Let the Games Begin

A/N: Alright, guys. We're back. Thank you all who reviewed. I really appreciate the reviews.

And now, back to New Girl and Stripper Boy.

Chapter 3
I've Never Seen One of Those Before

(BPOV)

The party started to wind down after my dare. The girls didn't feel like playing anymore now that Edward had already been kissed (apparently there was a rule that said that a person could only be kissed once, even if it was for a dare).

The group and I were heading towards the doors when I took one last glance around the room. A pair of emerald green eyes caught mine. Edward was standing on the other side of the room with his friend. He smirked at me again and gave me a small salute. I rolled my eyes, but sent him a wink before walking out the doors.

"So what's up with you and Eddie?" Emmett asked, an insinuating smirk on his face, as we wandered towards the dorms.

"What?" I asked, playing dumb. I knew what he was asking about, I just didn't really want to discuss it.

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "You know what. That little smooch you two had. Well, now that I think about it, it wasn't very little. Baby Bell, you little vixen, you." He was laughing as he pondered Edward's and my kiss together.

I rolled my eyes at him. "It was nothing. Just a dare. I've done much worse, trust me." I may have said that it was nothing, but my body turned traitor on me and started turning bright red.

Rose snorted loudly. "Nothing, my ass! I believe you said that, and I quote, 'I want to lick him,' end quote."

Emmett and Jasper apparently had not heard me say that while we were inside and their eyes widened before they both burst out laughing. I glared at Rose and then punched Emmett and Jasper in the arm to shut them up. "Hardy fucking har, guys," I grumbled.

They all snickered, but dropped the subject thankfully. Talking about guys with anyone was never something I was comfortable with. I mean, it's not like I ever had anyone to talk to back in Seattle, so opening up now was not going to be easy for me.

But Rose was right. That kiss was not nothing. It was definitely something. The way Edward's lips felt against mine was divine. They were soft and smooth and fit perfectly with mine. I mean, I had pretty much jumped him, but even then he didn't react like a typical hormone-crazed boy would. He kept his hands in appropriate places (not that I would have minded if his hands did happen to wander a bit) even after I stripped in front of him. He definitely looked shocked when I did that.

He was probably the only guy that had ever been that gentle with me. Yeah, I've been kissed before, but those kisses were either wet and sloppy or rough and tense. Nothing like the somewhat soft kiss that Edward and I shared. Edward was a gentleman, a very rare breed nowadays. He was sweet and gentle.

But he was also sexy as hell. I had no doubt in my mind that he had any trouble with the ladies. But after we had kissed, he smiled a blindingly bright smile at me and his emerald green eyes were glittering. His body was downright sinful. Toned arms and legs. Ripped abs and pecs. I mean, I nearly passed out at the mere sight of him. I had never seen anyone so amazingly gorgeous in my life. Touching him was an entirely different story. His body was as rock hard as it looked, but his skin was soft and smooth, even though he looked like an athletic sort of guy. His voice was like velvet, soft and smooth as it floated through the air as he spoke.

Everything about him was perfect. He seemed like the most amazing guy in the world.

But nothing good ever happened to me, so I knew that something bad was bound to happen sooner or later. I just hoped it was sooner, so that I wouldn't have to worry about getting too involved.

As we got near the dorms, Emmett and Jasper kissed Rose and Alice goodnight before us girls headed upstairs. Rose followed Alice and I into our room and they both perched on Alice's bed. They were looking at me expectedly. I raised an eyebrow at them. "What?" I snapped.

"The boys aren't here, now spill," Rose commanded.

"Spill what?" I asked, confused. "There's nothing to spill."

Rose snorted. "Yeah right. You and Edward definitely had a connection. How could you not feel it? Everyone else in the room sure could." Alice nodded in agreement.

"What are you talking about? There was no connection between Edward and me," I said, blatantly lying through my teeth. I knew that there was something between Edward and I, but I wasn't really ready to think about something like that right now. To be honest, I've never felt anything like what Edward and I had before and it's scaring the shit out of me.

