Joe's coffee house was an old restaurant in the edge of town that has been in Port Angeles since before any of us were born. It was a classic red-stripped joint that people seem to forget - which is exactly why Alice loves this place the most and asked us to meet up here. Edward was pulling up the restaurant now with my head in the clouds from my morning:
My eyelids were heavy with peace and serenity and I could feel the morning sunlight warm my skin. I could also feel someone's head nuzzled at the crook of my neck. I opened my eyes to find an arm wrapped loosely around my torso.
"You stayed." I smiled at the glowing warmth that blended with our bodies.
The arm around me tighten "Of course,"
I couldn't help but grab his hand for a moment once he parked. "You've met Alice before?" I asked.
He was looking at our interlaced fingers "I think I've had her in one of my classes before,"
"Ok and how about Jasper Hale?"
His mouth formed a straight line "I've heard of him,"
"Oh yeah?" I was surprised since Alice told me Jasper liked to keep down-low "Anything interesting?"
He shrugged a bit, letting go of our hands to buckle his seat belt "I just know what crowd he usually hangs with. They're kind of rough."
He was about to leave the car until I put my hand on his arm "Have you heard that you shouldn't judge people based on rumors?"
He nodded then gave me a deep look at that "So I've heard." A smile broke out "Thank you."
Once we entered Joe's, we spotted Alice at a cherry red booth at the back of the restaurant. She sat next to Jasper and in front of her was a girl with long blonde hair. Alice smiled wide when she saw me "Bells!" and stood up so quickly. As she walked over she glanced and seemed obviously curious that Edward Masen was right next to me.
"Alice!" We engulfed in our usual hug. "Ugh, I hate that I'm always losing you!"
"Next time we're handcuffing ourselves to each other so we that can never happen again! And don't worry, we'll take turns with the bed." She let go of me to wink at Edward. I blushed at her vulgar comment.
"It's finally nice to meet to famous, Alice." chuckled Edward
"Ditto," Alice gave us a look. "But come, let's sit we just ordered drinks!"
I gave Jasper a warm smile and as the boys shook hands to greet each other, I was taken aback to see that the blonde at the table was none other than Rosalie Hale. Her icy blue eyes seemed guarded once she looked at me.
"Hi, I'm Bella, "
"Hey..." She said softly before looking away. I never saw Ms. Perfect look... no where near perfect. Her eyeshadow was smudged under her eyes and her skin looked a bit sick. Her blonde hair began to resemble hay.
Jasper and Rosalie got window seats, Alice sat next to Jasper then me. Edward made a move to sit next to Rosalie but once she looked at him, her eyes widen. "Masen?"
"The one and only," he replied as he sat down. I couldn't help but admire him as he sat in front of me. He was just so gorgeous. Edward looked back at me and gave a small smile that warmed me up like a winter blanket in Decemeber.
Rosalie gave me a longer look this time before turning back to him. "Well, I didn't expect you to join us for breakfast." She said curtly
"And I can say the same for you..." A moment passed before he asked "What happened?"
Rosalie's face transformed into a monster before burning her head in her arms and gave a muffled scream. The silence was thick, like tree log thick. We needed an electric saw right now.
Alice broke the silence by passing us the menus. "Here you go." She said in low voice.
The menu was a red one-sided sheet of paper. By the time the waitress arrived to our table, I was ready and ordered a plate of hash browns with a cheese omelet. Rosalie rose her head up to order chocolate chip pancakes with extra chocolate chips. The waitress gave us our drinks before leaving. Rosalie clung to her latte as if was giving her life.
"So how was your night?" I asked Alice.
"It was alright," she said as she poured extra sugar into her coffee. Jasper agreed with her.
Rosalie pulled her hair "I'm sorry guys, ok? I'm sorry for ruining your night! Ughh!"
"Rose!" Alice placed her hand on hers "You did not ruin our night alright? James and Tanya ruined everyone's night. Not. You!"
"Woah, what did I miss last night?" I asked, curiously blossomed in me.
"Tanya's what happened." Rosalie turned to Edward "You're ex is a massive bitch!"
"Oh, I know." He sipped his water.
