AN: First off, I do not own Twilight nor the characters. They belong to Stephenie Meyers. Also, this fic will contain femslash/girl-girl loving/lesbians, and probably gay men as well, seeing as statistics make it logical. I also don't usually have to disclaim this, but yes, this fic will also contain heterosexual romance. If that bothers you, please turn back now. You have been warned. :p

And now, a little discussion of what this fic will be trying to do. Let's see how much I do with that, eh? XD Anyways:

So, I have noticed that every single fanfiction that deals with Alice/Bella (or other pairings) all have one or a combination of these in common:
a) Edward cannot read Bella's mind (canon)
b) Alice cannot see any visions that have to do with Bella
c) Instantly, every single male at Forks High falls for Bella/everyone stares at the new girl/it's so amazing that she's come!/etc
d) Bella's a vampire/werewolf/more than human
e) Alice sees visions that tell her Bella will be very important to her/her family/soulmates
Or f) Bella's blood is incredibly delicious smelling and it's hard for vampires to control themselves around her (canon).

So, here's my idea:
a) Edward can read her mind
b) Alice can see visions with Bella in them
c) Bella is attractive, but nobody pays any more attention to her than normal/she's already been at the school for a while so her 'newness' has worn off
d) Bella's a completely normal human
e) Alice doesn't see any particularly interesting visions about Bella
and f) Bella's blood smells no more appetizing than anyone else's.

You see, after reading story after story after story, it was really interesting to see what the authors would do to 'jump start' the romance. And it was usually something big. But it made me start thinking. Was Bella only loved because Edward couldn't read her mind? Was Bella only loved because it was ordained she would be?

Sure, there were All Human fics, but that wasn't the same thing. That made everyone on the same level. Well, what if I didn't want the characters to be on the same level? Could Bella, with just her natural charms, actually attract a super non-human?

To pull it all together: What if Bella was no more special than, say, Angela, or Jessica? Would she be able to, as a normal human, with nothing spectacular about herself, still manage to snag herself a vampire lover? It's this question that interests me. With nothing alerting the Cullens to anything spectacular about Bella (no lovely blood smell, no unable to read minds, no premonition of soulmate-atude), what could happen to make them (or one in particular) notice this normal human above the high school sheep?

Without further ado, let's find out, hmm? Enjoy. :}

Winter quarter was about to start, and Bella Swan had absolutely no idea what she should sign up for her electives. There was always more P.E., but she didn't think her uncoordinated self would do well in a class where she had to run practically every minute. She had mused about Home Ec., but again, her and knives? Hot stoves? No thank you. That was like a disaster just waiting to happen.

Pausing the chewing of her bottom lip, she sighed, ruffling the papers that held the list of electives. If it was so hard now, figuring out what to do when she was still a junior, what would it be like choosing for a whole 'nother year? Though she'd probably be taking SAT prep classes or something, she mused. She crinkled her nose, not really wanting to think about that yet.

Okay, so no P.E. nor Home Ec. Should she take a geek route and join the Science Club? Nahh. She may be pretty knowledgeable about the various subjects, but she couldn't see herself being interested enough to be entertained for an extra hour every day. So, not a repeat elective. That probably meant that Creative Writing was out, too. While Bella enjoyed writing the odd poem every now and again (but not so much that she thought of herself as a poet), she didn't think she'd have the drive to finish stories or have enough imagination to flesh out characters.

Grah! This was annoying. Why couldn't she just make up her mind, already? Her top three choices weren't due until Monday, and it being Friday, she'd rather turn it in that day. If she waited til Monday, she just knew her whole weekend would be wrapped up in the indecision. Hopefully, though, when she finally did turn in the paper at some point that day, she wouldn't be worrying all weekend that she'd pick the right ones, either.

Throwing back her hair and slipping a few unruly strands behind her ear, she stretched her shoulders. Hunching over the lunch table really wasn't the most comfortable of positions.

"Hey, Bella," a young man's voice spoke up right before a lunch tray slid onto the table next to her.

Looking up, she smiled at Mike Newton. "Hey Mike. Any luck with what you picked for next quarter?"

"Aww, you still stressing over that?" Mike shook his head, his slightly shaggy blond hair brushing against the color of his jacket. He obviously found her predicament funny, as the smirk on his face illustrated.

Bella let the air out of her mouth with a light smack of her lips. "Of course! Why shouldn't I be? It's not like I can just pick nothing and be done with it!"

"Why not choose a homeroom?" Angela Weber took the seat on the other side of Bella, setting her own lunch tray down. Where Mike had stocked up on meat, meat, and more meat in the form of two different kinds of sandwiches and what passed as Forks High's mystery meat, the tall girl with glasses had opted for her usual apple and salad (this time egg). Bella had gotten a mixture of what her friends had: an untouched apple and turkey sandwich sat on her tray. "That could be 'nothing'."

