All Figured Out by 24hourfanfic

At the ripe age of 13, Bella Swan thinks she has the world figured out. At 16, she's not so sure. At 18, the only think she's sure of is that she has brown hair, usually.

Disclaimer: The only things I own are a cool touchscreen laptop and a badass black Acura RSX.

Author's Note: I still don't have a beta. I still don't have this whole story all written out. All I've got is an idea in my head and time to write it. Some chapters may be drabblish, some may be ridiculously long. Bear with me, and you'll have something worth reading.. [AH, slightly Olderward, Canon couples end up together but there is some mixing about, HEA, M for lemons and language.]

I will reply to all reviews, either by PM if you're logged in or below if you're not.

September 14, 2004 (continued)

BPOV

As we made the walk back to school, Rose pulled out her phone and took a picture of the sun peeking through the trees. Her father had bought her and Jasper the new Motorola Razr for Christmas last year, to make up for all the work trips he had to make each year. She was constantly taking pictures and changing the background on the phone. She'd always been the indecisive type but this camera phone only fueled it more. I was jealous at first but realized I was lucky to have my dad's old Nokia. Emmett never even got a cellular phone, as Dad had deemed him too irresponsible. I chuckled in a way not unlike the strange guy we had met at the department store.

Turning to my best friend, I sighed. "Ro, what are you doing?" I asked her as I pulled out my phone to call Jasper. Having an interest in a guy was certainly out of character for her, much less someone so much older than ourselves. Her pink lips turned into a frown and she took a while to answer. "Can't a girl buy some new clothes? Or like a guy? I thought you'd be happy for me! I mean, look at me! I'm wearing Jazz's hoodie, a pair of jeans that are ripped to shreds and some dirty Keds. Who am I? What happened to the girl who lived for matching cardigan and skirt sets…what happened to me?"

I didn't know what to say, so I didn't, instead choosing to grab her closest hand and intertwine our fingers. We hadn't seriously held hands since second grade but sometimes when we were dealing with things, we'd resort to our old ways to comfort each other. Rose squeezed my hand, as if to say thank you, and we let go, returning to the phones we held in front of us. I dialed her brother's number, asking him to pick us up from the school.

Rose stayed silent the rest of the walk there. As we piled into Jazz's car, she perked up though and asked her brother all about his new friend, Peter.

"How long have you known him? Have you met his brother? You should let Peter stay for dinner!"

"Jeez, Ro, slow your roll, why don't you?" Jazz said, peering at his sister questionably through the rearview mirror. "What's the sudden interest in Pete?"

"Nothing, I'm just glad to hear you more than "The Pervert" as friends, is all," she snapped at him, glaring pointedly at the back of Emmett's seat. It was no secret that Rose harbored ill feelings towards my brother. Two months ago, my brother was trying to get back at me for ratting him out, so he rigged the shower in my bathroom with earthworms. Unfortunately for Rose, she had woke up feeling sweaty and gross from the warm summer night and wanted to take a shower before everyone else got up. Well, we were all soon up as soon as we heard her bloodcurdling screams. Emmett was the first one in the bathroom, having not been able to sleep much because of the anticipation of getting me back. He had brought his Polaroid camera in hopes of getting a shot of me covered in the worms in order to blackmail me later. All he got was a right hook to the face and a concussion. Southern women really could pack a punch.

Em turned in his seat and gave her a hurt look, before saying "And here I was thinking you forgave me, Ro." She sneered at him and flicked him off. "It's Rosalie to you, jerkoff. And you thought wrong, then." Normally it was funny to see their fights, but with Rose's odd behavior today, I was more worried than entertained.

Jazz smiled at their banter from the driver's seat and turned the car into their driveway, parking next to his mother's Mercedes. Chief had the night shift on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so Em and I normally spent the night in Jazz and Rose's respective rooms before heading back over the next morning. We all hopped out, entering the house to the smell of freshly baked chocolate cookies. Though I certainly didn't miss my own mother, I sometimes wished I had a mother like Mrs. Hale, or Esme as she liked me to call her. She worked from home, so she was always around, baking us snacks or taking us to our different activities. Now that Jasper had a car, she was able to spend more time in the kitchen, which is where I found her today.

"Hey Mom," I said as I greeted her with a hug from behind.

"Hi, Angel," she responded, drying her hands on a nearby dishtowel. Esme turned in my arms and gave me a one arm hug, using her other hand to boing one of my frizzy curls. Rose used to wet her bed and have night terrors but after our first sleepover, she stopped doing it. Esme thought I was a little miracle worker and took to calling me 'Angel'. I always hoped there was also some other reason behind it but she never mentioned one and I never asked. "How was school?"

"It was alright. Ro and I went shopping. I finally got a bra," I said, turning away from her and stirring the pot she had going on the stove, in hopes of making it seem less of a big deal.

"Aww, honey, you should have told me you needed one. I would have taken you," Esme said, kissing the top of my head. Between her hugs and kisses, I had all the familial affection that my house lacked and then some. She freely gave some to Emmett too, attending all his football games and baking for his booster club bake sales as if she was his own mom. Loud thumps came from the side of the house and she shooed me out of the kitchen. "Go on and get out of here, dinner isn't ready yet and it seems like everyone else is already in the basement."

I called out a playful 'alright, ma,' and took the steps two at a time down to the rec room. The rec room was like something out of a home design magazine. Mr. Hale had gone overboard in his effort to make up for his long absences from home. The rec room had 3 computers, 2 TVs, an Xbox, a Playstation 2, several couches, fully stocked vending machines and an en suite bathroom. And between the four of us, we barely used any of it.

Rose sat on one of the leather couches, filing one of her nails. Now that was a sight, I'd never seen….my best friend doing something to her fingernails. She normally kept them long but unmanicured, and was constantly complaining about scratching herself in her sleep. She must have ran upstairs and changed while I was in the kitchen with Esme because she was wearing a skin tight pair of jeans and one of the tank tops she bought earlier.

I took my spot on the loveseat to her right and flipped the TV onto my new favorite show, Laguna Beach. My dad would probably have my head if he saw me watching this but I was sick and tired of watching Disney and all its shows about psychic girls who secretly crushed on their best friend Gordo while saving the world from a naked mole rat, or whatever was on these days.

As I focused my attention solely on the show and Rose focused hers solely on ignoring me, several sets of stomping footsteps made their way downstairs. Lovely, the boys were here…

Mwahahahaha, I'm a truly evil person. I give you another chapter, only to tease you with a cliffie. Leave me a review! Or don't! If I were reading this, my review would be a right hook as strong as Rose's. :P