SM owns Twilight. I own a tour guide name tag from my alma mater.

WriteOnTime and Daisy3853 are my heroes. I'm making them capes and masks as we speak.

BPOV

I couldn't believe this was happening to me. Alice was skipping just ahead of Edward and me, kicking up snow and talking a mile a minute about something I honestly didn't care about because she was dragging me along to dinner with Edward Masen, and that was all I could really focus on at the moment.

I met Alice in the fall at the library. I was sitting in my usual corner, surrounded by textbooks and trying desperately not to fail my first Biology test of the semester, when she crashed into my table and dropped her backpack on the floor.

"Do you mind if I sit with you? Everywhere else is full."

I said yes, and a friendship was born.

She was studying for an Art History class, and seemed surprised that a Creative Writing major would be taking Biology her junior year. I was trying to finish up my general education requirements, and the intro level Biology course happened to satisfy two outstanding reqs. So there I was, stuck in a class that most people took their first semester. The class was packed with freshman, and even more annoyingly, I was doing poorly. My brain just wasn't wired for the sciences. Luckily, Alice had a friend who taught a large group tutoring session for that very class, and she passed along the information to me. That friend was Edward Masen.

Biology was suddenly my favorite class.

Edward's tutoring group met twice a week, and I showed up for every single one for the rest of the semester. There were at least fifty other people in the group, so I stayed in the back, never asked questions, and never spoke to anyone. As far as I know, he didn't ever see me sitting there in the back left corner, scribbling notes and doodling faces with dark, intense eyes and strong square jaws on my notepad. I loved watching him move around at the front of the room, gesturing emphatically and explaining Punnett squares and basic cell anatomy in his low, masculine voice. Okay, I admit it, I ogled shamelessly, but I did get something out of the experience. I ended up with a B in the class.

When Alice found out that I had been drooling over Edward from afar, she got really excited and started making elaborate plans to introduce the two of us. She insisted that we would get along wonderfully and that he would "adore" me. I was skeptical. Edward wasn't the kind of guy who typically found me appealing. He was gorgeous, smart, obviously talented and outgoing. I was introverted and soft-spoken, not to mention fairly average in the looks department. Besides, even thinking about talking to him made my face go bright red and my heart start beating a million miles a minute. There was no way I'd ever be able to carry on a normal conversation with him.

I managed to dodge Alice's match-making attempts all semester. Her boyfriend, Jasper, kindly gave me the heads up every time she planned any kind of encounter between Edward and me, although he told me I was being silly and that Edward was a great guy. He managed to keep his mouth shut about it too, so she stayed in the dark about the fact that I was going out of my way to not meet a guy who made me swoon when he talked about anaerobic respiration.

When the applications for campus tour guides came out in November, Alice begged me to fill one out. "We could work together!" she squealed. "I know you'll get the job, you'd be perfect for it."

I applied as a joke, knowing I wasn't the type of person who would be good at a job like that. Alice just shook her head and smiled. And then I got an interview. And a second interview. And suddenly I was standing at the back of a room, wearing an ugly green winter jacket and watching Edward Masen introduce himself to a roomful of prospective students and their parents.

Alice watched me smugly from her position behind him, knowing she had finally gotten the two of us in the same room together. I felt sick. I knew, of course, that Edward worked with her, but I had planned on having some time to adjust to the idea of being co-workers, and to plan multiple escape routes if he ever got too close to me.

I know it seems ridiculous that I would want to avoid meeting someone who so obviously fascinated me, but I preferred he remain an unknown: just a pretty face with a nice voice who I could ogle from the back of the room. Okay, that sounds a little creepy, but you know what I mean. There's way less pressure involved in admiring someone from afar, and a whole lot less disappointment.

"So, how do you and Alice know each other?" Edward's voice pulled me out of my reverie. Alice had stopped talking to us and was now on her cell phone, probably telling Jasper we were on our way. "I thought I knew most of Alice's friends."

His eyes crinkled in the corners when he smiled. Edward Masen was smiling at me. My face started flushing again. I hadn't blushed this much in one day since I was seventeen.

"Um, we met at the library." Talking to him was going to be difficult if he insisted on being so handsome every second like that.

"Alice? In a library?"

She turned at the sound of her name and stuck her tongue out at him, wrinkling her nose and crossing her eyes.

"Careful, or your face will stick like that," he taunted, laughing. His laugh made my insides go a little gooey. I wondered if it was medically possible for a voice to melt your internal organs. My lungs were already feeling a little squishy.

Thankfully I didn't have long to think about that question, as we had reached the Collis Center. Jasper was waiting for us outside. I rushed up to him and hooked my arm through his.

"Jasper!" I exclaimed loudly. "Long time no see! How the heck are you?"

