Unexpected
AN: Here's the next Chapter. If you guys like the story so far then I'll continue it. Let me know.
Bella stood in the doorway, shocked into silence as her eyes darted from her biology partner to the woman standing next to Rosalie, holding some type of tupperware close to her chest. She looks at Rosalie once more, her voice barely above a whisper when she speaks. "Um...what are you doing here, Rosalie?"
"I'm sorry dear, where are my manners?" The woman smiled sweetly and extended her free hand out to Bella. "I'm Esme, Rosalie's mother." Bella grasped Esme's hand in hers, shaking it and then frowning at how cold it was.
It must be freezing outside, Bella thinks to herself before shuffling further inside the house and opening the door wider. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Cullen, um, why don't you come in. It's freezing out." Sure enough, a shiver shot down Bella's spine as the wind burst past the bodies blocking the door and entered the house.
They enter and the three women stand awkwardly in the foyer, Bella still confused over the turn of events. "We're so sorry to intrude, Bella, but Rosalie told me that you walked home in this storm and I just couldn't not check on you, make sure you got home safely." Esme explains. Bella looks at Rosalie again, quirking her eyebrows up in question. Why was Rosalie talking about her with her mother? Rosalie merely shrugged, her face impassive and not giving anything away.
Bella turns back to Esme. "Right, well I appreciate the house call, but really I'm fine, like I told Rosalie, I've walked in worse." Bella laughs, trying to expel the awkwardness clinging to the air around them.
It doesn't work as Esme frowns, gives Rosalie a stern look, then smiles back at Bella as though she'd never looked at Rosalie in the first place. "Be that as it may, Bella dear, I've brought you some homemade chicken soup. I don't want you getting sick." Esme smiles and offers up the tupperware to Bella.
Bella hesitates. "That's really unnecessary, honestly, I was just about to eat dinner anyways." Bella offers, halfheartedly gesturing to her right toward the kitchen.
Rosalie scoffs and Bella snaps her eyes to the blonde. "Right, that's why you're about halfway through a box of cereal?" Bella's eyes narrow at Rosalie's sarcastic tone, her annoyance lighting a spark of defiance down deep in her belly.
"Oh, now you got something to say?" Bella mumbled under her breath, unaware that the other two heard her perfectly clear. She glared at Rosalie quickly, before turning to an awaiting Esme. "Thank you, Mrs. Cullen. I'm sure it's amazing." She quickly took the tupperware from Esme.
Esme beamed at her, and Bella felt her annoyance give way to something calmer, something she wasn't used to feeling while in the presence of a parent. She felt as though just by taking the offered food, she'd done something completely right in Esme's eyes. It was weird, so Bella dismissed the thought, and the feeling.
"There's plenty for your father as well...is he home? I'd love to introduce myself. It seems only right, seeing as you're Rosalie's first friend here in Forks." Esme made a show of peering behind Bella, as though she were looking for Charlie, but Bella was more focused on the horrified and furious look Rosalie was now sporting as she looked down at her mother in disgust.
A small laugh starts to bubble up in Bella's throat but she's quick to swallow it down as Rosalie turns to look at her instead of Esme. Though Bella can't seem to hold back the smirk that stretches across her lips, and the harder Rosalie glares at her, the more Bella smirks. "Charlie isn't here at the moment, he's down at La Push, fishing or something." Or something, Bella rolls her eyes internally.
Esme doesn't seem too bothered though, as she continues on with the conversation, thankfully ignoring the looks being thrown between Rosalie and Bella. "Next time then. Well we should get going, Rosalie do be a dear and leave Bella the house phone number, in case she needs anything before her father returns. It was nice to meet you, Bella dear. Rosalie, I'll be waiting in the car." With that said, Esme leaves the house, leaving Bella to stare after her as she holds the door open; leaving Rosalie to stare at Bella.
Bella doesn't speak until Esme is safely inside the expensive looking car taking residence in Bella's driveway. When she does, she turns to Rosalie with a sly smile. "Hmm...my friend has such a nice mom...it makes sense that you're adopted."
Rosalie gasps at the implication, seemingly shocked by Bella's words. "Just what are you getting at, Bella?"
