EPOV
I watched Bella stare up at the jeep and gulp.
"Do you like my baby, Bella?" Emmett asked, holding back his laughs. Unfortunately for him, his joke backfired.
"Of course, we're like best friends," Rose smirked. Bella smiled gratefully at her and Emmett cursed under his breath. While Bella stood staring at the jeep, contemplating on how she was going to get in it as I snuck up behind her.
"Need some help?" I whispered, in her ear. She gasped and turned to look at me.
"Y....yes p...please," she stuttered. I opened the back door to the jeep and grabbed her waist lifting her up before climbing in after her.
"Thank you so much there was no way I'd have gotten up here without you," she smiled appreciatively.
"Anytime," A few minutes into the ride a harsh breeze blew by.
Bella shuddered, "I'm so cold." I carefully removed my jacket and put it on her. She looked down and grinned at it. Obviously Emmett had forgotten about Bella because he drove straight over to our dorm's parking lot without dropping her off.
We stepped out the jeep and Emmett looked at Bella and yelled, "Damn it, I am so sorry, I forgot."
I looked at Bella, "I'll walk you to back to your dorm." She nodded her head, slipping her arms into the sleeves of my jacket.
I knew Bella wouldn't be able to get out, so I grabbed her waist and pulled her to the ground. She blushed before looking away.
"Thank you, yet again."
"My pleasure," I said, smiling at her. We said goodbye to Emmett and Rosalie and started the short walk to her room.
"You really don't have to walk me to my room," she said quietly.
"Well, I really don't want to have to go with Rosalie and Emmett because they always stop a million times to kiss," I laughed. She laughed along with me, but then turned serious again.
"What made you apologize?" Bella asked, nervously. She made it seem like somebody had forced me to apologize to her. I wished I could have come back and gave her a smart ass reason, but I had nothing.
"I don't know," I whispered. That was the truth; I had no clue what had made me do it.
BPOV
I wasn't exactly thrilled with his answer of "I don't know", but I decided not to push it. We walked in a comfortable silence the rest of the way to my room. After I unlocked the door I turned to look at him.
"I...ah... guess I'll see you tomorrow," I said.
"Yeah, goodnight Bella." We stood there for another minute before he finally turned and walked away. As soon as the door to the building shut behind him I went inside and headed straight for my bed.
The next morning as I was watching television my phone started to ring. I was glad to be friends with Alice, but did she have to call every morning?
"Hello," I answered.
"Hey," she said, even bubblier than usual.
"Do you need something?" I asked, trying not to be rude, but I wasn't a morning person.
"We meet for breakfast every Monday, so I'll see you at Dunkin Donuts in 15 minutes, okay" she said. Then she started giggling. I was going to ask her what was going on, but then heard a male voice and realized Jasper must still be in her room.
"I've got to go," she said, still giggling.
"Okay, bye," I said, hanging up. I threw a T-shirt and jeans on before grabbing my keys and heading outside.
When I got to Dunkin Donuts everyone was already there. I got a cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin before sitting down next to Edward.
"How are you this morning, Bella?" Edward asked.
"Tired," I replied with a small smile, "How are you?"
"Also a little tired," he said smiling back at me. The bell rang shortly after and everyone scrambled to their classes while I just headed back to my room. I took a shower, blow-dried my hair, applied some make-up, and put the few things I needed into my book-bag. I still had an hour and a half, so I set my alarm and went back to sleep.
EPOV
I sighed leaving second period, social studies. All the girls were staring at me and Lauren and Tanya were on either side of me yapping away. I was finally able to duck into English class freeing myself from their annoying voices. As the first bell rang I looked to my left wondering where Bella was, but she came running in right as the tardy bell was ringing. She was slightly flustered as she sat down in her desk.
"What took you so long?" I whispered, as Ms. Clark began her boring speech on Romeo and Juliet.
"I thought I set my alarm for fifteen minutes before class started, but instead I set it for five," she said, still trying to catch her breath. Set her alarm? Why wasn't she in class?
"Why did you go back to your room?"
"I don't have a first or second period class," she said, her eyes never leaving the board. I leaned over to say something else, but Ms. Clark turned back around, so I decided it could wait until our class together.
At the end of class I tried to ask Bella about her lack of classes, but she left too fast.
BPOV
I headed to gym quickly because I had a feeling that Edward was going to start asking more questions. I hate answering questions, no matter how simple or innocent. When I stepped out of the locker room Alice was standing right there waiting for me.
"Hey Bella," she said, squirming.
"Hi." When we sat down on the bleachers Alice was still squirming.
"Do you have to use the bathroom?" I asked. She laughed.
