Laws of Attraction
Mackie here! Yes, I know. I'm a terrible person for making you wait eternity for a chapter that is only five pages long. I'm sorry. I've just been…well lazy. Yeah, I suck. Throw rocks if you must, but avoid my head; because I need that part of me to continue writing. So please review. It helps us come up with ideas of where we want to go and it definitely makes us want to write more, faster. Thanks you all!
Setting Things Into Motion
Edward's POV
Fate. The thought ran through my mind over and over becoming a constant mantra. Over the last three days, she was all I could think about, my Bella. I saw everything as she did it, my eyes giving her rapt attention when she most certainly did not ask for it. But I couldn't help it. I was entranced. And it wasn't good. It wasn't good at all. We both were…well, are best friends. And ruining that over how I felt would be absolutely ridiculous. How could she return the feelings? I wasn't anything special, per se. Sure, I had my fair share of girlfriends. But none gave me the incredible feeling of happiness, contentment that Bella gave. Because I was so happy with her is exactly why I had to stay away.
***
One week after the talk.
I made my way to first period feeling a little hopeful. I had come up with a plan. In order to keep my thoughts of Bella at a more reasonable and less destructive level, I had come up with a brilliant, beyond brilliant idea. (**REFERENCE HERE! BROWNIES FOR THOSE WHO KNOW WHAT IT'S FROM!**)
There was a dance; homecoming to be exact. Though football was nonexistent in the ever-raining state, the homecoming was still a big deal here. And my plan was to find a date. A good one. Not some random chick who thinks she'll get laid that night.
So I began to scope out. I knew who to avoid. I had figured that out within my first week here. It wasn't hard. They stuck out like sore thumbs. Tanya, for instance, was a basically a slut. Just about every guy minus Jasper as far as I knew, had been with Tanya. Sadly, she did have her eyes on me. Trying not to wretch too loudly, I swiftly passed her in the hallway.
I entered my English class that Bella and I conveniently shared. I grinned crookedly and saw Bella's face brighten when we made eye contact. I took my assigned seat next to her and took out my book and notebook for the excessive note taking this class required. I turned to look at Bella and was just about to say good morning when the wicked witch of the west came up.
"Hello, Edward," a nasally voice came to my ears. 'Ew' was all I could think. Lauren Mallory practically threw herself on my desk while attempting to talk sexily into my ear.
I fought back the urge to gag and was about to tell her to go away when I saw Bella's face. She was fuming. A blush of rage colored her cheeks just barely. And her eyes were livid with anger. If looks could kill…
I quickly turned to Lauren and said rather frankly, "Go away. I don't want whore all over my desk, thank you." I pretended to wipe something off the face of the desk when she got down. She pouted an ugly looking pout and stormed away.
I heard someone clear their throat and turned to see Bella trying to keep from laughing. I chuckled a little stiffly. Her reaction to Lauren still perplexed me. But class was beginning and I needed to take notes. So I sat through class and took detailed notes while trying not to think of my beautiful best friend next to me.
What are hard thing it was to do. Every time she so much as flinched or scribbled in her silly writing on her notebook my eyes would flicker towards her. I couldn't pay attention to anything else. She held my focus all period. This was going to be a long day.
***
Lunch came, finally.
I really liked Jasper and Alice but they were only in my English class. So, I don't see them all day. Therefore lunch was an opportune time to seek advice from Jasper.
"Hey, Edward! How's your day been?" Alice said whilst bouncing in her seat. I tried to stifle my chuckles as I answered her.
"It's been okay, Alice. Thanks for asking."
She quickly moved on to talk to Bella. A more exciting conversation, I'm sure. So, I turned to Jasper who was eating quietly with one hand on the small of Alice's back. Probably in effort to restrain her, I thought.
"Hey, man," I started casually. Apparently my attempt to cover my anxiety fell through automatically. Jasper's head snapped up with rapt attention. He stared at me, giving the impression that he was surveying my every emotion. He was odd like that. He could empathize so well. It was a little frightening at first. I shifted under his gaze before speaking.
"I have a…dilemma. Could we meet after school and talk?" Jasper gave a swift nod.
"What's the matter, Edward?" he asked.
"I just have an idea and I might need your help to follow through with it." He nodded once more before returning to his food.
I ate in silence for the most part. A few minutes later, an average, nerdy looking boy with greasy hair came up to our table and handed out fliers. They were for homecoming. Information on tickets, restaurants and such were on the paper as well as directions to the ranch where it would be taking place. Apparently it was a surprisingly beautiful place, despite it being a 'barn'.
"Oo! Oh Bella! We have to go shopping! This weekend!" Alice was about to burst with her energy. Everyone at the table seemed to laugh but Bella.
"Oh, Alice, stop. I've never gone to homecoming before. Why would I go this year?"
Alice looked seriously offended by such an idea. "Bella, it's your senior year. Why wouldn't you go?!"
"Because no guy is interested. Not to mention the fact that me and a dance floor equals death. And once you add dangerous tall shoes to the equation…well you're just asking for trouble."
I frowned at her distaste for dancing. She had never liked it when we were younger either. It was a shame she was so clumsy. She had lithe limbs and would be a beautiful dancer if it wasn't for her lack of hand-eye and floor-foot coordination.