Bella shrug nonchalantly. "Obviously the niceness gene wasn't passed down to you." Bella snickers at Rosalie even as the girl crosses her arms, stealing Bella with the infamous glare that Rosalie is known for wearing around the school. Instead of a nasty comeback, which Bella was totally expecting, Rosalie shoves a hand inside her purse while her other hand seizes Bella's arm and pulls it closer. A pen is pulled from somewhere within the purse and before Bella can protest, Rosalie is inking something on her arm. Bella looks at Rosalie after seeing the number slowly appear on her arm. She watches as gold eyes retrace the writing before she slowly brings Bella's arm up higher, blowing on it softly to dry the ink.
Bella's heart stutters in her chest, eyes growing wide as a new shiver makes its way down Bella's spine. Bella's throat dries up and she licks her lips, failing to think of a snarky comment to break the tension. Instead it hangs around them as gold eyes drift up to lock onto stunned browns. Rosalie smirks. Cocky, Bella thinks. Then her arm is released and Bella traces her retreating figure until Rosalie is just about to enter the car, and that's when Bella looks down at the scrawl written across her forearm.
'You're an idiot.' Is written clearly below a set of numbers that Bella presumes to be the Cullen's house phone. Bella laughs uncontrollably as she looks up, finding that Rosalie is already looking at her, seemingly not caring that she was getting drenched in the rain.
"Maybe I am!" Bella shouts out above the thunder and rain. She can see the slight shake of Rosalie's head, before the blonde disappears from view. Bella watches them leave, a new round of laughter bubbling up every time she looks down at her arm. Maybe she was an idiot, for laughing so freely at Rosalie's discomfort, for not being afraid of the death glares thrown her away. Maybe she was an idiot for accepting such a strange, but not unwelcome, act of kindness from the Cullen family. Maybe she was an idiot for all of it, but as her eyes caught the elegant script once more, Bella grinned just like the idiot Rosalie claimed her to be, and she just couldn't bring herself to care.
The soup had been delicious and Bella all too eagerly finished it up the next morning before setting off to school. The weather had cleared up just enough, though a dark overcast was still present and the wind blew cold through the trees, scattering even more leaves onto the damp ground as she walked. The hot water had been on when she woke up, so she was able to get in a warm shower before school, though the scribble on her arm only half disappeared as she washed. Bella found that she didn't mind it so much as she peered down to her exposed forearm where 'idiot' could still be seen. It made Bella smile like one every time she saw it, which is why she kept her sleeve rolled up even as she entered campus.
The parking lot was mostly filled, Bella never liked arriving too early, and she waved to her friends as they called her over to their usual meeting place at Tyler's van, but she stopped as she found the Cullen's waiting by their cars as well. She met Rosalie's raised eyebrow with a shake of her head and instead of going to her friends, her feet carried her over to the stunning blonde instead. Bella wasn't too upset at the change in course, not upset at all really.
"Hey." Bella greets awkwardly, before shifting her backpack around and pulling out the tupperware. "I figured your mom might want this back." Bella grinned as she held out the tupperware to Rosalie. Rosalie took it and quickly tossed it into the back of the large green jeep Emmett liked to race through the parking lot when he drove to school.
Rosalie looked her up and down, and Bella shifted her weight, unsure about the scrutiny. "Well...she didn't kill you."
Bella frowned, "Is your mom usually a bad cook or something?"
Emmett snickered loudly behind Rosalie, not even quitting when Edythe delivered a swift elbow to his side. Rosalie rolled her eyes, but was interrupted as she opened her mouth to reply. "We wouldn't know," Alice said, bobbing up to stand next to Rosalie. Bella frowned even more, "She doesn't cook often, we're all on different schedules, you know how it goes, not every family sits down to dinner together." Alice laughed, but her comment triggered a gloominess to settle over Bella's mind, and attitude.
"Right." Bella scoffed, looking away as Rosalie and Alice frowned at her. "Well tell her thanks for me? It was great." She shuffled to the right, but then changed her mind and started to walk toward the school entrance. "See you later, Rosalie." She threw it over her shoulder, not bothering to wait around for a response. Suddenly, she wasn't in the mood for idle chit chat or playful back and forth with Rosalie. She just wanted to be left alone. Bella didn't even stop to notice how confused her friends were, or the looks they were throwing in the Cullen's direction. She just didn't care anymore.
