Playlist:
1. Bad Things - Jace Everett
2. Livin' on a Prayer - Bon Jovi
3. Uncle Johnny - Sam's Town
4. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want - Muse
5. Merry Happy - Kate Nash
6. Those Magic Changes - Sha na na
7. Take Me Away - Plain White Tees
"Soooooooooooooooooo, Bella," said Alice as we walked together to math, "I know the plan on Thursday was originally to go after school, but Rose and I were thinking, since we have to get new outfits for the party, we should skip and just spend the day"
She looked at me nervously. Charlie was not going to agree to that.
"I don't know Alice," I said carefully. I really did want to go now, just to stick it to Tanya. "Charlie won't be keen."
"Never mind about him," she said shaking her head. "I'll get Esme to ring him to ask him can you sleepover tonight and tomorrow." I blinked at her.
"Mmm." I said, she did have a point, what Charlie didn't know couldn't hurt him.
"Great!" Alice said, excited now. "You and Edward can study in the library after school, then he can follow you, wait for you to get a bag packed and then give you a lift to our house. We'll give you a lift to school Friday morning." She whipped out her phone. "Look, I'll talk to you later, I just have to phone Esme to get her to ring Charlie."
She gave me a casual wave as she headed outside to make the call. I had to admit, it was a good plan. Charlie would be none the wiser. But with me alone in a car with Edward freakin' Cullen! How would that go? I know he seemed to have warmed up to me but was that all an act while Alice was around? I know he was protective of his car, when he parked in the morning he always made sure it was locked and that the side mirrors were tucked in so that they wouldn't get damage. It always looked like it was clean too, what if I tripped and crashed headlong into it and scratched it's shiny silver paint!
I walked the rest of the way towards English on my own. But just when I walked past the girls bathroom, I saw Tanya, standing waiting for someone, and from the way her eyes trailed me up the corridor, I guess it was me.
"Bella," she crooned, "A word?" She signaled inside the door that led to the girl's restrooms. I felt some long buried girl war instinct telling me to run, but I held firm. She probably just wanted to say hi or something. Yeah, right.
"So, I know we got off on the wrong foot," she smiled silkily as she pushed her self up to sit on the counter top where the sinks were. I nodded meekly, not really seeing where this was going. "I guess it was partly my fault, I'm kind of territorial, you see?"
"Yeah," I replied, shrugging my shoulders.
"I'm sorry, it's just that seeing other girls pathetically attempting to throw themselves at my boyfriend, just pisses me of..." She smiled suggestively.
"What do you m-mean?" Was she saying I was flirting with Cullen, me? No way!
"Oh don't play dumb Swan," she said sneeringly, "You know exactly what I mean, all this tutoring crap!"
"No, no Tanya, I-I'm just tutoring him really!" I said defensively, my heart beating frantically. My instincts to run had been right, I really should have paid more attention to them.
"Whatever you say," she gave me a sly wink. "Just keep away from Edward, okay? Otherwise we might have a small issue." She slipped off the counter. "Bye, enjoy Seattle!"
And just like that she was gone. I went over to the counter top and leaned against it and looked into the grubby mirror. My face was pale and my cheeks flushed. What had Tanya meant by an 'issue'? Tanya had a lot of pull with a lot of people in the school. She could turn the whole student body against me with a click of her well manicured hands. I'd have to watch myself around Edward now.
***
When I reached the library after school that evening, Edward was waiting for me in a desk at the very back of the room, hidden from the librarian by several rows of large old bookcases. His biology books were spread out in front of him. He seemed to be focused intently on the pages of the book. As I neared him, I saw that he was looking at the chapter we had covered the last day. I couldn't help but feel slightly smug about that.
"Hey," he said evenly as I dragged out a chair to sit on. "Alice told me to tell you that Esme sorted out things with Charlie."
"Thanks," I said smiling at him.
"So, what are we going to start with today?" he asked flipping absently through his book.
"How about the breathing system?" I replied unzipping my bag and pulling out my book. He turned the appropriate page and looked up at me. God, I couldn't help but think, even with a bored expression on his face Edward Cullen still managed to look like an angel.
"Okay, gaseous exchange takes place in the lungs, we breath in Oxygen and we breath out Carbon Dioxide." He nodded. "This is the diagram of the breathing system. Here are the lungs and here is the diaphragm." I said as I pointed to the respective organs.
