Chapter 10 – I need a drink
Bella POV
Having kicked out both vampires out I decided I needed to get out. Meditating hadn't helped in calming me down one bit and there are no places up in the sky around here. I stripped out of the red track pants and sports bra and put on a pair of black jeans and an emerald green silky top with a pair of black boots. Walking out of the house I realized the fault in my plan.
"I have no car"
Rolling my eyes to myself I went through my purse looking for the card the taxi driver had given me a few hours ago and called for a taxi. I only had to wait ten minutes for it to arrive
"Where to miss?"
Good question. Somewhere close yet far enough away to let me relax.
"State campus. Downtown area"
We were here in just over thirty minutes and as soon as I got in one of the busy clubs I plopped my behind on a stool and ordered my first drink.
"Americano please"
Two stools down from where I was sitting was the caramel haired woman from the Grill. Drink in hand I walked to her.
"Jenna?"
"Oh hey. Night on the town?"
"Yeah, small towns can get..."
"Stifling!"
She finished for me and I laughed nodding.
"Exactly!"
We chatted for a while until we finished our drinks and then we moved to the dance floor.
"Hey, isn't that our History of Art something professor?"
She asked me. I followed her eyes to the dark clothed, dark haired man in a table with a dark skinned woman. I felt a frown build on my face. I could be wrong but this man was at the Grill yesterday, talking with Bonnie a few hours after Vicki Donovan was attacked.
"Don't take the class"
I shrugged. She laughed and dropped her voice.
"Looks like he likes them older"
I giggled. His head snapped up and looked straight to us under the red and blue and black and white strobe lights. My heartbeat went into overdrive remembering who else snapped his head equally fast when Jessica mentioned him in the cafeteria of Forks high.
"Come on, you're drunk"
I pulled her back to the bar with a smile and got us another round, making sure to drop a leaf of vervain in her mojito and get a club soda with a lime slice for me. The professor's eyes followed us and soon he and his companion (that shared high cheekbones, dark eyes with two witches I had already defeated) and parted and she left the club. He however came to us, sat on a nearby stool and ordered a stiff drink.
Jenna didn't even taste the vervain as she gulped her drink and steered the conversation back to the 'hottie' sitting near us. Mortified with my legendary blush rising on my cheeks I convinced her she's seriously drunk and managed to get her out of the club and to the cool night but not before she slipped her number to the equally amused, probably vampire down the seat.
"I drove"
Jenna declared proudly stumbling to the big dark purple SUV.
"You're not driving now"
"Why?"
She pouted taking off her heels with a grimace.
"Because I don't wanna die in a car"
I laughed and still pouting she handed me her keys. The keychain had DeDe from Dexter on. I drove us staying within the limits and while listening and singing with the radio Jenna gave me directions. The drive took almost an hour and we pulled to her sister's house in Mystic Falls. Jenna had fallen asleep with her head in my lap. Laughing to myself I extracted myself from under her head and rang the doorbell.
"Hello?"
The dark haired woman from the grill answered the door. I smiled and pointed to the SUV behind me
"Is she yours?"
"Jenna"
She sighed with a maternal smile and with a chuckle to herself she got the teenage boy to get his more than slightly drunk aunt to the house.
"Are you drunk?"
She looked me over.
"Not nearly enough. I took a cab there and drove us back"
I calmed her down. I bit my lip
"Is Dr. Gilbert here?"
"Yes, he is. Come on inside"
"Thank you Mrs. Gilbert"
"Call me Miranda"
I entered the house, mildly impressed on getting invited in so easily. The interior of the house was very pretty and Miranda guided me to a living room where a movie was on pause, Elena was force feeding popcorn to Edward who looked like he was about to puke and Dr. Gilbert did not look happy at all. I raised an eyebrow to Edward who swallowed with a wince, entirely similar to the one he gave me when I made him eat pizza.
"Miss Swan"
"Bella"
"How are you Bella?"
"I'm good. I wanted to thank you for noticing the mask thing. It feels really good to be alive"
I joked. He nodded
"I was just doing my job"
He replied modestly. Behind him Elena rolled her eyes.
"How is Caroline?"
"She is well, should be discharged tomorrow afternoon. Her lungs were worse than yours"
I nodded
"Is it okay if I go see her tomorrow?"
He nodded.
"Of course it is"
"Thank you. I should be going now. Goodnight everyone"
I excused myself and left the house. I hadn't even closed the fence gate behind me when a voice called me
"Hey!"
"Hey yourself. Enjoyed the pop corn?"
I teased and he glared me
"Need a ride?"
"No. But the good doctor is looking straight at us so..."
I moved to the Volvo that was full of scratches.
"What happened to your car?"
I asked seeing the almost destroyed exterior. He sighed and got in the driver's seat pulling off the lot slowly.
"The car wash. Elena used a metallic sponge"
I began laughing
"Stupid, brunette speaks about herself all the time, flirts with everything that moves and dull. Jessica would be so jealous"
I have never seen Edward Cullen laugh so freely or loudly before.
"If you put it that way..."
I gave him directions to my house.
"Jasper told me about what happened... It's not true you know. I didn't meet anyone and I never sent that letter"
"Yeah, he told me too but I'm with Elena now and"
"You think I'm flirting with you?"
I raised an eyebrow
"I'm not. Being away from you for a year kind of opened my eyes. We're not a good match"
I snorted. To my extreme surprise he nodded
"No, we're not. I'm sorry you know"
"I'm sorry too"
We passed Caroline's house and pulled in front of mine. I turned to look at him
"Friends?"
"Friends"
With a smile I opened the passenger's door.
"Goodnight Edward"
I waved and went straight to bed after making sure no one had intruded and that my house was still safe.
The weekend was slow, uneventful except Caroline woke up in transition to vampire, traditional style and completed it before she realized what had happened. On top of that the new coach was the younger (and hotter) brother of the mayor is kind of a four legged, wigged tail normal sized werewolf.
Also traditional style.
