went to Florida it took me days to adjust and I wasn't all over the globe the way you were.
Anyway, I figured since tonight is the night we're finally going to talk; I should send you my number. Are you nervous at all? I am, which is weird, because it's so easy to talk to you now. I guess I just want it to be the same when I actually hear you. You know what I mean?
Sorry this is short but I've got to hit the library and get this paper done before our talk tonight. I've missed you and I look forward to catching up.
My number is 206-555-2382. I'll talk to you at eight. Can't wait!
Love,
Bella.
"Bella?" I jerked my head up from my screen and saw Colin standing next to my table.
I shut my computer and tried to smile. "Hi, Colin."
"Hey, do you mind if I join you?"
Yes. Damn, Bella, what did he ever do to you? "Sure, for a few. I've got to hit the library soon."
He slid into the seat across from me and grinned. "Funny that I ran into you twice in a week when I haven't seen you in months. How have you been?"
How to answer that question? He already knew the shit in my world. "Other than the obvious, pretty good. Looking forward to Spring Break. What brings you to campus?"
His smile dimmed a little but he kept it plastered on his face. "Law school. Actually I have to head over to the library myself. Maybe we could walk together?"
Ugh. Now he wanted to walk with me? Why was he all up in my space? Why was I being a bitch? "Sure, I guess." Now what?
"So, I heard about my brother and Rose."
I laughed. "Yeah, he tried stopping by to see her last night. She wasn't overly happy about it."
He shook his head. He really was a good looking guy. Not Edward hot, but then few were. But he was wearing a suit which always increased the hotness of a man in my experience. Ooh, maybe Edward would do a movie where he wore a suit. He could be a lawyer or a hot business man.
"Sometimes he takes himself too seriously. It's a shame, though. They were a good couple. He misses her."
Was that what he was doing? Trying to get an in for his brother? Wrong person to hit up, Colin. "Rose has a father she already doesn't like very much. She doesn't need two." Her parents were both super successful doctors, she hardly ever saw them growing up and never saw them now. She claimed to like it that way though.
He laughed and flashed super white teeth at me. Who was his dentist? "Sometimes he acts like he's forty-two instead of twenty-two."
"Says the guy in the suit," I pointed out, laughing.
He raised his coffee cup to me. "Touche. I'm working in my dad's law office, getting some real life experience. The suit's a part of that, but I do feel like an idiot walking around campus. People think I'm a teacher." His dimples flashed as he smiled.
"Nothing wrong with teachers," I told him, sort of testily. He was making fun of my profession after all.
"That's right; you're going to be one, aren't you? I must say, I wish I had a teacher that looked like you."
I jerked at that. He wasn't allowed to say that. Edward said that. I was Edward's teacher, not Colin's.
"Um, thanks. Well, I've got to get going." He stood with me and walked to the door, holding it open for me.
"We're going to the same place, remember?"
Damn it. "Isn't there a law library you use?"
He laughed and fell into step beside me. "Yes, but they do allow us to use the main library too. We're not lepers."
Right. I was being a bitch again. "Yeah."
We walked in silence for a couple of minutes and I hoped to God he was done talking with me. And he better not try to sit next to me in the library. He wasn't a distraction from the Edward call. He was making me miss him more than I already was.
"So, Bella, did Rose give you my number?"
I jumped in surprise. Shit. "Uh, yeah, she did." What was I supposed to say now?
"Okay, I thought maybe my brother pissed her off too bad and she didn't."
"Nope, she did." Holy awkward, Batman. What the hell was I supposed to say now?
"Well, good. I know with everything going on you probably hate every guy in the frat but, well, I'm not part of that anymore and I'd really like to take you out sometime, when you're ready."
I looked up at him and he was smiling and looking kind of nervous. "Thanks. I have it. I'm…possibly involved with somebody right now."
"Possibly?" he asked, no longer smiling.
It's very complicated, Colin. Trust me. "Still figuring it out."
"Well, when you figure it out, let me know." We were at the library and he held the door for me again. "Thanks for the coffee and the walk, Bella. It was nice spending time with you."
It was? I hadn't said hardly anything. "You too."
