Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the delay...I have so far written 10 more chapters since the last upload. I'm trying to get Edward into the story...but I have to tie loose ends first. So, our Edward will be here...soon ^_^..

I don't own the story or the saga "Twilight." I also don't own the songs being used in the story...they're just inspiration...They belong to their respective owners and no copyright infringement intended.

All I own is an old computer and an ipod...*_^

CHAPTER 4

Vanessa

It is the inevitable. As much as I want to continue this masquerade, I really can't. This is the reason for the mini-concert event in three days - to blow my cover. It is my debut as a songwriter/singer. Yes! I, to the surprise of everyone, am a singer as well - a very good one, in fact. It is, I think, one of the reasons why the music industry executives and producers, when have their ears caught on my demo, are more easily convinced to work with me despite of my ridiculous demands. I write beautiful songs and sing them beautifully as well.

Before seven years ago, I wouldn't even think that I would be able to do something as great as this. I always thought of myself, other than being plain and clumsy, as someone who didn't have any special talent, someone very insignificant. As it turned out, it was only something that was hidden deep inside me; something dormant that was needed to be awakened. Vanessa had helped me discover about my talent 7 years ago.

Vanessa walked into my life several months after the unfortunate "incident" in the forest, around March. I've also been very good friends with Jacob months before I met Vanessa - around January when I just had an epiphany and was just starting to crawl out of my dark hole. However, I didn't see him as much as I wanted to since he had been spending more time with Audrina . He imprinted on her the day that I agreed to go out on a dinner with him. So, it meant that I was alone again - naturally.

But I had been better when it came to socializing with other people around that time, although I tried to keep my conversations within just a few people: Angela, Ben Cheney, and occasionally Mike.

Then one day, during lunch, I saw one girl sitting alone at the Cullens' table. I swore that my heart felt like literally jumping out of my chest when I saw someone sitting at the table that had been vacant for months. It was Vanessa.

I, sometimes, would glance at their table before, either hoping that maybe they would be back, or just trying to remember how they all looked like sitting there, playing with their food, attempting to blend with the rest, and him - intently gazing at me, with that crooked smile on his face that I truly loved so much; until realization would hit me - that table would remain empty indefinitely.

So when I finally saw Vanessa sitting at the forbidden table, my heart palpitated; all of a sudden, I felt dizzy and it was hard to concentrate! I tried to hug myself because I didn't know if my head was starting to finally snap. I thought I could only hear "voices", now I was starting to imagine people too! Angela must have noticed my sudden discomfort. She gently shook me and asked if I was ok.

"Are you getting sick? You look so pale!" Angela, then, followed my gaze - towards their table.

"Bella, what is wrong?"

"Um…Angela? Can you see her?" My gaze didn't leave that table.

"Um…yeah! She's new here. I heard her name is Vanessa. She came from New York. She's a senior just like us. Why? Do you know her?"

I left out a big sigh. Whew! What a relief! At least, I knew she wasn't a delusion.

"No…I don't know her. I was just shocked to see that... someone... is sitting there…"

I was unable to go on. I was certain that Angela knew what I've meant. It was a good thing she didn't ask anymore.

"I see. You know. I met her this morning, in between the second and third period. She was walking, with her back to me, and you know, her jacket is almost similar to yours…so I thought she was you. I tapped on her shoulder, she looked back at me, and I realized my mistake. I apologized and told her that she looked just like you from behind. She smiled and said it was ok. She introduced herself and told me where she came from," Angela explained to me, smiling.

"Well, why is she sitting alone there? Doesn't she want to sit with us?"

Michael, without my knowledge, was silently listening to our conversation.

"I've asked her that. She seemed to be aloof. Well, I can't really blame her…not after Lauren and Jessica gave her those stern looks, I don't think anyone would like to go near this table again…If only looks could kill…," Michael interrupted, shaking his head in disbelief.

I glanced towards where Jessica and Lauren (with her bad hair) were sitting. They were giggling, gossiping as usual. Those witches!