"No, I just have some really big news."
"Well, tell me." I wasn't normally one for gossip, but it was probably only about somebody in our circle of friends anyways.
"Last night, Jasper and I had sex," she said, so quickly I almost didn't catch it.
"Was this the first time?"
"Yeah," she said, smiling. I knew she wanted to say more, so I decided to let her talk my ear off. It was the least I could after she was so nice to me.
"Well, tell me about it," I said, knowing, I would probably be deaf in my left ear by the time she was finished. She squealed and then proceeded to tell me everything from when they got in the car until they left her dorm room this morning.
After I changed I waited on Alice and we headed to lunch together.
"What do you want to eat?" I asked her, as she scouted for the others.
"Pizza," she smiled. I knew I wasn't supposed to have anything greasy like that, but I couldn't say no to Alice. We got two slices each and then headed towards where she had spotted our friends.
Emmett was devouring a plate of spaghetti, while Jasper, Rosalie, and Edward were clutching their sides and laughing. I looked at Alice who also noticed the scene.
"I can't believe we call those losers our friends," she laughed. As soon as my butt hit the chair Edward turned to me. He had that same look on his face from English class.
"Okay no escaping this time," he smiled. I grimaced.
"I just want to ask one simple question. Stop acting like I'm questioning you over a murder or something," he joked.
"Okay, ask away."
"Why do you only have three classes?" Once he asked the question everyone at the table turned to me, also interested in what my answer would be. The answer was simple, but it would include telling them about my dancing, so I decided to edit just a little.
"I went to Italy on a vacation and fell in love with it, so I lived there for two years. The education system there is much more advanced, so I've already learned everything, but I still have to have so many credits to graduate." They all nodded and went back to eating. I was finally able to pick up my slice of pizza and eat it.
The rest of the day was uneventful as everyone had class and practice. After photography I went to my room and looked at some of my pictures of Edward and went to sleep without being bothered for the first time in days.
I woke to my alarm and when I rolled over I looked at the date and realized it was Tuesday. Great, today I start as captain of the SBA dance team (in case you didn't notice that was sarcasm.)
I got ready for the day at a very slow pace, trying to delay this day as much as possible. I finally left when Rosalie called telling me the third bell had just rung. Surprisingly I made it to class on time, but I couldn't tell you anything we talked about. I was too busy staring at Edward. I just wanted to run my fingers through his disarrayed, bronze hair or across his sculpted chest which you could see through his tight polo shirt. I couldn't figure out why I was having these thoughts. I mean I couldn't like my best friend's brother…….could I?
During gym I just sat on the bleachers and tapped my foot anxiously, which bothered Alice to no end. I finally stopped halfway through Alice's story about the time Edward peed himself at the zoo because I doubled over in laughter. He was scared of monkeys!
By the time lunch came I probably looked like a serial killer because my eyes kept scanning the room and I jumped at every little sound; I always got like this when I was nervous. I went to pick up my drink, but my hand was shaking so much that it sloshed all over the place and I couldn't actually get any into my mouth.
"Bella what is your problem?" Alice asked, finally addressing my weird behavior.
"Nothing, I'm just nervous that's all." I mentally slapped myself, now I would have to tell her about my dancing but I guess they would all find out eventually
"What are you nervous about?" Alice sounded so much like a psychiatrist I almost laughed at her. I decided to just to tell her truth and get it out of the way.
"I have practice today, but I don't know if I'm going to do well." They all nodded. As sports players they were no strangers to pressure. Although I could tell they were dying to know what sport I was involved with.
During photography class I could barely hold my camera. I was afraid that I was going to drop it and would have to buy a new one. Even though money wasn't an object for me (due to my dad's successful law firm) I didn't like to go around breaking cameras. After I finally got a few good shots of the girl we were photographing (Ms. Metts' daughter) I immediately put the camera away.
I stopped back by my dorm room to switch my book-bag for my gym bag before heading halfway across campus to the regular dance studio. When I opened the door I realized why Fred didn't have me practice here. The bars were old and the white paint was chipping off of them, the floor was scuffed, and the wall of mirrors had many cuts and marks. The only thing that seemed new about the place was the paint job; the walls were blue and had a yellow strip going through the middle. I may have to actually call my father to get him to donate some of his money to the dance team here, not that he would tell me no, but I can at least be nice and ask like the good child that I am.
There was only one person in the studio when I got there. She was about 6 feet (too tall for a dancer), had short red hair, a ton of freckles, and was wearing a white leotard with pink tights. I guessed she was the dance instructor because she had a clipboard in her hand. I walked over to her and she looked down at me, smiling.
