Story Summary: This is an AU/NM story. This story begins just as Bella is about to return to school. Renee has come and gone. In the books this is the blank chapters. In this AU, Bella's school friends are not going to allow her to fall down into the dark abyss of depression. To her surprise, Lauren Mallory is actually leading the charge help heal Bella. There is more to Lauren Mallory and her hatred of Bella than SM ever let on - this goes beyond Tyler Crowley liking Bella. Join Lauren, Bella and friends through their mis-adventures of senior year and beyond. Can Bella get over Edward Cullen or is she destined to be with him?

A/N: In this story, while she is still in shock and healing, Bella refers to Edward as He. She cannot outwardly say his name or even think his name. It is hard to do the same thing for the rest of the Cullens . Inspiration for this chapter came from Matt Nathanson's song Gone. Thanks Isabel Grace for helping me flush out ideas and telling me I am not crazy. Also thank you to Project Team Beta for taking a chance on an unknown kid. Also, Bella won't always be this emo. If you can read on, she does get better.

I'm short of breath, I'm sure
gone, let it wash away all the best I had
gone, and when I disappear
don't expect me, don't expect me back

gone, let it wash away
the best I had
gone, and when I disappear
don't expect me back
don't expect me back
don't expect me back

- Matt Nathanson

Chapter 1: Gone

Bella POV

I stared up at my ceiling as my thoughts wandered to the same ones that had consumed my brain. He left me. They left me. had been a week since the Cullens had left .Disappeared. Vanished. The week was a complete blur. My downward spiral into a human zombie was quick, and poor Charlie didn't know what to do with my raging teenage hormones or me. So, he had called in reinforcements... Renee.

My mom had shown up two days after they had left. During that time, I hadn't left my bed and I couldn't remember eating. School hadn't even crossed my mind. Alone – I was completely and utterly alone.

Renee had barreled into town with a burst of energy. She had worked hard to get me to eat, shower and put on fresh clothes. She had used metaphors to try to get me to see a bigger picture.

"Bella, men are like streetcars, one leaves another will be around shortly," she had tried to explain to me.

But, her advice had fallen on deaf ears. He was not a streetcar. He was not a typical boy or man. He had been mine and I his. Had been. As in past tense. As in not anymore. Now He was gone.

Already restless by her second day in Forks, Renee had spent the remainder of her visit to Forks trying to convince me to head back to Jacksonville with her, where she lived with my stepfather Phil. Charlie had been easily convinced. He would do anything to get that look off my face. Given my catatonic state, he had been ready to comply, but then again Charlie could never say no to Renee. I, on the other hand, had put my foot down and had told her no.

Saying more than I had in days, I had calmly spoken to my child-like mother. "Forks is my home now. Charlie needs me. I am staying here. You can go back to Jacksonville now." My tone had been even keeled, but the words I spoke were like me, devoid of emotion.

In the past year, I had established two groups of friends. Even now with the hole in my heart and life, I had more friends in Forks than I had during my entire schooling in Phoenix. Before Renee had boarded her plane, it had been settled; I stayed on the single stipulation that I returned to school Monday morning.

Yesterday, she went back to the sun and left me with the clouds and the rain. Renee had made me promise to try to move on and to email her daily with updates. I had convinced myself that I could operate as just a shell of the person Although He always joked about my acting skills, I had to give the performance of my life.

September 26 was my first day back at school, ten days since my world had fallen apart. I cursed the alarm clock as it assaulted my ears and slowly I left the solace of my bed. I glanced at myself in the mirror. My dark hoodie and black jeans indicated one thing – death. Mourning. I am in mourning. The rumors in this small town must be circulating, but I tried not to think about that. Instead, I focused on not tripping, as I carefully headed down the steps to attempt to swallow some breakfast.