Her mood hadn't seen any signs of improvement by the time lunch rolled around, so instead of bothering herself with the overcrowded cafeteria, Bella found herself hiding out in the girl's bathroom down the hall from Mr. Banner's class. She sat atop the counter, her feet swinging out in front of her as she tried, in vain, to relax before seeing Rosalie again, and that's how Edythe found her. Bella sighed deeply as the copper bob came into view, already knowing who it was.
Bella didn't acknowledge her presence though, instead she chose to stare at the corner of the ceiling, waiting patiently for the girl to do what she came here for and leave. Luck, it seemed, wasn't on her side today.
"The girl's bathroom really is a cliché hiding place, don't you think?" Edythe sounded beyond amused at finding Bella there, even going so far as to smirk at Bella through the mirror as she ran a hand through her hair. Bella didn't answer, believing it to be rhetorical, but the silence stretched on and Bella looked up to see Edythe watching her, waiting for her answer.
Bella shrugged, taking a glance around the room as she spoke. "Completely, though just because it's cliché doesn't mean that it doesn't work or that it doesn't have it's merits." Bella looked back at Edythe as watched as the girl seemed to chew over her words.
Finally, Edythe grinned at her. "Just because something is cliché doesn't mean it's not worthy?" Edythe stares at her curiously, and Bella starts to feel as though her answers are being silently judged. "I guess I can see that, good answer, Bella." Edythe gives her a crooked grin, golden eyes lightly up in the shitty bathroom lighting. "Oh, by the way." She pauses halfway in the doorway to look back at Bella. "Rosalie was looking for you."
Bella frowns, her back straightening just slightly at the mention of her lap partner. "What for?" Edythe answers her with a shrug, but the knowing glint in her eyes and the amused smile on her face gives Bella a completely different answer than a shrug of 'I don't know'. "Hey, wait, Edythe!" Bella calls after the girl's disappearing form as she jumps from the counter, rushing after Edythe to find exactly what Edythe had been hinting at. Her path was intercepted however, as she rushed through the bathroom's door only to be stopped dead in her tracks by a hard body.
"Shit." Bella frowns as she regains her balance, luckily only stumbling a bit and not falling to the ground. She looked up expecting to have run into Edythe, but was surprised by a different Cullen, though as she looked around she could see Edythe at the end of the hall already, laughing at Bella's expense. Bella glared at the girl but only received a wave in return as Edythe disappeared around the corner. "Your sister is an annoying know-it-all." Bella turned her glare on Rosalie, though it softened almost immediately when a quiet, but beautiful laugh escaped Rosalie's lips. Bella found herself unconsciously smiling in return.
"You have no idea." Rosalie whispered conspiringly. Bella laughed then too, as she imagined the two sisters going ahead over arguments and withheld information. Bella sighed wistfully, her thoughts turning toward what it was like to have a family like that. "I was actually just looking for you, Bella." Rosalie admitted.
Bella raised an eyebrow in the direction Edythe had disappeared in. "I know, though I can't say what for." She laughed lightly, turning her body slightly and taking a few steps toward Mr. Banner's class, of course she waited for Rosalie to follow her before continuing. Rosalie rolled her eyes. She probably knows Edythe said as much, Bella thinks.
"I was wondering if you had any trouble with the assignments last night, well that, and Esme wanted me to ask if you might want to come over for dinner sometime." Rosalie huffed out the last part, unknowingly making Bella wince.
"No trouble." Bella said easily, then paused, choosing her next words carefully. "Can you tell your mom thanks, but no thanks? I appreciate the offer and everything...but she doesn't have to go out of her way like that." Rosalie frowned, so Bella continued as she tried to get out of the offer without hurting anyone's feelings. "I mean you guys don't exactly eat together, right?"
"Right." Rosalie looked away, letting the awkward silence creep in and hang around them. Bella chews on her bottom lip, unsure if she's hurt Rosalie's feelings or possibly offended her, but before she can think of something else to say the bell sounds above them. Bella looks at the bell in both relief and annoyance, when she turns back to Rosalie, she finds herself standing in the hall alone.
Great, Bella, just great, Bella chastises herself as she goes to take her seat next to Rosalie. The blonde doesn't even look in her direction and Bella sighs again. It's going to be a very long class.