Better Things

Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews! Makes my day! I hope everyone is staying warm. We're being hit with snow and freezing temps again. Yes, I know it's winter, but that's not gonna stop me from complaining about it.

Big thanks to Heather for fixing my comma issues. I hate commas. I really do.

"Meet for lunch around one?" Alice asked me as we both finished getting ready for our first day of classes. I nodded and pressed a hand to my stomach. I was a tad bit nervous. It wasn't like I hadn't attended college courses before; I had, just not in a setting like this one. The campus was small, but spread out, so I made sure I had my map of the campus with me. I felt like a dork, but I didn't want to be late on my first day of classes.

Walking out of our room, we met up with Jasper, Edward, and Lauren before we began our trek across campus to our respective classes. My first class of the day was a botany class. I had to have two science classes, and I'd already completed a biology class at the community college. I figured I'd get the sciences done and out of the way since I didn't much care for them.

"Where you headed, Bella?" Edward asked as we walked.

"The science building," I told him, vaguely recalling where it was from my tour of the campus. I was fairly certain it was on the back side of the campus.

"I can show you where it is," Lauren chimed in. "I'm headed there as well."

"Thanks. That would be great," I told her, wondering what was up with the sudden attitude change.

The four of us separated once we hit the main quad, and I followed Lauren as she began walking down the sidewalk leading toward the back of campus.

"Thanks for showing me the way," I told her, thinking maybe we'd just gotten off on the wrong foot, and perhaps she really was a nice person. It seemed odd to me that Alice and the rest of them would hang out with her if she was a nasty person.

"Whatever," she said, flipping her stringy blonde hair over her shoulder before stopping and turning to face me. "Look, it's obvious that Alice has befriended you so, that means you'll be hanging around with us, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I don't like you, and I don't like the way you look at Edward."

I opened my mouth to tell her I didn't know what she was talking about, but she held up a finger and kept talking.

"Don't talk to him unless he talks to you first, and don't even think about becoming his friend. Edward is mine. Remember that, and everything will be fine."

I stared at her as if she'd grown another head. This was something out of some horribly cheesy teen movie. I mean, who was she to tell me that I couldn't talk to or be friends with him? I'd already had one person try to dictate my life, and I wasn't going to allow it to happen again.

"Do you hear yourself?" I asked her, folding my arms. "You can't tell me who I can talk to or be friends with. That's not your decision to make. If Edward wants to be my friend, I'm certainly not going to stop him. Although, I have no doubt you'll do your best to keep him from befriending me."

With those words, I shoved past her and continued down the sidewalk until I spotted the greenhouse where my class was meeting. I looked over my shoulder and saw Lauren standing there glaring at me, a furious look on her face. I couldn't help but shake my head at the ridiculousness of it all.

My first class passed quickly and along with it, any thoughts of Lauren. I had a feeling I might actually enjoy this botany class and learning about plants and our environment. Done with class where I'd met some new people, I had to rush to get to my next class on the other side of the campus. I really wasn't looking forward to this class at all. As a matter of fact, it was the one class I was dreading taking. It was another general class that was needed for graduation, and I wanted to get as many done as possible. Since I'd signed up a bit late for classes, I'd gotten stuck with what was available in the fine arts department, and the only thing available that fit into my schedule was dance. But, not just any dance class. Oh, no. I got stuck with Broadway musical dances. It was going to be the world's biggest disaster. I wasn't the most graceful of people to begin with, and I had no sense of rhythm whatsoever.