Again, thanks to my LC – Alitriona/Eila, Allysue08, Rags88, Shereebedee, Spellboundagain, and Whatobsession17. I'd also like to add Revrag to the crew. She began helping me this week as well. Although she almost had me quit writing permanently…LOL! Just kidding, she is great, she just likes to tell it like it is and well…it was crap! HA!

I hope my lease doesn't have an expiration date on it, because I'm still not done with these characters.

Can you say Awk-ward?

September 14, 2009

I fell asleep with a smile on my face after the text from Edward, and still had it upon waking the next morning. I should also mention that I was up a good twenty minutes before my alarm went off. I decided I would take the extra time to make myself look 'bright-eyed and bushy tailed' if that was at all possible. I was never one to wear makeup, but I decided to add a bit of blush and lip gloss to look a little perkier and hopefully make Edward notice.

I took my time getting ready – changing clothes three times – and I still was too early to head to class. I decided to hop on and send Dad a quick email just to let him know I was thinking of him and then I made my way to the coffee shop. I tried to walk slowly, in order to delay my arrival, but I wasn't even remotely accomplishing that.

I still ended up sitting in my seat fifteen minutes before class pulling at the hem of my shirt nervously. Don't ask me why I was nervous, I have no freaking clue.

I was digging through my bag when I heard the door open and I had a sudden sense of déjà vu. I rose up smiling, but my smile faded when I noticed it wasn't Edward; it was Emmett. He saw me, a smile spreading across his face, and he came trudging up the stairs toward me. He plopped right down in Edward's seat.

"Hey there! You really are in my class, huh? Bella, right?" He placed his hand on my shoulder in a friendly manner.

I smiled and nodded. "Yep. Good memory. I'm surprised you remember anything after that party."

He looked shocked. "Shoot, I didn't drink but a couple of beers. I am in charge of keeping order, so I have to stay coherent enough to chaperone any parties, otherwise the IFC will close our fraternity."

That was a surprise. Emmett totally looked like a guy who liked to party. I was really starting to think Emmett was going to be someone who I would enjoy hanging out with. He was such a great guy from what I could tell.

"Ahh, gotcha!" I grinned and held my thumb and forefinger in the shape of a gun while clicking my tongue.

The room started to fill and I was getting nervous because Emmett was still sitting in Edward's seat. He was chatting away about anything and everything and making me laugh repeatedly. In the middle of one of my laughing fests, I looked up and saw Edward entering the room. He looked right at me with a huge grin on his face but when he slid his eyes in the direction of his seat, he froze. Emmett was oblivious and continued to joke rather loudly.

Edward lowered his eyes and slumped his shoulders. It wasn't enough for anyone else to notice, but enough for me to feel like being punched in the gut. My heart broke as I watched him slide into another seat in defeat.

No! No! NO! This was not supposed to happen!

The professor came in and the room got quiet. I discreetly pulled out my cell and texted Edward.

hey! Why are you sitting down there? This is your seat, Emmett would have moved. :(

I listened to the lecture until I felt my phone buzz.

That's okay, I didn't want to interrupt, you looked like you were having fun.

Oh no! This could not be happening! He must have thought I wanted Emmett to sit there. I had to remedy this.

He just planted himself in your seat, I didn't tell him to sit there :( We are still going for coffee, right? Plz say yes! ;)

I started to get worried when he didn't respond right away until I looked up and he was elaborately answering the professor's question. I then noticed I hadn't been paying attention to the lecture whatsoever. This whole guy/girl nonsense was for the birds. I never had a problem focusing in class before. I take that back – science was hard for me to focus on, but let's just say I was never easily distracted. That was before Edward…and his green eyes…and his gorgeous smile…and his sexy glasses (which I wish he had been wearing right then)…and his…

Luckily my phone buzzed pulling me from my thoughts, which were heading in a very x-rated direction.

Of course we can go for coffee if you still want to. Are you sure you don't have plans?

Plans? Oh my God! He thought I was interested in Emmett!

lol, no, my only plans are coffee breaks with you…they are the highlights of my week ;)

I took a deep breath contemplating if I really wanted to divulge that much info about how I felt for him. Then I thought that it might not necessarily be giving information about my feelings; I could just be very lame and have no life. Well, that was true, too. Finally, I hit send.

