A/N: I'm so sorry it took me so long to update!! It was my birthday, then I had tons of work for my classes, then fanfiction wouldn't let me login for like, 3 days! So here's an extra-long chapter as an apology. All the girls' dresses are on my page. It took me forever to find the right ones!
Special thanks to Becca-Cullen-Hale and HorseyGal23 for favoriting my story!
Some reviews would be lovely!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Twilight characters.
Chapter 6: Party Time
I thought that trying on clothes would be done with now that shopping was over, but I was wrong. I had tried on five dresses already, and Alice and Rose weren't satisfied with any of them. I was putting on my sixth dress, praying that they would approve. It was dark blue, and hit just at my mid-thigh. It was a v-neck with 3 different shades of blue that twisted and turned into the straps. Looking down at it, I liked it a lot. I walked out of the bathroom to show them. Alice squealed, "It's perfect! Okay, put these on." She handed me silver strappy high heels that looked like a death trap.
"Alice, how am I supposed to wear these? I'll break my neck!"
Just then Jen stepped out of the shower, "Bella, you look great! This is what Alice picked out for me." She showed me a red dress with gold print. It was about the same length as mine, with a sweetheart neckline and a pleated skirt. It was really cute, and very Jen. With it, she had gold, strappy heels.
Alice walked out of her closet and put on a v-neck animal print dress with a crisscross back. Her spiky hair looked perfect with the wild dress she had on. Then, she slid on some sky-high black heels. Rosalie was wearing a skin-tight black dress with double straps and a gold geometric print down the front. She also had gold heels on. "Bella, come into the bathroom!" Alice said. She plopped me down on a chair in front of the mirror. While Rosalie curled my hair, Alice did my makeup. When they finished, I looked at myself in the mirror. I had to say that they did a good job. My hair was piled in soft curls on top of my head, and all that Alice put on me was a little bit of mascara and some red lipstick. I exhaled, happy to finally be leaving. We all hopped into Rose's car; I was happy that the party was only ten minutes away because I was tired of being in a car all day. I didn't want to admit it to myself, but I was anxious to see Edward, too.
We stepped out of the car in front of a little apartment building that was being flooded with people. Jen grabbed my hand and followed Rose and Alice through the door. She had a strange smile on her face, and I couldn't quite understand what it was about. "Come on, Bella! Let's go find Edward!" she yelled over the music. We walked over to the keg in the kitchen, filling up our cups before taking a lap around the party. I searched for Edward, but couldn't find him anywhere. I even kept my eye out for Emmett or Jasper, but they were nowhere to be found. Rose and Alice seemed to have disappeared as well. My first college party and I had already lost all my new friends. All I could think was, thank God Jen's still with me. I sipped my beer, hoping for a little liquid courage to go introduce myself to my new schoolmates. Jen and I danced for a little bit, although dancing in these heels pretty much limited me to some side-to-side movements. As I scanned the room for what seemed like the thousandth time, a pair of light blue eyes and spiky blond hair obstructed my view.
"Hi! I'm Mike Newton," the blond said to me.
"Uh, hi. Bella Swan," I responded. I wasn't really interested in meeting other guys, but Mike seemed harmless enough.
"So, are you starting at State this week?" he asked me, anxious to know my answer.
"Yeah, I'll be a freshman. How about you?"
"It's my first year, too. I moved here from California. Do you know anyone here?" It seemed like he was bombarding me with questions. I knew he was just trying to get to know me, probably in hopes of getting somewhere else with me, but it wasn't like when Edward asked me questions. Mike was just, well, annoying.
"Yeah, I came with my roommates, and we're meeting some other friends here. Oh, and my friend Jen came up from Arizona with me." I motioned toward where Jen was standing, only to find that she wasn't standing there anymore. I looked around the room, before finally locating her by the door. She was standing next to a huge figure that I immediately recognized. "Uh, she's over there," I started, trying to get out of this conversation politely, "Excuse me for a minute." I ran over to her, pushing the crowd out of the way. "Jake!" I squealed, "How come you didn't tell me you were coming today?" I punched his shoulder lightly, feigning anger.
"I had assumed that Jen would have told you. Sorry, Bells." Jake laughed as he patted his shoulder.
"Bella, I said Jake was coming at dinner. But I guess you were a little preoccupied." Jen winked at me.
I turned a deep shade of red. Jake asked, "Oh, has that blond kid over there stolen your heart?" He roared with laughter and fluttered his eyelashes.
"No, I just met him. He's just some annoying kid from California. Jen have you seen Alice or Rose? Or Edward?"
