"Damn," I cursed, rummaging through the cardboard box's contents desperately seeking something that was obviously not going to be found.
"What's up?" Alice stopped in my doorway, concern pulling at her brow as she listened to my sudden stream of profanities.
"I think that bastard at the Auto Shop stole my iPod. It was in my car, but its not in the box."
"Well maybe they just didn't find it…" she suggested. "Or maybe it flew out the window or something.."
"Alice, this man smelled like bad cheese and was using a candle dish to spit his tobacco in.."
"Yeah, he probably stole it," she nodded in agreement. "Just get a new one."
"I don't want a new one. I had the perfect assortment of music on there. I'm more upset about losing that than I am about the car."
"Bummer," she shrugged. "Come on, we're going to be late for school."
Groaning discontentedly, I flung my backpack over my shoulder and followed Alice out of the house and climbed into the passenger seat of her bright yellow Porsche.
"I miss my Volvo," I grumbled as I threw my backpack in the backseat and shrugged into my seatbelt.
She rolled her eyes and started the ignition. I winced as a loud, steady hip-hop beat burst through the speakers. I moved my knee so that it wasn't resting against the speakers on the door. I could feel the vibrations from the base radiating in my entire body. It was so loud, I couldn't even tell what the words were.
"I miss my iPod," I edited, knowing the words were lost to the pounding beat as we tore out of the driveway.
It only took me a moment to gain some appreciation for the excessive volume of the music. As soon as we were out on the road, Alice began chattering away animatedly. Her mouth must have been matching the speed of her vehicle, at least, but I couldn't hear a word of what she was saying. Finally, I gave up trying to read her lips due to the lightheaded feeling it gave me. It was sort of like trying to watch a hummingbird's wings move while it was in flight.
I turned my attention away from Alice and began studying the unusually bright surroundings flying past the window of the car as she sped down the road. Regardless of the fact that I often drove at speeds much exceeding the posted limits, I still found myself subconsciously pressing my foot to the floor of the passenger seat as if expecting that the brake pedal would appear magically and give me some mild form of control. It was even worse when Alice was busy talking. She was almost going 100 miles per hour and she hadn't even noticed. I flinched and looked away from the speedometer back at Alice. She was staring at me expectantly, like I was supposed to be answering her.
"What?" I mouthed, not bothering to waste verbiage that I knew would fall short of being heard even if I screamed it. She rolled her eyes and turned down the volume in a violent twist of her wrist.
"I asked what was on your mind that's keeping you so quiet," she said matter-of-factly.
"How do you know I'm being quiet? I could be singing the National Anthem at the top of my lungs and you wouldn't have a clue because your music is so damn loud."
"Oh, you're hilarious." She narrowed her eyes sarcastically at me.
"What was that?" I continued, placing my hand against my ear to exaggerate my point. "I can't hear you still… I think my ears might be bleeding."
"Shut up!" Alice growled, bringing her small hand around and slapping it against my chest with surprising force for such a petite person. I rubbed the spot where she had made contact and she rolled her eyes at me.
"You are such a pansy."
"You're such a butch," I retorted.
"Real clever," she replied, making an unattractive face at me and sticking out her tongue. "You still didn't answer my question."
I ignored her and went back to looking out the window.
"Hey!" she protested, "I'm going to blast the music again if you don't occupy me by talking."
"You talk," I suggested. "You're really good at it."
"You're thinking about that girl, aren't you?" she accused.
"What?"
"Well you're avoiding the subject quite well."
"That doesn't mean anything. Alice, we're not talking about this. You might as well turn the music back on."
"Fine," she smiled smugly, reaching for the console. Before she turned the volume up, though, she turned the radio off and pressed a button labeled CD1.
I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world. Life in plastic, it's fantastic! You can brush my hair. Undress me everywhere..
I groaned. Anything but that song..
"Oh my God!" I shouted, "Fine, fine! I'll talk!"
"What?" she shouted sarcastically, mimicking the same motion I had made earlier by cupping her hand around her ear.
I reached for the volume and cranked it down, turning back to glare at her. "I said," I spat through gritted teeth. "I'll talk."