He smiled and gave me an awkward wave. "Hopefully I'll talk to you soon."
"Okay?" He was off then and I blew out a relieved breath. I just sucked at talking to guys. Oh, God, what if I was like that with Edward tonight? No, I couldn't be. Edward was different. I could do this. In eight very long hours, I'd be talking to him. Hurry up, stupid day.
I sat at a table in the back of the library and got my computer out. I'd work and make time fly by. Tonight would be amazing. It had to be.
Xoxoxoxox
I looked up from the pan where I was sautéing the chicken, peppers and onions. We were having quesadillas tonight. Only an hour and a half to go. "Ready."
Alice brought over plates with tortillas on them and I scooped the mix onto it. She passed the plates to Rose who sprinkled on the cheese and slapped on the tomatoes and sour cream. We sat down to that and Spanish rice and I took a breath. Rose met my eyes and winked. She knew that I was finally going to come clean.
"Alice, there's something I need to tell you."
She looked up from her plate, her grin a mile wide. "I already know and I'm so excited for you!"
I blinked in surprise. "You do?" Had I been that obvious?
"Of course! And he's perfect for you, Bella! I get why you didn't want to tell me, but that's just silly. I'm happy with Jasper now."
Rose looked as shocked by this as I was. "You do? I mean, I'm glad you're happy but I thought…"
"Bella, listen, just because we all had bad experiences with the Sig Eps doesn't mean you will again. Colin's not even really a Sig Ep anymore. He's never at any of their parties or anything. Don't sweat it." She bit into her quesadilla. "So good," she murmured around a mouthful of food.
Damn it. Of course she thought I was talking about Colin. Wait, how did she even know about him? "How'd you know about Colin?"
She swallowed. "I saw you two walking across campus today. You looked so nervous! Don't worry, though, you looked great together. That guy can really fill out a suit! And he's way more mature than Brady. Sorry, Rose, but it's true."
Rose snorted. "I don't know about that, since Brady was doing a great impression of a middle-aged man last time I saw him."
"Well, yeah, but you know what I mean. He's in law school, he has a job, he has money, he's super hot…I'm happy for you, Bella."
"I didn't know you saw Colin today," Rose eyed me before I could say anything and correct Alice's very wrong impression.
"Uh, yeah, he turned up at Starbucks and we were both going to the library so he walked me over. We're not going out," I told Alice.
"But he wants to, doesn't he? I saw how he was looking at you." Alice nodded knowingly. "I know that look."
I sighed. "Yeah, he does but…"
"No buts, Bella! You've been out of the dating world for too long and Colin's a great guy to get back into it with. He'll treat you well and won't get drunk and slobber all over you."
He was probably a good guy to date, but he wasn't Edward. "I'm just not interested in him. He's not…"
"How do you know until you go? One date, Bella, would that be so bad?" Jesus, was he paying her? Why so pushy?
"Wait, did he say anything about Brady?" Rose asked. Damn it, she was supposed to be helping me, not pumping me for information. Then again, I should have told her I ran into Brady's brother. Ugh.
"He said that Brady misses you and takes life too seriously."
She sniffed. "I'll say. If stuffy lawyer man agrees, that's saying something."
I laughed. "He said he was a forty-two year old trapped in a twenty-two year old's body."
Rose sighed. "And such a great body it was. Oh well, that's done."
"You're not going to give him a second chance?" Alice asked curiously.
"Of course not. I don't do second chances. Nobody controls me. Nobody," Rose declared, her eyes snapping with temper.
"I need to be more like that," Alice decided, before turning to me again. "Anyway, he sees his brother's faults, so that's good. You really should go out with him."
"I can't." I was going to do it. Now. "I've been talking…" I broke off when Alice's purse began singing.
I'm a Cowboy….on a steel horse I ride. I'm wanted, waaaaanted, dead or alive."
She let out an unholy shriek and dove toward the counter to grab it. "Oh my God, he's calling me!"
There could only be one person who got that tone. "Jasper?"
"Yes! Oh my God, I'm so excited!" She brought her phone out as the tone started up again. I should watch Young Guns again. That was a good movie.
