Hello everyone! i know it's been a long while since i've updated but my mom grounded me and decided it was good to take away my laptop so i had no choice but to wait it out :( i hope u all can forgive me!

Recap: I closed the door and got dinner started. All the while I was thinking about my answer to Seth. Ugh. This would be hard...

For dinner I decided that meatloaf with a side of macaroni salad would be good.

So after I dug up a good pan, I started cooking while running through my thoughts.

Edward gave me his number to call him any time, I think I might be smitten for him and Seth just came to my door asking me to be his fake girlfriend.

Isn't life swell?

First, I wanted the Seth situation settled because that was the biggest weight on my shoulders at the time.

It's an easy thing to solve. Either tell him yes or tell him no. If you tell him no, it'll all be done with and never spoken of again. But then I'll feel guilty.

If I tell him yes, then that'll put even more weight on my shoulders. Edward will think I'm taken and possibly go for another girl.

Oh, who am I kidding? Edward's the kind of guy who dates size two models! Not a pale and schizophrenic teenager!

But still, was I really ready to take on something like this or am I seriously way over my head?

I huffed.

"You alright Bells?" Charlie asked behind me.

"Yeah, fine. Just thinking."

"What about?"

"Um, a school project," I lied.

"Oh. Anything good?"

"Nope," I said popping the "p".

"You'll get it."

"Hopefully." I served dinner and Charlie practically inhaled it and told me how good it was in between bites.

When I was finished I pushed the plate away from me slightly and started drinking my water.

After cleaning the dishes, I went into the living room where my dad sat watching the game.

"I think I'm gonna turn in early tonight," I called.

"Ok, sleep tight," he said without looking away.

"I'll try."

I sat down on my bed and wondered what I would do about Seth. Just when I thought I knew what to do, my phone beeped.

I flipped it open and saw I had a text from Edward. There was a sudden shock of excitement coursing through me and I couldn't figure out why but I didn't question it for long.

Hey got bored with piano thought I'd talk 2 u -E

I smiled.

Well what should we talk about? -B

Don't kno…mayb we could finish our conversation from b4? -E

My smile faded.

Sure if u want 2...but I forget where we left off lol -B

I believe u just told me u were jumped by J, T & L -E

Rite…um Ange and I were walkin bak from dunkin donuts & we had to go diff directions & that's when they got me

He didn't reply for at least sixty seconds later.

I hope they didn't hurt you 2 badly ur blak eye looked horrible no offense

None taken…and no they didn't hurt me badly it was mostly my pride lol

Lol yes that's what they're known 4...making themselves look bad and making others look worse

Haha yea sounds like them…mayb one of these days u can finish that song u were playing for me. Ur really good

Thnx. Mayb one day when alice invites u ovr. She's been itching to take u shopping lol

Good lord I hate shopping. U think she'll go easy on me?

I highly doubt it…srry

Yea didn't think so lol well listen I gotta go. Mayb we can talk 2morow?

Tomorrow

I flipped my phone shut and hooked it up to the charger. I figured I could make up for my loss of sleep yesterday so I lay back and waited for sleep to take over me.

/-/-/-/

I woke up the next morning feeling absolutely refreshed, just like I thought I would.

I got out of bed and looked at my eye. The swelling went down and it wasn't as dark but you could clearly tell it was there. So after my shower, I went to cover it as usual.

Soon, I was out the door and heading to school. Then about half way there, it hit me.

All of today's pressure was still weighing on me heavily and I wished I could slow down so it would take longer to get there but there were people driving behind me so I wouldn't take that risk.

I parked in the lot and stepped out just as a shiny Volvo pulled in across from me.

Edward stepped out of the car and sent a crooked grin my way.

I felt my knees buckle and held on to my car to keep my balance.

When I finally caught my breath, I grabbed my stuff and headed for the school, only to bump into Angela.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you," I apologized.

She smiled at me. "I saw you staring at Edward."

I blushed. Hard. "Y-you did?"

"Mm-hm," she hummed with attitude. That only made me blush harder if possible.

"Um, we should go to class." I brushed past her to try and hide my embarrassment but I doubt that helped.