"Oh! If you insist…" she shrugged indifferently.
I loved Alice, I really did, but sometimes… sometimes I wanted to make a bonfire out of her designer clothes and roast marshmallows while she writhed in agony on the ground. I was terrible for it, I knew, but she deserved it at times.
"You really are an evil little fiend," I scowled.
"I prefer devilish pixie skilled in the art of interrogation, thanks," she corrected me, "But I think you were about to admit that you have a thing for whoever it was you got in an accident with and went to see at the library yesterday and you've been thinking about her nonstop and you don't know what to do because you don't think she likes you back and you're afraid of the rejection etcetera, etcetera…. So don't let me stop you."
She said this all in one breath and I was completely astonished that I had even understood her completely.
"Well if you already knew everything, why the hell is it so important that I tell you?" I scowled menacingly, crossing my arms in a very immature gesture across my chest.
"Because I love to hear that I was right," she grinned. "Plus I would really like to know the name of this mystery girl."
I hesitated for a moment before realizing that I couldn't deny anything to Alice at this point. She always had her ways of getting what she wanted, and I would have to tell her in the end anyway. I might as well spare myself the torture and get it over with.
I sighed and turned in my seat to face her. "You can't say anything to anyone about this." I warned her.
"Of course not, Edward. It won't leave this car," she assured me.
I knew that telling her Bella's name would not be of much help, so I decided on an easier way to describe her.
"She's the one that always sits alone during lunch… at the table nearest the hallway," I explained.
Alice's face crinkled up for a moment before her eyes grew wide and she turned to me with a shocked expression covering her face. "You don't mean that fashion retarded, socially awkward, tragically reclusive girl… do you?"
I cocked my head and stared at her incredulously, "Thanks, Alice."
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to be rude. Yeah, I know who you're talking about, though. She sits in front of me in second hour."
"Shit, you have a class with her?" I groaned. "Alice, you can't say anything to her… please!" But she wasn't listening to me. She was frowning in thought again trying to pick through her endless knowledge about famous designers and makeup application tips for something useful.
"Oh! Isabella Swan?" she turned to me quizzically. "Is that her name?"
"She prefers Bella," I mumbled in resignation.
"Oh wow… well that was unexpected," she admitted. "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know, Alice. I really don't know. If Tanya found out about this she would go ballistic!"
"Damn right, she would. She would make you the laughing stock of the entire school.." Alice offered, turning red after she caught my exasperated glance. "Sorry…"
"You're right," I sighed. "Nobody would even consider Bella Swan being my type… She's so different than I am."
"You come from two different worlds," Alice nodded in agreement.
"I know. I've tried to make myself stop thinking about her, but it just doesn't work. I have no idea what to do."
She hesitated for a moment, biting her lip. "I could always give her a few fashion tips… make her more like a teenage girl, you know.."
"Alice! Must you find a way to contort everything into an opportunity for you to perform a makeover?"
"I was just trying to help…" she rolled her eyes.
I let the conversation drop as she pulled into the school parking lot and swung the car into its usual spot. This clearly wasn't a conversation for the school environment. Something told me that Alice had every intention of bringing this up again during our camping trip this afternoon.
I jumped out of the car and swung my backpack onto my shoulders, slamming the door shut behind me as Alice did the same. I rounded the corner of the vehicle to fall into step behind Alice when she suddenly turned to say something else to me. Her words faltered, though, as she caught sight of something behind me. Her mouth stayed open and her eyes grew wide as she nudged me, jerking her head and gesturing that I turn around and follow her gaze.
I did so. My breath exited in a huff and my stomach clenched. I felt ashamed of how nervous I was just at the sight of Bella. She looked nervous. She bit her lip as she stopped in front of me. I knew I should speak, but I couldn't remember what was the commonly accepted phrase that people used to greet each other anymore. My mind had gone blank.
"Hi, Bella," Alice chirped. I could hear the warm smile in her voice and was immediately grateful.
"Hi." Bella's voice was quiet.
"Bella," I nodded toward her in greeting.
"I don't mean to bug you or anything," she started apologetically. I frowned in confusion. Why would she think she was bugging me?
