"You're late," Alaina quipped with annoyance, emphasizing every word. She stood in front of Emmett Cullen's red Jeep with her arms crossed in front of her chest and her eyebrows raised.
"I'm literally two minutes later than normal babe," Emmett responded, his head hanging out the window and a goofy grin plastered on his face. "I, uhh, had a date with a grizzly bear."
She rolled her eyes in response and hopped into the Jeep. "You do know how many different ways I can take that, right?" She said, clicking her seatbelt harness into place. "And don't call me babe."
"You know you like it," Emmett smirked. He pulled out of her driveway and gave a polite wave to her parents that were no doubt watching from inside the living room.
And she did like it. She liked every moment she got to spend with Emmett - every morning driving to school, every afternoon driving from school, even the gym class she used to physically dread. She never thought (in a million years) that when she was finally in the groove of being in a new place, that her day would revolve around Emmett.
She absentmindedly picked at the skin around her nail and the Jeep zoomed towards the school. Placing her head on the cool window of the car, she allowed her mind to wander to the conversation she had with her mother the previous night.
"We should talk," her mother said seriously. Alaina, who was seated on the family room couch, closed the book she was reading and looked at her mother nervously. No good conversation ever started with that phrase. But when she met her mother's eyes, they shone playfully back at her.
"What's up?" she asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"So, it's sort of impossible not to notice a giant tree trunk of a guy coming to pick you up every morning for the past few weeks."
Alaina waited for her to go on, but her mother just looked at her expectantly. "He's just a friend from school. Bella is dating his brother, so since I spend so much time with Bella, I have to spend a lot of time around Emmett." Well, she thought, most of that was true.
"Uh huh," her mom said, both of eyebrows still raised, waiting for an explanation.
"Mom," she groaned. "He's just a guy from school who is my friend right now, okay? Just because he happens to be attractive does not mean I'm attracted to him!"
"So you're saying you don't have a crush on him? Because you definitely have a crush on him. Don't lie to your mother."
"Are you alive?" Emmett voice boomed, shaking her out of her day dream. "I mean, I know you are because I can hear your heart racing like you just ran a marathon... but we are at school and I wasn't going to let you day dream in my Jeep at day."
Alaina nodded, feeling extremely dumb. She got out of the Jeep and she felt her mind wander again, with Emmett happily chatting next to her, barely registering that she wasn't paying attention to him. She knew deep down that she had feelings for him... feelings that were more than just friends. But she tried so desperately not to let them surface. Someone like Emmett would never like someone like her. Someone so imperfect. Someone used. Someone incredibly broken.
She could feel her heart sinking as she walked down the hall with him. It will never be more than this she thought sadly as she turned into Mrs. Crawford's English class, waving goodbye to Emmett, forcing a smile.
"Come in, come in," Mrs. Crawford said, grabbing Alaina gently by the shoulder and steering her dramatically towards her seat. "Today we are doing something very, very exciting!" The class couldn't help but to groan. Mrs. Crawford's idea of fun couldn't have been more different that Alaina's class.
"Simmer down," she said, grabbing a pile of papers from her desk. "We are going to do group work today, and to get your creative minds warmed up, I want all of you to find a space in the school to work!"
"So you basically just want your classroom to yourself?" Jessica asked innocently, and the class snickered.
"I'm choosing to ignore your negative energy today, Ms. Stanley!" She said in a high pitched voice as she began passing out the worksheet to her students. "Now partner up and get working! Everything will be due by the end of the day today, on my desk."
The second after Mrs. Crawford finished her directions, the whole room seemed to erupt in chaos with students trying to find a partner. Jessica whipped around in her desk and quickly blurted out, "Alaina! You're with me!"
"Umm," Alaina said quickly, not expecting Jessica's outburst. Alaina wanted to get her work done, which meant she wanted anyone other than Jessica as a partner.
"Sorry Jessica," Jasper said smoothly, grabbing Alaina's book off of her desk. "Alaina and I talked earlier and we already decided we were going to work together."
Alaina's jaw dropped due to his lie, but she quickly recovered. "Yeah, I'm so sorry Jess!" Jasper was already halfway to the door by the time Alaina finished her sentence.
"Yeah, okay, cool!" Jessica responded in fake cheeriness and she wildly looked around the room trying to find a new partner. Alaina stood up from her desk and walked as quickly as she could to catch up with Jasper, but he was waiting for her just outside of the door.
"Thank you," she said quietly, in obvious relief.
Jasper chuckled and nodded his head. "I wanted to work with you," he said, his Southern twang just peeking through his words. "Let's head to the library."
"Sounds good to me," Alaina said, turning on her heel to follow him towards the library. They walked in silence and Alaina's mind involuntarily wandered off to this morning with Emmett. She was trying incredibly hard to not let her thoughts about him and about the relationship she didn't think would ever happen affect her, but even she could admit she was doing a really poor job of that.
"Are you okay?" He asked as they walked down the hallway together, his voice suddenly sounding very serious. She never realized how tall he was in comparison to her, and she felt dwarfed by his presence. Clutching her English book closer to her chest, she picked up her pace, hoping Jasper wouldn't notice how uncomfortable she was.
