Hey, everyone! Yeah, so I got tired of writing my last story (don't worry I'll finish it) and decided to go a different route. Hope y'all like it! Please, please comment!

"What do you think you're doing?!"

I looked up to see Tyler attempting to climb the flagpole outside of the Forks High School cafeteria. I shook my head. Boys. As if they needed any more of an excuse for their actions. They were stupid, and I'm not just talking about Tyler. Every single boy in my senior class, possibly in the entire school, was stupid. They liked to laugh at things that really weren't that funny, like someone accidentally sitting in mashed potatoes or whoopee cushions or...climbing flagpoles in the freezing cold. It just didn't make any sense to me. If I knew things were going to be like this before I moved here, I may have just stayed in Phoenix with the sun, shunning the snow and stupidity.

"Get down from there before you fall and break your back." Angela screamed at him, "I'm not kidding! Who do you think is going to take you to the hospital because it wont be me!"

I felt bad for Angela. Poor girl had to put up with a boyfriend who thought he was still five years old. I wonder how long their relationship will last. Angela and Tyler really weren't paired well for each other. For one, Angela was so sweet. She was my first friend when I moved here to Forks. She was understanding and saw right through me every time I lied or faked emotions. But she never forced me to talk to her and she didn't feel the need to talk relentlessly either. Not like Jessica, that annoying blabber-mouth. I loved Jessica, but her problems were getting to be too much to handle. Maybe I would get Angela a leash for Tyler. He needed one.

"Fine!" Tyler rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed as he slid down the pole to the solid ground, "Geez! Happy now?"

The bell rang, informing everyone that lunch was about to end. The halls were congested with teenagers and their hormones. What was the point of PDA rules when no one followed or reinforced them? I guess it doesn't really matter. Christmas break got everyone in a good mood, even the teachers. But I think the only reason for their happiness was because they got those few weeks off to go torture small animals. It gave them something new to do besides torturing us.

"Bella!"

I turned in mid-step to see who called me. Of course, it was Jess. I sighed and kept walking to class. Every time she caught sight of me, she felt the need to prattle on about something. Now, more than any other time, I really did not want to talk to her.

"Wait up!" She called as she ran up to my side, "How are you doing?" She asked carefully.

One thing I hate is when people are overly nice to you when they know you're angry at them. I didn't want to be her friend anymore, how confusing was that? How hard was that for her to comprehend? Was she stupid as well as a drunken whore? No, I promised myself I wouldn't think of last night. I just couldn't help it. I could feel my anger building throughout the day. I don't know why, but my anger for Jess had spread to hatred of the entire student body.

When I didn't answer her, I guess she finally decided to get to the point, "Look, I'm really sorry about last night. I didn't mean to...I don't know. I didn't mean to upset you." She searched my face as we walked for some kind of emotion. I was fuming and had no problem showing that to her. "Listen, I really didn't know there would be any problem with me being with...If I'd known there was anything between you two anymore, I would have never-"

"There is nothing going on between me and Mike anymore. There never will be." I spat at her coldly.

I didn't want anything to do with Mike anymore. Sure, when I first moved here he was sweet and kind of cute. But that went as far as it was ever going to go. I was not going to take any more of his crap. Mike was impossible to deal with and I hated him. The things he did to me...I'd promised I would never think of that again either. Just like last night. The only problem was that last night I was betrayed by a friend that had promised to stay away from him, to not get involved with him. This was not an issue of jealousy. This was an issue of her safety. She'd stabbed me in the back, tore out my heart, gone to the dark side. Whatever you want to call it, I didn't want anything to do with her anymore either.

"Then why..." She started, but we were already to my science class. I held up my hand to stop her.

"I told you everything about him. Everything! Then you decide to..." I couldn't even finish my sentence. It hurt so much to just think about it. I glared at her ashamed face, "Well I came didn't I? At three in the morning, for God's sake!" She nodded to the ground. I shook my head violently with my hands up in defeat, "I'm not talking about this right now. You go do whatever the hell you want to because obviously this friendship isn't worth a damned thing to you."

I turned away from Jess, on the cliff of tears, into my classroom. It was loud and active until the teacher began to speak. I felt lucky today that I was the only one at my lab table. I could spread out and not worry about anyone else pissing me off today. I needed the space today, space to think and figure things out. As much as I fought it, the memories of last night reeled through my head.

