Cannon Ball
Teeny Tiny Twilight
One monster suitcase, two boxes of books, twelve hours of sleep and then eight hours of school later Edward and I were cross legged on the floor in front of math homework in my new home. Alice was out in the kitchen talking to Jasper about something that had her excited squeals echoing into the living room where we sat.
"Arg!" I cried, falling back onto the floor. "It hurts! It hurts! I can't stand it anymore!"
"Bella stop. Math isn't that hard."
"IT HURTS!"
Edward was sitting cross-legged in front of me, one finger on the math problem in the book that I could not figure out. Alice had been doing just fine teaching me how to translate math into English, but the phone had interrupted out study session and she had skipped off to answer it.
I grabbed a pillow from off the couch and pretended to suffocate myself.
"You are a horrible teacher. Why did I think you could help me?"
He sighed, "Because you saw that all my math homework was done. Look, just try one more time? Please?"
I peeked my head out from under the pillow. Edward smiled encouragingly at me.
"Fine," I muttered, throwing the pillow at him. He caught it easily. "But I'm kicking you out once all the X's and Y's start to look alike."
He snorted, "You were the one to ask me to help you."
I threw another pillow, "Yes, because you literally forced your way into Alice's and my home, and since you wouldn't just listen to me and leave you are supposed to be helping me. Which you aren't."
He rolled his eyes and muttered something unintelligible under his breath. I stuck my tongue out childishly.
"Okay," he sighed, pointing to the question again, "Jim and Cathy invest 40,000 dollars into two different accounts. Part at 8 per annum, the other at 12 per annum. The two investments earned equal amounts of interest. How much was invested at each rate?"
My eye twitched.
"Bella, you still with me? What are we going to let X represent?" he asked gently, seeing that I was on the edge of a psychotic break down. "Come on Bella. You can choose, it is either going to be 8 or 12. Which one do you want?"
I snatched a pillow back from where I had thrown it and screamed into it, "IT HURTS!"
Edward heaved a sigh.
Alice skipped back into the room, her face glowing. I stopped attempting to force the pillow down my throat. "So what's going on with Jasper tonight?" It was obvious from how her bright blue eyes danced that she was going to see him tonight.
"Jasper's friend is throwing a party and Jasper invited all of us to go!" she squealed excitedly. She jumped onto the couch and started jumping on it, "I'm seeing Jasper. I'm seeing Jasper. I'm seeing Jasper." She sang as she bounced.
Edward was watching, amused. I was already used to Alice, none of her exuberant behaviour surprised me these days.
"Alice, who is 'all of us'?" I asked. I would have though it was just going to be a girl's night out. Maybe Rosalie would come too.
"You,"—bounce—"Me,"—bounce—"Rose,"—bounce—"Emmett,"—bounce—"and Edward." —bounce.
"Edward? Why is Edward coming? You hate Edward almost as much as I do." I remembered a little late that Edward was still sitting across from me, no longer looking amused. "No offence." I said quickly.
"None taken." He muttered dryly.
I pursed my lips to keep from laughing. Alice jumped off the couch, landing in front of me. "Because you need a date. I can't have you sitting in the corner all night."
I jumped up quickly, grabbed her arm, and dragged her into the kitchen. Was she joking? I would rather sit at home and watch crappy sit-coms all night.
"What are you doing?" I hissed. She did not look as regretful as I thought she should have.
"I'm honestly worried about you Bella. You don't go out with anyone, other then practice, and you know I haven't even seen you look at a man since I met you?"
"I'm not interested in any of the guys here, why make myself miserable with someone when I could be happy alone?"
"Please Bella? I'm just trying to help you."
"Then why are you inflicting Edward on me?" I growled.
"I can hear you!"
Alice and I both stopped to look at the open kitchen door.
'Oops.' Alice mouthed at me. I pouted at her.
"Please? Please let me stay home? Or at least let me bring my own date? You have no idea how annoying Edward is, especially when he gets all cocky."
"Hello? I can hear you!"
I sighed, walking back into the living room. He had his arms and legs crossed now. Surrounded by all our schoolbooks he looked like the monarchy of math.
I took my place across from him again. I did feel rotten for saying all of this even though it was true; after all, he had tried to help me on my math. Unsuccessfully, albeit, but he did try.
"Sorry Alice, but it's just not happening. Edward likes someone else. Why not bring her and I can stay at home. She will be more fun then me any ways. I'll get caught up on the laundry or read a book or something while you guys are out."
Alice looked at Edward who was looking back at her, and then slowly, they both turned to look at me. I was having a flashback of playing Football. That smile that had sent a shiver down my spine that had made my heart race and my hands sweat. There was going to be pain.
"You'll never take me alive!" I yelled, jumping up and racing out the door.
"Sick her!" I heard Alice shout. I was strongly aware of someone coming after me, so I ignored the elevator, and instead took the stairs down three at a time.
I risked a glance over my shoulder once I had hit the ground floor. Edward was just hitting the first floor landing, looking frustrated, and excited all at the same time. What did he expect? I had helped Alice lug all her shopping bags up these stairs in the dark. The school turned the Elevators off at night to try to encourage us to respect the curfews they put in order.
I must have looked half crazed as I took off out the doors, almost hitting a junior as they tried to get in. I was laughing a breathless, excited laugh while I ran at the sheer insanity of it all. Edward was catching up. Damn his longer legs.
I tried to think logically through this. Where would I—small with stubby legs—have the advantage over someone like Edward, tall and annoyingly fast. The forest that infringed on the side of the school where the avid hiker could experience the outdoors came into my view.
"Run, run as fast as you can." Edward sang from behind me.
I laughed again at the old nursery rhyme, "You'll never catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"
I could hear his laughter behind me, which abruptly cut off when I took a sharp left towards the forests. The hard pavement that pounded securely under my feet changed into soft forest floors with low hanging branches, set deliberately there to try and knock me off balance.
Just when I started to think that maybe this hadn't been the best idea, and started to plan a way to loop back to a more open space, a think branch came with in arm's reach.
I jumped for it, swinging my body into the branches. I climbed as high as I was comfortable with before I looked down to see Edward sprint past where I hid. Unawares of my hiding place, he stopped, trying to look for some indication of which way I had gone.
Shoving the heel of my hand into my mouth to keep my laughter contained, I looked around my leafy hide-out for a stick that was not connected to the tree. I found it leaning against a dead arm of it's mother. It was perfect, not big enough that it would hinder my tossing abilities, but not too small to be of no use.
I picked it up cautiously, trying to make no sound. I looked for a space in the tree, and then I threw the stick into the trees as far as I could.
I lost my visual of it after only a short second, but I heard it snap against a tree a little ways away. Edward did too, his head snapped in that direction, and then a wicked crooked smile pulled at his lips. I took a breath, and clenched my teeth, trying to keep from laughing at him.
It was really, really, hard not to. He looked so proud of his 'discovery'. I wanted to see his face when he did not find anything other then an inconspicuous broken stick.