Edward didn't respond via text. He simply turned toward me and gave me a breathtaking smile and nodded. I replied with a grin and a bright red face… of course.

Once the lecture was over, Emmett turned to me and said, "Well, Bella, it's been fun. I guess I'll see you in class on Thursday."

I smiled. "Sure, Emmett. However, you might want to sit on this side." I motioned to the seat on the opposite side of me, "because you kinda took my friend Edward's seat today." I grinned and giggled, nodding my head toward Edward, who was waiting for me by the door.

"Oh man, I am so sorry! Why didn't you just say something? I feel so bad now." Then he shocked me by belting, "Dude, I didn't mean to intrude. I won't take your seat again, scout's honor."

I laughed when he said, 'scout's honor' because Emmett as a boy scout was epically hilarious.

Edward grinned awkwardly and nodded once.

Emmett patted me on the shoulder and said as softly as his booming voice could go, "I really am sorry about that, Bella. I will sit on the other side next time." He grinned a big toothy grin.

Edward and I walked to the coffee shop and ordered our cappuccino and croissant as usual. We were discussing our Physiology assignment that was due the following week, so I opened my bag to grab my notebook because I wanted to ask Edward's opinion on something. My notebook snagged on my zipper (stupid twisted spiral piece….ugh!) and it fell out of my hand onto the floor. Just as Edward reached down to retrieve it for me, I noticed on what page it had opened, and I nearly fell out of my chair. It was too late to grab it. The damage had been done. Edward recovered nicely, by quickly closing the book, but I could tell he saw it. His face was blood red and he was biting the insides of his cheeks, trying so hard not to smile.

I had no clue how to come out of this embarrassment unscathed. We could ignore the giant pink elephant in the room, which is what I reallllly wanted to do, or we could laugh it off and continue with our everyday life. Then again, what if he never wanted to speak to me again after seeing that. This was beyond humiliating. Why, oh why, out of a hundred and fifty pages in my notebook did it have to open to the one and only page I didn't want Edward to see? Because the world hates me.

Edward handed me the notebook and I took it from him with shaking hands. I couldn't look him in the eye, so I had no clue if he was looking at me or not. I was simply waiting for him to run for the hills – or worse, laugh at me and send me running for the hills.

So when he spoke the next words, I was not only surprised, I thought I was hallucinating. Yes, I did tend to think I hallucinate a lot. Had I ever hallucinated for real? No. I would probably die of a heart attack if I ever actually did. Anyway, back to the point; Edward spoke. To me. After seeing…that.

"So, Bella…" Edward was rolling his fork between his thumb and forefinger nervously. "Can you…I mean, do you…no, would you like to go out with me this weekend?"

You know, I had heard the saying, 'a deer caught in headlights' and I had seen a literal deer caught in headlights, but I would guarantee that that was mild compared to the look I was giving Edward at that very moment. What kind of world is this when you like a guy and really want to have a relationship with him and all it takes for him to pursue said relationship is for him to see a dirty picture you drew…of him. Yes, I drew a dirty picture…well, by my standards…although you 'worldly' people might think it was mild. Call me a prude, call me a goody two-shoes, you can even call me a fuddy-duddy, I don't care. I just don't think a picture of a guy looking over his shoulder at me – in super sexy glasses, by the way – and licking his luscious…um, I mean licking his lips in a very provocative manner while wearing a pair of jeans that looked like they were painted on his firm little behind with the letters 'SE' on one pocket and 'XY' on the other pocket would be considered a clean picture…well, at least not in the PG-rated world of Bella. Man, I needed to get out more…

I looked up to see Edward looking over my shoulder making a very strange face. I looked behind me and caught sight of the Body Shot Brigade coming into the coffee shop. Did I say the world hates me? That was an understatement.

The skanks started walking right toward us. Lauren flipped her hair and smiled what I think was supposed to have been seductive…but I will be honest with you…if that was seductive, I don't ever wanna look that way. She pushed her chest forward and leaned down where her chest was almost directly in Edward's face. His eyes bulged and he leaned back. I could smell her overly flowery perfume permeating the air around her and I thought I was going to gag. Edward looked like he was, too, because the poor thing had a look on his face like he just swallowed a worm.

