Chapter Nine
Monday morning is usually the least favorite time for most people. But on this particular day Bella awoke with renewed enthusiasm. She never thought she would actually look forward to going to school. More than than she was enthusiastic about it. A certain dark haired pixie had everything to do with her anticipation.
As she showered she thought of the past weekend. She couldn't stop thinking of Alice and it always brought a smile to her face, and sometimes triggered a response from other parts of her body as well. While she lay in bed alone Sunday night, thoughts of Alice stirred up desires within her making her toss and turn. She was only able to fall asleep after sliding her fingers across the most sensitive, erogenous areas of her body. Imagining Alice's lips brushing across her skin, her smaller body pressed against her own, and that it was Alice's slender fingers stroking her in the most intimate places until she found release. Feeling spent and her body eased of tension, she finally fell into a peaceful sleep.
She finished her shower and got dressed. It was usually something she put as little thought into as possible but she took extra time to pick out the nicest pair of jeans and top she could find. She went downstairs, had her usual quick breakfast of cold cereal and juice, said goodbye to Charlie and took off for school.
Bella pulled up in her Chevy truck into the school's parking lot in record time. Arriving nearly twenty minutes before first class started. She was hoping to see Alice, and was happily surprised when Alice pulled up seconds after she shut off her engine. Alice parked in the spot beside her and they sat there a few seconds sitting there, looking at each other as they exchanged smiles. Bella opened her door and stepped out. Alice gestured with her petite fingers in a beckoning manner. Bella found this simple gesture strangely arousing. She bit her lip and tried to compose herself as she carefully opened the door and sat inside.
"Hi", the brunette glanced at Alice shyly as she sat in the passengers seat.
"Hi Bella! You look well", Alice reached over and took one of Bella's hand in her own. She was happy to see Bella didn't look anywhere as worn down and tired like she did last week. A few days of Edward-free peaceful nights sleep did wonders for the girl.
"Thanks. You look great as always", Bella replied and she took in Alice's appearance. Alice wore black leggings and a beige designer lace dress accented with a black knit shrug. As usual, she effortlessly pulled off a casual yet divinely fashionable look. Alice noticed her eyes scanning her up and down with a slightly dreamy look in her shiny brown eyes.
The pixie's grin widened at Bella's apparent appreciation. It seems my more than usual efforts to look good paid off already.
Alice had arrived earlier in anticipation of meeting with Bella before school started. She hadn't spoken with Edward since she returned home the day before from the sleepover with Bella. She knew that sometime during the day he was going to ask her out, and although she was certain that Bella would not give him the answer he wanted, it still made her feel uneasy. After spending the night thinking about it, she decided she would not interfere with his attempt. Not today anyway. She hoped that once Bella made it clear to him that she held no interest in him it would make her pursuit of Bella go a lot smoother. The sooner, the better. She didn't want any more of Edward's drama to get in between Bella or herself, not to mention the tension it caused at home.
"So are you looking forward to another wonderful week at Forks High?" Alice asked Bella who still engaged with perusing her entire form.
"Hm...well I never looked forward to coming to school as much as I have this morning", Bella replied with a hint of flirtatiousness that Alice never heard from her before. She liked it. She beamed her perfect white teeth as her lips parted in an open smile.
"And why is that?", the pixie asked as she tilted her head in a coy manner.
Bella grinned and wanted to pull her in for a kiss in response, but held back uncertain if it was the right time or place for such displays. There were a few other early birds in the lot, and didn't want to do anything to make Alice feel uncomfortable. Instead she gently squeezed the smaller hand in her own.
"I think you know why Alice."
They gazed at each other in silence for a moment until Alice noticed a familiar black Volvo driving into the parking lot.
Edward. He must have left home early as well, he sure as hell never arrived any earlier than he had to for school.
Bella noticed Alice's darkening expression and turned to see where her attention was directed.
"Um Alice...is something wrong?"
Alice turned back to look at her, forced her expression back to its previous state.
"No no...nothing's wrong."
