Chapter Two: Wildflower

"Chug, chug, chug!"

Bella and Alice walked into the Cullen house to the classic view of freshman hazing.

"This is why parents don't trust teenagers." Alice stated. They walked by the two freshman football players being forced to chug beer and gave them sympathetic smiles. The kitchen was filled with coeds; most were football players and cheerleaders ready to celebrate the last game of the season.

"Now on to states!" one of the sophomores shouted followed by a chorus of cheering from the rest of the gathers. Shots were downed and the cheering continued as Bella retreated from the scene. She backed into a giggling group of girls who seemed to be excited for her intrusion. Unfortunately one of the lovely stereotypes was none other than her ex-captain and Edward's ex-girlfriend, Tanya.

"Oh my goodness, Bella! I'm so excited to see you!" She hugged the unwilling girl with uncomfortable tightness. But, being the perfect diplomat her father raised her to be, she slapped a giddy smile on her face and pretended she didn't want to jump her ex's bones.

"I heard you were going to be here Tanya. But, I didn't see you at the game, where were you?" Bella was pleased that Tanya was not at the game earlier. Even when they used to hang out before Tanya graduated she wasn't exactly fantastic company.

"My plane from Miami got delayed because of some engine problems. Those damn airlines can't get anything right anymore." Ahhh and here comes the whining. How Edward put up with her for so long Bella never knew.

"I just can't believe you flew back from school just for the game!" The fake peppiness was making Bella's cheeks hurt. Sometimes being a cheerleader was not the part Bella wished to play in the high school production.

"It's the last game before post season, like I'd ever miss one of those." There was a pause in the pleasantries as all the girls began to talk and ask Tanya questions about her semester. Out of nowhere though, Tanya turned to Bella and pulled her slightly aside, her voice dropping to a whisper. "You haven't seen Edward tonight, have you?"

Bella bit her lip as she took in Tanya's egger face. Is that really why she had come back? To see Edward? Possibly get back together with him? Bella and Edward had never really talked about their breakup, but as far as she had heard from the rumor mill it hadn't been a friendly one. He never seemed too heartbroken over the ordeal though. In fact, he seemed to be quite bitter over it for the first month then didn't seem to care about it at all. Didn't care about her at all. Bella released her lip and gave Tanya one last joyful smile. "Sorry hun, I just got here! I'm sure he's around here somewhere though, it is his house after all!" With that Bella took off in search of some liquor. If Tanya was going to try and get back with Edward tonight she did not want to be sober to witness it.

When she reentered the kitchen she was greeted by girl talk and shots. Not the worst way to get the evening started. After five shots and forty-five minutes of bitching to Alice about the "what ifs" of Edward getting back with Tanya she was thoroughly intoxicated. She knew she was lightweight and no matter how much "training" the boys tried to give her there was still no use. So now she was blabbering to her best friend about things she really didn't want to admit to a roomful of his teammates. Why was her word filter always the first to go? Oh yeah, because she held everything inside all the flipping time.

"We just haven't gotten our chance yet! How can it be over so fast?"

"You guys have been in this limbo for month, Bella. What's taking so long in the first place?"

"I'm a lady, Alice Marie. I'm not going to be making the first move."

"You're no delicate daisy, you're a wildflower! You can still be a lady and get what you want. Now as much as I love the fact that you're getting this all off your chest, maybe here isn't the best location. And maybe his cousin, aka me, is not the best person to be discussing your lusty thoughts about him with."

"You're so right! No rose or daisy can touch what I got! I'm a wildflower!"

"You guys have to stop quoting songs in everyday conversations." Jason, a senior on the basketball team, piped into their conversation. Normally Bella would have been concerned about how much of the conversation he had heard but she was a woman on a mission.

"Shut it Jason, have you seen Edward?" Edward, Edward, Edward…I need Edward. She could feel the deep breathing starting as she thought about him and all his sexy…just Edwardness.

"Chill Bells, I think he's in the living room playing 'I never' with a bunch of people." Without a thank you Bella took Alice's hand and dragged her into a group of people that were gathered in the area. Sure enough, in the center of all the attention was Edward who was laughing as a bunch of freshman on the football team took shots. His eyes met hers and his face lit up in a smile. She couldn't, and wouldn't, stop hers from doing the same. He nodded for Alice and Bella to come join him on the couch, forcing two of the football players that were currently occupying it to sit on the ground.

