III. Jessica Stanley: Gossipmonger or Journalist-to-be?

The loud beeping of Jessica's horn alerted me to her presence outside. "That's for me! Bye, chief," I shouted from the hall, swinging Bella's purse over my shoulder and her parka across my arm. Flinging the front door shut behind me, I hurried across the driveway and jumped into Jessica's warm car.

"Okay," Jessica squealed as soon we took off, "You have to tell me everything!"

I blinked. "Um, maybe elaborate on that Jess?"

"Put your seatbelt on," she ordered, before grinning like an idiot again. "Okay, you know Samantha Wells is dating Lee Stephens, right?"

"Of course," I answered, although the news only sounded vaguely familiar. Jessica had probably mentioned it before. "So?" I prompted her as soon as my belt clicked into place.

"So, I heard from Samantha that Lee is apparently in your biology class," she hinted.

I sighed when I realized she wanted me to guess. "Okay? Biology with Mr. Banner isn't exactly worthy of gossip."

Jessica shot me a betrayed look. "You're kidding," she pouted. "You mean you really weren't going to tell me?"

"Um, tell you what?" I asked nervously. Don't tell me this has to do with Edward Cullen. Ugh, of course someone noticed.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but according to Samantha, Lee says that Edward Cullen has been getting cozy with you."

My lips twitched and then I couldn't help but burst into raucous laughter.

After a minute or so, Jessica huffed, "Okay! You can stop any time now."

"S-sorry," I stammered, wiping the tears from my eyes. "Seriously, Jess? 'Cozy?' That's the dumbest rumor you've told me yet. And you've told me quite a few."

"Samantha's a pretty good source. So there is something there," she insisted.

"Source? Okay, Miss Journalist," I teased her, "I guess I could tell you the truth behind my alleged affair…"

Jessica smacked my arm, simultaneously keeping her eyes on the highway. "Ha ha. You're hilarious."

"Thanks! As for Edward Cullen...well, he's my lab partner. There's not much to it," I shrugged. Except he's a vampire and he vants to suck my blood!

"Aww, come on," she pouted. "After he so heroically saved your life? There's gotta be more to it than that."

I weighed my options. I could tell Jessica, but with the danger of her telling the rest of the school. Or she could hound me for the rest of our day trip out to Port Angeles. I grimaced. "I don't know, Jessica. You're lousy at keeping secrets."

Her eyes sparkled. "There's a secret?!"

"You are impossible," I grumbled, shoving her slightly (not enough to distract her. I could do without yet another car accident.)

Jessica snickered, but quieted down as soon as she noticed the glare I was shooting her. "Okay, okay," she cleared her throat, although she was unable to completely drop her grin. "I'm sorry, Isabella. I promise that whatever you tell me in this car, will remain between only the two of us." She held up her pinky.

I squinted at it suspiciously, before hooking my pinky around her own. "So. You want to know the truth about Edward Cullen?"

"Spit it out, already!"

I shrugged. "Truth is, Edward's an awkward nerd."

"What?!" she shrieked, smacking my arm again. "That was the 'secret?' And what do you mean that the most gorgeous boy in school is an awkward nerd?" Jessica scoffed.

"It's not a secret, perse," I pursed my lip. "I just don't want to accidentally spread mean rumors about Edward. He's a little weird, but he doesn't deserve that."

"Huh," Jess nodded. "He can be odd. He makes the weirdest facial expressions every time I'm checking him out."

"Probably projecting your thoughts a little too loudly," I snickered. Poor Jessica.

"Maybe," she smiled sheepishly. "As for the rest…?"

I rolled my eyes. "Lee's an idiot. Cozy? It's literally just Edward's odd attempt at making small talk. He's not very good at it."

"Small talk? What does Edward's small talk sound like?" Jessica shot me a suggestive smile before swiveling her eyes back to the road.

"Jessica Stanely, get that look off your face!" Her affronted expression was a good enough change, so I continued, "Nothing interesting. I said he wasn't very good at it. Mostly just class stuff. He had been asking me how I was doing, but who hasn't?"

"Oh yeah," she turned quick enough to throw a sympathetic grimace in my direction. "That was rough. I know you've told everyone you're fine. Are you really?"

