All characters and places belong to Stephanie Meyer. I'm just trying to do this idea justice. Let me know what y'all think! Sorry for any errors, this was kinda rushed.

~Brookey-bear

"High school is just a bunch of teenagers forced to be together for eight hours. Everyone has different goals and plans for their future. Mine? I just want to make my own path in life."

-Edward Cullen, Captain of Spartans Basketball team

"Acting is my one true passion and I feel terribly sorry for anyone trying to come between my love and I. Who has time for boys when one has the spotlight?"

-Bella Swan, President of the Theatre Club, star actress

(LFD)

"By the end of the semester, I hope y'all will finally understand the difficulty in putting on a play from scratch. Each group will –Mr. Cullen!"

Startled by the shout, Edward knocked the mannequin that had been behind him over, hand still on the outline of a breast that he had been fondling, much to his friends' amusement. Jasper and Emmett roared with laughter as Edward attempted to set it back upright unsuccessfully. After it collapsed for the third time, he dropped his grip on it and faced the outraged Ms. Nichols. The elderly lady tapped her old green shoe against the ground as she glared at him with unmasked irritation.

He grinned. "Sorry. Darn thing has no sense of balance. Probably 'cause it has no feet." He glanced down at the poor footless woman that lay in a crumpled heap.

The teacher was not amused. "Mr. Cullen and posse," Jasper and Emmett straightened as they were called out. "Please understand that this is NOT an easy class and disruptions and immature behavior will not be tolerated during this year. I ask that you please refrain yourself from molesting the props from now on." Turning on her heel, Ms. Nichols approached the dirty dry erase board and began drawing a diagram of a stage.

Edward grinned at her turned back and shared a low high five with Jasper, who was still chuckling. When the sound of someone clicking their tongue was heard, he turned to see Bella Swan glaring at him. Properly chastened and blushing a bit, he rolled his eyes at her. Sometimes she took theatre a little too seriously.

Tapping her fingers against her desk, Bella faced the board, still annoyed at the lack of respect the jocks in the back showed her favorite teacher. Ms. Nichols was dedicated to acting and Bella loved the created ways she inspired her students to go the extra mile. This was Bella's third time to take her class and never got tired of learning about the art of acting. Since she was thirteen, she knew that acting was her passion and that she would one day grace the stages on Broadway. She could already see herself in the huge spotlight, her name as leading actress on the billboards…

Bella shook off her daydreams as Ms. Nichols began handing out papers. Taking a green sheet and passing the rest to Rosalie Hale, who sat behind her, she quickly scanned the introduction paragraph and nearly squealed with joy at the freedom the rules left. There were hardly any restrictions, except that it must be a romance play and no nudity could be in it.

"Now class, I know that you all have certain people that you would like to be in your groups, but I learned last year that we usually can only get one excellent play that way and I want to see all of you succeed." Ms. Nichols paused as groans filled the classroom. Everyone knew where this was going. "So I will post a list of the groups after school outside the room so you all can begin planning after school for how you are going to prepare and practice." She grinned brightly.

As the bell rang, Edward shoved the paper in the cluttered mess he called a backpack and hightailed it for the door. He couldn't take anymore of the dried paint smell that clung to the walls of room 315. Disbelieving what had just happened, he started towards lunch, fuming at the theatre teacher. Here it as the third day of school and they already had a project! With his luck, he'd end up with Jessica Stanley and the rest of the CCC's (Catty Cheerleading Cunts) and fail.

Tossing his backpack on the lunch table, Edward raced to beat the crowds in the lunch line and was rewarded with two slices of perfectly baked pizza. Walking back to the table, he plopped down next to Jasper, who had the usual brown paper sack in front of him. Edward chuckled at the look of slight fear on his friend's face. Jasper's mother loved to "experiment" with different foods and would send them with her son to taste test. Mrs. Hale was a sweetheart, but she couldn't cook worth a damn.

"C'mon Jazz, it can't be as bad as the tuna and jelly sandwich of last week." He took the bag and emptied its contents onto the table…and then dropped the bag in disgust.

"Ewww, what is that?!" Alice Brandon squealed as she sat down next to Jasper. "That" was a plastic bag that held a sandwich, which looked to be filled with ketchup, raw tuna, and olives. Nearly gagging, Jasper threw it back in the sack and tossed it into the trash can a few feet away.

Edward shuddered. "What's with your mom and tuna recently?"

"She read it helps improve your IQ or something…" Jasper explained as he stole a tater tot from his girlfriend's tray. "What I don't understand is why Rose never gets anything gross?"

"That's because I pack my own lunch, dear brother." Rosalie dropped her purse on the floor and took a seat in between Alice and Emmett, the latter of whom had followed her holding both of their back packs and his tray.

The group continued to chat about Mrs. Hale's recent cooking disasters until someone pulled the last empty chair back on Edward's right and hurriedly plopped in it. Bella Swan quickly pulled her hoodie over her head and ducked as low in the seat as she could without actually sliding under the table.