"You must be Bella," she said, with a heavy New York accent. When I first decided to come here I had prepared myself for the accent, but she was the first person I had met who actually had one.
"Yes," I said quietly, still nervous.
"I'm Miss Bridget. The other girls should be here shortly, so you can go ahead and change if you like," she said, pointing to a room. I nodded and hurried into the room. It was a small room and only had a mirror and a light in it. I threw my hair into a tight bun, using tons of hairspray before slipping on my tights, leotard, and ballet shoes.
When I entered back into the room there were seven girls in there. I recognized four; Tanya Denali, Lauren Mallory, Jessica Stanley (who followed Lauren like a lost puppy), and Angela Weber (a quiet, kind girl in my English class). I quickly learned that the other three were Victoria Mallory, Lauren's cousin, Kate Denali, Tanya's younger sister and Jane Santiago.
Miss Bridget came out of another room that I guessed to be her office or the bathroom and put her arm around my shoulders.
"Girls, this is Bella Swan," she smiled, "and she is going to be our new captain." All of the girls nodded and smiled at me, except for Lauren. Her nostrils flared and her eyes grew huge.
"I'm the captain!" She tried to argue.
"Well," Miss Bridget said nervously, "Bella is a little more experienced and I think she could help us win this year."
"YOU CAN'T DO THIS! THIS IS MY THIRD YEAR AS CAPTAIN IN A ROW! I DON'T CARE HOW EXPERINCED SHE IS!" Lauren yelled outraged. I giggled; she was acting like a child. She turned to me and glared.
"You bitch!" she screamed, "I cannot believe you're trying to steal my spot as captain." Before I could even respond her fist was flying at my face, but I was quicker than her. I grabbed her arm and twisted it around before pushing her away from me. Lauren huffed in annoyance, but tried a different approach and lifted her foot towards my face. I just laughed as I grabbed her foot and threw her to the ground on her back.
She caught me by surprise when she grabbed my ankle, so I went flying towards the ground with her. We both started throwing our fists at each other, pulling hair, and kicking our feet into what we hoped was the other's head or side. I only stopped when I heard the sickening crunch of something breaking and finally rolled away and stood up. I checked my body, but I had no bruises or cuts and my bun was still in perfect condition. Lauren was not as lucky; she was holding her wrist, so I guessed that was the crunch and I could see where many bruises would be visible on her arms and legs. She stood up carefully and together she and Jessica rushed out of there and to the nurse. Once she left all eyes turned to me, but thankfully Miss Bridget stepped in.
"I think we'll just forget about practice for today. See everybody next Tuesday." With that I changed and stormed out of there, still worked up over my fight with Lauren.
I walked outside and was once again amazed at the amount of kids roaming around. I shook my head and started walking towards my dorm room. About halfway there I saw my friends walking a few yards ahead of me, so I sped up to catch them. I fell into step next to Alice and she turned and smiled at me.
"Hello, Alice." I greeted her.
"Hey you out of practice already?" she asked, looking at the time on her phone.
"We got let out early," I shrugged.
"We?" she questioned, "I thought you weren't on a team."
"Well I wasn't, but now I am." As soon as the words left my mouth I realized that this whole thing was getting much too complicated and that I should just tell them all about my dancing. Unfortunately, as soon as I went to open my mouth everyone's phone started ringing. It was odd; I mean what were the chances that all five of their phones would ring at the same time. We gradually slowed down, but we finally came to a complete stop and everyone turned to stare at me wide eyes.
"What?" I asked, confused. Jasper handed me his phone and hit the talk button. Suddenly a video was playing and it didn't take me long to figure out what it was. Someone had recorded my fight with Lauren.
"Damn Bella you got her pretty good," Emmett laughed, as I handed Jasper his phone back.
"What was the fight about anyways?" Rosalie asked, still a little shocked. I started to fidget, this was it. My peace was about to leave me forever.
"Me taking her place as captain," I whispered. I hoped they hadn't heard it, but I knew they did.
"Wait, so you were trying to take her place?" Alice asked, looking at me a little disapprovingly.
"No. I was offered and said no, but they basically forced me." I said, honestly. "I would never try and take someone's spot." Alice's face instantly went back to its normal perky self.
"Well I'm glad someone finally put her in her place it has been a long time coming," Rosalie said, also grinning at me. As we started walking again Edward came to walk on my left.
"So this whole time the thing you've been keeping from us is your dancing?" he asked, with a confused expression on his face. He looked so cute when he was confused. Wait, I did not just call him cute. Oh who am I kidding, he's gorgeous. I nodded at him, not trusting what would come out of my mouth if I spoke.
