Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
AN: Thank you again to all of my reviewers! Sorry the past few chapters have been fillers, but hopefully this one will be more exciting! I introduce another character or two... It will still be a while before a certain someone appears, but there should be more fun Emmett moments coming up soon. After all, this is meant to be about Bella and Emmett's relationship more than about Bella's love life. Please review! Enjoy!
Chapter Four
We made it to the library in record time thanks to Alice's driving. I got out of the Porsche and tried to stand on wobbly legs—I trusted Alice driving, after all this time it was hard not to, but there was something about going 180 miles an hour on twisting back roads that would scare any sane person. Obviously, I was not counting Alice as sane in that moment.
Alice took one look at my catatonic state and danced over to me, laughing as she linked elbows with me and led me into the safety of the library.
Once we had stepped inside, I paused for a moment and inhaled deeply. To me, the scent of books was like catnip; once I smelled it, I went deliriously happy (although unlike a cat, I could control my happiness and didn't prance around) and I just couldn't get enough of it.
Alice rolled her eyes at me, "God you are such a freak!" I could tell by the gleam in her eyes and the playful grin on her face that she was teasing.
"As opposed to you who goes just as crazy over the scent of a mall," I retorted.
"At least malls don't smell old and dusty!"
"No, just like overcooked pizza, bad Chinese food and obscurely flavored pretzels."
"That's only in the food court!"
"Well, the mall is so small, you can smell the food court wherever you go."
"Your nose is just too sensitive!"
"And yours is too unrefined," I sniffed back.
Alice raised an eyebrow loftily and we stood there, having a face-off before both dissolving into giggles.
"Isabella Swan?" a voice behind me asked.
"Yes?" I replied timidly, afraid that I was going to be chastised for being loud in the library.
"My name is Catherine Jameson," she extended her hand for me to shake, which I did. "I am going to be the head librarian at the new library in Forks. Since you are such an avid reader, or so I'm told, and coincidentally, live in Forks, I was wondering if I could offer you a job. Would you be interested in helping select the books for the first ever Forks public library?"
I stood motionless, not able to fully comprehend the fact that "Forks" and "library" had been used in the same sentence.
"Bella," Alice laughed, startling me back into reality.
"Oh, is it Bella?"
"Yes," I muttered.
"Yes, it's Bella or yes you will work for us?"
"Yes to both," I grinned.
"Excellent," Catherine smiled. I stopped for the first time and really looked at her. She was a middle aged woman with graying blonde hair and soft grey eyes. "So if you can just come in Monday thru Friday from eight to four and go through the Port Angeles shelves and tell me which books would be good additions to the Forks collection that would be great."
I opened my mouth to protest but Alice spoke before I could, "Fantastic! She'll be there Monday at eight!"
Catherine was called away and I turned to face Alice, "You know I can't get here every day! I don't have a car!"
"Silly, Bella! I'm going to drive you!"
"To Port Angeles every day?" I asked, incredulous. Alice nodded. "What will you do?"
Alice looked at me as if I should be wearing a dunce cap, "Shopping."
"I highly doubt that will help Carlisle and Esme's bank accounts."
"Just think," Alice continued, ignoring me, "all the cute shirts, fabulous shoes, darling accessories, gorgeous dresses, chic sunglasses, pretty skirts that flare out when you twirl!"
"Alice!" I called out a second too late as she spun into someone.
"Sorry!" Alice squealed.
"That's alright. Are you okay, Miss?" a boy who looked to be around our age asked. He was towering over Alice, but when you're her height, it's not hard to be towered over. He was muscular, but nowhere near as built as Emmett. His honey blonde hair hung in his pale blue eyes and he stood with a rigidity that I couldn't fathom.
Alice looked up at him and turned the slightest shade of pink at the back of her neck. Of course she only blushed at the back of her neck when I turned into a tomato all over. Life just wasn't fair sometimes…
"Yes," she batted her eyelashes, "I'm fine."
He nodded slowly and the corner of his mouth twitched into the smallest smile I had ever seen, if it was even enough to call a smile. "Perhaps I should get you some water and make sure of it."
Alice nodded her ascent and left me standing there with a perplexed look on my face.
"Did I just see-"Angela came up behind me.
"Alice flirting?" I finished for her. "I think so."
"Wow," Angela said impressed. "Miss 'I'm not going to flirt with losers to find a good guy' is becoming a coquette? I never thought I'd see the day. Does she even know him?"
I shrugged, "I don't think so, but they are talking as if they have known each other for a while."
"But look at how straight-faced he is!"
"While she's the bubbly pixie, I know," I smiled, giving Angela a hug.
We were all called in to look at the exhibit and Angela and I looked at each book closely, discussing the wonder of seeing them in person passionately. We were talking reverently about the first edition Pride and Prejudice before us when we were joined by a giddy Alice. "Hi, guys!"
"Well, look who finally decided to deign us with her presence," I teased.
To my surprise, Alice didn't argue with me but instead giggled like a little schoolgirl. "Have you been hitting the laughing gas, Alice?"
"No, Bella," she laughed some more. "Come on, I have something to show you guys."
Angela gave me a strange look before following Alice. We were led to a back room where the blonde boy waited. "Guys, this is Jasper. Jasper, Bella and Angela."
"Hello," Jasper said politely as he stiffly offered his hand. I grabbed it and received on strong pump before he delivered the same strange handshake to Angela.
"Hi," I said trying to be friendly.
"So…" Angela said awkwardly.
"Oh! Right!" Alice jumped up and down. "I thought you two would appreciate this more than me. Jasper?" she turned and looked at him expectantly.
"Alice told me that you two loved books and so I thought that you might like to see this."
"This" turned out to be a small collection of books that had been made before the invention of the printing press. Each word had been hand scribed by monks and illuminated.
Jasper came up as I was admiring a page, "These books were often the desired treasure during Viking pillages becau-"
"Because they used real gold in the illuminations," I beamed.
"You certainly know a lot about books."
I shrugged, "Books are my life. It's kind of hard not to know about your own life."
This elicited the vaguest hint of a chuckle from him.
"How did you know these books were here?" I asked.
It was Alice who answered, appearing out of nowhere, "They belonged to his great-however many times-grandfather, Jasper Whitlock who collected books and fought in the Civil War. He's who Jasper is named after, isn't that exciting?"
"Very," I said enthusiastically. "I wish my family has as rich of a history."
"Oh, come on, Bella! The Swans have had five generations of police chiefs!"
I rolled my eyes at Alice, "And Emmet is going to be the first to break that tradition. It's impressive but hardly anything to boast about."
We finished looking at the books, said goodbye to Jasper, which was a difficult feat for Alice, and then walked to Alice's car after convincing Angela to spend the night too.
As we stepped into the Porsche, Angela and I shared a look with each other and decided to have some fun interrogating Alice on the ride home…