Chapter Twelve
Alice and I head into our on campus Starbucks, both of us thankful for the coffee break.
"Are you still not going to tell me what happened on your date last night? I'm going to kill my brother, I swear Bella."
It's endearing to know that Alice has my back, but I assure her once again that nothing happened because honestly, I don't give a fuck. It was a mere blip in my timeline that won't mean a thing to me in a couple of days.
As of today the deal is off. I am no longer Edward Cullens 'girlfriend'.
You know, now that I think about it, there really was no perk to being his girlfriend, if anything it's degrading to be with such a manwhore.
Yeah that's right. I hate him. Totally hate him. Well, hate is a strong wo.. No. Hate him.
"Are you okay?" Alice asks once we queue up.
"I'm fine, totally fine, do I not look fine? I feel it." Oh God, my nervous fine talk has decided to start up.
She gives me a funny look but before she has a chance to say anything, the barista calls her up to take her order. I guess miracles are real?
Once we have our coffees, mine a simple Americano, hers a concoction of so many different things I doubt it even tastes like coffee anymore, we sit down on the table facing the campus.
I stay quiet hoping Alice doesn't bring up her brother again, but apparently miracles are short-lived with an expiration date.
"So you're sure nothing happened? You had a good time?" She asks with hesitance.
"We went to the party, mingled, and then he had to do something so Jasper dropped me off. Nothing else happened." I say, giving her a little smile to try and reassure her.
At the end of the day she's just making sure I'm okay, and even though i'm not used to people worrying about me, it's sweet.
"So you had a good time?"
"I swear to God Alice if you ask me about last night one more time, I'm goi-"
"Bella! So nice to see you again."
Could this day be getting any worse?
I don't bother turning to smile, I don't even acknowledge her but she doesn't seem to get the hint and walks over so she's standing beside our table.
"Oh, Alice I didn't see you from over there. Nice to see you." Her voice makes me want to puke my insides out, preferably on her made up face.
I laugh thinking about funny that would be and for a second her mask fades and see the evil beneath it.
"Tanya, always a pleasure."
She ignores Alice and looks back at me. "So Bella, I assume you got home safe and sound?"
I nod, not wanting to make conversation with her. She waits as if I'm supposed to say something else before realising I'm not going to.
"Well I got home fine. Thanks to Edward that is, such a gentleman isn't he? I hope I didn't ruin your night by stealing him away from you."
I plan on staying quiet but I sense the ulterior meaning behind her words, she's baiting me, waiting for my reaction. She's clever, I'll give her that.
"Oh you didn't steal him for long, he visited me after he dropped you off last night." I'm lying, but she doesn't know that.
She doesn't say anything, she just nods with a pissed off look on her face before facing Alice again.
"Alice you must tell your parents I said hi. I hope I'll be seeing them over Christmas break again this year."
"Sure." The enthusiasm in Alice is low, and I'm pretty sure Tanya can sense that too.
But I'm too busy wondering why she'd been with Alices family over Christmas? Obviously because of Edward, which means things between them were serious? Or at least they were serious.
I start to feel slightly possessive of him.
It's crazy, slightly shocking and totally not my place but I do, so much it makes me want to get up and punch her in the face, but I decide against it.
I decide it isn't enough though, I've stuck the knife in and now I'm planning on twisting it too.
As she walks off I call her name, needing to come out on top of this.
"Tanya! He's a gentleman alright, and he's all mine. You just make sure you remember that."
She's gobsmacked to say the least. There's no way she expected me to blatantly call her out and start world war three with her in Starbucks. And fuck, does it feel good.
I give her a look that says 'don't ever underestimate me again' before she turns to leave.
Bella one, Tanya zero.
"What the hell was that all about, Edward wasn't at our dorm room last night, was he?"
I shrug my shoulders, dismissing it. "It's fine, I lied. That bitch needed to be put in her place."
"Oh right, well I agree. I've never liked her, I've just tolerated her because she's always been there."
"Did she go to your highschool or something?" I ask, trying to sound inconspicuous about it.
Alice takes a sip of her 'coffee' nodding. "Yeah, but I mean we're family friends. Our parents are super close so she was always around. We went on vacations together, spent holidays at eachothers house. It was fine when we were little but she hit fourteen and became this mega bitch."
She whispers the last word as if Tanya could actually hear us. "I blamed it on hormones, you know? But well, she's still a bitch so it's obviously just her. She's always been fairly fine with me though, probably because of her major crush on Edward. You should have seen her when we were younger, she'd follow him everywhere. He hated it! Oh, I'm sorry, you don't want to be hearing about this. I'm so stup-"
"No it's fine, honestly!" I say quickly, meaning it. If anything, any insight into the relationship between Edward and Tanya was useful.
