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Bella's POV

"Bella!" "Hey Alice, what's up?" "Oh nothing so how was your date with my brother" Alice asked as she wiggled her eyebrows. I stomped to my room mildly annoyed, "Alice it wasn't a date we went to church, listened to music and talked...that's it." I slammed the room door. "Oh Bella dear, when are you going to realize my brother has feelings for you?" I pulled the door open with force, anger clearly written on my face, "I will admit it was a date Alice, when hell freezes over." She shivered "ooh, I think my feet are cold" she laughed. "Whatever, Alice. If you're done making fun of me, will you join me for lunch? I'm starving!" "Yeah let's go, I missed breakfast anyway."

We entered the quad and I instantly noticed the increase in the student population. New eyes raked my body from top to bottom and a familiar warmth graced my cheeks. "God Alice, everyone is starring at us" I groaned, "oh pish posh honey, just ignore them." "It's kinda hard to ignore them when they're shamelessly eye fucking us…it's disgusting." She shrugged "I take it as a compliment" she smiled a wicked smile as I rolled my eyes. We quickly grabbed our food and easily spotted the gang. "Belly Bean," "Emmett please don't call me that in public." I blushed. "Aw Emmy you made her blush" jasper cooed while Emmett pinched my cheek. "I hate you both" I said through clenched teeth; they just laughed as the girls rolled their eyes, "Men" cried Rosalie and Alice at the same time, "If it weren't for their..." She paused and cleared her throat as she suggestively looked down to Emmett's lap. I smiled catching onto her suggestion. "…If it weren't for that, I wouldn't even bother with them." All the girls laughed while the boys faced us with an angry expression that clearly meant for us to shut up. A tray suddenly plopped down next to me "Hey guys!" I inhaled deeply as I instantly recognized that voice. "Hey Eddie boy" Emmett said with a smirk. "Shut it Emmett" he spat, "awwww, you and Bella are so cute when you get mad at your nick names." "So he has a ridiculous nick name for you too huh?" I just nodded not meeting his eyes. "Care to tell me what it is?" I shook my head fiercely and then unavoidably began to blush.

"Oh, I'll tell you Eddie boy" said Emmett with a mischievous grin. "Emmett Cullen, I swear to god if you say it I will stab you with my plastic fork." He laughed "ahhh lil munchkin, I'm only doing it to see you blush; it's just so darn cute" he cooed. "Emmett" I said in a warning tone. He chose to ignore it and glanced to Edward's amused face; I felt like I was ready to lunge right at him. "Her names Bell…" I instantly stood up, knocking my chair down. Emmett sprang from his seat and took off running. I had to admit, for a big guy he sure could run fast. I lost him when he took a corner. I was about to turn back when all of a sudden I felt two huge hands start to tickle me. I laughed so hard I could barely breath "Em..haha..sttttopp…Emmy. I'm gonna pee myself" he instantly stopped and brought me into a bone crushing hug; I didn't mind, I was used to these kind of hugs. "Do you forgive me Belly Boo?" he asked with a pout clearly marked on his face. I sighed "of course Emmy, I forgive you" I cooed. He piggy backed me back to the table where our friends started laughing at us, except Edward; His face had a weird expression… sadness I think, with a hint of jealousy. I was curious why he felt that. I brushed it off and we continued our dinner with mindless conversation. It's been a while since I felt so care free. I welcomed this feeling open heartedly.

I woke up the next morning to the most annoying sound; a little pixie who might get murdered soon if she didn't shut up. "Good morning, Good morning, Good Morning! It's time to rise and shine. Good morning, Good morning, Good Morning! I hope you're feeling fine. Get up, get out, get out of bed….." Alice sang and danced across the room. I flew a pillow at her and she finally shut up mid song. I fell back down out of exhaustion. "Silly Bella, get up! We have to get ready for school" she tugged at my arm. For a tiny midget, she was strong. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of the shower in a daze. "This is going to be a long school year" I said to myself and I reluctantly stepped into the shower. By the time I got out, Alice was already dressed in a cute yellow summer dress with red heels and her make-up was perfect. "Gosh Bella, you take long showers" she said, sounding a bit annoyed. "Yeah, I wanted to avoid the annoying morning fairy." she laughed. "I picked out your first day outfit. Isn't it just cute! It's very you." I looked down and saw a pair of dark washed hip hugger jeans with a flowy white tank top that had buttons going down the front, paired with my favorite knee high brown boots. She knew my taste so well; I was impressed. "You're welcome Bella" she smirked. "You are a genius Alice." "Now hurry and change so we can do your hair and make-up." 20 minutes later, my hair had soft curls at the tips, my make-up made my eyes pop with the purple and brown eye shadow and the finishing touch was one coat of strawberry lip gloss. "You look sexy Bella" I smirked and cockily said "I know" which earned me a chuckle from Alice. "I swear sometimes you remind me of Edward, with all your confidence" I just rolled my eyes at her comment and we were on our way.