Lauren put her hand on Edward's shoulder. "Hey there. I've seen you around and I have been waiting to run into you again. My name's Lauren."

Edward looked at her like she had just grown horns out of her head…wait, I think she actually was growing horns out of her head. "Um…hello, Laura. I'm Edward, and this is Bella." He pointed directly at me, but she didn't take her eyes off him. He glanced over at me as if he wanted me to say something, but there wasn't a thing I wanted to say to her except, "Get your claws off of my man!" and since that wouldn't be exactly appropriate, I just looked right back at him telling him the ball was in his court.

Lauren leaned down on her elbows so she was almost nose to nose with Edward. He was really looking uncomfortable at this point, but she didn't seem to mind one bit. "Actually, it's Lauren." She smiled sardonically. "So, Edward, I was wondering if you would like to hang out this weekend?"

Edward gulped and blinked quickly a few times. "Uh, well, actually, I have a date this weekend," he nodded toward me – nearly causing my heart to jump right out of my chest – and then looked back at her with a smirk, "so, I'm afraid I will have to pass."

Lauren scoffed and jerked her head toward me nearly snarling, "Her? You have plans with her this weekend?"

One of the BSB behind her said, "As if!"

Edward raised his chin proudly and said, "Yes, yes I do. Now, if you'll excuse us, Laura, we were kind of in the middle of a conversation."

"Whatever!" She snapped into a standing position, giving me a look that put Medusa to shame.

The trio walked off with separate comments; "I can't believe him!" and "What could he possibly see in her?" and the best one was, "She must have brainwashed him." My self-esteem, which had risen to the roof, plummeted straight back to the ground.

Then everything hit me all at once. Edward had just called Lauren Laura – and I knew he hadn't forgetten her name – and then he even went on to tell her he was going out with ME this weekend. He basically asked her to butt out of our conversation. My look of total shock had resurfaced and I was staring open-mouthed again.

Edward quickly started backtracking, "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have assumed…I mean, I just thought with the," he nodded toward my notebook. Lord, help me now… "You know…that you were…I'm sorry. Forget I said anything."

I quickly shook my head, waking up my brain before I missed out on the one thing I had been wanting from the very beginning. "Edward, no! I mean, don't be sorry. I would love to go out with you this weekend." I smiled and finally looked him in the eye. He looked completely shocked.

"Really?" His face lit up like a neon sign.

"Of course," I explained, "I just…you caught me off guard. I have never been asked out before." I mumbled the last part and looked down at my hands in embarrassment. I had to look like a complete freak, being eighteen and never having been asked out on a date before, let alone to have actually gone on one.

Edward reached across the table and placed his hand on mine. "Bella, don't be embarrassed. I…well, I have never actually asked a girl out before, to be honest."

I jerked my head up in surprise. "Are you serious?" He nodded and shrugged one shoulder. "But…but you…you're so…"

He looked at me questioningly. "I'm so what?"

Me and my big fat mouth…

I barely spoke above a whisper, "youresogoodlooking." My face was so red that I could feel the heat emanating from it. I sat there for what felt like hours waiting for him to respond and he never did. I was getting more nervous by the second. I finally chanced a glance at him and he looked like a gaping fish. When he noticed I was looking, he closed his mouth, licked his lips and grinned shyly.

"I was thinking the very same thing, Bella. You are more than beautiful, how is it that no one has ever taken advantage of…wait, I don't mean it like that. I mean, how is it possible that you aren't already taken?" Edward began to trace circles on the palm of my hand and I realized he had never let go. We stared into each others eyes for a few minutes while he continued to caress my hand. I could feel the blush rising and was shocked to see Edward's cheeks had a pink tint on them as well.

My phone rang, alerting me of a text, and scared the freaking crap out of me, which caused me to kick Edward in the shin. He 'oomph'ed and bit his upper lip in pain. I immediately started apologizing to which he groaned out a, "Don't worry, it's okay," but it didn't sound okay.

I felt awful. We had been having a moment. You know those kinds of moments you see on television where the guy and the girl just stare at each other and you think they must feel incredibly awkward but neither one of them could look away? Yeah, one of those moments. I can honestly say, even though I was blushing because I couldn't believe Edward was holding my hand, I was not, in any way, feeling awkward. It was…romantic. Wow. I had my first romantic moment. I mentally slapped myself. It only took eighteen years, you big loser.