"You have to play! These freshman are failing horribly." He casually put his arm around Bella's shoulders and pulled her in to whisper in her ear. Quickly Edward went back to the game, apparently it was his turn. As Bella got more comfortable in her very comfortable new spot she caught Jessica's glare from across the circle. Apparently she was still holding a grudge from earlier. Normally Bella would have felt bad, but the warmth from the liquor and Edward's embrace made her surprising uncaring, and she threw back a glare of her own. "Never have I ever jacked off in the locker room showers."

"Ewww" Bella and Alice moaned in unison as they watched several of the football players around the circle take a sip. "Why do people admit to stuff like that?"

"We get them so drunk they have no fear." Edward seemed oddly proud of this fact.

"How fun for you," Alice sent him a playful glare.

"Hey we've all been through it," He was slightly defensive, but not overly so. "So are you guys going to play? I'd like to get some dirt on you two to shove in your face at a prime time."

"You must be drunk because you just laid out your plan for all to know." Alice laughed but nodded in agreement to play. She leaned over and started talking to some boy that was in the same grade as the girls.

"You in, Bella?" The way that he was looking at her right now she was sure she could never say no to him.

"I didn't bring a drink with me from the kitchen." It wasn't as though she had a lot of skeletons in her closet, but she wasn't the most perfect daddy's girl.

"You can split my beer with me." To emphases this point he handed it to her. She looked down at it and took a huge gulp.

"Actually, Edward, I was hoping I could talk to you for a little." His face broke out in a wide smile. He seemed to know exactly what they were going to do, which suited her just fine. They fact that they had been pretty obvious about their attraction to each other the last couple of month made it a lot easier to put these things into place now. They were snapped out of their bubble but Jessica's whinny voice. Bella laughed thinking about how similar she and Tanya were. She cleared her throat to get everyone's attention, looking directly at Bella as she took her turn.

"Never have I ever had all football captains on my roster." Her glare turned into a smug smile as Bella felt Edward's arm tense around her. She was relieved he didn't completely let go of her but their moment was officially over.

"That's inappropriate, Jessica, don't be such a slut." Alice jumped in. Apparently she had gotten the innuendo immediately.

"Shut up, Alice. This whole game is inappropriate. And obviously I'm not the slut. So go ahead, drink up Bella."

One of the JV cheerleaders that was playing the game glanced around questioningly. "What do you mean by roster?"

"It's the list of people you've had sex with." Bella replied bravely before taking a sip of the beer and handing it back to Edward.

"Better watch out Edward, she may be going for three years in a row." She sneered.

"No need to be jealous Jessica. I totally gave you Josh when I was done with him." Bella now wished she never had those shots because this flow of information was not around people that she approved of.

"You had sex with Josh Carter! Oh my god!" A bunch of the JV and freshman girls started giggling gossiping to one another.

"Like it's a big fucking deal. He fucked half of the cheerleading team before he graduated."

"Bella I think it's time we had that talk." Before she could protest Edward grabbed her hand and pulled her off the couch. She turned back to see Alice laying into Jessica and the others surrounding them snickering at the girl's expense. Before they could even make it out of the living room though, Tanya was in their path.

"Oh good, you found Edward for me Bella!" she latched herself onto Edward's free arm and giggled up at him. He turned back to Bella with a questioning look; she quickly shook her head letting him know that it was not her intention for Tanya to find them. "Can we go talk somewhere, babe? I just…I really need to talk to you."

"What is with women today?" Bella laughed at the comment he made under his breath. "No Tanya, I can't talk to you. Honestly, I don't even know what the fuck you're doing here. Now, I'm a gentleman so I don't want to yell at a lady. But leave me the fuck alone and please get out of my house. What were you thinking coming here?"

Tanya's hands dropped from his arm and she took a step back. She was trying to pretend like everyone wasn't looking at the rejection that just took place but it was hard not to notice as everyone turned from Alice and Jessica's little fight to the massacre taking place on the other end of the room. "I flew up from Miami to be here for you tonight…what are you doing with Bella?"

"It's none of you business what I do with anyone. We broke up and I never ask you to come back here, in fact I would have preferred if you left your skanky ass down in slutville!" Bella couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips. Edward must have been drinking a lot that night because that was the lamest sentence she had ever heard him mutter. He's lucky he looks so yummy when he's tense like that.