Ginormous thanks to my LC – Alitriona/Eila, Allysue08, Rags88, Shereebedee, Spellboundagain, and Whatobsession17! You guys turn this crap into something worth reading! I heart you!

I'm still just leasing. I'm glad they lease for free, 'cause I'm broke!

I have a cute little song in this chapter that Bella blasts for Angela. You can check it out on my profile.

Bored and Lonely Weekend

September 12, 2009

I woke up feeling like I had been hit by a bus and then thrown in front of a train and then dropped from the Empire State Building. And to think, I hadn't touched a drop of alcohol the night before.

As I was gathering my things for a shower, I noticed I had missed a text on my phone. I had to admit that when I noticed it was from Edward I was both elated and a nervous wreck. I held my phone for a good three minutes debating on whether or not I really wanted to see what he had texted me after last night. Finally, I just bit the bullet and opened it.

I'm starting to hate weekends. I'm bored and lonely. I miss our convos :(

Okay, that was so far from what I had been expecting from him. First of all, I couldn't understand why he was already bored and lonely. I had noticed his text was sent at 6:45 in the freaking morning! Second of all…how in the heck was he up at 6:45 after the night he'd had before?

Apparently he didn't remember a thing from the night before because he was acting as if everything was just fine and dandy. My stomach twisted with thoughts of what else he might have done and forgotten. Clearing my head from those mental images, I started texting him back.

I miss our convos, too. I am curious, though. How were you up so early this morning?

A mere sixty seconds later, he responded.

I get up by six every single morning, no matter when I go to bed. Lack of sleep doesn't bother me :)

I grumbled to myself, "Evidently hangovers don't either."

I sent him a message saying I needed to hop in the shower and grab some breakfast, but I would text him once I was finished. I dropped my phone on my pillow and walked to the end of the hall to shower.

I turned the dial as high as I could stand it and just stood under the steaming hot stream as the water pelted against my aching muscles. I replayed the events from the previous evening repeatedly in my head until I started getting a stress headache. I had never had so much attention aimed at me in my entire life. I must say, I was not at all comfortable with it. And if I'd never see Edward under the influence again, it would be too soon. He was so incredibly out of character when he was drinking – not that he wasn't insanely hot, but he was just extremely…off. He wasn't the sweet, modest, reserved Edward I had grown to, well, like a whole freaking lot.

The water was starting to cool, alerting me that I needed to finish up, so I lathered and rinsed quickly, bypassing shaving my legs since I never wore shorts anyway, and turned off the water. I was drying off when I heard some girls walk into the room, giggling.

"I know! He is so hot! I wonder why he disappeared last night…I was totally gonna ask him if he wanted to do body shots on me," one girl said through her giggles.

"I don't know. I saw that skank from the bathroom talking to him just before he stormed out. She probably was putting the moves on him and he got sick thinking about seeing her naked," another girl cackled.

"Well, it doesn't matter. I'm sure he will be at plenty more parties and you will have your chance to have him dip his tongue in your belly button," a third girl snickered. "I just wish one of us had a class with him. I don't even know his name!"

I took my time drying off and getting dressed, in hopes of avoiding a face-to-face with Body Shot Girl. Obviously, they were referring to me as the 'skank from the bathroom', therefore I was pretty sure a confrontation with them would end up ugly.

I heard them clear out and I high-tailed it back to my room where Angela had already started cleaning. I began helping her and decided to broach the subject of the party. I hadn't spoken about it the previous night because I was so incredibly agitated and I just wanted to go to bed.

"So…what happened to you last night? I searched for you everywhere. Oh, and by the way, I would like to thank you for ditching me at the door." I grinned at her letting her know I wasn't seriously mad, but I had been rather irritated with her at the time.

"Oh, Bella! I was hoping you wouldn't still be mad at me!" Angela wrapped me in a tight hug. "I found Ben and we sat in the game room just talking. He is so sweet, Bella, I can't wait for you to meet him! He's absolutely perfect…I just adore him." I could almost see little cartoon hearts in her eyes.