2 bagels and one banana later, I headed off to my first class. I was 10 minutes early, but I had my reasons; I wanted the back table before anyone else got it. I sat there listening to my I-pod, completely oblivious to my surrounding as I watched the trees outside the window as the wind made them dance. I felt as if they could hear me singing and enjoyed the sound.

"Cause baby everything is messed up straight from the heart

tell me what do you do when it all falls apart?

gotta pick myself up, where do I start?

cuz I can't turn to you when it all falls apart"

I didn't notice the class full of students until a hard balled up piece of paper came flying at my head. I turned quickly and glared at the red headed freckled faced boy who was just laughing and high fiving his idiotic friends in triumph; everyone laughed. I had to get a hold of my anger, so instead of flying it back or slapping him silly, I flew it to the front of the class room and it gracefully landed in the garbage can; that shut the entire class up and I had a smug look on my face. With all the commotion, I didn't even notice the black haired god sitting next to me. He looked at me in awe and I turned away. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned towards the raven haired beauty. He started talking so I took out my head phones, "Hey I'm Liam Beckett." My god his smile was cute. I shook his hand "I'm Bella Swan." "Well, Bella, that was an amazing shot" I shrugged, "'it was nothing. I only did it to shut the idiot over there up." "Well your plan worked out perfectly" I had a smug look on my face, "I know". "Umm…" he started to fidget with his hands and I looked at him curiously "Is something wrong Liam?" He looked at me instantly "uh…yeah… I mean no" I laughed at his stuttering "Well, which is it, yes or no?" He took a breath "No, I'm fine. I just wanted to say you have a beautiful voice." I looked down and blushed, shyly I said "thank you", not meeting his gaze.

"Good morning class," …thank god, saved by the teacher. "I'm Mr. Young. I see we have a new student, Isabella Swan," …crap, fuck, shit! Why me? I hate intros. "Ms. Swan, would you like to introduce yourself?" I timidly answered "not really" in a hushed voiced, but I stood up anyway as the rest of the class snickered and stared. Fuck, there I go again, fricken blushing; I swear that never fails me. I clutched the table of my desk for balance, "Uh, my names Isabella Swan. I prefer to be called Bella though and I just moved out here from New York." I quickly sat down to let the teacher proceed with his instructions.

"So New York, huh?" Liam asked. I faced him and said "Yup" while popping the "p".

"So if you don't mind me asking, why'd you come all the way to Cali?" I sighed and proceeded to tell him the lie I told everyone else, with my fake enthusiastic smile plastered across me face. "I came out here to be closer to my brother. He goes to college out here and my mom works a lot; it gets lonely sometimes" I shrugged. I wish I could tell someone the real reason, but they'd all hate me. I hate me for god's sake. I tried my best to pay attention to the teacher, but my mind was elsewhere. I didn't even realize Liam was trying to get my attention; he had a piece of paper in front of me that read…..

Hey bell, are you ok you seem lost?

Could he see past my mask? I hope not. I've worked too hard to hide my pain to let anyone see it, let alone a complete stranger.

I'm fine. Just dreading the rest of this day.

I know exactly how you feel, what class do you have next?

Math with Tengan. I hear she's a major bitch, is it true?

I saw him lightly chuckle at my question. He noticed me starring and nodded yes.

