Jessica's Phone Call

Chapter 3 – Trig Class

Disclaimer: Many thanks to Stephenie Meyer for letting me play with her toys for a little while. I, of course, own nothing. They are all hers.

Author's Note: Please note that I wrote this piece before the release of the Midnight Sun draft. I still liked my piece enough to want to publish it. I hope you enjoy it too anyways.

Thank you, KlutzLikeBella, for your endless patience reading and re-reading these stories and for your awesome suggestions to make them better. I would be lost without you! You're amazing! Please check out KLB's stories - they are absolutely wonderful.

Thank you also BlondieakaRobin for your encouragement and help with this story.

Author's Note 2: I also wanted to say thank you for everyone who's reading this and especially to those of you who left a review. You guys surprise the heck out of me - I thought I was the only one who'd enjoy this part of the story from Jessica's POV!! You are so encouraging and I truly appreciate your kind words!

Jessica's POV

The first two periods of my morning had passed agonizingly slowly. I had spread the limited information I had about a possible Edward / Bella connection as well as I could, trying to showcase my insider knowledge. But I didn't want to commit to a statement until I could verify my facts a bit better. I didn't want to be proven wrong in public. What would that do to my reputation! So I made innuendos and comments designed to make it look as if I had more knowledge than I was sharing.

But I knew that my information was deeply lacking. It was all assumption and no confirmed dirt. I couldn't wait for Trig class when I could get real info from Bella.

I got to Trig first and hurried to my usual seat at the back. I made sure to save a seat right next to me for Bella, to make sure she had no excuse to avoid me. She was so going to spill.

When she finally walked into class, I was bouncing in my seat with excitement.

"Tell me everything!" I demanded as soon as Bella reached her desk.

"What do you want to know?" she asked cautiously as she slipped into her chair. From her tone I could tell she didn't want to share. I knew it! I knew there was a big secret here. I just had to work it out of her. I had to know what was going on between the two of them.

"What happed last night?" I started with an easy, general kind of question. Maybe her answer would reveal more if she wasn't sure how much I knew.

"He bought me dinner, and then he drove me home."

Oh, you've got to be kidding me! Did she really think I'd buy that? There was way more to it than that. And heck, there was no way they'd had enough time to eat and get back to Forks in time for Bella to intercept my call to her father.

I decided to point out the most obvious flaw with her story. "How'd you get home so fast?"

"He drives like a maniac. It was terrifying."

She seemed truthful in her answer. Well, never mind, I'd come back to that point later. I went for her jugular with my next question – subtly of course. I didn't want to scare her into being quiet. I had to remain her confidante, after all. "Was it like a date – did you tell him to meet you there?"

She looked genuinely surprised at that idea and her cheeks flushed lightly at the thought. "No – I was very surprised to see him there."

Damn. I could tell that was the truth. So she hadn't planned to meet him there. I pursed my lips as I thought this one through. They met – apparently accidentally – in Port Angeles and just happened to spend time together afterwards? No, that didn't make sense either. I was missing something. I hated missing things, but I knew I was more likely to get an answer if she wasn't thinking about the questions too much.

Changing tracks, I asked her about this morning. "But he picked you up for school today?"

"Yes – that was a surprise too. He noticed I didn't have a jacket last night," she offered as if that explained Edward Freaking Cullen driving her to school this morning.

"So are you going out again?" I probed.

"He offered to drive me to Seattle Saturday because he thinks my truck isn't up to it – does that count?"

"Yes," I nodded, hiding my impatience. Of course, it counts, you idiot!! Edward Freaking Cullen in a car the whole freaking way to Seattle and back AND a whole freaking day with that god?! Yes it counts!!

"Well, then, yes," she answered quietly, as if it weren't that big a deal.

No way! There is simply no way anyone would believe this! It hadn't escaped my notice that Edward seemed to be the one asking Bella to spend time with him. He had noticed she didn't have a jacket and he offered to drive her to Seattle. No way! The untouchable Edward Cullen was chasing Bella Swan? Unbelievable! "W-O-W. Edward Cullen," I breathed. What the hell had she done to get him interested? Every girl in this school had tried and failed to catch his eye. What made plain Bella Swan so much better than the rest of us?

"I know," Bella looked a little dazed herself at the thought of Edward Cullen and her.

My jealousy ate at me. I was better than her. It should be me going to Seattle with Edward. Strangely, I also felt a twinge of defeat that left me feeling a bit like a balloon in my chest was losing air. Winning Mike away from Bella didn't seem like the victory it had earlier, now that Edward Cullen was available.

I wondered how serious Bella and Edward were. Getting the scoop on this story would certainly make it clear to everyone that I knew everything that happened at this school – heck, in all of Forks! Perhaps I could even work this situation in my favor. Knowledge is, after all, power. Ewww . . . I was quoting Eric Yorkie now?

