Chapter 2
Bella's POV
It was hard to explain my feelings when I awoke the next morning. First, it was surprise; I had forgotten where I was, so used to wake up to the bright sun just coming up in Phoenix. Then I remembered my dream, I was with Edward walking through campus with all of the green, shady, aged trees. I felt embarrassed; it was silly to be dreaming about a boy that you just met. But oddly, I was excited to see what the day would bring, maybe I would see Edward again today…
I sat up on my elbow and pushed my comforter off of my so that I could get up. I put on a silky, navy robe that matched my room and slipped into my Ugg slippers. I walked out to the living room and Alice was already up, drinking coffee while going over a map of the school and today's orientation schedule. She was an early riser.
"Morning," she greeted, "There's a Starbucks Mocha on the counter, you can heat it up in the microwave."
"Thanks," I went to go get it, coffee was just what I needed. While watching the cup revolve in the microwave, Rosalie came into the room also. I automatically stopped the microwave and put in the other Starbucks; it was unconscious reaction when you've known Rosalie for as long as I have. When the bell started to ring, signaling it's finish I took it out and handed it to Rose.
"Thanks Bell," she blew on it to cool it off and sipped the coffee slowly. I went and sat down next to Alice on the sofa, while Rosalie slipped into the cushy chair.
"So what's the schedule for today?" Rosalie asked.
"Well, they are serving breakfast in the cafeteria until 11 and then there's an orientation for all of the upperclassmen at 1 in the theater, so we should go check that out," she read off a piece of white printer paper. I took it from her,
"Well, its only 8 so I say we go scope out the cafeteria and then walk around campus, finding our rooms, bathrooms and stuff until the meeting," I planned, talking to myself mostly. Rosalie nodded,
"Ya, because we don't know how long the meeting is going to be," she added, reaching over and stealing the piece of paper from me.
"Okay, so let's go," Alice said excitedly, getting us moving. I returned to my room to get changed.
Hmmmm, what to wear? I asked myself in my head. I pulled out a pair of destroyed jeans and brown tank top that had a thin sequin trim on it. I zipped up a cream hoodie that had Abercrombie and Fitch written across the chest in brown lettering; another gift that Alice got me.
I stuffed my cell phone in my back pocket and went to meet Alice and Rosalie. I pulled on my sneakers in the living room and we left out apartment, locking the door on the way out. We were just walking down the hall when I remembered,
"Oh wait! I forgot my schedule and papers," I said ready to run back into our room. Alice sighed and rolled her eyes at me,
"Don't pee your pants, Bella. I have them in my purse, along with your's Rosalie. I knew you guys would forget." Rosalie and I exchanged ashamed glances and simultaneously said,
"Oh… thanks." Alice just laughed at our forgetfulness. My phone started to vibrate in my back pocket,
"Ah!" I squeaked, surprised. Quickly, I reached an arm around and pulled it out of my pocket, 'Unknown Number' it read. I shrugged and pressed the green button,
"Hello?"
"Hello," a beautiful voice answered. Identification of the voice did not take any longer than a few seconds.
"Huh, it my phone couldn't identify the caller," I mumbled, perplexed. Shouldn't it say that Edward was calling? He did give me his number, right?
"Oh, I'm using Jasper's cell phone, I left mine in my room," he explained nonchalantly, "So are you girls up for your tour of Bridgeton?" he asked, cheerful.
"Ya, sure; we are just on our way to the cafeteria for a little bit of breakfast, but after that is fine, I guess," I answered while walking with Rosalie and Alice to the cafeteria, they were quiet, letting me talk.
"Emmet, Jasper, and I are at the cafeteria right now, so we'll wait for you guys and then we can go, if you want," he suggested. It sounded good to me,
"Sure, sounds good. I'll see you in a few."
"Okay. Goodbye Bella," he replied and he hung up. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, I was going to be with him for the entire morning, maybe even more.
When I opened my eyes, calmed, I met the curious and suspicious eyes of Alice and Rose.
"So who was that?" Alice asked, trying to play it cool, though I could read through her pretenses.
"Edward," I answered, trying to remain calm. Alice and Rosalie immediately changed their tone, more excited and anxious.
"What did he say?" Rosalie asked, practically clawing my right arm.
"Well, it sounds like the guys are giving us a school tour this morning," I smiled. They squealed,
"Yessssss!" they danced for a little bit.
"Jasper seems so sensitive," Alice said dreamily.
"Have you seen Emmet's body?" Rosalie breathed.
I chuckled, my friends are so great. We picked up the pace and walked through the school, arms linked.