"No, Bella. You are going. End of story. Rose and I will take you shopping this weekend." Alice held such finality in her voice I couldn't dream of ever going against her.
Bella narrowed her eyes however, and continued to stand her ground. "No, Alice. I won't go alone. I won't make a fool of myself. Unless I'm asked, I'm not going."
Alice huffed and mumbled, "We shall see about that."
"Oh we shall, sis." Bella said icily.
The bell rang then, saving us all from more of the petty fight before us.
The rest of the day passed slowly with no trivial events. By the end, I was ridiculously anxious to talk to Jasper about my plan.
I met Jasper in the parking lot and we decided for me to follow him to his house. Upon arrival, I was greeted by his mother, Angela Hale. (??)
"Hello, Edward! It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard much about you!" She shook my hand firmly, giving me a sweet smile. She was definitely a great mother. I could already tell. "I hope I'll be seeing more of you! Jasper doesn't have a lot of people over very often."
"Mom," Jasper moaned.
I chuckled lightly and followed Jasper up the stairs.
"Sorry about that," he apologized while shutting and locking (with deliberant force, might I add) the door behind him. "I love my mom, but she's just very tactless at crucial times."
I merely chuckled again and shook my head as a sign that I had no problem.
"So, what is this dilemma you speak of Edward?" He walked to a leather couch in the corner of his room and took a seat, reclining and bringing his left leg over his right thigh, looking rather at ease.
I tousled my hair in frustration. "Jasper, I need to find a date to homecoming. You see, I really like Bella. We were such great friends at the orphanage, but something has changed since then. She's so perfect. But I don't want to mess anything up at all. So I think it would be best if I started dating. To try and keep my thoughts from being consumed by her."
Jasper merely nodded with understanding thoughtfulness, waiting for me to proceed.
"Well, I don't know many people. And I was hoping maybe you could help me find someone. You know…someone with character and no STDs," I said with a smirk.
"Ah," he replied with a smirk of his own. "Yes, that's a difficult feat to accomplish sometimes," he said with a laugh. "I'm lucky to have found Alice."
I nodded, smiling. Yes, Jasper was more than lucky. And so was Alice, seeing as he was the only one with an ounce of control over her.
"So, who would you like to go out with?"
"Well that's the point of me talking to you. I don't know. I don't know anyone really."
"Well, I think I know the right person," Jasper said, standing quickly. He strode to his closet and pulled a book from a shelf in his closet. He emerged holding a yearbook with a large FHS '08 on the front.
"Her name is Leah, Leah Clearwater. She's absolutely a doll. Ever so sweet and very smart. I think she was second in the class last year, after Bella."
This made my eyes widen. Bella was first in class? That made her Valedictorian…
He turned to the section of juniors from last year. He flipped pages till he reached the C's. He pointed a finger at her face and I instantly smiled. She had a sweet face and interesting disposition about her. I was intrigued. And also, her face looked rather familiar. I voiced this to Jasper.
"That's because she's in our first period English class, Edward. She sits in front of me. And she's pretty, don't you think?"
I nodded my head thoughtfully. This could work, I thought hopefully.
So after making my decision, we decided to call the girls and Emmett to see what they wished to do. We all decided to go to see a movie.
Upon arrival, we realized we had not decided what to see. I was pretty lax about anything we decided to see. I wasn't picky by any means. Emmett wanted to see Transformers 2 and the girls wanted to see My Sister's Keeper. Jasper and I broke up the debacle by suggesting The Hangover. Everyone's eyes brightened significantly at our mention of the supposedly hilarious movie. So without any more hold up, we bought our tickets and food and made our way to the theater.
Halfway through, I couldn't really breath anymore and realized my friends were in the same position as I was; bent double, tears rolling down their faces. This only made us all laugh harder as we gazed at each other's amusement.
After the movie was over, we made our way out of the theater with silly grins. Random giggles could be heard every once in awhile from one of the girls. As we walked down the ramp to the doors, Bella tripped. I managed to capture her, but could not stop the coke she held from falling to the floor in a big sticky mess. "Shit," she mumbled. I set her upright. "It's fine, Bells. We'll just tell the manager or something."
She shook her head in protest. "No, it's my fault. I'll get something to clean it up." I watched as she made her way to the concession stand. A pale, blonde boy no older than Bella stood behind the counter. His ridiculous uniform gave him the look of a clown and I bit back a laugh. His blue eyes raked over Bella in a way I most definitely did not approve.
I heard her ask him softly for some paper towels. He stared for a moment longer before turning to grab a roll of towels. He handed them to her wordlessly, and she made her way back to where I stood.
After I had helped her clean up the mess, we made our way back to the counter, to return the remaining paper towels.
"Thank you," she said sweetly before turning to leave. However, I did not miss the hungry look in the boy's face. I made a quick note that his name tag said 'Mike'. Well, Mike, I thought. You keep your filthy slimy self away from my Bella. I placed my hand at the small of her back and led her to our friends without a word.
A/N: *swoons* Personally, I love a jealous Edward. Let me know what you guys think. Elle's turn is next. I believe she'll be doing Bella's point of view and I will be doing Edward's from now on. Review!!