Disclaimer: Twilight and characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.
The first couple weeks of classes went pretty fast. Alice had made herself scarce. She had starting seeing Jasper and they were hanging out a lot. Rosalie had met up with Alice for lunch one day and apparently hit it off with one of Jasper's friends. Rosalie and Alice had tried to persuade Bella to come out with them, but the last thing Bella wanted to be was a fifth wheel.
There was a blonde boy that had been bothering Bella since their first Biology class together. He wasn't so bad, but she had already placed him in the douche category. He was built more like a person that lifted weights for purely vain reasons, not one that exercised for health benefits. He wore frat boy clothes and smiled all the time. Bella didn't judge him solely on appearances; she based her conclusion from the way he presented himself. He talked to her like he knew he was hot stuff and that she should be flattered that he even acknowledged her. One thing she gave him credit for - he sure was persistent.
"Hey, Bella, we are going out for dinner… you wanna come?" Alice asked in her sweetest voice. Bella knew that voice. Bella was starting to hate that voice.
"Who's all going?" Bella asked, already knowing the answer.
"Does it matter? Rose and I will be there. That is all that matters," Alice clipped.
Alice knew it was time to throw in the guilt trip.
"Jasper will be there and you have yet to meet him. I thought you would be happy for me and actually want to meet boyfriend. I think Rose and Emmett are going to watch some boxing thing afterwards, but we don't have to do that." Alice made sure to use her pouty face.
Bella let out a sigh and smiled up at Alice. Alice smiled back. They both laughed. "Fine," Bella replied.
When they arrived at the dive that moonlighted as a diner, Bella felt more relaxed. She had been certain that whatever place she was being dragged to was some hoity-toity restaurant or some club. This was more Bella's style. Alice looked at Bella and winked when they pulled up.
"You need to trust me, Bella my dear. This is one of Jasper's favorite places to eat. You guys are going to get along so well. I just know it."
Alice led the way into the diner with Bella close behind. Bella noticed her wave to a table in the back. Loud greetings echoed back.
In situations such as these, where Bella felt nervous or shy, she tended to keep her head down and shielded her face with her hair. It was much longer now, and she subconsciously used it as a security blanket. Bella didn't get a chance to take in her surroundings before she was introduced.
"Everyone, this is Bella. Bella, this is everyone," Alice greeted.
Bella looked up and straight away was met with a pair of jade colored eyes.
"Bella!" shouted Edward. A clown would be jealous of his smile.
Bella matched his smile and asked, just to be sure, "Edward?"
"You two know each other?" asked Alice.
"Wait…Bella…is this…" Rosalie didn't get to finish before Alice cut her off. Alice knew Rosalie wasn't afraid of speaking out, but she also knew what Rosalie was about to say would hurt Bella.
"How do you guys know each other?" interrupted Alice.
Neither Edward nor Bella answered, but Edward stood up and hugged Bella tightly. He rocked her back and forth a bit before a new voice butted in.
"Edward, aren't you going to introduce me?" a cold voice asked.
Edward had forgotten about the girl sitting beside him. He was so blindsided by Bella's presence that everything else evaporated around him. He released her from his grip to find the girl reaching out to Bella.
"Hi, I'm Jane. Edward's girlfriend."
It wasn't lost on anyone how she blatantly represented herself. Bella didn't miss a beat and shook Jane's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Jane," Bella said.
Everyone scooted over to allow Alice and Bella a chance to sit. Bella was seated on the end, across from Edward. He hadn't taken his eyes off her yet.
"You look familiar. Have we met?" asked Jasper. He was turned towards Bella, and Alice glanced between them.
Emmett nodded and added, "Yeah…she does look familiar."
"No, I don't think so," answered Bella.
"Edward, how do you guys know each other?" Jasper asked again.
The mention of his name brought Edward back to the present. "Huh, what?"
"Bella…Jesus, Edward, focus," joked Jasper. Rosalie and Emmett laughed. "She looks familiar."
Edward thought back and remembered the brief encounter they had at the mall. It seemed like so long ago, but that twang of jealousy still sparked when he remembered Jasper and Emmett's interest in her. Edward recounted the events to the group, leaving out some information, hoping that his friends wouldn't remember. They did.
"Wait..wait…this is the same girl…" Emmett grabbed Jasper's hands in his and batted his eyes excessively. "You're beautiful…just beautiful," quoted Emmett.