"No sorry, I haven't seen Edward anywhere." She smiled at Jake like it was some sort of inside joke. They both burst out laughing. I just rolled my eyes and walked back into the kitchen to get another beer. I was getting tired of everyone teasing me about Edward. I couldn't understand why it was such a big deal. I mean, he was just a nice guy. He was absolutely gorgeous and way out of my league but he was genuinely nice and caring. What was the big deal about us being friends? After all, we were only friends. I mean, there was no way that this absolute god would ever have more than platonic feelings toward me. I found myself daydreaming about Edward: his perfect body, the smooth curve of his lips, and the way everything he said just seemed so important. I was starting to get upset; what if Edward was standing me up? Without noticing, I had managed to drink a whole beer. Since I was still in the kitchen, I refilled. I'm not usually a big drinker; I mean I've been to my fair share of parties, but I was never all that interested in getting drunk.
Tonight, though, that was changing. I really didn't want to call Edward to see where he was; after all, it's not like we were together. I looked down at my phone. He wasn't calling either. Just then, I heard Alice's voice, "Bella! I need a beer pong partner! We're going to kick Mike Newton's and Eric Yorkie's asses!" I wondered for a minute where she had been all night, but I didn't worry about it too much. With that, I walked over to the table. Apparently, beginner's luck wasn't with me. I only sank one cup, and Alice only made three. We had to drink the whole table, and by then, I was feeling really drunk. I thought that it was hard to walk in heels sober; turns out it's impossible to walk in heels drunk. Mike was trying to talk to me again, but I tried to ignore him. Instead, I talked to a girl I had met named Angela. She seemed really sweet and lived near me. She was a quiet girl, from another small town in Washington, but I couldn't remember the name of it. She was living in an on-campus apartment, too, not far from me. I gave her my number so that we could meet up sometime once classes had started.
I had found Alice again, and we walked over to the kitchen. I was done drinking for the night, but apparently she wasn't. Rosalie appeared with a beer bong, and filled it for her. She downed the whole thing with ease, and I had to say that I was impressed. She then grabbed both our hands and walked back out to the living room and cleared a space on the dance floor for us. I had long since ditched my shoes on a chair somewhere, so I was much more uninhibited. I caught Jen and Jake making out on an easy chair in a corner of the room. I smiled, happy for the two of them. It made me a little upset, though. I still hadn't heard from Edward, and none of the girls had mentioned any of the guys. Just as I started to get upset, I heard a loud Boom! as the front door swung open. I saw a clearly inebriated Emmett stumble in through the door with Jasper on his side. "The party can finally start!" Emmett yelled. Everyone laughed and cheered, and kept having a good time. Everyone that is, except for me. Jasper grabbed Alice around the waist and gave her a passionate kiss. Emmett and Rose were dancing, kissing, and grabbing each other. I really didn't want to be at this party anymore. It seemed that everyone was happily paired up, and Edward couldn't even stand me enough to show up. I made my way over to the bathroom, where Mike was walking out, being held up by Eric and another boy, whose name I thought was Tyler, but I wasn't sure.
"Bella!" he slurred out, "I was hoping to catch you before we left. We should go out sometime."
"Um, actually, Mike—" I tried to get a rejection out, but to no avail.
"Great! I'll see you on Friday. Call me!" and he blew me a kiss. Great, now I'll have to deal with this.
"So, I guess you're all booked up for this weekend," a voice that was smooth as velvet whispered into my ear. I knew that voice. But what could he be doing here? I figured he hated me. I turned to face him, wobbling over even in my bare feet. Of course, he caught me before I could fall. I looked at him, and of course, he was absolutely amazing. He was wearing a black long-sleeved button down shirt, some loose-fitting jeans, and charcoal converse shoes.
"Hi, Edward," I said, trying to sound nonchalant, "Actually, Mike is mistaken. I think he misunderstood politeness for interest. I'm surprised to see you here, though. I'd thought you were a no-show."
"I told you I would see you tonight." He looked hurt that I thought he went back on his word.
"I thought you were just being polite. So what took you guys so long? We've been here for like, 2 hours."
"Emmett decided he didn't want to fight over the keg, so he and Jasper drank back in our apartment. It reeks of Johnny Walker in there," Edward coolly explained.
"Oh, so you don't drink?" I asked.
"No, I do, but I got roped into being designated driver tonight." He looked me up and down quickly, "You look absolutely stunning by the way, but where are your shoes?"
I flushed, embarrassed for the first time about being drunk, "Beer pong and Alice's idea of a shoe don't really mix. I threw them on a chair somewhere." He chuckled.