She continued as she shuffled through a pocket on her backpack, "You just, um… you dropped your iPod, yesterday." She pulled out my royal blue clad iPod touch out of her backpack and handed it to me. I felt a sense of completion as she released it back into my possession and I couldn't help but let an elated smile break across my face.
"Thanks!"
"Well, have a nice day…" She said quickly, sidestepping around us and heading towards the school before I could say anything else.
"Nice to meet you.." Alice called out after Bella's departing figure, who didn't seem to hear at all. I barely heard her, either. I was too busy watching Bella disappear into the crowd.
"You know…" Alice started, pulling me abruptly out of my reverie. "There's some underlying pretty going on, there. I think I can do something with that. She has potential.."
I turned my head to stare at her in awe again. She beamed back proudly. I rolled my eyes and pushed her shoulder gently, causing her to lose her balance and hop several steps to the left before sprinting to catch up to me, still smiling impishly.
I made Alice promise to me that she wouldn't do or say anything to embarrass Bella in their English class that morning by threatening to tell mom that Alice and Jasper had had sex in her and dad's Jacuzzi tub last week.
"Damn you," she mumbled as she slammed her locker and turned to head toward her first class. "It's not fair that I don't have any dirty little secrets to hold against you."
I smirked to myself in triumph as I collected my books out of my own locker, which was conveniently located right next to Alice's in keeping with the tidy alphabetical order locker system the school had going for it.
The day dragged by at an almost excruciatingly slow pace. I felt myself battling anxiety through every class and instead of paying attention to what any of the teachers were lecturing on, I found that I would stare at the torturing slow ticks of the clock, counting down the minutes until I would spill into the hallway with the rest of the students and possibly catch another glimpse of Bella Swan.
I was hit in the head with a tennis ball several times during gym class, too. I just couldn't seem to focus on anything. The gym teacher even offered me a pass to the nurse due to my strange behavior. I was usually pretty good at tennis. I wondered idly if Bella was any good at tennis. Maybe I could take her out and play tennis sometime. That was a decent kind of date, right?
Yes, I knew how pathetic I was.
"Edward… Edward!" I jerked my head to the side and met Alice's stare.
"What the hell, daydream much?" she rolled her eyes at me as I jammed my gym bag into my locker.
"I wasn't…"
"Yeah, whatever. So, listen, Bella's free Friday after school."
"Alice!" I scolded. "I told you not to meddle!"
"I didn't meddle. She dropped her planner without noticing so I glanced at her schedule just to see. I figured it would be the closest I could get to meddling without actually talking to her. Take a pill, Ed."
"Great, so she's free Friday. What's that matter to me? OW!" I rubbed the sore spot on my arm that Alice had just punched.
"You're not going to honestly pretend like you don't want to act on these daytime fantasies of yours. Cut the crap."
"I'm not fantasizing… and besides, who says she would want to go anywhere with me anyways?"
"Oh, please. You better at least talk to her once more before we leave today. I am not dealing with you staring into space picturing her naked throughout the whole camping trip."
"I am not picturing her naked. Not everyone is as perverse as you are, Alice."
"Hey, just because I've seen nudity outside of porno doesn't mean I'm a pervert."
I looked down quickly, pretending to find something interesting on the ground.
"Oh my God! You're shitting me. Edward, you haven't even watched porn?" she choked out. "I should disown you as my brother!"
"Shut up, Alice."
"You damn goody-two-shoes… you could have any girl in this school!"
"That's not true," I mumbled.
"Oh just ask her out! You never know until you try, right?"
"I can't do that." I shook my head in frustration, "It would be too…"
"Embarrassing?" she suggested.
"Yes… no…" I stammered, "It would be embarrassing for her, too, though. She hates attention."
"Did she tell you that?"
"Yes."
"Maybe she just doesn't know what it's like to have attention. Maybe that's her way of avoiding being embarrassed by the fact that no one wants to hang out with her.."
"Alice!" I scolded again.
"I'm sorry! It's the truth, though. The girl needs a makeover and someone to burn her wardrobe and teach her how to shop and apply makeup."
I threw her an exasperated glance as I slammed my locker shut.
