A/N: I should say that not all the embarrassing stuff that happens in this story will be on those lists. You didn't think I'd spoil everything, did you? (: Annnnd review, please?

Alice, Jessica and I sat in Alice's yellow Porsche. Somehow, the two of them had convinced me in going to the mall with them. Shopping. Eiy.

"For Edward Cullen to notice you," Jessica was saying, "you need some really hot shoes."

I knew I shouldn't have told her about the Bet.

"Alice, does Edward like girls with hot shoes?"

Alice stared at Jessica. "How in the world am I supposed to know? I don't ask him what kind of shoes he likes on a girl. We don't even live in the same house, remember? Our parents are divorced."

"Well find out so we can buy Bella some shoes."

"But, seriously guys, I don't need really hot shoes. Why can't he like me for who's on the inside, and not what's on the outside?"

The two of them blinked. "Um, hello," Jessica said. "The MB is in two weeks!" She held up two fingers in front of my face, as if I didn't understand. "TWO WEEKS, Bella! And you haven't even decided what dress you're wearing!"

Alice said, "I know a guy's supposed to like you for the inside and all, but Edward can't find out what's inside of you in two weeks. You're going to need a backup plan." She snapped her fingers, like an idea had just occurred to her. "Like going to college! You don't need it, but you should have it!"

"That has absolutely nothing to do with this bet."

"That's what you think, Bella." I could see Jessica shake her head in the rear-view mirror. "That's what you think."

Since I wasn't in the mood for talking about hot shoes, I stared out the windshield at the street the rest of the way there, the radio blasting a new Justin Timberlake song.

"We're here!" Alice said, taking the keys out of the ignition. "We're here!"

"Yay," I said unenthusiastically. This'll be fun.

First we went to clothing stores. I didn't even bother looking, because everything was over fifty dollars. My budget was twenty-five.

It was only when we went into one of those stores that sold toys, clothing, and antiques all in one shop that they acknowledged me. "Bella, look!" Jessica was pointing to the clearance racks. "All of this stuff is five dollars! You can buy five of these shirts with twenty-five bucks!"

I walked over, but as soon as I saw the shirts, I backed up a little. Ha-ha. Yeah, um, I was not buying even one of those shirts.

Alice held up one with the text Hot Stuff. "Buy this one!"

"I'm not buying that."

"Then I'll buy it for you. It's only five dollars, and it'll get Edward's attention tomorrow at school!"

"Sometimes having attention isn't a good thing," I said.

"In your case, it is. Maybe he likes a girl who takes chances!" Jessica looked anxious. "C'mon, Bella! Buy it!"

I sighed and grabbed the shirt from their hands. Even though it was going to gather dust in the back of my closet for the next few years, the tags still attached, I bought it, so they would stop pestering me. "Happy now?" I asked them as we left the store. Jessica had decided on one that said Don't 'Cha Wish Your Girlfriend Was Me? and Alice got a tank top with the sequined letters, Not A Cheerleader, But Better.

When Alice and Jessica shopped for their dresses, I held their other bags for them and critiqued what they tried on. Alice decided on a knee-length strapless purple dress, with a black belt under the bust, and Jessica got a shiny, gold dress that trailed all the way down to the floor.

"Are you getting one, Bella?" Alice asked me while they paid for their own.

"No." I laughed. "Not yet, anyways."

She shrugged. "Your loss."

The rest of the evening we spent shoe shopping. It turns out, shoe shopping is highly un-entertaining, because all you do is look at shoes, look for your size, try them on, take them off, look for a bigger size. Repeat. And then if you don't have socks on while you try them on, the salespeople get very mad at you.

By the time we were finally finished, I was exhausted. My feet were throbbing, and my hands were sore from holding the bags.

And it didn't help much when we walked out into the parking lot, and found that Alice's Porsche was no longer in the same spot it had been before.

"MY CAR!" she cried, dropping her bags on the cold pavement, and running into the empty parking space. She spun around in circles a few times before looking back at Jessica and me. "WHERE IS IT?"

"Are you sure you parked here?" Jessica questioned.

"Yes, I'm sure! THE BEST SPOT IN THE LOT! IT WAS RIGHT HERE!" She put a hand to her forehead and sat down on the ground. "Ohmigod. My Porsche just got stolen. YOU GUYS, MY PORSCHE JUST GOT STOLEN!"

"We'll search the lot." Jess dropped her bags down beside Alice, who was lying on the ground now, and motioned for me to do the same. "C'mon, Bella. It's nine thirty. We need to find the car."

I wanted to say that if someone stole the car, they wouldn't just put it somewhere else in the parking lot, but I didn't have the strength to open my mouth, so I carefully placed the bags down in front of Alice and followed Jessica around the lot, looking anywhere for even a glimpse of yellow.

Nothing.

So by the time we got back to Alice, I was sure my feet were covered in blisters.

"IT'S GONE, YOU GUYS!" Alice yelled at us from the ground. She was on her back, staring up at the stars, with both of her palms over her face. "MY YELLOW PORSCHE IS GONE!"

