CHAPTER 10 – Matches – Rosalie's POV
The lunchroom was already buzzing by the time Rosalie entered.
She often wondered how long it would take for her to be able to sufficiently drown out the chatter of these children. She joined the line to grab a lunch that she would never eat. Maybe if she actually consumed the 'horrid' meal, then she could fake a stomach illness and take the rest of the week off.
When she got to her family's table, she took the advantage of being the first one there to position herself so that she would be able to see the entire cafeteria. For no reason in particular, she told herself, other than for her safety.
Rosalie saw her enter arm in arm with her treacherous sister. 'So, it begins' The conversation of their fledgling truce was still fresh in Rosalie's mind as she watched the pair navigate the sea of students.
They both made their way towards the lunch line as she had. They seemed to be engrossed in an animated conversation as she couldn't seem to stop gesticulating. 'No. If I'm going honor this friendship, then I'm going to do it right.' When they were out of the line, there was a moment when Rosalie truly thought that her sister would drag Bella to their table to force an interaction. 'Does a name still hold the power to electrify my senses if I don't say it out loud?'
Her worries were soon assuaged as they found a table just the two of them. Thankfully, the boys, minus Edward, soon broke her out of her thoughts. Jasper settled into the seat next to her with a smile. "You mind, darling? It looks like my usual lunch date has decided to expand her horizons." He said with a wink.
Rosalie gave him one of her rare smiles as he got fully settled into this seat. She always found that sitting next to Jasper had a calming effect whether he was engaging the use of his powers or not.
Her head rested against his shoulder as he and Emmett made plans to explore a new hunting ground over the weekend. Her eyes slipped closed as she tried to drown out the din of human chatter. Unfortunately, just as she reached a semblance of peace, it was interrupted.
"Great! Rosie and I will pick you up on Saturday and we can drive up together! We've been meaning to go into Port Angeles to pick up somethings and this will just be perfect." Alice's bell like voice chimed clear across the cafeteria.
Rosalie's eyes shot open as she let out a low hiss.
Jasper shifted under her to signal that he heard her response to harm his mate.
"I wouldn't have to if your mate would just stop meddling." Rosalie mumbled knowing full well that Alice could hear every word that she said.
"She just really cares about you as well as your happiness. She's also so smitten with Bella that her already sky-high happiness levels rise around her." Jasper replied. "Besides, didn't y'all strike up a friendship?"
Choosing to ignore Jasper for a moment, the blonde watched as Edward joined Alice and Bella. He must've entered while she was trying to escape the din of the cafeteria. Upon hearing her thoughts, he lifted his head and smirked at Rosalie.
When Bella realized he wasn't listening to what she was saying, she turned her head to follow Edward's eyeline. When their eyes locked, the smile that blossomed on Bella's face made the long-dead butterflies in Rosalie's chest awaken.
Rosalie's smile slowly bloomed in response. Bella raised her hand in a small wave before her attention was captured by Alice. The loss of eye contact left Rosalie momentarily feeling colder for some reason.
God, she felt pathetic.
Bella came in just as the bell rang and settled herself next to Rosalie. For her part, Rosalie kept her eyes focused on the teacher as the lecture began.
Rosalie's eyes drifted down to the page in front of her. She had abandoned taking notes in favor of refining her sketching. 'I wonder if Alice and Emmett would join me in creating a sketch bouquet for Esme for her birthday this year.' She heard slight shifting from the seat next to her.
Faster than the human eye could detect, Rosalie looked up to see Bella trying (and failing) to get a glimpse at what Rosalie was working on. Rosalie realized that Bella had been doing this off and on for a few weeks now, trying to get a look at her paper. 'Maybe she's bad at taking notes and is hoping to see my paper.'
"Bella, if you need to borrow my notes because you've missed something, all you need to do is ask. You don't have to be sneaky about it." Rosalie whispered at barely audible tones. A pencil snapped and she could feel the heat of Bella's blush radiating off of her.