Rosalie started to cry then "I didn't mean to hurt her I was just so mad, you know?" Alarm bells sounded at her words, I looked at Alice for answers as Rosalie choked up and collected tears on her napkin.
"She walked on James doing it with Tanya." Alice spat out the truth finally.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry Rosalie," I finally understood and sympathized with her puffy face.
Rosalie fulled on bawled at those words "Right!? Like what the f-fuck! Out of her girl in this school, he fucks my best friend. Stupid Tanya!" She said her name like it was a curse. "Gosh, I hate her. She's such a copycat! Always copying what I do and what I wear and now, she sleeps with my boyfriend! She's insane." Rosalie cried out endless insults followed by rounds of pounds to the table.
We played therapist with Rosalie and she managed to calm down before our food arrives. "Oh boy," moaned Edward at the sight of his red velvet pancakes "I didn't know how badly I needed this till now,"
I laughed at his remark and gave his feet a small kick underneath the table. He kicked me right back while smirking with his mouth full of pancakes.
I was savoring the taste of the cheesy omelet when Rosalie's gasp almost made me choke. "Noo!" She gaped at us for a moment before showing us her phone "Tanya already squealed to PAA about of fight and everyone's leaving me such nasty messages on my Instagram photos!" She started crying all over again. "My life is OVER!" Her tears dripped onto her pancakes as if they were syrup.
Alice said "Rosalie, it's all going to be fine! Just tell your followers how it was a misunderstanding, I mean any girl would act crazy if they were drunk and walked in on their boyfriend with their best friend! Just let PAA know and you'll be fine!"
"I'm over, over, o-v-e-r," Rosalie kept muttering in her hands.
"Listen to me Rosalie, you won't be shunned if you just do what I say!"
Breakfast was not at all what I was expecting that morning. I pictured in my head Edward and I plus Alice and Jasper laughing and recalling what a fun night last night was. Instead, I ate my omelet with pity for Rosalie with the air heavy with awkwardness. We barely managed to console Rosalie at all.
I was so grateful when our waitress brought our checks quickly, we paid the bill then said our goodbyes within minutes. Edward and I were the first to leave, I breathed out in relief once I closed the passenger door "Gosh, that was crazy." I told Edward
"That's Rosalie for you." He replied as he started the car.
"What do you mean?" I wondered.
Edward told me that when he dated Tanya, Rosalie was very stuck up. He felt the tension between the two best friends and swore they were only friends because of their image. "She can be a cool girl, don't get me wrong. I noticed that when she's with girls like Tanya, she puts on this act as if their lives were a reality show. But when she was just with the guys she seemed normal."
I took in the information then changed the subject into something more cheerful. I was tired of all the drama.
Edwards car found my home too quickly. I hated that our time was over.
"I know, it sucks to go right?" He said wistfully. I pouted at that. He gave me a peck on the lips which magically transformed my pouting upside down "I'll see you Monday, alright?"
His tone was casual.
Casual... be casual.
"Yeah, you're right. I'll see you in class." My smile felt tight until another kiss helped with that.
Once the door behind me closed, my back on to it to remember how to breathe normally. I didn't realize how many butterflies were in my stomach. I was so happy that I got to wake up from Mallory's party satisfied. My only hope now is that Edward is who he says he is. Not PAA or anyone else. Him. If it's true, he won't ignore me at school.
It was good that after the party I was not in the front page of Port Angeles Angels this time, but sadly, Rosalie was. The photos of Tanya's face after the fight looked horrible, I felt terrible for both girls. I can see the article just says Tanya and Rosalie's fight ends with a busted face, but they never talked about what caused this battle to even occur.
That night, Rosalie did all the damage control she could. She posted on all social media platforms her POV of events, hoping to gain peoples trust back. But Tanya also blasted on her page that she did nothing wrong and claimed that it was James who kissed her. James was the one who messed up but instead of being upset with her boyfriend, Rosalie fought her best friend over a "misunderstanding". Tanya got more leverage due to her split lip and swollen eye.
In the hallways of our school that Monday morning, the whispers all carried Rosalie's name. I saw her in the halls and was sad to say that Alice was wrong. Rosalie Hale tried all that she could but still walked down the green hallways with her head reeking of shame.
