A&A Chapter 6

"My mind was more agreeably engaged. I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow." – (Mr. Darcy, regarding Ms. Bennett's eyes.) – Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, Ch. 6

The Swan women soon paid a visit to the ladies of Netherfield Estate, and the visit was soon returned. Alice's fun personality soon grew on Tanya and Irina; and although Renee was found to be a pain in the ass and Lauren and Jessica not worth talking to, Alice and Bella were found to be worth getting to know. Alice was happy to make two new friends; but Bella still found them to be sickeningly arrogant in the way they treated everyone – including Alice – and couldn't find it in herself to like them. Bella also figured that a large reason for their interest in Alice arose from Jasper's interest in her. It was pretty obvious to everyone whenever Alice and Jasper met that he really liked her, and to Bella it was equally obvious that Alice was beginning to like him more and more, and was actually pretty much in danger of falling love. But Bella thought, with relief, that Alice's feelings for Jasper were not likely to be discovered by the world in general, because Alice – although generally bouncy and cheerful – knew when to tone it down some in front of a nosy audience. She mentioned this to Leah.

"It might be a good idea," agreed Leah, "to hide your true feelings from the public, in a town as nosy as Forks. But sometimes it's not such a good idea to be so subtle. If she hides her feelings for Jasper from him as well as she does from everyone else, she might miss out on her chance of bagging him. And then knowing that she was able to trick all of Forks will be little consolation when she finds herself all sad and lonely. We all need a little encouragement to know that our feelings aren't just one way. There's no doubt that Jasper's got the hots for Alice, but he may never have more than just the hots for her unless Alice helps him out, if you know what I mean," Leah finished, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Bella smirked. "She does help him out Leah, or as much as she can without actually jumping his bones," said Bella, making Leah laugh. "And if I can tell she really likes him, he'd have to be an idiot not to see it himself."

"Um, hello? We are talking about a man here, aren't we?" Leah joked. "And anyway, don't forget Bella, Jasper doesn't know Alice as well as you do. He may not be as able to read her signs."

"Well, as a man, isn't that his job? To read the signs?"

Leah shrugged. "Maybe. If he were to see enough of her. But Alice and Jasper haven't spent more than just a few hours together, and most, if not all, of that time has been around friends. It's hard to read the signs when there are so many other people around. Alice needs to make the most of every moment they spend alone together. And once she's got him hooked, then she can go back and play games with him all she wants," she finished with a wry smile.

"You're plan's a good one," Bella said, "where the obvious goal is to land yourself a rich boyfriend, and if I wanted to get myself a rich guy, or any type of guy for that matter, I'd probably be taking notes right now. But that's not Alice's plan; she's not looking for a boyfriend right now. She's off to New York City in a few months. I'm sure she's not even sure of her own feelings for him right now, much less of how deserving of them Jasper actually is! She's only known him for two weeks! She danced with him for half-an-hour at the Ball, she saw him one morning at his own house when she went to hang out with Tanya and Irina, and she's hung out with him four other times as part of a group. A committed relationship that hardly makes!" Bella joked.

"Well, no. Not the way you put it," Leah agreed half-heartedly. "If she'd only hung out with him four times, then I'd agree with you that that's not enough to know what he's really like. But every time they've been together, they haven't left each other's sides, even if they have been with other people. All that time together should be enough to learn something about each other.

"Yes, all that time together has shown them that they both like Beer Pong more than Darts, but I doubt they've uncovered anything more important than that about each other's characters."

"Well," said Leah, "I wish Alice the best. And if she were to do him tomorrow, I think their relationship would stand as good a chance as if she were to wait a year for it. Sexual compatibility is entirely a matter of chance. No matter how well-known the personalities of both parties are, or how similar they may be, it doesn't make the least bit of difference in how they get on together," Leah purred with a smirk. "Eventually, they'll get to know each other well enough to piss each other off anyway. Better to know as little as possible about the person you're gonna screw beforehand anyway."

