CHAPTER SIX

At home, things were a little different than before. I had my Friday evening to spend all to myself but unfortunately, my roommate was not alone. It wasn't that I disliked Alice's company, but it was not my company she was keeping and the domicile that my father had picked did not include soundproof walls.

If it wasn't loud banging, it was the screaming that kept my head pounding. After rereading the first scene to Death of a Salesman over and over, I grabbed my jacket and took it with me outside. With the weather still being uncooperative I knew It would be a cold night of sitting in the stairwell, so I figured that I should head back to campus and find a library.

Friday night on a University campus, I figured that the library would be free from distractions. Of course, I was wrong. My biggest distraction sat in front of me at the entry desk with her nose in a book. Surprise. Surprise.

The odd thing was the moment I saw Bella, the feelings I had were not happy ones. Even after what Emmett said, I was still irritated on how easy it was for her to take pleasure in my misery. I stood in the entrance in disbelief with the doorknob still in my hand.

Without looking up from her book Bella said, "In or out. This place is drafty enough. We don't need you adding to it."

I closed the door behind me and approached the desk.

"Good to know that it's not just me you treat like crap."

Bella nearly fell off her stool at my interruption. She looked up in surprise but once again that quickly faded into a scowl.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

I held up my book, "What does it look like? This is a library. I have a book. I am in the necessity of a quiet and a distraction-free zone. Apparently, I have a lot to catch up on if I'm going to pass my class. Would you be willing to show me a place that can achieve such requirements?"

Bella rolled her eyes with a loud sigh and turned around to exit the front desk. She walked over toward me and made a gesture for me to follow her. I looked around as we walked. The library had a high ceiling and two long rows of tables. Bella took me to the farthest table from her desk. There wasn't a person in sight from what I could tell.

"I think this is the farthest you can take me unless you want me to sit outside," I quipped.

"You wanted no distractions. I want no distractions. You stay on your side and I will stay on mine," She countered.

"What the hell is your problem, Bella?" I snapped. "What could I have possibly done to make you dislike me so much. Talk to you? Wow! Didn't realize the crime I committed."

"It's the fact that you keep on trying to talk to me. I have made it clear over and over of my intentions and yet you don't seem to want to respect that. Guys like you think that this is some game to play. The more I push you away, the challenge it represents. I am not interested! I just want to be left alone so I can do what I came here to do."

"God, I feel so sorry for you, Bella. You ostracize yourself from the world. What could possibly have happened to make you feel like you can't even have a friend? That you need to take pleasure in seeing me fail today. Did that make you feel superior? Watching me fail an essay and quite possibly a test? Is that really the kind of person you are?"

She didn't reply. She stood there, and I watched as her eyes changed from those of anger and hate to questions and embarrassment. In fact, I was pretty sure I could see them begin to brim with tears. Bella swallowed and took a breath before turning around and walking away.

I sighed and dropped my book down on the desk in front of me and pulled out a chair. When Bella was back at her desk, she was so far away all I could make out was the back of her hunched over probably nose back in her book.

Act one. Scene one.

Once again, I tried to read but with my ultimate distraction sitting the distance of the room away, I couldn't stop myself from looking up at her. After twenty minutes I decided to give up. There was no way I could ever read this book while Bella was here. I walked towards the exit and passed by Bella's desk without looking at her.

"No wonder you're failing. You can't even study for more than a half hour."

I wanted to keep walking, but I couldn't.

"What do you care. With me out of the picture, you can reign in our literature course," I replied.

Bella let out a small laugh, "It wouldn't matter if you were in the picture, I would reign on that course no matter what. You may have been a genius at your last school but it's clear that I am more focused and organized than you are."

She pulled out her notebook and flipped open her calendar. On every date, there was a note made. She used different colors for different tasks.

"From the beginning of the semester, I have been at least one week ahead of all requirements. I already have all my papers written for our class and the majority of my other classes. The required reading list for our class…I've read every book on there multiple times. This is why it is imperative that I have no distractions."

"What about Alice? Or Emmett? Do you think of them as distractions?" I honestly wondered.

"No, because they are for my downtime. They're…my friends."

"And…I can't be your friend?" I asked cautiously.

"Can you honestly tell me that is all you want of me? Friendship?"

That was a hard question. Of course, I wanted more but yes, I wanted her friendship, but I didn't know if I could answer the question honestly knowing what I would have to give up in doing so.

"You see. You're a distraction," Bella replied after my long silence. She sighed and closed her notebook, "Look, I'm sorry for my behavior today. I didn't mean to make you feel bad or to take such pleasure in your unhappiness. You just intimidate me, and I thought that taking you down a peg would help me feel better."

