Let the Games Begin

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for the wait, but this chapter really got away from me. I couldn't get it to end. But here it is. Enjoy.

Chapter 11
Who Would Have Thunk It?

(EPOV)

If someone had told me that Bella Swan and I were going on a date at the beginning of this week, I would have laughed in their face. Because if I recall correctly, at the beginning of the week, Bella was storing tampons in my locker.

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen again, by the way.

But now we were laying on our sides in the middle of the woods, talking about anything and everything and looking into each others' eyes.

I know, sappy, right? But I couldn't bring myself to give a shit.

"You know, everyone's been wondering why you showed up here for junior year? We normally don't get upperclassmen transfers," I asked, curious. It's true. Everyone was shocked to find out that we were getting a new student at the beginning of the year.

She snorted, rolling her eyes bitterly. "Apparently I was too much trouble for my parents to deal with." She laughed humorlessly. "I'll admit that I wasn't the most... well-behaved child back in Seattle, but that was because they were trying to force me to be something that I wasn't. They didn't like how I was behaving, so they decided that this place would 'fix' me." She snorted again. "A lot of good it's done, right?"

I didn't like how bitter she sounded about coming here. Someone like Bella - a brilliant, beautiful, exceptional girl - shouldn't sound like someone who had been hurt over and over again. She should be smiling and laughing and kicking people's asses (because you know, she does that kind of thing).

I was about to ask her something else when she piped up, changing the subject quickly. "What about you? Why'd you come here?"

She obviously didn't want to talk about that anymore, so I didn't push her. "Uh, my parents went here. They really liked it and they let me check it out. I mean, I liked it well enough. Obviously, I'm here."

She smiled softly and looked into my eyes, her eyes dreamy. "Yeah, you're here," she said, her voice almost unbelieving. She brought her hand up hesitantly and gently pushed a piece of hair away from my forehead. My breath hitched when she touched me.

Her eyes widened when she realized what she was doing and tried to pull her hand away, but I grabbed it. I watched her face as I slowly intertwined our fingers together. Her breath was a little louder than normal, but she didn't object.

She took a shaky steadying breath and looked back up at me, a soft smile on her face. "What're your parents like?" she asked, seeming genuinely curious.

Oh God. She wanted to know about my parents. "Well," I started hesitantly. "They met here. My dad was a junior and my mom was a sophomore. They're high school sweethearts. My dad had been trying to pull a prank on one of his friends, but my mom walked in before his friend did and ended up covered in baby powder. She told him off and then showed him how to improve his prank and they've been together ever since." I chuckled (and cringed) a little as I recalled how my parents still acted like they're in high school, make-outs and pranks included. "My dad is a lawyer back in Chicago and my mom is a piano teacher. And they're favorite past time is embarrassing the crap out of me. My dad is really sarcastic and laid back and loves a good prank every now and then. And my mom is hilarious and crazy and probably the sweetest person you could ever meet, unless you mess with my dad or me, then she's a total mama bear. She'd be on your ass so fast you wouldn't know you'd been thrown down a manhole until you hit the bottom. And they're both still crazy in love with each other. I can only hope that one day I'll have something even remotely close to what they have together."

Bella smiled and squeezed my hand slightly. "It sounds like you love them a lot," she observed, her voice wistful.

"Yeah, I do. Even if they annoy me to no end and are two steps away from boarding the crazy train," I said, smiling. Bella laughed quietly.

We talked for the rest of the morning, mostly about me. I mean, I asked her questions about her life back in Seattle, but she only gave me severely edited answers before jumping to ask me another question. She obviously didn't want to talk about her home life.

As we spoke, I felt myself shifting towards her. I probably should have kept a little bit of distance between us, but for the life of me, I didn't want to. I wanted to touch her and hold her and kiss her.

God, kissing her. That was not something that I needed to be thinking about at this particular moment. It would only drive me crazy considering I was so close to her, but unable to kiss her.

