"Your… your what?" Rosalie stammered out.

I sighed loudly.

"You heard me right, Rose. Edward is my professor."

Against all odds, she burst out laughing. How could she laugh in a moment like this? I was on the verge of depression here!

"You mean you slept with your professor? Oh Bella, I promise to never call you Prude Bella again! I'm so impressed. Soon, the student will have surpassed the master."

"Rose… Honestly, if I'd slept with Edward, I think I would remember, don't you?" I asked, trying to convince myself more than her.

I refused to believe that such a perfect creature could have touched me, and I didn't remember. No. if those hands had caressed me, if those lips had kissed mine, if that gaze had set me aflame, if his curves had melted into mine, if those hips had…

Urrgh, stop!

Bella, you're such a sex maniac! He's your professor, get it?! Your PROFESSOR! And if something did happen between the two of you, it's a serious problem! It is NOT exciting, damn it!

The rational Bella was right. I had to remove those thoughts from my mind and regain my senses.

I couldn't have lost my virginity to Edward. He had probably just put me on my bed and left. I must have been exhausted from all that drinking and dancing. That's it. Nothing happened.

But then, what was I doing in my underwear?

I thought for a moment…

Alice could probably tell me whether or not I was still dressed when she returned to our room after Edward left.

"Alice? When did you get home?"

My roommate blushed profusely all of a sudden. Damn it. She couldn't have…

"Alice!" I chided.

"I'm sorry, Bella, but after you and Edward left the party, Jasper and I went in his room to talk, and time just flew by!"

"To talk, huh?" Rose raised a brow.

Alice's blush deepened. If one of us had been naughty last night, it was definitely her.

"Girls, I assure you nothing happened between Jasper and I last night… I mean yes, we kissed, but that's it. I swear!"

"No, I don't want to know." I said, feigning to cover my ears.

Jasper's sexcapades were none of my business. I was quite embarrassed to discuss this… He was my brother!

"How about you, Rose? You didn't even come to check in on me to see if I had survived my public humiliation?"

"Sorry, Bella, but I was too busy trying to tame Sexy Muscles. He wanted to stay at the party. Thus, so did I. He has to get used to me, so I stayed by his side all night. I barely had the time to take a shower when I got back this morning before running to my first class!"

"So you spent a sleepless night as well?" Alice chuckled, amused.

"Yes, but I would have rather spent a sleepless night like yours than like mine!"

They burst out laughing. Meanwhile, I was devastated. None of my 2 friends had an answer to my question. The only one who knew the answer was Edward. And God only knew the last thing I wanted to do was discuss this with him. I had trouble seeing myself catch my professor in-between 2 classes and asking him: "Professor Cullen, could you please enlighten me about a little something: did we sleep together last night? See, I drank a little too much Tequila, and I don't remember anything. So?"

No, I had to find something else.

I was trying to recall his behavior in class a few hours earlier to find a hint, but nothing. He had acted normal. A little arrogant and somewhat mysterious, granted, but normal… Having said that, even if something had happened between us, he wasn't going to pounce on me in front of the whole class given that he was my professor!

But on the other hand, if nothing had happened between us, then why all the insinuations?

I sighed out of frustration.

Alright. I had 3 options:

1. Confront Edward and pull my needed answers out of him

Too embarrassing.

2. Send someone else to pull my needed answers out of him.

Too childish.

3. Test him?

YES!

I would go with the third option as it allowed me to take it slowly (and also because I was a die-hard coward).

And just how exactly are you going to test your professor, Bella?

I had to find a way to get him to react without directly engaging him…

A brilliant idea came to me… one related to the assignment my dear French literature professor had given us earlier.

Reassured by the prospect of obtaining answers to my questions soon, I excused myself from my 2 friends and headed to the Nguyen building where my two other classes of the day were taking place. By 5 pm, I was finally back in my dorm room. I settled on my desk, turned on my laptop, opened a blank Word document, and typed in the title of my new short story:

The Submissive

My first week on campus had gone very well. I'd had at least one class for each of my course. I was familiar with the campus and only rarely got lost in the hallways anymore. I had even made a few acquaintances. I hadn't run into Edward again, which, in my opinion, was a good thing because if he had spoken to me, I may have been tempted to give up on my plan. Obviously, I was dying to know if something had happened between us the night of the freshmen welcome party, but I was starting to wonder if I had chosen the right way to obtain the truth.

