What's it Gonna Take

Edward fell for Bella Swan the first time he saw her in fifth grade. He's held on to his crush since then hoping that one day she'll feel the same. Who is he kidding, she'll never see him as anything other than the dorky kid sitting alone in the elementary school library.

Bella has tried everything she and her best friend can think of to gain the attention of Edward Cullen. Unable to escape the pull since the first time she saw him reading her favorite author in the elementary school library. What's it going to take to peak his interest?

This is a HEA high school fic. It's already complete and I plan to post an update every few days. Hope you enjoy, please review!

Chapter 1

EPOV

Once in fifth grade I'd overheard my mother say, "He's a little bit in love with Bella Swan."

Mortified, I played off my infatuation, insisting it was nothing… but, as usual, she was right.

WIGT

"Hey man, how was your summer? Saw you got a pretty sweet ride!" I cringed as Mike Newton slapped himself on a stool directly in front of me.

"Yep, sweet sixteen you know?" Shrugging I went back to watching rain through the window. Riveting, I know, but at least it was better than talking to Newton.

"The baby of the class over here, you didn't turn sixteen until what... June?" He was bad at social cues.

"Yah man remember how he was always the scrawniest because he was the youngest?" Tyler Crowley joined Mike claiming the second spot at their lab table. My theory was they both had inoperable brain damage from all their years of ramming into people on the football field.

"Dude, remember the glasses and the buck teeth!" Mike laughed. "No offense man, I mean you're normal sized now."

"Yep. Totally normal sized," I muttered. What did that even mean? I was three inches taller than Mike and thanks to years of swimming and Emmett's insistence on weight training I no longer qualified as scrawny. Braces and contacts fixed my other afflictions. It was nice of Mike and Tyler to give me a reminder though, just in case I were to forget what a loser I used to be.

The idiot twins turned forward and started a conversation about Jessica Stanley's ass. I returned to staring into space flicking my pen back and forth between my fingers. It's not that I couldn't appreciate Jessica's ass, I just knew how many other guys had "appreciated" her ass. Chlamydia didn't interest me.

"You're next to Mr. Cullen." I glanced toward Mr. Banner at the sound of my name. My muscles tightened and I shifted in my seat sitting taller. She was in my class.

My brain short circuited, my vision latching onto the perfection that was Bella Swan. Her hair flew behind her, being rustled by a fan like something out of a magazine. Stupid fan was causing the exact opposite reaction it was seeking, the temperature in the room was climbing dramatically. She smiled and I started sweating. This wasn't good.

With each step she took toward my table I lost another thread of control. Her hips swung, making me fantasize about what it would feel like to wrap my hands around them. Her flannel hung open showing off the tight fit of the tank underneath. I swallowed hard, failing to keep my eyes off her chest. A hint of cleavage popped out the top of her shirt, the creamy flesh bounced as she moved. Using the lab table as a barrier, I scooted my stool as far forward as I could. She didn't need to see what kind of effect she had on me. The death grip I had on my pencil did nothing to distract from the numerous images racing through my mind. Each one starred Bella, me, and precarious positions involving our lab table.

Oh shit. Our lab table. Bella was my lab partner. I was going to have to sit with her every day… all year long. I groaned, there was no way in hell I was going to pass the class.

"Hey Edward, I missed you this summer!" Her smile was illuminating.

"I'm in this class too." So illuminating it blinded my brain.

"Yah, I can see that," she laughed.

She leaned forward dropping her bag, I forced myself to look away in an attempt to avoid the view down her shirt. Unable to keep my control I glanced over just long enough to sneak a peek. God, what was wrong with me? She would hate me if she knew what a creeper I was. Resting my head in my hand and looking back out the window I resolved to ignore her presence through the rest of class. I drew in a long cleansing breath. She smelled like strawberries. Damnit.

Mr. Banner began his intro to AP Bio, a prerequisite course for AP Anatomy, a class I needed to get accepted into a good pre med program. Call me cliche but I wanted to follow in my father's footsteps. Well maybe in a bigger city than Forks... but a medical degree was my goal.

"So are you swimming again this year?" Bella asked after Mr. Banner finished explaining our intro lab.