Bella didn't seem to mind the closeness though. In fact, she seemed to be moving with me. Eventually, our bodies were no more than a couple of inches apart.

We talked about music and movies and other random topics. As we did so, Bella's other hand had begun tracing little patterns into my chest with her finger. God, it felt so good. I mean, she was actually touching me and not freaking out or anything. Her fingertips skimmed across my chest and traveled down towards my stomach. I quickly grabbed her hand to keep her away from there.

She looked up at me, her eyebrow cocked in confusion, her eyes glinting wickedly. "Is there something that you need to tell me, Edward?"

"No," I said quickly. This was not something that a lot of people knew about me and I figured Bella was someone who would use it to her advantage.

She smiled up at me. "You sure?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said, nodding.

"Okay," she said, giving up and resting her head back on her arm. I eyed her for a second before letting go of her hand. She went back to tracing designs on my chest.

I was about to ask her another question when her hand shot down to my stomach and started tickling me. "Oh God - Bel - la - St - op!" I gasped out. I squirmed around and laughed loudly before I grabbed her hand again.

Bella laughed loudly. "Who would have thought that Edward Masen was such a spaz?"

I eyed her and pouted a little. "It's not something that I like to advertise because then people like you would try to make me look like an idiot."

She just snorted a little before she leaned up and kissed my cheek quickly. "Don't worry. You don't look like an idiot." She smiled wickedly. "Much."

I scowled at her and she laughed again. I looked down at her and saw her cheeks were tinted pink from all of her laughter. She really took my breath away, as pussy-whipped as that sounded. No matter what she was wearing, no matter if her hair was a wild mess or in a wavy ponytail, whether or not she was angry or smiling, she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen because she was real. She wasn't like any of the other girls down here. She told it how it was and didn't care if you didn't like it. And she did it in a way that threw everyone for a loop.

For the rest of the day, Bella and I talked. Well, I talked and avoided her wandering hands. She just continued to laugh at me every time I twitched. Such a nice girl, right?

Eventually, I just had to grab both of her hands in mine. "Stop that," I said, unable to keep the smile off my face.

Bella just laughed and shook her head, a wicked smile on her face. "It's far too entertaining to stop."

I groaned and laid my head back onto the blanket. "God, I'm going to regret telling you that, aren't I?"

She snorted. "Oh, yeah."

I sighed and chuckled to myself. She's going to be the death of me.

I looked up at the sky and saw that it was starting to darken. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time. 7:13. I didn't even realize it had gotten so late. Had we really spent the entire day out here together and not try to kill each other?

Yeah, we did. And you even got a date out of it.

That sounds like a productive day to me.

"It's starting to get dark," I said quietly. I didn't really want to leave, but navigating through these woods in the dark wasn't my idea of fun.

She sighed and sat up. "Yeah, we better head back."

I pulled myself off the ground and held my hand out for her. For a second I thought she was going to ignore it and get up herself (because we all know how wonderful it worked out the last time I tried to help her). But she surprised and smiled shyly (Yeah, shyly. That's not something I ever thought I'd say about Bella Swan) at me and placed her small hand in mine. I smiled and pulled her to her feet and helped her gather her things.

"Are you going to get your hammock?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, I just leave it out here. I come out here a lot," I said, trying to keep the tension out of my voice. Nobody else knew about this spot and I really didn't want anybody to find out about it.

She looked at me, her eyes soft. And then she smiled. "Completely understandable. There's no wonder everybody's always falling over you. Hot and smart. You know how to avoid all of the morons and skanks. I commend you for that."

I barked out a laugh. "I do what I can." I gave her a sideways glance and smirked at her. "You think I'm hot?" I asked her slyly.

She started. "I, uh, well..." she stuttered before she gathered herself. I couldn't keep the smile off my face. She was just so adorable.

She turned to face me and looked me in the eye. "Well, you're definitely not lacking in the looks department. But I don't know about hot."