The reason was simple: my plan had overwhelmed me.

Since I'd begun writing my short story, I hadn't been able to stop, and what was originally supposed to be a simple fiction had transformed into a collection of fantasies I was nourishing towards Edward. In other words, in something really, really hot. So much so that I was ashamed… Sometimes, when I would re-read a passage, I would blush and wonder how I could've written such a thing. It wasn't the timid, prude, and almost completely devoid of sexual experience version of Bella that was expressing herself in this story. No. it was as though a new Bella, passionate, full of desire -and let's face it – hungry for sex, had taken possession of my body as I'd typed.

Edward had specified a 4,000 words minimum. Well, I was already at 10,000. 10,000 words of my wildest fantasies broadly exposed. I had to admit Edward was the perfect muse! Everything about him inspired me. His smoldering gaze, his mouth and sensual lips, his large hands I was certain were expert, his grace and confidence, the smoothness and warmth of his voice… Even his unruly hair made my imagination wander! I pictured myself running my fingers through his dark strands, pulling them as he would undulate his hips over me, provoking a heat wave in my most intimate parts and…

Whoa, Bella! Cool down! I think you need a cold shower.

This short story was turning out to be a marvelous stress relief. I had realized that by writing, I had been able to release all the sexual frustration I had built up since I'd met Edward. And I was surprised to find out I couldn't seem to stop… I carried my laptop with me everywhere… so I could write every time inspiration struck me. Although I did carry it also to prevent Alice or Rose accessing my innermost thoughts. I hadn't informed my two friends of what I was doing (and especially of why I was doing it), And I knew they were wondering what I was doing glued to my laptop for hours, day and night.

Yes, because I also occasionally wrote at night. I had been dreaming of Edward for a few days. It was always the same dream... We were in a classroom (the one where he gave his seminar) and he roughly made love to me… Me, seated at the edge of his desk and him standing before me, inside me.

Urrgghh. Needless to say my need to capture my fantasies in writing was almost painful!

The fact that I would grab my laptop first thing upon waking up, even if it was at 3 am in the morning, had aroused Alice's suspicions. My roommate had asked Rosalie if it were a habit of mine to wake up in the middle of the night to write, and Rosalie had offered a negative response. Since then, my two friends were tracking me, waiting for the moment I would finally let my computer out of my sight to see what inspired me so. And fortunately for me, they had been successful… Sunday evening, when Rose and Alice were supposed to be at the movie theater, they duped me while I was in the shower. When I came out, I found them both reading my story with widened eyes. I dropped my towel in surprise. Furious, I launched at them and tore my laptop from their hands.

"Damn it, girls! Is a little privacy too much to ask?!" I yelled.

"She said while being naked…" Rose quipped.

Enraged, I picked up my towel from the floor and wrapped it around my body tightly.

"So that's what you have been doing all these nights: writing your fantasies!" Alice grinned.

"They are not my fantasies!" I emphasized, moving closer to her. "It's a fiction I have to write for a seminar."

"It wouldn't be for your French literature seminar by any chance?" Rose inquired.

I sighed.

"So that's it! You're going to have Edward read this! I thought you were a bit more stuck-up, Bella… At any rate, it is insanely stirring! Could I have a copy?" She continued with a smile.

"Admit it, Bella: Edward is the one who inspired your story!" Alice prodded.

"Not at all!" I denied, biting my lower lip.

"Please, Bella! If Edward has nothing to do with this, then why did you start writing every night after having dreamt of him?" She accused brightly.

Dang! Now, who could she know that?! Could I have uttered his name during my sleep? Nooo.. Certainly not.

"I wasn't dreaming of Edward. Why would you think such a thing?" I refuted once again, outraged and horrified that she'd seen right through me.

"Oh really? So what were all those moans in your sleep about? All those 'Oh yes, Edward', those 'Mmmhh, just like that', not to mention the 'That feels so good, Edward'…" Alice enumerated. "So unless you know another Edward and he drives you as crazy as my brother obviously does…"

I blushed profusely. That goddamn habit of speaking in my sleep!