"I'm fine. Nothing wrong with me. Happy as a clam!" she said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. They reached the door of the library, Jasper opened the door for her, and they walked into the quiet work space. The pair sat down across from each other at a small table in the corner of the library.
"I can tell you're lying. You know that, right? You don't feel happy at all," Jasper said, staring at her intently. "Why are you so downcast?"
"Downcast is a great word by the way," Alaina said, opening up her English book and pulling out the worksheet that they were to complete on Beloved. "You should use it more often."
In what felt like a millisecond, Alaina's book and papers were taken from her and now lay in front of Jasper. "We can finish the assignment in two minutes. You're more important."
"Don't do that here!" she hissed, nervously glancing around to see if anyone had noticed his speed. She breathed a sigh of relief when they were still the only two in the work space.
"Did Emmett do something?"
"No, Emmett didn't do anything," she muttered, wishing Jasper realized that was the problem. Alaina's feelings for Emmett were becoming stronger seemingly by the second, and she knew that nothing would ever happen between the two of them. The issue was that her heart refused to listen to her brain and she could feel in the depths of her soul that she would end up heartbroken.
"Because if he did do something -" Jasper started, looking at her seriously, but Alaina cut him off.
"He didn't do anything Jasper. I promise you that. I guess I'm just stressed about the court date. It's coming up soon." Jasper stared at her intently, studying her. He nodded, hesitantly accepting her answer. A wave of relief suddenly washed over her. "Thanks," she said quietly.
"Anytime," he said, flashing her a brilliant smile. He handed her worksheet back to her and they began to work on their assignment, finishing easily.
The rest of the day went as normal as a day could go in the rainy town of Forks. She indulged Mike's many chirps in biology, shot free throws against Emmett in gym (and lost terribly, much to her chagrin - volleyball was definitely her sport), and made it through French with Jessica babbling about prom for the umpteenth time. Slamming her locker door shut, she signed in audible relief for making it through another day. She began walking towards the door that led to the parking lot, knowing Emmett would be waiting for her there, but before she could reach the handle she heard someone yelling her name.
"Alaina! Hold up!" Bella said, weaving through the river of students. "Oh my God, we have so much to talk about."
Alaina couldn't help but engulf Bella in a hug. "I feel like we haven't spoken in ages," she said, which was barely an exaggeration. Bella and Edward were officially dating and were still in the honeymoon phase, which meant the two girls couldn't be attached to the hip any longer, but Alaina didn't mind. Although jealousy bubbled up in her stomach every once and awhile, she was very happy for her best friend.
"We have a bit to catch up on...," Bella said cautiously, opening up the door. A gust of wind hit the the two girls, blowing their hair fiercely back. "Looks like there's a storm coming," she said absentmindedly.
"Well, Emmett's Jeep has it's top down and I'd rather not get sopping wet. Want to come over and we can talk?"
"Pizza?" Bella said with a smile, pulling her keys out of her bag.
"Obviously," Alaina said, throwing the hood of her jacket over her long brown hair.
"I'm going to call Charlie and tell him where I'm going," Bella said, unlocking her phone. "You should probably tell Emmett that I'm taking you home."
"Good call," she responded, turning on her heel and walking towards the familiar red Jeep. Emmett was leaning cooly against the car, waiting for her. When they locked eyes, he gave her a grin.
"I can smell you from across the parking lot when it's windy, ya know," he said when she got close enough.
"I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be flattered or weirded out," she said slowly, trying not to laugh. "But hey, I came over here to let you know I didn't need a ride home today. Bella's going to take me home and we've going to have 'girl time,'" she said, giving air quotes.
He frowned. "I don't like the idea of Bella driving through a storm that's going to be here any minute now in that steel death trap."
"When did you get so protective?" She asked, eying him. She was taken aback by the frown that was plastered on his typically smiling face. "Actually, don't answer that. I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow morning?"
She didn't wait for an answer and turned around to head back to Bella's truck. She silently pleaded that Emmett couldn't hear her heart, once again, beating out of her chest. But it was comforting, in a way, to know that he was protective over her, even if the protection was unneeded.
As she weaved in and out of the parked cards and students walking out of school, she felt her cell phone buzz in her pocket. Pulling it out, she saw that the text was from Emmett: Text me when you get home. I don't trust that death trap.
k dad, she responded sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She quickly walked over to Bella who was waiting in her truck. She made eye contact with her friend through the rear view mirror and the truck revved to life. Alaina reached the truck, opened the door, and slid in to sit next to her friend. "So, tell me everything."
"You first," Bella said, turning on to the main road.
"Yeah right," Alaina scoffed. "I leave you alone for all of five minutes and you and Edward are dating and I'm left in the dust. Are you happy with him? Is he treating you okay?"
"I'm sorry Alaina," Bella said, a sudden sadness to her voice. "You're right. I feel like we've lost touch because of Edward and I'm sorry I let a boy get in the way of our friendship."