"Just, calm down, Alice, we'll go to the police station and report an auto theft."

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, JESSICA!" Alice lifted her head so she could see us. "DO NOT TELL ME TO CALM DOWN WHEN MY TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS CAR IS GONE. WOULD YOU BE CALM? YEAH. EXACTLY, JESSICA. FREAKING EXACTLY!"

Both of us stared at Alice for a few seconds.

"We need a ride home," I said finally.

"My parents are out of town." Jess shrugged. "And I don't want to go and call Mike at this hour... his parents get made when I call at eight. What about your dad?"

"He's at some murder scene..." I scratched my head. "He told me not to phone him tonight, and that he'd be home as soon as he could."

"CALL EDWARD!" Alice announced. "HE HAS A CAR!"

My heart began thumping at the sound of his name. "I don't think that's such a great idea..."

"Bella, we need to get home. It's nine thirty, and we're going to get robbed or attacked or something." Jessica sounded afraid. "So shut up and let's just call the most popular guy in school for a ride home. Besides, do you want to win this bet? You need to up your game. This is Rosalie Hale you're dealing with."

I wasn't sure where that came from, but I shut up.

"HIS NUMBER'S IN MY CELL PHONE!" Alice reached into her pocket, took out her sleek, pink Razr, and threw it towards us. I scrambled to get it before it fell onto the ground. "Speed dial three!"

I gave the phone to Jessica. "You phone him."

She gave it back to me. "You can do the honours."

"Ha ha, no. Here. Take it."

"SOMEONE JUST PHONE EDWARD NOW." She lifted her head up again. "Which means you, Bella."

Jessica gave me a triumphant look and backed off.

"Fine. Whatever." I flipped open the phone and hit speed dial number three. As soon as it rang once, I hung up, feeling like a middle schooler. "I can't do this," I said. "I can't just phone Edward Cullen."

Jess shrugged. "Then phone Alice's big brother."

I opened it up again, and then shut it again. "No. I can't. I'm sorry."

"YOU WANNA WIN THE BET? THEN CALL HIM!"

I sighed. "Okay, okay. Fine. Whatever."

I hit number three, and, this time, I didn't hang up on the first ring.

Waiting as patiently as I could, my feet and hands throbbing, I couldn't help but think that I had no chance at winning the Bet. Of course, I had to, if I valued my social life at Forks High School. And, maybe, this would be the first step to winning it all. To taking down Rosalie Hale.

"Hullo? Alice?"

His voice sent shudders through me. I wasn't sure if this was because I was nervous, or because of my developing headache. "Um, sorry, this isn't Alice. This is her friend, Bella." I hesitated. "You know, the girl who stabbed you in the eye with the lip gloss today."

"Oh, hey. Why are you calling me from Alice's cell phone?"

"Um, we kind of went to the mall—"

Kind of went to the mall? Smooth, Bella.

"—and when we came out, Alice's car was gone."

"Her—yellow Porsche?"

"Yeah."

"Oh my God."

"Yeah. I know. But, uh, we sort of need a ride back now, because the parking lot is deserted, and Alice is on the ground screaming for her Porsche, and Jessica is comforting her. So neither of them is a real help at all."

Thank God Jessica and Alice weren't listening. If any of us weren't helping in this situation, it'd probably be me.

"You want me to pick you guys up?"

His tone, I noticed, was very big-brothery. He was not attracted to me, clearly, in any way.

"Yeah. I guess."

"I'll be right there."

He hung up.

When Edward's silver Volvo pulled into the parking space next to us, I felt relieved and anxious and regretful all in one. Relieved that we wouldn't be forced to walk, anxious to get in the car and get home, away from everyone and everything else, and regretful that I had even come to the mall in the first place.

Edward Cullen got out of the car in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, muscles bulging out from under it. The first thing he did was go over to Alice, help her off the ground, and strap her into the backseat. She took up two of the seats. "One of you should stay with her," he said.

Jessica, who I decided I hated at this point, got into the back with Alice, leaving me to sit in the front with Edward.

"Grab your bags, Bella," he said to me. For some reason, I got a warm fuzzy feeling by the way he said my name. "Here, I'll get Alice's." He bent over to help me gather the bags, and I picked up the one with the three T-shirts in it. I didn't want to look like a total loser, so I would just take this one. I'd give Jess and Alice their shirts tomorrow.

"I can take it if you want." He reached for my bag, and my hands fumbled to keep it away from him. Fumbled a little too much. The bag fell onto the ground, and before I could gather the shirts, he picked them up.

My whole face heated up as I watched his eyes scan over the text. Oh God. The words rushed through my head. Don't 'Cha Wish Your Girlfriend Was Me. Not A Cheerleader, But Better. Hot Stuff.

Freaking Hot Stuff.

"These are yours?" He had an amused smile on his face.

"No," I said quickly, grabbing the shirts from him and stuffing them back in the bag. I leaned over so my hair covered my bright red face. "They're Alice's and Jessica's."

He didn't look convinced.

Great start, Bella, I thought to myself, as I got into the passenger's seat of the car. Great start.