Ch. 6

Burris Hall

He was there the next night, just like I knew he would be. I could hardly concentrate on anything I was doing, I was so full of anticipation. It was a good thing I didn't have a big important job in that show. As soon as the show was over I slipped outside, hoping to get a smoke in before I saw Edward. I pulled it out and lit it before I was even out the door.

"I thought you said you were going to try to quit?"

I looked up, eyes wide. He was already there waiting for me, leaned against the wall, looking even more gorgeous than I'd remembered.

"Edward," I said, glancing at the lit cigarette in my hand. "Didn't you watch the show?"

He shook his head, then strode forward and plucked the cigarette from my hand.

"I already knew you weren't in the show, so I just came here to wait for you to come out."

"How did you know I would come here?" I asked. "I thought you would be in the house."

He grinned. "I knew you'd try to sneak a smoke. How many have you had today?"

"Just one," I said irritably. He was going to make this very hard for me, I could tell. "That would have been my second one."

"You've done pretty well," he said, smiling at me.

"Thanks," I said sarcastically. "Now can I please have my smoke? You don't want to see me without it, I can get pretty grumpy."

"I'll risk it," he sad, putting it out. I glared at him. He chuckled.

"You're asking quite a bit of me," I remarked.

"I don't want a bit of you." My breath caught in my throat. He was standing so close to me now. "I want all of you."

We jumped apart. The door had opened. We spun around and looked to see Angela grinning at us.

"Hey Bella," she said. "Hello Edward."

"Hey Ang," I said, blushing furiously.

"Angela, nice to see you again," said Edward politely. "I'm terribly sorry for stealing Bella away yesterday. I hope you weren't worried?"

Angela laughed. "You don't sound sorry," she said, making Edward grin.

"Well, you have me there," he said. "But I do hope you weren't worried."

She shrugged. "No harm done. Anyway, I was just leaving, so I'll see you later Bella."

"See ya," I said, blushing. I glanced at Edward out of the corner of my eye. He was smiling at me. His smile was so beautiful.

Angela walked away. As soon as she was out of sight, I found my hand in Edward's. He was pulling me toward the parking lot.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"My dorm?"

"Your dorm?"

He opened the passenger door for me, so I got in. I looked over at him once he got in the car.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Edward asked, seeming genuinely concerned. "Is there somewhere else you'd rather go?"

"No, that's fine," I said, but I felt uncomfortable. Of course that was all he wanted out of me. So why was I going if I knew he was just trying to get into my pants? I honestly didn't know. I guess he'd done a good job of luring me there, because I couldn't bring myself to ask him to take me back to my dorm. So I just sat there and pouted.

"Bella? You ok?"

I looked over at him and almost forgot what I was upset about. He had me in his eyes again.

"Bella?" he looked concerned. "I asked if you were ok?"

"Oh, yeah," I said, momentarily distracted. "I'm fine."

He paused for a moment, looking troubled. "Bella…I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I'm not trying to…you know…take advantage of you or anything like that. I just wanted to spend a little time with you. Just us."

"Oh." I was surprised and embarrassed. "Right, of course not," I said, blushing, "I was just…I don't know…"

He chuckled and brushed his thumb across my cheek. "You're so cute when you blush."

This only made me blush more.

Burris Hall was the very best dorm on campus. I'd only been inside of it a few times. He led me to the elevator and pushed the button for floor 5. It stopped at 2 first, and a few girls got on. They were all skinny to the point of unhealthy with ridiculously dark fake tans and dyed hair in blonde and black. One of the black-haired girls looked over at Edward and smiled.

"Hey, Edward," she said seductively. "We're about to start a party on the 4th floor if you want to come."

"Actually, Bella and I already have plans, but thank you anyway," replied Edward, polite as always.

"Oh," said the girl, looking at me for the first time. "You're with her?"

"Yes, I am," said Edward coolly. All four of the girls looked me up and down, and I could tell they weren't impressed. I didn't look anything like them. I was short and pale with long brown hair that hung around my face. In other words, everything about me was natural, while they were nothing but fake.

"Ok," said the girl, obviously displeased. "Well, I'm Brittney."

"Nice to meet you," I said, though I'm sure I didn't sound nearly as polite as Edward. The elevator stopped.

"Well, this is our floor," she said, giving us a nasty smile. The other girls waved and followed her out. As soon as they were gone I looked up at Edward. He grimaced.

"Sorry," he said quietly.

"How do you know her?" I asked.

"We went to high school together. Brittney was friends with my brother's girlfriend. He tried to hook me up with her once. But nothing ever happened between us. As you can see, she's not a very nice person."

"Oh, yeah, you're brother," I said. "What's his name? Emmett?" The elevator stopped and I followed him out.

"Yeah," said Edward. "Emmett and Alice."

"Who's your brother's girlfriend?"

"Actually, they're engaged now, so I guess it would be fiancé. That's so weird. Anyway…um…her name is Rosalie Hale."

"Rosalie Hale?" I said, stunned. "I know her. I mean, I know of her. She's on the cheerleading squad, she's an aspiring model, she was pretty much the youngest homecoming queen ever. She's like college royalty."

Edward laughed. "Yep, that's Rosalie. She and Emmett are perfect for each other."

"How so?" I asked.

"You'll see," he said, chuckling. "You'll meet him sometime. Here we are."

We were stopped at the door marked room 520. The name tags on the door said Edward and Jasper. Edward pulled out a key.

"Your roommate's name is Jasper?"

"Yep."

"That's cool. You don't hear that name every day."

"You might not," said Edward.

I laughed. "I guess you do."

"Yeah," he said. "Oh, and Jasper is Rosalie Hale's twin brother."

"What?" I said. "Really? Wow."

"We all went to high school together," he said.

Then he opened his door, and before I could register what was happening, I'd had my breath knocked out of me.

A/N: Cupcakes to anyone who can guess what happened!

Ok, so it might be a day or two before I'm able to update again, because I'm going to be out of town for a couple of days. So, I expect a lot of reviews will be waiting for me when I get home, right? Right? wink

The next chapter's a good one, I think, so hold your breath.

Still working on the tentative Blossoms of Love, let me know about it. I might give you a sneak preview sometime soon.

Thanks to my readers and reviewers!