A/N: I don't own this. We all know who does. I'd probably have planned a trip to Scotland for my birthday if I had her money. Heck, maybe she's there now … Probably not. :D
Thanks to my girls - Alice's White Rabbit, Belle Clementine, EdwardsBloodType, and MrsRobward. In the words of Sia … "Party girls don't get hurt, can't feel anything. When will I learn? I push it down, push it down."
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Before I know it, nearly two months have flown by. I try to keep things quiet, but that blows up in my face when a huge bouquet of red roses is delivered to the school on my birthday. Everyone sees them and wants to know whom they're from. Most of the other teachers read the card before I can get to the office to pick them up. I blush when I read it for the first time, "Miss Swan, I think Van Halen got it right when they said 'I got it bad, got it bad, got it bad ... I'm hot for teacher.' Because I definitely am hot for you. And I got it bad. Happy Birthday, baby, Your Bar Boy." The gossip queens go crazy, but I don't tell them anything. I just smile and take my flowers to my classroom. And when Edward shows up at my house that night with take out and wine, I fuck him like he's never been fucked before. Or so he mumbles afterward when he's breathless and naked in my bed.
He ends up taking a picture of me wearing his shirt and saving it on his phone. Then he spends an hour calling his phone from mine just so he can see my naked thighs pop up on the screen. He pretty much spends all night making up for every birthday I've gone without sex. And I let him.
It's late-October, and I'm sitting in the teachers' lounge at school trying to eat lunch while Alice and Jessica pester me about meeting my new boyfriend. Edward and I agreed to keep it quiet for a while, so I just smile and refuse to give in.
"Hi, ladies," Esme Cullen says as she walks into the room. She practically floats, she's so elegant and graceful. Since all the schools are located in the same area, we share a teachers' lounge and administration offices. We all know each other, and she's one of my favorite people ever. She's almost like the mother I've never had, except that I do have a mother. She's just not very motherly, nor is she very involved in my life. I've always had my dad, so it's not as if I was lacking for anything. I've known Esme since a couple years after I started teaching here. She took me under her wing and taught me more than my actual mother ever could have. She's important to me, and even though she's only a few years older than I am, and most of our interaction takes place in this teachers' lounge, she's special. And the one person I want most to make proud.
"Hey, Esme," I say, followed by Alice and Jessica. A few other teachers stroll in, and soon, our table is full.
"So, book club this Friday, right?" Esme asks, sitting down next to me. "We're meeting at my house, so everyone bring a bottle of wine. I've got the food covered."
Esme has a gorgeous home, and though we try to have our girls' nights at different places, it's always a treat when we go to her house. Mainly because her husband Carlisle is there. And he's sex on legs. Before Edward came along, I could honestly say Carlisle was the most attractive man I'd ever seen. He always makes himself scarce when we're there, but once in a while, one of us will bump into him in the kitchen, or see him walking into the garage, and then we spend the rest of the night giggling and telling Esme that she's the luckiest woman in the world. Or as Jessica puts it, "She's one lucky bitch." Esme always agrees with us.
We talk a bit about our classes and the book we're supposedly going to discuss, and then Alice goes in for the kill.
"Maybe if we get Bella drunk, she'll tell us all about her new boyfriend."
The other women all stop and stare at me. "You're really seeing someone?" one of them says. "You have a boyfriend?" someone else asks.
"I'm not talking about this," I say then take another bite of my sandwich.
"So, who is he?" Esme asks. "Anyone we know?"
"He's a waiter at the bar we went to on my birthday," Alice says. "She won't tell us his name, but I think it was like Edgar or something."
"No, it was Elvis," Jessica says.
"Ugh, no. Was it Jack?" Alice ponders. "Either way, he's younger. Like, way younger. Bella's robbing the cradle."
The girls all laugh as I blush. But I'm still not saying anything.
"You know, younger men are really something else," Esme almost sings. She has a smile on her face that makes it clear she knows what she's talking about. And she does because Carlisle's younger than she is by about four years.
"So, would you agree with that, Bella?" Alice asks.
I just shake my head.
"Come on," she whines. "Let me live vicariously through you."
"Alice, you're married to your high school sweetheart. You have two amazing kids. Why would you need to live through me?" I ask.
"I got married at 19, Bella. I never sewed any wild oats. You gotta give me something."
The other girls are all egging her on, and finally, I break. "Okay, fine. One thing." They all lean closer to the table. Apparently, they're anxious to see what I'll say. "Stamina. He's got a lot of stamina, and he's very eager to please." I smile, remembering just how eager he always is. "That's all I'm saying!"
They all laugh, and I blush even more, but Esme just smiles. She knows what I mean.
"Oh, Bella, how I wish my son was a little older. You'd be perfect for each other," she tells me as she reaches over and grabs my hand. She has a son in college. I've never met him since he doesn't live in Forks, but she's always talking about how much she wishes I was younger, or that he was older. She's convinced we'd be great together. I think she's crazy, though I would never tell her that.
"I gotta get back to class. So, Friday night?" I ask, packing up my stuff.
"Yes, Friday night," Esme says with a smile. "Oh, and Bella?" she calls to me as I step away from the table.
"Yeah?"
"Honey, don't actually read the book. You know none of us are going to."
The girls all laugh, but it's true. No one ever reads the book we pick, except for me. I'm the only one with no life. But this time ... This time I'm too busy having sex with my boyfriend to read the book. I smile back at her, and I'm pretty sure she knows that's what I'm thinking. I think her grin means she approves.
o*O*o*5*o*O*o
A/N: I like that Jessica thought Bella would date someone named Elvis. :D