I hugged my binder to my chest "I feel so bad for her," I told Edward in the halls. It feels normal now standing next to him at school as if he's an old friend.
"It's so messed up." He slammed his locker shut "High school is a time when it should be ok to mess up because we're young, you know? High school isn't like that anymore with websites like PAA, everyone knows what you've done and it will haunt you."
I made a face at that "I hope not," I was thinking of my dancing video that's available for the whole world to see.
"Oh, it does. I already learned that." He made grimace "It's so hard for me to even get an interview for a job in this town. I just thought the PAA website was bullshit and didn't care what they wrote about me but in reality, people do care and believe every word that's written on that site."
It was scary how much power a website like that can have. I could see the hurt in Edwards' eyes as he spoke and I wish I could just take that away. I grabbed his hand and rubbed it with my thumb "I hope things will work out in the end for all of us,"
Edward gave my hand a squeeze and said "I do, too." Before walking off to his next class.
At lunch, our eyes, including everyone else's was pinpointed at Rosalie as she walked up to the cheerleader's lunch table. I had a bad feeling once I saw that her usual seat was filled by Tanya who wore an eye patch over her left eye. Her legs were cross and as she uttered foul words at Rosalie, we saw the whole group of cheerleaders frown at her. Suddenly every empty seat was filled with the girl's bookbags.
Rosalie was shocked to see all her friends turn on her. When she looked around with red cheeks at all the cameras and eyes pointed her way, Alice stood up and waved her arms like crazy to catch her attention. Rosalie suddenly stood up straight, flicked her hair at her old friends before she cat-walked to our table.
"Fuck everybody," She hissed as she sat down with us.
"What about us?" I had to ask
Rosalie's face lightened slightly "Except you guys, of course. You're cool. Thanks for inviting me here, by the way, I thought I was going to end up having lunch in the bathroom,"
"Nonsense!" Alice waved her off "We'll always be here whenever you need us."
"You guys are real as fuck. I love it." Rosalie pulled out her salad bowl and picked at her food "Are people still looking?" She asked me since I was facing the other tables.
"Im surprised that they still are..." I muttered between my bites. I have seen so many cameras snapping pictures our way and people looking at Rosalie with this twisted yet amused smile.
As soon as I spoke, I saw Rosalie's head get pounded with a couple grapes. Rosalie picked grape mush out of her hair in disgust.
"Don't worry, that won't leave a bruise." A girl with hair the color of wet sand said as she passed our table. I watched as the girl went back to her table and high five her friends. Human nature was truly showing it's worse side to us today.
Alice helped Rosalie with some weed out the grapes "I want to die," Rosalie sighed.
"Aw, sweetie," cooed Alice "High schools almost over, then we go to college and you can move on. Forget all this drama. What college are you going to?"
Before she could respond, more grapes pelted her head.
"What are you, freshmen or pre-schoolers?" I looked up to see that Edward was a few steps away with his lunch tray in hand. He was staring down the group of students who just ran out of grapes and looked embarrassed to be called out by him.
His tray slammed down next to me and sat down.
"Hey, you." I couldn't keep the happiness out of my voice. "You're joining us for lunch?"
Suddenly the cameras were back on, but everyone's eyes were on us. "Yeah," Edward looked at me. "I'm sick of those guys anyways, I'd much rather be here with you." I breathed in his presence "Mind if I hold your hand?"
I peered at the eyes around us "Why now?"
"It'll give our friend Rose here a break from the spotlight. What do you say?" His hand was already stretched out towards me. I couldn't say no even if I tried. We interlocked hands and set them on the table. We heard gasps echo through the cafeteria.
I don't know why but our interlocked hands felt like a taunt to the other students who enjoyed watching people suffer. Little love to fight all this hate. I felt like I suddenly had enough energy to take on the whole world.
"So hows everyone's day?" I ask the table in a dazed voice.
"This might be one of the weirdest days of my life," spoke Alice. Camera flashes bloomed around us.
"This is definitely the worst day of my life," grumbled Rosalie
"Today feels like the beginning of something new," Edward said with a smile. Rosalie gave Edward a hard look as she stabbed a tomato. I felt like he was right, though, there was something in the air that made today feel like the beginning of a new chapter in life.