Edward looked confused and Alice was glaring at me, but Jasper just grinned in a lazy yet understanding way and patted my hand.

"Doin' okay, Bee," he laughed. "How was your first day?"

"Can't complain," I said with a shrug, letting him lead me inside. Alice sighed loudly and turned to talk to Edward.

"You know she's gonna give you an earful later, right?" Jasper murmured, nodding in Alice's direction. I glanced over at her just in time to see her raise an eyebrow at me and pout her lips at Jasper.

"Totally worth it. I'm dying here, Jas. Save me?"

He groaned a little as we headed toward the café. "I don't know what the big deal is," he said, still speaking in low undertones so Alice and Edward wouldn't hear. "You're both good-looking and single. Simple math. Get to it."

"I am nowhere near his league, and you know it," I hissed. "You should have seen all the girls flirting with him today. Lauren Mallory practically licked him halfway through our training session today, and he didn't even bat an eye. And she's like a million times hotter than me."

"Well I don't know Miss Mallory, but I do know Edward. He's a good man, Bee, not some untouchable Adonis. Puts his pants on one leg at a time and everything."

"I don't want to know how you know about his wardrobe-related habits," I joked. "Is there something you should tell me? I doubt Alice would be a better hag than me."

"Are you making the moves on my man?" Alice called, pulling away from Edward and jogging to catch up.

"I was just telling him that if he ever decided to play for the other team I would make a good hag."

"Please, you are nowhere near fashion-conscious enough," she said, grabbing his free hand. "You need to be able to mock fashion don'ts and look fabulous doing it. Trust me, I have experience."

"I'm not sure, but I think you just insulted my clothes."

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "I've been trying to get you to slash and burn your closet since we met. Are you really asking if I like you're clothes?"

"Fair enough," I sighed. I grabbed a tray and made my way through the line, determined to ignore the fact that Edward was right behind me, so close I could feel his body heat.

As we approached the register to pay, he cleared his throat. I started to panic. He was going to talk to me again. I looked for a quick escape but Jasper and Alice were already sitting at a table waiting for us.

"So how long have you known Jasper?"

The question was so unexpected that I stumbled a little. Jesus, what was wrong with me? It was like his mere presence took my motor functions down three levels. Before I could drop my food and go spilling across the floor, he reached out and grabbed my arm, steadying me.

He didn't let go right away, and it was as if I had been hit by a freeze ray. He was touching me. Okay, it wasn't skin on skin contact, but still. My face felt like it was on fire. After a second or so, his hand loosened and I stepped away, practically running to the register.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"No, no, my fault," I said, tossing my meal card at the student worker and tapping my foot anxiously. The girl behind the cash register was moving really slowly, and Edward was still standing right behind me.

"Um, so anyway. Jasper?"

I grabbed my card back and looked over at him. He had this funny look on his face, like he was concentrating on a really hard math problem.

"I don't know, sometime after I met Alice." I started walking towards the table where Alice and Jasper sat. They were sitting on one side of the table, so Edward and I would have to sit next to each other. Drat. "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged and tucked his card into his wallet. "You two seem close, that's all."

"Nah, we're just friends. I mean obviously we're just friends because he's dating Alice. Alice is my friend. And I don't really like blondes much. Or blue eyes. Green eyes are nice."

He was still staring at me, but his expression had shifted. Now it was like he was checking to make sure I didn't have an extra head or something.

"Don't get me wrong I don't have some kind of obsession with green eyes or anything." Oh God. I did not just say that. Edward's green eyes got a little wider and I turned away before I could say anything else horribly embarrassing. Jasper and Alice watched us approach with matching smiles.

I slid into the seat across from Alice and shoved a French fry in my mouth.

"Thanks for leaving me unsupervised," I whispered to Alice before Edward got to the table. She just beamed at me and then turned toward Edward.

"I'm so glad you guys finally got to meet," she said cheerily. "Edward, did you know that Bella was in your Biology 11 tutoring group last semester?"

I choked on my soda and spit a little out on myself. The blood drained from my face, and I gave Alice my very best horrified look. She preened, clearly proud of herself. Jasper shook his head and gave me a sympathetic little grimace.

"Really?" Edward asked, seemingly oblivious to our exchange. He gave me a pleasant sort of smile, and I struggled to rearrange my face into something that didn't reflect complete and total mortification.

"Yeah," I said with a shrug, staring down at my tray. "I was taking the class for the gen eds and I wasn't doing too well. Alice told me about your group. You're a good teacher."

"I don't remember you," he mused, still looking at me. I squirmed a little under his gaze.

"Well I didn't really talk much. I'm kind of introverted."

"Bella, don't be so modest," Alice piped up. "You're obviously good with people or you wouldn't have gotten a job with the tour guides."