A giggle burst through my pursed lips.
Edward's head abruptly turned towards me. I clapped a hand over my mouth too late. He chuckled and grabbed the branch I had used to hoist myself up.
"Wait, wait. I'll make you a deal." I cried, all the while looking for another means of escape.
He stopped, raising an eyebrow. To my relief he dropped his hold on the branch and took a step away.
"Alright then. Let's here it."
I took a deep breath, "I'll go out tonight, but you have to protect me from Alice."
He considered that for a moment, and then shook his head smiling.
"Not good enough." He grabbed onto the branch again and with a grunt, heaved himself up.
"I'll help you get that girl." I said quickly as he reached for my leg. I quickly pulled it out of his reach.
His head cocked to the side. "Who says I need any help? I can have any girl that I want."
I sniffed. "I do. You are an arrogant jerk. If this girl has any sense she will turn you down. Actually she'll slap you, then turn you down."
He thought about that for a second, and then nodded. Pulling himself up to the branch I was sitting on. "Okay, point taken."
I gapped at him, "You're agreeing with me?"
He shrugged, "You're right. She's smart. Smart enough to stay away from me."
"But that's not going to stop you." It really wasn't a question.
He grinned. "Nope. I'll try until she either kills me or I move on."
It was an interesting thought, "Who is she? I'd like to help her with the first part."
A look of panic crossed his face and I laughed, "Don't worry, I won't tell her. Your secret is safe with me."
He laughed, "It wouldn't matter; you don't know her anyways."
I took a deep breath and leaned back against the trunk of the tree, letting the wind play in my hair, feel what sunshine seeped through the trees warm my skin.
"So do we have a deal? I'll go to the party, and help you gain some kind of redeeming quality, but you have to protect me."
"So what exactly does that comprise?" he asked, leaning back as I did to let the sun warm his face. The sunlight filtered through his eyes like it glowed warmly through the leaves on the trees.
"It means you need to make sure Alice and Rosalie don't go over board." I shuddered with the memory of eyebrow tweezers.
His eyes narrowed, "So you're asking me that in return for not dragging you back to Alice, I have to protect you? And under impossible circumstances too. I think I should get more then one lesson on virtuous behaviour."
I snorted, "Edward there is absolutely nothing virtuous about you; don't even try it. What I'll try to do is make you at least acceptable to the poor girl I'm going to unleash you onto." I shook my head, "Talk about impossible circumstances." I muttered to myself.
"Thanks. You do wonders for the self-esteem Bella. By next week I'll be curled in a ball under my bed."
I shrugged, biting my tongue. I hoped I could help him at least a little. You never know, Edward might pass as decent someday…maybe.
"So do we have a deal or not?" I finally asked him, bracing my hands against the branch for a quick get away if he did not agree to my terms.
He sighed. "I'll do what I can, but I can almost guarantee that you won't get out of the house without at least a little eyeliner."
I sighed too. I would take that any day over the tortures Alice had in store for me. I wondered if Alice would listen if I told her I couldn't wear heels.
"I'll take what I can get." I held my hand out, an old tradition with my mother. If you make a promis you shake on it.
Edward raised an eyebrow at me. "You don't trust me?"
"No."
He chuckled darkly, "You will." Then he sprang down from the tree, catching his self on a branch and then dropping lightly to the ground.
"Of course I will." I mocked.
He had not shaken my hand. I didn't like it, and no mater what he predicted, I would doubted I would trust him. Maybe I was taking on the childish qualities of my mother. Who shook on a deal anymore? Why didn't I just ask him to pinkie promise? Or even better, we could skip the party and play Ring around the Rosie until nap time.
I followed Edward, catching myself on the same branch, and then took off after him. First thing I was going to need to teach him: Patience.
When I finally fought my way out of the grabbing branches and protruding roots, Edward was waiting. He might be taking the guard thing a little too seriously. He stayed within touching distance, acting more like a bodyguard then an Alice guard. Or maybe I was underestimating Rosalie.
I did not like his stance. It felt as if he was preparing for a bear attack, or a sniper hanging out the window, or a rockslide. Every sound started to sound menacing to me. Was Rosalie this bad? She did not seem like the Aliceie type, maybe a little too into her bedroom mirror, but other then that she seemed normal enough.
Edward gasped suddenly, spinning towards the forest edge. At first, I thought he had noticed how jumpy I was being and only teasing me. Then I heard it too.
I guess I was not too far off on the bear attack theory.
Emmett charged out of the forest, his huge arms out to catch us. Edward looked like he was about to step in front of me, but then he smiled and to my great horror, stepped to the side.
"Traitor!" I screamed at him as Emmett gripped me in his huge anaconda arms, crushing the air from my lungs.
Edward only laughed, "Don't worry Bella, Emmett likes you too much to turn you into the girls."
I glared. "And why am I a separate entity from the 'girls'?"
Edward smirked. "That's because, there is nothing female about you. You're just…Bella. You don't fit into any categories."
I grimaced, "Thanks." I already knew that though. I wasn't like the other girls. Maybe there was some kind of glitch in my brain but what ever it was, I was a freak. Not distinctly female, and defiantly not male.
Emmett laughed. A booming sound that echoed off the forest and rattled the bones in my spine where he crushed me to his chest.
"Shut up Edward, Bella's cool." He grinned hugely at me. I grinned back at him, glad to have a supporter. "And since Edward scared you off before I could play with you guys, I want a game now, before the party. Rosie would kill me if I got you all muddy after she dressed you up in that little yellow—oops, I wasn't supposed to say anything about that."
I looked at him blankly, "Say what? I didn't hear anything. Did you Edward?"
Edward laughed, shaking his head, "Nope, went right over my head."
Emmett smiled broadly, "See man! She's awesome!"
I struggled out of Emmett's arms, desperately needing air. "Okay," I grinned at Emmett, "Play ball!"
"NO!" two voiced shrieked.
I cringed, and then slowly turned around. Alice was glaring at me, her little pixie ears releasing great pillars of furious smoke. I gulped; Rose was giving me a look that you gave to someone on death row.
No one was getting out of this alive.
I waved sheepishly, "Hey, do you girls want to play too? It will be fun." My attempt to persuade them was half hearted. I had a good idea what their answer was going to be.
Rose looked about to say something, to scream something. Then—thank ever God, deity, and holy thing ever put into existence—Emmett turned on the puppy dog eyes. "Please Rosie?" —his lip trembled and my heart broke—"I want to play with Bella bear and you."
"Bella bear?" Edward asked quietly from beside me. I motioned my bewilderment back to him.
"No! Rose, don't do it! You're being sucked into the dark side!" Alice pleaded shrilly, nearly hanging off her arm.
"Alice, my love, please calm down. We don't want to hurt Rosalie, now do we?"
Alice gasped, spinning to face her Blond haired angel. Or that's how she described him to me. His face lit up when he saw her too and he held his arms out to her as she jumped into them. I smiled; maybe this could be twisted to my advantage.