I raised an eyebrow. "Then what, exactly, am I?"

She hummed, pretending to thinking it over. "Maybe pretty? Beautiful? Gorgeous? You've definitely got that pretty boy thing going for you." She smiled mischievously, her eyes glittering wickedly.

"Pretty boy? Really?" I asked. Pretty? What the fuck? "Seriously?"

She giggled. Yeah, she actually fucking giggled. Definitely not something that the Bella Swan I knew would do.

But then she snorted. Ah, there she was.

"Oh, yeah. Definitely pretty boy," she said, her smile still in place.

I narrowed my eyes at her and she giggle-snorted again. I wasn't mad at her. I mean, come on, she called me gorgeous. She thought I was good-looking and smart and that I could sing. She's complimented me more today than she has the entire time we've known each other. I was going to take it, whether she was teasing me or not.

I took a step towards her and grabbed her hand and pulled her towards me. "Well, every pretty boy deserves a pretty girl, right?" I asked quietly. Her eyes met mine and I noticed that her cheeks had tinted pink.

"I guess so," she said softly, looking down. Her hair fell in front of her face, blocking it from my view. I chuckled softly at her and gently pushed her hair away from her face and behind her ear. I hesitated for a second and leaned down to kiss her forehead softly before I could over think it.

She smiled up at me and I pulled back a little. "You got everything?" I asked, clearing my throat a little.

She nodded and I grabbed her hand and we started walking back towards campus. I glanced over at her and then down at our hands. She hadn't said anything about me holding her hand, so I slowly intertwined our fingers together. For a second I thought she wasn't going to react, but I felt the slightest squeeze on my hand and I tried to reign in the smile that was threatening to spread across my face.

We were quiet as we walked through the woods, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. It was actually really nice. When you were constantly surrounded by people who felt the need to fill the silence with needless chatter, you really start to cherish the moments of silence.

When we reached campus, I could see a few people still milling around. I reluctantly let go of Bella's hand. She glanced over at me and nodded, understanding. If Bella and I actually did start dating, there was going to be an uproar. Not to sound conceited or anything, but I have noticed how the girls react about anything related in some fashion to me, especially my dating life (the nonexistent one until recently). And I've noticed that a few of them (alright, most of them) have been kind of hostile towards Bella recently.

But if Bella and I did start dating, I would gladly deal with all of that to be with her, but I wasn't going to tolerate it if they started going off on Bella. That shit wasn't going to happen.

But for any of that stuff to actually occur required Bella and I to be dating, which at the moment, we were not. We had a date, but one date didn't define a relationship. I could only hope that that one date will lead to something more.

"Can I walk you back to your dorm?" I asked. She nodded, shrugging her bag farther onto her shoulder.

We walked side by side, our arms just barely brushing each other. The walk was once again quiet, but I didn't mind. We made it to her dorm finally and she stopped and turned towards me when we reached the door.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later," she said, shuffling her feet a little.

"Yeah, later," I said. I hesitated for a moment. "Um, about that thing we discussed earlier?" Good Lord, I really needed to get ahold of the whole awkward teenager thing. I'm a little too good at it.

"Yeah?"

"How about Friday? If that's alright."

"Yeah, Friday's good," she said, nodding.

"Good," I said, nodding along with her. I glanced around to see if anyone was around. No one was, so I quickly leaned down and kissed her cheek softly.

She stood on her toes quickly and kissed the corner of my mouth before turning and walking towards the door. "Goodnight, PB," she called quietly.

"PB?" I asked, confused.

She was right in front of her door now. She turned and smirked at me. "Pretty boy," she explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled. "Good Lord. Well, goodnight then, pretty girl."

She giggle-snorted again, her nose crinkling adorably, as she rolled her eyes in return. She blew me a kiss and then turned and headed into her building.

I chuckled and then started walking to my dorm. I had missed dinner and I was fucking starving. I'd just grab something from the vending machine.