"Hello," she breathed into the phone. I raised an eyebrow at Rose. It was all sexy and pornish sounding. Alice should totally be a phone sex operator. I should work on sounding like her for when Edward called me in…holy shit, an hour.
"I'm sorry, what?" she said in her normal voice. "Woman" she mouthed at us.
Jasper was a woman? What the fuck?
She shrugged and put her phone on speaker, probably hoping that if this was Jasper's wife or girlfriend that we'd come to her rescue or something. "I said, who is this?"
Alice glared at the phone. "This is the person you called, who is this?"
"This is the person who pays for this phone and wants to know why my son has used up all our allotted texting time? Why is this number appearing thousands of times on my phone bill?"
Oh shit. He was twelve. Or he was a loser living in his mom's basement and letting her pay all his bills. Ew. Rose and I exchanged nervous glances. Alice looked deadly pale. "Um, I'm a friend of Jasper's?" she asked.
"How does he have a friend in Seattle? Did you go to school with him?" she demanded.
"Uh, yes?" Alice asked again. She sank back into her chair looking very much like she might be sick. I could tell she was finally worried about the twelve year old thing as well.
"Are you his girlfriend? He hasn't told me a thing about you." The voice on the other end of the line was calmer now.
"Um, we're just talking?" Alice asked again.
"Well, honey, talking is well and good but maybe you two could cool off the texts. Are you coming home in time for prom? Has he asked you?"
Alice went pure white then and her gray eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head. "Prom?"
"Yes, Junior Prom! It's April 15th and I'd given up any hope of him going. He doesn't tell me a thing, clearly. Should I take him out to get fitted for a tux?" She was fretting into the phone while Alice appeared to be going into convulsions. She was grasping the table so hard her knuckles were white, which made them match her face.
"I'm sorry, how rude of me, I didn't even introduced myself. I'm Jeannie Whitlock, Jasper's Mom. What's your name?"
"Alice," she managed to choke out.
"Well, isn't that a pretty name? So will you be home for prom, sweetie?" Her southern drawl became more pronounced when she spoke endearments.
"I…I…" It was clear that Alice wasn't going to be able to say anything coherent so I took the phone from her.
"Hi, this is Ali's Mom, Celia. She's sick, the poor dear." Dear, that was mom-like, right?
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that! I hope she feels better real soon! I was just asking her if she was going to make it back to town for prom?"
Jeez. "I'm afraid not. We just got settled up here and we can't really afford to…"
"Oh, money's no option! We'd absolutely fly her out if she wanted to go." Jeez, they were desperate. How much of a loser was her son that she had to buy him a date?
"Uh, that's real nice of you but we could never…"
"Don't be silly! I'm dying to meet Jasper's girlfriend."
Overbearing woman. "Her father doesn't let her date, I'm afraid." I tried to sound severe. "We weren't aware that she was speaking to a boy from home. I've yet to get my phone bill."
The woman, Jeannie, laughed. "Oh, you're in for a surprise! I hope she doesn't get in too much trouble."
"No, I'll see to it that he doesn't get too mad. You know how it is, moving at that age." Rose was trying to comfort Alice and laughing silently at my frantic lies.
"Seventeen is a terrible age! Jasper used to tell me every little thing but now he's sealed up tighter than Fort Knox! My word, I wouldn't know a thing that boy was doing if I hadn't gotten this bill! I have to tell you, I'm just glad he's finally interested in someone. He kept telling me all the girls around here were too immature! I guess your Alice is an old soul."
Alice let out a sobbing laugh and I fought my own. "Yes, she is. I really must check on her, Jeannie."
"Okay, well, you let us know if she wants to come to prom. We'd be happy to take care of it."
"Will do, thank you." I hung up and stared at Alice and Rose.
"Prom!" she shouted. "Junior fucking prom? Oh my God!"
I didn't know what to do so of course I blurted out the first thing in my head. "Well, at least she thinks you're his age and won't be pressing charges."
"Seventeen! My soul mate is seventeen? Jesus!" She was out of Rose's arms and storming around, her face red instead of white now. Alice in a rage was quite a sight to see.
