August 24, 2010

Jasper took off to class, leaving me to deal with my books, the tripod and my camera. Asshole. Mr. Darcy wouldn’t have done that. Even to Lydia Bennet; even though he couldn’t stand the sight of her.

Head out of the books, Bella.

What had happened to the lost art of chivalry anyway? I thought to myself as I struggled to get the door shut on my truck with all the crap in my hands. I ended up kicking it closed. For a second I thought about just leaving the tripod in the bed of the truck and coming back to get it later, but it belonged to the school, so I figured I’d better at least get it in to Mr. Banner.

I had to stand outside of the school and kick the door with my foot until Mrs. Cope saw me and took pity, pushing the door open from the inside so that I could make my way through.

“Thanks,” I smiled to her as I stumbled past, feeling my science book starting to slide. I just had to get to the third classroom on the left. Third classroom on the left…then I’d dump everything on Jasper’s head. Summoning my inner Elizabeth Bennet, and all her self-righteousness, well, from before she realized how she felt about Darcy at least, I stomped down the hall.

I could see it, Mr. Banner’s classroom door. Just as I got there, the legs on the tripod started to slide down – apparently, I hadn’t twisted the knobs tightly enough – and my science book was hanging by a corner, surface tension was the only thing holding it in place between the stack. My stomping tantrum hadn’t been a good idea. Just as I got to the door, the legs of the tripod caught on the door frame and blocked me, my momentum however kept me going forward.

I sure knew how to make an entrance at least. Know I knew exactly how Mary Bennet felt when her dad closed the piano lid on her. Mor. Ti. Fied. Thanks, Jasper.

Crap, was my skirt at least covering my bits? And my knee hurt from hitting the linoleum covered cement floor. My internal temperature must have gone up five degrees because I felt my face turn all shades of red and purple. And from past experience, it wasn’t like I blushed in evenness. No, my blushes usually came out spotty and flushed, not the least bit attractive.

I was gonna kill Jasper.

“Are you okay?” I heard through all my inner ramblings. It was an unfamiliar voice, deep and musical sounding almost, whatever that meant, but Jane had used that type of description in her stories. I looked up to a long-fingered hand in front of my face, searching for my hand to help me up. Absently, I noticed the sunlight streaming through the windows, behind this tall person, blocking him so that I couldn’t really see his face very well. The prisms hanging in Mr. Banner’s window were refracting light all around him and throwing rainbows. I felt like Harriet Smith did when Mr. Knightley came to rescue her from being snubbed at the ball.

Hypnotized and mesmerized by what my eyes have seen.

Okay, so was it normal to be quoting random Natalie Merchant songs? Maybe not, but that’s exactly how I felt as I took his hand and he lifted me effortlessly from the ground, books sliding across the slick floor.
“Hey Grace,” I heard Jasper call. Asshole again, ‘Grace.’ “That’s Edward, this is Alice. They’re gonna hang with us today, okay?”

Edward. Thoughts of the brooding, dark and handsome Mr. Rochester filled my head.

“Okay,” I managed to squeak out. The way he held my hand, like he was assisting me out on a dance floor. I nearly blacked out from his touch. Is this the way Cathy felt when Mr. Tilney danced with her?

God, Bella, you’re such a nerd…mind in the present, please.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Edward asked again, letting go of my hand once I was upright again.

“Yeah,” I said, looking down at my feet and the scattered books. The tripod was all messed up, it looked like a body on the floor with legs and arms askew.

“Hey Bella,” came the voice of a small girl with short, dark hair and kind eyes. Green eyes like her brother’s. She picked up some of the books off the floor and led me back over to the desk. “We’re gonna be great friends, I can tell.”

I just smiled and followed. She was like a fairy nymph, all grace and light.

“We’ll let the boys pick up your stuff,” she said with a glare at Jasper who jumped up and helped Edward get the rest of my scattered books. I was liking this girl already, and I’d never seen Jasper move so quickly.

The day passed, thankfully, without me landing on my ass again. Although I had to admit, it was a most memorable entrance and as we all sat at lunch, brown paper bags and, in Alice’s case, a Vera Bradley lunch box between us, I was able to laugh. I had never been the most graceful of people, and now even more so with the addition of boobs and hips. I could never seem to find my center of gravity. Jasper teased me mercilessly about it, but it was okay, he loved me no coordination and all.

Edward sat directly across from me at our little round lunch table. Soon we would be able to sit outside, but for now, it was still too hot. I tried to be confident, but there was something about his perfect face that had my insides all squishy that I couldn’t manage it for too long. And then, of course, he would catch me looking and he would stare back at me as though he was trying to read words off my very soul. My breath would catch and Jasper would pound me on the back.

Sure, Mr. Suave, I’ve seen the looks you’re giving Alice, you think I won’t call you on it. Just wait.

“So what happens after school?” Edward asked, giving me another one of his intense looks.

“Oh, well…we, err…” I stuttered.

“We hang out at the beach while we still can, or hit The Village for food,” Jasper said giving me a grin, rescuing me from myself. “This is a good week for the tides. Ya’ll wanna go to the beach and ride the waves after school?”

“Sure,” Alice said. She was all confidence.