I made my way across campus and into my dorm, stopping by the vending machine to snag some caffeine and sugar (not that I needed it. I was very much awake after the day I've had) to settle the monster that was my stomach.

I finally made it up to my room and flipped on the light and then shrieked like a little girl when I saw Emmett sprawled out on my bed and Jasper sitting in my desk chair, his feet on my desk. They both busted out laughing. "What the fuck are you two doing in here? Here's a better question. How the fuck did you two get in here?" I asked, glaring at them.

After he calmed down, Emmett said, "How and what we're doing here doesn't matter, lil' cuz. What does matter, however, is where you've been all day."

I loved Em and Jazz like the brothers that I never had. And because I thought of them as brothers was one of the reasons why I wasn't exactly all gung-ho to spill my guts to them. Because, like most brothers, they would only use the information to mock me for the rest of eternity. So I gave them the vaguest answer possible. "Around."

Jazz raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Around? Around where?"

"Campus," I said, walking farther into the room and pushing Jazz's feet off the desk so that I could put my iPod away.

"You were hiding again, weren't you?" Emmett accused. I just shrugged noncommittally and threw myself down onto the couch. "One of these days we're going to find out where you disappear to."

I snorted. "If you say so." My entire family had been trying to figure out where my hiding spot was, but they had yet to figure it out. And I definitely wasn't going to tell them. It was my hiding spot for a reason. I used it to hide from everyone. Sometimes a guy just needed a break from the insanity of life and I had enough insanity in my life for about ten people. I'm surprised I turned out as normal as I have.

"Fine," Emmett pouted. Yeah, he pouted. It was an odd sight to see my hulk of a cousin pout like a two year old girl, but he did it quite often and it always gave me a laugh. "Don't tell us where you were, but what did you do all day?"

I shrugged again. "Just hung around. Listened to music. Made sweet, sweet love to half the female student body behind the bleachers," I said, keeping my face straight the entire time. I loved screwing with these two. It was just too easy sometimes.

They gaped at me. "What?" they both said (well, shrieked would be a better term).

I shrugged, keeping my tone nonchalant. "Well, I figured since everyone already thinks I'm God's gift to women, I should share some of my talent. Keeping all of this to myself would just be selfish of me."

They were both still imitating goldfish. They were very good at it. "What?" They really needed a new word.

I couldn't take it anymore. I busted out laughing at their faces. "Good - Lord! - You - should see - your faces - right now!" I was laughing so hard I fell off the couch, but I still couldn't stop laughing at them.

I finally calmed myself down enough to get a good look at their faces. They were both staring at me incredulously. "You two are way too gullible for your own good," I said, pulling myself off the floor and back onto the couch. "Did you both honestly think I would do something like that? Are you buying into the rumors now?"

"No," they said indignantly. "You were just really convincing."

I snorted bitterly. "Good to know I can fool you into thinking I'm a total manwhore. I'm sure Mother would be proud."

Yeah, those rumors were yet another reason why I hid out in the middle of the woods. There wasn't anybody to talk about you behind your back when you're by yourself.

And speak of the devil and she shall appear. Or call. Whatever. My phone buzzed on my desk and I got up to answer it. "Mom" flashed across the screen. I sighed and pushed the answer button, pulling out my "I'm perfectly fine, Mommy" voice. "Hello?"

"Hello, darling. How's my baby boy doing?" Mom asked. No matter how old I got, my mother refused to stop calling me that. Even when my friends were around. I think she did it just to embarrass me.

"I'm fine, Mom. Just busy with school stuff," I said, sitting back down on the couch.

"Hi, Aunt Lizzie!" Emmett and Jazz yelled. I scowled at them and shot them a look. They just snickered.

"Oh, how're my little boys? Just put me on speaker," she said. I sighed and put the phone on speaker and set it down on the end table.

"You're on speaker, Mom," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Thank you, darling. Now, how're my little Emmy Bear and Jazzy?" Mom cooed. My mother was definitely the only person who could get away with calling them that. And it gave me a good laugh.

