A/N Hello lovelies , I'm back. We're getting closer and closer to some Bella/Jazz action here so get excited! It'll happen eventually I promise.
Now, for people who have been wondering about The Game of L.I.F.E., I actually had the second chapter all finished and ready to go, but I'm an idiot and I forgot to save and then my laptop had a meltdown and now I'm too annoyed to rewrite the whole thing. So long story short, I'll update it later this week.
And so we go.
Bella
I woke up Sunday morning to the sun streaming through my curtains and into my sleep-filled eyes. It had rained hard the night before, but the sky had cleared in such a way that can only happen in the summer, and I felt more then compelled to go outside.
Although self inflicted exercise was never really something I put myself through, I decided to go for a run. At least then, I could enjoy the morning without feeling like an idiot for just standing in the street smelling the air. I opened my dresser and sifted through to the bottom where I kept my sweats. I pulled out a pair of black, bedazzled Victoria's Secret sweat pants and a grey sports bra and got dressed quickly without worrying too much about how I looked. I didn't think I would see anyone out this early anyway. My hair was a mess, but I didn't bother to brush through it, instead piling everything on top of my head in a messy bun and securing it with a headband since I couldn't find elastic. I grabbed my iPod and never worn Nike sneakers and sprinted out the door.
I started off slow; warming up to an easy paced Colbie Calliat song. Almost immediately I regretted this whim, but after a few minutes I hit my stride and was flying down the boardwalk at a speed that made me wish I'd remembered the pedometer my mother kept trying to make me use. There were still some puddles left over from the night before, and I made a game out of trying to jump over each of them.
After a little while I started to get cold. It was about 65 degrees out, which was warm for the morning, but it was also windy and the combination made me wish I worn a sweatshirt, or at least a shirt that covered my stomach. I passed Emmet's house without realizing it, and was about 30 yards away by the time I decided to double back.
The house was silent and Emmet's parents and grandparents were obviously still asleep. I was afraid I would wake them if I rang the doorbell so I jogged around to the side yard where I knew a spare key was hidden. I turned over a rock in the impeccable rose garden that was Emmet's mother Ellen's proudest accomplishment and tiptoed back onto the lawn, careful not to disturb a single flower. I went around to the backdoor as my heavy breathing deescalated.
I opened the door as quietly as I could and stuck the key in my pocket. It probably wouldn't be the first time Mr. and Mrs. McCarty had encountered an unexpected girl in their kitchen, but I prayed I didn't run into anyone anyway. Emmet's family's house was the biggest on the island. It even had a separate wing for his grandparents. Honestly, I have no idea what any of Emmet's family does for a living, but whatever it is; it's definitely working for them.
I didn't bother to knock when I reached Emmet's room. Partly because the noise might disturb someone else, and partly because I wanted to surprise him. When I opened the door my first thought was that the McCarty's must have fired yet another maid. Emmet's room was a disaster. There were clothes everywhere. Random sports equipment littered the floor and stuck out of the overflowing closet. The baseball bat I could understand, but I wondered why he would have hockey sticks and ice skates when we were only ever here in the summer. Empty soda cans covered the desk so that his computer was almost totally eclipsed. What looked like hundreds of dog-eared books were stalked upside-down and sideways on his ceiling high bookcase. I cringed when I noticed the half empty box of condoms on the bed side table. Emmet himself was fast asleep on his disheveled bed, wearing nothing but boxers and one bedraggled grey sock, his legs tangled in the dark red bedspread. All his pillows had somehow ended up on the floor and he was using his elbow as a substitute. I decided I would come back later and clean up, if only to save him from contracting hepatitis.
"Damn it!" I squealed loudly as I waded through the ocean of clothing and stubbed my toe on a stray football helmet.
"What the hell?" Emmet exclaimed at almost the same time. I'd forgotten he was a light sleeper. "Bella, what are you doing?"
"Getting attacked by all your crap!" I complained "How can you live like this?" Disregarding this, he said:
"No, what are you doing in my room? What time is it?"
"Like 7:15." I said self-consciously.
"Arrrgg!" he wailed laying back down. "Wait, how did you get in anyway?" I pulled the key out of my pocket and held it up. "You would break in using the spare key." He said it like an insult and then grinned to show he was kidding. I walked carefully across the rest of the room and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"I was out running and I decided to stop and visit." I said cheerfully.
"You were running at 7:15am?" he said incredulously "What time did you start?"
"Um, like 6:30ish."