I shrugged again, because I honestly had no good reason why I was hired. My interviews had gone well enough, but I never got the impression that I had wowed anybody. Thankfully Jasper spoke up, drawing the attention back off of me. "Are you guys throwing the usual bash this weekend?"

Alice and Edward both started talking about a party they'd all be going to over the weekend, and I was allowed to quietly focus on my food.

Sitting so close to Edward and listening to him talk about kegs and beer pong was surreal. On the other hand, it was also kind of hilarious to hear the silky voice that I associated with nucleotides and cellular metabolism going on about stuff that normal college guys talked about. He seemed more like the type to pull all-nighters and lock himself in some smelly lab for hours on end doing research. I had never pictured him doing keg stands or grinding on some girl in a dirty basement party.

Okay, that's a lie. I had a reoccurring fantasy that involved Edward pressed against my back, sweaty and muscular, his hips moving with my own—

"Okay, Bella?"

Crap. I looked around, and all three of my tablemates were staring at me expectantly.

"Uh..." Alice was nodding vigorously at me, her eyes as big as they could go. She looked like a my-size bobble head doll. "Yes?"

"Great!" She split into a wide grin, and Edward and Jasper were smiling too. "So we'll pre-party at Edward's and then head over to Emmett's afterwards. It's better to get to your Newbie-Palooza a little in the bag anyway."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Bel-la," she sighed, "Please try to keep up. We're talking about the party."

"Oh, right." I couldn't ask any more questions without revealing that I hadn't been paying attention. I would just ask Jasper later.

Not long after that, Edward excused himself. He promised to see Alice and me tomorrow and gave Jasper a cheery wave. Right before he left, he darted forward and ruffled Alice's hair, just like he had earlier in the afternoon. Before her face did more than register her annoyance, he ran away, laughing as he went.

"I swear, some days he's like an overgrown child," she muttered, pulling out a compact out of her purse and trying to fix her hair in the tiny mirror. Once she was satisfied, she clicked it shut and turned to me. "So?"

I pushed my tray away and leaned back in my chair. "So what?"

"Come on, don't be like that. What did you think of Edward? Isn't he great?"

"Well he's just as good-looking as I remember," I sighed, resigned to her questioning. She waved a hand dismissively.

"Of course he's hot," she said. Jasper rolled his eyes. "But what did you think of him? He's such a wonderful guy. He's a total catch, don't you think?"

"We didn't really talk much. Except I accidentally told him I like green eyes." I blushed at the memory. "I can't believe you didn't prepare me a little for today. He probably thought I sounded like a lunatic."

"I don't know," she said with a tiny mischievous grin. "He couldn't stop looking at you today during training."

"Stop it," I said sternly. "Don't lie about something like that." I couldn't be sure she was lying, because I had done everything possible to avoid looking at or interacting with Edward during our training. I knew that if I started looking at him I would probably say or do something stupid, and now that I had this job, I didn't really want to lose it.

"I'm not lying," she insisted. "He kept looking over at you. I think he was jealous when Jacob was talking to you at the end of the day."

"That's ridiculous. Jacob was just being nice, he knows my dad. Small world, huh?"

Jasper smiled and grabbed Alice's and my trays, heading over to the conveyer belt that led to the kitchen. Alice stood and hooked her arm around my waist, leading me toward the door.

"Edward and Jacob don't really get along," she said conversationally. "And Jacob obviously likes you. He's got a thing for petite, pretty brunettes."

I rolled my eyes. Alice insisted on calling me pretty or beautiful or, my personal favorite, comely, every chance she got. Granted, she was a little tipsy and had just finished reading Pride and Prejudice at the time, but I teased her about it whenever I could work it in to a conversation.

"He asked me about my dad and we talked about fishing. I don't think that's a recipe for romance."

"You know what? The self-deprecation is getting old. You're cute, and smart, and you've got a lot to offer. There is no reason why Edward or any other guy would not find you appealing."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, you're right. I'm a catch."

Jasper gave me a smile and squeezed my shoulder. "One day you're going to believe that."

"If you say so, Jas." I gave him a wry smile and turned to head toward my dorm. "See you tomorrow, Alice?"

"I'll be there."

I waved goodbye and started to go. I was less than half a block away when I heard Alice's voice calling after me.

"And wear something cute!"

I chuckled and kept walking. Only Alice.

A/N: I am totally floored by your response to the last chapter. Thank you so much. I have a couple of details for you, just so we're all on the same page. This is going to be a short story, about 10 chapters. It's rated M because of language, some heavy drinking, and a little hanky panky. There won't be a lemon.

A lot of awesome college jobs in this group. Lots of food service and library workers. I was always jealous of the student librarians, it seemed like a good gig. As you may or may not have been able to tell, I was a campus tour guide. We did not walk backwards. :)

What was your major?