Not a second had passed before Mike Newton entered the cafeteria and looked around before dejectedly walking out again. After a few moments, Bella peeked out. "Is he gone?"

Alice giggled. "You mean lover boy? Yeah, he left. What did he do this time?"

Bella sat up normally and placed her head in her hands. "I asked him for a pencil so I could write the due date for the theatre project down and I might as well have proposed! He followed me all the way here, begging me to be in his group, as if I have any control over that! And when he asked me to the movies this Friday, I told him I was seeing someone and-"

Edward quickly interrupted. "You're seeing someone?" Blushing at his outburst, he ducked his head. "Thought you didn't date?"

Bella stared at him, shocked. Why did he care? "I'm not really seeing anyone; I was just trying to get Newton off my back." Shaking her head, she turned back to her rant, "and the little creep had the nerve to ask who it was and if they were good enough!"

Edward tried to ignore the feeling of relief and disappointment. Relief that she wasn't taken, disappointment that she hadn't changed her mind on dating. Edward had carried a torch for Bella since his parents had dragged him to a play his freshman year where she was the lead actress. The way she became the character had him spell bound, and he swore off any other girl. He made a point from then on to become as much of a friend as she would allow. His friends constantly made fun of him, but he could tell that they pitied him. Being in love with someone who didn't believe in love sucked pretty badly. He only took the damn theatre class to get closer to her, and managed to get caught molesting a mannequin.

Bella stole an apple slice off Emmett's over loaded tray and popped it in her mouth. Her favorite class of the day was over and she dreaded finding out who she would be stuck with as a group for the rest of the semester. Glancing over at Rose and Alice, the only friends she actually made time for, she wondered if Ms. Nichols would let them be together. They made a good team and were easy to get along with.

"So, Bells, do you work today?" Emmett's loud voice brought her out of her musings.

Sighing, she leaned back in her chair. "Fortunately no. Unfortunately I'm stuck babysitting my twin cousins for the night. Anyone want to help?" She looked up hopefully, knowing the answer would be no.

"I'd love to help." Bella turned to stare at Edward for the second time, shocked.

"Seriously?"

Edward grinned at her. "Yeah, I miss Alyssa. She's adorable." The two of them had used to babysit a lot their freshman year together, and 4 year old Alyssa had taken to him like stink on a skunk. He really did kind of miss her. This was also the perfect opportunity to hang out with Bella.

He was surprised when Bella's eyes lit up and she threw her arms around his neck. A goofy grin broke out as he lightly hugged her back, and their four friends smirked at him from behind her. Everyone knew his feelings but Bella herself, and knew he was only volunteering to spend time with her.

Much to his disappointment, she released him and beamed. "You are my new favorite person. I HATE dealing with the twins by myself. The new baby is a handful as well. Can you be there at 5?"

Smile. Don't act too excited. "Sure, no problem." Nailed it.

The bell rang to release lunch, and the group split up. Edward and Jasper headed to the gym for basketball practice while Bella and Alice reluctantly went to history. All of them envied Emmett and Rose who had early senior release after lunch.

After taking their seats, Alice grinned over at Bella as the brunette rolled her eyes. "No, just because he volunteered to help does NOT mean he's into me. He said he misses Alyssa and he probably wants to get out of chores or something."

"Bella, sometimes you are so blind you amaze me. What 17 year old boy wants to spend his Thursday night babysitting for someone he's NOT interested in? He totally digs you!" Alice exclaimed before being shushed by Mr. Brown.

Bella chuckled at her excited friend. "You're reading more into it than is there. Besides, even if he was into me, I'm too busy for boys."

Alice rolled her eyes. "No, you're scared of getting hurt again. Edward isn't Jacob, Bella." Bella dropped her eyes. Alice was the only one who knew about Jacob, and seemed to think that it was his fault that they had fallen apart.

Shaking her head, Bella turned back to the board. It didn't matter. Edward wasn't into her, so the conversation was pointless.

(LFD)

"You are so into Bella, dude." Jasper tossed him the ball with a chuckle. Running free throw drills was their favorite part of practice, and they took turns making baskets. "I mean, babysitting six year olds? Not my idea of a fun evening."

Edward shrugged. "It's time to step up my game. I can't take this anymore. You'd do the same thing if it was Alice and you."

Jasper paused, and then nodded. "More than likely."

The rest of the day passed rather quickly, and the guys headed to see the list of groups outside room 315 after the last bell rang. Alice, Rose, and Bella were already there, rapidly discussing ideas. Seeing her boyfriend, Alice jumped in Jasper's arms, squealing. "Baby, we're all in the same group! Rose, Bells, Em, Eddie, and me and you!"

Edward immediately bit his lip to keep from grinning like an idiot. It looked like Fate was finally smiling down on him. Looked like Bella and him would be spending quite a lot of time together from now on.