"Answer me honestly, since I arrived, have I been anything other than a distraction to you? Because it seems to me that you are a very big distraction to me and I feel that if we were friends, I could stop spending so much of my time focused on you. I'm not going anywhere so wouldn't it make sense to move me into a category with Alice and Emmett so that you can get back to doing what Bella does and maybe if I'm not so worried about how you are going to put me on edge that day, I can manage to finally get through one of these blasted books before I go crawling back to my father and admitting he was right all along."

Bella seemed to think over my proposal. At least she hadn't shot me down cold so there was hope.

"What is this between you and your father? Is he really that bad of a guy?" She asked.

"That would be a question a friend would answer," I replied.

Once again, she sighed and looked back down towards her notebook contemplating.

"I don't know…if I can be your friend," She said quietly.

"If it helps, I make a horrible first impression. Alice thought I was gay. The redhead in my class thought I was weird and now…she is making uncomfortable innuendos. You think I am some rich playboy. I am not any of those things."

"It has nothing to do with you," Bella said quickly. "I don't know if I can trust myself to be your friend. I've known Emmett my whole life. Alice was forced upon me when we were given room assignments and if you know anything about Alice, she doesn't take no for an answer and she pushed her way in. I am a very solitary person. I don't…play well with others."

She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. She seemed seriously uncomfortable. I wondered how she could be so stressed out over this. I was asking for an olive branch, not trying to loosen her chastity belt. Did she really think I was the kind of man who would play games just to have a little tryst?

"Bella, I'm asking for civility and a cup of coffee every once in a while. I promise I will not make a move on you or attempt anything sinister." I held my hands up completely surrendering myself to her. And that was exactly what I needed to do. In order for this to work, we would need to take it slow. Super slow. Any misspoken work or action could cause the little doe to run back into the tree line.

"A cup of coffee?" She asked rhetorically.

I nodded.

'I can do that," She said each word pointedly.

"Perfect."

"No dating!" She warned.

"A non-date date," I said. "How about now?"

Bella looked around and checked her watch. No one was in the library when I came, and no one had entered since. It was fifteen minutes till nine and I half expected Bella to tell me she had to finish her shift but instead she grabbed her keys and book and stiffly walked toward the door. I followed behind completely amazed at our progress.

It didn't take long for my mood to damper when I realized that I hadn't cashed my paycheck and therefore had no way of even buying a cup of coffee. I wanted to hit myself. Hard.

"Uh…Bella…" I started.

"You already changed your mind?" She asked looking at my uneasy expression.

"No…it's not that. I haven't been able to cash my check yet from earlier. I don't have any money for coffee. I'm sorry." I had never been so embarrassed in my life. Another life lesson.

She looked at me for a minute and then shook her head slightly.

"You can pay me back…after all, what are friends for."

She flipped back around and continued on toward a coffee destination. I was unaware of any coffeehouse in the area, so I let her lead.

"So…Death of a Salesman huh?" I asked trying to break up the silence as we walked.

"Let me guess…not your thing. The plight of the average working-class man and his family." She replied.

"Uh…no I mean, I read it when I was a child. I was a little surprised to see it on the list because I wouldn't consider it to be used as coursework for a university."

"I imagine that the professor wanted to diversify the list by adding a playwright author. I can tell that she chose books that she is very fond of. By not turning in the assignment today, I'm not sure you could ever get in her good graces. If you had been paying attention in class, you would have heard how passionate she is about John Steinbeck. I wondered if maybe she is some kind of groupie by the way she speaks of him."

"A Steinbeck groupie? Please tell me that is not a thing. I would have to feel sorry for that lot," I replied.

"Tell me, Edward, is there any book on the list that you actually like or want to read? You seem rather picky. William Shakespeare isn't the only great author. Maybe you should diversify."

Bella didn't believe that I was well read. If she knew anything about my upbringing, she would never question it.

"You throw around Shakespeare's name as if you assume I am British and that I couldn't possibly have read any other author then he."

"I know you're not British. Your accent is similar but there is something else mixed in there. I can't make it out. Where are you from by the way?"

Crap. These were the kind of questions I needed to stay clear from. The last thing I needed was for Bella to Google Caldonia. I'm sure the faces of my family would pop up in the related searches and she would find me out in no time. What was I going to tell her without completely lying straight to her face?

"It's a very small country in Europe. Not many educated people have even heard of it."

Bella made a face like I was challenging her. I could see the coffee shop across the street in front of us. I needed to figure out a way to get her off topic.

"So mysterious, Edward…what is your last name by the way?" She asked realizing that I had never given her one.

Bella stepped one foot out in the crosswalk, but a loud ruckus had me grabbing her and pulling her out of the line of a car speeding down the street. We both stood frozen on the sidewalk, Bella in my arms, in a complete state of shock.