Especially now that I'd decided things were definitely back on between us.
My reasoning? Well someone needed to show Tanya that Edward wasn't hers.
Plus he was using me for his own personal gain, so it was only fair that I could use him for my own personal gain too. It was a win-win situation.
We're headed out of Starbucks when we spot Mike walking our way. He jogs the space between us and slings his arms around our shoulders.
"How are my two favourite girls?"
"Good." "Fab." We say, instantly brightening up around Mike and his infection personality.
Alice spots Jasper sitting with Edward on a bench and steps out of Mikes arm. I look over at Edward who's got his feet on the seat, sitting on the back of the bench instead.
I catch him at a good time, his smile bright as he laughs at something Jasper says while smoking a cancer stick. I can't deny that he is an extremely handome guy and for a second, I question why he wants anything to do with me.
Well, I've questioned it nearly every second since I've met him, but now I really question it. He could have any girl pretend to be his girlfriend, he could even choose a girl who most people would believe he'd actually date.
Instead he chose me.
Should I feel special? Priviledged? Because honestly, I don't. I don't feel special, I feel stupid, I feel gullible.
What if this was all a joke? Some type of bet like in 'She's All That.' Or a dare off one of his friends?
'I dare you to date a plain jane!' 'I bet you can't make her fall in love with you.'
Oh God.
I feel sick to my stomach as my brain tries to take in all of this. Was I right? Was I being played?
It all makes sense now, why else would he bother with me? I wasn't his type. I wasn't anyones type.
"It's cool Alice. You're too cool to be seen with someone like me. I get it. You're lucky I have Bella on my other arm though, she totally makes up for it."
Mike smiles down at me and pulls me in closer, I welcome his little embrace. I give him a smile back even though inside I'm freaking out.
This is why you don't date Bella!
My conscious shouts at me. But Edward and I aren't dating so there was nothing to worry about.
Everyone thinks you are though.
I breathe in and out, trying to calm myself, feeling overwhelmed by it all. I could be overreacting, maybe I've watched too many movies.
At a time like this I really wish I had previous dating experience to be able to differentiate between what was real and what was fake. Even though Edward and I were fake dating, he could still be playing me.
I could always go to Rosalie but I don't think I could face telling her this was all a ploy, I can't face the disappointment she'd have in me for being so stupid. Especially when I was always the sensible, sane one out of the two of us.
No. I'd figure this out by myself.
I'm Isabella Swan, daughter of Detective Swan, I can tell when someone's lying.
"You guys coming to the bonfire this weekend?" Mike asks us both, even though Alice is busy fixing her already perfect hair as we near Jasper and Edward.
"What's with all of these events? Honestly I can't keep up." I say, wondering who plans all of them.
"It's tradition to have parties, bonfires and so on at the beginning of the year. I think it's because it gives a chance for the older guys to check out the new talent."
"Well I for one, will not be attending."
It's fleeting and I almost miss it but a look of sadness crosses Mikes face. Not that sad look you get off a friend, it was a sad look off someone who expected and really wanted you to be there. A look you get when someone was only going, in hope to see you there too.
"Oh well that sucks. Why not?"
"We'll be there." Alice says. Not even bothering to look at us. Man, that girl was falling hard.
"We will?" I ask slightly confused.
"Yeah, Jasper will most likely be there which means I have to be there, which means you also have to be there."
"Great! I'll pick you guys up then?"
"Sure." I say, not missing Mikes now upbeat face.
Something else I don't miss is the fact that Edward is off the bench and making his way towards us with Jasper in towe. His eyes zero in on Mike and I look from his hand around my shoulders to Edward.
"Alice, Mike." He nods at them both. Alice smiles back at him and then secretly focuses on Jasper in the corner of her eye. "Bella, can we talk?"
I place my hand on top of Mikes and move it off my shoulder before walking off, not bothering to check if Edward is even following me.
I only agree because frankly he has some explaining to do and some major grovelling.
But really, I just need to find out if the player is indeed playing me, because I may not be a player but I play a damn good game.
...
A/N -
What do you think? Did you like Bellas way of handling Tanya or was it slightly mean? What do you think Edward will say?
Thanks for sticking with me and staying committed to this story even after I put it on hiatus for nearly five months. It means a lot, and your reviews are fucking awesome. Also to the reviewer who said they'd give me cookies, I'm waiting on em, haha!
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