--

Bzzzz...Bzzzz...Bzzzz

My phone vibrated on my nightstand. Groaning, I peeked at my clock. 3:06 AM.Whaaaat? Whyyyyy? Who would hate me so much to wake me this early? Curiosity got the best of me. I snatched my phone.

"Hewo?" I tried to say, but my mouth and tongue wouldn't quite work yet.

There was heavy breathing on the other end, "Bella?" The breathing cried.

"Jess?" Her cries helped me find the adrenaline of concern that would wake me, "What's wrong? Why are you crying? Are you alright?"

"Yes...No...I don't know. I need you right now, Bella." She pleaded with me. One of my weaknesses: a friend in need. I could never say no to my friends if they needed me. I would do whatever I could for them. Especially Jessica. She needed someone to be there for her.

"Where are you?" I demanded, already slipping into a pair of sweats.

"Tony's Bar." She sobbed.

I grabbed my clanking keys, not caring if my parents woke up or not. "I'll be there in five minutes."

My truck wouldn't go fast enough for me. Jess was in trouble and I needed to be there now to help her. Fortunately, the streets were completely empty of all traffic. Even if a cop tried to pull me over, I wouldn't have stopped until I got to the bar. I considered Jess to be one of my best friends, along with Alice, who was already apart of my family. Jess was almost like part of my family, especially since she didn't really have one of her own. Yeah, she had a mom, a dad, a half-brother. But they were never a family. Her brother was much older, moved out and engaged. Her parents were oblivious to everything but their own selves. Jess didn't need to call them when she was going to be late. She didn't need to tell them where she was going or for how long. It never mattered to them. It hurt me how they treated her, so I introduced her to a real family, even if they weren't as real as they seemed. But every family has issues, I guess. Jess fit right in with everyone in my family. They loved her and soon became protective over her, like I did. One thing I loved about my family was, if someone messed with one of us, they'd have to answer to all of us.

Alice and I had been friends since I'd decided to move to Forks. She was there for me while I struggled with Mike, and she always made sure I knew she was only a phone call away. I loved my sister, Rose. But Alice may as well have been born into the family. For some reason, Alice never made really good friends with Jessica as I had. She told me she thought Jess was trouble and that she would never change. Alice was always right, but I refused to believe her this time.

I should have listened. Lately Jessica seemed to have gotten worse. The drinking, the drugs, the questionable friends. It was so hard to handle. That night I was on the breaking point. This one way friendship was getting to be too much for me and I wasn't sure how much more I could take.

I finally reached Tony's Bar on the edge of town. The lights blazed inside and out while people stumbled out of the doors. Most of the people were young. I couldn't stand the fact that they didn't feel the need to card people here. I parked my noisy truck in the first spot it was big enough to fit into and fumbled with the door handle to jump out.

"Ooooh, sexy!" A group of guys slurred from the front door of the bar, laughing. I ignored them and made my way around the side of the building until I saw a familiar face. Jess was sitting on the cement, back against the bar, hugging her knees. A wave of pity splashed over me. I wanted to hug and comfort her. But that was just my nurturing personality. I knew I should be mad at her and whatever situation she'd gotten herself into this time.

"Jess." I soothed as I plopped myself next to her, wrapping my arms around her.

"Bella," She sniffled, "I'm so sorry!"

I shook my head, refusing her apology. "Let's get out of here, okay?"

She nodded and stumble to her feet. I led her slowly to the truck, catching her whenever she fell over her own feet. And I thought I was the only one who could do that.

"Where ya goin', baby?" The drunk men called to Jess from the bar's front door, "We thought he was going to share!" They laughed.

I was confused but I kept my mouth shut until we got into the truck. "What happened?" I demanded as the engine roared in anger.

"I...I don't even know where to start," She turned to me, tears gone, "I love you, Bella, you know that?"

She was still drunk. "Start at the beginning, Jessica." I pushed.

--

The bell, announcing the end of class, shattered the painful memory. I faded out of my seat and sulked to my next class. Fortunately, I successfully avoided Jess and ran into Alice. She skipped up to my side, but quickly saw I was in no mood for her perkiness.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" She asked with concern.