"I wanna go, sit over there and introduce myself," I found myself telling Angela.

"Sure. I'll go with you."

"You sure?"

"Yeah! I'll just tell Ben. Gimme a sec."

"Ok…Thanks, Angela."

"No prob!"

I waited for Angela while she was telling Ben her plan. She gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, we both stood up and started walking towards that table. Our table must have gone quiet because I couldn't hear Lauren's or Jessica's loud but annoying giggles over the noisy chatter. I could feel their deep stares burrowed on our backs. I didn't care. I was used to gazes like that. As we were near Vanessa, she suddenly stopped chewing her sandwich and looked at both of us.

She's eating human food. I thought to myself. She was definitely human. Besides, she didn't appear to be incredibly pale, or anything that seems to be out of the ordinary. She was beautiful though. I liked the color of her eyes…they were blue, like the ocean. Angela waved at her while I smiled.

"Hi, Angela, right?" She greeted us, with a sincere smile.

"Hey! You remember! Well, this is Bella," Angela pointed at me.

"Hello Bella! I'm Vanessa."

"I know. Angela told me. We're just wondering if we can join you for lunch."

Vanessa's smile widened.

"Sure, sure…grab a seat. It wasn't so hard to find an empty place around here. You must have noticed that I was alone. Nobody seemed to like to seat at this table. So I just took it. "

"Yeah…it's been empty for a while." My life, like this table, has been empty too. I said to myself.

"I'm so sorry that if it seems like I was a snob. I could have gone over there and talked to you myself…It was just that…Well, I was actually invited by one of your friends a while ago…the guy with blonde hair…I wanted to say yes, but his girlfriends didn't seem so happy about it," Vanessa admitted shyly.

"Ah! Don't worry about those girls…they're just like that. They've got nothing else better to do other than to make others feel miserable. If you want, we can join you here everyday at lunchtime…unless you want your privacy…" Angela offered.

"Of course not! It would be nice to have you here! I just feel bad that it looks like I'm stealing you from your friends… you already got yourselves settled over there…"

"Hell no! They won't miss us, I'm telling you. Starting tomorrow, we will all sit here…I'll get my boyfriend Ben Cheney to join us…and most probably, Mike, the blonde hair guy will be joining us, too! If that's alright with you?"

"Are you kidding? The more, the merrier!"

Vanessa smiled at both of us. I felt warm once more. I couldn't quite explain it but it seemed like an angel was brought down to heaven to guide me. It was the feeling of easiness towards a person that even though I didn't know much anything about her then, it was like we were already meant to be friends.

Every lunch, Angela, Ben, Mike, and I joined Vanessa at the Cullens' table for lunch. It was like we were the Cullens before, except the human version. We would pale in comparison, I'm sure…well, in the physical aspects of a comparison, that is.

But we were much livelier, more fun, and definitely louder. I thought that Jessica and Lauren's table was the loudest of all, not until I would realize for several times that they were gawking at us for how loud our laughter could be and I had to "shoosh" them, especially Mike.

Well, our loudness came from doubling up so hard because of all the funny stories that we would all share. I shared about one or two, mostly it was either Mike or Vanessa who got funny anecdotes up their sleeves; on the other hand, Jessica and Lauren's laughter and annoying giggles from the other table would come from their gossips and "funny" stories - funny only to them because they were at the expense of other people.

It wasn't so hard to like Vanessa. She was polite and kind. She was down-to-earth and funny. She wasn't scared to be herself, just like when she got her feelings hurt and felt angry, which happened from time to time, she grasped how to vent out her emotions without being trashy. She knew how to deal with people, even found herself trying all those absurdities while still keeping it real.

But the most incredible thing about her was that she was aware of just what to say, how to say it, how much to say, and when. She understood when being funny was appropriate and when to stop; when polite words were needed or when she would just look at you, smile, and wait until you're ready to spill the beans and hear her words of comfort; she was very kind and so optimistic - all of the advice she had me given during those desolate moments of my life were just uplifting. I still don't know how she could turn all those negative happenings into something constructive and encouraging…something inspirational!

