Chapter 4: Friday

I felt a tinge of disappointment when I arrived Friday afternoon to see Edward's package sitting in the storage room. I had really been enjoying the conversations with Edward over the past few days. He always made it point to come look for the package when I was at work, even if it was not during his work hours.

He was definitely a different type of guy. He was not your typical college frat boy or even anything like Mike. He was genuine, funny, smart, and as much as I hated to admit it he was definitely gorgeous. But I couldn't allow myself to get close to another guy, especially not one like Edward.

He was out my league, and Mike was right I didn't deserve better. I felt my eyes water thinking back to the day I finally broke up with him. Mike had been a great boyfriend during our first year together, slightly jealous but not overly so. But his jealously started to take over the relationship. I could barely speak to any other man without him screaming at me for hours.

He had taken it too far the day I had broken up with him. He had practically threatened me, because I had spoken to a male friend from school. He had accused me of cheating on him, and had told me that I should be happy that he had settled for me. I broke up with him that day, but it was the last words he said that were still engraved in my mind. He had told me that I would never find anyone else that no one would ever settle for me.

"And how is Bella doing on a wonderful Friday?" The wonderful silky voice of Edward interrupted my thoughts. His eyes were immediately full of concern as he noticed my watery eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked quickly walking across the counter and sitting next to me.

"Nothing." I mumbled dabbing my eyes with a tissue and faking a smile.

"I know there's something wrong, but I understand if you don't want to share it with me. Just know I'll be happy to listen if you need me to." He replied taking my hand in his and kissing it gently.

"Thanks." I added. I couldn't believe that I had let him see me that way. I never told anyone what Mike had said. If I told Alice or Rosalie they would probably want to kill him, and part of me still cared for his well being.

"Anything interesting set up for the weekend?" He said his dazzling smile making me feel a little bit better.

"No, not really. Just another boring weekend. You?" I responded. For some reason I didn't want him to know about my triple date.

"What a beautiful girl like you doesn't have a boyfriend?" His eyes suddenly shining brighter.

"No." I answered shyly pretending to be interested in my computer screen.

"This weekend doesn't look very promising for me either." He added with a wink that caused my heartbeat to increase.

"What no plans?" I asked suddenly interested in what he did when he wasn't in class or at work.

"Just hanging out with my two best friends." He answered with a slight grin.

"Sounds like fun." I added turning back to him. "You're package is here." I commented noticing the sad disappointment in his eyes.

"That can't be good." He said with a frown leaning back in his chair.

"I thought you were waiting for the package." I responded resting my head on hand.

"That means I will have to find some other reason to spend time here with you." He said smoothly his green eyes making contact with mine.

"So you would rather waste your time here with me then making important discoveries in the lab." I said trying my best to disguise the blush that I knew had crept up in my cheeks.

"Some discoveries are more important to me right now." He said winking at me.

I was about to answer when one of the girls from Edward's lab approached the counter. "Edward, I think there's been a mix up in the lab. Courtney administered double the dosage to the placebo group instead of just the juice."

Edward groaned before getting up. "I need to take care of this. I'll try to come back before you leave." He said with a smile before following the girl back into the lab.

As soon as he was out of sight I buried my face in my hands. I knew that I was definitely falling for Edward. But it was a bad idea all around. He was my class partner, and if anything went wrong it could jeopardize my grade in the class. He also seemed to good to be true. And if there was the slightest possibility that he was interested in me, then he would soon realize that I wasn't worth it. I was just plain Jane, with nothing to offer.

The day continued to drag on, and I found myself hoping that Edward would return. As I was returning from the bathroom I noticed a small post-it notes on my computer screen with the nicest handwriting I had ever seen.

Sorry that I had to run. Meet me for coffee Sunday at 2.

Edward

His phone number was also written under his name. I sat back down rereading the note a couple of times before my phone began to vibrate indicating a text message.

Meet us at the mall at 6. We need new outfits for tomorrow!

I sighed flipping my phone close. Alice was addicted to shopping, and really wanted to treat me like a Barbie. It was her favorite form of torture since we were kids. She loved to sneak into our mom's makeup and give Rosalie and me makeovers.

I looked at the clock before picking my bag and books up. It was just after five, and needed to get across town to the mall. "Bye everyone, have a good weekend!" I waved at my coworkers before rushing out of the building.

I made it to the mall with a few minutes to spare, finding Alice practically bouncing from excitement. "Bella!" She screamed giving me a hug. "Isn't this exciting."

"Loads of fun." I said sarcastically causing her to roll her eyes.

"Rose should be here in a few minutes she just called. She got held up at work." She explained as we spotted Rose strutting down the mall.

"Sorry girls, I ran into Emmett as I was leaving. I met both his friends, and I must say that you two are not going to be disappointed." She said smiling brightly as we rode the escalators.

"Do you know where we're going?" Alice asked obviously contemplating what sort of outfit we will need.

"Well, I know we are going to dinner at Tonic in Time Square." Rosalie said happily.

"Does that mean we have to sing?" I said dreading the idea of having to stand up and sing in front of everybody. Tonic was both a restaurant and a karaoke bar.

"It'll be fun. Besides you have a lovely voice." Alice complimented as she started to pile us with clothes.

I sighed as I started to look through the clothes. I detested shopping, because I never seemed to find anything that fit correctly. I was not beautiful like Rose or confident like Alice. The outfits never looked that good at me.

"Lucky for you I already picked out a bunch of outfits that will fit you like a glove. Come on after this we still need to buy shoes and accessories." Alice stated dragging me into the dressing room where Rose was waiting for us in front of three empty room.

"You know the rules we show each other the outfits no matter how horrendous we think they look." Rose said before disappearing into the dressing room.

I rolled my eyes before walking into the dressing room. I quickly grabbed the first outfit that Alice had arranged. It was a pair of dark blue jeans almost black and a dark-red low-cut halter.

"This is too revealing." I complained from inside the dressing room.

"Come on, Bella. You're not a nun." Rose said laughing.

"But I'm not a whore either." I retaliated.

"Let's see it, Bella." Alice said knocking on my door.

I opened the door allowing her to come in. "I don't see what the problem is. It looks gorgeous on you."

"But it's not my style." I said crossing my arms across my chest.

"I found what I'm wearing." Rose announced with a beautiful smile. She was wearing a tight pair of jeans and light green one shoulder top that showed plenty of cleavage.

"That looks great." I complimented.

"Emmett is going to die when he sees you in that." Alice said with a giggle before handing me a dark blue short dress. "Try this one."

I quickly changed into the dress, and couldn't help but smile as I looked in the mirror. The dress was moderately low-cut and was very loose fitting ending around mid-thigh. "I like it." I said happily opening the door for my two friends.

"Bella you are going to be turning heads tomorrow!" Rose said with a grin.

"She sure is." Alice added before turning around to show off her sleeveless pink and black dress. "So?"

"I think we have found our outfits." Rose exclaimed. "Now hurry up we still have to buy shoes and accessories."

I laughed as I changed back into my clothes. I was not looking forward to what would probably be a disaster of a date, but I did like the clothes. There was only one person I was willing to go on a date with, but it would never happen. That person was Edward.

A/N: The response for this story has been amazing. I can't believe how many of you like it.

I hope this chapter gives some insight to Bella. As you can probably tell I'm not a big fan of Mike. But Edward is going to get the chance to set him straight, and I can't wait for that chapter.

Tonic Time Square is an actual restaurant/bar thing, but for the case of my story it has karaoke every night. It really is a cool place, I was there last year with a couple of friends.

Please keep the reviews coming! I love to hear your thoughts and reactions!

Next Chapter: The Date

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