Em and Jazz took it like men and sucked it up. Besides my mom always supplied them with so much food when we were home that they couldn't move for days. "I'm freaking excellent," Emmett boosted.

"I'm just fine, ma'am," Jazz said, always the Southern gentleman.

"Well, that's good. Are you two watching out for my baby?" she asked. I groaned and flopped back onto the couch as Em and Jazz snickered.

"Oh, yes, Aunt Lizzie. We're keeping a close eye on him. He's been a good boy so far," Emmett said, grinning mischievously at me.

"Of course he has. He's my little angel," Mom cooed at me. My face flushed bright red and I covered my eyes with my arm. Angel, my ass. I don't think angels would be thinking about having a romp in the woods with blue-streaked brunettes.

"Mom," I groaned. As much as I loved her, her habit of calling me almost every embarrassing pet name in the book was not helping my current situation.

"Don't "mom" me, young man. I miss my little boy and you never call me enough. Let me have my moment," she scolded me.

I sighed. "Yes, ma'am."

"Now, are you dating anyone?" Every time. She asks me this every time she calls. Why didn't I see this coming?

Emmett and Jazz where in hysterics now. They always got a good laugh in whenever they were around to witness a conversation with my mother.

But when she said "dating" my mind immediately flashed to Bella and I hesitated. My mother literally squealed like a preteen on the other side of the phone. "You are, aren't you? Oh my goodness!" She held the phone away from her and yelled through the house at my father. "Edward! Edward dear!" she called excitedly.

I looked up at Em and Jazz and they had pulled their fish impersonations back out. "What?" I asked, avoiding their eyes.

"You, King of Celibacy, have a date?" Emmett asked keeping his voice down so that my mom wouldn't hear him. "With who?"

I glared at him. "Wonderful nickname, Em. Makes me feel great," I grumbled. I ignored his other question.

Back on the phone, I could hear my father come skidding into the room, probably wondering why my mom was having the mother of all freak-outs. I heard a muffled "fuck" slip from his mouth. He probably ran into the wall in his haste to get to my mom. I snickered in spite of myself. "What is it, Liz?" Dad asked.

"Language, dear. Edward will hear you," Mom scolded. Cue the eye roll. Oh Mom, if you only knew the horrid words that had come out of my mouth. I could have sworn I heard Dad snort on the other side of the line. Yeah, Dad had me figured out. I was only Mommy's angel when she was in earshot.

Mom got excited again. "Our baby boy has a girlfriend!" she squealed. I could just about hear my dad rolling his eyes. But he would be smiling because my mom was excited and when my mom was happy, he was happy.

"Oh, really?" he asked, the smirk obvious in his tone.

I rolled my eyes. "She isn't my girlfriend. We haven't even gone on our first date yet."

"Oh." Mom's tone fell a little, but she recovered quickly. "That's no matter. She's be your girlfriend soon enough. She'd be crazy to turn my baby boy down." If you only knew how many times she had turned me down before she finally gave in.

I snorted. "Oh, yeah because we Masen men are so smooth."

Dad laughed. "Hey, I got your mother to marry me. That right there means that we're doing something right."

It was my turn to laugh. "Yeah, Dad because covering the love of your life with baby powder is so romantic."

Dad laughed again. "I'm sticking with what I said before. I got her to marry me."

"It's true, darling," Mom chuckled. It was quiet for a second on the line except for some breathing.

"Mom? Dad? You still there?" I asked warily.

Dad cleared his throat. "Oh, yeah, we're still here, son," he said, his voice rough.

I gagged a little. "Can you two wait until you're not on the phone with your only child before you start getting down and dirty?"

Mom and Dad just laughed at my disgust. This was very typical of them. Thanks, Mom and Dad, just leave your child scarred for life. He'll be fine with some therapy after a year or twenty.