Charlie was sitting at the table reading the paper. He must be worried about me ditching. I made myself some cereal but realized we were out of milk. Guess with me in a catatonic state, no one had thought to buy more. I made a mental note to go to the store after school. Charlie didn't say anything as I mechanically went about my routine. I chomped down the cereal dry and washed it down with a glass of orange juice. As I got up to leave, he looked up to me from this seat at the table, and folded his newspaper.

"Try Bella, just try." His message was all that he said as he looked at me with familiar deep chocolate brown eyes.

I bit my lip, nodded my head, and headed out the door to my truck.

As I drove to school, I willed myself not to look down at the new radio - the one that they'd installed as my birthday gift just a few days ago. I stared straight at the road and pulled into the parking lot.

We had almost all of our classes together and we had always sat in the back. As I entered my first class of the day, I stood in the front of the room like a new student, again. My legs could not move me to my old seat and my eyes could not look at the empty one next to it.

"Mrs. White, can I switch my seat?" I asked my rotund, middle-aged teacher.

"Sure, Bella, sit wherever you'd like." she replied with a sympathetic glance.

I quickly glanced around the room looking for familiar faces. My eyes met Angela's and she motioned with her head to the empty seat next to her. I realized it was directly behind Jessica and diagonal from Lauren, who sat next to her. Both girls seemed intent to stare at me. I quickly made my way to the seat and sat down all the while feeling the burn of Jessica's stare. As I sat down, she whipped her head around.

"Bella, I totally know what you're going through. Mike and I broke up after a very intense summer," she said, over-emphasizing the word very. "Please let us girls help you get over him. In fact, as I saw your face this morning, I realized it is now my personal mission this year to get you over Edward Cullen!"

Angela and, surprisingly, Lauren's eyeballs shifted to Jessica and then she slowly nodded.

Lauren quietly chanted, "Rule number one, chicks before dicks!"

I bit my lip and realized saying no to Angela might not be a problem. I did not, however, have the energy or the strength to say no to Jessica and Lauren, because I knew they wouldn't accept that.

My morning classes flew by. Two weeks ago, Hewas the center of my universe, the only person who mattered on the roster, I now realized my other friends were there and they had been all along. Angela, Jessica and shockingly Lauren were each in at least one of my classes. My teachers were very accommodating. They all let me move seats so I could sit with my newly re-discovered friends. By my third class I began to wonder if Charlie had called the principal and spoken to him about me.

I was pleased to learn that during my absence, my English class had finished the unit on Romeo and Juliet and had moved on to a unit on poetry. It was a relief to be away from a story on two star-crossed lovers. The first section in this unit was humorous poetry. Anything was better than sonnets.

After class, Angela walked briskly with me to the cafeteria. I wasn't very hungry, but these days my insides were so numb that I usually had to remind myself to eat. The one thing about Angela was that she did not mind silence and did not have to fill every minute with mindless chatter. As we made our way to the cafeteria, it was obvious to both of us that Bella Swan was the hot topic of conversation in the hallways of Forks High School. As we passed, the underclassmen's conversations would stop and only continue as soon as we walked by.

"Come on, Bella, you really should eat something," Angela stated, as she pulled my arm toward the lunch line.

My stomach grumbled as we entered the lunch line, I grabbed some French fries and some mac and cheese, not exactly healthy, but comfort food nonetheless. Well, at least the thought of it sounded good. I added a chocolate chip cookie to my tray as I glanced at the table that they had once occupied. Lauren, Jessica and Angela were sitting at what had become our usual table, except they were no longer there.

I took my tray and walked toward the table noticing that Ben, Eric, Tyler and even Mike had not sat down. I lifted my head and looked around the room and then back at Angela quizzically.

"We told them we needed some girl talk today for lunch. Lauren even threatened them with tampon and period talk, so they promised to stay away," explained Jessica.

"Thanks," I said as I sat down at the table.

Despite my tray of comfort food, my heart was empty, which left my stomach queasy. I pushed the food around on my plate and picked the chocolate chips out of the cookie.