"Wow. I want some of whatever you're on!" he laughed when I punched him.
"Okay, well I guess I'm up then. Wait a minute while I get dressed." He said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
"Okay."
"Oh, here." He threw a folded white t-shirt at me.
"What's this for?" I asked confusedly.
"It's for you. As much as I appreciate you forgetting to put on a shirt" he grinned wickedly "I can't take you to breakfast like that." He said eying my sweaty sports bra and messy hair warily.
I giggled embarrassedly. "Fine, but can we not go to the Coop?"
"Why?" he said with his head inside a faded red band shirt.
"Because people know us there, and you just said I look like crap." I said exasperatedly.
"People know us everywhere." He pointed out.
"Pleeeaaseee." I whined "anywhere else."
"Fine. Give me five minutes." He said "and put that shirt on."
I laughed. "Okay, five minutes."
30 minutes later (so much for 5) we were comfortably seated outside on the patio of a Starbucks-esque café drinking huge mugs of coffee. I bounced my leg up and down under the table while I waited for the waitress to come out with our breakfasts.
"Do you think I have a chance with her?" Emmet whispered leaning across the table.
"Who?" I said absently. He was wearing sunglasses which made it impossible for me to tell who he was looking at.
"The hot ginger at the corner table." He jerked his head in the girl's direction. I glanced at her skeptically.
"That's Victoria James." I said quizzically "You've met her before."
"No. I'd remember that." He looked her up and down again.
"No you wouldn't!" I suddenly recalled. "Because you dear" I tapped the back of his hand on the table affectionately "are superficial as hell, and she used to be like really fat."
"Seriously?" he said disbelievingly
"Yeah. If there was ever a success story for gastric bypass it's that girl." I muttered. He seemed unfazed.
"So do you think she'd go to dinner with me?" he peeked over his sunglasses at her.
"Yeah probably, but she's only 15 so in a few weeks anything other then dinner will be kind of illegal." I said.
"Not on this island" He smirked. I had to admit he had a point.
"Fine, immoral then. Robbing the cradle or whatever" I waved my hand in the air vaguely.
"True." He looked disappointed.
"Think of it this way: Pretty soon you'll be an adult and you can sleep with all the 45 year old, plastic boobed, divorcés you want." I said sarcastically. That perked him right up.
"Perfect! He said grinning "Starting with Edward's mom."
"Ewww! You need so much therapy!"
"Kidding. God!" We both laughed, and then fell silent, lost in our own thoughts.
"Wait." I had just remembered something "If you're looking for a new girlfriend—"
"I am not" he cut me off "looking for a new girlfriend"
"Fine. If you're looking for a new something, does that mean you don't want Rose anymore?" It was pretty common knowledge—at least between the boys and I—that Emmet had liked Rosalie practically forever. Seriously, sometimes I really looked at our lives and thought this is just so much harder then it needs to be! But then, at least we were never bored.
"Can we please not talk about that?"he groaned. I had a feeling if his tanned complexion was capable of blushing he would have.
"Ohmigod! You still like her don't you?"
"No!" he snapped.
"Yes you do!" I giggled "It's like so obvious!"
"Hey, you want to talk about obvious?" he raised his eyebrows "What about Jazz?"
"What about him?" I said too quickly and he laughed. If he had been trying to distract me, he had done a good job.
"Come on" he rolled his eyes at me.
Although I had with every other person who'd drawn the same conclusion, I didn't even try to deny it. "Do you think he knows?" I moaned and put my head down on the table. Emmet was the brother I always wished for and never needed. He'd tell me the truth.
"No, don't worry; I think he's the only one who doesn't know."
"Good." I breathed a sigh of relief. "And you won't tell him right?" I added anxiously.
"Oh, I already have." He flashed his signature evil mastermind grin.
"What!" I yelped.
"Edward and I have been telling him for years, he won't believe us."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, don't worry." He said again.
"How can I not be worried about that?" I snapped. He shrugged "well if this ends badly I'm blaming you." I warned.
"Ends badly?" he scoffed "As opposed to never starting, like how it's been for the last ten years?"
"11 years," I corrected instinctively "and exactly." I blushed.
"Whatever, it's your life." He said dismissively "And meanwhile, I still have a good three weeks coming to me, so I'm going to go ask out the ginger." He stood up and started to jog away. "What was her name again?"
"Tory. Tory James." I rolled my eyes
"Perfect. Be right back."
"What about Rose?" I called after him.