A sudden thought struck me. "Wait! Has he kissed you yet?" I demanded.

She looked deflated. "No, it's not like that."

Hunh. I could tell that was the truth also. I was disappointed. It would have made a great story to retell; Edward Cullen and 'kissing' in the same tale would be spellbinding. Maybe all wasn't lost. "Do you think Saturday . . . ?"

"I really doubt it," she didn't sound very happy about that at all. She was clearly disappointed by that thought. I couldn't blame her. A whole day with Edward Cullen and no kissing? I fought back my smirk. So close, yet so far. Maybe I still had a chance….

I was, however, left with a puzzle. What exactly was their relationship? Friends? Boyfriend / girlfriend? I needed to push for more information.

Just then Mr. Varner started to lecture. I ignored him and leaned over to Bella. "What did you guys talk about?" I whispered.

She hedged, pretending an interest in Mr. Varner's stupid ramblings. "I don't know, Jess, lots of stuff."

Seeing I wasn't pleased with her vague answer, she added "We talked about the English essay a little."

Is she kidding me? English essay?! Who cares! I want to know about their relationship. "Please, Bella, give me some details," I tried begging and shot her my best puppy dog eyes look. I needed some details to flesh out my story later. These little scraps of information she'd given me weren't enough to make for a good story.

My begging look worked as usual. "Well . . . okay, I've got one. You should have seen the waitress flirting with him – it was over the top. But he didn't pay any attention to her at all."

"That's a good sign. Was she pretty?"

"Very – and probably nineteen or twenty."

"Even better. He must like you." Does he? Answer me, Bella. How much do you two like each other? I need to know.

She flushed. "I think so, but it's hard to tell. He's always so cryptic." She sighed.

What the heck does that mean? Well, she wasn't wrong about having a hard time reading Edward's thoughts. He defied even my extraordinary skills at reading people. Or maybe it was just the distraction of his gorgeous face. And chest. And shoulders. And that butt . . . my God, his butt. I couldn't think. And that was just the memory of him. I remembered how confused I got just being around him earlier this morning. I could only imagine what an evening with him would do to my thinking ability.

"I don't know how you're brave enough to be alone with him," I breathed, imagining how fried my brain would be if I were alone with Edward Freaking Cullen.

She looked shocked . . . and a bit scared. "Why?" she blurted.

"He's so . . . intimidating. I wouldn't know what to say to him," I admitted.

She looked strangely relieved before answering me. "I do have some trouble with incoherency when I'm around him."

"Oh well. He is unbelievable gorgeous." So who cares if we can make conversation?

Bella surprised me by saying, almost as if she were defending him, "There's a lot more to him than that."

It was the first time in this conversation that she'd volunteered information. I'd be damned if I would let that go.

"Really? Like what?" I asked innocently.

She looked reluctant to explain herself now. It seemed her last statement had been a knee-jerk reaction. Interesting. She defended him instinctively. Well now, just how much did our Bella care for Edward?

Finally after hedging, she answered my question. "I can't explain it right . . . but he's even more unbelievable behind the face."

What? More unbelievable behind his face? I giggled. "Is that possible?"

She tried to make it look like Mr. Varner was revealing the secrets of the universe and that she had to pay attention to him. In other words, she was clearly trying to end this conversation. I wouldn't let her off the hook.

It sounded like she really liked him, but I wanted her to say it. "So you like him, then?" I pressed.

"Yes," she answered shortly.

Oh come on, Bella. I want more details than that! "I mean, do you really like him?" I pressed harder for her answer.

A deep crimson blush spread across her cheeks. "Yes."

That blush told me what I wanted to know. But I wanted to hear her say it. I changed the question so it couldn't be answered with a simple yes or no. "How much do you like him?"

Impossibly, she blushed an even deeper shade of red. "Too much. More than he likes me. But I don't see how I can help that."

Well, that made sense. He was obviously too good for her. At least she seemed to know that. So enjoy the ride while you can, Bella, I have no doubt it'll end very suddenly and much more quickly than you think. I just hope I'm there to see it when it happens. Then I can be there to take your place once he gets tired of you. There's really nothing about you that could hold his attention, after all.

I was opening my mouth to ask Bella about her plans with Edward, when I was interrupted by Mr. Varner. "Miss Stanley, can you explain how you would find the coterminal angles in this example?"

I knew the answer to his question. And he knew that I knew the answer. We'd been reviewing coterminal angles for two weeks already. He was just trying to stop our conversation. Well, fine, I'd talk more with Bella at lunch.

I spent the rest of the period deciding which questions to ask her once I had her cornered at lunch, with no teachers to interrupt us.

End Note: Thank you so much for reading! Please leave me a review to let me know what you thought of this!