**THIS CHAPTER WAS EDITTED AS OF 12/2/08**

It's Just a Bet

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in relation to Twilight, obviously, or else I'd be writing this in a NOVEL.

Author: Dress Up Romance xx

Rating: M

Summary: Bella is the new arrival in Forks, best known to the male population as FRESH MEAT. Edward Cullen is infamous for his way with the ladies, so his friends decide to challenge his charm. Can he win their money or will he fail miserably? Bella isn't as innocent and sweet as pictured; she's got a bit of a past and reputation. What happens if Bella finds out about this 'little wager'?

Pairing: Eventual EC/BS, AC/JH, EC/RC, ES/CC. There will be occasional OOC for Bella and Edward, for storyline purposes!

Author's Note: So, if this story doesn't really take off I'm going to write it from the other way around. Meaning, Bella is going to be the lady pimp in Forks and Edward is her newest aspiration in boy-toys. If you're interested in that story, but like this one too let me know and I can write that one up for you!

4everbellaxedward & RogueWriter14 believe me, I know there are a ton of stories like this one out there, for all different types of fan fiction but mine is going to skew off the mainstream and be different! I can't tell you when and I can't tell you how, but I can tell you it'll be good. So, just sit tight and enjoy the ride!

BELLA'S P.O.V

Gym was the same in every city, state, and probably country. You get changed into ugly, uncolor-coordinated sweats and ratty sneakers. Then you're subjected to play made up games that involve little need for actual physical fitness but the ability to understand some stupid ass rules. It gave the popular kids a chance to pick on those with less social-activity. All the guys tried to show off while the girls pretended they couldn't play. It was mainly a way for everyone to gain more attention. I hated it back home and I knew I was going to hate it here.

"Bella?" Alice was stretching besides me. I turned to look at her. "Why did you move to Forks?"

I had been waiting all day for that question. People were too afraid to ask me it though, well aside from Alice, so I never was able to deliver my answer. How did I respond to that? Should I tell Alice the truth because she seemed like a decent person, or do I lie about everything and expect she won't ask questions? In the few hours I had gotten to know Alice, I realized one thing. She loved asking questions. Which meant I was going to have to become an excellent liar.

"Well," I sat in thought for a minute. But before I could answer her, I noticed someone approaching me from our left. I focused on him for a moment, praising God for this interference, before I noticed who he was.

He was that guy. The guy who has his head shoved so far up his own ass, it was a miracle he knew anyone else existed. He's known for being the star quarterback or basketball team captain. He'll date every girl with boobs and a vagina, have sex with her and then dump her like yesterday's paper. But, he has the money and the looks to get away with this, plus the grades to fool his teachers into believing that he is a decent kid. In reality though, he was a heartbreaker who thrived on getting off. His only goal in life was to make himself feel good and he did it pretty often.

I had met this guy, well not this one in particular, but plenty like him. I knew how they acted and what they did to prey on girls like me. After I rejected him, he'd be furious and do everything humanly possible to get me to hook up with him. After months, yes months, he'd give up on trying to win me over. But he wouldn't give up on me. No, it'd be the opposite of that. He'd get me back, whether he'd call me a lesbian and ruin my reputation or sink as low as rape, he'd come and strike. I just had to wait and see what kind of a sick, vicious guy he really was. I had time, but I doubt he did.

The silly grin on his face assured me that he had no brains. He took my assessing of him as a sign of weakness. He was ready to pounce like a lion to a lamb, but little did he know, I was a grizzly bear.

"What do you want?" I finally spat.

"Since you're new and all, I was wondering if you'd like me help you out around here. I can be your tour guide if you'd like?" Confidence oozed from his pores and I literally retracted back from him as if it was acid. I don't care how many other girls fell for that line; I wasn't one of them.

"Oh god, will this ever end," I rubbed my nose. I made sure to say the next part loud enough for everyone to hear. "I don't want to date anyone here, let me make that clear." I looked right at him as I delivered the next line, "especially any guy who can't come up with a better line than being my 'tour guide.' Go put your moves on some slut, because I'm not buying sleaze ball."

To say he was shocked would be the understatement of the year. I marched out of the gym before he had time to breathe. Alice was at my side in seconds, her little hands clapping away. "That was fantastic!"

"Ugh," I groaned while shaking away the gross feeling that guy gave me. "Who was that?"

She growled loudly. "That would be Edward Cullen."

I looked at her for a minute. Her last name was Cullen. Surely there was more than one Cullen family in this small, dingy town that weren't related in any way, shape or form. She nodded her head at me, "Yeah, tell me about it."

"So, are you two like cousins or something?" I asked frantically. I still couldn't get that initial feeling of nastiness off of me, so I settled for rubbing my arms absentmindedly.