"Oh," Alice chortled. "She's getting defensive now."

"Am not!" I barked, sounding very defensive indeed. Well shit.

They both laughed. "Fine, if you won't admit that there is something obviously going on between you two, then at least tell us if you think he's cute or not. Is he a good kisser?" Alice asked.

I sighed in exasperation. Even though I've only known them for a few hours, I had a feeling that they weren't the kind of people to drop a subject just like that. "Fine. Yes, I think he's cute," I answered, purposefully ignoring the other question.

"Just cute? And you didn't answer the other question." They were both cocking eyebrows at me.

I shot them an irritated look. "What do you want me to say? That I think that he's the most fucking gorgeous guy I've ever seen! That he's the most fantastic kisser ever! Do you want me to tell you that he made my body feel like it was on fire! Is that what you want!"

Both of their faces erupted in blindingly grins and they squealed excitedly. "I knew it!" Alice squealed. "I knew you liked him!"

"I do not!" I interrupted quickly. "I was just admiring beauty in its natural state. And thinking someone's cute and a good kisser, doesn't mean that I like them. I don't even know the guy."

They both let out unladylike snorts and rolled their eyes at me. "Whatever, Bella. You couldn't take your eyes off him the entire time we were at the party. And most people don't stick their tongues down 'Beauty's' throat."

My face flushed bright red. I really did not want to discuss this right now. I shot them both a glare. "I don't want to talk about this. Drop it." Neither of them have been on the receiving end of my temper before, but they didn't seem fazed by it at all. They both just looked at me before they started snickering at my irritated expression. I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Whatever. I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

They continued snickering at me as Rose left the room to head up to hers. I grabbed some shorts and a tank top to sleep in out of my suitcase that I had yet to unpack. I just stripped in front of Alice (it's not like she hasn't seen it once already tonight) and then climbed into bed.

"Goodnight, Bella. See you in the morning," Alice chirped before flipping off the light. I could have sworn that I heard a soft giggle coming from the other side of the room before I slipped into welcomed oblivion.

I groaned when I felt someone poking me repeatedly in the middle of my forehead. I slowly opened my eyes and jumped about two feet out of my bed and onto the floor, just barely missing Alice's face which happened to be about three inches from my face.

I groaned from the floor. "What the hell, Alice?" I flopped my forehead onto the ground, muttering obscenities at the hyperactive midget pixie that had woken me up at some ungodly hour.

"It's time to get up, Bella," Alice sang. She pulled on my arm, trying to get me to move. I grunted at her and refused to get off the floor.

It was when she slapped my ass really freaking hard. "Ow!"

"Get up. We're meeting Rose and the boys for breakfast in thirty minutes," she said before skipping off to her closet. I groaned and pulled myself off the floor.

I shuffled to the bathroom to take a quick shower and brush my teeth. I went to my closet to pull out some clothes when I saw something laid out on my bed. "What's that?"

"Your uniform," Alice chirped as she finished applying her make-up.

What! "Uniform? Where does it say that we have to wear uniforms?" I asked, incredulous. I hadn't ever had to wear a uniform in my life.

"In the student guidelines," she said. "The ones that you got when you got here yesterday."

"I wasn't exactly planning on reading those," I grumbled.

Alice laughed. "I didn't think so. But we have to wear them, so put it on. We're going to be late."

I sighed and bitched under my breath at the school's cliché way of making us conform. I glared at the offending pieces of clothing. At least they were black. There was the classic plaid pleated skirt. It was black with royal blue and white accents and stopped about four inches from my knee (at least I didn't look like a nun). There was a basic white three-quarter length blouse, a black fitted blazer with white piping along the edges, and a black and royal blue striped tie. There weren't any shoes or socks however, so I assumed that I could use some creativity there.