Alice couldn't contain her smile. Rosalie was in shock. Bella was a dark shade of red. Jane looked like she was about to punch a wall, and Edward dropped his head into his folded arms.
"Yes, you assholes," Edward mumbled into the table.
Emmett and Jasper couldn't stop laughing, and their laughter carried like a virus to Alice and Rosalie. All four of them were in hysterics.
"It's not that funny," muttered Bella. She was uncomfortable, especially with Jane glaring at her.
"Bella! Oh Bella! You have no idea!" laughed Jasper. "Our boy here never talks to girls like that… isn't that right Jane?"
Now Jane was bright red. Bella was beyond embarrassed. Alice and Rosalie stopped laughing. They both knew that Jasper didn't mean it, but what he said was a slap in the face to Edward's current girlfriend. Guys could be so clueless.
Alice quickly jumped in with a new topic trying to fix the damage. Rosalie went along with it, engaging Jane into the conversation. Soon, the whole group was conversing and ignoring the elephant in the room.
Edward's attention soon went back to Bella. He noticed her face was almost a normal color again. He also noticed everyone was preoccupied, so he took a chance and leaned over to her. He curved his finger, signaling Bella to lean forward as well.
"You know, I dreamed about you. I missed you," Edward whispered close to her ear.
Bella blanked. This night was becoming a dark comedy. She now hated that saying "be careful what you wish for." It only took her a moment to regain herself. "I've missed you, too." She made sure to whisper it close to his ear just like he did to her.
She leaned back in her seat and directed her attention back to the rest of the group. She kept her eyes out of Edward's line of sight. Instead, she stole glances at Jane when she could, like when Jane was discussing something, using 'good eye contact' as an excuse to observe her.
Jane was very pretty and seemed intelligent enough. Bella couldn't help but notice that Jane wore her hair like she herself had in high school, which Bella found weird and comforting at the same time.
"I want to eat another taco, but I want to watch the fight," whined Emmett.
"Now that is dedication," scoffed Rosalie.
The group begin gathering their things and straightening up some of the mess on the table. Emmett and Rosalie were the first to run off so that Emmett wouldn't miss the opening fight and Rosalie could get a good spot at the bar. When Edward stood, Jane followed right after him, wrapping her arm around Edward's waist.
"Bella, you want me to take you home, or do you want to go out for a drink or something?" asked Alice.
Edward was waiting to hear her answer to determine what his plans were going to be, but Jane squeezed his sides bringing attention back to her. "Let's go back to your place. I'm getting tired," Jane said, looking at Edward with bright eyes.
"I think I'm going to call it a night," Bella said, answering Alice. She had heard Jane and now wasn't in the mood to do anything.
As they made their way out of the diner and towards their cars, Edward broke away from Jane and met Bella at the passenger side of Alice's car. Alice got in to give them space, but Jane planted herself where Edward had left her…waiting…watching…
"It was really great seeing you again. I'm still in shock. I mean, what a small world, right? The odds…"
Bella gave him a small smile. "It is pretty crazy. This night is…surreal." She was tempted to say a nightmare.
"We should get together…soon. We should catch up. Um, we are all going out Friday night. You should come." Edward was extremely nervous, but no one would have known.
"Yeah, we are going dancing. It will be fun," Jane added, making Edward and Bella turn in her direction. Jane kept her face pleasant even though she was seething inside. Her distraction made Edward and Bella realize that they were standing awfully close. Bella took a step back, hitting her back against the car.
"Yeah, maybe…Friday…I'd just have to double check to make sure I don't have plans already."
"Cool." Edward turned, paused, turned back, and then gathered Bella in another hug. "It's so good to see you," he whispered in her ear.
Bella climbed in the car. She didn't look to see Edward get into the car or what expression Jane was wearing. She focused on the seatbelt buckle instead.
"So, since when do you ever have plans for a Friday night…what schedule?" teased Alice.
"Shut up, Alice, and drive already." Bella huffed as she slumped down in the seat.
Alice reversed and headed back to the dorms. "I'm only going out Friday if I have a date," declared Bella. Alice just frowned and kept driving.
I wish I could say that I took so long to update because I was writing you a beautifully long chapter. It's not. Life happened.
My beta, Jess, is awesome and got two chapters back to me the same day I sent them to her. I should post the next chapter in a few days...