Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

Thanks to MeteorOnAMoonlessNight for being my beta and Sara aka Nikki Black and Sukiethree for pre-reading!

—SE—

Angela approached me nervously as I restocked the travel mugs. "Bella? There's a phone call for you."

"Who is it?"

"Uh, they told me not to tell you." I heard the nervousness in her voice and it put me on edge.

I eyed her carefully before I made my way into the back office. "Hello?"

"Bella." I nearly dropped the phone when I heard Edward's voice. I hadn't talked to him for a little over a week, ever since I'd had my melt down.

"Edward," I said quietly. "How did you—"

"I can use Google just like everybody else. What the hell, Bella? I've been worried sick! It's been nine days since I heard from you! Nine days!"

I squeezed my eyes shut, afraid of what was to come. "I can't do this right now. I'm at work."

"Give me your cell phone number; we need to talk later," he demanded.

I knew I couldn't avoid having this conversation with him any longer, so I quickly gave him my number. He told me he'd text me so I would have his as well, right before he hung up.

Before I could walk back out onto the floor, Angela cornered me. "What the hell was that about?"

"Come on, I'll tell you while we work."

—SE—

My phone rang the second I walked into my house. I took a deep breath, pulling it out of my purse. "Hello?"

"Hey. Are you home yet?"

"Yeah, I just walked in the door." I set my things down with reluctance.

"How could you do that to me, Bella? We've been talking every day for weeks now, and then you just disappear on me?" His voice was hoarse, as if he had been crying.

"I'm sorry, I didn't—"

"Tell me now, Bella, is this just a game to you? Because I'm all in, I've been all in. Fuck, I'm in love with you!"

I gasped, tears streaming down my face. "It's not a game, not since the beginning. I'm so sorry."

"You said something the other day about your mom always being on your case for your appearance... But in your picture, there's nothing obvious for her to pick on... You won't video chat with me... Have you been truthful with me, Bella?"

All I could do was cry. Words just wouldn't come.

"Bella?" he whispered.

"No," I choked out.

I heard him suck in a breath. "Did you send me your actual picture? Is your webcam actually broken? Fuck, was it all a lie? We even—fuck!"

I couldn't find my voice through the tears. Once again, all I could get out was a quiet, "No."

"No to what, Bella?"

"The picture and the webcam."

"Why? Why did you lie to me?" I heard tears in his voice again.

"Because I wanted to be someone—anyone—else but me. I've spent my whole life hearing people tell me I need to fix myself, that no one will want me because I'm fat. That I'm just not good enough," I sobbed.

"Do you really think so little of me? That I wouldn't want you just how you are? I've told you the truth about how I feel about myself! Do I seem that shallow?"

"I hardly even knew you when I sent the picture!" I yelled.

He scoffed at me. "That's your excuse? You've had weeks and weeks after that to come clean, Bella!"

"I'm sorry," I choked out.

"Take a picture. Right now, take a picture and text it to me. It's the least you can do."

"I look horrible! I've been crying, and—"

He cut me off. "Just do it, please."

I quickly opened the camera on my phone and snapped the best picture I could, considering the situation, and sent it off to him. We were both silent for a few minutes.

"You're beautiful. You're really and truly beautiful. I need to go. I'll... talk to you later."

"Edward," I called out, but the line went dead.

I curled up on the couch, not even bothering to try to stop my tears from falling. I was afraid I'd just lost one of the best friends I'd ever had. His last words, that he thought I was beautiful, swirled around in my head. They fought with everything I'd been raised to believe; that I wasn't good enough how I was, that no one could love me as-is.

Did Edward truly mean it?

—SE—

Jessica was probably the last person I wanted to see right now, but since I apparently wasn't feeling bad enough, she stopped by my desk on the way to hers. "Wow, you look like crap."

"Thanks, Jess, that's really helpful." I glared at her. I really wasn't in the mood for her crap today.

