Besides the encounter with Edward Cullen in the stacks of the library, the rest of my first week of classes was uneventful. The next meeting of my Roman history class, I noticed that Edward Cullen made sure to sit as far away from me as possible. Besides this annoyingly rude behavior by this one boy, I was pretty happy. I was taking a French class, a psychology course and an intro course on women's studies. And my social life had taken off as well. Mike had tracked me down after one of my classes and asked me to another Greek party. This time it was an exchange party between Mike's frat and one of the sororities on campus. It was going to be themed but he wasn't sure what it was yet because the girls in the sorority couldn't make up their minds. I agreed to go and promised myself I would be friendlier at the next party. Mike was a nice guy at least and my dad seemed to approve. I had mentioned the party and Mike to him and he seemed to think he was a decent guy having had him in one of his intermediate courses.
The day of the party came up sooner rather than later and Mike texted me to let me know that it was luau themed and outdoors. Hmm, a dilemma presented itself to me. Obviously the girls in the sorority picked this theme so that they could wear bikinis even though it would probably be around 45 degrees during the party. Either I could be like one of the girls and wear a bikini and a mini skirt or I could be smart and wear something sexy yet appropriate. I settled on a jeans mini skirt and a low cut red shirt that showed off my blonde hair.
I arrived at the sorority house around 10:30 because Mike said they were "pre-gaming" and wanted to hang out before the party got started.
"Hey Bella!" Mike said giving me a hug while holding a PBR in his hand.
"Hey!' I said. "I brought this," I said holding up the 6 pack I had brought. I knew that there would be plenty of beer but thought it would be a nice gesture.
He smiled. "Thanks Bella but you didn't have to do that!" I shrugged and smiled. "Well c'mon in and let me introduce you to everyone!"
We walked into the main living room where there were two ping pong tables set up. One was lined on either side with Solo cups and the other was set up nicely with pyramids of cups at either end. A small group of people were gathered around the first table. It was clear they had just ended a game of Flip Cup. The other was obviously for beer pong.
Mike introduced me to the girls and guys that were there. Everyone seemed pretty nice although the girls were a little more wary of me than the guys. The only girl that was genuinely nice to me was named Jessica. She was sweet and asked me to be on her team of Flip Cup.
I had played plenty of Flip Cup in my first year of college at ASU. It's pretty easy as long as you can drink beer quickly. We played a couple of games and while the girls were definitely buzzed I was fine. For some reason I had an uncanny ability to drink a lot without getting drunk quickly. This was good and bad. I usually drank a lot in these types of situations but it also usually meant I drank too much.
Despite my misgivings about the party, I was actually having a pretty good time. As more and more people showed up it only got more fun. The music was good and the girls in the sorority weren't too annoying. Jessica was really nice and Mike was being very attentive. It turned out to be pretty easy to talk to him. Mike and I were standing to one side of the make shift dance floor talking about sports. He was surprised I knew anything about college football but I was able to keep up with him about the PAC-10. Plus the beer wasn't as crappy as the last frat party which helped the conversation.
I could tell that Mike was getting a little drunk and was definitely flirting with me. Every so often he would touch my shoulder or grab my hand. We were talking about USC's complete rout of Ohio State when I thought I saw a familiar face and body walk across the room. My conversation with Mike continued for a while but eventually I needed to make sure it wasn't who I thought it was that walked into the party.
I pulled the most classic excuse any woman has ever used on a man in order to get away from a guy. "Mike, would you mind getting me another beer?"
"Oh, sure Bella!" He said taking my beer. "I'll be right back."
I smiled and watched him walk away. When he had turned the corner, I started to make my way across the dance floor. Jessica was dancing with a guy to Estelle's "American Boy" and I smiled at her. They were kinda cute together. I gave her a big smile of approval. I squeezed my way through the dancing crowd and made my way through to the back porch that look over a large backyard.
There was a large group of people smoking cigarettes and "other" things on the deck. A couple of guys offered a cigarette to me but I passed on the smoking and looked around for the guy I thought I saw. I asked around if anyone had seen who I was looking for and they said that he had walked off with a couple of people out into the yard.
I walked down the deck and out into the yard. I heard a couple of people who were shotgunning beers and laughing. I smiled and walked out into the yard. It was pretty dark but I noticed a group of people who were also smoking. I yelled out tentatively, "Jake?"
All talking ceased and I couldn't make out the faces of the group. And then I heard the smooth, soft voice that I wasn't expecting, "Bella?"
I realized immediately that it wasn't Jake but Edward Cullen. Even though I had only met him twice I knew right away that it was him. I stiffened and wanted to go back to the party and Mike with my beer. But I felt frozen on the spot.
Slowly I saw Edward come up to me from his small crowd of friends. He seemed to float across the grass. And it was only when he was standing less than a foot in front of me did I realize I was holding my breath.
"Hey Bella," he said smiling slightly.
"Uh, hey," I said awkwardly. This was very strange. He had been such a jerk to me and now he was all friendly… what was going on. I wanted to look around trying to find Jacob. He was the one I thought I saw earlier but I couldn't look away from Edward's perfect golden eyes and hard edged jaw.
"I thought I might see you here tonight," he said taking one step toward me. I didn't move. His musky scent waifed over me and I swooned slightly.