All the classes up to lunch were great, thanks to Angela. I honestly didn't know how to survive if I didn't have her by my side.

After English, Angela left with Eric so I was thinking I was the last one to leave. I walked down the aisle not paying attention and ended up tripping over something.

I looked up and saw Tanya smirking at me. She stepped over me as if I wasn't even there and I was there picking up all the stuff I dropped.

I walked out into the empty hallways and headed for the café. But I stopped when I heard grunting and screaming. And not in a pleasurable way.

I veered left and saw the jocks surrounding some poor kid lying on the ground.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Leave him alone. Go, get outta here!"

They rolled their eyes as if they didn't care. All of them left except for the blonde one. He got one last kick and then joined his friends.

I walked up to the kid rolled him over so I could see his face.

"Oh my god, Seth!" practically shrieked.

He groaned. "I'm ok. Can you just help me up?"

I got him to his feet. "Are you ok?"

"No. I feel like my pride was stomped on."

I knew exactly how that felt.

"If you just heard a loud crack, that was my heart breaking," his said as his hand covered his chest.

I wrapped my arms over his shoulders and pulled him into a hug. "You really weren't kidding when you said you were being tormented, did you?"

He scoffed as he held me at arms length. "That was the biggest understatement in the world."

I laughed a humorless laugh. "Ok, I've made up my mind. I will help you."

"Really?" he said as his eyes lit up.

I smiled at him. "Yes. I'm not sure when, where or how, but I'll figure it out. Do you have your phone on you?"

"Yeah, why?"

I pulled out mine and handed it to him as I took his. "Put your number in there and I'll do the same with yours."

"Ok."

Once I finished making the contact, I handed his phone back to him. "I'll call you when I have the details."

"Thanks a lot, Bella."

"No problem. Now let's get you to lunch, accident-free alright?"

He chuckled. "Sounds good to me."

I walked him to his table since he was a little wobbly on his feet.

"Oh, Seth, what happened to you?" one of the boys asked.

"I got beat up by the jocks again."

Another scoffed as he flicked his long black hair behind his shoulders just as a girl would do. I bit my tongue to keep from laughing. "We need vengance."

"Relax, Jake, it's nothing new."

"Well, I'll see you later, Seth."

He only waved since he had a mouth full of pizza.

I walked to my table where everyone was waiting for me.

"Hey, Bells," Angela said. "I thought you ditched or something."

"No, sorry, I got sidetracked for a moment."

"Uh-oh," Alice moaned. "Did Tanya get to you again?"

"Of course she did," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"She does this every day!" Rose yelled.

"Well, it's good to be consistent," I joked.

Everyone laughed with me.

"So Bella," Emmett said gaining everyone's attention. "There's a party tomorrow night at Mike's house. We were all gonna go and wondered if you wanted to come?"

"Oh, Bella, you should totally come!" Rosalie smiled.

"Yeah, Bells, we'd have such a great time!" Alice sang.

That's when it all clicked. That's where I could get Seth in the clear. Oh, yeah, not only is this gonna be extremely fun but it's gonna be extremely juicy too!

"Sure, why not?" I said nonchalantly.

"Angela, you should come too," Emmett added.

"I am," she replied. "Eric and I are carpooling."

"Oh, cool."

For the rest of school, I was just itching to get home and call Seth. This plan was so genius I couldn't believe that I was the mastermind who made it up!

I jumped into my car and went slightly over the speeding limit to get home.

When I got home, I saw that Charlie was home early.

"Hey, Dad?" I called.

"Yeah?"

"Is it ok if I have a friend over tonight?"

I saw him hesitate slightly.

"C'mon, Dad, it's a Friday night."

He sighed. "Ok, go ahead."

"Thanks!" I said as I ran up the stairs while dialing Seth's number.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey, Seth!" I answered happily after closing the door.

"Oh, hey Bella! How's it going?"

"Great! I just figured out what we're gonna do!"

"Really? Omigod, is it good?"

"Hell yeah, it's good! Can you come over?"

"Yeah, I'll be over in a bit."

"Cool."