"You were right, all along! I sent him…oh God!" She kicked her chair. "I said those things to a teenager!"
"Well," Rose said. "He's almost legal. And when you're thirty he'll be twenty-five. That could be kind of hot. You're a cougar."
"I'm not waiting eight years for him to turn twenty-five!" she shouted. "He's a kid! I told him I wanted to blow him! Bella's right, I'm going to jail."
"You're not going to jail. His mom thinks you're his age, thanks to Bella. Good job, by the way," Rose complimented me.
"Thanks. It was disturbingly easy to lie to her."
"Yes, thanks, Bella, for saving my ass. Ugh. Never again. I'm never talking to a guy on the computer, phone or in person without seeing his damn driver's license and maybe a birth certificate." She took a deep breath and sat back down.
Nothing like going a little overboard, though I could understand her mortification. "Well, that might be taking it a little to the extreme but…"
"You don't know the shit I said to him, Bella! I told him I wanted him to fuck me on the bear skin rug! Ugh, gross!"
"Well, I mean, he's seventeen, not twelve. He's probably got a sort of decent body and…" I broke off, because really, what could I say?
"He probably looks like that kid on 2 ½ Men!" she shouted. "His Mom, didn't she practically throw money at you to let your daughter come visit? She tried to buy me for him! He's a loser. I'm a loser for falling for a teenage loser! God." She pushed her plate away. "I really might be sick."
"Ali, it'll be okay. You just need to…"
"Join a convent, become a lesbian, call Jared and let him fuck me so hard that I forget my name, let alone Jasper's," she finished. "Believe me; I'm working on all the options."
"You better not use that last option or I'll kick your ass myself," Rose told her. Alice glared at her but Rose glared right back. "Fucking Jared is not an option or an answer. You fell for this k…Jasper because he was nothing like Jared. Just because he isn't quite what you thought he was doesn't mean you should fall back into old patterns. I'm not going back to Brady, you're not going back to Jared and that's that."
Alice's shoulders slumped. "I know, you're right. I'm just freaking out. I really thought he was the one, my perfect match."
"There's no such thing as a perfect match," Rose told her. I wanted to dispute that as Edward came to mind but Alice didn't need that right now. "However young he was, Jasper showed you what you want. No settling for less. Be single with us for awhile."
"Well, with you, maybe. Bella needs to go out with Colin." Ugh, she was back on that.
Rose shook her head. "That's up to her, when she's ready. Meanwhile, it'll be just the three of us. That's always worked for the best anyway."
"Yeah." Alice smiled shakily and wiped away tears I hadn't realized she was crying. "Thank God for you two." She stood and hugged Rose and then me. "I'm going to go lay down for awhile. I really don't feel good."
"I don't blame you," I told her. "Get some sleep and we'll see you in the morning."
"Yeah." She walked into her room, leaving her phone on the table. I thought about telling her but maybe it was for the best that she stay away from it for tonight. Rose saw what I was looking at and pocketed it. We were of a like mind there.
"Well," Rose said, sitting back down next to me. "That was insane."
"Uh, yeah."
"I can't believe he's seventeen. I mean, it's better than the little kid I was picturing but still."
"I know." I sighed. "I didn't tell her about Edward."
"I know. That's not going to go over too well now, if it ever was."
She was right. I'd waited too long. "This blows."
"Hey." Rose touched my arm. "Don't let this diminish your excitement for tonight. You talk to him. See how it goes. If he really wants to come see you, you're going to have to tell her. It doesn't have to be today. We'll play it by ear and hope her mood improves before we have to deal with it."
"Right." I closed my eyes and felt the butterflies come back. Good ones. The ones that told me Edward would be calling soon.
"Go in your room, get into something sexy and make sure your toy's nearby," she advised.
"Jeez, Rose, I don't know that we're doing that." How embarrassing. "Don't listen at my door."
She threw back her head and laughed. "Bella, I'm not that much of a pervert. I want details tomorrow."
I stood and took my dish to the sink. "I've got that. Go."
"Okay." I took a deep breath. "I can do this."
