"Bella, are you awake?"

If I lay here with my eyes closed, I'm pretty sure he'll leave me alone.

"Bella," he whisper-hisses.

I moan and roll over. I pretend to snore, but I end up choking. Like, I'm seriously coughing my head off. I feel like I can't breathe – like I might die at any moment. And Emmett won't know how to help me.

Oh, god. I'm going to die. I'm going to die and I'm still a virgin. And damn it. If I don't die, I'm gonna hear all the songs from Grease 2 in my head all night long. But before I can sing the lyrics to Cool Rider in my mind, Emmett pounds me on the back.

"I know you're awake."

"Really, Emmett?" I say, rolling over. "What gave it away? The fact that I almost died? What do you want?"

"How do you know Edward Cullen?"

I freeze. My entire body stills, and I'm thankful that Emmett's not still touching me. Because he would definitely feel how every muscle in my body has gone completely rigid.

I can do this.

I can just be calm and do this.

I am smarter than my brother.

I can tell a convincing lie.

Especially since the room is dark and he can't see my traitor face.

"I don't," I say a little too slowly for my liking.

"You don't know him?"

"No."

The lying gets easier the more you do it, I notice.

"Well how the fuck does he know you?"

See? This is when being popular would help me. If I was popular, I could just go on and on about some bullshit that everyone knows me. But I'm not popular. I'm not really anything at all. I'm more than happy to blend in on the side. Popular people have friends. And friends ask all kinds of questions. And clearly, I suck at giving answers.

"I don't know how he knows me, Emmett," I hiss. "Maybe he comes into the diner."

This is not a complete lie, so I'm okay.

Emmett regards me. I see him staring at me in the dark.

"How…" I start, trying to think quickly. I wasn't fully asleep, but I was almost there, and I'm not thinking as clearly as I would like to be. I mean, I know this is Emmett and a squirrel could probably outwit him, but right now I'm so nervous, I don't know if I could outwit a squirrel. "How do you know he knows me?" I hear the words as I say them. Each one sounds slower than the one before.

"Because he was in the store tonight and he asked about you."

I'm torn between wanting to grin like an idiot and wanting to bury my face in the pillow.

I choose neither option.

In fact, I choose the most stupid option possible.

"What did he say?"

"He asked if you were my sister."

"And that means he knows me?"

The lies are coming so easy, I feel as if I might be able to live a life of crime.

"Well, it sure as fuck means he knows of you," he says. But then he laughs and slaps me on the back. "But you're right, Hell's Bells."

"Don't call me that," I say through gritted teeth. "You know I hate that. And what am
I right about?"

"He probably just knows you from the diner."

I hold in my sigh of relief until he walks over to his bed. And once he settles in, I feel free to breathe normally. Well, mostly normally. My heart is still pounding like crazy. Why the fuck was he asking Emmett about me?

I'm pretty sure I'm not getting any sleep now, but I try. Tomorrow is a long day. I roll over in my twin bed and face the wall when I hear Emmett whisper, "Stay away from him, Bells. He's bad news."

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Reviews are love.

Please leave me some.

Marvar pre-read, but didn't officially beta. She did point out glaring mistakes. But if you found any, all of them are mine.

ILY guys!