I grumbled as I pulled on the clothes and tied the tie around my neck. I felt it hanging loosely around my neck. I wasn't about to strangle myself. I left the blazer off considering it was almost ninety degrees outside and I didn't feel like drowning in my own perspiration. That's just nasty, man.

I grabbed some of my black and white checkered knee high socks and pulled them on and then slid on my beat-up converse too make this ungodly ensemble look somewhat like something I would wear on a regular basis. I threw my hair up into a ponytail, not really wanting to mess with it right now.

Alice looked me up and down when she came out of the bathroom and she just smiled and shook her head. "You're definitely going to turn some heads."

I smirked. "That's the point."

She let out a somewhat evil chuckled and we both grabbed our bags (Hers: a rather large purse. Mine: black messenger bag.) and headed out the door. We walked through campus towards the cafeteria and Alice pointed out some of the buildings that my classes would be in.

We made it to the cafeteria and Alice led me over to the same table that we had occupied last night. The boys and Rose had already gotten our breakfast. I grunted in response to their greetings considering I was still only half-conscious (and I was basically the mother of all bitches in the morning). I grabbed the largest cup of coffee off the tray and drank it black. I needed every last drop of caffeine that I could consume at the moment if I even wanted to attempt to make it through the first half of the day. Apparently the coffee was Emmett's because he tried to stop me from taking it, but the look I was giving him at the moment made him rethink his decision.

"Wow, someone's not a morning person," Rose said, chuckling. I shot her a look that only made her laugh more. "Definitely not a morning person."

I grumbled under my breath as I drank my coffee, ignoring all conversation around me until my brain decided to join me for the day.

I was pulled from my stupor a few minutes later when the empty chair across from me screeched out from under the table and someone joined us. My eyes shot up and I saw Edward Masen sitting across from me. His green eyes met mine and a bright (and oh-so-sexy) smile slid onto his face.

He was even more handsome in the daylight. The beautiful smile on his lips and his glittering green eyes made him look like an angel, but the underlying spark of wicked playfulness in his eyes and the casual disarray of his hair made him look anything but pure. The muscles of his forearms were exposed as he had the sleeves of his crisp white button-up rolled up to his elbows. His tie (the same one as mine) hung loosely around his neck. His black blazer was slung over the back of the chair. He linked his hands behind his head and propped his feet up on the table. He was wearing the standard khaki pants that the boys were supposed to wear. But instead of the some stuffy rich boy sort of shoe that most of the guys here were wearing, Edward was sporting some ratty black high tops.

Well, fuck me sideways and into next Tuesday. The boy had good taste in shoes too. There had to be something wrong with him. No one is this perfect.

His eyes connected with mine. "Miss Swan, you look ravishing this fine morning," Edward said, his silky voice flowing over me.

I gave an unladylike snort that made a few of the students around me look in our direction. "Laying it on a bit thick, aren't we, Romeo?" I cocked an eyebrow at him and smirked at him.

He chuckled softly. "I speak nothing but the truth."

I smirked over the lip of my cup. "Somehow I find that hard to believe." He only chuckled again and shrugged.

I thought I heard one of them mutter, "And now she's awake." Someone cleared their throat from somewhere down the table. Edward and I turned to see the rest of the table looking at us intently. "Aren't you going to even acknowledge us?" Alice asked, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She didn't look irritated like her toned suggested, more amused than anything else.

Edward pulled his feet down from the table and placed his hand over his heart. "I apologize profusely, Ali," Edward said, sounding heartfelt and playful. "I was merely complimenting your new friend here. And you have to admit that I'm correct here."

Alice laughed. "Yes, you are. Bella is lovely." She winked at me and my face tinted pink. I tried to ignore the comment by taking a large sip of my coffee. "And you're forgiven, oh favorite cousin of mine."