"More or less twins," she muttered. "I've been demanding blood tests since day one but my parents are convinced he's my real brother."

"That's terrible," I shuttered at the thought of growing up with a person as selfish, unworthy, and horrid as Edward. "I'm sure you can take them to court for something like that."

"In due time," she promised. "But really, don't fall for a word that scumbag says. He's gotten with everyone here, so he's bound to have some type of disease. If you are interested in any guys around here, let me know because I know everyone's business. I don't spread it," she pledged and I totally believed her. Even though my view on people was totally warped, I saw complete honesty and innocence when I looked at Alice and it was sort of overwhelming. I should hate her because she already knew too much but instead I felt compelled to tell her things no one else knew.

"I'm not stupid, I know what kind of guy he is," I said with a sneer. "I've been around too many people like that for one life time, so Edward won't be an addition to my life. I've got more important things to focus on."

"Such as?" We were getting changed out of our ugly uniforms when she asked this.

"Getting out of here," I said as I tossed my shirt into the locker and began to search for my clothes. "Taking better care of myself and just being a good kid."

"You have to focus on being a good kid?" She questioned. I only shrugged at her.

"Have you seen my shirt?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest. Had I really lost my clothing already?

"Uh," she looked around for a second before picking something out of her locker. "Here you—whoa, what happened to your stomach?"

"My what?" I asked, confused. She just pointed to my abdomen and that's when I remembered I was standing shirtless, in the middle of the room. Of course she'd notice my scar. Could I tell her the real reason as to how I got it? I could see it now: she'd gawk at me before calling me a slut and running out of the room to tell all her friends. Was I ready for such public humiliation? I think not.

"I had surgery earlier this year," I said quickly. It wasn't a total lie; I technically did have surgery. "I'm still recovering actually."

"I'm so sorry! What was the surgery for?"

Before I knew it, I had begun to weave a web of lies. One lie led to another which led to another which led to an even bigger one. Pretty soon, I wasn't sure where one lie started and the other began. I was praying Alice wouldn't catch on but I wasn't entirely sure I could keep up this lying game. I was terrible at it to begin with plus I had already run out of ideas. Either way, I was fucked.

EDWARD'S P.O.V

"So Bella seemed real interested in you Cullen," Mike Newton jeered at me from across the parking lot.

I had just gotten to my car when he walked up, leaning against someone else's car for support. His arms were folded across his chest and he had a giant, smug grin plastered on his face. I wanted to punch him right then and there but I knew better. If I showed him how angry I truly was, he won. I had to keep myself in check, because I was the only person allowed to win.

"What happened in gym meant nothing," I finally said.

"Oh, I'm sure of it," he said with a laugh. "I'm thinking though…"

"Thinking about what?" I snarled.

"Why don't we raise those stakes?" I was about to shout at him when he raised his hand and pointed towards the main entrance, where Bella was walking out talking to Alice. "We wouldn't want her to hear, now would we?"

"Of course you would that," I spat.

"I'm happy to know you think so low of me," he said with mock offense. "But, we have more pressing issues to get to. Like, our little bet," his lips curled up into a grin, "I say, if I win I get your car, plus 5,000 and that nice new phone your parents just got you."

"No fucking way," I shouted at him.

"I was going to be a generous guy though," he admitted, "if you agreed to the new terms of the bet, I was willing to give you three months to win this bet. I think that's incredibly gracious of me, don't you?"

"Doesn't he what?" Alice asked, now standing at my side, with Bella right beside her. Bella was giving me the dirtiest look I'd ever gotten in my life and for some reason, I felt upset about that.

"Oh, don't worry about it beautiful," Mike said while attempting to stroke Alice's cheek. Bella stepped forward before he could touch her and he flinched away at once. "I'll see you around Cullen; let me know what you think."

"Whatever," I shrugged. His bet did benefit me. I could get Bella within the month, but it was comforting to have the extra time.

"So, I guess this is where we part ways," Bella spoke softly; she was talking to Alice, trying to avoid me.

"Well, Edward usually drives us to school, so yeah," Alice replied awkwardly.

"You can come back to my place if you want, I can take you home later," Bella offered. Alice's face lit up immediately. She spun around and glared at me.

"See you later," she grumbled before grabbing Bella's hand and dragging her off.

"Bye," I called after her.

I knew Alice hated my guts. It wasn't like she tried to hide the fact. She didn't hate me in the usual brother-sister manner. No, she wished death upon me. She thought I was the most disgusting, awful person alive and I couldn't blame her. To say I was a good guy would be like saying Voldemort was an angel in the Harry Potter series. It wasn't like I tried to kill babies or anyone else, I wasn't that fucked up. I just did what I wanted whenever it appeased me. Alice consistently called me selfish and worthless. I think her main goal in life was to make my own a living hell. She wasn't succeeding, however, because I was probably at the highest point in my life right now.