I just shook my head to clear to disturbing image from my mind. You couldn't put them in the same room without some sort of scarring thought or sight occurring.

"Anyway," Mom continued. "Tell me about this girl. What's her name? Do I know her? What's she like?"

"Slow down, dear," Dad chuckled.

"Well," I took a deep breath and looked around the room. Em and Jazz were literally on the edge of their seats waiting for my answer. They were going to have a shit fit when they found out. "Her name is... Bella."

Em and Jazz's eyes widened so far that I thought they were going to fall out. "No fucking way!" they both yelled.

"Emmett Carson, Jasper Wyatt, watch your language, young men. Don't make me call your mothers," Mom scolded them.

"Sorry, Aunt Lizzie," they intoned, both of them shutting up at the mere mention of their mothers.

"So, darling, you said her name was Bella? That's a pretty name. What year is she? What're her interests? Is she pretty?" Mom fired off.

"Yes, it's a nice name, Mom. She's a junior. She likes to read and listen to music. She's a bit of a prankster." I cringed a little when I thought about the ringtone and tampon incidents. Yeah, those memories will probably become repressed after a while.

"Let me guess. You've been on the receiving end of a few of those pranks," Dad said, his amusement obvious.

"Yeah," I grumbled. They all laughed. I couldn't be mad at them. I mean, the pranks would have been funny if they had happened to anyone but me.

"I like her already. Anyone who can pull one over on you is good in my book," Dad laughed.

"Thanks, Dad," I grumbled sarcastically.

"Is she pretty? What's she like?" Mom asked again.

Bella's bright smile and glittering eyes flashed through my mind. I couldn't keep the grin off my face. "Yeah, she's pretty. Beautiful, actually. And smart, really smart."

"Aww, Edward dear, did you hear that? She's beautiful. And smart. Our baby's complete smitten," Mom cooed excitedly.

Emmett and Jasper found all of this incredibly amusing for they were snickering like schoolboys on the playground in elementary school. I flicked them both off and they only laughed some more.

"I can see that, Liz," Dad said to her. "She sounds like a lovely girl, son."

"She is, Dad," I sighed.

"Alright, darling, we'll let you go for now, but I want a full report after this date is over," Mom commanded.

You would think she was kidding. She wasn't.

"I'll see what I can do. Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. Love you both," I said, rolling my eyes at their antics.

"Love you too, angel," Mom said. "Love you, Jazzy. Love you, Emmy Bear. Both of you call your mothers."

"Yes, ma'am," they both intoned. "Bye, Aunt Lizzie. Bye, Uncle E."

"Bye, boys," Dad said before they hung up.

I pushed the end button and looked up to find Em and Jazz staring at me expectantly. "What?"

"What do you mean 'what'?" Em asked, incredulous. "You have a date with the girl that's been at your throat for the past I don't even know how many weeks and all you can say is 'what'?"

"I don't know what you want to hear. She and I finally got to talk and I asked her out. Turns out we have a lot more in common than most people would believe," I said, shrugging as I laid back down on the couch.

"Okay..." Jazz said, processing what I just said. "So when are you two going out?"

"Friday," I said. I sat up again and looked them both in the eye. "You guys can't say anything about this, alright? Bella and I would actually like to be able to go out before the banshees try to take her out with their hair spray and nail files. Rose and Alice will probably get it out of Bella some how, but don't go spreading this around please."

"No worries, man," Em said. "We've got your back. Besides we were all wondering when you two were finally going to do something about the crazy tension between you both. It was enough to make elephants want to hump like bunnies."

"Shut the fuck up," I grumbled. I chunked a pillow at his head and it hit him square in the nose.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Not cool, man."

"Whatever." I sighed and covered my face with a pillow. "Both of you get the fuck out now."

They both snickered. "So rude, Eddie."

"Get the fuck out, please," I said.

"Fine, fine, we're leaving," Jazz said, laughing still.

