September 2d, 2001
Green candy apple eyes.
Unruly brown curls.
Dimples so deep.
The focus of every girl's fantasy.
My new crush.
Edward Masen.
This boy was a fine specimen and I wanted to be on his arm, to see him smile and laugh, and I wanted to be the reason for those reactions. This was a different kind of crush for me because I could see this as long term and something that would make me happy too.
"Bella, are you listening to me?" Angela's voice drifted in.
I ignored her question and refocused my attention on Edward. I watched him walk over to a table of girls. I hated them. Those girls made everyone else's life miserable and put people down to make themselves feel better. Carmen, Lauren, Alice and Rosalie. Rosalie was my first friend ever and then came Angela. Angela, Alice, Rosalie and I were inseparable until we got to high school and they changed or I did. The point is they became popular and forgot about us. I hated that because when I considered you a friend, I expected you to be in for the long haul. I hated that they stopped to that level. Maybe Alice was always shallow and petty but Rosalie changed so much and became someone I hated. And at first I was okay with it, until I started getting the same attention and could be popular too. But I didn't want to sacrifice my integrity to be popular. When I turned down the offer, Rosalie was offended somehow, as if I acted like I was better than her and she always tried to remind me. Ever since, she had to be better than me and be the first in the know and be prettier. When I did something, Alice or Rosalie had to upstage me. Everything was a competition. When I joined cheerleading, of course they joined too but I quit because it was no fun with them. The main thing that Rosalie and I competed about was boys. Everyone was a conquest. It was always a tie between her looks and my looks. We were wanted by everyone but I always felt that she was prettier and she never lost the chance to point it out. So the fact that Edward was paying attention to her made my blood boil.
"Bella, what are you staring…" Angela's voice trailed off. "He's gorgeous, isn't he?" she said.
Insanely so, I thought.
"Yes, and I want him," I replied.
"You know, there's more to him than looks. He's really smart and a nice guy," she commented.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"He lives next door to me."
"You never told me. This is great. We can meet at your house from now on."
She had a frown on her face that I didn't understand. Now I could see Edward and his friends coming towards our table.
I love his walk, I thought.
"Introduce me."
A pause. "I don't know him that well."
They were about to walk past when he noticed Angela. Was I invisible?
"Hey, neighbor," he greeted her. Dimples going deeper and his voice, he had the voice of a grown man.
"Hey, Edward," Angela said, blushing.
I noticed that and hoped she wasn't crushing on my crush. I noticed his friends checking me out. Now why couldn't he notice me?
"I'm Jasper. This is Mike, Emmett and that's Edward," the tall blond guy gave out introductions. They were pretty hot but none surpassed Edward.
"Bella," I said in reply.
I swear Edward's head snapped at the sound of my voice. He turned towards me.
Angela blushed. "Oh and that's my best friend, Bella."
Now she introduced me and I still noticed the blush on her cheeks when talking to him but I didn't look into it.
He smiled at me. "Nice to meet you. I didn't know Angela had friends."
I glared at her. So he knew enough about her but she said she didn't know him that well.
"I'm her only friend," I emphasized and she knew to look abashed.
"Good to know. See you later," he said and rushed away.
Yes, I thought, you will see me later.