Artemis was instantly glad that she had arranged herself to see everyone's reaction before talking. She had trouble forcing down her laughter at the looks on their faces. Jasper and Edward's golden eyes had grown twice their size and were now narrowed and focused directly on her as if trying to tell if she were lying. Alice and Bella were simply staring in shock. Alice couldn't figure out how she, very literally, didn't see that one coming and Bella was now trying twice as hard to figure out what this girl was to be very well acquainted with both Carlisle and Jacob. Besides their species' being mortal enemies, there was no connection between the two.

After a few more quiet moments, Alice finally spoke up. "I'll call him now. He shouldn't have any trouble getting off. When…when would you like to come over?"

"Now would be wonderful, if you four don't mind skipping the rest of school?" Artemis replied happily. Alice nodded and then she was gone; the cafeteria had absolutely no reception for all but the newest phones, which the Cullens had not yet found the time to acquire.

Edward made another noise that showed he was not amused so Artemis turned her head back to him, a look on her face like that of an adult trying to be patient with a small child. "Bella will not be coming with us," he stated simply. When Bella opened her mouth immediately to protest, he cut her off smugly, "You're still grounded, love. I'll tell you all about it tonight."

Bella made a face but couldn't think of a way to argue with him. She looked up through her eyelashes at Artemis, wishing she wasn't left out of the loop so often. Her sad brown eyes met with Artemis's sympathetic blue ones and all of a sudden Artemis was pulling out her cell phone; Bella wasn't surprised to see it was the newest one on the market.

Artemis flipped it open and looked at Bella before dialing. "I hope you don't mind me telling Charlie a little white lie or two? Just to get you out of your house through the end of school, I promise." When Bella looked at her shocked, she sighed and said, "What? You'll believe that I'll let Billy decide where I go to school but you can't believe I've met one of his best friends? He comes to La Push quite often, you know."

That made since, of course. Living so close to Jacob, Artemis had to have met many of both Jake's and Billy's friends. Why, then, had she never met Bella until today? Artemis shook her head. "No more questions right now. Unless you'd like to stay in school, you're going to need to give me permission to lie to your father." Bella nodded quickly, ignoring Edward's rumbling chest and tense arms.

Artemis clicked through her contact list, finding Chief Swan very quickly and pressing the 'call' button. Everyone was silent while waiting impatiently for the call to go through. Bella heard a low voice on the other end but couldn't quite make out what he was saying. Edward and Jasper, however, heard both sides of the conversation quite clearly.

"Swan residence."

"Hello, Chief Swan. This is Artemis, Billy's adopted niece from La Push. You remember me, don't you?"

"…Oh! Artemis! Yes, I remember. How are you doing? Is there something you need?"

"I'm doing great, Chief Swan. But there is something I need your…approval for."

"What is it?"

"Well, I think Billy might have told you that I was going to go to school in Forks now?"

"Yes, I remember him mentioning that. What about it?"

"Well, you see, there are a couple of classes that I'm having trouble with and, lucky for me, your daughter Bella happens to be in them. I was wondering if it wouldn't be too much trouble for her to hang out after school and help me do a little catching up. No more than 30 or 45 minutes, I promise. I just don't want to start off already behind."

"I don't mind. Why don't you come over here and you two can study together?"

"I would but I'd like for this to take as little time as possible and I get distracted very easily. Bella said that if she went home, she'd have a visitor that would make it quite hard for either of us to concentrate. But if you like-"

"No! Actually, now that you mention it, staying at school is a good idea. You'll need to tell Bella that it will cut into her visiting hours. I'm sure she won't mind. She's really a good person"

"I'm sure she won't mind either, Chief Swan. Thank you so much, this really is a great help."

"Any time, Artemis, really. I'm always happy to help. Study hard now. I'll probably see you this Saturday. The Colts are playing and I promised Billy I'd come down and watch the game with him. I could maybe bring Bella and you and she could hang out?"

"That sounds great, Chief Swan. See you then."

Edward growled at Charlie's last comment, knowing that he just wanted Bella down in La Push so she could hang out with Jacob. Well, it didn't matter anyway, he told himself. Bella wouldn't ever go back to La Push so long as he had anything to say about it.

Artemis grinned at Bella once she closed her phone. "You're covered for probably an hour or so after school ends. He seemed very happy to hand you over once he realized your visitor couldn't get to you if you were with me. By the way, apparently this cuts into your visiting hours."

Bella stared at Artemis in shock yet again. That was an excellent performance; Bella wished she was able to lie like that. It would make her life much easier. When everything Artemis had said sunk in, Bella smiled. Charlie thought that he was cutting majorly into her time with Edward when he was actually extending it. How perfect.

"Carlisle said he'll be there by the time we arrive," Alice's voice made Bella jump since there hadn't been a single noise to announce her arrival. She knew without looking, however, that she was the only one surprised by her quick appearance. There was confusion in her voice but Bella paid it no mind for the moment; everyone had been confused since Artemis had shown up and, in any case, Artemis was standing. It was time to go.

Artemis smiled politely at Alice, "Thank you. I suppose we should leave now?" Jasper stood immediately and Alice went to his side without hesitation. Edward hesitated a moment before releasing his death grip on Bella and standing quickly, holding his hand out to help her up in the blink of an eye. Without a word, they all walked out of the building in a line of sorts, Alice and Jasper in the lead, Artemis following about twenty feet behind and Edward making sure to keep halfway in front of Bella as they walked about thirty feet behind Artemis.

The group walked silently outside and directly to the shiny Volvo that stood out in the student parking lot. Jasper held the back door open for Alice and climbed in behind her. Artemis stopped short of the car so that Edward and Bella could give her a wide berth.

Edward slowed to a stop before reaching the Volvo as well. He looked at Artemis confused again. His eyebrows moved together in an obvious attempt to read her mind. Bella almost laughed out loud when she saw the very amused grin on Artemis's face but she managed to bite her tongue. Finally, Edward seemed to give up and just stated his question, "How are you getting there?"

Bella started to wonder whether he'd just been rude by refusing to give Artemis a ride or if it was ok to be cautious in this circumstance. Artemis just smiled approvingly, seemingly loving her newfound job of teaching Edward patience, and said, "The same way I got here. I'm going to run. Don't worry. I'll let you get there first."

This made Edward scowl. She'd just implied that she thought he and his car were slow. Or, at least, that's how it seemed to his fragile male ego (the only fragile part of his existence). Artemis giggled and it took all of Bella's will power not to do the same. When she decided that Edward's patience had been tried enough for the time being, Artemis smiled and waved. "I'll see you soon!" she called sweetly.

And then she was gone.