I heard the door open and close and I sighed. Now that I was by myself, Bella slipped back into my mind. The smile that seemed to permanently etch itself onto my face whenever I thought of her appeared again.

Friday could not get here fast enough.

~x~X~x~

Monday finally rolled around which meant that I got to see Bella again. I got out of bed and out the door faster than I ever had before and headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. I grabbed my requisite cup of coffee and headed to my table where everyone else was already sitting.

"Well, well, look who decided to grace us with his presence," Seth grinned at me. I flicked him off. He just laughed. "Where've you been all weekend?"

"Around," I said. Hadn't I already had this conversation?

"Oh, sounds mysterious," he quipped.

I snorted. "Oh, yeah. Very."

I started drinking my coffee and searching the cafeteria for Bella. I found her in the line, grabbing her coffee, her head bobbing to the music of her iPod. She must have felt someone watching her because she looked up, her eyes landing on me. She gave me the slightest of smiles before turning back to getting her coffee fixed.

That kinda, sorta made my day right there.

As the school day started, Bella and I did a pretty good job of controlling ourselves around each other. A small smile here. A little wink there. Until etiquette rolled around.

The Nazi was assigning partners for the dancing unit. People were groaning or squealing as she called out names of partners. She finally got to my name. "Edward Masen and Isabella Swan," she called.

Cue internal fist pump.

I gathered my things and headed towards the seats that Mrs. H had assigned Bella and I. I placed my bag on the ground and sat down next to Bella.

"Hi," I said quietly.

She bit her lip to keep from laughing at the absurdity of this entire unit. "Hi."

I finally got to get a good look at her and I grinned. She was so adorable I just couldn't stand it. She was wearing a bright green shirt under her button-up. Her blazer was tied around her waist. Her socks were multicolored stripes today with her Chucks adorning her feet. A dozen necklaces were wrapped around her neck. And her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail with a few pieces curling around her face.

Her style was definitely one of a kind. In all honesty, it was actually kind of sexy. Something about how she just threw her outfits together made her seem wild and a little uncontrollable. I really, really liked that.

"Alright, children," Mrs. H called, calling us to attention. "These are now your new seats and partners for the rest of the year. Don't complain. Young ladies and gentlemen do not complain. It's unbecoming."

Bella snorted. "This class is unbecoming," she muttered.

I barked out a laugh and then tried to cover it up with a cough when the Nazi snapped her head in our direction. I cleared my throat and pulled out the smile I used for teachers, the one that said "I'm an angel and would never do anything wrong". Yeah, I used that one a lot.

The Nazi eyed me, but didn't say anything. She went on to start her lecture for the day, which happened to be on the history of the waltz. I zoned out for a little while until I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I made sure that Mrs. H wasn't looking in my direction and pulled it out.

I know where you were this weekend.

What the fuck?

Who is this?

I waited impatiently for my phone to buzz again.

Think about it.

The only other person who knew about my spot was... Bella. Duh. God, the caffeine obviously didn't do its job this morning.

Bella. Not cool.

I saw her shaking with silent laughter next to me. Good Lord. Slow much?

I bumped her shoulder with mine. Hush.

She snickered when she read my reply. She typed hers back quickly. Hahaha. :P Are you as bored as I am?

I don't know. How bored are you?

I'd rather be hanging out with Tanya.

I cringed a little. Dear Lord. Isn't that a little extreme? Why would you subject yourself to that torture?

Bella giggle-snorted. Okay, fine. Maybe not Tanya. Maybe you instead?

Was she flirting with me? I glanced over at her and she smiled a sly smile at me. Yeah, she was.

I was about to text her back when Mrs. H called my name. "Mr. Masen, when and where was the waltz first danced?"

Shit! I knew this. Mom told me once. "Uh, 1776 in Vienna," I said, though it sounded like a question.

The Nazi eyed me for a second before nodding. "That is correct," she said tersely and then turned back to the class to continue her lecture.