"Hey Jasper." I smiled waving. He smiled and nodded to me, but he did not take his eyes off Alice. "We were just about to play some high contact foot ball,"—I made sure to make the last words stand out—"and I was just worried about Alice's well being against someone like Emmett. We all know Emmett would never try to hurt his sister, but you know how accidents happen."
Edward shot me a questioning look. I ignored him, focused more on the horror struck expression on Jasper's face, and an oblivious Alice who just missed the whole conversation, too busy nuzzling into Jasper's side. His next words caught her attention though, "I'm playing with you." He shot another protective glance at Alice before kissing her complaint away.
Edward turned his hand ever so slightly for a discrete high five. I grinned back at him, slapping his hand lightly so as not to bring to much attention to us.
"Woo!" Emmett crowed, racing down to the field to play, I followed him with Edward by my side, again taking his role as guard a little too seriously. The danger was put off though until after the game, so he could drop the façade. I moved away from him to grab the football under the bench.
"Who's on who's team?" I asked, throwing the ball in the air, catching it, throwing it….
"Bella's on my team!" Edward and Emmett yelled simultaneously.
"That's not fair. If Bella and you are on the same team then the other side is going to lose!" Emmett whined.
Throw. Catch. Throw.
"Why don't we play boys against girls?" I asked, catching the ball, and then tossing it lightly to Alice who caught it with two hands. Jasper shifted uncomfortably seeing the ball in her hands, probably imagining what it would look like for his precious little Alice to be bulldozed by Edward. I shuddered too.
Edward held his tongue. Smart man, he must have learned his lesson last time. He did look doubtful when he looked at Alice though. I didn't blame him. I was going to keep a careful eye on her, take a few hits if that's what it took to make sure she was fine at the end of the game.
Jasper looked on edge of having a nervous breakdown.
"No, absolutely not. Alice come with me, we'll watch." He went to take her hand.
Alice stepped away from Jasper, cradling the ball against her chest, her lip out in a pout.
"Why? I want to play." She complained now that she was having the choice taken away from her. Typical Alice.
It was scary to watch Jasper and Alice together. Not because they were so in love it almost hurt to watch, or because Jasper had this aura that just seemed to intimidate, not even because of their physical differences. There was something that was just so opposite about them, so opposite it made me nervous to watch, though I knew Jasper would never lay a cruel finger on Alice. Alice was just so petite, fragile looking and gentle, if you weren't attacking—or running from—her fashion sense.
Jasper on the other hand used to be in the army. He was part of the black watch before he met Alice. I didn't want to ever learn what he did there, and not even Alice would broach the subject with me. The only thing she told me was that he learned to do really horrible things to people, and after a year, he had seen too much.
Jasper let out a fatigued breath, still smiling. "I know you do sweetheart, I just worry about you." He touched her face gently.
She closed her eyes and leaned her face into his hand, "I know. I love you, but I want to play with Bella. She isn't much bigger then me and she could take some pretty good hits."
I blushed. Jasper gave me a hard look, "Thanks so much Bella."
"Maybe you and Jasper should sit out Alice. I don't want you to get hurt because of me." My eyes flickered back to Jasper who looked pleased with this assessment. I let out a small breath, glad he wasn't giving me the 'I can break you neck with my pinkie' look.
Alice gave me one long look and then turned pleading eyes on Jasper.
"Please? I just want to play." Her liquid blue eyes were huge, persuasive, with just the right hint of 'love me'. Jasper didn't stand a chance.
Jasper kissed her cheek. "Okay, why don't you go get changed into something else though? I wouldn't want you to ruin that beautiful outfit."
Alice flashed a billboard smile, and then skipped over to the bench to bench to grab her bag. No doubt she had at least seven different outfits in there for emergencies. What kind of emergencies? I never asked. The three hour long discussion sure to follow was not something I cared to sit through.
Jasper turned to the boys. Emmett had drifted over to hover next to Rosalie, while Edward was spinning the football that Alice had dropped on his finger absently.
"If any of you 'accidentally' hurt her, I'll 'accidentally' twist you into a pretzel." Jasper said, deadly serious. Edward understood and nodded. Emmett…not so much.
Emmett laughed, "Sure man. Alice can take a few good hits, trust me." He winked at Jasper.
"Careful, Em." Edward muttered, elbowing Emmett in the ribs. Emmett shrugged unperturbed.
Jasper stiffened, glaring at Emmett in a way that made me nervous. I tried to make the act seem casual as I put myself between the two. An angry Jasper was scary, an angry Jasper feeling the need to protect the love of his life from harm was beyond teffifying. "Jasper, Emmett is Alice's brother," I murmured slowly, trying to remind him, "Alice would be very upset if you hurt him. Wouldn't she?"
Jasper pursed his lips, but didn't say anything. I took that as a yes. Edward let out a breath from behind me. I turned a questioning glance on him. He shrugged in one flowing movement, and the grinned.
"Since the girls are so much better then the guys, I think we should get first ball."
I smirked, "If you think that will help, then by all means, go ahead."
Maybe there was some sort of deficiency in Edward's brain that stopped him from seeing the obvious. Maybe it was similar to the genetic quirk I had that kept me from being normal. What ever is was though, I liked it. I liked it a lot.
"Hut!" Jasper called, and then to Edward's great surprise and my great enjoyment, threw the ball right into Alice's waiting arms. It was hilarious to watch Edward stand helpless, unable to touch Alice without Jasper breaking his hand, as Alice ran through the touch down line.
I waved at Edward who was giving Jasper a betrayed look. Then so casually it didn't look like anything more then me walking over to congratulate Alice, I walked by Edward and murmured, "You want to be on the girl's team when you're playing couples."
Edward growled something under his breath. I smiled.
Emmett was entrusted with the ball next. I couldn't actually predict what Emmett would do. He was much more flamboyant in everything he did, especially when it came to Rosalie, but I could take an educated guess, and say that he was highly competitive. Rose looked confident though, so I didn't prepare to block Emmett. I doubted it would do little even if I did.
"Hut." Jasper said his voice its usual resigned gentle flow, laced with an inexplicable calm that always conflicted with Alice's constant hyper state.
Emmett took off down the field. I groaned in defeat as Edward cheered. I had just started to scour the ground for something to throw at him when he yelled furiously.
I looked up to see that Rose had some how managed to steal the ball from Emmett. She was running back up the field with Emmett behind her. To me, it looked like he was purposely lagging, watching her run.
Edward must have seen the same thing I had, because he looked like he was getting ready to tackle Emmett rather then Rosalie.
"Run Rose!" I screamed, jumping onto Edward, foolishly thinking my weight was enough to take him down.
It wasn't. What did end up happening was I got to ride piggy back down the field. My weight slowed him down enough that Rose made the touch down line, just in time for Emmett to take on a sudden burst of speed and wrap his arms around her waist. Rose made a sound somewhere between a shriek and a giggle as Emmett spun her around.