"Room for one more?" We all looked up to see Jasper in usual jeans standing next to us.
Alice eyes and mouth grew wide "Of course Jazz, sit!"
"I just had to join you guys as soon as I saw you all on PAA. We gotta stand with each other, ya know?" He said as he sat down. Alice snatched his hand and sighed. I totally knew what she was feeling.
"Great, I'm fifth wheeling," whined Rosalie. We all collectively told her no and made sure she understood how important she was to all of us. We toned down the PDA instantly. Even though the whole cafeteria was buzzing about the unlikely newest group of friends, we ignored the world and decided to talk about our wishes for the future.
Once the focus on us drifted away, Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper escaped into the halls before the bell could ring.
"So... do we let go when we walk to class?" I asked Edward while looking at our hands that never let go.
He shrugged "I don't want to, do you?"
His hand radiated warmth and comfort like I've never felt before "I don't either," I bit my lip "But what is everyone else going to think?" I can already see us on PAAs new couple alert. Did he want that and if so what does that mean for us...
"Does it matter?" He asked coolly. I pondered that much harder than I liked. I looked up to see students were still glancing at us and wondered for a moment, what had we done? Yes, it definitely helped Rosalie not be the major gossip in our school but now it looks like to everyone that Edward and I were dating- but we weren't. If we continue this charade to class, it'll just be adding fuel to the fire of my confusion.
The bell rang and I spoke, "I don't think we should hold hands to class."
Edward looked a bit sad at that but reluctantly let go. "Alright, it's your call." He told me. We still walked to class with our usual banter and planned to meet up afterschool to work on our project.
-x-
"Come on," said Edward
"You're insane."
"I promise you this project will be much more interesting..."
I shook my head "I'm sure it will. I bet that even the leaves would look interesting too."
"Exactly! You're getting the gist of it now," he said and I wondered Could it really be that bad to try? "High school is almost over.. live a little."
It was our surroundings that got to me. I was at Edward Masens home, we were all alone for the next few hours and there were white foam balls waiting to be painted "Fine, I'll try it." I told him.
He gave me a high five before going to his room. I sat on his couch jaw-slacked on what I just got myself into. I took whatever time I had to go on my phone and research the effects of marijuana. Edward burst out of his room in no time with a black bag. "Let's go outside,"
The clear sliding doors brought us to his deck which was surrounded by trees. His patio had a couple plants and a big clear table. He put the bag on the table and we got settled in the light blue and white chairs. Edward pulled out a small bong from his bag. "Oh, boy," I said. This is really happening, I'm breaking my middle school D.A.R.E promise. "What's the difference between that and blunts?"
His cracked a smile. "This hits harder."
"Oh then no, I don't want to die!" I said
He laughed at that "You'll survive Bella, just don't hit it too hard." He opened his grinder to reveal bright green flakes "I won't let you die, don't you trust me?" I scoffed at that "I'm a weed expert, I'll make sure you just have fun."
The bong was ripped and loaded. Edward showed me how to hit the bong by lighting the bowl and inhaling lightly. Once the corner of the bowl turned orange, you pull off the bowl and suck in all the smoke. I was intrigued watching the gray smoke disappeared into his lungs. He breathed out the big hit with ease and passed me the bong.
My hands were sweaty as I gripped the fine glass. "I'll light it for you," I heard him say. I positioned my mouth on the top of the bong "Relax," he says as he sets the bowl on fire. I inhaled exactly how he told me, ignoring the fire in my lungs until I saw the clear bong empty of smoke.
I breathed out the rough smoke with a coughing fit. Everything was on fire! My lungs, my throat and my brain.
I died and was born again after coughing for an eternity on his back porch.
"What a lovely song those birds sing," I said after I collected myself. I looked up with hazy eyes to see Edward laughing
"Those aren't birds, it's the wind chimes," He pointed at the corner of the roof where a rich blue and purple glass wind chime sang. I swear I've never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life.
Glass dancing with the wind. My oh my.
"How do you feel?" Edward asked me.