I really didn't want to talk about it, so I told her the short version. It helped to get some things off my chest, but I was battling with my thoughts too much already to tell her everything. I told her that I would call her that night to vent about everything. She hugged me tightly before I went into my classroom and made me promise not to forget to call. Sitting in my seat as the teacher droned on, I tried to fight the previous night's playback as hard as I could. But it came anyway.

--

The passenger side window filled with Jess's face as she seemed engrossed with the flying trees outside the truck. She was so quiet, I'd wondered if she'd passed out.

"I had to get out of the house. So, I called up my friend, Eric, and we went out."

"Why didn't you call me, Jess?"

"You were sleeping!"

"I was sleeping at three, too!"

She brushed off my comment, "Anyway, we went out to Tony's. I had a few too many drinks and Eric said he had to go. Tried to get me to come too. But I didn't want to, I was having too much fun! Besides, I'm sure I couldv'e gotten a ride with anyone there. So, I told him to get lost and to stop being such a downer." Jess seemed to struggle with what happened next, "I saw Mike Newton there."

My body went numb and cold. I wasn't suprised that Mike was at a bar, but just the thought of him being there with Jess infuriated me. She had no will power, and even less when she's drunk.

"We started talking and I thought he was just being nice, but..." She bit her lip, waiting for my screams. I kept quiet. "He told me he would drive me home. So we got in his car and...and I don't know what happened next. We were making out and taking our clothes off and we..."

I could feel the hot tears stream down my face. Mike was good at making me cry, but Jess usually isn't. Mike was also good at getting what he wanted, especially from women.

"Oh, Bella! I'm so sorry!" She pleaded. Like that made everything better.

I stopped the truck in front of her house. "We're here, Jessica. Get out of my truck." I really meant 'get out of my life' but the words wouldn't come out that way.

"Are you mad at me?" She asked, as if it there were any questions about my feelings.

"GET OUT!" I screamed at her.

--

School lasted too long. And as if I weren't in enough pain, I just hadto go off and try to play volleyball in gym. My head still hurt where the ball smacked my face. I fled the lockeroom as soon as I was able to and practically ran the entire way to my truck. I ran because it was raining, I was happy for the school day to end, but mostly because I didn't want to see anyone. All I wanted was some relaxing time to myself.

I knew I wouldn't be able to get relaxation at home. My older sister, Rosalie, was always butting into my issues. My parents, Renee and Charlie, were usually fighting and if they weren't fighting, they were thinking of fighting. The only place I could go to get away was the local bookstore. I was more than ecstatic when they'd decided to build the new bookstore just down the street from my house and found myself going there whenever I could.

Inside the bookstore, it smelled like old and new ink covered pages, there for my pleasure. I quickly greeted Kate, the owner, who was in her respective spot at the front desk.

"Considering all the times you've been in here the past week, "Kate smiled at me, "I think you need a vacation."

I laughed as I continued walking towards my favorite section of classics, "You're telling me!"

I release a deep breath when I was finally surrounded by my friends, William Shakespeare and Jane Austen. But something caught my eye an aisle over, the music book section. It was normally filled with sheets and sheets of music by anyone from Beethoven to the Beatles. This time, however, the section was accompanied by the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen. I knew I'd never seen him before. I would have remembered his sexy, messy bronze hair, his smooth pale skin, and those emerald eyes that now carefully read Braham's requiem. He didn't seem much older than I was, so I should have seen him in school or something. But even though I was disoriented by anger today, I would have noticed this amazing angel that was now just an aisle over from me. I almost had to convince myself that he was real and not the work of Michelangelo.

"Edward!" A female voice called from the doorway of the store. My personal Greek statue spun his head in that direction, almost dropping the book he was holding.

"Coming." His velvet voice floated into the air, making me sigh. Edward's face flinched in my direction, locking with my awkward gaze through the tall bookshelf that separated us. His look sent the butterflies in my stomach crazy. I wanted to look away, embarrassed, but he wouldn't let me. I felt all of my worries and stress I'd felt throughout that day disappear. I was safe and secure from all of the craziness going on outside his eyes.

"Come on, Edward, we need to get you registered for classes so you can go to school tomorrow." The woman by the door sweetly reminded him.

He broke our staring contest, putting away the book and dragged himself towards the door. He stole one last look in my direction through the closing glass door. I've never been faint in my life, but that just look just about sent my feet over my head. As soon as the door had closed, I felt completely and absolutely alone.

I took comfort in the thought of tomorrow. He would be in school tomorrow.