A/N: I don't own this. We all know who does.
The amazing drivingedward beta'd this. She's far too good to me. :)
When I started this story I didn't have a last name in mind for Alec's family. Nothing felt right to me and I thought "Oh, it'll come to me as the story goes along." And then it didn't. People started asking me what Bella's last name was, and I didn't know what to tell them because I didn't know what it was. Then it kind of became a game to see how long I could go without mentioning it in the story. :D As I started posting these final chapters the last name hit me. I hope you all like it. :)
~*o*~*O*~*o*~
Mini Outtake Six – Swans – BPOV
I sat down in the second row of the classroom, still frustrated that I even had to take the class. My major had nothing to do with Art History, and yet there I sat with a two-hundred-dollar book that listed names and titles of people and pictures I'd never heard of. My advisor said the class was part of the "college experience." I had to stop myself from laughing in her face, then crying as she added the class to my already full course load. It didn't help that it was a half-semester class and the work that usually took sixteen weeks would now have to be done in eight.
As the start time approached, a few more people wandered into the room, most of them alone. A small group of guys came in joking and talking with one another. I looked down at my book, opening it to the first chapter and looking through the pictures there.
"I must have been drunk when I signed up for this class," one of them said. His friend quickly followed up with, "When aren't you drunk?" which caused the other two guys with them to laugh.
"Hey, I resemble that remark!" the first guy said, then all four of them laughed as they all moved to sit down in desks along the front row. One of them stood in front of the desk nearest to me and when I glanced up I caught him looking at me.
"Hey," he said with a smile. It was a nice smile.
"Hi," I replied.
"I'm Alec. These dorks are my friends Paul, Sam, and Felix."
"I'm Bella," I said quietly before I nervously pushed a strand of hair behind my ear.
He sat down and exchanged a few more words with his friends before turning around in his desk and looking at me again. "So, if we need partners in this class, do you have one yet? 'Cause if not, I'd love to partner up with you."
I was a bit taken aback by his forwardness, but then thought maybe he needed a good grade in the class and figured I'd be a better bet than his friends. "None of them too savvy with art history, huh?" I jokingly asked.
He laughed. "No, not even close."
He seemed harmless enough, so I thought why not. "Sure, I'd be fine with that. But just know you might regret this decision in about eight weeks."
He laughed. "I highly doubt that. Can I get your number?" he asked. "Strictly for educational purposes, of course."
I couldn't help but smile and think about how angry my boyfriend would have been to find out I'd given out my number to a totally random guy in my class. Then I reminded myself that my boyfriend had given a lot more than his number to a girl in one of his classes, and that he wasn't my boyfriend anymore, so screw him. Just like he did the girl from his class.
"Yeah," I said as I scribbled my name and number down on a piece of paper and handed it to him. "You can write yours on the bottom of the paper and give it to me."
He quickly did, then tore the paper in half and handed the bottom half back to me.
Alec – 206-944-6252
As I put it in my notebook the instructor entered the room, greeting everyone in a somewhat bored tone. That didn't bode well for me since I was already not looking forward to the class and the three hours I would be sitting there.
He started to take roll, calling out last names and waiting for the "Here" that followed most of them. There weren't a lot of us in the room, so it didn't take long for him to reach the latter part of the alphabet.
"Swan?" he called out.
"Here!" I said just as another "Here!" sounded out. Glancing around the room I was shocked to see Alec holding up his hand and turning his head to look questioningly at me.
"It seems we have two Swans. Alec Swan?" the teacher asked.
"Here," Alec said with a funny grin on his face.
"Bella Swan?" the teacher then called.
"Here," I said, smiling back at Alec.
The instructor looked at the two of us. "Are you related?" he asked, clearly a little surprised that we had the same last name.
"No," I said just as Alec was replying, "I sure as hell hope not."
The instructor laughed. "Well, maybe by the end of the semester your answers will change."
Alec smiled brightly at me. "I'm not opposed to that happening."
I laughed softly as I felt a blush creeping up my face.
"In the words of the great French early modernist Marc Chagall, 'Art must be an expression of love or it is nothing,'" the instructor said as he moved to turn on the projector, filling the screen at the front of the room with a picture I'd never seen before.
I glanced down toward my book and let out shy, quiet laugh before looking back up to find Alec still looking at me with a smile on his face. His bright blue eyes sparkled as his smile grew ever so slightly just before he winked at me.
"Let's begin..."
~*o*~*O*~*o*~
A/N:
Bella was always meant to be a Swan until she became a Cullen. At least in my mind that's the case. I thought it would be good to see how she and Alec met and how her life got started on the path it took – the path that led her to Edward.
Either it's PMS or I'm getting a little sad that this is almost over. That last line above is making me cry. :)
Almost done... :(