"You called me 'Bella.'" she whispered in awe.
'Fuck.'
Mx. Davis chose that moment to call attention to the front of the classroom. On the board, they had written 'fate v. free will' with a flourish. 'You've got to be joking.'
They continued on to explain that this would be the class's semester project. Each pair of students would have to craft an entire argument around fate or free will. Further, the argument would be based on one of the philosophical, Greco-Roman themes the class was to cover. Part of today's assignment was for one from each pair to come up to the front of the class and pull the theme.
Rosalie turned to see Bella's dark, chocolate eyes peering at her through the curtain of her hair. "Do you think want to go up or should I be the willing victim?" Bella smiled.
Rosalie's eye twitched at the hidden joke the human had no idea she'd made. She mentally added Dante's Inferno to her re-read list. If she was going to be subject to her own personal hell, then she might as well pretend like she has a Virgil to guide her through.
"I've never done a project like this. If it's all the same to you, then I'd love to go up." Bella said.
"I have my qualms with both fate and free will so please be my guest." Rosalie grimaced before continuing, "I don't want to hear you complain if you aren't able to craft a strong argument."
Bella slowly rose from where they were seated and walked to the front. As she passed behind, Rosalie was engulfed by her smell. The blonde tried hard to block it out, but her body rebelled and took a deep breath. She smelled like warmth and sunshine. 'Pathetic. The girl can't walk by you normally without you acting like a fiend. Get a grip of yourself.'
Before she got too far away, Bella over her shoulder she tsked, "What? Afraid of a little competition, Hale? I thought you liked a challenge. Besides, I'm not the one whose argument got decimated."
The blonde's mouth dropped open as Bella's smirk was back in place as she continued up to the front of the classroom.
Rosalie's phone vibrated in my pocket and she surreptitiously glanced down to see a message from Alice. If you kill her now, you'll ruin my weekend makeover plans. Play nice. Then, a couple of seconds later. Rosie, I know it's hard for you to believe me, but I've never seen you smile as bright as you do in these visions of you two. I'm so happy that you've found your other half.
She quickly pocketed the phone. Alice's visions were still subjective, so there was still a chance things could change. Besides, Bella was so kind as to offer her friendship and that was what Rosalie could provide. The trouble was…she didn't know how to be a friend.
Naturally, her eyes followed Bella as she patiently stood in line. When she got up to Mx. Davis, Bella reached her hand to fumble inside the Red Sox baseball cap. Whatever she saw when she opened the small slip made her whole body seem to tense. When she lifted her head up, Rosalie was able to see a look of genuine shock at whatever the girl had seen on the little slip.
The shock seemed to fade into a resolute look of determination as Bella made her way back to their shared table. Rosalie raised her eyebrow in response. When Bella finally got settled into the seat beside her, the determined look had a tinged of gleeful eagerness to it.
Before Bella could open her mouth, Rosalie said, "I'll be free will and you're fate."
Bella's smile seemed to grow right in-front of Rosalie's eyes. 'What an Oddball my ma-partner is.' Bella just nodded her head soundlessly, and then said, "You sure don't want to wait to see what the theme is first?"
When Rosalie nodded her head in response, Bella slid the slip of paper across the table towards her. The blonde's already perfectly arched eyebrow shot dangerously close to her hairline. There on the slip in her hands was one word.
Love.
Rosalie's laugh rang out before she could smother it. Eye's shinning with mirth because of course that would be the topic that they would have to argue on. Bella's chocolate eyes seemed to sparkle in return.
"You have a beautiful laugh, Ms. Hale."
When the bell rang, Rosalie was in no rush to leave, so she decided to linger as Bella packed up her things. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't realize they were halfway to the parking lot when she heard Tyler's booming voice cut across the sea of students, "Sup, Arizona! What's cookin, good lookin?" he said as he fist-bumped Bella.