"Yeah," I sighed, "It was terrifying, I'm not gonna lie. But Edward did save my life. I'm okay. It's probably the only reason he's been chatting with me lately. He's nice." When he's not grimacing like I stink.

"Uh," Jessica's face twisted in disbelief. "Sorry to break it to you, but Edward does not do nice. Know-it-all asshole would be a more apt description. At least where the rest of us are concerned."

"And you still check him out? You have no shame!" I laughed.

Her cheeks turned pink. "There's nothing wrong with looking!"

"Whatever you say, Jessica."

She pouted. "So that's it? Edward's an awkward nerd and he sucks at small talk?" Poor Jess. She looks so disappointed.

I nodded sagely and whispered conspiratorially, "He once tried talking to me about the weather."

"What?" she laughed.

"Admittedly, it was the day when it stopped snowing half-way through, so technically everyone was talking about the weather," I shrugged sheepishly.

"Tell me more," she urged, even though I'd already made it clear it hadn't been at all interesting. And then I remembered yesterday.

"Uh, okay. There may have been something yesterday," I admitted reluctantly. Her expression turned eager, so I continued before she could bite my head off, "He implied that he would like to be friends with me."

Jessica squealed so loudly I had to slap my palms over my ears. "Damn it, Jess. If this is how you're going to react, I'm telling you squat."

"Sorry, sorry," she waved it off, grinning like a lunatic. "You don't understand, Isabella! Do you know how many girls he rejected within the first week of our freshman year? He wouldn't give anyone the time of day."

"I can imagine," I said dryly, rudely rummaging through her glove compartment. Wow, haven't seen one of these in a while. Pulling out a fat, nylon case of CDs, I began to flip through the sleeves. "Got anything good in here, Stanley?"

"Ooh, that one," Jessica pointed erratically, eyes glued forward. "That new CD by Fall Out Boy."

This music is ancient, I couldn't help but think as I shoved the CD into her stereo. I twirled the dial until the blasting music lowered to a respectable volume.

"Tell me exactly what he said," she demanded.

I blew out a loud sigh. "Um...give me a sec. Actually, I'm the one who brought it up. I asked him what he was so grouchy about, and he said something about how nice I was to everyone but him."

Jessica gasped. "Isabella, I am disappointed in you. You've been blowing him off this whole week?!"

"You need to learn the meaning of inside voices, Jessica," I complained, but confessed nonetheless, "I guess? I didn't realize that was his intention. I figured he was just curious about the new girl whose life he saved. I expected it would blow over soon enough and he would go back to ignoring me like he did everyone else." Not that Edward had ever really ignored me, except for that first week when he couldn't handle being around me. Which was preferable. I didn't want to be his dinner.

"So?" she demanded, grin still wide. When I could only blink in confusion, she rolled her eyes and asked, "Do you like him?"

I fell into a stunned silence. The idea of liking Edward Cullen had never even occurred to me. I wasn't Bella. Why would he ever give me the time of day, as Jess had so eloquently put it? "I uh...I don't know," I admitted.

"Seriously? He's gorgeous!"

It was my turn to roll my eyes at her. "Obviously. That's not the debate here. Don't be so shallow, Jess."

"I'm not being shallow," she huffed. "But be real. He's beautiful, he's intelligent, and he's the politest seventeen-year-old I've ever met."

"Didn't you just call him a know-it-all asshole a while back?" I laughed. "Edward's a crotchety old man shoved into the body of a seventeen-year-old. Not sure if that's my style."

"Oh," she hummed. "Has anyone else caught your eye, then?"

"Definitely not." Her look of disbelief had me elaborating, "I like older guys."

No way am I dating anyone at school. That's just WRONG.

"Like seniors?"

"Uh, no. More like college guys." Not really. I'd already graduated college, but I couldn't just say "adult men." That'd be sure to freak her out.

"Oh I bet they're so much more mature!" she agreed. "But, you'll have to make do with a senior. The spring dance is coming up in a few weeks. We need to get dates!"

I pursed my lips. "I guess," I reluctantly permitted. If I'm even stuck here that long.

"Aw, come on!" Jessica urged, "It'll be fun! Plus, it's girls' choice, so you ask whoever you want!"

"I don't mind going alone," I shrugged, "I can just third wheel it with you and your date, or with Angela." Rude. But the better alternative.

"Make me do all the work?" she complained. "Fine. I'll find you a date. You don't have to thank me."