"Game room? How in the heck had I missed the game room?" I really thought I'd managed to search the whole place.

"Oh, it's in the basement." She waved her hand as if it was common knowledge. "So, anyway, guess what?" Angela was literally bouncing on her toes as she waited for me to guess.

"Um…Ben promised to never ask you to a party again, so you will never need a quote-unquote 'wingman' again?"

Angela looked dumbfounded for a second and then giggled. "No, silly! Ben asked me to go to a movie and then to dinner with him tonight!"

I smiled sweetly. "Well, I'm happy for you. Really. You enjoy yourself while I do laundry and schoolwork." I elbowed her and chuckled. "Speaking of…do you want me to wash you a load while I do mine today? No sense in you having to make a trip when I am going to be there already." Our dorm had a laundry room in the basement, but it was clear at the far end of the hall from the elevator, as was our room, so we had to trudge our baskets quite a distance when we did our laundry.

"Actually, if you could wash my pink warm ups for me, I would be forever grateful!" She was already digging through her basket in her closet.

"Sure, no problem. Are you sure that's all that you will need? I have more than enough time on my hands today. I'm going to study while I wash clothes, so I can kill two birds with one stone. It doesn't matter how long I have to stay down there."

"Are you sure? I mean…you reallllly don't mind?" She was looking at me as if she didn't believe me.

I laughed, "Just give me your darn laundry, you crazy girl."

I stuffed my hamper with all of my dirty clothes, filled my bookbag with everything I planned to study, and shoved my phone in my pocket. I waved to Angela and wished her good luck on her date and then made my way down to the basement. It was more of a hassle than I had intended. I had Angela's basket on one hip, my other arm was wrapped around my hamper and I had my bookbag hanging on one shoulder. It was quite a feat to walk a straight line – especially with my clumsy feet.

I finally reached the laundry room and loaded up the first washer with Angela's clothes and shut the lid. As I was reaching for my hamper, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I pulled it out and noticed I had two text messages. Both were from Edward. I was smiling like a loon as I opened the first text.

You really shouldn't tease a guy like that, you know. Never mention shower to the male species. We are programmed to respond with specific mental images.

I almost dropped my phone when I read that text. I know I blushed twenty shades of red as I thought about Edward picturing me in a shower. Then I grinned even bigger thinking how he may have possibly liked that picture.

The following text made me laugh.

I'm sorry. That was out of line. I hope you didn't respond just because you were busy and not because you think I'm a pervert. Forgive me?

I quickly messaged him back.

Nothing to forgive, silly. I was *showering* and then headed down to the laundry room, books in tow for studying. What are you up to today?

I had loaded the second washer with my clothes and sat down with my bag before Edward finally responded.

Are you *trying* to kill me? I'd really like to remain demure around you, Umbella, but you are making that difficult! Lol. anyhoo, I'm just hanging out today.

I bit my lip to keep from squealing. It seems he did like that picture. I contemplated flirting some more or dropping it and seeing where he would take the conversation. Having never been taught the art of flirting, I opted with dropping it.

I'm sorry. *zips lips* So, you have no schoolwork to do today? Or are you just a rebel and going to skip your assignments this week? :P

I opened my Physiology book. I decided to get the worst one out of the way first, so I would be less likely to put off the rest of my work. I took out my favorite pen and my already tattered notepad. I spread everything out before me and began turning the pages in my book. My phone buzzed, startling me and I inadvertently slammed my book shut. I totally forgot he would be texting me back. Excuse me for having a very focused mind…

I read his text three times before I finally responded. I thought I had to have misread it, but no amount of rereading could change what he said.

