Better Things

Chapter 2

A/N: I am amazed and blown away by the response this story has gotten.  Thank you so very much!  Each one of those reviews or author alerts, brightened my day that much more, so thank you.  Also a huge thanks to Heather for fixing my comma issues (of which I have a lot)!

So on you go.  There's an Edward sighting or two in this chapter.

......................

"Tell me about yourself," Alice said later that night after we were in our pajamas and lying in our beds.

"Oh, um … there's not much to tell, really," I told her even though it was sort of a lie. The whole thing with Mike was a lot to tell, but I wasn't ready to tell that story to a stranger that I was living with.

"I'm kind of boring to tell you the truth," I said. "I like to read and write, listen to music, and watch movies."

"Well, where are you from?" Alice asked me as she propped herself up on her bed on her stomach, her feet up behind her in the air. I was sprawled out on mine as well with my head propped up on my pillows.

"A small town called Forks. It's about three hours from here."

"No way!" she exclaimed. "My cousin lives there. You might know her. Her name's Jessica Stanley."

I grimaced when she said Jessica's name. Yeah, I knew her, and I disliked her greatly. Jessica was a horrible gossip who had done her best to make my life miserable in high school.

"Yeah, I know her."

Something in my voice must have indicated my distain for Jessica.

"She can be a bit much," Alice said, giving me a smile.

I let out a snort. "Tell me about it. How about you? Where are you from?"

"Mercer Island," she told me, and I was glad it was dark so she couldn't see my eyebrows rise up on my forehead. Mercer Island was where the wealthy people lived, and I mean the wealthy. There was no way my family could afford to live on Mercer Island. Hell, we couldn't afford to live in one of their garages.

"Wow," I managed to get out and hoped I didn't sound rude.

"It's home," was all she said.

We talked for a while more before our yawns began to interrupt our conversation, and we agreed to get breakfast together in the morning. I had a rough time falling asleep, but that was normal when I was sleeping in a new place. I missed my bed at home and the warm, comforting smell of the woods outside my window. Plus, it was a lot louder here than in Forks. I was used to the sounds of wildlife, not traffic, and I knew it would take some getting used to.

I woke up around nine the next morning and grinned when I looked over at Alice's bed. All I could see of her was some black hair sticking up from underneath a blanket. Quietly, I gathered my bath stuff and my towel and tiptoed out the door and across to the bathroom that we shared with the room on the other side of it. Each bathroom was shared by four girls, and while I hated that fact, I was just glad I didn't have to share with the whole freaking floor.

I showered quickly and threw on my bathroom before heading back to my room, only to run into the most gorgeous looking man I'd ever seen, except I had seen him before. Yesterday, as a matter of fact. He was one of Alice's brothers, but I couldn't remember which one. Of course, that was when I remembered that I was in my ratty and old bathrobe, and my hair was a mess. I flushed bright red and fiddled with the tie on my robe.

"Uh, sorry," he said in a velvety voice that did funny things to my insides. "I was just wondering if Alice was up yet?"

"Oh, um …" I trailed off as my brain shut down and fought to remember what I'd been about to tell him. He looked at me with amusement sparkling in his eyes.