I glanced over at Bella and she was looking at me with an incredulous look on her face. "How the hell did you know that?" she asked me quietly.

I shrugged. "My mom told me once," I whispered back.

"Oh, okay," she whispered back, dropping the subject.

I flicked my eyes around the room, making sure no one was paying us any attention. I dropped my hand to my side and brushed Bella's slightly. She glanced up at me and then looked back to the front of the room, but I felt her hand brush mine back. I snaked my fingers around hers, intertwining them together. She squeezed my hand, but her eyes never left the from of the room, the bored expression on her face never changing. I propped my head up on my arm on the armrest farthest away from Bella, my eyes focused ahead of me.

Throughout the rest of the class, we kept our hands hidden between the seats and under her blazer. I rubbed small circles into the back of her hand with my thumb, and, on occasion, her thumb would brush across my knuckles.

I had never felt this content to just hold a girl's hand before, but I was freaking blissful. Maybe it was because I had never found a girl that could hold my attention for more than five minutes. A girl that I wanted to be able to do the little things with like holding hands and sneaking glances at each other and sneaking little kisses and touches.

The bell finally rang and I reluctantly let go of Bella's hand. "Meet me behind the building," I whispered to her as I bent down to gather my things. Her head twitched in a nod and then headed out the door. I slowed my pace and I leisurely walked out of the auditorium. When no one was looking, I snuck behind the building where Bella was waiting.

"Hey," I said quietly.

"Hey," she said, cocking an eyebrow at me. "What's up?"

"You're not one of those girls that has like a billion rules about dating, are you?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

She gave me a look, crossing her arms over her chest. "You know, insulting the girl that you want to go on a date with is not the best way to go about things. But to answer your question, no. Girls like that annoy me."

"Everyone annoys you," I stated.

She opened her mouth to deny it and then closed it, shrugging nonchalantly. "This is true."

I stuck my hands into my pockets, rocking back and forth on my feet, feeling a little nervous now. "So, say sometime on our date I decide that I want to kiss you, would you mind?" I asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. But on the inside, I was freaking the fuck out like a prepubescent little boy about to have his first kiss.

Her eyes flashed to mine for a second and then dropped to the ground. "I... wouldn't be opposed to it," she said, her tone mirroring mine.

I let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Okay then," I said, glancing around again.

"Okay, what's up with the clandestine meetings?" she asked, her voice agitated now.

I rubbed the back of my neck, slightly embarrassed. "Well, first, I would actually like to make it through at least one date without the whole school knowing about it and that won't happen unless we're careful about how we act around each other for the next few days. And second, I don't really want you to have to deal with all of the girls that would surely go apeshit if they found out that we're together. Not that you couldn't handle them, but still." Wow, ramble much?

"We're together?" she asked, a slight smirk on her face.

Shit. She would catch that. "Uh, I mean -"

She laughed quietly. "It's okay, Edward. I guess we are, huh?" She snorted. "Who would have guessed?"

Yeah, who'd have guessed that?

She took a step closer to me so that she was right in front of me. "And you know what else no one would have guessed?"

"What?" I asked.

She shocked me by taking my face in her hands and pulling me down so that she could kiss my nose. "That you're such a sweetie, thinking about me like that," she said softly, her forehead resting against mine. I smirked at her and snaked my arms around her waist, pulling her closer to me.

She smirked at me then. "And you're right. I could totally take them." She pecked my cheek quickly before slipping out of my arms.

She started walking back towards the front of the building, rounding the corner quickly. She stuck her head back around the corner, a sly smile on her face. "Come along, pretty boy. We're gonna be late."

I just shook my head, laughing softly. "Coming, pretty girl," I said as I ran to catch up with her.

Friday really couldn't get here fast enough.

A/N: Alright, so I lied. No date this chapter, but it will definitely be in the next chapter. I hope you liked being in Eddie boy's mind for the day. Bella's up next.

Review please!

Later,

Cat :)