Chapter 3

When I arrived at Alice's house she was flipping through the phone book looking for the number of the local pizza place.

"What kind of pizza does Jake prefer?" She asked looking up as I walked through the kitchen.

"Um, I'm not sure. I think he'll eat anything." I said truthfully making my way to the stairs.

"Oh, well Edward's in his room. Can you ask him? He'll know." She said absent mindedly looking through the fridge.

"Yeah sure." With that I lugged my suitcase up the first flight of stairs. For a family of four, this house was insanely large. On the bottom floor was the master bedroom, kitchen, living room, and the move slash game room. On the second floor was another living room, Alice's room, and her father's study.

I sat my bag and purse in Alice's too tidy, too pink room and stood for a moment at the bottom of the second flight of stairs. The third floor was one I'd hardly spent any time on. Despite the fact that Alice was my best friend, there'd always been an eerie feeling that radiated when I thought about the third floor.

The third floor was the smallest floor in space than the first or second. It consisted of one room with a connected bathroom and a library filled with books from Mr. Cullen's private collection. There were two things I'd never forget about that floor. The view, and that the room belonged to Edward.

I silently crept up the stairs steadying myself with the railing of the stairs. At the top I looked around noting there were two doors. One to the direct right, and one at the end of the hall. I made my way to the end of the hall and lifted my hand to knock. For a reason I couldn't fathom, I paused letting out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

I knocked three times and waited for him to answer. When he didn't, I knocked three more times this time three times harder. After a few seconds, I heard the lock slip out of place and the door opened to a crack but no one stood by the door to answer. Taking the bait, I pushed the door in slowly and the sound of music filled the air. I'd forgotten about Edward's sound proofed walls.

He laid on this bed looking like some kind of Adonis as he flipped through a sport's illustrated. I saw our summer reading book thrown on the floor next to his bed and his laptop was open to Facebook. It was a typical guy's room, not that I knew exactly what a guy's room consisted of.

"Hey Swan." He said pulling his eyes off of the magazine.

"Oh hey." My voice cracked causing me to cough lightly. "Hey." I repeated a bit more sure of myself.

I stood there awkwardly and a smug grin dawned his face. "Is there a reason you're here Swan, or did you just want to see me?" He winked playfully adjusting his body so he was sitting instead of laying.

"I was just, well Alice was just wondering what kind of pizza Jake liked." I sounded lame. I don't know why I was so nervous. It was just Edward. I'd known him for forever and a day.

"Oh, he'll eat anything and everything." He laughed softly.

"That's what I assumed." I said a bit more confident. "I'll just go tell Alice. Thanks."

I slowly turned around careful not to knock anything over and grabbed the door handle pulling it shut. Instantly the sound was cut off and I found myself gasping for breath. I hadn't realized that I'd forgotten to breathe.

As soon as my breathing was normal, I descended the stairs and ventured to find Alice. She was prancing around the living room changing the song on her new iTouch. She danced around the kitchen swirling to the music. Her lips were moving quickly and I assumed she was singing to the music. When I came into view she looked up and a small smile played on her lips.

"Did you ask him?" She said knowing I had.

"Yeah, he said he'll eat anything." I reached behind my back to grasp the opposite arm. Nervous habit.

"You have to lighten up around him." She said playfully. "I swear it's like he has some kind of disease."

I laughed hopping up to sit on the counter. I couldn't help but gnaw on my bottom lip. Another nervous habit. I hated when Alice addressed my awkwardness.

"I'm not nervous around him Alice. He just makes me feel awkward about myself." I said softly so even if he were listening, he wouldn't hear.

"What? Edward?" She said loudly with disbelief.

I nodded feeling ashamed of myself. "It's like, he has some kind of, hold over me. I always feel awkward around him. Like I shouldn't make eye contact, or bow or something."

Alice stopped laughing and stepped closer to me. She tilted my chin up so I was looking into her eyes compared to my hands. "Bella," She said softly. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. Edward Smedward. He's just my loser of a brother. Don't forget who's coming over for pizza and a movie tonight." She smiled nudging me with her elbow.

And with that, the doorbell rang.

A/N: A thousand times sorry. I didn't exactly know where I wanted this story to go or even how Edward and Bella were around each other. Timid shy Bella won. I wrote this chapter three times and it still seems to be horrible. Sorry it's short but writer's block is really getting to me :/

-K