I was the football team's star quarterback, basketball captain, and I personally spent time with every single cheerleader. People loved me here. I was Mr. Popular in Forks. But it hadn't always been that way. I used to be that kind no one talked to. I was ugly and geeky when I was in junior high, despite how hard it is to believe now, and everyone mocked me for it. I was good at sports, but my gawky body limited me and made me a target for bullying. Girls didn't acknowledge me unless someone was making fun of me, then they would gang up on me until I felt like crying. I never did cry though. No one ever saw my weakness.

The summer before ninth grade, I made a promise to myself. I said high school would be different. I wasn't going to be ugly anymore, I wasn't going to be gawky, and I most certainly wasn't going to be a loser. So, I worked out every single day, I washed my face with all kinds of cleansers, and I even went tanning. Tanning didn't really work out for me, but everything else did. My flower blossomed and the start of freshmen year, everyone saw a difference. When I went for football tryouts some of the guys tried to poke fun at me, but when I kicked their asses, they knew that time was done. It was the dawn of a new era for me.

I let all my rage from middle school take over in high school and soon I was taking it out on other people. I wasn't hurting anyone physically but I was ruining people like they tried to ruin me. I did things with girls and never called them back because they rejected me all the time ago. I became a monster and I was unsure of how to stop myself. At first, hurting people felt good because it made the years before seem less painful. But after a while, I starting to feel like things weren't right. I finally understood why Alice called me a pig. I could see why my own twin sister wanted nothing to do with me. If I could, I'd have nothing to do with me.

But the fact of the matter was I couldn't take back the things I had done. I had to live with the choices I made, even if I didn't want to.

"Edward, baby?" There was a slight tugging at the fabric above my jeans and I looked down to see Jessica Stanley starring back up at me, a huge smirk on her face. I felt like cringing. Jessica was a bigger whore than me, which said a lot. But I had a reputation to uphold, so I forced a smile. "Aren't we going to go back to your house?"

"Yeah, sure. Get in the car," I instructed her. It was common for us to go home together and hook up. In the midst of things, I'd almost forgotten this was supposed to happen. My mind was so cluttered right now. I still had to take care of the Bella issue. But that would have to happen later. I really needed to loosen up and Jessica was the thing for that right now.

BELLA'S P.O.V

I had no idea why I invited Alice back to my place. I guess I was so uncomfortable being around Edward, my brain thought of that as a good escape. Too bad that was the last place I needed to be going right now. There were parts of my life I wasn't ready to share with Alice yet. She seemed like a sweet enough girl, but that didn't mean she was prepared to know. If she found out about me, she'd probably freak out and tell everyone in school. That was most certainly not something I needed right now. I just needed to blend in with the crowd, finish high school, and move on with my life.

"So," I attempted to make conversation. I was driving as slow as possible in my red pick-up truck. It was a bad effort to stall our arrival at my house.

"Thanks for saving me from Mike, I swear I don't know what's wrong with him," she began to prattle on about him for the rest of the car ride. By the time we got to my house, I could hear my heart beating so loudly I wondered if Alice could too. She didn't seem to notice, however, as she skipped up the steps to my house and threw the door open.

"Bella, I need your help in here," Charlie called. I groaned. I knew exactly what he needed.

"Um, dad I have company over, can I help you later?" I was currently pushing Alice towards the stairs, hoping to escape up to my room before Charlie came out to find me.

"Bella," he shouted. I huffed before turning around, to come face to face with Charlie. He had a blanket slung over his shoulder and his arms were crossed over his chest. He looked rather disgruntled. "He's been crying all day long, can't you just come see him?"

"Hi, I'm Alice." She stuck her hand out to shake Charlie's. He gave her a big smile, obviously happy I already made a friend.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Bella's dad, Mr. Swan, but please call me Charlie." He replied back before fixing the blanket on his shoulder.

Alice saw something on the blanket that she must have mistaken for cat hair because she let out a squeal and said, "Aw you have a cat?!"

Charlie glared at me and I felt my cheeks flame up. I was embarrassed by this. He knew I didn't tell her and looked pretty ashamed of that fact. He had all the right to be. Alice deserved to know. I shouldn't be hiding this from her. It was an insult to him.

"I have two cats and they cry for me all day when I'm at school. Can I see him?" She said, jumping up and down.

"He's not a cat," I muttered. But Alice was already in the living room before I finished my statement. When I heard her books drop to the floor, I rubbed my forehead before following her into the room.

"Momma!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know, I know…a cliffhanger?! Well, yeah! I hope you guys enjoyed the update, I'll get the next one out as soon as possible. PLEASE REVIEW!!