"Do beer pong and breakfast mix?" he asked me.
"Definitely," I smiled back at him.
"Well, there's a great 24-hour diner around here. Would you like to join me for a late meal?"
"How are the guys going to get back?" I was worried they would be stranded at this party.
"If you don't want to, it's all right. I understand," he replied. Oh no! He misunderstood me completely.
"No! It's not that I don't want to, I was just worried that they would be stuck here," he looked at me questioningly, "I promise."
"Hold on, just a second," he answered. I watched him walk over to Rosalie, and then to Jen and Jake, whispering something into their ears. He came back over to me, "Rose wasn't drinking, and neither was your friend, Jake. They'll take everyone home who needs a ride."
"Awesome. Well, whenever you're ready, we can head out of here. I just need to find my shoes." My shoes were still on the chair I left them on. We said quick goodbyes to everyone, and I reminded Jen we needed to leave by 1 tomorrow so she could catch her flight.
"Bella, I'm expecting full details tomorrow," Alice whispered in my ear, and gave me a bright smile. She picked me up in a hug, and I almost fell over when she put me back on the ground. Edward chuckled at the sight of his tiny sister tossing me around.
As we walked out the door, I asked him, "How does she do that?"
Edward laughed, "Nobody knows. I think all that energy gives her super-strength." We laughed about how crazy Alice is until we reached his car, where he rushed to open my door for me. He slid into the driver's seat, and looked at me. "Shall we?" he asked, a smile on his face.
"Lead the way," I smiled back. He handed me a CD case and told me to pick out something to listen to. I looked through his impressive music collection, until I stopped on My Chemical Romance. I hadn't heard Welcome to the Black Parade in a while, and it sounded perfect. I slipped it into the player, and we were off. We barely finished the first track before pulling into the parking lot of the diner. It really was right around the corner. He jumped out and opened my car door, and then the front door of the diner. Always the gentleman, I thought to myself.
"Two, please," Edward gave a sweet smile to the waitress, who led us to a booth in the back of the restaurant.
"Can I get you guys anything to drink?" she asked.
Edward motioned for me to go first. "I'll have water and a coffee, please."
"Make that two," he answered. With that, she left us to peruse our menus. "What looks good, Bella?"
"Hmm, I don't know. I can't decide: pancakes or French toast…what do you think?"
"Well, I'm a French toast man, myself. No matter how old I get, I'll always love powdered sugar," he sounded so cute. I couldn't help but giggle.
"Well, then. It's settled. French toast it is." I loved how we were talking about it like it was a major decision. I felt so uninhibited with Edward, which was really odd for me. I almost always had a guard up with people, except people I've known my whole life, like Jen. When I was around Edward, though, I was just myself. I allowed myself to be a little goofy and I knew with him, I didn't have to be the grown up. It was weird; I wasn't used to feeling comfortable around people in general, but especially around guys. I usually got all mixed up on my words, and could only hold slow, awkward conversations. But with Edward, it was like I knew he wouldn't think I was weird or dumb. I looked up from the menu, and my eyes met his gorgeous emeralds. "So what are you having?"
"I think I'm going to go with the ABC omelet," he said, without ever taking his eyes off me to look at the menu.
"Mmm, I love avocado. I could eat it anytime," I chuckled a little bit, "I think I'm just a little hungry."
The waitress brought us our drinks. "Are you ready to order?"
I knew Edward wanted me to order first, "I'll have the French toast combo, with scrambled eggs and bacon."
"And I'll have the ABC omelet," Edward said as he handed her our menus. "So I know that you're an only child from Phoenix, who loves to cook and eat avocado. But there must be so much more to Bella Swan." I turned a deep shade of red. I knew that he wanted to talk about me more. And although I couldn't understand why, I hated talking about myself. "Oh, and I forgot to mention, that you are utterly adorable when you blush." If possible, I turned redder. Trying to get my face back to its original color I added,
"You also forgot that I trip over my own two feet on a regular basis." Oh no, that backfired. I just blushed again.
"I'm serious. I love it when you blush. It is stunning."
"That's me, my saving grace an involuntary reaction," I said as I looked down, again realizing that the Adonis sitting across from me was so far out of my league.