Bella shook her head. "But that would be boring!"

"Heaven forbid." Angela hid her grin badly.

Mike patted her shoulder, "It's not too bad, Bella. Heck, if you're lucky, they let you nap in the library if you have no homework to do."

She thought that over. Napping? During school hours? That just sounded… wrong. "No…" she shook her head again, finally reaching for her apple. Setting the papers down, she took a big bite of the fruit, chewed, and swallowed. "So, what did you guys decide on?"

Her friends exchanged glances over her shoulder to decide who should talk first. With a slight shrug, Mike picked up his sandwich. Rolling her eyes, Angela took that as a sign to speak first.

"I'm taking Journalism, remember? Kinda have to, seeing as I'm on the newspaper staff."

Oh yeah. Feeling a little foolish for forgetting, Bella nodded, grateful for the smile that told her Angela wasn't annoyed with her. "Well, Mike? Wha'd you pick?"

The teenage boy puffed out his chest proudly. "Basketball!" he crowed. "Coach says I may actually get the chance to play this year."

"Oh, that's great, Mike!" Bella smiled broadly at him. She really was happy for her friend; he had broken his ankle the year before and had been benched all season. She'd heard all about it when she'd moved back to Forks three months ago. Leaning in a little, she wagged her finger at him playfully, "Now, just don't snowboard off a cliff this year, and you'll be good."

Mike had the grace to blush a little, but he coughed it off. "I told you," he whined, starting in on his second sandwich already, "That was only because they hadn't marked the boundaries clearly enough!"

Angela's eyebrow rose, and she smirked, "You mean Jessica Stanley had just skied in front of you in her tight, tight, ski pants."

Mike flushed and grumbled something under his breath. Bella was quite glad she hadn't been able to make it out. She loved her friend and all, but she really did not want to hear about his infatuation with their friend Jessica.

When Bella had first arrived, the blond had tried to pursue her, seeing her as something like 'Flavor of the Week'. However, after Bella turned him down for the fifth time, he'd finally realized that it wasn't going to happen, and quite happily gone back to ogling Jessica. If Bella hadn't been quite sure she wasn't interested in the teenage boy, it probably would have hurt her feelings to see him so quickly give her up, but because she truly wasn't, she was more thankful than not. But now, it was getting a little annoying at how clueless her two friends, Jessica and Mike, were. Jessica was just as interested in Mike as Mike was interested in her.

As if aware of Bella's thoughts, Jessica had finally arrived, taking the spot across from Mike. Immediately, the pretty brunette's whole focus was on Mike, and vice versa. The girl smiled at him, almost batting her eyes, "Hi, Mike."

Mike puffed up his chest unconsciously, smiling back, "Hey, Jess."

The two then started eating their lunches madly, pointedly not looking at each other.

Rolling her eyes, Bella exchanged affectionate smirks with Angela. Those two had it bad.

"Hey all!" And Eric Yorkie had arrived, taking his customary seat across from Angela, "Any luck with picking your new elective, Bella?"

Bella groaned, setting the newly finished apple core down onto her tray. "You're not going to give me any rest from worrying about that, are you?" she asked faux snidely, pitching her comment to the whole group. "No, wait, before you answer that, what did you choose?"

"Journalism." Eric pointed at Angela.

Duh! Bella felt like slapping her forehead. Of course the two lovebirds would continue to work on the school newspaper together. She smiled, shaking her head. "Duh. Yeah, I should have guessed. Well, it's between nothing decided, nothing decided, and oh, lookie here, nothing decided. Seriously, it shouldn't be so hard to choose something!"

There was a chorus of murmurs that followed her statement, and Bella could almost hear the silent laughter at her expense. Grasping at straws, she turned to Jessica, "So, what did you pick?"

Jessica blushed, and her gaze skittered over to where Mike was sitting with a smile on his face, waiting to hear what she said. "I, uhm, I figured I'd try out for cheerleading next term."

"Seriously?" Mike burst out. "Then you can cheer for me! Coach said I might actually get to play this term!"

A giant smile ripped across Jessica's face, and Bella could almost see her visions of herself as a cheerleader hanging off of Mike the ace basketball player's arm. It was almost enough to make Bella puke, but she fought down the reaction. If – when! – the two teenagers got together, she'd be happy for them. But right now, it was pretty nauseous.

Jessica tittered. "I'm so happy for you, Mike!"

