Is this story likable? I can't tell...it doesn't seem to be playing over that way....
Well, I'm updating with another chapter, just to see if maybe I need more chappies to gain attention.
But I mean, I guess I just wonder outloud if it is or isnt (likable) because if it isnt, I'd rather not stress myself out to complete it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. I also own none of the components to the sogns "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton, or "If Walls Could Talk" by Celine Dion. I also claim no fame to the YouTube videos used in this and previous chapters: that's someone else's work.
First Session
When eleven-fifteen came around, and Jessica was still in the bedroom, Bella got worried. She wasn't sure if she wanted to leave the dorm room with Jessica knowing she was gone. Jessica would never let hear the end of it, and Bella didn't really want to come up with a series of lies as answers right now. Her mind was already in a mess over Edward.
When he left her to attend her class, she ended up doubling back to her dorm room. She still had had thirty minutes to kill, and she was suddenly bursting with inspiration. Fifteen minutes later, she had lyrics covering a fresh page in her music book. And then following her class – and thankfully since Jessica was out – she ended up finishing up the song and putting music to it. Bella realized this was the first song she had been inspired to write due to a boy. Most of her music came from stories she had heard, or movies she had watched, or something of the sort. But while the words came from the tip of her pencil and onto the page, there was only one thing on her mind.
Edward.
His perfectly sculpted frame. The casual beauty of his smile. The smooth deep sound of his voice. Those incredibly entrancing eyes.
Edward, Edward, Edward. And the words were flowing.
By the time she was finished, her face had flushed an amazing shade of red. She had gotten carried away with the actually words she had come up with. They weren't unusual words when compared to other songs she had written. But when she threw the fact that she had been thinking about a particular someone – someone who wasn't an unattainable famous person, or untouchable on a television screen – it suddenly made the words seem much, much more.
Even stranger, a small part of her wanted Edward to hear the song. Suddenly she wanted to get his opinion on it, and feel the rush of personally knowing that the song was about him, while he was blissfully unaware. The thought brought tingles to her body. Weird tingles, but pleasantly weird at the same time.
Her only problem right now was her roommate. Jessica was clearly going to leave the dorm at some point – she was hastily putting on makeup in her vanity mirror – but Bella felt she wasn't moving hastily enough. Now it was eleven-eighteen. She was supposed to meet Edward in the next twelve minutes.
Suddenly, Jessica looked at Bella in the mirror. "You know Bella, you could come with me if you want," she said. The offer surprised Bella, so she remained speechless. Not that Jessica gave her a chance to respond as she rambled on. "I mean, it's just a dorm room party. It's not going to be that many people. You can't stay the night like I can of course though." She smiled knowingly to herself at this point, and Bella mentally gagged. She knew that Jessica was thinking about Mike Newton – the guy who was holding the dorm party and who Jessica had hooked up with religiously every night since September. "But you should come anyway," Jessica said finally.
"No thanks," Bella replied. "I'm probably just going to start some research on my psych paper before going to bed."
"You know Bella, college isn't just about writing papers and playing guitar," Jessica said in a snappish tone.
Bella wanted to tell the girl that college also wasn't all about partying and having sex each and every night, but she held her tongue. It finally seemed like Jessica was getting tired of being in the room and was about to leave. And, thank God, with eight minutes to spare.
When Jessica did finally leave the room, Bella slipped into her flip flops and was ready to leave too. She had a black sweatshirt on to beat the night chill, and her guitar was already safely tucked inside its case. Also in the carrier, just in case the little part of her became a bigger one, was her lyric book.
Bella made it over to the music building four minutes after eleven-thirty. The entire building was silent. She went for the staircase, climbing for the room that she had met previously. A dim light – one that could not be produce by the overheads – was glowing from glass pane in the center of the closed door. When Bella opened it and went inside, she found Edward sitting behind the piano, looking at a pocket watch. The light came from a small lamp resting atop the piano.
"Sorry," she said. "I was waiting for my roommate to leave."
He glanced over at her, and even from the distance she could feel the fierceness of his gaze. His expression was somber, however, and he said, "I thought you were going to be a no-show."
"Sorry," Bella said again.
"Who's your roommate?" Edward asked her.
"Jessica Stanley."
Edward flinched. "I understand your reason for waiting."
Bella sighed in relief: at least she wasn't the only one who thought Jessica was a bug.
Edward nodded to her guitar case, "You brought your guitar? Are the ones the school provides not good enough for you?"