Edward parked his car a couple spaces down and got of the car. He wore a pressed oxford-striped sports shirt and straight-legged white denim jeans with brown leather Italian loafers. The whole ensemble cost more than most students were allowed to spend on clothing for the entire school term. He obviously put some time and effort in looking his best. His hair was immaculately brushed back and looked poofier than ever.
He stood and looked over the roof of his car to look at the two girls. Giving Alice a momentary stony glare and looked passed her to give Bella a friendly grin.
He lifted his hand and waved at her. Bella waved back and returned a small smile and watched him walk towards the building. A small group of girls hovering by the entrance stopped their chatter and stared as he walked by. Once he was inside the building they all broke into excited giggles and squeals as they started to prattle about the hottest guy in school.
"Pfffft..." Strutting peacock... Alice thought.
"So are you not getting along with your brother or something?", Bella asked curiously.
"We usually get along fine. Things have just been um...a little tense lately at home."
"Is that why you arrive in separate cars?"
"We sometimes ride together, though some days we like to come and go as we please. Emmett and Rosalie like to take the jeep together. Edward and I like having our own vehicles."
They spent a few minutes sitting and holding hands while discussing a few topics, mostly about school, what their favorite subjects were and books. A few minutes before class was to start they finally got out of Alice's car to go to biology class which was the one they both shared with Edward.
As they arrived at the class room they both saw that he was already seated in his usual seat next to Bella.
He smiled up at her as they entered the room. His nostrils flared slightly as he took a deep whiff of her scent as she headed towards their table desk and pulled her pack off her shoulder. Alice rolled her eyes as she took the seat in the row behind Bella.
"Good morning Bella", he spoke in his usual smooth voice as she sat down next to him.
"Hi Edward." Her smile was friendlier than usual, she was feeling better than she ever felt and she seemed to glow with a new found happiness. Other students seemed to notice the change as they walked in and both Alice and Edward couldn't help but notice a few of the boys' eyes lingered on Bella longer than usual as they passed by her.
Today they were to work in pairs for their lab assignment. Edward enjoyed taking turns looking through the microscope and identifying the different stages of mitosis and showing off his knowledge to Bella. He's taken the same biology course about twenty or so times, so he didn't need to spend more than a second looking through the microscope, but he drew the time out by a few extra seconds as it brought him a few inches closer to Bella.
Alice wasn't so lucky as her lab partner was a guy named Mike Newton who's had a crush on her since the Cullens started attending school at Forks. He smelled of acne cream and the cheap cologne he drowned himself in almost made her want to gag whenever she made the mistake of taking in a breath.
Alice was relieved when class was finally over. Having Edward crowding close to Bella and being that close to Mike for nearly an hour wasn't particularly enjoyable for her. She smiled at Bella as they headed out the class then saw Edward glaring again at her as he walked behind them.
"So I have French lesson next, what about you Bella?"
"I'm off to Trig."
"Oh that's too bad, that's in the opposite direction I'm heading."
"Well, we'll see each other later."
"You bet. Catch you later Bells." She gave one last enchanting smile to Bella before turning and prancing away.
"Mind if I walk you to class?"
Bella gave a slight jump, she had forgotten Edward was right behind her. She was entranced at the graceful way the smaller girl flitted down the hallway. And it was the first time she called her by that nickname which made her feel giddy inside.
"Oh..um su-"
"Hey Bella!"
Angela arrived at her side and looked a little surprised to see Edward standing so close to Bella. It was also unusual to see him actually paying any attention to another student who wasn't a Cullen. She was taken aback when she detected a flash of a scowl on Edward's face as Bella turned to look at her.
"Hey Angela", Bella smiled at the girl who was the first to befriend her when she arrived at Forks.
"I thought I'd walk to Trig with you...but if you're busy...", the girl's glance went between her and Edward.
"Oh no, we can all walk together."
Bella looked at Edward only only nodded slightly as they started walking through the hallway.
"So how was your weekend?", Angela asked Bella.
"It was wonderful. Went to the movies with Alice Friday."
"Oh? What did you see?"
They talked briefly about the movie Bella saw with Alice, it was one Angela was planning on getting her boyfriend to take her to next weekend.