I laughed as Edward shook me off. He was obviously irritated, which only made this so much funnier. I let my hold on him slip off and, stumbling backwards, fell onto the grass and grinned at the sky. It shone down on my skin, warming me. It reminded me of how Renee and I had lazed in the grass while she had been trying to practice yoga.
A shadow scared away the sun's warmth. I opened my eyes to scowl at Edward. What gave him the right to chase away my happy day dreams?
"Get up." he growled, stalking off to his side of the field. Apparently he could no longer trust any of his team mates with the ball. He took his position; I faced him, smiling hugely. Jasper had sufficiently distracted Alice with another foot ball, and were playing their own side game. I watched them for a second, feeling a pang of isolation.
It was a silly feeling. I was only seventeen, soon to be eighteen in only four days. Still too young to be looking for a soul mate. Not every one was as lucky as Alice and Jasper. At the thought of my birthday though, I was giving Alice a panicky glance. Alice had sworn she hadn't seen anything when I had caught her reading over my shoulder. It had been an e-mail from my mom. My technologically challenged mother had worried that e-mail would be similar to snail mail, so she sent the e-mail early.
"Hut!" Edward called, about to take off. He startled me from my train of thought, and I acted impulsively. There was a ball in my opposition's hands, so I knocked it out of them. In basket ball this would be acceptable. In foot ball…no so much.
Edward gave me a tired look. "You're supposed to wait five seconds Bella."
"Oops?" I blushed. Edward lost the angry look quickly, instead grinning at the rush of blood under my skin.
He chuckled, "That's adorable." He cooed, touched my cheek with the back of his hand gently, feeling the heat from my embarrassment.
"Go away." I muttered, slapping his hand away, my blush deepening. He laughed, throwing me the ball. I glared, taking it. I was faintly aware of Rosalie throwing glances between Edward and I. I ignored her.
"Hut!" Edward called again. I slipped past him and started running for the touch down line.
"Hey!" I heard someone cry from behind me.
I turned to see Rosalie sitting on top of Edward's shoulders. I smiled, only Rose would know how to take Edward down like that. "That was for putting cool-aid in my shampoo." She snarled at him.
"It was a joke." He growled back, crossing his arms under his chin as he waited impatiently for her to get off of him.
I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, and gasped in horror. Then I took off like a bullet. I could take Edward's tackles any day; I could probably even take Jasper's since he would only try to knock my down and not purposely hurt me. But Emmett's? I wasn't sticking around to find out.
Maybe I was having a really off day, or maybe the fates just decided to have a little fun with me, but what ever the reason, I lost my balance, having tripped over my own feet, at the exact time Emmett went to grab me. Our legs became tangled, and somewhere in the fall, he managed to some how twist his body to that all his weight landed on me.
I gasped, before the air was knocked out of my lungs. The edges of my consciousness shimmered, and then the world blanked out. It didn't seem like anymore then a second before I opened my eyes again.
I looked around quickly to see if anyone had noticed. I was just about to ask Emmett to get off of me, but it wasn't necessary. He wasn't where I thought he would be. I wasn't where I thought I would be.
Emmett was kneeling in of me, murmuring apologies, his head hung in shame while Alice continued her torrent on him. Jasper hovered over her protectively, his eyes occasionally flickering to Rose who was sitting in the background; her expression to my surprise was surprisingly unfriendly.
I looked up next; aware enough now to know someone was holding me, cradling me against their chest. All I knew was they were male at first.
Edward sighed with relief, "You okay?" he asked quietly.
I was taken of guard by the concern. Wasn't he supposed to punch my shoulder, tease me on passing out, tell me to toughen up? What happened to Edward? Where was the jerk that had followed me home today against my wishes? Literally shouldering his way into Alice's home. I
"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, the surprise was just as obvious in my voice as it was in my thoughts. This must be Edward's way of making up for being a jerk. Or, maybe, Edward was really interested in being my friend. That would explain his constant pursuit. In a twisted kind of way it did make sense. I could see all the girls, the way they looked at him now that Millie's story had gotten around. Everyone knew he was single, and because Millie absolutely refused to make Edward sound bad, he was just the poor ex boyfriend who got confused, sufficiently letting Edward off the hook.
Now that Edward spent the majority of his time with me, the girls were more hesitant to approach. They wouldn't want to chance rejection if there was something going on between Edward and me. Well, if he wanted to take advantage of the situation, then I wished him the best, but he was going to have to be a lot less annoying if he was going to shadow me all day.
No one else had noticed that I had come to yet. I went to get up, but Edward tightened his arms on me.
"If you played this up, you might be able to skip the party tonight." He murmured low in my ear.
I smiled, intriguing thought. I would have taken him up on the offer if it weren't for Emmett still being chastised for hurting me, when in actuality, he hadn't. I was an easy fainter; all I needed was a little blood, or a sudden deprivation air.
I reached out and patted Emmett's head. His dark curls gave way to a face of shock.
"Oh Bella! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, I just tripped and you tripped and then you fell and—"
I laughed, "Emmett, relax. It takes a lot more then that to hurt me. Though I have to admit, it was a pretty good hit, knocking me out like that. Real pro-footballish."
Emmett gapped at me as I tried to disentangle myself from Edward's arms. The second I was under my own weight again, I was cradled against another chest, a massive one with thick arms that crushed me more thoroughly then any anaconda could. "I love this girl! She's awesome!" Emmett cried spinning me around.
"Gak, love you too," I choked, trying to free myself. When he put me down again I patted his huge arm, "You're like the bear I never had." I teased.
"Oh, oh. What am I Bella?" Alice asked bouncing giddily.
I laughed, "My sister."
Alice squealed with joy, and then wrapped her arms around me. "You're my sister too!" she sobbed with joy. I smiled, hugging her back tightly.
"OH! What about Jasper and Rose and Edward?" she asked bouncing in place. "Does Jasper have brother potential?" she asked.
I smiled, "Sure."
Rose got up to come stand behind me, "Well, what about me?" she asked with mock severity.
"You're part of the family too." I grinned. She looked happier, but something was smouldering under the surface. I was about to ask her, but everyone was silent, waiting for Edward's place.
I turned to smirk at a fidgeting Edward. I pretended to think about my answer for a moment. "Brothers are usually annoying, right?" I asked. Rose and Alice bother nodded vigorously, adding their own comments to it. I pursed my lips to keep from smiling. "Well then, I guess Edward is that annoying little brother who follows me everywhere."
He grinned apologetically. "But I like you. You're fun, and funny, and truthfully, deep down in that geek little body of yours. After you dig past the four boxes of books from the 1950s, and your superiority complex."—I threw a stick at him. He laughed dogging it easily—"Well, under all that, you're a little cool."
I gawked at him, "A little cool? You say all that and all I get is a little cool?" Did I have a superiority complex?
Emmett laughed, "Run Edward run! She'll get you." Edward saluted to me, and took off across the field towards where I assumed his building was. That or he was taking the long way around to mine.