"I never said it was your saving grace, at all. It's just one of your many attractive qualities," Edward responded to me, looking very serious, "I don't think you see yourself very clearly, Bella." He gazed deep into my eyes and grabbed my hand from across the table. I felt electricity pulsing through my veins. It wasn't like I had never held hands with a boy before, but it never felt like this. This was unlike anything I had ever known. "You really have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?" I opened my mouth, but no response came. All I could do was stare back into his eyes. A thousand thoughts were running through my mind. How could it be that Edward Cullen was saying these things to me? He was perfect in every way, and I was perfectly average. Could there be any way that he felt this way about me? I wanted so badly to tell him that I thought he was amazing and perfect and how I was already falling for him, but I couldn't do that. Not yet, at least. I was starting to think that maybe there was some way that Edward reciprocated a few of the feelings I felt for him, even if it was seemingly impossible. His eyes were so honest; I had to believe what he was telling me.
"Wow," I managed to get out.
"I'm sorry, Bella. That was inappropriate of me," he tried to pull his hand away, but I was reluctant to let go. I just wanted to pour my heart out to him, but I knew I couldn't do that. Not here, not now. Uninhibited or not, I wasn't prepared to handle that kind of rejection.
"No, it wasn't Edward. I think you worry too much about what is right and what is wrong, and not about what you want." I gave his hand a squeeze. He looked down at our interlaced hands, and pulled mine up to his face. He gently pressed his lips to my knuckles. I thought I was going to faint right then and there.
Not letting go of my hand, he took a sip of his coffee. We sat in silence for a few minutes, fingers laced, getting lost in each others' eyes. Time seemed to stop, and no one was in the world but Edward and me. We didn't have to say anything; it was a nice, comfortable silence. I had never been able to sit with someone else without talking before. It always made me feel awkward. With Edward, though, it seemed everything was different.
All of a sudden, I heard a plate clink on the table in front of me. The waitress set our food down. "Let me know if you need anything," she said as she walked away. At this point, I needed both my hands to eat, and it pained me to let Edward's hand go. I ate slowly, not wanting to make a mess of the dress Alice had put me in.
"How's the French toast?" Edward asked me.
"Tasty," I replied, "definitely a good choice. How's that omelet treating you?"
"It's delicious," he said, taking another bite.
We chatted about life, our expectations for freshman year, who of our new classmates seemed nice, who was already annoying. Nothing serious, but it was amazing just to hear him speak. Finally, it was time to go. I checked my phone for the time, but I had two texts: one from Alice and one from Jen. Alice's said:
Hope you're having fun! Remember, I want ALL the details!
Jen's text was a little more urgent:
Where are you?? If you recall, I'm leaving tomorrow!
I texted Jen back quickly:
Calm down, I'm on my way back now. I'll see you soon.
I shut my phone and put it back in my clutch. Just then, Edward handed me a quarter and motioned toward a gumball machine. I smiled; this reminded me of begging my mom for quarters when I was little to get some gum. I put my quarter in, "I hope I get blue!" I said. A little blue gumball rolled down to me. I lit up like a kid on Christmas, as I greedily grabbed it. "It's my lucky day!"
Edward stepped over and dropped his quarter in the machine. He got a red gumball. "My favorite," he said, "It must be my lucky day, too." He looked back at me, and then opened the door, "Ready to go home?"
"Not really, but I think if I make Jen wait any longer she might kill me," I answered him.
"Well, we don't want that happening. After you," he said.
On the ride home, I asked Edward some questions to get to know him a little better.
"What's your favorite meal of the day?"
"Definitely breakfast. I could eat breakfast food any time."
"Favorite band?"
"That's a hard one. Right now I'm listening to a lot of PANIC! At the Disco, but I love Muse, too."
"Cool, we have pretty similar taste in music. What's your favorite color?"
"Blue. I love that dress that you're wearing." I blushed, of course, "However I'm starting to grow fond of red," he added, smiling as my cheeks flamed. I continued to ask him questions, memorizing his answers, until he pulled up to my apartment.
"I had a really good time with you tonight, Bella," he turned to me, looking into my eyes. I swear, his shining emeralds just made me melt every time he turned them on me.
"Me too," was all I could come up with as he dazzled me with those eyes.
"When are you taking Jen to the airport?"
"We're leaving here at 1, but I'll probably be back here around 3."
"When you get back, would you like to join me on a picnic?" he asked me. I couldn't believe that he was asking me out on a date. It was like a dream come true.
"I'd love to. I'll call you when I get back tomorrow." He got out of the car, and walked me to my door, and held my hands in his.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Until then," he said, and leaned in toward me. He pressed his lips against my cheek. I was breathless. All too soon, he pulled back. "Bye, Bella."
"Bye, Edward." I reluctantly pulled my hands back and turned to the door. I looked over my shoulder as Edward walked back to the car. I felt light as air, as if I was in some sort of dream. If it is a dream, I thought, I never want to wake up.