I sat on the edge of the bed, my knee bouncing as I waited for Seth's arrival.

After what seemed like eternity, I heard the doorbell. "I got it!" I yelled.

I sprinted down the steps but ended up tripping over the last one.

"Be careful," Charlie warned.

"You're a little late, Dad," I laughed as I answered the door.

Seth came walking in, "Hey."

"Hey," I repeated. "Dad, Seth's here."

"The gay one?"

"Dad!" I scolded.

"No, it's ok," Seth said with a light laugh.

I glared at my father for one more second and then turned back to Seth. "Let's talk upstairs."

I took him to my room and shut the door so Charlie couldn't hear us. "Ok, so I found out that there's a party at Mike's house and-"

"Wait, wait, wait," he interrupted. "Mike Newton?"

"Uh, sure?" I said not knowing his last name.

"That's one of the jocks that beat me up!"

"Good, then we'll know he'll be there," I answered coolly. "So my plan was, that we show up together, hang out for a while and then take the guest room. Then we'll pretend to have sex and intentionally letting everyone listen. So when you walk out, you're off the hook!"

"Oh sweet! It's time to throw glitter on this barn!" he cheered.

I laughed at his choice of words. "I'm guessing you like glitter?"

He smiled and nodded proudly. "I remember the first day I found out what glitter was. I was at my Jake's seventh birthday party and he was wearing a shirt with lots of glitter on it. It was like I was in love!"

I laughed again. "I can tell we're gonna be great friends."

He laughed too. "Wanna hear something really funny? At that party, everyone was supposed to dress nice. But Sam actually wore pants!"

I was momentarily confused. "What'd you expect him to wear?"

"At least some short shorts! I mean, I'm not a big fan of getting all dressed up either but I actually put on a skirt just for Jakey."

"Wow," I said, acting as if this were normal because I couldn't bare to hurt his feelings. "Did he at least put on dress pants?"

"No! He put on yoga pants! But I must say, they hugged his ass quite nicely."

"Aw, does someone have a little crush on Sammy?" I asked in a baby voice.

"No," he snapped. "It's on Jake." He smiled to let me know he was only kidding and I smiled back gratefully.

"Ok, let's get back on track," I stated going back to serious-mode. "Just in case, let's get our story straight."

"Ok, what do you suggest?"

"I say, we first met at the coffee shop, a couple blocks away from here and things just picked up from there."

"Sounds good."

"Ok, now that that's settled." I did a once-over on him and sighed. "No offense but your wardrobe sucks."

His eyes narrowed at me. "Just because you say no offense doesn't mean that the offense isn't there."

I put my hands up as if to say, "I surrender." I picked up my cell and called Edward.

"Hello?" his velvet voice answered.

A shudder went through me as I thought of a million things he could say to me in bed. "Uh, hey, Edward. It's Bella."

"Yeah, I know I added you in my contact's list when we were done texting."

"Right. Um, is Alice there?" I asked.

"No, actually she's with Jasper. Is everything ok?"

"Yeah everything's fine. I just have a bit of a fashion emergency and I think she's the only one who can help."

He laughed. "I think you're right on that note. I can give her your number if you'd like."

"That'd be great."

"Ok, get a writing utensil and some paper."

I quickly ripped a piece of notebook paper out of my bag and grabbed a red pen. "Ok, shoot."

"555-0121."

"Ok, thanks Edward. I'll talk to you later."

"Ok, see ya."

I hung up and then started dialing Alice's number.

"Who are you calling now?" Seth asked.

"My friend Alice. I bet she could hook you up with the coolest clothes in Washington."

His eyes lit up.

"But it might not be your type of style."

His face fell.

"Don't worry, it'll all be worth it."

Finally Alice answered her phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Alice, it's Bella."

"Oh, hi! Sorry I didn't answer right away I couldn't find my phone and I had it on vibrate."

I snickered lightly. "Um, are you busy right now?"

"No, I'm just about to leave from Jazz's place. Why?"

"I have a bit of a fashion emergency and-"

"OK! I'LL BE RIGHT THERE!" she yelled into the phone.

I shrugged and flipped the phone shut.

"Is she coming?"