"Well that's nice that you got to hang out with Alice. So...um Edward...how was your weekend?" Angela felt strange talking to the boy who usually just kept to himself and the other Cullens, but didn't want to seem rude not to try to include him in the conversation.
Edward grimaced for a second. Not only did he not want to talk about his weekend or hear Bella talk about hers and Alice's, but this girl just ruined his chance at having more of Bella's attention on him during the short walk.
"It was fine."
They arrived at their designated room. Bella turned to Edward.
"I'll see you later."
He smiled and gave a single quick nod. "Yes, Bella. I'll talk with you later." He then smoothly turned and walked back in the same direction where they came from.
Angela quickly turned to Bella and whispered, "um...what was that about? Edward Cullen seemed put off when I came over. It was like he wanted me out of the way or something."
"Oh...I don't know."
"And Alice? The Alice? I didn't know you were friends with the Cullens..."
"Well only with Alice. And yeah...well she's really nice."
"Hm okay." Angela smiled at Bella's blush. She suspected Alice was more than just another friend, or at least Bella was interested in more than friendship with the elusive pixie girl.
-xxxxxxxxxxxxxx-
Lunch time arrived a few hours later at Forks High and Bella was so distracted thinking about Alice as she artfully put her salad together at the salad bar. She never considered herself particularly artistic, but was so focused on creating the perfect combination and balance of colors on her plate, taking the time to make it look pretty that she wasn't aware of the apple's precarious position on the edge of her tray. Just as she saw it start to fall off, she watched as if in slow motion as the forces of gravity made it drop down. Then it bounced off the Italian leather shoe and into the palms of Edward Cullen. He seemed to have appeared out of nowhere was now standing in front of her, surprising her again with his sudden appearance. His dexterity and vampirically enhanced eye-hand coordination making such tricks effortless. He smirked and seemed pleased at the surprised expression on her face.
"Neat trick", Bella smiled as she accepted the offered apple.
Would it be too rude if I didn't want to eat this apple anymore? After bouncing off his foot and into both his hands she no longer wanted it. Who knew when was the last time he washed his hands?
She dismissed the idea of not taking the apple. She didn't want to seem impolite. Besides which she didn't want to offend Alice's brother.
Well I'll take it and hope he doesn't notice me not actually eating it...
When Alice saw Edward pull the apple bouncing stunt she thought of better tricks she could do with the apple. One entailed wedging the fruit somewhere very private in Edward's anatomy.
Edward resisted the urge to snarl at the disturbing mental image that was prodding into his mind and kept his focus on the pretty brunette. This was his chance to get some one on one time with her and he wasn't going to let his sister's infantile thoughts ruin it.
"Thanks", she said when she noticed Edward was standing there expectantly.
She briefly averted her eyes to scan towards where the Cullens usually sat. All three of the others, Rosalie, Emmett, and Alice sat there and they were all looking at them. They all had their trays of food sitting in front of them, but they seemed more interested in watching the interaction between her and Edward.
Her eyes rested on Alice who gave her a wry smile, though made no other motion. No sign of invitation. Bella had been contemplating earlier coming over to their table, though she still felt intimidated by the Cullens when they were all put together. She rather hoped Alice would approach her and they could sit where she usually sat, or even just together at another table.
Seeing where Bella's brief distraction was aimed, Edward quickly tried to return it towards himself. "So Bella, I was wondering if you would mind if I joined you during lunch today?"
She blinked at him a few times and was uncertain how to respond. He said "I", which seemed to mean that he wasn't inviting her to join the Cullen's table.
"A-are you inviting me to sit with your family?" Maybe if she phrased it this way he would follow suit...
"Well I always sit with them, and thought it would be a nice change if I sat with you today. Besides, I'd like a chance to talk with you alone and get to know you a little better", he added his trademark lopsided smirk.
Damn, that's what I thought he meant...
"Oh I see...well okay." She forced a smile and tried not to look disappointed as she followed him to a table furthest away from the Cullens that was unoccupied. She glanced at Alice who seemed to have her lips drawn slightly down in a frown but otherwise seemed emotionless.