"God, no need to be such a bitch. You could have at least brushed your hair." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, we missed you last night! Oh, God, Lauren got so drunk, I doubt she made it to any of her classes—"

"Does anyone sit here?" someone asked, thankfully cutting Jessica's one-sided conversation short.

I looked up at the short woman with spiky black hair that stood near me. "Oh, no, it's free. Are you just starting in this class?"

She sat down on the desk beside mine. "Yeah, I switched from a different English class. I couldn't stand the professor. I'm Alice, by the way."

I gave her a small smile. "I'm Bella."

"You're so lucky to have such pretty skin."

I blushed. "Uh, thanks? I didn't have time to do my makeup."

Alice shrugged her shoulders. "You don't really need it. Maybe a little mascara to play up your lashes, but not much else."

I was at a loss for words. It wasn't often that I found myself at the end of a compliment, but before I could reply, the professor walked in.

—SE—

"Do you want to get coffee?" Alice asked as we were packing up our things. "I'd like to get to know you. I think we could be good friends."

"Coffee sounds great!" Jessica interrupted.

"Oh, I just meant Bella."

My eyes widened in shock at her blatant dismissal of Jessica. I had no other plans since Edward hadn't spoken to me in days, and I wasn't sure that he was ever going to again. Every time I logged onto to Instant Messenger, his name was nowhere to be seen. I'd even gone as far as texting him, but there was no reply.

"I, uh, yeah." I nodded. "Coffee sounds great."

The look of disgust that crossed Jessica's face was almost comical. "Seriously,Bella? You're just going to go with her after she was rude to your best friend?"

I shrugged my shoulders the way Alice had, gathered my things, and followed Alice out of the classroom. I didn't know why, but I already felt like I could trust her.

Alice leaned into me as we walked. "Your friend, Jessica, was it? She's a bitch."

"She's uh, well, yeah. Yeah, she is. Come on, I work at the coffee shop on campus. It's not far from here."

—SE—

We sat down at a corner table with our coffees. "So, where are you from, Alice?"

"Originally from Mississippi. What about you? Are you from around here?" She blew on her coffee before taking a sip.

"Wow, Mississippi, that's a long way away. Yeah, I'm from a small town not too far from here called Forks." I doubt she'd heard of it; no one ever had.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Are you hitting on me, Alice?" I smirked.

She laughed quietly. "If I swung that way, sure. You're gorgeous. But no, I was just curious."

"Gorgeous?" I rolled my eyes. "You're pushing it. No, no boyfriend." I sighed.

Alice cocked her head to the side. "You don't see yourself very clearly, do you? Was there a boyfriend? You seem sad."

"It's a long story."

"I've got time."

For reasons that I still couldn't put my finger on, I felt comfortable with Alice. I felt like I could be as honest with her as I was with Angela, and that she wouldn't judge me. Which was why I spent the rest of the afternoon filling her in on my life, including the disaster with Edward.

—SE—

"Those girls aren't your friends, Bella. Friends aren't supposed to tear each other down," Alice said once I'd finished spilling everything to her.

"I've known them since middle school. I know they're not the nicest, but they're all I've had, besides Angela. Honestly, though, are they really wrong? I mean, between me and you." I gestured between us. "Who's most likely to get a guy's attention?"

"You're looking at it all wrong. It's not dependent on body type, it depends on what a guy or girl finds attractive. One guy might find me hot, but another might find you hot. Isn't that true for you? Don't you have a type of guy?" She quirked an eyebrow.

I nodded. "I know, but, I've just got extra... everything, everywhere."

She set down her coffee cup, sitting back in her chair. "Did you ever ask Edward what his type was?"

"No."

"What if you're his type? What if he likes girls with dark hair, great boobs, and a great ass?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure he likes those things, but with a flat stomach and thighs that don't touch."

"You don't know that. You should ask him."

My eyes watered. "If he was talking to me, I would."

She shrugged. "You can either lie down and admit defeat, or you can keep trying and he'll eventually answer."

With that boost of confidence, I pulled out my phone, deciding to keep trying.