Hi!
September passed quickly and uneventfully.
I fell back into a pattern with school, homework and spending time with Edward and my friends.
Homecoming and Spirit Week had passed the week before. The last two years at Forks I had participated, but this year...this year I didn't exactly feel the school spirit.
Except for Thursday, which had been Pajama Day. While some girls, like Lauren and Jessica used the day to dress in silk nighties, I wore my favorite flannel pajama pants and a t-shirt.
Needless to say, while they were freezing their asses off in barely there clothes, I stayed nice and toasty warm.
The week after Spirit Week was the week of Halloween. Two days before Halloween, on Monday, Edward came over to help me decorate the outside with fake cobwebs, headstones, candy corn lights and a gigantic fuzzy spiderweb.
I invited James, Victoria and Edward over to my house for Halloween. I had rented the first couple of Friday the 13th movies and ordered a pizza. Since my dad was at work, I was also in charge of handing out candy to the kids that came by trick or treating.
A week before Thanksgiving, Edward and I were doing homework at his house when Esme came home.
"Hi, Bella, Edward. Are you getting all your work done?" She asked, setting the groceries on the kitchen counter.
"Yeah, Mom. We're almost done I think," Edward looked over to me and I nodded agreeing.
"Good, good. Oh, Edward. I forgot to tell you, Charlotte and her parents are spending Thanksgiving with us this year. Since we usually spend Thanksgiving together, I thought we'd have them come over here."
"Okay," Edward shrugged. Then turning to me he said, "It's just Charlotte and her parents during the holidays, so when we lived in Chicago, they would come over to our place or we'd go to theirs."
"Well, it'll be fun to see Charlotte," I said. She and I weren't BFF's or anything, but we did sometimes send messages back and forth to each other on Facebook.
"Bella, are you sure you and your Dad can't have Thanksgiving here with us? You know you're always welcomed," Esme asked.
"Oh, no. We're going to La Push to have it with Billy and Sue. But thanks, Esme."
"Okay, dear. But you'll have to come over the day after. It's always a tradition to have our turkey sandwiches the next day. Edward loves them."
0-0
Edward, Charlotte and I were hanging out in his bedroom the day after Thanksgiving. Just like Esme had said, she invited my Dad and me over for turkey sandwiches.
Charlie couldn't make it since he had work, but I went over anyways.
The food has been awesome but afterwards we were all way too stuffed.
"So, Bella. How's Edward treating you?" Charlotte asked.
"Uhh...good? Yeah. Good." I glance over to Edward to see him looking at me and shrugging.
"Ugh. Both of you suck. Edward wouldn't tell me anything either." Charlotte pouts. "Come on, just give me some of the details!"
"I don't don't know..."
"Bella, come on! I'll tell you about Peter and I. There's this thing she does with-" Charlotte starts.
"Wait! No. No, no, no. I don't want to hear about you and Peter. Seriously," I shudder. "What Edward and I do is private...right, Edward?"
Edward nods. "Yeah. Private."
"Fine. You guys suck. Will you at least tell me if Edwards kissing skills have improved?"
I started to laugh, but then wait...what?
"Yeah, I mean, when we kissed it was like...slobber and tongue and ugh," Charlotte shudders, then laughs.
I wasn't laughing. "You guys kissed?" I turned to Edward, but Edward wasn't laughing either. In fact, he looked like a deer in the headlights.
Charlotte noticed that we weren't laughing along with her and abruptly stopped. "You didn't tell her?"
"What do you mean, you didn't tell me?" I asked. A bubble of panic rose into my chest. "What didn't you tell me?"
"And that looks like my cue to leave." Charlotte stood up. "I'm going to go on a walk and work off some of this Thanksgiving food. I'll text before I come back to make sure it's okay. Bye, Bella. Sorry."
I waited until Charlotte had left and closed the door before I turned to face Edward again. He looked panicked.
"Edward?"
"Bella. I'm sorry. I mean, shit. Charlotte is totally making it sound worse than it is and I probably made it worse than it is because I didn't tell you when you first met her," Edward rambled.
"Okay, well. You're freaking me out and Charlotte leaving like that didn't help matters either. So just tell me what's going on."
"When I found out I was moving to Chicago I didn't really take it that great. I mean, I was okay with moving, but I didn't think I would make any new friends here. It's not like I was popular or had any real friends in Chicago, but I had acquaintances and stuff. And Charlotte."
Edward paused.
"Go on," I told him. "Just spit it out, Edward."
"Charlotte wasn't always so sure she liked girls. She met Peter and was confused about how she felt. She thought maybe she liked guys and girls or it was just a fluke. So one day she was telling me that and...God. Okay. This is so embarrassing," Edward groaned.
When I didn't reply, Edward continued. "I wasn't lying when I said I didn't really have any experience with girls...cause I don't. I didn't want to leave Chicago and go to a new state and school without any experience at all, so Charlotte and I thought it would be a good idea to... experiment with each other."
I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. "Experiment? What the hell does that mean, Edward?"
"We kissed."
"Kissed?" I repeated.
"Yeah. And touched, a little. Over the clothes." Edward cringed.
"Oh, well that makes everything better. You only kissed a little and only touched over the clothes. Well that makes everything so much better." I raised my voice, something I very rarely did.
"I'm sorry. It's just...I didn't even really think about it after it happened. We stopped before anything more happened because it was like kissing your sibling. We both agreed that it was a one time thing. I'm pretty sure Charlotte called Peter up right away and told her she liked her," Edward says, laughing.
I couldn't bring myself to laugh with him.