The cafeteria was about a third full, most likely all of the upperclassmen were sleeping in until the orientation at 11; they already knew the campus. We all quickly scanned the food and I decided on a maple donut, while Rosalie had toast, and Alice got her bagel with strawberry cream cheese.
"So do you think the guys would want us to come sit with them?" I mused, Alice and Rosalie shrugged. It was odd for all of us- even Rosalie; we didn't normally eat breakfast with three god-like boys.
"Bella!" I heard somebody call my name. I turned to find where the voice was coming from. I found Edward, standing up at a table in the middle of the cafeteria, with a waving arm raised.
"I guess that answers our question," Rosalie mumbled. We all walked to the table, and sat down in the three empty seats, I sat across from Alice, who was sitting by Jasper, and Rosalie. Edward was sitting on my right side and Emmet came and sat down on my left, across from Rose.
"Hello, ladies," Emmet smiled wide. Rosalie flashed him her movie star smile and he was awed for a moment.
"How was your first night at Bridgeton?" Jasper asked. I gave him a thumbs up while taking a bite of my sugary food. Alice had to go into a deep description of our apartment, explaining everything in extreme detail.
"Well, I am glad you like it," Edward commented, "You have to come and see ours. It has a different set-up." He looked at me, obviously remembering our small conversation we had the night before.
Alice nodded along,
"Huh, I think that we should. I don't really like how the bathroom is the entry for all of our rooms. But having the closet space is totally worth the trade," she answered.
I finished off my donut and got up to go find some orange juice, thirsty.
"Where are you going, Bella?" Alice asked, slightly mother-ish. We looked after each other, especially after Rosalie's mom died and my mother left my father and I. Alice was the only one with a full fledged family.
"Orange juice," I answered, distracted, looking for the beverages section. Edward abruptly got up,
"I'll help you find one," he offered.
"Thanks, but I could have found it by myself," I said as and he led the way, winding through the endless tables. The beverages section ended up being all the way around a wall, somewhere I would have never found it. I quickly grabbed a plastic bottle of the juice from the ice cubes in the display. I gave him an apologetic look,
"Thank you for showing me where it was, I would have been looking for days," I laughed. His musical, quiet chuckled joined mine.
"No problem." He smiled, "I knew that you would need my help." I rolled my eyes,
"Smart ass."
Edward gave me an amused expression. We walked back through the tables, and I sat back down. I was just beginning to leave when I heard somebody clear their throat behind me, obviously trying to get attention. I turned around.
"Hi, I couldn't help but notice that you are new to Bridgeton and as class president of the junior class, I just wanted to welcome you," the tall, blonde greeted me with a wide smile. He wasn't as handsome as Edward, but surely had that cute, boyish look to him.
I smiled back warmly, appreciating his welcome,
"Thanks, I'm Bella Swan," I held out a hand for him to shake. Eagerly, he took my hand in his own to shake it.
"Mike Newton," he replied. He nodded to Edward, in a less friendly fashion and acknowledged him with a nod,
"Edward." Edward smiled without showing his teeth and raised his eyebrows slightly, almost with a disapproving look on his face. Mike ignored Edward's coldness and returned his full attention to me,
"Do you need help finding your way around the campus?" Mike volunteered. Edward decided to cut in at this time,
"Actually, we were just leaving to do very that. See you around Mike," Edward took my hand and pulled me towards the door. I waved a hand to Mike,
"Bye," I said quietly. I heard Mike murmur dejectedly,
"Yeah, see you." I felt bad; I could have talked to him for a little longer, given him more of a chance. But I could do that later, right now I was alone with Edward and I needed to find all of my classes on this massive, green campus.
"Do you have your schedule?" Edward asked, stopping our walk at the large, water fountain. I pulled out the papers from my back pocket, where I had stuffed them after Alice handed them to me on our way to the cafeteria. Edward took them and examined them,
"We have English and Biology together, so that's two out of five classes. And we have the same lunch." Edward seemed very pleased. I gave him a skeptical look and he clarified instantly,
"Well according to Jasper and Emmet; everybody else has first lunch. We are the only ones with second lunch." Alice and Rosalie didn't have my lunch?! Panic ran through my body, what was I going to do. Edward shook my shoulder, attempting to get me out of my tense posture.
"Don't worry, Bella. I'll also be in second lunch," Edward tried to reassure me, "But if you really want to be in first with the rest of them, I'm sure you could get a schedule change. Although, I'll be very disappointed; I'll be the only one."
This could be my chance to get to know Edward, and become friends with him. Take a chance, Bella, my mind told me. I took a deep breath to calm myself.