I slowly snapped out of my revery. "Oh really? I don't even think I know your name," I lied.
He smiled slightly I stared hard into his eyes determined not to blink. "My name is Edward," he said holding out his hand.
I took it slowly and shook it. "Nice to meet you Edward," I said unsmiling. "I'm Bella. But you already knew that."
He laughed quietly and took back his hand. And then the smile vanished and he stepped toward me again. This time I tried to step back but I hesitated. Edward didn't stop staring at me and I didn't look away.
"You look very ncie tonight Bella," he said sincerely.
'Th- thank you," I said exhaling loudly. Exsparated I asked "what are you doing here? I didn't think this would be your sort of party."
His eyes narrowed. "Really? Why is that?"
"I don't know," I said clumsily, "I guess, I just thought… well I thought that this wouldn't be your kind of party." I exhaled again.
He smiled his brilliant smile again. "I thought you didn't know who I was Bella."
I smirked but didn't say anything. I realized I was breathing heavily and my chest was moving up and down. Still smiling he reached his hand out and touched my shoulder. I inhaled sharply. He leaned in and moved his hand up to my neck. I could hear his breath and realized again that I was holding my breath.
"I look forward to seeing you again Bella," he said. And then smiling and in the blink of an eye he was gone and so was his group of friends.
I stood there in the middle of the lawn breathing heavily. What was going on? First, Edward Cullen despises me, ignoring me and virtually avoiding me. Now he wants to see me again.
Suddenly, someone was shaking me. 'Bella! Are you ok?"
"What?" I said absentmindedly blinkly. I felt like I was coming out of a trance.
"Bella! Are you ok?" I heard Jacob's voice and I shook my head.
"Yeah, I'm ok," I said shaking off Jacob. Then I realized he was there. "Wait, what are you doing here?" I asked him confused.
Jacob's concern turned to anger. "Nothing, nothing, Bella." He said walking away.
"What?!' I yelled at him. "What did I do now?"
He turned around on me. "Nothing! You've done nothing! Per usual!"
"Jake, don't walk away, please," I said exasperated.
"What? Are you surprised I'm here? I'm worried about you!"
"Why are you worried about me? There's nothing to be worried about! I'm fine!" I practically yelled at me. That was when I noticed that all the people smoking on the porch were looking at us.
Jake looked at them and then me. He walked towards me and said, "Look, Bella. You think you are this big city girl, knowing the world, so sophisticated. But, there are things you don't know about, there are things here that you don't…" he said letting his voice drop off.
"What?? What don't I know about!" I practically screamed at him. I was so angry at Jacob for no real reason, although I didn't realize this until later. And flustered by Edward and his golden eyes and intoxicating smell.
He turned on me and said, "That you don't understand!"
We both stopped. "Look Jake," I said calmly. "I don't know what you are talking about. I don't know why you are here. But you are. And I'm glad to see you. But what the hell is going on?" I asked.
Jake stared at me and said, "Nothing Bella. I don't want anything from you." And he walked away with a group of friends.
I sighed with aggravation. I walked back up to the porch and into the kitchen. What was going on? Why are all these guys driving me crazy?
"Hey Bella! I've been looking for you! Here's your beer!"
I looked up and there was Mike. I smiled, took the beer and started chugging.
"Hey Bells, slow down," Mike said cautiously.
I kept chugging and then took a breath. I looked at him and took his hand. I led him into the kitchen where there were several people doing shots. I asked for two shots of whiskey and heard hollers. Obviously these kids didn't know how to do shots.
"Here," I said handing Mike the shot. We clinked glasses and took the shots. Mike smiled at me and then kissed me. He kissed me hard in front of everyone. I realized I wanted him. I pulled away and said, "We need another."
We took another shot and then kissed again. There were a couple of hoots and hollers. The kiss was longer and more sensual. I knew that I was doing this because I was so upset about the way the night went. There was absolutely something between Edward and I but Jake had been so, almost protective with me which was annoying in the end. And then, I did really like Mike. He was a nice guy and at the end of then night, I decided I was going to be selfish. I needed a little attention.
I took his hand and kissed him again. His hand ran up my back. I pulled away again to hollers. I lead him away from the kitchen all the while he smiled and laughed off his buddies who were doing beer bongs and shots. As we walked upstairs to the hallway of bedrooms I glanced downstairs. There, standing in the middle of the dance floor looking at me was Jacob. I glared at him and then looked at Mike. Mike kissed me hard and I felt his hands all over my body. I would have stopped him but I knew Jake was looking.
I pulled away and pulled him upstairs. I was happier that I had pissed off Jake than the fact that Mike was totally into me. I only realized when Mike led me into an empty bedroom where this was going.
For a second I knew that I needed to walk away, but then I realized that I didn't really care. I was lonely and he could kiss. I didn't know how I felt about Mike or Jacob… or even Edward. Why was I even thinking about Edward? I thought as Mike kissed me. His hands slowly moved up the sides of my body and I arched my back pushing my chest into his. As he kissed my neck, I moaned lowly and then realized I wasn't thinking about Mike but I was thinking about Edward and his golden eyes.
I pushed Mike onto the bed with the hope I could push Edward out of my thoughts. I started kissing him hard and felt his hands move up my back. At this point, my skirt had moved well beyond appropriate and so had Mike's hands. I closed off my mind and went with the night.