Angela noticed those qualities in Vanessa too, and said that aside from me, Vanessa was the next kindest girl she met at Forks High…actually, in her entire life. Mike, on the other hand, didn't waste any time to express his "likeness" towards the new girl. But Vanessa politely declined, without hurting his feelings. She even made him convinced that it would be better if they could just stay as friends. Mike, for some reason, agreed just like that, without any discussion. I thought that maybe before asking her out, he was already resigned to the fact that he would be more likely to be turned down than to find Vanessa agreeing in going out with him, though he tried to ask her out anyway - just a typical Mike Newton!

Well, either that…or Vanessa was also good in convincing people to see things in some way- just like her mother, Martha, they could be both very persuasive. But that little mishap of being turned down didn't discourage Mike from still hanging out with us. It was as if it didn't happen and went along with Vanessa's idea that being friends was much better than dating.

Ever since that fateful day at the lunch table, Vanessa and I became inseparable. Angela and I would still hang out all the time, but I couldn't be with her as much as I could since Angela already had Ben to spend time with. By the first weekend since I've met her, I already introduced her to Charlie. The following weekend, she introduced me to Martha.

Everyday, after school, if I wouldn't be working at the Newton's, she would be hanging out at our house - doing homework and helping me make dinner. Sometimes she would stay for dinner, but there were those days that she had to go home or else Martha would be disappointed if she couldn't join her for dinner again.

Every Saturday, after work, she would be at our house with her guitar, playing music. We would spend most of our Saturday afternoons just like that - she would be playing on her guitar, writing songs, making music; while I would be reading. She encouraged me to read once more, as I once almost gave up on doing that. She also got me into listening to music again. She got me convinced that activities as joyful as reading or listening to music shouldn't be given up, no matter how bad life had treated us.

We didn't hang out much on Sundays, though. Every Sunday, she and Martha would either drive to Port Angeles, or sometimes all the way to Seattle, to have a fun day - seeing a movie, dining out, shopping. She would invite me many times to go with them. Martha would invite me, too. But I just couldn't find myself intruding the mother-daughter bonding moments. Besides, there were house chores that I needed to attend to anyway.

Vanessa also got close to Jacob. Jacob is my best friend, as she was also turning to be one. It was only sensible to introduce them to one another. I knew that there wouldn't be a problem with these two as they were both easygoing and laid-back.

Boy, was I right! The moment they met, they just hit it off. Both of them were very similar in the way of thinking…like they knew what was in each other's mind at the same time. There would be a number of instances where they would be laughing even without telling what the joke was, a simple look at one another and they would be splitting their sides.

Usually, Audrina and I would be out of place, asking what could be funny. They couldn't even manage to utter an audible word to explain; they just kept on doubling over, while Audrina and I would stare at each and then back to them, wondering if these two had lost it.

"Why did you wait a long time to introduce me to Nessie?" Jacob managed to ask me one time. (Nessie was the special name that Jacob would call Vanessa, while she, on the other hand, would call Jacob…Jakey. Audrina got caught up in the middle of this name-calling, too. She became Audrey…which she really liked because Audrey Hepburn is her style icon. They tried to get me into their game as well, but "Bellie" was something not so appealing, when one could manage to think of upon hearing that word was a picture of a big fat abdomen.)

"Because…you, sir, were very busy making Audrina fall in love with you, which took you about 6 weeks! Not bad, lover boy! Hahaha! Anyway, I didn't want to cramp your style or anything like that with a pair of girls trying to follow you around."

It took about a month and a half after I met Vanessa for Jacob and I to start seeing each other again regularly. But things have changed for both of us. I was much livelier than he was used to, and him…well, he couldn't be much happier. He just found his soul mate, his truest and greatest love.

He found Audrina…