I rolled my eyes and through my hands up in the air, dramatically mouthing wonderful. He laughed at my stupidity, but for some reason I didn't feel embarrassed by my actions like I normally would have. Instead, I felt comfortable around him…it was weird. He was sort of a cross between Paul Rodriguez and Kenny Anderson in the looks department. He was about 5'8" with slightly golden skin. He had veins popping out in his forearms and I just couldn't resist a guy who was cut. His eyes were brown, but they held so much warmth in them. I couldn't help but smile when I noticed him stealing obvious glances at me. The class ended far too soon for my liking. "So do you mind if I walk you to your next class?" he asked. "Um…not at all. Won't you be late for your own class though?" He shrugged, "I have math too, in the same building so it's no bother." Great…and I thought he wanted to walk with me because he liked me. I let out a small sigh, "Well okay then." We walked in silence for a bit and I got annoyed; I hate silence. "So Liam, where are you from?" He smiled, "I'm from here, from San Francisco" he stated in a matter of fact voice. "Oh that's cool. Why'd you come down to this school?" "I got a scholarship to attend here and I didn't want to pass up the opportunity. I really do want to get into a great college and by coming here; it gives me a better chance." He replied. "Ah, I see. Where do you want to go to school?" Without a second to spare he said, "Dartmouth, I want to be a neurosurgeon."

I stared at him wide eyed and in bit of a shock, "you know, my mother would love you" I said with a small smile on my lips. He looked at me with a curious smile "Oh, and why is that? Have I won the affections of her daughter with my wooing personality?" he smiled brightly. Once again my blush betrayed me, damn it to hell I thought. "Perhaps that may be true…" I avoided his gaze, but a smile was still plastered on my face, "Actually she would really love you because you are everything she wants me to be. Well with your future plans any way. My personality is hands down, her favorite" I joked. "Well, why don't you want to be a neurosurgeon? and Dartmouth is a great school." "I won't deny that fact; I just don't like the east coast. I hate the cold and I love the warmth. Also I would rather avoid all the blood; I faint at the near sight of it. Plus, my mom wants me to follow in her footsteps. She's a doctor as well. I just don't think that would make me happy." "I see. I rather like the thought of knowing I helped save someone; that's my reason behind it." He replied. "There's more bad than good that comes with that job. I should know firsthand, but I won't judge." We walked the rest of the way in silence; I think I offended him, but I wasn't about to take my remark back. Saving a life is quite fulfilling, but when your patients come before your family, it hurts the people you love the most and you don't even stop to realize it.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Liam. "We're here. Have fun in class Bella," I smiled back at him in a silent "thanks"…I'll probably never see him again; he probably hates me. "So I was wondering, if we don't have any other class together, I might not see you until tomorrow morning," he stuck his hands in his pocket. Was he nervous? This was quite amusing. "Sodoyouwanttohavelunchwithmetoday?" He smiled timidly. I couldn't understand a damn thing he just said but replied, "I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you asked me to lunch?" He nodded his head yes as his response. "Well, I'd love to have lunch with you." "If we don't have another class together, do you just want to meet by the tree outside of the quad?" he asked, "Yeah, that'd be great. I'll see you later then. Have a good day Liam." We smiled and parted ways; I knew I had a goofy grin on my face, but ask me if I cared.

I dreaded math class; it was like gibberish to me and sure enough the teacher was on the bitchy side though I'm sure I've met worse. It was amusing, the way some of the boys tried to get a rise out of her. I felt bad for her, but she seemed used to it. I wondered if she was nice before she started teaching here to a bunch of snobbish kids."Hey beautiful", I recognized that familiar, sickening voice and I could feel the goosebumps rising on my skin. I chose to ignore it. I knew that would only work for a short time, but I had to pay attention in this class; I had to get straight A's to stay on the team. That was the only way my mother would allow me to play basketball. I know she was only worried I'd get hurt with my clumsy ways, but only on the court was I ever really gracefully; she'd known that if she'd given me the chance to play at my old school. Just then a note landed on my desk and by the looks of it, it was from a boy. Probably the idiot Newton whose reflection I could see in the window, eyeing me like he wanted to jump me right then and there. I chose to ignore it and flicked it to the floor with my pencil; it felt like if I touched it, I'd get an STD. I saw his face fall to a frown in the reflection; I swear he didn't get the hint. At last the bell rang and I bolted so fast I was probably a blur; anything to ignore Newton.