Alice grabbed my arm and started dragging my away, Rose on my other side. "Make sure he's presentable for nine o'clock." Alice called after Emmett as he took off after Edward. Jasper looked torn. Obviously we were dividing our selves into gender groups, but Jasper didn't want to leave Alice's side. 'Go' she mouthed to him. He turned after one more unwilling glance, and then he jogged across to where the other boys had gone.
Alice and Rose watched them go. I sighed; apparently Edward wasn't going to fulfill his side of the bargain. I was going out to night with clothes, make-up, and hair gel whether I wanted to or not. The clothes weren't bad, just the opposite, they were too pretty for me. I was used to sweat pants and jeans.
Rosalie turned to me in synchronization with Alice. "We need to talk." They both said at the same time. Rose looked at Alice questioningly. Alice shrugged.
"Bella, I don't want you to take this the wrong way. I really like you, just…don't date my brother."
"What?" Alice shrieked, "Bella, you and Edward are perfect for each other. I can see it!" she cried.
"And what about when Edward dumps her? She'll hate him and then she won't come near me because of him. I like Bella. I don't want my idiot brother to screw another friendship over." I might have taken that last part too literally.
"But he won't dump her! Don't you see? They are perfect, only Bella can kick Edward's—"
"Hey! Whoa! Slow down. Shouldn't this be my decision? I don't even like Edward like that. He's the most arrogant, self-centred, pig I have ever met."—Rose nodded her approval—"But," I continued, "He's also kind of fun, when he isn't being a jerk. I don't mind him, but I don't like him. Not like that. He's….He's a friend boy."
Alice and Rose looked at me weird. "Friend boy?" Rosalie asked, raising one perfect eyebrow.
I nodded, blushing. "He's a friend that's a boy. If I say boy friend then people get the wrong idea and it's really troublesome explaining it to people, and then hunting down the rumours…" I trailed off. I was feeling really stupid right now. It was another Renee thing. "Oh, no Bella, he's a friend boy."
Alice rolled the word over, "Friend…boy. Friend boy. I like it." She smiled hugely at me.
I smiled back relieved that she didn't look at me like I had leprosy. It was a promising start.
Rosalie snorted. "Good. Edward is bad news," she thought for a second, but then sighed, "I guess he can be fun sometimes, and if you're his sister or a really good friend, he's loyal as hell. He got into a fight with Emmett when we first met, and Emmett teased me on my hair colour." She blushed suddenly. I didn't want to hear the remark that would have made her blush like that. "But other then that, I wouldn't waste my time on him."
Alice made a face. "Eww, Rose. That's my brother you're thinking about. Emmett is bad news if he doesn't love you." She sighed, "But since he does, I guess I won't say anything."
Rose gasped, "Emmett said he loved me?"
Alice clapped a hand over her mouth, "Oops!"
"Oh my God! Alice! Why didn't you tell me?" Rose screamed her eyes excited and angry all at the same time.
"Because he made me promise not to!" she sighed, "Too late now I guess." She muttered. "Just act surprised, okay?"
Rose gasped again, "When is he going to tell me?" She cried.
"No! Lalalalalala I can't hear yoouuuuu." Alice sang, hands held tightly over her ears. She ran back to the our building, still singing loudly with her hands over her ears. Rose was screaming after her, arms waving wildly as she scampered after her.
I smiled, following at my own pace. I was normal among the freaks, that was comforting.
When I got through the door Alice and Rose had dropped their shenanigans and were down to business.
Apparently a lot had gone on while I had been out, though I had only been out for about fifteen minutes. Edward had in fact followed through with our little deal. He must really want this girl if he was willing to threaten Rosalie with childhood photos. Everyone knows that's a two way street that was going to lop around to bite him in the ass.
Edward had come to a compromise with Rose and Alice that I could live with. No make up, my hair is mine to do with what I wish, but they chose my clothes. No mini skirts or low v necks.
I was surprised Edward would know all of this. Or maybe it was to be expected, I was after all an open book to the most extreme form of the words.
"Oh please Rose? Just a little lip gloss?" Alice begged. Rose shook her head, looking sadly at my naked face. I couldn't quite wipe the smile of victory off my face. I don't care what kind of deal Edward and I made. He was getting every fringing lesson on women he needed to get this girl.
Alice made an annoyed sound, "What is so bad about it Rose? We all have our embarrassing moments."
I would have nodded in agreement, but I was all for the 'Bella's fine just the way she is' plan.
Rosalie glared, "Don't make me use the bubble gum lip gloss Alice. It won't end well for you."
I smiled to myself and grabbed the clothes they had worked literally hours on picking out. I think they spent so much time on the clothes because of the other restrictions. I looked at the v-neck yellow top. It wasn't that bad and the jeans that went with it weren't tight enough to cut off blood flow to my legs.
I moved, feeling how the material moved with me easily, comfortably. I smiled down at myself. I liked this. I surprised myself by giggling and doing a little pirouette, feeling how the shirt swirled simply, with me.
I walked out of the room I had moved into. It felt rude to claim it as my own right away, especially since the school had a problem with the moving truck crew. They got the wrong date on the moving day. I wasn't getting my bed or my dresser until next Monday. Alice didn't seem to mind my sharing the bed with her, and in that way, she felt like my sister. Everything was comfortable with her, we even joked about it around the house.
I was about to thank Rose for picking out the clothes, and Alice for supplying the forty outfits Rose had to chose from. Alice's form of revenge. I was going to be wearing all the extras weather I wanted to or not. Then I caught sight of Alice, shimmering in a dreamlike silver cocktail dress. Rosalie was even more stunning, a backless red shirt with a mini black skirt that made her legs look longer, more elegant. If that was even possible.
My 'Thank you' stuck in my throat.
"Wow." I whispered. Looking at the two of them made me feel like I had walked into a top rate modeling agency and I was the uncoordinated accountant that mumbled ever word.
Alice and Rosalie both smirked at me, "We clean up nice, hmm? If you let us put some make-up on you…" Rosalie said, glancing at the clock to see if she had enough time for them to pretty me up.
I found myself. "No thank you." I said as politely as I could, trying not to offend them. Alice sighed longingly.
A knock at the door sent them both into a flurry of prepping and primping, catching the miniscule flaws that I couldn't see on themselves and the other.
"Oh! Stray hair. Got it."
"You have a little piece of—yep you got it."
"Lip stick off your tooth!"
I sighed, ignoring them as I went to get the door.
"No!" They both hissed as my hand touched the door handle.
I pulled my hand back, startled. "Why?" I hissed back, my gaze flickering to the door where the boys were waiting. I wondered what Jasper and Emmett's faces would look like when they saw the girls. I wonder if drool will do anything to Alice's expensive carpet.
"Because we have to make them wait. Anticipation, you know?"
I shook my head. Rose rolled her eyes, "Is she even a girl?"