Oh, I did all of my work last night. I just need to study for that Physiology test on Monday. So, slacker, how much work do you have to do? :P

How in the world had he managed to get all of his schoolwork done before the party? And then I realized he must not have a classes on Fridays. I had never bothered to ask him his schedule before. I had been gone all day on Friday, thanks to Angela, so I hadn't even had time to unload my bag from Thursday.

Lucky you. And, I'm not a slacker! I was gone all day yesterday, thank you very much :P I have work for 3 classes and studying for Phys. and calc. this weekend.

I started taking notes on my notepad, making sure to keep my phone on my textbook so I would remember he would be texting me back. I had jotted down several words before he replied.

Ahh, I see. Well, I will let you to it. You can txt me when you are done if you want. Good luck. If you need help, you know how to find me ;)

I sent a quick reply saying 'thanks, see ya smarty pants ;)' and then went back to my notes.

I had managed to get all of my studying done for my tests by the time I had our clothes washed, dried and folded. I packed up my stuff and went back to my room. One of my assignments had to be typed up, so I powered up the laptop and grabbed a soda out of my fridge, then flopped down on my bed. I was scrolling through my emails when I noticed one from my dad.

bells hey how are you? i got your email yesteday thank you how are your classes gong? things are good here. boring as usual. everyone misses you esp me

luv dad

be good

It was pretty obvious that my dad wasn't used to typing. He never punctuated or capitalized correctly and he frequently had typos. Nonetheless, I cherished every keystroke he devoted to me. I saved it to my folder labeled 'Dad' and then replied.

Dad,

I see you are learning to email, I'm so proud of you! Now if we could just get you to make a capital letter! Lol. Have I told you lately how much I love you? I really do. I appreciate you coming out of your comfort zone to keep up communication with me. It means a great deal to me. I don't think I tell you enough how much you mean to me, and I'm really sorry for that.

Classes are really good right now, however, it's a bit early to tell. My roommate, Angela, is great. I really have a lot of fun with her…and before you ask, it is good, clean fun, lol. I have made a couple of new friends. I'm thinking about starting a study group with them.

I miss you, too, Dad…all of you back home. I'll call you tomorrow when I know you won't be hanging out on the Rez or at the station ;)

I luv you, Dad!

Bella

I spent the next couple of hours working on the rest of my schoolwork, then I heated up a slice of pizza which I'd had in the fridge. I put away the clothes I had washed, and grabbed my journal. I hadn't written since Wednesday, so I made a few entries to catch up. Once I had written more than a sufficient amount of nonsense to account for three days, I closed my journal and crawled into bed. It was barely dark outside, but I was exhausted and completely stressed out. I had so many thoughts and feelings that had gone through me over the last few days and pouring them out into my journal just brought them all back to the surface – at that point I was just emotionally drained.

September 13, 2009

I opened my eyes at the buttcrack of dawn, thanks to going to bed so early the night before. I was in the shower within a few minutes of awakening, and back out almost as fast. When I came back to my room, Angela was still sleeping, so I made a brief trip to the grocery.

I grabbed a few things to restock my mini fridge and some breakfast hot pockets for Angela and myself, and then I stopped at the coffee shop on the way back to grab our morning caffeine fix.

Back in our room, Angela was still sleeping soundly. I popped the hot pockets in the microwave and searched for a certain video on youtube. Once I found it, I blared it through my external speakers I had hooked up to my laptop, because let's face it…a laptop doesn't 'blare'.

Summer's gone, days spent with the grass and sun

I don't mind, to pretend I do seems really dumb

I rise as the morning comes

Angela pulled the covers over her head and grumbled something unintelligible. However, once the chorus started playing, she started giggling and uncovered her face.

Wake up, it's a beautiful morning

Feel the sun shining in your eyes

Wake up it's so beautiful

For what could be the very last time

She raised up to a sitting position, but as the next words were sung she started laughing so hard that she threw her head straight back into her pillow.