Jessica spoke up first. "Ladies, we're coming together because it is now time to put chicks before dicks. Okay Bella, we know the Cullens left. It's all around town Dr. Cullen received an offer in sunny Los Angeles. Did Edward just spring it on you? Did he not think long distance could work? Why'd he tell you in the woods and leave you out there? What a freakin' asshole!"

How do I explain this without giving anything away about them?

"He started acting distant around my birthday but I didn't think anything of it. I guess he knew about the move and was just not sure how to tell me. I'm still not sure why he left me in the middle of the woods. He's not an..."

The word asshole could not come out of my mouth; my heart wouldn't let my tongue betray it. Instead I just looked down staring intently into my mac and cheese.

Unexpectedly, Lauren spoke up in a protective tone. "Bella, you and I haven't always gotten along. I pretty much hated you since the moment you came to town last year..."

"Gee thanks."

"...but I think what Edward did you to was awful. I sort of noticed how distant he was after your birthday, right before he left you. Given your current circumstances, I can't hate you anymore; it just goes against girl code. You know - chicks before dicks, to hate someone who has been kicked down as hard as you've been. While you were out last week, we decided that we're going to watch out for you. Jessica, Ang and I want to help you get over him."

"How?" I slowly asked looking over to her. I didn't want to be over him. I didn't want to forget him.

Lauren quipped in. "We've got a plan. First, you need to get your haircut, even if it is a trim. Men can be symbolized in split ends and to get over them they need to be cut off. Then you need to do a little shopping, perhaps a makeover."

"But, but," I stammered to say that the pixie had already done this for me last spring and in the summer, but I would not say her name either.

"Alice did a lot with you over the summer, but fall and winter in Forks is different and you'll probably still need some warmer clothes," Angela piped in.

"Then, you need pampering. Mani's, pedi's, maybe even a facial. Finally, you need to have plans for this weekend. We are taking you out. And followed up by a good ol' fashion slumber party. You can't say no to any of this or else we are just going to call Chief Swan and let him allow us to ambush you!" Lauren threatened with a stern look in her eye, but a smile on her face.

I wasn't sure about all of this. He had said not to do anything reckless. Surely extreme makeover, Forks style, couldn't be deemed reckless. Besides, what did He care anyways? Hehad left. The thought that He was gone caused me to shake, as I quickly hugged myself and let out a deep breath.

Jessica then chirped in, "We're going to blow this town and meet some non-Forks boys for once. You know boys who we have not known since preschool. Fresh meat!"

Her last statement only made me think of him.

Don't let him control you like this. Fresh meat, mountain lion, hunting, topaz eyes, his eyes. All thoughts led back to him. I hated myself.

Out loud, their plan, as stupid and John Hughes-like as it sounded, did seem better than the alternative of wallowing in my own self pity. Then in only the most insightful way possible, Angela spoke up.

"Bella, you can't wallow in the loss of the relationship. You have to overcome your grief."

"There are tons of cute guys in Port Angeles and there is supposed to be a big party this weekend. We'll all go. Well at least us single ladies will go!" Lauren stated with her queen-bee like authority. "Afterward we'll do a big sleepover at my house complete with cheesy movies, truth-or-dare, and plenty of gossiping. It's a sure-fire way to start your healing process. Or something like that. You, though have to get out of this town for a little bit."

Everything they were proposing was not me. It was that stereotypical girly girl thing - not a Bella Swan thing. These were not things for the klutzy girl who did not dance and loved Jane Austen. That Bella Swan apparently is not lovable. The surface changes seemed easy enough, but what I didn't and couldn't comprehend of their plan was how to change my heart.

Sticking my fork into the mac and cheese and shoveling a pile of the gooey, cheesy mess from the plate and into my mouth and with the food half chewed, blurted out, "But how am I going to get over him?"

Lauren and Jessica both crinkled their noses, looked at one another, and then smiled with cat-like grins.

"The best way to get over one guy Bella - " Jessica stated, as she arched an eyebrow, "-is to get under another guy!"