"No, it's not like that," she said. "I guess I'm just more comfortable on my own instrument than on someone else's. That sense of familiarity, if you can understand that."
"Yeah, I can understand that," he said. "But I suppose the difference between me and you is that I can't put a grand piano in a carrying case."
Bella laughed, and Edward chuckled with her. When a silence filled the air, Bella was suddenly aware of just how far away she was from Edward. The piano was tucked away on the left side of the room from the door. She grabbed a stool and music stand in her free hand and made her way over to him.
"So are you going to sing for me?" he asked her softly.
She blushed. "I'm not sure yet," she said as she took the guitar out of its case. Her composition book lay at the bottom of the case.
"You brought your lyric book?"
More red covered her cheeks. "Yeah, just in case."
"In case of what, pray tell?"
Bella was sure she could blush no further, and she absolutely couldn't look at him at this point, her eyes focused on her guitar strings. "I don't know, just in case," she echoed.
Edward didn't press her, but she caught out of the corner of her eyes the amused smile on his face. She watched as he placed his long and slender fingers on the ivory keys and pressed a couple of major chords. Her mind wandered naughtily as she watched his fingers – the length of them noticeable and graceful. Piano players were good with their fingers. She imagined his elsewhere than on the piano keys. Suddenly it was becoming hot around her again.
"So tell me a song that you know," he said. "Something we can play together." He looked at her with liquid topaz eyes. "Something you might even sing for me."
Bella adjusted her guitar in her lap. "I doubt you know anything that I can play, and especially sing."
"Well with a voice like yours, I'm sure you can sing any song you want," Edward said softly, making her skin warm. "And as for something you know…"
To her surprise, he began rattling off the opening notes to Vanessa Carlton's 'A Thousand Miles'. And with the same effortlessness as Ms. Carlton herself. By the time he got to the part when Vanessa came in with lyrics, Bella couldn't stop herself. She started strumming on her guitar, and opened her mouth to sing.
Making my way downtown
Walking fast
Faces past, and I'm homebound
Staring blankly ahead, just making my way
Making a way through the crowd
I need you, and I miss you
And now I wonder
If I could fall into the sky
Do you think time would pass me by?
Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles
If I could just see you
Tonight
The two of them jammed the interlude together, but Edward stopped playing before she could get to the second verse. He looked up at her, smiling warmly.
"You really do have a beautiful voice."
Bella blushed. "I'm already here, you don't have to butter me up any further," she joked.
He laughed softly, then nodded to her composition book. "What's the just in case about? Don't think I've forgotten."
She glanced at him. The intensity in his eyes made her nervous – he was still a stranger, even if it was one she was attracted to, and she had never shown anyone her music before. If anyone should see it, it certainly should be someone closer to her. And at the same time, the intensity in his eyes made her excited. She felt like he was daring her something, and she wanted to rise to the occasion.
She felt her hand trembling as she reached down to the book, and knew Edward would realize it was trembling as well as the pages rattled noisily as she opened them. She already had the words and notes to the song she had written today memorized, as she had spent of her free time with it today, so she handed the book to Edward. He took it, but didn't look down. That fact – that small sign of respect – made her smile.
"It was something that I've been working on," she told him. She didn't necessarily need to tell him that the 'working' had been all day today. "We can play it together, if you feel like you can read my notations."
He still kept his eyes on hers, and she gave him a reassuring smile. Finally, those golden eyes dropped, scanning the page with immense speed. He practiced some on the piano – just striking random recognizable notes – before turning to her.
"Whenever you're ready."
Bella took a deep breath. This was it. He had already seen the music, and now she was going to play for him. Even though her heart was beating so fast and so loud that she was certain she wouldn't be able to hear her own voice and guitar, let alone Edward's accompaniment, she still started working her fingers. She gave Edward a minute to fall into a groove with her, took a deep breath, and then begun:
These walls keep a secret
That only we know
But how long can they keep it?
Cause we're two lovers, we lose control
We're two shadows
Chasing rainbows
Behind closed windows
Behind closed doors
If walls could talk, oooh,
They would say I want you more
They would say
Hey, have you felt like this before?
And that you'll always be the one for me
Slowly, with every word, Bella's nerves were melting away. Edward's soft piano music was comforting to her ears, and a sense of pride overcame her that the beauty he was playing from her music book.
Two people making memories
Just too good to tell
These songs are never ending
When we're lying where we fell
We're painting pictures
Making magic
Taking chances
Making love
If walls could talk, oooh,
They would say I want you more
They would say
Hey, have you felt like this before?