Oh god. Bella rolled her eyes and turned to Angela and Eric, who at least weren't making her overdose on a sugar overload. "Do you have any ideas on what I could pick?" she asked Eric, actually interested in hearing what he thought.

"Well," the cute Asian boy picked up his fork, shrugging, "Angela and I thought you'd be perfect for the school newspaper, actually."

"What?" That caught Bella off guard. But then Angela smiled and nodded at her, and she closed her mouth.

"It's true. We're looking for a new reporter, and Angela's told me about how well you do in English. Of course, if you'd prefer to do photography, that's fine too." Eric grinned and fingered the strap of the camera he always wore around his neck.

Bella grinned. "You'd like that, wouldn't you. Both of you," she amended her statement to include both him and Angela, "Having me there would cut back on the work you both'd have to do."

Angela grinned back, her eyes twinkling behind her glasses. "Depends on what job you'd do," she quipped. "Who says we won't make you be the copy editor?"

"Oh god." Bella shuddered, "I wouldn't want to do that! I mean… I'd rather be the writer, if anything."

"So you'd like to do it? Join the newspaper? Scoop the scoops?" Angela looked far more excited than she should.

Bella mulled it over. She never would have thought of joining the newspaper on her own, but the more she thought about it, she liked the idea. She wouldn't get bored having two of her better friends with her, and having something published, no matter that it would be as minor as in a school newspaper was oddly exciting to her. There wouldn't be anything, she would think, that she could theoretically injure herself on, and the class would certainly look good on her transcripts. A wide smile threatened her face. "I'll do it," she breathed, almost surprised at herself.

"Awesome!" Angela crowed, reaching over to squeeze her shoulder, "I can't wait to have you on our team!" Eric smiled broadly at her from across the table, nodding as excitedly as his girlfriend, "Me too."

Grabbing her sandwich to hide her pleased blush, Bella knew she couldn't have asked for better friends. Scarfing it down quickly, she listened to Angela and Eric fill Mike and Jessica in, the two having come out of their pre-relationship bubble at the sound of Angela's outburst.

Yeah… She wouldn't have immediately thought of that class as a possibility, but it really did sound like a good idea. Brushing the crumbs of bread off of her fingers and lips, she reached into her backpack and pulled out the first pen she could find. Quickly scribbling Journalism into the first choice section of the elective slip, she pondered what she should put as her second and third choice, but decided to keep them blank. "You'll put in a good word for me, right?" she asked Angela when the conversation had lulled.

"What? Oh, of course." Angela nodded, seeing the blank spots. "So, sign your name and get it over with! Turn it in!"

"Hah hah," Bella chuckled, "You just want me to go before I change my mind."

"Perish the thought." The cute girl smiled, then glanced at her watch, "Oh, but seriously, I think you should go turn it in now. There's about ten minutes left in lunch, and you might forget after school."

Bella nodded along. It actually did sound like a good idea. "Okay," she smiled, rising from the table, "You know best. See you guys in class!" She nodded goodbye at her group of friends, not able to keep her rolling eyes to herself when Mike and Jessica barely paid attention to her. Eric, who had caught her, just grinned and shrugged at her, then pointed at the spot she had used to sit, mouthing, 'Okay?' She smiled, making a 'go ahead' motion with her arms. Beaming, Eric stood up and sped around the table to sit where she had vacated, sliding his arm around Angela's waist. Aww. Too cute.

Shaking her head to herself, grinning, Bella started her walk to the office, dumping her tray as she did. She was happy for her friends, she really was, and they were each cute in their own relationship-y ways, but that didn't mean that she wasn't jealous of them. It wasn't like she had expected the population of Forks High to have jumped all over her when she had first arrived three months ago (she had been happy when that hadn't happened, actually), and she really wasn't the most interested in a relationship person anyway, but that didn't mean she wasn't lonely. Which she kinda was.

Coming upon the door to the office, she opened it, expecting to not see anyone inside the room. However, someone (other than the secretary, which she had been sure should have been there but wasn't) was occupying the space, and she felt the breath whoosh out of her lungs.

It was one of the Cullens.

Pale, incredibly attractive, and with an aura that told you not to mess with them, everyone at Forks High knew who they were. In fact, Bella had Biology with one of them; they were partners, in fact, but that was Edward Cullen. There, standing in front of the box where the elective papers were supposed to go, was the smallest of the Cullen siblings. She had been pointed out to Bella her first day, but she hadn't really seen her since. Now, as she stared at the petite form, realizing that the older girl was turning around to face her, Bella really got her first look at Alice Cullen.