"That is a remote fantasy. This is now!" He cried, throwing his arms in the air like a bad stage actor talking to God. "I'm living in the moment, you should try it sometime."
"Maybe I will." I muttered, and ate my breakfast quietly while I waited for him to come back.
It was Sunday night. For some reason, even in the summer, Sunday nights make me anxious. Maybe it's the end of something, or maybe it's the beginning, but the uncertainty makes me uncomfortable.
It was past 8:00pm, but the sky was still light and I was curled up in one off the wicker armchairs on my front porch reading The Catcher in the Rye. I shifted around and pulled my feet up under me as I was hit with a slight wind chill. I was bored. The book was one of those classics where you had to read between the lines to interpret the metaphors. I hated metaphors. Why couldn't people just say what they mean? I slammed the cover shut exasperatedly. Personally, I didn't give a shit where the ducks went.
I stared half blindly out at the darkening street. The weather beaten, Cape Cod style houses were cast in shadow from the slowly setting sun. Sand doones and rosehips grew haphazardly beside the pavement. I could hear sea gulls screeching and mourning doves crying out while the heavy air smelled of salt and wind. I suddenly became aware of the sound of steady pounding footsteps growing louder. I looked down the cottage lined street and saw Jasper rounding the corner and running towards me, shirt off, iPod strapped to his arm Damn his abs! Why does it feel like whenever I'm around him lately he's half naked? I saw him before he noticed me. He made it all the way to my house and then stopped for a fraction of a second to look up at it. I waved and his eyes widened. He hadn't been expecting me to be there. He grinned.
"Hey Bells, whatcha doin'?" he called from the sidewalk.
"Pretending to read." I answered honestly. His confident laugh was infectious as he jogged up the front walk, up the steps and onto the porch.
"Ditch the book and finish my run with me." He said automatically. It seemed like a polite invitation—he didn't really care one way or another if I said yes.
"I can't, I'm not dressed for it, and I can't keep up with you anyway." Not to mention the fact that I've already been running today and my legs are killing me.
"So go change, I'll wait." He said.
"I still won't be able to keep up with you, I'll die first." I pointed out. Please don't make me come! My muscles will never forgive me.
"I've seen you run Bells, trust me, you could kick my ass." He lied smoothly, flashing a grin that was so sexy and coercing it looked rehearsed. I knew it wasn't though, that was just Jasper.
"How much longer do you have to go?" I asked, giving in slightly.
"Like a mile and a half. Two tops." He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. "C'mon, go put on some sneakers really quick before it gets dark."
Running twice in one day just to be with Jasper? I'm so pathetic. "Fine, give me five minutes." I surrendered, and went upstairs to change.
Jasper
I glanced at the sky and swore inwardly. It was getting dark and I wasn't even half as far as I'd planed to run. There wasn't anything I could do about it now, I needed to choose a shorter route.
That wasn't hard around here, 'all roads lead to Rome' so to speak—or more like 'all roads lead to beach'. I turned on the next street I passed. Bella's street I realized after the fact. Maybe I'll stop and say hi. I thought idly. No, then it'll be completely dark by the time I get home.
I stopped in front of her house anyway, debating weather or not to see if she was there. It took a minute before I noticed her sitting on the porch. Weird coincidence…
"Hey Bells, whatcha doin'?" I called.
"Pretending to read." She smiled. I laughed, honesty was always nice. I jogged up to the porch.
"Ditch the book and finish my run with me" I said suddenly, surprising myself. Where did that come from?
"I can't," she said "I'm not dressed for it, and I can't keep up with you anyway." She looked a little disappointed.
"So go change, I'll wait." I persisted. I hadn't planed on it, but I suddenly really wanted her to come.
"I still won't be able to keep up with you, I'll die first." She pointed out.
"I've seen you run Bells, trust me, you could kick my ass." Liar. I grinned a little apologetically.
"How much longer do you have to go?" she asked. Yes! That was definitely a surrender.
"Like a mile and a half. Two tops." I invented wildly. I wasn't really sure where we were going. I grabbed her hand and pulled her up. Her hand felt cold even though it was warm out. "C'mon, go put on some sneakers really quick before it gets dark." I told her.
"Fine, give me five minutes."
I waited on the porch while she changed. It didn't take as long as I expected. I'd been out with girls before who made me wait for half an hour while they got ready, but I guess Bella wasn't really like that. She was back downstairs in five minutes wearing Shorts and a grey 'Yale University Bulldogs' t-shirt. I heard her yell something to someone—probably Meredith because she added "Why do you care so much!"—before she came back out on the porch.