"Okay, I'm staying in 2nd lunch," I nodded fervently, mostly talking to myself. Edward smiled,
"Thanks, I don't think I could eat by myself for an entire year." I nodded and smiled, continuing my calming process.
"First class: Pre Cal," Edward announced and he led me to my first class.
After about an hour of showing me literally everything, including bathrooms, computer labs, and locker rooms; we went through his classes also. We were in the library when my phone rang,
"Hello?"
"Bella, it's almost time for the assembly so you should make your way to the theater soon," Alice informed me.
"Okay, we're coming soon. Are you guys already there?" I asked, I wondered if the theater was filling up.
"No, but we are almost there."
"Okay, see you there, Alice."
"Bye, Bells." I shut my phone and turned to Edward,
"That was Alice, she said that we should get going to the orientation." Edward looked at his watch on his wrist swiftly,
"Oh, it is almost time for it to start. It's only around the corner so we'll be there right on time." We exited the library and strolled to the library, unhurried. I knew the way now; Edward had covered the entire campus flawlessly. When we got there Edward opened both the foyer door and main entrance door for me, he was such a gentleman.
The theater had a large stage in the front and rows and rows of endless seats. I saw Emmet, he was standing up and waving his arms around, trying to get our attention. They were about in the middle of the theater, Edward and I began to walk towards them. There was slight traffic in the downward sloping aisle and Edward put his hand on the small of my back, guiding me through, Alice saw and gave me a look. I blushed bright red.
"Hey Edward," Emmet and Jasper greeted their friend,
"How was the tour?" Emmet asked me, winking when Edward turned his back on him to talk to Jasper and Alice who were sitting directly behind us. I gaped at him,
"It was good, Edward is really good at giving tours of the campus," I answered casually, suspicious of what Emmet was up to.
"That's good, but he should know the campus well, he's gone here since freshman year like the rest of us," Emmet laughed.
"Bella, guess what I found out?!" Alice bounced in her chair behind me. I was frightened, she only got this excited when it had something to do with [gulp… shopping.
"What?" I asked timidly, afraid of the answer.
"There's a mall nearby!" she beamed at me, happy beyond belief. I had flashbacks of her 'Bella Barbie' games in Phoenix,
"Yay?" I cringed. Alice laughed at my expression, probably already planning a trip to the mall. I sunk in my seat, depressed. The lights began to dim, and the voices in the theaters turned to whispers and steadily the crowd grew silent. A man in a black business suit walked out onto the bright stage and to the podium in the middle. He cleared his voice,
"Hello and Welcome back to Bridgeton, students," he greeted us in a friendly but business manner tone.
"I am Mr. Kane, the Dean of Bridgeton and during the course of this orientation we are going to be going over Bridgeton's policies and what is to be expected of our students but before that, I would like the class presidents to come to up to the stage, please," he requested and four various students got up from their seats and walked down the aisle to the stage, Mike Newton being one of them.
"Students, I would like to introduce you to the Freshman Class president, Elizabeth Trolley." The freshman class all cheered their very loudest. The young girl waved shyly.
"And as the Sophomores' Class president this year we have Blake Young," he sophomore class hooted and clapped in response. Blake took his hat off and threw it into the crowd, where it was pounced upon.
"For the Juniors we have Mike Newton." Our class was the loudest so far, though the people I was sitting with just clapped. There was a group of girls and boys, obviously his friends who screamed their heads off. Mike pointed to them and smiled, and then he turned towards where I was sitting and winked at me. I could have sworn I heard Edward grunt disapprovingly.
"And lastly the Senior class president of 2009, Tristan Ashburn." This boy had dark brown hair, that fell into his face a bit, and blues eyes that were so bright, I could see them from here; he was very good looking.
The senior class went wild, and then Tristan pulled out a pair of dark, oversized sunglasses and put them on, a song suddenly went over the sound system. I noticed this one, just because it was on the radio every three minutes- Crank Dat.
Tristan started doing the dance on stage, and the senior class got up and did it from their seats. I was laughing so hard, I almost started crying…what an introduction! But I was also in awe of him, he was so… fearless. I would have never done that in front of an entire school.
When the chorus ended, the music stopped but everybody was still in a frenzy, Mr. Kane eventually got the students calmed down,
"And now Mr. Ashburn has a few words to say," everybody in the theater cheered, excited for what he had to say after his 'performance.'
"Bridgeton students, our school is something to be proud of, we have excelled in sports and academics for as long as I can remember. This year, I would like to encourage you to go out and support our school's teams. And I think now is a good time to introduce a new school club, which I am going to be president of and is designed to specialize in enlarging our school spirit. It is going to be called Blue Crew. We are holding a contest for T-shirt designs. So to get more information about the Blue Crew and how to join there will be a table outside after orientation. Thanks and good luck to all students this year!" Everyone applauded, smiling.