As they approached the empty table Edward pulled out a seat for her, one where her back would be facing Alice so that he would get her undivided attention. They sat down and Bella noticed that Edward hadn't bothered to get any food.
"Aren't you going to get anything to eat?"
Edward offered a lazy smile as he spoke, "I had a very large breakfast this morning and still feel pretty full from it."
You're full of it all right... Alice directed the thought at his large poofy head.
Bella thought she saw him wince in irritation. The look flashed across his face quickly. She would have missed it had she blinked at that very moment. Maybe he has gas or something...
Bella started eating her salad and ham and cheese sandwich. Is this a Cullen thing, not eating around other people...?
The other Cullens were not the only ones who took notice of the couple as Edward proceeded to engage her in conversation. Starting with the usual questions about where she came from and how she was liking Forks and the all the familiar small talk when first attempting to get to know someone. The table where she usually sat had several heads turned in their direction.
The girl with long brown hair pulled back in a pony-tail, and the school's most notorious gossip was named Jessica. She sat wide-eyed with three other students who usually shared their table with Bella. She expressed her surprise at this unexpected turn of events.
"Oh. My. Gawd. What is going on? Now Edward is sitting with Bella? And earlier this morning I saw her in the parking lot sitting in that yellow Porsche talking with that little weirdo - Alice!" She spoke the name with a hiss. "Maybe we should warn Bella to be careful about hanging out with those Cullens. Especially Alice, who the whole school knows by now is like so totally into girls. Remember when Mike here kept asking her out and then she finally told him that she prefers oysters over snails and he thought she was telling him to take her out to a seafood restaurant until Angela told him what she meant by that? Oh you should have seen the look on your face!" She paused her rapid chatter for a moment to laugh at his embarrassment. Angela's eyes rolled behind her glasses. Her boyfriend Ben groaned as he munched on his fries.
"It was like someone just told you for the first time that Santa Claus wasn't real while giving you the worst wedgie and kicking your puppy all at the same time!" She giggled while the boy named Mike threw her a dirty look before turning away to look at Bella. The only thing worse for him than Jessica's obnoxiousness was seeing Bella sitting alone with Edward. He was planning on eventually asking her out and saw his chances with her diminishing before his very eyes.
"Like we know you're a jock and all but come on how clueless..."
The three classmates tried to tune out her inane babbling while stealing glances at the table where Edward continued talking with Bella while she ate.
Bella was replying to Edward's small talk in between chewing her food. It didn't seem fair that he kept asking her questions while she was eating and he wasn't. Maybe she just found it irritating since he always made her feel a little uneasy. She was also still surprised by his unexpected approach during lunch. She had hoped it would be Alice who offered to share lunch with her, not her weird brother. She glanced over to where she usually sat and saw her usual lunch companions were all looking in their direction. She saw Jessica's rapidly moving mouth and just knew they were now the subject of her incessant gossiping. Not that she cared, in the weeks since she's been a student at this school she's learned to take the girl's usual chatter in stride.
"So Bella...", Edward leaned slightly closer to her to bring her attention back to him again.
She turned and looked at him. Her eyes were captured by his as he gazed into hers. The same strangely haunting amber...it made her think of Alice. Why couldn't it be her she was sitting with, and why in the hell was he all of the sudden spending his lunch time with her instead of the other Cullens? His eyes may be of the same color as Alice's, but were not anywhere as beautiful she thought.
"Do you like classical music?", he asked her.
"Sure...sometimes. Mozart is always nice to listen to while I do my homework."
Edward smiled, pleased at her response.
"Yes, I play the piano myself and particularly enjoy playing his 21st Concerto. I was wondering if you would do me the honor of accompanying me as my date to the symphony this coming Friday evening?"
Bella pulled herself back in her chair in surprise. Her jaw went slack and her eyes widened at this sudden invitation. She didn't say anything for a while as she studied his face for any signs of some kind of joke on his part. He didn't strike her as the type with a sense of humor. He was smiling but he seemed in earnest with his invitation. She blinked rapidly as she formed her response.