"Okay I'm ready." She looked like she was regretting the decision to come along.
"Don't worry, we can go slow." I assured her as we jogged to down her street.
"Thanks, but I think your 'slow' is my 'running for my life'" She grinned at me and I laughed. That was probably true.
"Tell you what; if we need to run for our lives I'll carry you." I promised.
"You wouldn't leave me to get chopped up by a psycho axe murderer?" She giggled.
"You? Never." I scoffed. "Edward on the other hand…"
"Edward wouldn't need you to carry him," she said "he's faster then you are."
"He's not!" I protested indignantly. "Say that again and I'll let the axe murderer get you after all." I joked as we rounded the corner on to a road that was so rough it was really more of a path, unfortunately it was actually getting really dark and this was the quickest way to the beach. Why we were going to the beach I had no idea, but it seemed like a good stopping point.
"You wouldn't!" She gasped.
"Try me." I pretended to sulk.
"Fine, I'm sorry I said Edward was faster then you." She feigned concern.
"So you think I'm faster then him then?" I nudged her shoulder with mine.
"Oh, much faster." She said with fake sincerity.
"And an all around cooler, better looking, more awesome person?" I prompted her.
"And an all around cooler, better looking, more awesome person." She agreed. Hearing her say that shouldn't have made me happy, but for some reason it did.
"Hey look!" she said after about 5 minutes "We must be half way to the beach now and I'm not even tired!" she looked so proud, it was actually kind of cute. Dude! What are you thinking? I shook my head violently.
"That's because I'm doing an amazing job of distracting you." I grinned at her.
"Sure, sure." she smiled back. We were almost to the end of the road and I could still make out the beach at the end even though the sun was basically gone.
"Race you to the water!" Bella yelled suddenly. What? Wait! I sprinted after her.
Even with her head start I got to the water's edge long before she did. She ran up behind me out of breath and flung herself down in the sand.
"You know, a gentleman would have let me win." She told me from the ground.
"I never claimed to be a gentleman." I loomed over her grinning. She grabbed my hand and pulled until I sat down in the sand next to her.
"You shouldn't be so proud of that" she rolled her eyes at me. "Hey aren't you cold?" She blurted out randomly.
"What?" I was confused.
"It's getting kind of cold out here." I realized she meant because I wasn't wearing a shirt.
"No, I guess I'm just naturally warm-blooded" I shrugged.
"Of course you are, all humans are warm-blooded." She pointed out waspishly.
"I'm sorry Miss Swan, I didn't know there was going to be a test." I laughed. She scowled at me.
"Well I'm cold." She sighed.
"You're always cold." I told her. She raised her eyebrows at me and look surprised. What, did she think it was weird that I knew that? I held out both arms to her. "C'mere"
"No! Why?" she looked startled.
"Because you're cold and I'm not." It seemed obvious to me "You sit with Edward and Emmet." I reminded her.
"Yes, around other people and fully clothed, not alone on the beach, in the dark, when they're half naked!" she was stumbling over her words trying to seem serious. I laughed, I couldn't help it.
"What, don't you trust me?"
"Not at all." She joked.
"Smart girl." I laughed again.
Bella sighed and crawled over and sat with her back against my chest. I put my arms around her stomach. "Warmer?" Dear god, I'm acting like such a girl.
"A bit." She said a little too nonchalantly.
"Just a bit?" I teased her.
"Okay fine. Yes, thank you." No
I suddenly realized that we were both still covered in sweat. Did she think it was gross? Should I back off until I could take a shower. Oh Hot Damn! Bella wet in the shower. I was being completely honest with myself, just having Bells sitting with me like this was like 10 times hotter then anything I done with a girl in living memory. And I just tapped that waitress from the Coop yesterday.
Did I like her? That wasn't possible. No, more like that wasn't even an option. There wouldn't be any no-strings sex with Bella, I'd have to commit or some shit. Buy a house, Get married someday, have kids. My life would be over before I even went to collage. HA! That was not going to happen.
"Hey Bells, I gotta go okay?" I took my arms from around her waist and jumped up. She fell back startled that there wasn't anything there for her to lean against anymore and looked up at me with giant hurt blue eyes. "Uh, sorry." I muttered lamely and ran off the beach.
I hope you liked it! Reviews are always appreciated! Let's try for 15 reviews before the next chapter k? Oh and remember, Game of L.I.F.E. will be up probably Wednesday.
Love always, Summer.