When Bella found out that Edward, the shy, awkward boy from her Biology class, was the son of Dr. Cullen, she knew immediately what she had to do. Because sleeping around with boys like Mike Newton just wasn't going to cut it any more. So one day, instead of sitting at the front of the class and being ogled by all the boys like usual, she went to the back of the class and sat beside Edward. Edward looked up from his weathered copy of "Lord of the Rings", perplexed. Bella saw the book and started to get up, then remembered her mission and seated herself even more firmly in the hard plastic chair. She gazed at Edward surreptitiously, and noticed that behind the glasses and minor acne, he was actually fairly attractive. She smiled dazzlingly at him, and he smiled back weakly, obviously confused.

"Hey, it's Edmund, right?" She asked. She knew his real name, of course. It wasn't hard to remember everyone's name in a ho-hum rinky-dinky town like this one, but Bella learned from experience that the faint blush in her cheeks she would get from forgetting his name would provide an oh-so charming aura. Edward shook his head and smiled.

"Edward." He corrected, and Bella blushed.

"I'm sooooo sorry! I really should know everyone's name by now, it's just that I'm new here, and all...." Bella leaned over and batted her eyelashes.

"It's okay. How are you liking Forks? I bet you're not used to the rain, considering Phoenix only gets four inches of rain a year." Edward said, pushing up his glasses and setting his book down on his desk.

"I don't like it much here. It's so boring... there's hardly anything fun to do on weekends." Bella replied, fishing for an invite.

"Are you kidding? Haven't you met Alice yet? She throws the best parties at our house, whenever my parents are out of town. I guess you just haven't heard about them yet, but everyone goes. Alice is really popular." Edward said, amused that someone as well dressed and... well, large breasted as Bella hadn't heard about the upcoming party yet.

"Really? Got the next one planned yet?" Bella said enthusiastically. She had meant what she said about Forks being boring.

"Yeah. It's a week from Thursday." Edward replied.

"Do... you have a date?" Bella inquired, batting her eyelashes and thrusting her chest out.

"Well..." Edward panicked. His ideal date was someone far different from Bella Swan... his ideal date was Jasper Hale... but Alice was dating him. And he didn't want anyone to know his sexuality. He would never be allowed to live it down. But then he looked up at Bella. It was well known that she was a girl any guy should lust after... and wouldn't it be perfect if he showed up to that party with her on his arm? "Well..." Edward said again, "Do you want to go with me?"

"Sounds great! Pick me up around eight." Bella said, then turned her attention to the teacher. Edward sat in his seat, slightly dumbstruck, his thoughts returning to the worn paperback fantasy on the desk in front of him.

****