Tristan along with the rest of the class presidents walked down the stages steps and returned back to their seats. Random students patted Tristan on the back, and gave him high-fives.
Mr. Kane began talking in a monotonous voice, and began his long speech of 'Bridgeton Behavior.' I honestly tried to pay attention, half the students were asleep. For two hours he kept this going, two hours?! I turned to Edward, with a pleading look in my eyes, and thankfully he wasn't asleep.
"When is this going to end?" I mouthed to him. A small smile played across his lips and he checked his watch. He put up to hands, meaning ten and mouthed,
"Ten minutes," back to me. I sighed and turned back to Mr. Kane.
"His speeches have usually gone for about two hours and fifteen minutes, I've kept time since freshman year," Edward whispered to me, I shook with silent laughter.
"Good to know, have you paid attention since then?" I whispered back, my voice almost silent. Edward gave me a bewildered look,
"Are you kidding?! Falling asleep during this is almost inevitable, to pay attention is impossible." He whispered. I smiled,
"Give me a summary at the end of this, though, he lost me after fifteen minutes."
Edward nodded back,
"It's not like anybody is going to break the rules severely, their parents would be furious if their child were to get expelled," Edward stated, "Besides, the teachers here don't pay attention to anything, Emmet, Jasper and I have gotten away with so many things."
I rolled my eyes. Finally, the orientation was finished and students began to awake and file out of the theater. Jasper had to shake Emmet to wake him up. We were just going to go back to our room for a while but Alice forced us to go and check out that new club, Blue Crew.
"I want to design the tee shirt," Alice begged, and pulled me along with her, everybody else was going to go but we told them that we would meet up with them later.
When we reached the table, Alice grabbed a flyer and started to read it.
"Bella, I have to join to be able to enter," she told me, a little angry at the rules.
"So join," I suggested, Alice was always at our old school's events. Alice gave me a pouty look,
"Please join with me, Bella." I thought about it, Alice was going to drag me to games and such anyways, so why not?
"Fine, sign me up, then." Alice clapped her hands and smiled hugely. She started filing out some paperwork for us.
"Are you new here?" I voice asked, I turned around and met the blue eyes of Tristan Ashburn. He was even hotter in close up. I nodded,
"Yup," I sighed.
"Senior?" he guessed, he probably already knew that I wasn't a Senior, but was trying to make me feel good.
"Ha, very funny, I'm a Junior," I laughed at his assumption. He looked genuinely surprised,
"Cool, so are you signing up for Blue Crew?" he asked.
"Yeah, my friend, Alice, wanted to participate in the design contest so I'm going to join with her," I pointed over to Alice who still was writing something down.
"Tristan!" Mr. Kane yelled at him from across the foyer. Tristan's face stained,
"Now I am in trouble," he stated, not daring to look over to Mr. Kane's red face.
"May I ask why?"
"You saw the whole dancing thing… well Mr. Kane wasn't aware that that was going to be happening," he admitted, reluctantly.
"Oh." Tristan was probably in a lot of trouble. I could see Mr. Kane coming towards us,
"So I guess I'll see you around campus…If I live through this," Tristan smiled weakly and turned to face the furious teacher.
"Come on, Bella," Alice called to me; she was probably done signing up. I walked back to where she was waiting and we started to head back to our room.
"So, who where you talking to?" Alice asked, curiously. I shrugged dispassionately,
"Nobody, really." I tried to make it seem unimportant, though inside I was bursting.
"Who was it?" Alice insisted. I sighed,
"Tristan Ashburn." I confessed halfheartedly. Alice stopped walking and turned towards me in awe.
"OmigoshBellayouactuallytalkedtoTristanAshburnitsonlythefirstday!" she squealed, talking so fast that comprehension was unfeasible- that was unless you knew her as long as Rose and I.
"It's not a big deal, Alice. We just talked about Blue Crew." I tried to down play it.
"It is a big deal, Bella. He came up to you and started a conversation."
"Wait, how do you know that I didn't go up to him?" I asked, a little offended.
"Oh please, Bella, you can barely talk to your aunts and uncles," Alice snorted. We started walking again.
"That was only time! And he had a hunchback, I was twelve, give me a break."
Alice started to laugh, and when I realized what I said and how that must have sounded, I laughed too.
Alice never made it back into the subject of Tristan, but it was running in my mind all night. It wasn't until morning when I realized that I forgot about Edward.