Twenty-five I don't recall a time I felt this alive So WAKE UP BOO! There's so many things for us to do It's early so take your time

I grabbed her by the hand and pulled her into the middle of the floor to dance with me. We danced like a couple of characters from The Wiggles. By the end of the song we were laughing so hard that we were out of breath. We threw ourselves down on her bed and continued laughing heartily for several more minutes.

I quickly jumped up from her bed and ran to the microwave to grab our hot pockets. I had set our coffees beside it, so I grabbed them as well.

Angela thanked me profusely as we began eating. After a few bites she started grinning mischievously. I narrowed my eyes at her, because that look could not be good.

"So, Bella…there's another party this coming weekend, would you –"

I was already shaking my head and raising my hand to stop her, "Absolutely not! I still haven't even told you what I went through at the last party! It was horrible. You have no idea."

She looked at me consolingly. "Well, why don't you tell me about it and maybe it's something we can avoid next time." There's not gonna be a next time…

"Well, I know you saw that guy that bombarded me at the front door…" She nodded. "Well, what you didn't see, because you ditched me…" I stuck out my tongue and continued, "is that he was basically dry humping me against the wall! I had to slam my head into his nose to get him to back off. It was humiliating."

"Oh, Bella, I had no idea! I am so sorry. I should never have left you. I will never do that again, I swear to you." She smiled sadly.

"Well, I played it off like it was an accident so it didn't appear like I was a tease, when in fact I hadn't even been friendly with him. But, the good news from that incident is that I met Emmett and he seemed like a really great guy."

Angela started wiggling her eyes suggestively. "Really? Soooo…did you give him your number?"

I shook my head and snorted, "No, Angela! I'm not interested in him in that way. I already told you that I am very attracted to Edward. Oh that reminds me! Edward was at the party! Did you see him? He looked delicious! Like, seriously…I almost wanted to eat him!" I fanned myself and smiled. "However, he was acting very strange. I don't think I like him intoxicated. And what's even worse is I don't think he even realizes he saw me that night. He has acted just like everything is just hunky dory…and he stormed out on me that night, so I would think he would at least have apologized. Therefore he has to have forgotten everything about that night, right?"

"Well, from everything you have told me about Edward, I would have to say that yes, he must not remember, because he is way too much of a gentleman to not apologize for that. So, at what point did he actually storm off?"

"Well, it was incredibly odd. I had looked all over for you and even went to the bathroom for a while to hide out. I could have sworn I heard Edward shouting at the door for me to get out, but when I came out he was nowhere to be found. I thought maybe I had imagined him just because I wanted someone to talk to so desperately. So, I looked around for you one more time – and had more advances from drunken perverts – and just as I was getting ready to leave I saw Edward on the other side of the room. I started to walk toward him and he caught sight of me and started looking at me like a carnivorous beast! Oh man, it was so freaking sexy! He continued to look like he wanted to devour me the closer I walked toward him. However, when I stood in front of him and said 'hello' and that I hadn't expected to see him there, he huffed and walked out. I don't get it."

"Maybe he thought you were saying that you had hoped he wasn't there or something, and then it hurt his feelings thinking you didn't want to see him? I don't know. Guys are so hormonal. I think that sometimes they are worse than a girl with PMS." She giggled and shook her head.

"You know…that never crossed my mind. I bet you're right! We have been hanging out a lot lately and if it seemed like I didn't want to run into him at a party, yeah, that might have ticked him off…or at least upset him. So I probably shouldn't bring it up with him then, especially since he obviously doesn't remember," I sighed.

We finished eating our breakfast and turned on some cleaning music and began cleaning the room. We had made a promise to each other that we would do our normal cleaning on a daily basis, but on Sundays, we would deep clean – you know; empty all the trash bins, vacuum the floors, dust, organize our desks – which get entirely out of hand – and clean out our mini fridges.

Once we were finished cleaning, Angela went out to lunch with her sister and I finished up the small amount of schoolwork I had left, and then quickly checked my emails before I called my dad.