Ouch. I made a face at them and opened the door. "Hello." I smiled, listening to Alice slap her forehead and Rose mutter a low groan under her breath. I think she threw in a few low words but I ignored them. My juvenile revenge to cover up how deep Rosalie's words had cut me. Was there something wrong with me? Was I even categorized as female in any of the boy's minds? Not that I cared so much now, but eventually I wanted that special person to walk into my life. Would he see me as a boy too?
Emmett was the first person I saw, hulking in the door way he was impossible to miss. Jasper was behind him, a quiet kind anxiety exuding from him as he tried to look past Emmett's massive shoulder to see his diminutive Goddess, glittering like a soft rain against a window pane. He didn't seem able to be away from Alice for more then a few hours with out at least calling her. When she did catch his eye though, I had to turn my eyes away. This moment far too intensely loved that not even a distracted Emmett could dilute the moment.
The last person to catch my eye was Edward; he was leaning calmly against the wall, his crooked smile in place. I smiled shyly at him. I didn't feel like myself, like I could tackle the football team's quarterback, or defend my net from men twice my size when I wasn't wearing my rough, scruffy clothes. Or maybe I was personifying too much. The out fit didn't make the person. Right?
Edward's head cocked to the side, giving me the impression that this was the first time we had met, seeing me anew. I didn't blame him, I hardly recognised myself in these clothes. I felt silly now that I was back in the real world. I shouldn't be wearing these clothes, I should be Bella, the basketball player who changed with the boys and didn't fawn over their bodies as some of the other girls admitted they would, the girl who wasn't intimidated by size or the physicality's of people. I wasn't Bella when I was dressed like this.
"Hey," I mumbled when he didn't stop staring at me, trying to figure out what happened to the boy Bella.
"You look…" he trailed off looking for the word.
I laughed, "Yea I know, I look weird. This is why I don't go out."
He frowned, and I wondered if he thought he had put the idea in my mind that I didn't look good tonight, and then he grinned again, "That's not what I was going to say. You look…nice."
I raised an eyebrow at him, then dropped it. What was the point in discussing it with him? "If you think I look nice, you should see Alice and Rose."
Edward gave me a look that said, 'why do I care what my sister is wearing' before looking past me. I supposed, had I been looking on as a third party observer when I had first seen Alice and then Rose, I would have the same expression. Then he was instantly furious.
Storming past me he accidentally knocked me back into the wall with his shoulder before roughly grabbing Rosalie's wrist and nearly throwing her back into Alice's room. Then he shut the door and leaned against it, glaring at the opposite wall. "Change you clothes." He snarled at the wall.
"No," Rose snapped through the door, "I can wear this if I want… dad."
Edward rolled his eyes, "Dad would be having a heart attack if he could see you right now. I don't want to see guys mentally undressing my sister all night. Change your clothes."
"Open the door!" Rose shrieked, pounding on the door. Edward didn't move, just continued to glare at the wall. The thumping stopped. Everyone was looking at the scene, not quite sure of what to do. The only thing I was sure of—be it the clothes or not—I wasn't going to cross Edward when he looked so absolutely venomous.
"Fine." Rose said a second later. Edward let out a breath, his looking lightening, "You want to use family history against me, I'll use it against you."
Edward's eyes narrowed and he was glaring at the wall again. "Do you really want to do that Rose? I can stay here all night and you can miss the par—"
"Edward has a chromosome disorder!" she sang through the door. Edward's eyes popped wide and he gaped at the wall in horror. Then he shot me one panicked look before closing his eyes and clenching his teeth.
When Rose spoke next she seemed disappointed by his lack of response. She of course, couldn't see his reaction. "He can't grow pubic hair. No chest hair, no armpit hair, he can't even grow a beard. Not even peach fuzz on his lip. You haven't gone through puberty yet Edward; you're still a little boy. Stop acting like DAD!"
"Change your clothes Rose." Edward whispered.
"Edward wet the bed until he was twelve." Rose continued to sing.
Edward's eyes flashed, and then he opened the door and slipped in so fast I would have missed the movement had I turned to see anyone's reaction to either of Rosalie's admissions.
"That was not wetting the bed it's called a wet dream and it's a sign of puberty. I. Have. Gone. Through. Puberty!"
"Touchy." Rose made the word into two. Then she screamed and there was the sound of a scuffle. Edward walked out of the room a moment later towing Rose out. She had changed from her short black mini into a longer skirt that was a startling shade of green. "I can't wear this!" she cried, tugging uselessly on Edward's furious hold.
"Too bad. You should have changed when I told you too." He growled back, literally throwing her into Emmett.
Emmett caught her, stunned. Rose turned and made a sound of outrage before stomping back into Alice's room. She came out a moment later in a pair of jeans.
She stopped in front of Edward who was back into his earlier position against the wall, smiling smugly at Rose. This only seemed to infuriate her more, "I am so happy I told Bella to avoid you." She hissed in his face.
Edward's smile disappeared and he turned an unnatural shade of white as Rose stomped down the hall. "How many girls have you told to stay away from me?" He cried, running after her.
"Every one I could!"
I looked back from the sibling rivalry. Everyone seemed to be frozen in the same shock but for Alice, she must know Roseand Edward very well to have seen that comming. I looked between her and Emmett, "Are you two…" I trailed off, gesturing off to where Edward and Rosalie had gone.
That snapped Emmett out of his daze, "Rosie? Rosie come back, you look beautiful!" he called running down the hall after her.
Alice shook her head, answering my question. "No, the only reason why Edward and Rose fight so much is because they are so alike. If you told them that though they would rip your throat out." She shuddered delicately.
Jasper wrapped a protective arm around her, still looking a little dazed. Aware, but dazed as he led her out the door. "These are the people you spend your time with?" he asked her on the way out.
I snickered to myself as I shut off all the lights and locked the door. With all the noise Edward and Rose had made, we were definitely going to get caught for being out after curfew.
When I got down to where the groups had formed everyone was in the cars. I say cars because Edward was in one, a nice silver one, though I couldn't see it very well in the dark. It hinted at a subtle flair. So maybe all the rumours of him being rich were true if he had a car in a place were everything was in walking distance.
Rose was in another car. It didn't seem odd to me that it matched her clothes. It was a sleek red one with a black top that I guessed could be taken down when she wanted. It was all silly to me, though I guess we would have needed more then one car anyways to fit all of us, especially with Emmett's immense body that counted as two people.
I sighed opening Edward's car door. "Are we choosing sides here? Because if that's the case I'm neutral." Edward shrugged, then leaned away from me towards the passenger door and pushed it open for me.
"Get in."
"Sir yes sir." I muttered coming around the front of the car.
The second I got into the car Alice was leaning her head on the shoulder of Edward's seat from her position in the back seat with Jasper. "We're going to 4486 Tallymen drive." She instructed happily.
Edward nodded, and then hit the accelerator. Rose had to wait for Edward to pull out in front of her. She apparently needed to follow us since she didn't know where she was going. I couldn't imagine that she was happy about that. I kept waiting for the jolt that would be Rosalie ramming us from behind.