You know in the movies when one of the characters hears some exciting or crazy news and they happen to be taking a drink of something at that exact moment and they either choke on the liquid or send in spraying out of their mouth usually onto some unsuspecting passerby? The latter is what we would call a spit-take and I've never seen one in real life. Until now.

I choked on my coffee and sent it, you guessed it, spraying out of my mouth and all over the table, just barely missing the front of Edward's shirt. He jumped back in surprise to avoid the spray of coffee coming towards him, but the chair he was sitting in tipped back and he fell flat on his back.

The entire cafeteria was silent. Everyone was staring at our table. Emmett and Alice were staring down at Edward, their cousin (as in someone that they are related to), along with Rose and Jasper.

Then they all roared with laughter. They fell back into their chairs, holding their stomachs to keep themselves upright.

I slapped my hand over my mouth in embarrassment and pushed away from the table quickly and ran over to the other side of the table. I knelt down next to Edward. "Shit! Are you okay?" I asked. I may not like this school and most of its attendees, but Edward had been nothing but nice to me (and he gave me a mind-blowing kiss to top it all off) and I repay him by almost soaking him in coffee and giving him a concussion.

He was rubbing the back of his head where he must have hit his head. I expected to see anger on his face, but when he looked at me all I saw was a smile. "Why is it that every time I'm around you, I end up on the ground?" he asked. I gave him a sheepish half-smile and shrugged. "You know, I've never actually seen anyone do that in real life."

"Sorry about that, by the way," I said. I stood up and offered him my hand and he smiled up at me and took my hand in his. It was soft, but there were a few calluses as well. They were perfection. Once again, there had to be something wrong with this guy. Apparently he had no flaws.

I tried to slip my hand out of his after he was on his feet. I needed to cease physical contact with him before I did something stupid, like kiss him again, but he wouldn't let go. He lifted my hand to his lips and pressed his lips to my knuckles. "Apology accepted," he said, smiling down at me.

He placed my hand back at my side and then turned to Emmett and Alice, giving them irritated looks. "Em. Ali. Call your mother. Mom's been on my ass because neither of you will answer your phones to talk to your own mother." They both looked sheepish and glanced over at Rose and Jasper who looked just as sheepish. Well, we know why they weren't answering their phones now. "Rose. Jazz. Nice seeing you both."

He turned back to me, the smile back on his face. "I'll see you around, Bella." He gave me a wink before grabbing his blazer and his messenger bag and heading towards the doors. When he saw the entire cafeteria staring at him, he sent them a smile and a nod. "You guys might want to speed things along. It's almost eight now. Don't wanna be late," he called over his shoulder before walking out the doors.

After he left, the room filled up with chatter and the scraping of chairs against the tiled floor as students got up to head to class.

I shook myself out of my stupor and whirled on Alice and Emmett, my anger flaring up. I was embarrassed and angry, never a good combination wherever I'm concerned. "What the fuck was that? Did that little tidbit of info just happen to slip your mind? Huh? Would it have been so hard to say 'hey, Bella, that dude that you made out with in front of the entire student body last night was our cousin'? But no, you didn't, and now he's walking around with a bump on his head the size of a fucking golf ball because you two failed to mention that little detail. God!"

I heard Rose and Jasper snickering at my rant and I turned to them. "You two obviously knew that they were related. You could have easily said something."

Then I remembered the conversation I had with Rose and Alice last night about Edward. Shit. That just takes the whole goddamn cake. I sent a glare at Alice and Rose. "I'm going to have a talk with the two of you later." I grabbed my bag then and headed towards the doors, ignoring the shocked looks that I was getting from the few stragglers that were still in the cafeteria. I heard them laughing about something.

"Bella," they called.

"What?" I snapped.

"Do you have any idea where you're going?" Alice asked. The smile on her face indicated that my little rant didn't faze her at all.

Well, shit. There goes my dramatic exit.

A/N: Well, there you have it. Another chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it!

Please review and I will love you forever! :)

Laterz, homebros.

Cat