And that you'll always be the one for me
If the walls had eyes
Mine they would see the love in sight
They would see, me
In your arms in ecstasy
And with every move they'd know I love you so
When I'm feeling weak
You give me wings
When the fire has no heat
You light it up again
When I hear no violins
You play my every string
Just stop the press
Hold the news
The secret is safe between me and you
Walls, can you keep a secret?
If walls could talk, oooh,
They would say I want you more
They would say
Hey, have you felt like this before?
And that you'll always be the one for me
If the walls had eyes
Mine they would see the love in sight
They would see, me
In your arms in ecstasy
And with every move they'd know I love you so
I love you so
Oooh, I love you baby
Oooh baby
Love you, love you, love you so honey
Love you, love you, love you so
In your arms in ecstasy
If they could see you and me, only you and me baby
Just you and me baby
The ending notes of her song faded into the air as they both came to similar halts in their playing. Suddenly silence overcame the room. The silence was followed by the increased and loud beating of Bella's heart. The nerves that had so easily melted away came by with the same ease. Edward wasn't looking at her, his eyes still downcast on her book. She had the urge to snatch the book from its stand and run away, and then act as if the night had never happened. All of a sudden, she felt more than just exposed – she felt really damn naked.
Then Edward released a long exhale and those beautiful eyes lifted to meet hers. The warmth in his gaze eased her worries almost instantaneously. "That was a pleasure to play Bella," he whispered.
She blushed. "Thanks."
"And it was a pleasure hearing you sing as well," he said. "For that, I thank you."
More blushing.
Edward handed her book back, and their hands touched for a moment in the exchange. An electrical charge surge through her veins at the contact. Edward's hand lingered on hers for a moment longer, but he finally released the book. Bella almost dropped it, caught up in the feeling of Edward's fingers on her skin. She nervously put the book back in the case, then pulled her fingers through her long dark brown hair.
"I guess it would be too much to ask you to play another song," he said playfully once the book was back in the case.
Bella didn't think she could handle playing another one of her pieces. She was already a turbulent mess over the first one. But Edward's understanding expression showed her that there was no pressure. He closed the case on the piano keys and stood up.
"I should probably walk you back to your dorm."
The two of them hadn't been out together long, only about twenty minutes, but Bella felt as if she had spent hours upon hours in that room with Edward. As they walked side by side back to her dorm building, him carrying her guitar case, Bella's mind ran wild. She was still thinking about the way his fingers floated over the keys, the intensity in his amber eyes as he read her music. Her mind wandered further on thoughts of his strong sturdy frame being no more than a few millimeters away from hers and imagined those fingers dragging down her bare arms.
Her attraction to him was undeniable, but the musical exposure she had just performed for him left her feeling nervous. But it was a unexpected nervous: one she found herself thoroughly enjoying.
He walked her right up to her door and then handed the case over. He pushed his hand through his hair again, but it retained its attractive messiness. "Thanks again for tonight, Bella," he said. "I really enjoyed playing your music."
"I actually enjoyed hearing you play it," she said.
"You say that as if you thought I was going to do it an injustice."
Bella shook her head. "Not that, just…I've never played my music for anyone other than me before. And I certainly haven't ever had someone play my music for me. It's a new experience I guess."
"Well I'm glad I could be the one who shares in this new experience."
Suddenly his hand was coming towards her. An involuntary reaction caused Bella to sharply take in breath, and then hold it. His fingers grazed the skin of her face, then pushed her hair behind her right ear. Just as quickly as it arrived, the hand left her skin.
"Good night Bella," he said softly.
"Goodnight," she stammered out.
Edward stepped back enough for her to open her door, and Bella hurried inside, closing the door behind her. The side of her face where there had been contact was burning pleasantly. She could feel the makings of a wide smile fighting its way to her face. And her heart was beating rapidly again.
Something told her tonight's REM cycle was going to be much like the last's.
Vanessa Carlton, "A Thousand Miles" :: www. youtube. com/watch?v=Sg0CeRog-yQ (Take out spaces)
Celine Dion, "If Walls Could Talk" :: www. youtube. com/watch?v=yu5VmJGTMos (Take out spaces)
Leave a review if you liked this. Leave a review and tell me what you didn't like. I suppose any kind of communication so I can know how this story is being received by the public would be nice.
Until my next (pending) chapter,
--Brin--