"Uh yah," I gestured to my FHS Swim hoodie. "Actually, I got voted captain."

"Holy shit Edward! Seriously? That's awesome!" I grinned at her praise.

"Captain?" Mike barged into our conversation, once again facing the wrong way in his seat. "Dude I guess being the small kid ended up paying off for you after all!"

I flushed and looked down at my lab. When I was younger I'd refused to play anything with contact, all the sports Emmett was good at, for fear of getting crushed. Exasperated, my mom stuck me in a pool claiming I needed to do something active. Turned out in the water I was fast.

"God he's such a dick," Bella muttered.

We worked in silence after Mike's interruption. I racked my brain to find an interesting topic for discussion but conversations with pretty girls were not my area of expertise.

These lab slides are riveting! Have you ever looked at bacteria under a microscope? It moves! Nope.

What are you having for lunch? Did you hear some kid went into anaphylaxis last year from the meatloaf?

Absolutely not.

Hey you wanna go to the library and make out?

Definitely emphatically do not say that.

"Well Edward, it's been real," Bella said standing at the end of class. Glancing up I berated myself for letting yet another opportunity slip away.

"Tomorrow. Here… I'll be here..." What the hell was wrong with me?

"So will I," she laughed. "Later!"

"Bye Bella," I whispered as she walked away. I'm an idiot.

WIGT

"Jesus, can you two go somewhere else, please?" The wet smacking noises coming from the other side of the game room made me want to hurl.

"No can do, mom won't let Jasper upstairs." Alice popped up long enough to respond then went right back at it with her boyfriend.

"Dude come on, she's my sister," I whined.

"Yah, and Dude if you ever actually get a girlfriend I'll have your back when your mom won't let her upstairs," he said.

"I hate you both," I grumbled, flipping myself over the couch.

Deciding the kitchen was a safer place I hightailed it up stairs and grabbed a gatorade from the fridge. Propping myself on the counter I caught the sound of rustling being emitted from the pantry. Just as I was preparing to grab the broom to shoo away whatever wild animal had trapped itself in our kitchen, Emmett appeared from behind the door, hands full of a disgusting myriad of junk.

"Dude mom got the good stuff!" A bag of Cheetos, bean dip, and tortilla chips fell out of his hands onto the island. "I wonder if these go together?" He held up the bean dip and Cheetos.

"I can pretty positively tell you they don't."

"I'm gonna try it."

"Of course you are."

I watched as he ripped open the Cheeto bag, took one of the processed orange sticks and dipped it into the beans. He shoved it in his mouth and crunched deep in thought.

"It's kinda like mixing two food groups. Like if there was a Mexican mac and cheese. No... that sounds really good. This isn't that good." He dipped a second Cheeto in the beans.

"You're seriously disgusting Em."

"I try." His big oafish grin was covered in bean and Cheeto.

"Emmett! No! I told you not to eat any of the chips in the cupboard!" My mother ran in from the back door one arm flailing the other balancing a couple of binders against her hip.

"What, why?" He mumbled through another mouthful.

"They're for the booster club event Friday night! Well, It's too late now." She huffed and smacked the binders down. "You can at least make yourself useful and help carry boxes in from the car. The redesign at the Hale's law office is becoming quite the headache. I don't think I've ever met someone as difficult to please as Vivian Hale!"

"Have you met her daughter?" I laughed.

"Rosie isn't that bad!" Emmet defended.

"Edward. Please don't be rude to Emmett's girlfriend."

"Mom seriously? You just said…" I trailed off at the glare she sent my way.

"Go get the boxes." The raised eyebrow she gave left no room for argument. I twisted the cap back on my Gatorade ready to follow her back to the car.

"Oh, by the way, Dad thinks you're gay." Emmett turned to me grinning once she was out of earshot.

"Wait… what? Why the hell does he think that?"

"Oh, 'cause I told him about that day you went off on how hot Jason Mamoa is."

"Oh my God! I said the guy was ripped! Didn't you say the same damn thing? What the fuck Emmett!"

"Also he thinks you've never been into a girl… maybe if you man up and ask out Bella..."

"Shut up!"

"I'm just saying!" His laughter followed me all the way to my mother's car. Sometimes Emmett seriously sucked.