I knew that Jasper suggested this just so that he could see her in a bikini, and now I was going to have to wear a bathing suit in front of Edward. Thanks for thinking with your dick, Jasper.

“That sounds awesome,” Edward said. “What do you mean about ‘this being a good week for the tides’ though?”

I spoke up then, surely I could manage this. “Well, St. Simon’s has a sand bar that arcs out from the beach. When the tide is coming in, it’s great, there’s tons of waves and stuff. But when the tide is out, the sandbar surfaces and so the water is like a lake, great for floating.” There, I managed two complete sentences.

“Yeah, you can actually swim out to the sandbar and hang out there, or walk from one end to the other, but you’ve got to be careful of the time. You don’t want to be stuck out there when the tide comes back in,” Jasper said.

“I know someone who got stuck out there, once,” I smirked, looking at Jasper.

“Hey, I fell asleep!” Jasper laughed. “What can I say?”

“Idiot,” I smiled at him. He really was my best friend despite the situations he got me in.

“So Bella, do you want to come over to my house to get ready after school?” Alice asked.

“Uh, sure,” I said, blinking. Get ready at Edward’s house? I really did feel like Cathy going to Northanger Abbey. Except his house isn’t haunted, I snorted to myself. “Just let me run by my house to get my stuff, okay?”

“It’s a date then, I’ll ride with you and then we can go to my house and meet the guys at the beach after,” Alice said. She was an organizer, a planner, I could tell. But I liked her, a lot.

“Sounds great,” Jasper said, looking at Alice with a greedy smile. I raised my eyes to see Edward smiling at me and felt the blush rise up. Super.

Snow fell lightly, the sun was setting, a soft gold sphere in a cloudless sky. I turned my face toward the window, not wanting Edward to see how beatifically happy holding hands made me.

I’d been holding back a little, trying to temper my feelings with practicality, but when he took my hand in his like that any caution I’d had evaporated.

My fingers were cold. So were his. But together, in my lap, they were burning.

“You’re so frigging cute when you smile,” he said after a minute, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

He totally called me out.

I leaned on the headrest and finally looked over at him.

The apples of his cheeks were pink.

“You’re so frigging cute when you blush,” I teased.

He chuckled, shaking his head. He really was though. So frigging cute.

It was the most ridiculous, and most wonderful moment. Ever.

“So you gonna let me carry yiu into Friendly’s?” he asked, pausing at a stop sign.

“No!” I laughed. “That’s gotta stop. No one carries me back home, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. Maybe I should pay someone down there to do it. Or transfer.”

I rolled my eyes. “Haha.”

“Nah, it’s cool Bella. I;m not trying ot embarrass you.”

“You’re not…”

He gave me a look.

My fingers squeezed his involuntarily. “Okay, it is a little embarrassing but only because people look and I don’t really know anyone… besides you and Alice, I mean.”

“Whatever makes you happy.” He pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot, winking at me when he let go of myhand to unbuckle his seatbelt.

He didn’t carry me but he was at my door in seconds, helping me out and onto my crutches. With the exception of Jasper and Alice, who were right behind us, we’d gotten there

before the rest of the group.

Alice jogged over to help Edward help me, and soon the four of us were tucked into a cozy little booth inside.

“I love booths,” I admitted. “They’re so cozy.”

Edward reached his arm around, resting it behind me.

I pretended not to notice but I so did. Alice, sitting on my other side, elbowed me knowingly.

I elbowed back, refusing to look at her.

“Heeeeeeeeyyyy yoooooouuu guuuuuuuuuys!”

Startled,I nearly dropped my menu. I glanced up to see that huge guy Emmett lumbering toward our table.

Alice giggled.

“Idiot,” mumbled Edward, but I could tell he was amused.

“Damn, what’s this, some exclusive little party, all up in the VIP booth?” Emmett teased, pulling a chair up from a nearby table.

“No, Goonies, feel free to join us,” Jasper snorted.

“How you doin’, Bella?” Emmett asked politelty, smiling.

“I’m great, thanks,” I said, smiling back. We’d met the night before at the apartment and I had to admot, he was one of the funniest, most genuinely nice individuals I’d ever met. He

was clever as hell too; I got the feeling a lot of people got sucked in by his dumb jock type persona only to be had by him one way or another.

Like at the rink, more and more people showed up, filling the tables immediately around us. Everyone liked Edward , that was apparent. I sat watching and listening as he joked

around and chatted it up with everyone, ofen bringing me back into the conversation.

After a time he rested is hand lightly on my knee, filling me with a kind of excitemmtn I could barely explain. It was almost as if he wanted to reassure me he was there, even if he

was talking to someone else.

After the servers had cleared our plates, Edward leaned closer, his syrupy breath warm at my ear. “Want to share a sundae for dessert?”

“I’d lke to, but I’m super full,” I groaned, settling back into my hair.

“We can get it to go,” he saidm, waggling his eyebrows.

“Um, sure?” I shrugged, knowing the ice cream would be gone before it could even melt.

–

That night in bed, I lay awake, staring into the dark. I couldn’t stop thinking about Edward and what it would be lke when we were back at our respective schools. Spending all of this

time with him had far surpassed my expectations and darn – I really liked him!

My phone vibrated beneath my pillow and I pulled it out.

Edward had sent me a text.

“You gonna kiss me before leave?”