Rosalie let out an involuntary growl at the boy. 'The audacity of this human to think that he can have such familiarity with me ma– friend.' She subtly shakes her head to clear her line of thinking. Ever the oblivious boy, Tyler turns to her, "Oh! Sorry, Hale, didn't see you." He nods his head at her, as he and the rest of the group join them.
Two of Bella's friends, ('Jessica? Ashley? I can never tell which one is which.') grab her by the arms, and Rosalie has to suppress another growl. 'She is her own person and not a piece of property. You're better than this Hale. Pull. Yourself. Together.'
"Bella! We've got the greatest plan for this weekend and you have to join us!" the more talkative one of the two said. "Rosalie, you should absolutely come too! The more the merrier and I'm sure that it would help sway Bella into coming as well." The girl turned to Rosalie, her blue eyes pleading excitedly. Suddenly, Rosalie was very grateful that she'd had decades of training against Alice's pout because the one this girl wielded had the potential to be as deadly.
Rosalie's honeyed voice responded. "Thank you for the lovely offer. Unfortunately, I have to decline. My whole family is going on an extended hiking trip, so we won't be back until sometime next week." Rosalie heard the smallest sigh come from Bella at her admission. "But that shouldn't stop Bella from joining you lot. Where are you planning on heading, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Oh, that's a bummer I was hoping to talk to you about some songs that I found that I think you might enjoy." Angela chimed in "We were thinking about going to La Push. A lot of us have family and friends out there, so we go pretty often."
If Rosalie had blood running through her veins, then she would've sworn that it all turned to ice in that moment. She and Jacob's friendship may have been a carved-out exception to the treaty, but she knew that no matter how close she was to Jacob that she would never be able to get to Bella if she was in danger there. She made a mental note to call Jacob later. As much as it pained her to admit it, Jacob was amazing at talking her down from irrational anxieties.
Rosalie schooled her features and said, "That sounds like it's going to be a great time and you'll just have to catch up on everything, including the playlist, when I get back." Angela nodded enthusiastically as the group left in a whirlwind similar to how they arrived.
They had gotten to Bella's truck before Rosalie realized that Bella hadn't said anything in quite some time. When Bella makes no move to get in, Rosalie feigns clearing her throat.
"I see you got it fixed." Rosalie mumbled. 'Stop mumbling. You're not an actual teenager.'
Bella just blinks at her wordlessly.
"The…scratches…on the door."
"What?" Bella puzzled looking confused.
"For goodness sake, the 'secret admirer message' I left." Rosalie cried gesturing vaguely at the now pristine door. She had the good sense to be look away when Bella tried to catch her eyes after her little outburst.
"Oh, yeah! It was the weirdest thing. I had invited the guy who Frankenstein's monstered the first time and we had even set up a meet up to get the supplies to do the work. But when I woke up the next day it was gone, and my door looked good as new! It was so odd."
"Yes…how odd." Rosalie murmured looking away. 'Rosalie Lillian Hale, you are better than this. You know how to apologize for you wrongs and take responsibility. If not with her, then who?'
Rosalie squared her shoulders and steeled herself. "Bella, I do want to take a moment and apologize properly. It was juvenile and beneath a lady of my stature and bearing." Trying to convey the level of remorse that she was feeling over her childish action.
Bella's blush was back in full force and the same look from before came over her face. "You called me 'Bella' again. I thought I misheard you the first time." Bella shook her head, "Did your mom make you say that? Because I swear that we're square and have been since our last conversation."
Rosalie looks deep into her eyes, "I would very much like to make it up to you if you would be so kind as to let me."
"Ms. Hale did you just proposition me?" Bella joked trying to ease the tension that threatened to swallow them both up. 'Her eyes remind me of freshly ground, dark carob. An endless expanse to get lost it forever.' Realizing the moment got away from them, Rosalie took a step back and rolled her eyes as she moved to leave.
Before Rosalie got too far, she turned and said, "You have my permission Bella."
"What?"
"You may call me Rosalie."