"Oh...thank you for the offer...but um...I'm sorry but I'll have to decline."
"May I ask why?" Edward looked disappointed and a little surprised. Once she accepted his invitation to join him during lunch he thought he stood a good chance of getting her to go out with him. It should have only been a matter of getting her undivided attention for a few minutes...
Damn it, what part of NO do you not understand? Alice thoughts fumed at him.
"Well you see there's someone else I...uh...just started seeing..."
"You mean Alice?"
Bella was stunned. He seemed to already know and acted so nonchalant about the whole matter. "S-so you know?"
"I know she asked you out last week and that you went out on a single date last weekend." He didn't want to bring up the sleepover, it still made him too angry to even think about.
"Yeah...so don't you think it's a little weird for you to ask me out now? I mean, especially since she's your sister?"
That slut is no sister of mine!, he screamed inside his head, but managed not to spill out his immediate thoughts.
Instead he spoke with easy casualness. "Well it may be a little unorthodox...but since neither of you have had time to commit to anything serious I would very much like for you to consider giving us the chance to get to know one another other better", he used his most gentle voice while adding his warmest smile.
Seeing the disbelieving look in Bella's eyes he continued. "I have spoken with Alice about this and we came to an agreement about me asking you out."
Alice emitted an angry growl which only he and the other Cullens could hear amongst the crowded lunch room noises. His eyes stayed focus on the girl in front of him. "All I ask is for is one date Bella. If you decide after that that you would rather continue seeing Alice... then...well that is up to you."
"W-what? You mean Alice knows about this? And she's okay with you asking me out?" She looked at him suspiciously.
She turned her head to look behind her and met Alice's eyes. She looked for any signs of truth in Edwards words which she didn't want to believe. Alice's eyes briefly left hers to look past her towards Edward.
This is the only time I'm giving you this chance. Whatever she says next you will have to respect it and leave it alone...
She wanted to shout out to Bella and tell her she didn't agree to any of this. She just wanted to give Edward this one chance. This one chance for Bella to shoot him down and make it clear to him that she was not interested in him. That she was interested in her. This way Edward couldn't cry interference on her part and hopefully he would eventually accept it and leave them both alone.
Alice sat perfectly still and tried not to give any sign of attempting to influence Bella's response. She looked back at Bella and kept her expression as neutral as possible.
Bella felt her heart break into a million pieces. Was this all some sort of game with these Cullens? With Alice? Wasn't it just yesterday when she told her she wanted to continue spending time with her and here was her creepy brother asking her out right under her nose as she sat there like a statue not saying or doing anything?
She quickly turned away from Alice and looked back at Edward. Her face was flushed and her angry expression took him aback. Bella gritted her teeth as she tried to form a coherent response.
Edward knew he had to act quickly. She could see the fury in Bella's eyes which did not bode well for him.
"Bella I am so sorry if this upsets you. It was not my intent to make you uncomfortable in any way. Please believe me when I tell you that I sincerely want to go out with you. I only told you about Alice as to clear up any misunderstanding that it's any issue between me and her whether or not you accept my invitation." He ignored Alice's growing growl as he reached out to take one of her hands in his own, which were both clenched tightly into fists. She flinched at this act of familiarity.
She's not sure why she did what she did next. Maybe it was the pained look on Edward's face as he looked sincerely afraid that he had offended her. Maybe it was out of anger at Alice, who she now felt had betrayed her. Maybe it was just to see what would happen next if she did. Why wasn't it Alice who asked to join her during lunch? Was Alice really so indifferent about this? Why else was he asking her out right in front of her while she sat motionless and silent with her other siblings?
"All right."
"All...right?" Edward looked confused but a hopeful look lit up in his eyes.
"Yes. All right. I'll go on a date with you."
Edward smiled triumphantly.
Alice was stunned. Hearing Bella say those words was like she had just plunged a dagger in her heart. Her shocked expression conveyed her bewilderment and she looked as though the proverbial rug just got pulled right out from under her.
That was not the answer she was expecting Bella to give. It was not what she saw happening.
What the hell just happened?