"You're hand's are tiny." Edward said unexpectedly. Looking down at them.
"I-I guess." Glancing down at my hands I lifted them up to eye level to examine them. Edward obviously mistook the gesture and lifted his hand also up and put it palm to palm with mine.
I tingle passed from my hand all the way up to my arm and to my head. A surge of heat welled up in my body and I felt my vision go sort of hazy. My finger's barely reached his knuckles. Edward snapped back his hand looking disgruntled. Did he feel it too?
"Continuing on..." he said, looking back down at his book. Was it my imagination or was Edward Culln blushing? Let's call Sky News! Great the thought of him being embarrassed made blood rise to my face too and now my face looked like a giant over sized tomato!
***
"It's not too far from here, it's only a couple of miles or so." I informed Edward shyly as we walked out into the car park together. He was walking along beside me but about five feet away. If you passed us you would think that it was a coincidence that he happened to be going in the same direction.
"Okay," he nodded curtly. I gave him a feeble wave as I climed into my truck and pulled out. I waited for him to start his engine before indicating. I drove the short few miles to my house contemplating how the car ride from my house to the Cullens would go.
I know it seems stupid to obsess over something as trivial as sitting in a car as someone when mostly you do it without a second thought, but up until today, I thought Edward Cullen hated my guts, but now, he didn't seem to entirely hate me.
I parked in my driveway leaving enough room beside me for Edward to park in. He got out of his car and surveyed my house carefully. Embarrassment flared as I thought about what he could be thinking. His house was huge and mine was a bit smaller than average. It fit Charlie and me in it comfortably but it was definetley no mansion! Charlie wasn't home from work yet, for which I was thankful. He would probably think Edward was my boyfriend and try and intimidate him.
"A-am you c-can come in if you like?" I offered nervously.
"Thanks." I pulled my house keys out of my pocked as we approached the house, when the door was open I went into the living room, Edward obediently followed me.
"The remote is there if you y'know want to watch T.V. or what ever, I'll be down in a minute." He reached over to take the remote before flicking on the T.V. He immediately flicked to some channel that was showing a football match.
Once I was in my room, I set about grabbing my pajamas and spare clothes for tomorrow. I debated over whether my pajamas were suitable or not, they were a pair of boxer style shorts and an over sized Chicago bears t-shirt that I had gotten from Charlie years ago when he had gone to Chicago to visit his aunt who was sick. In the end I dismissed my worry, what did it matter what I wore in bed. Alice no doubt wouldn't care. I threw my hairbrush and toothbrush into my bag pack along with the clothes. Grabbing my retainer case, with my retainer inside it, I shoved it quickly in the bag before zipping it up.
"Ready," I said to Edward as he turned off the T.V. and turning to face me.
"That was fast," I nodded as he walked out the front door. I turned to lock it and I could feel Edward staring at me. I gingerly stepped into the passenger seat of his volvo throwing my bag at my feet. Edward slouched down beside me and switched on the radio before buckling her belt. The familiar strains of Clair de Lune surrounded my ears.
"You listen to Clair de Lune when you drive?" I blurted out shocked. I'd always assumed he was listening to rap or something like most of the guys on the football team.
"Yeah, you got a problem with it?" he replied grumpily. He must have taken it as I was insulting his musical taste.
"No," I shook my head vigorously, "I like Clair de Lune too. Do you listen to much other classical music?" He nodded his head slowly, his eyes fixed on the road as he drove fast, too fast to be honest, along the road.
"I like most classical stuff, Clair de Lune is my favorite though." he answered, I could hear his voice warming up to the topic. "One of my other favorites is Eine Kliena Nacht Muzik by Mozart." He pressed a switch on the car's radio and the song changed.
"I like the L'arlisienne Suite by Bizet," I added, "Do you know it?"
"I can play it," he said smiling at me.
"What do you play?" I asked yet again shocked, I hadn't thought Edward Cullen was musical at all.
"Piano, I've been playing since I was about five." You could have knocked me over with a feather. I couldn't have been more surprised if Edward had asked me if I wanted to play ping-pong naked with him! Okay, I thought attempting to be rational, maybe that was an exaggeration.
