Postcards

Chapter 18

Thank you all for reading/reviewing!  Warms my heart!  A huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for her comma expertise and her ideas.

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"Oh, you sweet, sweet boy," I said out loud to myself as I stared at the postcard in my hands five days after we'd returned back to Washington.

It seemed that I hadn't been the only one to send postcards, and I stared down at the words written on the back. It read And tonight, I'll fall asleep with you in my heart. The boy was killing me, and I couldn't call him fast enough.

"You, sir, are deadly," I told him as soon as he answered.

"Why is that?" he asked as he chuckled.

"You are too freaking sweet. I mean, the things you write on these postcards just melt me."

"Yeah?" he asked. "Good. that's what I was going for. I want you to know just how much I think about you and just how much I love being with you."

There he went again, using the word love when talking about me, and it sent a thrill running through me just like it had the last time he'd said it.

"I love being with you, too," I told him, my heart skipping a beat as I used the L word for the first time while talking to him.

"I figured as much," he said a bit smugly, and I let out a small laugh. "And thank you for my postcard. I had a feeling that I'd be getting one from you."

"I couldn't resist," I told him before asking if anything exciting had happened while we were gone.

"Oh, yeah, but I'm gonna let Alice tell you," he said cryptically, and I barely held back a groan. I loved Alice to death, but she could ramble on for days.

"Why hasn't she called me? We've been home for like five days."

"Who knows," Edward replied, "but she's standing outside my room, yelling at me to get off the phone, so she can talk to you."

"Call me later, okay?"

"I will, sweet girl."

Moments after we hung up, my phone rang with Alice's number lighting up, and I answered immediately.

"What took you so long to call me?" I asked her.

"I've been busy, and then I got distracted because of the school musical. You know I'm doing all the costumes for it, right? So, I've been busy, but I finally remembered, and I just have to let you know."

"Let me know what?"

Alice went on to tell me that Tanya had gotten a job, being a cashier at Wal-Mart, in order to pay her father back. Her driving privileges had been revoked, and she was no longer allowed to see James.

"Well, that's only going to make her find ways to see him," I commented, and Alice agreed.

"Right? Although, what she sees in him is beyond me. At least when she dated Edward, I thought she had some sort of taste. Now, I think she's just desperate."

"Most likely."

"Oh, and get this. Rumor has it that a teenage girl from Forks was spotted at the women's health clinic here in P.A."

"And the big deal is?"

"Come on, Bella. Why would a teenage girl show up at a clinic in a different city without anyone with her? Chances are good, someone is knocked up."

"Oh," was my response. I didn't know who the girl was, but I definitely felt bad for her. Not only was she being talked about, but her entire life was about to change forever.