He answered on the second ring, "Bells! I'm so glad you called. It's so quiet here. I miss hearing your voice."

Wow…that was extremely unexpected.

My eyes started to tear up from that admission. I never knew Charlie was such a sentimental guy. "Hey, Dad! I miss hearing your voice, too. I don't have anyone to yell at me and tell me I'm to stop being so immature," I laughed.

"Oh, baloney! I have never told you that you were immature, and you know it. You have always been more mature than most adults I know, let alone teenagers," he chuckled.

"I know, Dad, but I can't be all sappy and tell you that I miss your sweet and kind voice, you know. I have a reputation to uphold here," I huffed jokingly.

"So," Charlie sighed. "I got your email thingy yesterday. Can you tell me what lol means? In all my forty years I have never heard that word before."

I started giggling, and it quickly escalated to a full-out cackle. He had pronounced lol phonetically instead of as individual letters and it sounded ridiculous. I couldn't quit laughing – I even snorted a couple times. "No…it means…" I laughed again. "It means laugh out loud." I was still laughing in between words.

"How does lol mean laugh out loud? That doesn't make sense," he grunted.

Bless his heart, he takes things so literal.

"L equals laugh, O equals out, L equals loud. L-O-L, laugh out loud," I explained.

He finally got it but he thought it was just silly, so I explained that how would he know I was laughing if I didn't say it. He then, in turn, asked why he would need to know if I was laughing. I decided to drop the subject – it could have gone on all night. I asked him about our friends on the Rez and his buddies at the station. He spent a good twenty minutes talking about everyone. I knew right then and there that he needed someone to talk to more often, so I vowed to call him mid-week as well. As I had mentioned before, Charlie is a man of few words, so twenty minutes of speaking is unheard of from that man.

I went into a bit more detail about my classes and friends I had met and just college life in general. Charlie didn't seem to get the least bit bored by my ramblings. He commented and laughed where appropriate, and asked questions if he was unsure of something. It was probably the longest conversation I had had with him in my entire life.

Eventually, the call was coming to an end, so I said my 'I love you' and 'talk to you soon' and Dad said, "Okay, Bells. I love you, too. Oh and Bells?" Don't do it, Charlie… "Happy birthday! Talk to you soon." He hung up before I could even reprimand him. I just knew he couldn't go without saying it. I was just thankful that he didn't draw it out and make a big deal of it.

My mom used to make a big deal of birthdays and since she wasn't around to do it anymore, I didn't want anyone to. I think for the most part, Dad preferred it that way as well. He was never much of a celebratory kind of guy anyway.

I placed my phone on my desk and began eating an early dinner. I had taken three bites when my phone buzzed with a text message from Edward.

Umbella, I hope you are having a great Sunday. I look forward to seeing you bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning ;)

Smiling, I typed back,

How long are you gonna pick on me for stuttering like a buffoon when we first met? lol & idk about bright eyed and bushy tailed…mornings aren't my forte ;)

I waited impatiently for him to text back. It took nearly fifteen minutes, which was highly unusual for Edward.

Is that what you think? That I'm picking on you? I'm sorry. I've never meant it rudely. I think it is an adorable name for you. If it bothers you, I'll stop. :(

Adorable? Hmm. Now, that could be a good thing or a really bad thing. Kittens are adorable, but I don't want to be like a kitten to Edward. Edward was, however, a bit of a nerd – scratch that, he was more than a bit of a nerd (what can I say? I really like nerds!) – so it's possible that he was trying to be suave somehow by having an adorable nickname for me.

This boy stuff is way too complicated!

I finally just said the first thing that popped into my head.

No, you don't have to stop. I just thought you were poking fun. I don't mind it at all. So…you gonna be bright and bushy as well? If I have to be, so do you! :)

Less than a minute later he responded with the absolute sweetest thing ever.

If it means I can see you smiling, then definitely. It will be entirely worth it. ;)

A teaser for a review my lovelies.