"Are you okay, Edward? I am so sorry! So very sorry. I can't believe I did that. Actually, yes I can. My dad could never take me to any important events because I am a fumbling mess when I'm nervous, heck, I'm a fumbling mess when I'm not nervous, who am I kidding? Anyway, he had to miss out on so many activities, and I always felt so bad because my dad was the Chief of Police in Forks and he should be able to go to these events and not have to worry about how his daughter will behave. He shouldn't have to…" It became clear to me that I had just suffered a case of word vomit and I needed to shut up before I pushed him away.

But Edward, bless his heart, was smiling and slowly shaking his head. "I highly doubt that your dad turned down invitations to places that he actually wanted to go to, Bella. He is a father…a father is proud of his daughter no matter what. If he wanted to go to those events, he would have gone, trust me. You weren't the reason for him to stay home. Actually, maybe you were, but not in the way you think. He probably just wanted to spend time with you instead of those strangers who were most likely nothing but a bunch of pompous, pretentious egomaniacs."

My phone began ringing again, but this time it wasn't a text. I glanced down and saw it was my dad. Speak of the devil.

"Speak of the devil." I grinned at Edward. "Excuse me for just a minute, please." I pushed the talk button and started speaking to my dad. He was having issues with his computer and couldn't figure out how to log into his email. I told him I was with a friend I would call him back as soon as I was back at my room. Then it dawned on me that it was mid-afternoon and he should still be at work.

"Dad? Why are you at home? Shouldn't you be at work?"

"Well, yeah…but…I had something I wanted to email you…and I was afraid I would forget if I waited until I got off work, so I stopped by while I had my lunch.

My dad. Had something. He wanted to email me…seriously?

"Well, what is it? You can just tell me, then you don't have to worry with your computer until later," I explained.

"No…no, this is something you need to see." I could hear the grin in his voice. My dad was not a jokester. My dad rarely cracked a smile, and yet, my dad was sending me an email that made him grin to think about. I didn't know whether to be elated or petrified.

I told him I would be home in about and hour and I would help him then. We ended the call and I took a drink of my cappuccino.

Edward was looking at me with a grin in his eyes. "What's funny?"

I cocked my head. "Funny? Why do you think something is funny?"

"Well," he started, "you have a look like you are getting ready to laugh about something. It's actually rather captivating."

"What's captivating?" I asked, taken aback.

Edward looked at me with a look of…well, it almost looked like adoration, but that couldn't be right, could it? His eyes were sparkling when he grinned and said, "The look you have when you're getting ready to laugh."

I lowered my eyes. It was obvious my face was going to stay red for the remainder of the lunch with Edward. "Actually, I was just thinking about my dad. I taught him how to use his computer and email so we could communicate while I am away. He acted like it was a horrible idea and he was hesitant to have anything to do with it. However, he just told me he has something he wants to email me and I can't for the life of me imagine what it would be because I could tell he was grinning when he told me. You have to know…my dad rarely smiles. It's not that he is mean or tough, it's just that to be taken seriously as a Chief of Police, you need to be serious all the time…so he has become accustomed to keeping a straight face. It takes a lot to make him smile."

"Well," Edward twisted his mouth to the side, "I bet that will be an interesting email. You'll have to tell me about it."

I nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, so long as it isn't something humiliating for me, because then I will plead the fifth!"

We talked for a few more minutes until he had to go to his next class. We stood up and threw our things away and just as we were about to part ways, Edward stopped. He had his eyebrows pulled together and was biting his lip. He was staring at the ground. I wasn't sure what he was waiting for, but it was evident that he had something on his mind.

I reached out and put my hand on his forearm and said, "I really enjoy our lunches, Edward, and I'm really looking forward to our…" I gulped, because it felt really weird to say the following word, "date this weekend."

Edward's face brightened up and he placed his other hand on mine and said, "I am too, Bella. Honestly. Thank you for accepting my invitation."

If he only knew how much of a pleasure it was for me, he would know he didn't need to thank me. Not one single bit.

Salary is to work as teaser is to review.