I looked out into the darkness outside my window, rather then the rapidly disappearing yellow lines painted onto the road, glowing like predatory eyes from the dark asphalt.
I sighed leaning back, enjoying the feeling of the seats. Just when I was starting to get a little too fond of the expensive leather Edward pulled into a drive.
He hadn't said anything to me since I had first met him at the door. Nothing in his normal buoyant humour at least. I didn't like the silence, as much as his words sometimes annoyed me. I didn't like him not being happy; it was something that seemed so out of place with him.
I hesitated, deciding what to say, or if I should even say anything at all when he turned bitter eyes on me. It froze me though I was faintly aware of Alice and Jasper getting out of the parked car. "I'm surprised you haven't said anything." He turned his pungent look towards the dark windshield, lighted a token amount by the lights of the party inside.
"W-what?" I stuttered, taken off guard yet again by the acidity.
"No sarcastic comments on my masculinity? I know you're thinking them, you would love that."
I wanted to snap back at him that he didn't know anything. Instead I took a deep breath, and then gently placed my hand on his arm. "Don't worry about it Edward. You're among friends here." I grinned at him, trying to substantiate my words. "I'm a little gender confused too if you haven't noticed. At least you know what's wrong with you. I'm just a freak." I laughed a little at the last part, trying to lighten his mood a little.
He cocked his head to the side a little, and then smiled, "Really?"
I smiled, nodding, "You're a freak among freaks." I frowned down at his arm, "Are you cold?"
His eyebrows came together and he looked down too. "No."
"oh," I muttered, "You have goose bumps."
The party was so loud we could feel the beats where we sat in the car. I took a deep breath, "Ready?" I asked my voice an octave too high.
Edward laughed darkly and stepped out of the car. I followed his lead. Letting my breath out I stepped through the door to the house party after hesitating on the door step for a moment, looking at the door and shifting uncomfortably. Was I supposed to knock? Curtsy warred with not wanting to draw attention to myself.
Edward seemed completely at ease where he was, so I let him be. I looked around for a dark corner to stand in; out of the way for the next few hours, when a light caught my attention, so arresting that it stood out from all the other red's and yellows from the house party. This light was a soft blue that glowed through the sliding doors.
I walked out onto the patio where the pool was. The party hadn't stopped out here, but it was a little more placid then the one inside. It had been the lights from the pool that had caught my attention. I took a deep lung full of the sweat free air, unbearable sweet now that I was outside.
I went out to lie on the grass where there weren't so many people. I tried to watch the starts through the film of light the party created. I wondered for a second who else was watching these stars, if my mom was, or maybe even Charlie—if the clouds cleared enough to allow him to. A clear night sky in Forks must be pretty with out all the blinding city lights, but I would rather the rush and constant movement of the city compared to the sleepy, dull, sunless town of Forks.
I could just feel the last ruminants of the day's warmth on my skin. A gentle reminder of my insecure paradise. The school was further north then Renee had told me. Something so trivial to her ended up nearly giving me a heart attack. We were in—gulp—Canada. Short of the North Pole, this was the coldest place on the face of the earth, or it seemed that way to me when I first arrived. So far Canadian summers weren't too bad, no snow at least and so far I hadn't run into any polar bears.
The big problem with all of it though was it was going to get cold. Really cold. I didn't even have a winter jacket since I had lived in Phoenix all my life except for the occasional visit to Charlie in Forks, but even those stopped a couple years back.
Alice had assured me that she would buy all the winter clothes I needed, apparently she and Emmett had actually lived in Alaska for a year—and here I was complaining about Ontario. It was hard to imagine big burly Emmett trying to climb through a little hole in the snow into an igloo, even harder to imagine little Alice dancing across the barren snow fields. All of this though wasn't what I had a problem with.
I was very thankful to Alice who had promised to buy me some warm (and stylish) clothes for winter. Rose had also promised to help out with my wardrobe too—after a little prodding from Alice. No, I wasn't worried so much about how I would fare during the winter anymore; I had a new panic now. How was I ever going to pay them back for it? Alice told me not to worry, she loved to shop, and Rose said the same. It didn't stop me from worrying over how to make it up to her though. At the very least, I wouldn't have to bug Renee into buying winter clothes for me.
There was a low groan as someone lay down beside me. I hadn't realised that in my mediation I had closed my eyes, but they opened and flickered to my left.
Edward of course. He had his arms crossed behind his head, looking up at the stars as I had. I sighed, closing my eyes again. He didn't need to be here, I liked being alone, it saved me from the awkward conversations that I really wasn't apart of. I was just about to tell him to enjoy the party when he spoke.
"Do you like the stars?" he asked softly. I opened my eyes again to look at him, but his eyes were still focused on the sky.
"Uh, Yea" I stuttered, taken of guard by his question. What muddled me was his voice sounded sad, and I wondered if he was still hung up about what Rose had said.
He laughed a little, turning to face me, "Just curious." He assured me.
I nodded back at him, and turned to try and pick out a star. Edward did the same. "How about you?" I asked after a couple of minutes. Some of the party goers had started up a drinking game on the other side of the pool.
Edward shot me a questioning glance. "The starts I mean. Do you like them?" I explained quickly.
He re-positioned his arms, trying to get more comfortable on the grass. "I don't know. I grew up in Chicago; my mom home schooled me there until grade seven. You don't see the stars much in the city." I nodded in understanding. "But," he continued, hesitating slightly, "My mother," he smiled when he said her name, "She used to tell Rose and me to wish on a star when we did see them." He laughed a little ruefully, looking at me, waiting for me to tease him.
I didn't tease him. I looked wonderingly up at the stars, "My mom didn't wish on stars. She said she had everything she wanted already. I've never wished on a star as far as I can remember." I was musing to myself more then really talking to him. It surprised me, wishing on stars was something that was just so Renee. Not me though, not the responsible one. Wishing on a ball of burning hydrogen didn't seem like something worth doing. What's the harm? A voice asked a wish never hurt anyone. And you never know…
I sighed; I had defiantly been away from Renee for too long. I was creating manifestations in my mind to recreate her. Edward was ready and willing to push the argument of my persona induced by insanity, "You've never wished on a star?" he asked, looking at me wonderingly. I shook my head, "But it's essential to childhood! Every kid does it." Edward rolled his eyes at the look I was giving him, "Not essential but you should wish for something. Look there is one right there." He pointed at the sky and sure enough one bright star shone bravely through the light pollution.
I debated it for a moment before taking a deep breath and closing my eyes.
Star light star bright, first star I see to night, I wish I may I wish I might…what? I blanked. What did I want? Was I supposed to wish for something realistic to heighten my chances of the wish coming true?
"What do I wish for?" I muttered my eyes still closed.
"Anything. Everything. Whatever you want. It's a wish." Edward murmured quietly back even though I was sure there was no one in hearing distance anyways.