"Why?" he asked as if it wasn't a big deal.
"Dancing is my escape in the world. If I let a whole bunch of people in on it then it wrecks the tranquility."
"I don't see why you like dancing anyway," Emmett said, scrunching up his nose like something smelled bad.
"Why do you play football Emmett?" I asked. Emmett looked confused, but everyone else just smiled knowing where I was going with this.
"It's necessary for me to live, without it I just wouldn't be right. It keeps me sane," he answered. I smiled, that was just the answer I wanted to hear.
"That's how dancing is for me. Football is your air, Dancing is mine." He looked for thoughtful for a minute, but then nodded accepting my logic. As we walked around everyone was staring at me, obviously having watched the video. What surprised me though was when Edward glared at them all and made them look away.
I smiled at him in appreciation, but it was broken by Lauren coming over with Jessica in tow as always.
"Eddie, why are you walking with her? She broke my wrist," she said, holding the brace up in front of his face. He took a deep breath and looked at me before speaking.
"Lauren, I'm walking with her because she's my friend. I don't care about your problems and we're not friends, so stop bothering me." I almost fucking gaped at him. This was the same guy who had once said he lied to get rid of her. A few days ago he was practically afraid of speaking rudely to Lauren. He started walking away and the rest of us just followed after him leaving a very confused and shocked Lauren behind. When we finally caught up to him I asked the question that everyone wanted to.
"What the hell was that about?"
"I don't know," he whispered, "I just finally told her how I felt." I looked at everyone else and they just shrugged, so I turned back to Edward and waited. He finally looked up and smiled at me. I laughed.
"Let's go," I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards a little ice cream parlor I had found on my first evening here.
EPOV
As Bella pulled me I couldn't help the large grin that spread across my face. Her small hand felt so warm in my large one and seeing her so happy made me happier. When we went inside a shudder went through both Bella and I. I almost commented on how cold it was, but then realized they had to keep it cold, so the ice cream wouldn't melt. I watched as Bella looked around like a little kid on Christmas morning. When she noticed me staring she laughed.
"I haven't had ice cream in years," she admitted.
"What?" Alice asked. I almost jumped; I had been so concentrated on Bella I hadn't noticed the others come in.
"I could never eat sweets with my diet while I was dancing."
"Well if you're still dancing then how are you allowed to eat it now?" Rosalie asked.
"Simple. I made a deal with my coach that I could eat whatever I wanted as long as I go on a diet two weeks before a competition." With that Bella turned around and called the guy over.
"I'll have cheesecake in a waffle cone," she said. He nodded and turned to look at me, but I turned to look at Bella. I had never gotten ice cream from this place before.
"What do you suggest?" I asked her.
"Do you like chocolate or vanilla better?" she asked.
"Chocolate."
"Then I would go with the double chocolate chunk or chocolate supreme," she said, smiling widely. I nodded and turned back to the man who was still waiting for me to place my order.
"I'll have chocolate supreme in a waffle cone." Bella and I sat down at a table waiting for our ice cream and the others joined us after putting in their orders.
"What did everyone get?" Bella asked excitedly. I had never seen someone get so worked up over ice cream. I guess she was just one of those people who enjoyed the simple things in life.
"Birthday cake," Emmett smiled, patting his stomach.
"Cookie dough," Rosalie said, rolling her eyes at Emmett.
"Vanilla," Jasper said. Just like him to be so simple. Bella looked at Alice expectantly, guessing she would have the best flavor of all but Alice laughed.
"I'm sharing with Jasper." Bella nodded, but frowned at the lack of creativity in everyone's chosen flavors.
When the guy told us our ice cream was ready Bella jumped out of her seat, grabbed them all, and came back before any of us could even blink. She handed us our cones after wrapping a napkin around the bottom. She basically moaned after taking the first bite and I just laughed turning back to my ice cream. I got a little curious though after she started moaning after every bite. When she noticed my curious look she explained.
"It's the best kind of ice cream ever. I'm always like this when I eat it." I wondered if I should have got that kind. She made it seem like it really was best thing ever. She must have sensed this as she leaned closer to me.
"Here try some." I took a bite off the edge and swallowed. Now I knew why she moaned that was fucking delicious. She smiled and took another bite right from where I had. I was surprised she didn't think I had germs or some something like that. As I turned back to my ice cream I remembered how Bella's face had lit up when she suggested it. I leaned into her and put my lips right below her ear.
"Here try some." She gulped, but took a bite. She moaned again and then turned to me, so that are lips were only a few centimeters away.
"Second best flavor," she whispered, before leaning away. I pulled back also and took another bite, making sure to eat right from where she had.