I heaved a sigh as a sign of surrender, which got my 2 friends in a state of great excitement. I then explained my plan to them which they found Machiavellian, brilliant and more than bold. Rose declared that she wouldn't have come up with something better, and Alice could already picture Edward's face when he would read the story. I also told him about my doubts and my desire to give up on my plan altogether, and they scolded me harshly. I shouldn't and couldn't give up. According to them, if my story made it into Edward's top 20 and I was chosen to take part in his seminar, it would necessarily mean something. Something ok, but what? That he'd been amused? That he liked my style? That he was intrigued? Surprised? Shocked?

Turned on?

'You will know soon enough, Bella.' I reassured myself before falling asleep that night.

The next morning, Rose and Alice pulled me out of bed at dawn "in order to stack all the odds in my favor" As they reportedly told me to get me to play along… Which meant another session of being treated like a doll and playing dress up. At 7:00 AM sharp a Monday morning. Grrrrrrr.

They applied some allegedly miraculous serum to my hair to give it some undulation. They also decided I needed some makeup. Because I had a very pale complexion, Rose asserted that my gaze needed to be enhanced by applying some eyeliner and a dark eye shadow shade. She found the final result "absolutely perfect", and I had to admit, I didn't look half bad. Before I regained my room to try on outfits, she put a touch of lip-gloss on my lips. According to her, it was a special gloss that would give an extra boost to my lip volume. She said it would make my mouth even more sensual. Yeah. Rosalie had always said I had the lips she would have loved to have. Now, if I had to list all of Rosalie's assets that I wish I had, the list would be endless!

We had barely stepped out of the bathroom that Alice had pulled me towards her to make me slip on washed denim jeans and a black satin top with a little cleavage. I was quite surprised she wasn't forcing me to wear a dress or a mini skirt! Had Alice given up on getting me to wear such clothing?

"Oh no Bella, you're not done with dresses and skirts. Don't get too excited! But think about it. from what you've told us only girls are taking this seminar, and today, you're turning in your story to Edward. I'm willing to bet that most of them then bother to write anything interesting. And since they won't be able to impress Edward thanks to their writing skills, I'm sure they'll try to entice him with their physical appearance…"

"In other words, Bella, you can expect a parade of bitches today…" Rose clarified, as blunt and direct as always. "So in order to stand out, you have to be sexy but in a subtle kind of way… Your outfit must be modest yet…" she elaborated, moving to slide a long pendant around my neck. The small cross at the end came to rest at the hollow of my breasts. "…suggestive."

Alice then handed me black high heel pumps that, against all odds, turned out to be pretty comfortable. I had to admit the overall result of the transformation was quite sensational: I was more sexy than usual all the while being comfortable in my clothes, which was kind of rare when I tried this particular style.

"Now, let's talk about the way you'll act in class." Rosalie resumed after having gauged and approved of my look for the day.

"First, try to stay as far away as possible from all those little fangirls. But find a place not too far from Edward however." Alice advised.

"Then set him on fire with your gaze. You need to stare at him throughout the period. He needs to feel your eyes on him at all times." Rose pursued.

That wasn't too complicated. Once I had Edward in my sight, I could hardly focus on anything else!

"Hang on his every word." Alice directed.

"Remain as silent as you can. But do speak to him as he comes to pick up your story at the end of class. Your voice will be a little hoarse from having spoken, and that will be sexy." Rose added.

"Yes! That will be sexy as hell." Alice agreed, nodding.

"Don't hesitate to smile seductively at him and to throw him one last glance before you walk out of the room."

"Oh, and brush your hair away from your face behind your ear while biting your lip like you always do!"

Ok, they needed to stop now.

"Wow, wow, wow. Slow down, girls. That's a lot to remember!" I complained.

"Honey, if you think you'll be able to replace Prude Bella by Sexy Bella without putting in some effort, you are mistaken! We're doing and saying all of this for you. We have nothing to gain here…" Rose sharply reminded me.

"Yeah yeah. At least admit that you like playing doll with me. Anyway, thank you for going through all this trouble. I appreciate it." I gratefully acknowledged.

I kissed them both on the cheek, grabbed my back and headed out the door.

"Good luck!" I heard them wish me on my way out.

You let me know when you're ready for more.

Happy New Year.