"Yeah you can. Go make me proud!" She slapped my ass as I walked past her and I shot her the finger. "Just getting you in the mood," she snickered.
"Yeah, yeah."
I went into my room and looked at my phone. It was plugged in and I checked the charge. Full. Still thirty minutes to go. I may as well pull up WWF and see if he'd finally played. Email first though.
Bella,
I am alive and well. Better than well, actually, now that I have your number. I'm grinning like a fool in my kitchen. I'm very excited to talk to you but yes, I'm nervous as well. Just be you and I'll be me and we'll be okay, right? That hasn't gone wrong for us so far!
I can't wait to hear your voice. I've imagined it countless times in my head but there's no way of narrowing something like that down, even knowing what you look like.
You finish up your paper like a good girl so I don't have to punish you, unless you want me to, of course. I'll talk to you in a few hours.
Love,
Edward
Punish? Crap. I was wet already. May as well check WWF now. I couldn't get anymore worked up.
A gentleman? I admit, I tried my best. You're right, maybe someday we'll get to that point but for now I think we'll stick to showers and desks and hot teachers, okay? Those are enough to nearly kill me anyway; we don't need to up the ante any further!
I'm going to talk to you in a few hours, which feels like a lifetime from now. I guess you can plan phone sex, but where's the fun in that? If it happens, it happens. If not, I'm sure I'm going to enjoy just hearing you, Bella. It feels like I wanted that for years instead of days. 8:00 PM cannot come soon enough!
The shower is very much on the list. It's starred in my fantasies every time I've stepped into the water. You just don't know what you do to me, do you? Or maybe you do and you're having fun torturing me. That's another punishable offense, you know.
Soon, Bella. I can't wait.
Lord help me, he talked about punishment again. Thank God we were off the ass thing. We could revisit that in a few months or years maybe.
May as well answer the WWF at least.
So, you're calling me in thirty minutes and I'm killing time by reading your messages. Short, dirty and sexy. And you say I'm killing you?
I'm nervous, very nervous, but excited too. Hopefully by the time you read this, we will have talked and all will have gone well. I hope I don't sound like a babbling idiot, although I did in that drunk email and you still liked me. How did I get so lucky?
All this talk of punishment makes me tingly, Edward. I have a feeling talking to you will as well. I can't wait to see what other feelings you bring me. I bet they'll be very good.
Talk to you soon.
Your, Bella.
There. That was a sexy, confident ending, after I called myself a babbler of course. Well, that was me, a mix of things. He knew that by now. He'd played horsed, which wasn't overly sexy. Hopefully he wasn't hung like a horse. A nice sized dick would be good, but not a horse one. If it was, it would never come near my ass for sure.
My letters still kinda sucked, at least with what the board was giving me. And I didn't think I had anything sexy this time either, unless I played tit again but that wouldn't get me any points. Zit, double word score was going to have to do it. Zit. How unsexy could I get right before I talked to him? That's okay, my WWF words don't have to be sexy, my phone words do. Please let me sound like the semi-intelligent college student that I am and not some teenager like Alice's Jasper. What was I going to do to cushion that blow when I told her about Edward?
One thing at a time. Just take it all as it comes and it'll all work out, right?
A/N The call is next and it will be posting on Wed at the same time as the WWS version of the call goes, since the dialogue is the same. You can read one/both however you want to do it, but I figured why wait to post on Friday what I'm posting on Wed anyway. So there will be no WWF next Friday :)
So Jasper is younger, but not THAT much younger, not that Alice is very happy about it at the moment. Will she cougar it up eventually? I guess we'll just have to see. I don't think she's going to prom, though!
WWS is being featured on The Lemonade Stand next week. Thanks to everybody that voted for me! I'm honored! See you all on Wed with the call you've been waiting for :) Thanks!
WWF players this week are: lisahr79, zimphella, missblueberries, Jene Jesmer, elenaclaire4, XPerfectlyxImperfectX, MilliedIn2011, Esmi76 and Twisted In_ has asked me to see if anybody is playing Word Feud as she would like some fellow players. So Word Feuders can send their names too if they like or just add her, and hopefully I got her name right :)