I smiled at him and he smiled back. We listened to the music for the rest of the ride to his home, both of us occasionally commenting on a piece. We seemed to agree about a lot of things, we both thought the four seasons by Vivaldi was annoying and that music sounded best played in the car while you were driving. Everytime we agreed Edward would smile a lopsided smile at me and my heart would do an annoying flip thing. Everytime we disagree we both began to laugh and attempt to argue our respective points.
We reached the Cullen's house sooner than I would have like, but you know what they say, time flys when your having fun or in a car with a lunatic driver!
***
"Bella, Bella, Bella... Please!" Alice begged me, clasping her hands to her chest. "It would look amazing on you!" Rosalie looked up from her magazine and rolled her eyes at me. She seemed to have gotten over her dislike for me. Who would have guessed that Tanya had been the cause for our sudden sort of friendship.
"But isn't my hair fine like this? I mean it's only a party." I said carefully, tugging on my hair slightly to illustrate my point. Alice turned to open mouth gape at Rose who shook her head.
"Only a party! Tanya may be a bitch but she can throw a good party! I'm doing your hair for the party and your makeup tomorrow night!" she said pointing at me. "I might as well do your clothes too, you can really stick it to Tanya by looking hotter than she is at her own party.
"Fine, I guess." I said heaving a melodramatic sigh. To be honest I didn't mind either way what way she made me over. I owed her for being so nice to me, if this was what made her happy I might as well oblige. Debt repayed.
It was half one and so far I had been manicured, pedicured and waxed within half an inch of my life. In Alice's words, "Why do anything without being thorough." Rose had said goodnight to us about twenty minutes ago and had gone back to her room promising Alice she would be up on time.
"Alice, I'm thirsty. I'm just gonna run downstairs and get a drink okay? Do you want anything?" She shook her head and began to climb into her bed. I was staying in the guest room which was a small bright room at the end of the corridor.
"Night Bella," she said flicking off the light as I left the room. I padded donstairs in my blue fuzzy sleep socks, sliding on the smooth wodden floors. There was a light on in the kitchen but I thought nothing of it, someone must have forgotten to turn it off before going to bed. I walked in and I saw Edward sitting on the counter in just his underwear and a t-shirt eating a bowl of cereal.
I slipped. I lost my grip on the tiles and let out a quiet scream as I fell on the floor causing a loud bang.
"Are you okay?" Edward asked hopping off the counter and offering me a hand to help pull me up. I nodded. My brain felt fuzzy. He was hardly a metre away wearing very little clothing. I looked down at the ground and froze.
I was wearing the boxer and t-shirt combo that I had packed! My legs were luckily hairless but bright red from the wax! He must think I've some kind of rare and disgusting skin disease! He too had just noticed what I was wearing. He smirked at me moving back towards the counter top. I bet Tanya wore a nice lacy nightgown.
"I-I just c-came down for a glass of w-water," I explained stupidly. He raised his eyebrow and pointed to a press near the cooker his mouth fool of cereal. I made my way over to the press conscious of my on display chicken legs. I opened the press and it was filled with glasses and mugs of all shapes and sizes. I selected one and moved over to the sink. I let the water run for a second but I could feel Edward's burning gaze on me the whole time. I fiddled with the hem of my baggy t-shirt and hoped it wasn't see through. It had been washed so often it had now become slightly threadbare.
"Can't sleep," I asked him attempting conversation while the glass filled.
"I was out, over at Tanya's." I blushed. It didn't take that much imagination to guess what two teenagers did that late at night that you come back hungry from. He munched on the last bite of his cereal before walking over towards me and opening the dishwasher.
When his arm brushed against mine a felt a tingle similar to the one in the library earlier take over my body, only more intense. Why did I keep feeling like that and why was Edward Cullen the cause!
"Night," I said quietly as I headed up the stairs Edward following behind me, flicking off the various light witches as he went. We walked down to the end of the corridor on the second floor. Suddenly I became aware of just how loud my heartbeat was and how noisy my breathing was. It turned out our room's were across from one another.
"Goodnight." He said closing his door. I closed mine.
A.N. Thank to everyone who reviewed so far, it means a lot. I tried to make Edward less boring this chapter, if you've any suggestions or comments let me know, okay?