I nodded.

To pass the time, Seth and I talked about our lives before we met so we would have some background info about each other. You can never be too safe.

A couple minutes later, there was erratic doorbell ringing. I suspected it was Alice.

I could hear my dad cursing like a sailor as he angry walked toward the door.

"It's ok, Dad, I got it." I opened the door and got slammed into by Alice.

"Come on! Show me your closet!" she screamed as if it were a life and death situation.

"Relax, Ali, it's not gonna run away or anything. Dad, this is-"

"Alice. Yeah I know. She could be quite the pixie," he laughed.

"You know me, Charlie," Alice laughed.

Of course Charlie knew her. He knew everybody in this town. "Ok, let's go."

I took her to my room and introduced her to Seth.

"Seth and I need some new clothes for the party tomorrow night," I said.

"Oh, are you two going together?" she asked.

"Yes."

"We are?" Seth asked.

I nudged him with my elbow.

"We are," he corrected.

She eyed us suspiciously. "Ok, let's go to Seattle. Their mall's the best!"

We all walked downstairs and headed for the door.

"Dad, I'm going out."

"Where?" he asked, still not looking away from the TV screen.

"Seattle."

"I dunno, Bells."

I dug up my wallet and placed a twenty dollar bill on the table, but first held it up so he could see. "If I'm not back by dinner, you can order pizza or something."

"It's not the food I'm worried about it's you."

"Dad, I'll be fine. It's not like I'm alone. I've got Alice and Seth with me too."

"Please Charlie?" Alice gave him her signature puppy-dog-pout and he instantly gave.

"Ok, but stay safe."

"We will."

After about an hour and half of driving, we were finally there.

"Ok guys, let's go," Alice said as she opened the door to her yellow Porsche.

The three of us got out and stretched our legs.

While we were there, we walked into ten clothing stores, tried on practically every piece of fabric there and we weren't even close to being done.

I was beginning to regret allowing Alice to drag us everywhere.

"I'm not the only one dying, am I?" Seth whispered.

"Nope."

"I can hear you," Alice said in front of us.

We both groaned as we continued to follow her.

After our twentieth store, a miracle happened.

"It's perfect!" Alice squealed. She forced Seth to spin so she could see everything. "Yes. This is definitely the one."

"Can I see?" I asked.

Seth walked over to me and I nodded in approval.

He was wearing a black hoodie unzipped, a black shirt underneath and loose fitting jeans.

"I like it. Good job, Alice."

"Thanks. And I found something for you too." She handed me a black dress and shoved me into the dressing room.

When I came out I looked at my reflection and cowered. "No. Alice, I can't wear this!"

"What? Why? Girl, you look good!" Seth said with a snap of his fingers.

I blushed at him and again looked myself with a shake of the head. "No."

"Bel-la!" Alice whined. "You look great! You actually look like a girl!"

I was wearing a dress that came down mid thigh and it was tight against my waist and chest.

I sighed and figured it would be easier if I didn't argue. "Ok, fine let's get it."

When it came down to paying, Alice, Seth and I bickered over which one would pay. But since there were people behind us waiting, we agreed to split the total into thirds.

We were back at my house a little after eight.

"Hey, guys," Charlie said as he emerged from the living room. "I saved you some pizza if your hungry."

We all dropped out bags and charged toward the kitchen table and practically ripped the box apart trying to get the pizza.

I could hear Charlie laughing behind us as we devoured the cold slices.

When we were finished eating, we walked up to my room and put all of my new clothes into my closet.

"Thanks, guys," I said when the task was done.

"Ok, we should get your stuff in your closet too, Seth," Alice add while grabbing his bags.

"Yeah, I bet my mom's expecting me to be home anyway."

We walked Seth home and helped him get his stuff in his room. After saying goodbye, Alice and I walked back to the house and she hopped in the car and headed home.

When I got back inside I put Alice in my contact's list and thanked Edward by text.

Again, we got sucked into a conversation before we went to bed and slept with happy dreams of Edward.

Wow, that was a long one. I hoped you all enjoyed it! Review if you wanna see the Quileute boys in skirts! lol

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