Bella laughed out loud. "You're a freakin' nut-job Leah. But it doesn't make any sense; you know it doesn't, and you'd never act that way yourself."

Bella had been so busy observing Jasper's attention to Alice, that she hadn't noticed that she herself was becoming an object of interest to his friend, Edward.

Edward had, at first, barely allowed himself to think of Bella as pretty; he hadn't thought much of her at the ball. The next time they'd met, he'd looked at her only to criticize. But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that he couldn't find one good thing to say about her face, that he began to find that her dark, chocolate eyes surprisingly lit up her face. He then discovered some other surprising and alarming features. Though he'd checked her out on the down low on more than one occasion and had decided that there was nothing special about her figure, he was forced to admit that though she was slender, she was definitely curvy in all the right places. And despite the fact that he'd agreed that she wouldn't be winning any fashion awards, he was caught by her easy, laid back appearance.

Bella was completely unaware of everything going through Edward's mind. To her, he was nothing but the stuck-up loser who acted like an arrogant ass everywhere, and who hadn't thought her to be interesting enough to dance with.

Edward's curiosity about Bella grew, and as a step towards actually having a conversation with her, he'd listen in on her conversations with others. Bella wasn't completely blind; it was at a party at Leah's house where she noticed this much.

"What the hell is Cullen's problem?" she said to Leah. "Why the hell is he listening in on my conversation with Tyler Crowley?"

"That's a question only Edward can answer," said Leah.

"Well, if he keeps it up I'm going to have to say something. He has a very sarcastic eye, and if I don't begin by being a bitch myself, I might soon become afraid of him," she joked.

Soon afterwards, Edward began approaching them, although it didn't seem as if he had any intention of actually saying anything. Leah, anxious to see some action, dared Bella to say something to him, which immediately provoked Bella.

She turned to him and said, "So Edward, what'd you think of my suggestion to Tyler that he throw a party at his house?" she asked, letting him know she'd noticed his eavesdropping. "Don't you think it's a good idea?"

Shamelessly, Edward responded, "It's a good idea I suppose. I know how much you girls enjoy your parties."

"Ooh, that's harsh," she replied sarcastically, with a roll of her eyes.

Seeing Bella's anger starting to flare, Leah cut in, "Well, pretty soon it'll be your turn to be teased Bella. I'm pulling out the Karaoke. You know what that means."

Bella smirked. "You know, I don't know why I consider you one of my best friends Leah. Always wanting me to embarrass myself in front of people. If I'd been born with any musical talent, then your efforts would be greatly appreciated. But as it is, I'd really rather not go up there in front of people," – she gave Edward a meaningful sideways glance – "who must be used to so much more sophisticated voices and forms of entertainment."

But at Leah's insistence, she finally gave up and said, "Oh fine! If it's the only way to get you off my back!"

She turned to Edward and with a mockingly serious glance towards Leah, said to him, "There's an old saying, 'those who can, do; those who can't, bully.'" Leah gave her a playful shove and Bella laughed.

Bella's performance was fun, though by no means spectacular. After a couple of songs, and before anyone could ask her to sing any Katy Perry songs, her cousin Lauren eagerly took her place. Being the least talented in the family, Lauren was always eager to show off, completely unaware of how truly sick she sounded up there.

Lauren had absolutely no taste; and although her conceitedness had led her to take vocal lessons, her swelled head led her to pick songs with notes which she had no chance in holy hell of ever hitting. Bella's easy and comfortable voice had been listened to with much more pleasure, although she'd never had a voice lesson in her life. Lauren, after hogging up the Karaoke, decided to start rapping, at Jessica's request, who with some of the other people at the party, started dancing off in one corner of the room.

Edward stood off to the side, disgusted at the display Jessica and the others were putting on with their bumping and grinding. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't realized Seth Clearwater was right next to him until he said,

"Hey Edward, doesn't this party kick ass? There's nothing like a good hip-hop song to get a party going. Doesn't that beat make you feel good?"