"Only if it's a senior," I threw in a stipulation, knowing there was no stopping her.

"Yeah, yeah," she waved me off, "Unless you end up changing your mind about Edward, of course."

I snorted a laugh. "Me? Ask Edward to the spring dance? That sounds mortifying."

"Don't I know it," she muttered darkly.

I turned to her, lips twitching. "What does that mean?"

Her face turned red. "I, uh, may have been one of those freshman girls that Edward rejected," she mumbled.

"Aww, Jess," I said sympathetically. "That's tough. I'm sorry."

"Not a great way to start off high school," she laughed sheepishly. "But it's in the past now. I won't hold it against you if you change your mind about him."

"Wow. I'm impressed by your generosity. Really."

Jessica flipped her curls back. "You're welcome. Oh, turn it up. This one sounds good."

"As her highness commands," I mocked, before twirling the dial, until the music was blasting around us again.

We were only half-way through the next song when she suddenly announced, "We're here!"

I blew a breath. "Wow. Time sure does fly by when you're being interrogated."

"Shut up. Or I won't treat you to lattes!"

"Jessica Stanley!" I gasped, "You do know the way to my heart."

Fortunately, it didn't take us long to find a parking spot near the shops. Jessica expertly maneuvered in, before dragging me to the walkway. "There's this cute little coffee shop Angela and I always stop by!"

"It's too bad she couldn't join us," I lamented―Angela was super sweet.

"Yeah," Jess shrugged, "I think she had to babysit her little brothers or something."

Once we picked up our lattes, Jessica began to lead me to one of her favorite stores. "Most of the shops are small here. This is one of the better stocked ones," she guided me through the glass doors of a wide clothing store.

"Oh, thank God!" I grinned. "I barely have any clothes. I couldn't bring most of my Arizona gear out here." I gave a small prayer for the death of Bella's sock money. I hadn't taken all of it, but I would have to find a job sooner rather than later.

Jessica and I split up. She was digging through the pile of jeans on display while I ducked further back. I was sifting through sweater dresses on a rack when I noticed other shoppers entering the store from my peripherals. The kind of customers that were impossible to ignore because they were impossibly beautiful. And the penny copper hair was pretty hard to miss from someone that tall. And the tiny creature at his side could only be Alice Cullen.

This...doesn't make ANY sense. I paused, frowning at the deep blue dress in my hands. Is this a coincidence? Is this an Alice-type coincidence? Am I just being paranoid?

"That's a nice color, but I don't think that's your size." The remarkably appealing voice was unmistakable. What was more startling was when I turned to look at him and found a pile of clothing in his arms. They'd walked in a mere minute ago. "Alice―my sister. She likes shopping."

"I can tell," I muttered, glancing back and realizing I was in the medium section of the rack―which would have been fine if I were in the right body. Shuffling over, I glanced at the price tag and picked out two of the sweater dresses in a size small. Yes, this is definitely out of the ordinary. Alice wouldn't come shopping here. I thought she only shopped designer. I kept my observations to myself. How much longer would I have to endure their scrutiny?

"Are you alright, Isabella? You seem irate," Edward observed, shifting the clothes over to one arm.

Don't be a bitch. He's not actually doing anything wrong. This is a free country. I smoothed my expression over and tucked all my accusations into the corner of my mind. "Sorry, I'm fine," I shook my head, "You should probably be the one who is irritated. Doesn't look like your sister is going easy on you."

I migrated over to a rack bursting with leggings and he shadowed my steps. I couldn't imagine why; it must be excruciating to be in such proximity, much less on a day when he wasn't required to.

"Yes, well it's Alice," he lifted his shoulders helplessly, as though that explained everything. Which, if you were familiar with Alice, it did. Across the store, I made eye contact with Jessica and I mentally cursed. Perfect. Every word I said to Jessica is fresh in her mind and now Edward will get a front row seat to my thoughts. What did I say about him? Awkward nerd; bad at small talk; a crotchety old man shoved into the body of a seventeen-year-old? Fan-fucking-tastic.

A/N: How do y'all feel about bestie!Jessica? Don't worry, Edward and Alice shall still be appearing in the next chapter. A huge thank you to everyone who is supporting my story! I'm super stoked! :) But please let me know what you thought of the chapter! I'll update soon :)