Short midnight black hair stylishly spiked in every direction, striking golden eyes that seemed to reflect the light from above so that they looked like they were glowing, kind smile tilted upwards on perfect lips… Bella couldn't help staring at her. Dressed in an expensive looking white blouse and black vest that accented her well proportioned chest and skinny waist, designer skinny jeans that hugged her hips and cute black flats, Alice Cullen looked very, very – perfectly even – put together. Glancing down surreptitiously at her own faded blue hoodie and even more faded blue jeans and Doc Martens, Bella suddenly felt underdressed.

"Are you here for the elective box?"

Bella snapped her head up. The voice that had just spoken was high and musical, almost like a tinkling of bells. Wow. She had thought Edward's voice was attractive, but his sister's blew his out of the water. That must be another thing the Cullens shared.

"Because if you are, I'm done with it."

Oh, crap! Alice had been talking to her! Blushing hotly, Bella nodded her head and took a jerky step forward. Of course, her shoe decided to alert her to the fact that it had come untied by placing its shoelace under its brother; with a breathy gasp, down she went, arms in front of her, bracing for impact.

…Well, she would have had to brace for impact, but it never came. Instead, two hands strong and smooth and cold caught her shoulders, stopping her fall. With almost no effort, Alice had strode forward two steps and reached out, pushing against Bella to stop her. Bella's hands had preceded her, and with a start, she realized that her palms were splayed against the smaller girl's forearm and bicep, her chin brushing against the top of Alice's hair. They had barely rocked, though Bella had thought for sure her forward momentum would have made her heavier than the small girl could have handled.

Her sense coming back to her with a loud squeak, Bella jumped back, barely avoiding falling backwards over her heels. "I'm so sorry!" she spluttered, feeling all the blood rushing to her face. "I'm just – I'm so clumsy, and I almost killed you!" Absolutely mortified, she realized that Alice was laughing.

"That's quite all right, Ms. Swan. As you can see, I am still alive." With a beautiful smile on her face, the shorter girl smoothly bent to retrieve the paper Bella had dropped mid-fall. "However," she straightened, lips still curved upwards, "Maybe you should tie your shoe before you attempt to kill me again?" If anyone else had said that, Bella would have died from embarrassment. But Alice looked genuinely amused, her strange amber eyes twinkling.

Dropping to the floor with a still blushing nod, Bella quickly started fixing her shoelace. She was so thankful that the older girl didn't seem to hold anything against her. Tugging tightly on her lace to make sure it would stay tied, she straightened and accepted the paper Alice handed her. "Uhm, thank you," she cleared her throat, trying to stop herself from muttering, "For – for catching me."

"Oh, it's no problem. It's just a good thing I was here to stop injury, yes?" Alice smiled at her sweetly.

Bella blinked. How… How could someone be so nice? Bella had almost killed her (okay, maybe only hurt her, but still), and yet Alice was more concerned about Bella! "Still, thank you," she said roughly, then quickly skipped around the girl before another blush could engulf her face.

Another tinkling laugh filled the air of the room as Bella shoved her paper into the box marked 'Electives Slips.' Very obvious, but she was thankful for that. Alice's laughter made her a little heady.

"I look forward to seeing you next quarter," Alice said from behind her, and Bella turned around to see the pale girl standing near the door, her hand on the doorknob.

"Huh?"

"You filled in Journalism, didn't you?"

"Oh." Bella's heart lurched in her chest, and her eyes widened. "You… You're taking it too?" she stuttered.

Alice smiled broadly, her eyes catching the light again, "I am."

"Oh," Bella repeated, and then closed her eyes briefly at her awkwardness. Duh, appear like more of a moron, why don't you?

Alice nodded at her, then opened the door. A kind smile played on her face, seemingly never coming off, "Well, I must go off to class, but have a good day, Ms. Swan."

"You too!" Bella replied, but the small girl had already slipped through and disappeared, the door closing with a quiet click behind her. Standing in the now empty room, she stared at the door. Well. That had been… different.

Turning on her heel to look at the box and make sure that her paper had made its way all the way through the slot, a foreign smell suddenly invaded her nose. It smelled divine, like the best of perfumes, a mixture of vanilla and jasmine. Sniffing around the room but not finding anything that could explain where the scent was coming from, Bella finally realized that the smell was coming from her. In the fallout of the almost face plant, all her concentration had been saving her pride. Not on how Alice had smelled. But now obviously, she realized, she'd managed to steal some of the girl's perfume. And wow, did it smell good. She'd have to ask her what it was, if she got the chance.

Satisfied that her paper had been received and hearing the first bell ring overhead, Bella realized she'd spent enough time in the office and it was time to make her way to Biology. So, secretly breathing in the exquisite smell that was Alice's perfume all the way to her class, she tried to put the whole embarrassing fiasco behind her.