"Yeah, sure," answered Edward. "I feel right at home in this part of the 'hood."

Seth gave him a confused look, but continued. "Jasper's not wasting any time getting busy over there, is he?" he noted, after seeing Jasper join the group. "Do you dance Edward?"

"You saw me dancing at the Founder's Day Ball, didn't you?"

Seth shrugged. "I wasn't really paying attention. Too many pretty girls to look at," he said, glancing towards Bella. Edward noticed this and narrowed his eyes. "I guess you probably went to a lot of parties at Harvard, huh?" Seth questioned.

"Not really."

"Harvard parties must've been a blast."

"I wouldn't know. I had more important things to do than party when I was at Harvard."

"I heard you've got a house in Seattle," said Seth.

Edward nodded.

"I tried to get my mom and dad to buy a house in Seattle, but they refuse to leave the rez."

Seth paused, hoping for some sort of comment from Edward, but Edward remained silent.

At that moment, Bella began to move towards them. Though Seth thought Bella was really cute, he knew she'd never go for her best friend's little brother, so he decided to try to play matchmaker instead.

"Hey Bella, why aren't you dancing? Edward, I don't know if you know this man, but Bella can really get her swag on out on the dance floor. Why don't you two go out there and show the rest of these guys how it's really done!" And reaching out for her, he would've taken her hand and given it to Edward, who – though extremely surprised, would've been more than happy to take it - if Bella hadn't drawn back as if she'd been bitten by a snake, and with her eyes flashing turned to Seth.

"Seth, I don't have any plans to dance tonight. And even if I did, I don't need to come over here begging for a partner."

"I'd be more than happy to join you out on the floor," Edward murmured, even though just a few minutes ago he'd been going on about how much he hated dancing.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Bella responded flatly.

"But Bella," Seth insisted, "you're so freakin' good out there. Why don't you at least dance a song or two? And even though Edward's been telling me how much he hates dancing, I'm sure he wouldn't mind joining you for a little while."

"Oh yes. Edward is so kind," said Bella smiling.

"Yup," agreed Seth. "But considering who his partner would be, I doubt it would be such a great sacrifice on his part."

Arching an eyebrow, Bella turned and walked away without another word. But her attitude hadn't hurt her in the eyes of Edward at all. In fact, he was thinking of her with growing pleasure when he was cornered by Tanya.

"I know what you're thinking."

"I doubt it."

"You're thinking of how unbearable it would be to pass the whole summer this way – in this sort of company. And believe me, I completely agree with you. I've never been more bored in my life! The dreariness and yet the noise – the nothingness and yet the self-importance of all these people! I'd love to hear what you've got to say about them!"

"Believe me your presumptions are totally wrong. My mind was more agreeably entertained than that. I've been thinking about the great pleasure that a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can give."

Tanya immediately gazed up at him through her fake eyelashes, and blinking prettily, asked him who exactly inspired him to say that.

Edward answered resolutely, "Bella Swan."

Tanya's face fell. "Bella Swan!" she repeated. Recovering herself slightly, she said, "Wow. That's a shock. And tell me, how long have you liked her, and when's the wedding?"

"That's exactly the question I expected you to ask. A woman's imagination runs away with her very easily. It jumps from admiration to love, from love to marriage, in a moment. I knew you'd be asking me when the wedding was."

"Well, if you're that serious about it, I'll consider the matter as completely settled. You'll have a wonderful mother-in-law, by the way, and of course, she'll always be hanging out in Seattle with you two."

Edward paid Tanya no mind as she went on like this. And since she saw that he wasn't complaining about what she said, she indeed went on and on.

So, Darcyward has the hots for our little Bella, does he? Hmmm.

Reviews are almost as good as having the satisfaction of turning Edward down for a dance after he's dissed you!