"You lied," I said.
"Bella, it wasn't a lie. I honestly didn't even think about it after it happened. It was an embarrassing one time thing. Please believe that."
I couldn't think clearly. I felt lied to and hurt. "I can't even be here right now. I just need some time, okay? I gotta go."
I slipped on my shoes and grabbed my coat. Edward jumped off the bed and went after me, grabbing my arm to stop me.
"Bella, please. Are you...are you breaking up with me?" Edwards face looked pained, it almost made me want to stay. But I had to get away for just a bit.
"Edward, please. I'll call you or something, okay?" I tried to keep my voice steady and emotions in check, but it was hard.
"Okay. I love you," he said, letting go of my arm.
"I love you too."
0-0
I ignored Charlotte's phone calls. Edward didn't call.
Part of me wished he had called, despite what I told him.
Another part of me knew that I was probably being over dramatic.
I decided not to think about Edward and instead went to bed early.
The next morning, I got up bright and early, feeling like I had barely slept.
Angela and Ben were back in town for Thanksgiving break, but I hadn't seen Ang yet. Instead of braving 5 am Black Friday sales, we decided to go shopping at the mall in Port Angeles the day after.
I tried to not think about Edward and enjoy going shopping with the girls.
It wasn't until four hours into the shopping trip, when we were all sitting down to eat at the food court that it was brought up.
"So, Bella. Something is obviously up. You've been acting weird all day. Did something happen?" Victoria asked, picking at her Chinese food.
"No...totally fine," I lied, looking down at the table.
"Jeez, Bella. You can't lie to save your life," Angela laughed.
"Okay. Fine. So, you know how Edwards old friend and her parents are here for Thanksgiving?" When they both nodded, I continued. "Well, we were all hanging out yesterday and Charlotte asks me if Edwards a better kisser now than he was before."
"What?" Victoria yelled. "And how would she know this? I thought she liked the vag."
I told them what Edward told me and how I left right after. By the end, Victoria looked pissed while Angela looked thoughtful.
"Maybe you should talk to Edward again," she said.
"What, you think she should just forgive him already? I say let him sweat it a bit."
"Right," I shook my head. "You guys are really helpful here."
"Well, I'm just saying he lied, right? If James lied to me about some old 'friend,' then I'd stay mad for a while. Maybe make him grovel a bit?"
"Geez, Vic. That seems a little harsh. Knowing Edward he's probably at home right now beating himself up over it and wondering how he can make it up to Bella."
I sighed. "So, Victoria thinks I should make him grovel. You think I should go talk to him and forgive him. And I don't know what to do."
"Well, it at least gives you something to think about, right?" Victoria asked.
I nodded. "Yeah. Anyways, enough about me and my lame problems. Do you guys want to get back to shopping now?"
0-0
After a couple more hours of walking around the mall, we headed back home.
I still wasn't sure about what to do with Edward.
The rest of the day I busied myself with boring stuff like laundry and cleaning.
I promised myself that the next day I would call him. Besides, it would be Sunday and I would have to see him at school on Monday.
I wanted this resolved by then.
The next morning I sent Edward a text, asking him to meet me at our spot in the park.
He agreed, so I made my way over there to wait for him.
Edward arrived a few minutes after me looking a little worse for the wear.
His normally untamed hair looked just a little bit more crazy and behind his glasses I could see the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes.
My poor Edward.
I couldn't help myself. As soon as he got up to me, I kissed him.
When we pulled apart, he looked confused. "Bella, what was that for?"
"What, I can't kiss my boyfriend now?" I teased.
"Does this mean...are you not breaking up with me then?"
"Edward," I sighed and went to sit down on the picnic table. "I think I should apologize for leaving like that on Friday. It's just...I was really hurt. I thought we were always going to be honest with each other."
"I know. I messed up, big time. But I meant what I said, I didn't even think to tell you because it was so insignificant to me. I don't even consider her my first kiss. You're my first kiss. First everything."
I reached up and touched the anchor necklace. "I know. I forgive you for not telling me about it. From now on we really stick with that honesty thing, okay?"
"Okay," Edward agreed. "Charlotte was so pissed at me. She thought that I would have told you when you two first met. Before they left yesterday she kicked me in the uhh..." he motions to his crotch. "In the groin."
"I'm sorry," I said, feeling back for him.
"It really hurt," he pouted.
"Poor baby. Do you want me to kiss it and make it better?" I joked, feeling bold.
Edward's response was what I was looking for. He turned bright red and looked just a little too eager.
"You're such a guy," I said, slapping his chest. "But I'm serious. I didn't like finding out that way. It's not so much that you...kissed her, it's that you lied about. Or not outright lied, but you didn't tell me."
"I know. I'm sorry," Edward sighed.
"Just so you know, my first kiss was with a guy in Phoenix. I was at the end of freshman year. He moved over the summer and I never heard from him again."
"Did you...did you like him?" Edward asked, looking nervous.
I shook my head. "Not really. I mean, he was a nice guy but I wasn't sad or anything when I found out he left."
"Oh, okay."
"Don't worry, there's no competition there. Or anywhere. It's just you," I told him. "Come on, do you want to get lunch?"
Kinda a short chapter but I wanted to get it out on Christmas Eve day as a sort of present. Tropical Sorbet also updated Edroar the Angry Lion, so go check that out as well! It's an awesome chapter.
I've also started writing a new little drabble-ish fic called Down. I think it's pretty different from WCN. It updates twice a day, for the most part. It's about 20 chapters in now, so go check that out too! See you guys next time!