Chapter 7

EPOV

The next few hours in my classes went by painfully slowly. I found myself more and more nervous about seeing Bella at lunch, as Alice promised.

I knew without a doubt that Alice would smooth things over regarding my glaring at Bella, but there was the little nagging part of me that said, "What if she doesn't care and hates me anyway?" I didn't know if I could handle that. I mean, I knew she was far above my league. She deserved a man who would worship her like the goddess she was, not an emotionally stunted a-hole with Daddy issues. What would I have to offer her if I was to date her?

Whoa! What? Date her? I've never even spoken to her! I've NEVER met a girl who interested me like that, let alone considered DATING. Where is this coming from?Is it that I'm beginning to feel lonely now that Alice and Jasper are an item? Or is it that Bella is just a breath of fresh air?

She WAS a breath of fresh air, and I was drowning.

My head started pounding from all the thoughts racing through it, and I felt like I was going to be sick from how nervous I felt.

To top it all off, I was cornered by Jessica in my Econ class just before lunch.

"Heya, Eddie- baby. Need some help with that?" She said, trying to sound seductive, but coming of sounding like a cheap hooker. She even smacked her gum loudly as she spoke. Her breath, smelling heavily of the fruity bubble gum she was chewing, wafted over my face and made me gag slightly.

"Hello Jess. And it's Edward. Not Eddie." I said in a monotone voice, hoping to convey disinterest.

"Yeah, I know. But you know, lovers usually call each other by pet names, so I figured I'd try it on for size. Do you like Edward – honey better?" She said, inching slightly closer to me and running her finger tips over the edge of the shirt collar on my neck. Apparently my message of disinterest was not recieved.

"Edward. Just Edward, nothing else. And we don't use pet names, because we aren't lovers." I was well beyond being polite to her.

"No. Not yet. But we could fix that right here, right now." She straddled me in my chair and started to push my button up off of my shoulders. Frantically glancing around in hopes that the teacher would still be in the classroom to force us to break apart, or moreover, to force Jessica to give me some space. "There's no point in fighting it, Eddie. Sooner or later we will be lovers. I could give you what you need, if you would only let me." My breakfast threatened to revisit us.

"No, Jessica. I sincerely doubt you would give me what I need, considering what I need from you is space. And it's Edward. Not Eddie, not Ed. No Eddie baby, or honey or any other pet name. Now please leave me alone, Jessica." I said as I stood, unceremoniously dumping her onto her ass as she fell off my lap.

I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the room, faintly hearing Jessica calling out behind me. "Fight this all you want, Eddie! You know there is no running from it! Our parents decided it ages ago, and sooner or later you won't be able to avoid me anymore!" I shuddered at the thought of being forced to be ... intimate ... with Jessica.

I walked straight to the cafeteria, and dropped my book bag at the table that we usually ate lunch at. After my run in with Jessica, my appetite was shot, so I didn't even bother with getting something to eat. I did, however, purchase a lemonade from the soda machines in the cafeteria. Taking it over to the table, I took a seat next to Jasper, noticing that Alice and Bella weren't there yet.

"Hey dude, where are Alice and her new friend?" I said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Awe, hey man. They're over getting something to eat. Why you so late to lunch?" Jasper said, looking up from his pizza.

"I was cornered by the harpy again." I said, giving him an exaggerated shiver in response.

"Jesus fuck! When is Stanley going to get the hint and quit trying?" He said, throwing down his pizza crust in disgust.

"Apparently when I'm cold and no longer breathing." I said, taking a long drink from my lemonade.

"Hell, knowing how freaky that chick is, probably not even then." I nodded in agreement. Jessica had once tried to entice me into her sexual snare by promising that she would be willing to participate in a menagetrois.

Personally, I rather prefered the idea of pleasing one woman and pleasing her to the best of my abilities, than to split my attentions among several women, and possibly not pleasing one of them because I'm distracted. I know, I was a freak, but somehow I couldn't bring myself to care. The way my life was going, I might not ever have gotten the chance to please a woman. I refused to have sexual relations with someone who meant nothing to me, hence my refusal of Jessica's attentions. I held no romantic ideals of saving myself until marriage, but I would save myself for love at least.

"What's that I'm hearing about a freaky chick?" Em said boisterously. Emmett had a distinctly lewd sense of humor, so it really figures that he would walk in on that point in our conversation.

"Nothing you don't already know. We all know you have first hand knowledge of all the freaks in the great state of Washington." It was true. Every cool, but freaky chick within a 100 mile radius of Emmett came a callin' on Em.

"Hey now, that's not fair!" Emmett protested.

"It is too fair, Em. You're such a manwhore and you know it!" Jasper said, balling up a napkin and throwing it at Emmett.

"Ahem... " Alice's throat clearing interupted our manly bonding moment, and we all turned to look at her. Next to her stood the object of my affections, and coincidentally the cause of my torture today. I felt the butterflies in my stomach start to flutter.

She was so much more beautiful up close. Her hair was a deep mahogany, and her skin like fresh cream, not a blemish to be found. She wore no make up, which was such a turn on because just about every girl I know cakes on that fake crap so thick that you'll never know what you might find underneath.

She had her eyes cast downward, and her shoulders curved in as though she were trying to disappear. Something told me that my glare earlier was only part of the reason she was acting this way. She just seemed like a little lost girl. She was obviously shy, and painfully so.

As Alice stood there introducing her to us, Bella did something that sent me reeling. She bit that lushious bottom lip and looked up at me through her long lashes. My mind was awash with images of what I would like to do to her, a thousand different positions that would produce exactly that look. Instantly, I felt my manhood stiffen to epic proportions. Ok, perhaps it's not epic, but it sure as hell felt that way with how it strained the fabric of my khaki trousers. I was sure that I would have a permanent imprint of my zipper on the head of my cock. I thanked God I was still sitting down, which allowed me to discreetly adjust myself without prying eyes.

"Hi. I'm Bella." The angel said, putting down her lunch tray and extending a hand in greeting. My mouth instantly went dry.

"Hi ... Um ... I'm ... Um ... Sorry bout..." I stammered out at a million miles a minute, and the butterflies quickly turned into an angry elephant stepping on my stomach as a painful pressure started in my stomach and quickly started making it's way up. I could taste the bile, warning me of the immenent voiding of the contents of my stomach. I only had a enough time to stammer a quick, "'Scuse me," and I ran for the door, barely making it outside before vomitting into the trash can stationed just to the right of the door. I was thankful that the position of the table we were sitting at was just right to hide what had happened. I would have been beyond her view by the time my stomach was doing it's acrobatic digestional flips into the trash can.