Star light star bright, first star I see to night, I wish I may I wish I might…meet someone. That didn't seem specific enough, but to wish for anything more felt like setting myself up for disappointment. Oh what the hell, like Edward said, it's a wish.
I pulled everything from my very being into the wish, so much so, I started to sweat a little. Every pore of my body was completely centred on this person, where ever he was, and on the wish itself.
I want to meet someone that I love more then life itself. I wish that I could be happy with them. I want to be able to look at him when I'm old and wrinkled and see the man I fell in love with and I want him to see me in all the same ways. I want…I want him to be able to make my toes curl with just a look, I want him to be fun and smart and good-looking. I want him to be romantic so I know that he loves me every day of forever. And lastly…I never want to live even one day without him, so I wish that I might die one day before he does.
I opened my eyes. Edward had his eyes closed tightly, his lips moving minutely as he himself wished. I'm sure his wish was much more realistic then mine was. I felt silly now, expending all that energy into nothing. How was it supposed to work anyways? Did I have to wait until my wished reached the star or was it something instantaneous? And if I did have to wait for the wish to get to the star, how long would I have to wait? Days? Months? Years? Would I die before it came true, or did wishes travel faster then the speed of light?
My head was spinning trying to pull something logical out of something so specious. I pushed the wish out of my mind. It was an attractive thought though, to wish for something and Puff! Tada! It was there for you.
Edward sighed, opening his eyes, grinning at the sky. I doubted even the stars could find me someone to love. Maybe Edward should have wished for someone. He would be much easier to please.
Edward turned to me, still smiling. "Do you want me to get you something to drink?"
"Non-alcoholic?" I checked.
"Sure."
I nodded. Looking back up at my wishing star, musing about the speed of wish. Had I been paying more attention I would have noticed that the spray from someone jumping into the pool was going to soak me, and I would have jumped up and out of the way.
I did jump up though, after the shock of the wet. The water didn't stop though, and I realized that it hadn't been water from the pool. It wasn't even water. I looked up surprised into narrowed fishy blue eyes framed by blond corn silk hair. That wasn't what was surprising me though. The taller blond girl was currently emptying her drink on my shirt, shaking the empty cup to get the last drops of some kind of alcoholic drink out of the cup.
I stared at her, trying to understand why she, a stranger, would antagonize me. I kept waiting for the drunken haze in her eyes to sober with shock, and then apologize for mistaking me for someone else. She didn't. She continued to glare at me, a small smirk pulling up the side of her painted lips.
Finally after staring at the girl like a moron, I grasp that a group of partier's had gather around us, waiting with anticipation for a cat fight to ensue.
I didn't know what to do or say, the only think I could fully wrap my head around at the moment was that I wasn't angry as I should have been. The girl was definitely drunk, she must not behave like this normally and in all actuality, she had most likely mistaken me for someone else.
She must have finally recognized that I wasn't reacting in the way she wanted.
"You," her words slurred and she wobbled a little on the insanely high stiletto strap ons. I knew from experience that if I wore heels, I fell down stairs. "You have to stay away from Edward." she slurred, poking me in the chest. One of the girls behind her—her friend I guessed—steadied her, giving me an apologetic look.
I blinked incredulously at her. "Who?" I asked stupidly."You mean Edward Cullen?"
The girl nodded, and the action upset her balance. I caught her before she fell into the pool. "You don't need to worry about it, really. We're only friends; he's all yours if you want." I said, gently steadying her again. I really was feeling bad for her, she was so drunk that she could hardly stand up let alone judge a relationship at a distance. She was going to have a wicked hang over tomorrow.
My answer confused her, "What? You...Don' want…Edwa'd?" she seemed to be struggling with the sentence as if wondering if words could be put into a sentence that way. What a shocker, the girl who wishes on a star for Mr. Right is the same one who can't find him in Edward. AKA, Mr. Wrong.
I looked around the circle for him, wondering if he had come back with our drinks yet. Maybe he could explain our awkward little truce. Not that I didn't like him, he was an easy person to be around, good friend material if I could just over look his occasional jerk moments. That or he was to suddenly have an epiphany and realise how to act around me at the very least.
The blond girl's eyes were suddenly furious. She pitched forward and for a moment I thought she was falling again. I readied myself to catch her. Her seemingly light frame hit me with more force then I was expecting and I stumbled to the side and over the lip of the pool.
The pool water was much colder then I had thought it would be. I came up sputtering and saw the blond girl's friend steady her. The she smirked at me.
Oh. Oh. She hadn't fallen at all, she'd pushed me. I finally glared at the girl, silently wishing that the other girl, the blond girl's friend I assumed, hadn't come out to steady her. Actually I wished that she too had fallen into the pool.
The thing that made me angriest of all was that everyone knew whether I was lying or not. It was just so obvious, even to the fishy eyed girl leering at me from the side of the pool. I gritted my teeth back at her, I hoped her hang over was bad.
The crowd was murmuring among themselves, most were laughing at the scene, at me in the pool and the drunken blond who was teetering precariously on the edge. I was soaked and cold. Would Edward make me walk home, or would he let me get into his car as sodden as I was? I really didn't want to walk home. Maybe I'd bargain some more girly lessons if he would let me in the car, or at the very least in the trunk.
"CANNON BALL!" Some one yelled from the crowd. The voice was all too familiar by now. The crowd turned, and then parted for Edward who dashed through the crowd. When he reached the pool he used his arm to sling shot the blond into the pool, and then quickly followed after her, curling into a ball as he crashed into the water.
I gasped as a wave of water hit me, and then Edward came rose out of the shimmering pool, shadows from the light under the water flickered across his excited face. He grinned at me and I smirked back.
"So how about that drink?" I asked after a moment.
Edward threw his head back and laughed, I splashed him. I was just taking a deep breath to take refuge under the water when we both turned to watch a sobbing blond girl haul herself out of the water. Her make-up ran and her shirt looked designer, expensive. She had lost one of her strapy heels in the pool. She sobbed that he mother was going to kill her; the out fit had been expensive. I looked around through the water quickly to see if I could find her stray shoe, but Edward splashed me before I could do much looking.
I laughed, diving under the water to escape him. I'd see it as karma then. My shoes were going to be soaked tomorrow.
The some of the people who had been standing around the pool started to jump and push each other into the pool now. I came up for air as did Edward.
He smiled at me, "Look, you've started a trend." He said chuckling.
I grinned back at him before climbing out of the pool to dry off a little before I had to get back into Edward's car to go home.
Alice and the others had seen everything from a distance, so they understood why I was wet, shivering, and wanting to go home. None of them complained except for Rosalie who grumble about Edward smelling like wet dog.
A/N: Hey! sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, but it is really long! (12,499 words) and it's my Sixteenth birthday on sunday!! so guess what you can do for me for my birthday? Yup, thats right. REVIEW!! Oh and annother great thing i hope you will all be as happy about as I am...I have a Beta!! She is amazing and her 'name' is lanemyer so check her out! and remember to tell her she is awsome. Thanks for reading!