I turned to look at him and I swear he looked more 3D than before. Everything did actually... it was cool "I'm feeling good!" I tell him.
"Enough for another hit?"
I had to laugh at that. I was so loopy already, the thought of doing that again seemed so ludicrous! "Suree,"
Obviously, my mind and mouth aren't aligned at the moment.
Edward seemed impressed that I was going for another round. Hell, I was even impressed. You go, girl! Edward lit the bong again for me but I couldn't finish the whole rip, I was coughing and tapping out halfway through. Edward finished it for me while I felt my brain go to space.
-x-
We were sprawled out and becoming one with the wooden deck floor. Time has no meaning anymore. I'm just enjoying life on this beautiful planet called Earth, staring into another soul's eyes. His emerald iris resembled the shape and color of the planet we're on... I couldn't stop staring into his eyes. The blackness of his pupil was so inviting. What was he thinking right now? I wondered whenever I saw a sparkle in his eye.
"That's you," He said and pointed to the sky. Behind me was a fluffy cloud that reminded me of a retarded dragon with a look of horror on its face.
"It does not!" I hit his shoulder playfully.
He laughed "It does! Doesn't that look like your hair?" I'm sure he was suggesting that the dragon's wings were my hair.
"Should I be offended by this?" He snickered at me. "I'm going to call the police."
"No!" He begged for forgiveness.
"It's too late!" I formed a phone with my left hand and gave him a dirty look "911, it's an emergency! Some guy-" Edward grabbed my phone and gave it kisses all over it and made his way up to my lips. I was laughing the whole time and when his lips touched mine, it was an experience like no other.
"Am I forgiven?" He whispered.
"Nope."
He pulled away from me "Fine, I guess you're gonna have to paint those planets all by yourself,"
"Nevermind, your forgiven!" I engulfed him in a hug to hide my laughter.
"Hmm," I heard his chest purr the words "I feel like I'm probably being used now."
"Come on," I stood up and dragged him along "Time to do our homework."
"Yippy," He said dripping with sarcasm.
Being high was different than I thought it would be. I thought I would be stupid and feel like I'm losing brain cells but instead, every color is a hue different, my body felt relaxed in a droopy way and everything looked weirder than usual; like this styrofoam ball I was holding totally made me question reality for a moment. Then Edward put on some Pink Floyd music and I felt high alright.
High on life.
I was nodding to the music "You think this is how God made Earth?" I asked while giving Mars streaks of an orange-yellow paint mixture.
"I hope not," Edward made a face at his ball "Mercury's a mess." I looked up to see that all his fingers were the color of the ocean.
"I think we just discovered why Earth is fucked up." I said.
I checked my phone and saw that Alice sent me a text with lots of pink emojis:
Jasper and I are officially dating! -A
Finally, I thought. I knew once Alice set her mind on him it was inevitable. I sent her congratulations then sent her an extra message Guess what? -B
What! -A
I'm hiigh af -B I added a cool guy hand emoji and smiled at my phone. I felt like since she told me about her and Jasper, I should also update her on my life.
A while passed before she responded with Wtff! Tftii with who? -A
Edward :3 -B I sent cheesy gif afterwards.
Alice sent me a gif from F.R.I.E.N.D.S with Rachel saying "Guess what guess what!" Wutt? -B
I'm high too XD Were are youu! -A
I gaped at her message, why was the universe so giving and amazing at times? I really felt in the back of my mind the wistful urge to have my best friend with me today.
I'm at Edwards casa hbu -B
"Alice is high, too." I told Edward
"That's cool," he responded. My phone buzzed with another text
I'm with Jazzy :)) ask Edward if he's down to match? -A I didn't know what that meant but I still asked: "Alice and Jasper want to know if you're down to match?"
His eyebrows raised at that "Tell them I say hell yeah." And I did.
"What does it mean to match?" I asked him. I sent them via iMessage our location.
"It means they're bringing weed so we're gonna have double the amount to smoke."
Oh boy...
AN: Hello, all! I am back and ready to continue on with the story! Please, share your thoughts freely and message me if you have any questions about the storyline.
Follow the story then put on your seatbelt, folks. The road up ahead is a foggy and bumpy one ;)