"And wouldn't it be convenient if she suddenly acquired a bo-" she stopped herself and rethought her statement. "a friend who had a sister who could help her with all of that."
"What's the chance that you'll drop this sometime soon?" I groaned.
"Well I sit next to you in class next hour and then its lunch time… and then we're leaving for our camping trip, so it seems you're out of luck. I am not going to stop talking about this. This is, like, your first actual crush. Tanya doesn't count. She makes every guy like her just by the way she shakes her boobs at you. But this is a big deal whether you want to admit it or not, and I'm not just going to let you sit on these feelings and not do anything about it."
"We're going to be late." I scowled, walking away from Alice and towards our A.P. English classroom.
Fortunately, our assignment in English was to read another chapter in Wuthering Heights and answer several questions about it, which required us to be quiet for the most part.
Unfortunately, though, Alice speed read and flew through the questions at a nearly blinding pace, leaving her free to pester me with another stream of obnoxious and irritating questions and accusations.
"Alice!" I hissed. "If I promise to talk to her again sometime this week will you shut up and leave me alone!"
"That's all it would take." she beamed triumphantly.
"Fine. Now cork it until I get this assignment done."
She made a show of zipping up her lips with an imaginary zipper and throwing away the key. I knew it was all show, though. Alice had never been able to be quiet for more than 3 minutes at a time. I finished my questions quickly, knowing that she was likely in near physical pain from holding back her thoughts. I was actually quite shocked that she had managed to stay quiet.
"Can I say one other thing?" she pleaded quietly.
"What?" I snapped.
"You should take her out to that coffee house on third street."
"Why's that?" I made a point to place a great exaggeration on my monotone voice.
"Because it's a very comfortable environment for a first date. They have good coffee too…" Something in her voice suggested that she had something else she would like to add. I shot her a disbelieving glance and she blurted- "And they have really great cheesecake that you should bring home for me."
"Oh, well that just settles it then," I mocked acidly.
She stuck out her tongue and crossed her arms around her chest stubbornly.
She could certainly act like such a child sometimes.
Her silent treatment only lasted about five minutes before she started filling me in on the assignment we would be getting in Biology that day, as she had already had the class. A lab and a ton of book work, excellent. Perfect timing for a camping trip. Oh well, I would have to make it up when I got back. She kept talking for the rest of the period, only lowering her voice to a whisper when the teacher cleared his throat and directed her to stop being such a distraction to the other students. It seemed like hours ad passed in that one class before finally, the bell rang.
Lunch time.
I knew that with Alice aware of the situation, I wouldn't be able to pass my absent gazing across the lunchroom as simple disconnected indifference anymore. She would know who I was looking at, and she would make it a point in conversation as soon as she had the opportunity. I would have to avoid looking at Bella Swan as best as I could today.
I failed.
It was as if my eyes were drawn directly to her the moment I stepped into the cafeteria, like I was subconsciously making up for the time she had been right in front of me and I hadn't seen her. In fact, now that I considered it, our paths crossed in this building several times per day. I passed by her locker on the way to my own at least 4 times a day. And I spotted her in the hallway numerous times on my way to classes, as well. And now, in the cafeteria, she was at the salad counter preparing her lunch. I watched her grab an apple as she passed the fruit cart and she made her way to her table.
I decided that I wasn't hungry this morning. Normally I ate lunch to make up for missing breakfast, but driving with Alice meant that I left the house much later in the morning due to her rigorous morning routine of beautification and fashion coordination, as she called it. Esme had taken the opportunity to make a heaping plate of pancakes for me to occupy myself with as Alice sorted through her hundreds of shades of lipstick for the one that complemented her outfit just right. Consequently, I wasn't very hungry this afternoon.
I made a beeline for my table. Rosalie and Emmett were already there. Neither of them were eating, either. Now that I thought about it, I didn't know if they ever ate the school lunches. Emmett's diet mainly consisted of protein shakes and anything else that could increase the amount of muscles covering his body. Rosalie was very vain and was also fixated on her image. She was on a different diet every week even though no one in their right mind would consider her overweight. Surely the cafeteria food would not be something found on her daily menu. Rose probably only ate exotic low carb foods flown in from other countries… and Emmett. I cringed at the thought. They were a perfect match, really… but if I had had an appetite at all it would have been ruined by my thinking about their private relationship. It was bad enough I had to hear about Alice's and walk in on Tanya's.