"Holy crap!" Bella said grabbing her chest. She pulled away from my grip and then started yelling at the car that had passed. "ASSHOLE! FUCKING James!"

"You know who was in that car?" I asked.

"Of course, I know. The only douche on campus to be driving an Escalade with those spinners. Such an asshole," She muttered.

"Is that the same James you hit at the party?" I asked.

"Who told you that?" Bella asked.

"Uh…Emmett?" I was a little worried that with her being so fired up, she would be upset with Emmett for telling me the story.

Bella shook her head to clear her mind before responding, "He had it coming. As you can see, James thinks of himself untouchable. More important than the rest of us. He has his fraternity call him King James. Anyway, thank you for pulling me back. With James, he probably wouldn't have stopped even if he had hit me."

Bella looked up and down the street to try to cross once more. We finally made it to the coffee shop and thankfully Bella's mind was so focused on her near-death experience that all her probing questions of me were gone. I knew it was only a matter of time before she picked up where she left off. I didn't want to lie to her, but I was lying by omission since the moment I met her. Letting her believe I was just some regular Joe was a lie.

I hated this.

The warmth of the coffeehouse greeted us. Other than the barista, there were only two other people in the café. We ordered our coffee and went to sit down at a couple of plushy chairs in the corner.

"Thank you again. I promise I will pay you first thing," I said.

Bella waved me off. "Don't worry about it. It's the least I could do for someone who just saved my life."

We sat there in awkward silence. I didn't know what to say but I needed to find a topic quickly or else she might pick up where we left off.

"So…uh…what is the focus of your study?" I asked. I figured it was English of some sort since she always had her nose in a book.

"Are you asking me what my major is?" She asked. "Because you know? That's the kind of unimaginative question one would ask if they were on a date."

"We've already established that this was a non-date date so I believe the question is fair." I reminded her.

She smiled a little and took a sip of her coffee.

"English on my road for a Masters of Library and Information Sciences."

My forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"You…want to be a librarian?" I asked.

"Don't make that face." She admonished. "Let me guess. You're a business major. Probably something daddy chose for you."

I sighed and looked away.

"I chose the major, but I guess in a way you have me pegged. How did you know?" I wondered.

"The way you speak of your life. You sound like you have no choice but to take on the crown that's being passed to you."

My heart skipped a beat. Did she know?

"What's the matter? You look as white as ghost," Bella said.

"Uh…" I shook my head. "You have no idea. I didn't realize I was so transparent."

"You're practically a walking cliché."

I made a face.

"I'm sorry. That was rude," She apologized quickly.

"It's okay. You are very observant. You are the first person who doesn't know me and yet, you always seem to figure me out. Its very unnerving. Perhaps we should turn the tables on you for a bit. So, who was it that caused you to be so distrusting of people?"

I watched her stiffen and her mouth moved for a response, but she literally bit down on her lip and sat back in her chair unclenching her fist. It appears I may have struck a chord.

"Same story that's been told over and over to the point of insignificance. There was a guy and I lost myself in him until he found someone else to be with. I just…" She sighed, "I wasn't ever the kind of girl who had a long line of friends. I like being alone. I like being around my books and I know that this makes me sound like some kind of loser but…"

"Loser? I would never think that of you. You love a verbal sparring match far too much. You have kept me on my toes for sure, Miss…" It was then that I realized I never got her last name. Here I had thought about this girl over and over and in my mind, she had always been just Bella.

Bella began to laugh at my pause.

"You know what? I think I kind of like this. You don't know too much about me and you seem to want to remain mysterious so…perhaps since we are just starting out with this friendship maybe we can both hit pause on the questions for now," She suggested.

I had far more to gain from this arrangement, so I quickly agreed.

"Okay, so now what do we talk about?" I asked.

Bella looked around and then down at my book.

"Well, …we can talk about Death of a Salesman. I guess I should try and help you salvage your grade. It would be the very least I could do."

I thought about that and as much as I would appreciate her offer, I didn't want to spend our time discussing books. I wanted to know her which was now a little hard since the new arrangement.

"We don't only have to discuss our education. How about we can talk about our personal life without naming any specifics. I promise to not Google you or try and get the dirt through Alice or Emmett and you give me the same consideration," I offered.

Bella thought for a moment before replying, "You want me to tell you things about me without telling you things about me. I don't know how that will work."

I took another sip of my coffee and placed it on the table.