The day went by fast. I had my next 2 classes with Angela Weber and we always talked a lot. I really enjoyed her company; I felt instantly drawn to her because she was the 1 out of 3 girls at this school that didn't give me dirty looks. I so wanted to scream at all of them and say that jealousy looks hideous on your face, but I knew my mouth would betray me and say some smart ass comment. I'd rather have them hate me out of their stupid girly jealousy, than hate me because I was a slightly cocky bitch. Hey, I blame girls like them for the way I am. All my life I was tortured by hurtful words and I was not going to go back to the weak girl I left in New York. "Bella, Bella…" I turned around to see who was calling me. "God Bella, you walk to damn fast. What's the hurry to get to lunch? You wanna see Edward that bad huh?" said Alice as she nudged me with her elbow, "Actually Alice, I'm meeting a friend for lunch." "Oh, will you still sit with us?" She looked slightly disappointed, but even though I loved their company, I hated being the third wheel. "Well Alice, we were gonna have lunch outside…I'm sorry. We still have dinner though, I promise" she gave me a big smile. "Okay!" We arrived at the quad and I tried to search for Liam. I didn't want to make it seem obvious, but I was too excited to care. Our eyes met as I parted with Alice; she was too excited to see Jazz to even care I walked away from her.

"Hey Liam!" Oh god, I feel like a love sick idiot. "Hey Bells" he clutched his backpack as if his life depended on it. We entered the quad, avoiding all the stares we were getting and quickly grabbed our food and bolted out of there. Out of the blue and under the shade of the old oak tree I asked "So Liam, what's your biggest fear?" He looked at me curiously, "um…well I guess it's probably failure." "That's reasonable I guess, but you only fail if you allow yourself to fail. So it's a controlled fear really…" I shrugged. "What about you? What do you fear?" I thought to myself 'living my life alone and becoming the rich cat lady is my biggest fear', but I wasn't about to say that. "Clowns," I shuddered "they've terrified me ever since I watched the movie 'IT'…I was terrified to shower for months" My eyes were wide in fear just thinking about it. He started to laugh hysterically until I slapped him; it wasn't a playful slap either. His face looked pained and I just had to smile. "You know Liam, if we're going to be friends, I would advise you not to laugh at my fears. It isn't good for your health." I said sarcastically. He laughed "okay Bells, I promise. No teasing." "Pinky promise?" and he did "Liam, pinky promises are perhaps the most important promises in my opinion." "Any promise is important if it's to you," Damnit! my blushing betrayed me again. "Uh Bells, I don't want to alarm you, but Edward Cullen is starring at us with death glares." I turned around and sure enough I saw the anger on his face. I waved slightly and he just walked away. I swear he must be bipolar. "So what was that about?" "I don't know." "Maybe it's because you're fresh meat and Cullen wants first dibs. He's such an ass; all those jocks are." I felt hurt. Edward and I weren't really close friends, but it still hurt hearing him say that. "So I take it you're not a jock if all of them are supposed 'jerks'?" I asked, emphasizing the word "jerks". "No I'm not a jock. They rule this school and I could never see myself dating any of the sporty girls either; they're all the same. I'd rather have a smart girl like you." Normally I would blush, but I thought he'd hate me if I told him I was a jock. I changed the topic quick and asked him about the type of music he liked. He preferred screamo and heavy metal and I liked everything except that. So, so far we had nothing in common. "You know, I can't get over that glare from Cullen," he said. "He's such a man whore. I don't know what girls see in him anyway. Hell, I don't know what any girl sees in those idiot basketball players." Liam was whining like a 5 year old little boy. "Edward is a nice guy once you get to know him." I retaliated."You fucked him already didn't you?" he asked. I was shocked as hell and livid beyond imagination when he assumed that. "Why the fuck would you assume that? You don't know me. How can you judge me so accusingly? If you think you can judge me, then fine I'll judge you and let you know what I think. You, Liam, sound like a whiny little prick because you're jealous of Edward. I really don't know why, I thought you were decent, but you're no better than the rest of them. As for Cullen, he is a perfect gentlemen and a good friend." With that said, I stormed off to the science building. While taking the corner sharply, I didn't see the door open and I walked right into it…hard. That wasn't what hurt me the most though. There in front of me was Edward Cullen and Lauren Mallory; his hair looked more disheveled than it usually was, her lips were swollen and their shirts were a wrinkled mess. I stared at him, with annoyance and hate. I just stood up for him, to a guy I could see myself with and he had to do the one thing that proved that Liam was right. I am such an idiot!