Alaina turned to look at her, a confused look in her eyes. "I was joking, Bells. I just feel like I've only heard updates about you from Jessica. So I'm guessing the story she told me about you two skipping school and eloping in Mexico are false?" She asked, trying to break the sudden tension between the two friends.
Bella couldn't help but to burst out in laughter. "Unfortunately, they aren't true," she said, turning down Alaina's street. "And to answer your questions, yes, I am very happy and yes, he's treating me well. Honestly, that's about as interesting as it gets." Bella pulled into Alaina's driveway and killed the engine in the truck. She went to open her door, but Alaina stopped her.
"Hey, umm, before we head inside, I just want you to know that... That I know what you know," Alaina said awkwardly, hoping she wasn't being too cryptic. She knew that Bella knew about what the Cullens were, but she wasn't sure that Bella was aware that Alaina knew as well.
Bella bit her lip and shrugged. "Know what?" She asked innocently and Alaina rolled her eyes.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Emmett told me. So I just want to make sure we are on the same page..."
"But," she said, hysteria creeping into her normally calm voice. "What if we are thinking about two different things -"
"Bella, the Cullens are all vampires," she said rolling her eyes, cutting her off. "I just don't want to dance around the fact that we now surround ourselves with very attractive monsters."
Bella inhaled sharply but then looked relaxed. "I'm so glad Emmett told you. I didn't want it to feel like I was keeping a massive secret from you."
"I understand," Alaina said, opening the door. "Now let's get some pizza."
The two girls walked up to Alaina's house and into the living room. Her mother was seated on the couch, her glasses perched on her strong nose, reading over what seemed like a novel's worth of paperwork. "Hello girls!" She said warmly when she noticed them come in. She stood up an enveloped Bella in a hug. "It's so good to see you again Bella!"
"It's great to see you too, Mrs. Pawlowska," Bella said smiling, returning the hug.
"Mom," Alaina said, taking off her shoes. "Can Bella stay for dinner? And a follow up question... can we order pizza?"
"Bella's family," her mom said warmly, causing Bella to beam, "and family doesn't need to ask to stay for dinner. And yes, we can get pizza if you order it. The menu is on the fridge and my wallet is on the kitchen table."
"Be right back!" Alaina said. She quickly went to the kitchen and scanned the pizza menu. Deciding what she wanted. She called the local joint, ordered, and pulled a twenty out of her mom's purse. She went back out to the living room to find her mother and Bella in a deep conversation.
"Sorry to interrupt," she said, handing the money to her mom, "But it's time for me to catch up with Bella. Pizza should be here in an hour."
Tugging on Bella's hand, she pulled her upstairs to her room and shut the door behind her. They both flopped on Alaina's bed, their backpacks long forgotten downstairs. "What were you and my mom gossiping about?" she asked, grabbing a pillow to rest her head on.
"You, actually," Bella said, a smirk playing beneath her lips. "Well, more specifically, you and Emmett."
"What about Emmett!" she blurted without thinking. She could feel her pulse quicken just by the mentioning of his name and she silently cursed. We just talked about this in the morning she thought to herself. You can't fall for him. "I mean, what about Emmett?" She said again, trying to sound less intense, but Bella saw right through her.
"Oh come on, Alaina," she said with her eyebrows raised. "She asked me if you two were secretly dating. I said no, but honestly, I'm not too sure."
Alaina sighed and bit her lip, a habit she was quickly picking up from Bella. "No, we aren't dating."
"Really?" Bella asked, a small hint of surprise in her voice. "It sure looks like you two are dating."
"We definitely aren't dating," Alaina said, not even bothering to hide the sadness in her voice. "We will never date."
"Why do you say that? Have you talked to him? Do you like him?"
"What I say in the room stays in this room," Alaina said seriously, sitting up on the bed, "Right? No sharing with Edward, Alice, or anyone, right?"
"Of course," Bella said. "Scout's honor."
"Were you even ever a girl scout-" Alaina started, but stopped when she saw the look Bella gave her that screamed 'don't stall.' "Nevermind."
Alaina ran her long fingers through her corse brown hair and sighed deeply. She stared down at her hands that were playing idly with the pillow that was now on her lap. "Of course I have feelings for Emmett," she said quietly, avoiding eye contact with Bella. "Now that I know he's not a total asshole, I'm really drawn to him. He's clever, and he's funny, and he's surprisingly smart. I love every single second I spend with him."
"And have you told him any of this?" Bella asked gently.
Alaina locked eyes with her. "Of course not! He doesn't feel the same way about me and he never will. Guys like him and girls like me... we just don't mesh."
"I don't understand what you mean," Bella said, confused. "I see the way he looks at you. To me, it looks like he likes you... that he likes you a lot."
Alaina laughed bitterly. "He doesn't, okay? I just don't want to talk about this anymore. It's making me sad," she said, feeling unwelcome tears beginning to well up behind her eyes. "Let's talk about your vampire boy."
"Well, turns out he's been watching me sleep for the past few months..."