"Not eating today, Edward?" Emmett's voice broke through my thoughts as I seated myself across from him.
"No, my mom made me a huge breakfast this morning while Alice was taking her sweet time getting ready," I explained with a shrug.
"Oh, that's right. You don't have a car anymore," Rosalie realized aloud.
"I'm getting another one when we get back from camping."
"That's today, right?" Jasper inquired as he took his seat next to Emmett.
"Yes. We're leaving right after lunch," I informed him.
Tanya was the next to join the table, and because she thought the world revolved around her, she was quick to make herself a part of our conversation.
"Damn! That means I won't have a partner for our Bio lab today," she pouted.
"Heaven forbid you have to do work," I grumbled under my breath.
"What?" she snapped.
"I said you forgot a fork." I shrugged and gestured toward her bowl of fruit.
"I'm only eating with chopsticks this week," she informed me in a matter-of-fact tone as she produced a set of chopsticks out of her purse. "It's a new diet. Apparently I'll lose 5 pounds if I only eat with chopsticks."
I was about to comment on how absurd that was when she cut me off and continued.
"Like I was saying, though, if you're not there in Bio, Mr. Banner might make me partner with that loser who sits in the back. Do you know what that would do to my image?" A look of disgust crossed her face as she even considered it. "You're so lucky Mr. Banner let you switch lab partners this year, imagine if you had to be partnered with her."
As offended as I expected I would have been by her statement… I wasn't. Instead, I was pissed. I felt my stomach clench in anger and my fists ball up with effort to restrain myself. Alice had made her way to the table just in time to catch Tanya's statement and she quickly changed the subject, throwing me a half sympathetic, half concerned glance as she asked Tanya where she got her shoes.
I couldn't resist a glance at Bella, then. I let my eyes flick up and down in one discreet movement, taking a mental picture of Bella. She was sitting quietly, her hands clasped in her lap. Her eyes were focused on the table and her eyebrows were pulled together in a tight line. She looked almost as if she was trying not to cry.
My heart spasmed involuntarily as I wondered if she had overheard Tanya or not. She wasn't that far away, really… and if she had been straining her ears a little I'm sure she could have picked it up.
More anger swelled up within me. I swallowed back a burning in my throat and focused on taking deep, even breaths. I couldn't believe that Tanya could be such a heartless bitch. No… I could, actually. It was just like her to pick on others to make herself feel more superior. That was the kind of person Tanya had always been.
Tanya was now immersed in conversation with Irina and Kate who had just joined the table, taking their seats flanking either side of Tanya, which I was grateful for. If there was someone in between the two of us, there was less of a chance that I would punch her. I distracted myself by turning away from Tanya's conversation and listening instead to the other conversations at the table. Problem was, though, there were no other conversations. Alice was now thoroughly immersed in Jaspers embrace, staring deeply into his eyes. A small smile curved the corner of her lips as he gently kissed her. I bit my lip and looked away feeling as if I was invading a very intimate moment. I found no reprieve when I looked to Emmett or Rosalie, either. Their hands were weaved tightly together on the table and Rose's head rested on Emmett's broad shoulder as he pressed his cheek to her hair.
Suddenly, amidst the anger and loathing toward Tanya, a new emotion emerged. It was a new feeling that was unfamiliar to me, but immediately identifiable. I was jealous of my two best friends.
Not jealous of them because of Rosalie and Alice, of course. Alice was my sister and I had never looked at Rose in that way. I guess my loneliness had never really bothered me before now. I had always recognized my solitude; I just had never had reason to dwell on it. But now, for some reason that I was unwilling to explain to myself, I felt the stabbing pain of jealousy. They were happy. They had found that one other person in the world that they could be happy with. They had found their future reflected in another's eyes… and I was still Edward, the unhappy loner.
