Life as I Know It

Chapter 5

Previously...

"Guys?" All three heads looked up. "My mom is outside, so I gotta go."

"Oh, ok. We'll walk you out." Alice smiled a bit. Edward nodded, and we all got up to walk near the mall entrance.

I hugged Alice first. "I'm sorry about everything back there. I'll text you when you get back," she whispered in my ear, and I nodded.

I hugged Jasper goodbye, then Edward and walked out.

~oOo~

When I got home, I texted Alice right away.

Ok, Alice, spit it out. What the hell happened back there?

I was just telling Edward that it's so wrong for him to judge my relationship with Jasper, when he can't even tell his own best friend how he feels about her.

I stared at my screen for a long time.

How did he feel about me? I'd always thought he just thought of me as a friend, and as sad as that made me feel, I'd accepted it for years now. Did those feelings change?

How does he feel?

Well I mean he obviously likes you. Why wouldn't he, you're smart, beautiful, funny.

I rolled my eyes, smirking to myself.

You coming on to me, too?

Oh come on, you know how you are. ;)

No, not really.

Seriously. You're a pretty cool chick. And it's just frustrating me to see you and him not realize how amazing you'd be together.

Yeah well why do I have to come out and do anything?

He's asked you out so many times!!

Yeah to hang out! Not out to a date or whatever.

At least out to Netflix and chill ;)

WTF is that? Is that like code for something?

It's........Netflix and chill ;) J

I don't get it...

She then sent me a tweet from a sex account with the caption Netflix and chill. I gagged, throwing my phone across on my bed.

"Bella? What's going on? You okay?" my mom called out from downstairs.

"Yes! Just goofing off with Alice." I turned my phone over as though it were on fire.

"Don't party too hard." I sighed, annoyed at her sarcasm and went back to my phone.

I stared hard at the photo again, twisting and turning my phone over and over. My stomach tied in knots of disgust, but my head tried to figure out how two people could work in that position and still watch TV at the same time. It was all so strange. Sex was strange.

How could two people get together and decide to be vulnerable only for a short period of time? And then before you knew it, the moment was over and then the heartbreak begins. And then, you'd have to pick yourself up and start over.

I'd seen it with my mom and Charlie, my mom and Kevin, my sister Rosalie's dad, and my mom and her on-off-again boyfriend Phil. I was beginning to feel like love was just this fable that only books, movies, music and TV could discuss, but it was so hard to interpret in real life. When all that went away, there was nothing left but a jaded mess of emotions left to untangle. That's why I felt better off just with friends, because friends—real friends who knew and loved you—could never choose to hurt you.

My phone rang in the middle of my reverie, and I answered to Alice's face on my caller ID.

"Are you thinking about thinking again?" she asked, and I smiled a bit.

"Actually, no, I'm thinking about how two people could move and bend like that in one photo. It's so weird..."

"It's not that hard. You just take his leg and―"

"Oh, my God, you've done it before?!"

"No, but with porn and late-night CineMax, those porn stars can pull off a lot of moves!"

"Ewwwwwwwww have you shown Jasper?"

"Hell no, it's way too early for him to know that. I get the feeling he watches it too."

I gagged into the phone, trying to rid of the image of Alice and Jasper in that position. And other positions. "Can we please change the subject?! I want to know why you got so pissed at Edward today."

"I told you why. He's being a dick; you're in love with him. It all makes sense."

"If it's supposed to make sense, why isn't anything happening?"

"You can't just sit on your computer all day and wish and want and hope and pray for things to happen. You with have to let them happen or make them happen. Sitting on your ass isn't going to get you anywhere."

I sighed deeply again, her words mulling over in my already painful head. "But what if...?"

"But what if, what? What if it doesn't work out? What if it does? What if you end up with your heart broken? Well, what if you end up falling even harder for him? What if this wrecks your friendship? What if you gain an even greater friend? You will never, ever know what will happen until you get your foot in the door."

I stayed silent. "This is scary, Alice."

"Life is scary. Deal with it." I could hear a wink and a smile in her voice, which made me snicker.

"When'd you get so smart?"

"College does that to you. You'd know if you went to a real one."

"Hey, University of Phoenix is a real school. Do you know how high their graduation rate is?"

"No, but I know how many people dropout per year."

I scoffed and waved her off, even though she couldn't see me. "Yeah well, it's all I can afford right now. I can't afford no University of Washington like your rich ass."

"Honey, I am nowhere near rich. I just know my options and what I want."

I laughed. "I love you."

"Love you too. Just text him to the movies or whatever. Or go into the city. Remember how we used to do that in high school?"

"Yeah, that was a lot of fun times."

"And they still can be fun. Come on, you only got one life to live. Go out and live it!"

"Right..." I trailed off when I heard a knock on my door. I looked up and saw my mom gesture me for dinner.

"Hey, Al, I gotta go. Dinner."

"Tell your mom hi for me."

"'Kay, bye."

"Bye."

A/N: Thoughts on the new chapter? Who agrees with Alice or Bella? And who else has ever heard of 'Netflix and chill'? Who has done it? ;)

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