"I will start. As you know, my father has this expectation of me to take over for him someday. I am completely okay with doing so but all I wanted before I do so is to be able to have a few life experiences. The…position he is in is one of grave importance and there will be a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. I, contrary to what you believe of me, have always been a dutiful son. I spent my life being educated and prepared for my…destiny. However, he seems to feel slighted that I chose to come here and try and find myself away from my parents and everyone. He cut my funds. I feel like he is hoping I fail. I don't know what I can do to make him respect my choices."

It felt amazing to be able to speak to someone other than Jasper about all of my feelings. Even with Jasper, if I had said all this, he probably would have socked me in the shoulder and told me to stop complaining.

Bella rubbed her neck awkwardly.

"What?" I asked.

She sighed. "I don't think you'll like what I have to say so…I think I will keep my opinions to myself for the sake of this new friendship."

"NO!" I nearly shouted, "I mean, I don't want you to feel like you can't talk to me. Please say what you want. Maybe it can help me have perspective. That is what friends do."

Bella thought again and then let out a loud sigh.

"I think…" She sat back in her chair and shook her head, "Look, I don't know what you are really feeling. I had a very different relationship with my father. He wanted me to be successful. But his definition of success wasn't this idealistic notion of money and power. He believed that to be truly successful in life, we had to find happiness and that is far more difficult to do than to find money and power. You are going into the family business. You have already made up your mind, so it seems. If your father wasn't in the picture, would that business bring you any happiness whatsoever? Would this position be one that you would have wanted even without all the pressures surrounding you? You have a couple of choices. You can follow in your father's footsteps and surrender your happiness to fulfill his destiny for you. You can walk away and know that in doing so you could lose that relationship with your father. Or…you could take over and do things your way. Just because your father has been successful doesn't mean that what worked for him, will work for you. You told me once that the kind of parties you attended had canapes and champagne…Mozart. Well, have pizza rolls and margaritas. And I do believe that any Bryan Adams song will sound just as lovely coming from a string quartet as Mozart."

I shook my head and laughed. "Bryan Adams on a string quartet?"

She laughed too. "The point is, do things your way. Don't let tradition dictate how you are going to run your fathers company. Don't be swallowed up by the lives from the past."

I let her words sink in. As much as I loved her sentiment, I couldn't imagine if I asked my father to serve pizza rolls at our next party. Unfortunately, tradition was something the royal family was shackled to. Don't get me wrong, I love a good tradition as much as the next person but sometimes all the pomp and circumstance got a little wearing.

"I don't know much about your father, but I can't believe that he is all that bad. You said you wanted life experiences and by cutting you off from his funding, he is giving you exactly what you wanted. I have to admit, I don't know if I would have liked you very much if you had a credit card with unlimited power," She said.

Her words stung.

"You're saying you wouldn't have like me if you had known me two weeks ago."

I could see Bella's face fall and she knew what she had said. She bit down on her lip once more and sat back in her chair.

"To be honest…probably not." She checked my face for a reaction before continuing, "I don't…"

I waited for why she searched for an explanation.

"Don't worry about it, Bella. I should probably go." I stood up and took my coffee with me. I didn't know what to say to her, but she hurt me with her words.

I wrestled to get my jacket on when I walked outside. It was freezing but the anger I felt inside kept me warm.

"Edward, wait!" Bella called out from behind me. I didn't turn around to respond.

"You forgot your book," She said catching up to me.

I grabbed it from her and kept walking.

"I'm sorry!" She yelled out after me.

"You have nothing to apologize for," I yelled back.

"Would you please stop! If you hadn't noticed, I'm a bit clumsy and I will probably fall if you don't slow down."

I stopped in my spot and turned towards her.

"That's funny, I find your clumsiness adorable but two weeks ago I would have thought otherwise," I replied snidely.

That made Bella mad. Her expression turned instantly from concern to anger.

"You said you wanted friendship. But friendship comes with honesty. Yes, two weeks ago, if you had shown up throwing daddy's credit card around I would never have spoken to you. I probably would have made a "douchebag" comment under my breath. I would have judged you outright and no matter how much you tried to talk to me, I would never have responded. In fact, I did make a snap judgment about you when we first really met, and it is because you told me that your father had cut you off that I decided to see what you were all about. I'm not proud of it but I am not comfortable with money and power. Money and power do not bring me happiness. It's what took my happiness away!"

I saw a wave of emotion run through Bella's eyes. My anger dissipated instantly. I wanted to pull her into my arms but that would break our unspoken rules of friendship.

"What happened?" I asked softly hoping she would tell me.

Bella shook her head and waved off her tears.

"Tonight, we talked about your father. We're going to leave my father for another night."

She looked up at me in the eyes, took a deep breath and then turned and walked away.

AN: Thank you for reading and reviewing.

DISCLAIMER: STORY IS MINE. CHARACTERS BELONG TO STEPHENIE MEYER.