"Oh, did I tell you!" Tanya's shrill voice broke through my thoughts and the anger that I had almost forgotten swallowed the jealousy completely and I felt my eyes narrow and my fists clench again as she continued telling what she probably thought was the most important story of the day to Irina and Kate. "I got pulled over this morning." Her voice sounded disbelieving, almost disgusted. Her tone suggested the audacity that the police officer must have had to pull over someone like her.
"He must not have known that the world revolves around you," I muttered. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice but Alice who let out a snort that she quickly covered as a sneeze.
"Seriously?" Irina gasped. "For what?"
"Speeding." I could almost hear the roll of Tanya's eyes as she said it. "He gave me a ticket, too."
"No!" Kate chimed.
"Yeah! I know, right!" Tanya's voice made me cringe. "It was the Chief guy, too. I flirted with him and everything and he didn't even seem to notice."
"Isn't he that girl's dad?" Irina asked, presumably gesturing towards Bella.
"Yeah," Tanya snorted. "I guess the freak gene runs in the family."
That was it, for me. I felt my temper boil over the surface and I rounded on her at a speed capable of causing whiplash.
"Why do you insist on being such a bitch?" I growled.
Tanya's eyes widened and she raised an eyebrow, challenging me, "Excuse me?"
"Is there a specific reason why you insist on acting like a complete snob all the time, apart from the fact that you are one?"
"What the fuck is your problem?" she hissed.
"You are my problem," I answered honestly.
"Well then why don't you leave if you have such a problem with me?" she mocked. "Of course, where the hell would you go?"
"Is that a challenge?" I raised my eyebrow at her.
"Anything is a challenge for you." she jested. If she was trying to make a jab at my intelligence, it had completely backfired. I was far from stupid and everyone knew that. For her to suggest otherwise only proved the opposite.
I glared back at her trying desperately to contain my rage and ignore the gaping mouths of the other people at the table. I knew then that I had no choice. I had a point to prove.
I stood from the table, watching as Tanya's eyes widened first in confusion and then narrowed into slits as a smirk crossed her lips. No doubt she was either questioning my sanity or banking on the fact that I would spend the rest of my lunch period alone in the bathroom. No one, except maybe Alice, would have ever expected what I did then.
I drew out my eye contact with Tanya for as long as possible as I walked away. When I finally turned away from her, every eye in the cafeteria was trained on me. All except Bella's. I immediately felt a pang of guilt as I realized that my actions were going to burden Bella with much more attention than she ever wanted.
I had already covered half of the distance between our tables by the time Bella finally looked up. Her eyes raised slowly, and she surveyed the hushed cafeteria with confusion before she followed their gaze and spotted my approach. First, a scarlet blush crept over her cheeks, and then, in a matter of seconds, the blush disappeared as her face drained entirely of all color. Her eyes were wide with shock and her lips formed a large 'o' as she gaped at me in near disbelief.
A sudden jolt of fear crept up to accompany the other emotions running rampant through my mind. What if she rejected me? What if she asked me to go away? I couldn't exactly blame her if she did. Along with me came a whole cavalcade of attention that she certainly was not seeking. It was too late, now, though. By this time, it was blatantly obvious to every pair of eyes trained on me exactly where I was going.
I slowed to an awkward stop about a foot away from the table. Bella's eyes had widened further and she looked like she might be sick.
"Bella," I greeted with a nod of my head as I motioned to take the seat next to her.
Her lips moved, but no sound came out. The blush sprang back into her face.
"Do you mind if I eat lunch with you today?" I felt like an idiot the moment I said it. I clearly had no lunch tray, and I clearly would not be eating.
Her chocolate brown eyes were still wide with shock and staring at me. It took a moment, but finally, she nodded once.
Slowly, the noise in the cafeteria began to pick back up. Hushed whispers washed across the room like ripples. Bella was tense, biting her lip uncertainly as she stared down at the table.
"So, umm… thanks again for returning my iPod," I started awkwardly, desperate to lighten the mood with any kind of conversation starter.
She hesitated, and then nodded.
I didn't know how else to make conversation that she would actually take part in, and I was beginning to think that this was a bad idea when she finally spoke.
