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“She’s uh… unsociable. Taciturn. I don’t hear much going on in her head most of the time so she’s rotten for meaningful conversation.”
Edward’s voice was muffled but clear to everyone in the house. Rosalie pursed her lips and flipped the page of her magazine slightly harder than needed. She had heard this before, and she would hear it again. Yet despite herself she felt a sting every single time the subject and those hurtful words returned.
Now he was even poisoning Bella against her before the two girls had even had a chance to interact outside of Rosalie glaring at her.
“No, I don’t believe that.”
Rosalie paused. Bella sounded so certain. She was allegedly friends with Edward and yet didn’t hesitate to defend Rosalie when she was so ruthlessly slandered by her own brother.
“Why do you think so?” Edward’s tone was predictably puzzled. Of course he was the mind reader, so he believed that his opinion was the most informed, the most rational, and the truest of all. Self-righteous little ant.
Bella huffed a slightly incredulous (almost mocking, to Rosalie’s delight) laugh. “She’s not a lump of coal, Edward. She’s a thinking, feeling being with hobbies and interests just like you or me.”
Rosalie hated how warmed and sheltered she felt as Bella spoke. She defended her as if it was the easiest, most sensible thing in the world. And what she said was so rational that none could truly argue against her. Had she thought of Rosalie before now?
“But her mind is… It’s so quiet, barely there.” Edward most certainly did not understand.
“Hear me out,” Bella began, apparently knowing Edward well enough to expect him to argue further, “Rosalie is smart. I mean she is marvelous, Edward, seriously. And she’s been around you for a long time. Why couldn’t someone as clever as her come up with a way to circumvent your mind powers?”
A smile was fighting tooth and nail to spread across Rosalie’s face. She steadfastly ignored the growing grins that Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Esme were all beginning to point her way. She would absolutely not return their gazes and let them know exactly how pleased she was by this turn of events. She refused to show how soft she was suddenly feeling for this human.
“But… no one else has. And how?” to Edward’s credit, he seemed more intrigued and confused than offended. At least he was willing to listen to Bella. She seemed to have a way of getting through to people.
“Well, I don’t know Rosalie so I can’t say for certain. But if it were me, I’d absolutely hate the breach of privacy that perpetual mind reading means. If I had enough mental discipline and stubbornness, I might do everything I could to not think around you.”
“It’s not—I don’t mean to, Bella.”
“I know, I’m not blaming you. It’s just an inherent consequence.” Bella kindly diffused him before he became too petulant. “My point is, there’s no way I’ll believe that Rosalie is empty-headed. Maybe she does mental yoga or something.”
Edward bubbled with a confused chuckle. “Mental yoga?”
“Yeah. Like how the jedi do. Clear your mind, young padawan.” Bella intoned sagely. Rosalie secretly enjoyed her playfulness. “Oh my goodness, Rosalie’s a jedi master! She’s so cool!”
Dammit, there was the smile again, trying its hardest to reveal her teeth in a wide grin. She pursed her lips and shifted in her seat, but it did nothing to prevent the stubborn upturn at the corners of her lips. She hated that most of her family was staring at her, utterly gleeful to watch her trying and failing to fight off her delight.
She realized that she hadn’t read anything or turned a page in a while. She did so in a vain attempt at keeping up her nonchalant act.
All was quiet for a moment.
“Why the face, Bella?” Edward inquired, curious and amused at once. Rosalie wished she knew what face Bella was making.
Bella did not answer immediately. She sucked in air twice before choosing her words. “I’m just… sad she wants nothing to do with me. More so now that I’m thinking about how amazing she is!”
Edward scoffed at Bella but offered no response. He’d better not. Rosalie knew he only had derogatory things to say about her.
The blonde was finding herself longing to speak with Bella. Without glaring. Maybe she could give her a chance.
“It’s fine,” Bella coached herself. “I’ll just stop admiring her in my head and it’ll be fine.”
There was a long pause.
“Clear your mind, young padawan,” Edward intoned.
It earned him a genuine, boisterous laugh from Bella. From the normally so reserved brunette.
Rosalie tilted her head and flipped a page. She decided not to think too hard about why she was jealous that Edward was the one to make Bella laugh like that. She also decided to pretend that she didn’t see the way Jasper perked up in interest as her jealousy spiked. It was very telling timing already. Looking at him would only further dig her into a hole.
Alice gasped, and that was surprising enough to get Rosalie to look at her. Whatever she saw had a big, sappy grin covering her features. Those sparkly eyes of hers met Rosalie’s, and instantly the blonde knew what it meant.
Rosalie averted her eyes nonchalantly. She shifted in her seat again and flipped another page that she wasn’t going to read. She was unaffected. She was certainly not relieved, and she was not secretly over the moon with joy. No matter how much Alice and Jasper grinned at her, she would not acknowledge it.
“Let’s go inside,” Edward suggested after a suspicious silence. He must have read Alice’s vision or Jasper’s mind. Perhaps both. Was this his indirect way to urge Rosalie into wooing Bella? The human?
Preposterous. She would never.
Too soon, or not soon enough, Edward was leading Bella into the house. She was greeted with welcoming smiles that were bigger and brighter than usual. Apparently, everyone had caught on. And apparently, they all were jumping onto the same bandwagon.
“Bella,” Rosalie found herself addressing the girl directly for the first time, “Sit with me.”
Bella beamed. A small smile did make its way across Rosalie’s lips this time.