"You really didn't have to do this," she said quietly, avoiding eye contact.
"Do what?" I frowned.
"Come sit with me," she elaborated.
"Oh…yeah, I know I didn't."
"You already thanked me in the parking lot," she reminded me.
"Yes, I know…" I was unsure about where exactly she was going with this.
She finally looked up at me, her face contorted to host the same kind of confusion I was feeling.
"What?" I urged, shaking my head a little.
"It's just…" she stammered. "What are you doing?"
"What do you mean?"
"You didn't have to embarrass yourself by sitting with me just to apologize."
"Oh…no, Bella, that's not.." I fumbled for words. "I came over here because I wanted to."
Now she looked extremely confused.
"You mean… you committed social suicide on purpose?" Her brow furrowed as she spoke as if the words made no sense to her.
I couldn't help but let out one loud, short laugh. That response was totally unexpected from her.
"Social what?" I chuckled.
"Well… I don't know. Maybe the 'freak' gene is contagious."
My heart immediately sunk. So she had heard Tanya.
"Oh, Bella… I'm really sorry about that."
She frowned, "Why do you always insist on apologizing and thanking me?"
"Well, that was a really terrible thing for you to overhear."
"It's fine," she said quickly. "I'm used to it. If you would have stayed over there she would have gotten bored of picking on me in five minutes, but now I'll probably be her topic for at least a week," she shrugged.
"Damn," I grumbled. "You're right, I'm sorr-" I trailed off, catching her exasperated glance. "…yeah."
She chewed on her bottom lip for another moment before I spoke again.
"Listen, umm.. I would still like to take you out to coffee sometime."
She looked at me blankly for a few seconds before she asked, "Why?"
I stared back at her for a moment, contemplating my answer.
"Because," I said finally. "I don't think you're a freak."
Her features softened exponentially and she exhaled slowly. She was about to speak when she was cut off by the bell signaling the end of our lunch period.
"Listen," I said hurriedly as she collected her tray. "I'm going on a camping trip right now. I'll be back on Friday. Are you free after school then?" I knew the answer, but it was polite to ask, right?
"Oh, umm…" she hesitated. "Yeah… I'm-"
"Great! Coffee, then?"
"Oh, sure…" she stammered.
"Excellent, I'll see you Friday!" I grinned, genuinely pleased.
"Yeah… er, bye," she waved awkwardly as she deposited the contents of her tray into a garbage can and walked away, throwing glances over her shoulder as she went.
Still smiling, I made my way back to my locker, ignoring the various stares that followed me.
Alice was smiling too as she packed her backpack and gathered her car keys out of her locker.
"What. Was. That?" Tanya's voice sounded from behind me. Every new word she emphasized caused me to cringe.
"Pardon me?" I asked, forcing a false note of curiosity into my voice without turning to face her.
"When I told you to go si t somewhere else, I was not referring to the freak of the week's table."
I inhaled deeply, trying to ignore her words and go about collecting my backpack calmly.
"Oh my God, Tanya!" Alice gasped. "That is the fastest appearing zit I have ever seen!"
"What?" Tanya squealed, clapping her hands over her face.
Catching on, I turned and put a fake look of disgust on my face briefly before turning back around and slinging my backpack onto my shoulder. There wasn't anything really on her face, of course, except a small fortunes worth of makeup.
Alice chuckled lightly and slammed her locker as I heard Tanya's heels receding quickly down the hallway, likely to check her complexion in the lighted mirror she had in her locker.
I slammed my locker and began walking towards the office with Alice so that we could sign out. I rolled my eyes and threw my arm over her shoulder in a thankful gesture. She winked and bumped her hip into mine… well; it was actually my thigh due to the height difference. I stumbled to the left a little, reaching out to push her in the opposite direction, but missing.
Yeah, sometimes she pissed me off. Sometimes I wanted to burn all of her designer clothes and roast marshmallows by the flames, but it was moments like this that would prevent me from actually carrying that threat out.
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sorry this took so long to post. Real life has been killer lately. I'll start posting faster, I promise. Also, more Alice and Edward interactions in the next chapter. I love their relationship in this fic for some reason. idk.
:)