This was originally two separate chapters, but I wanted to give you guys something better, so now it is one chapter with a very awkwardly written segueway in the middle. I hope the first half isn't as frustrating to read as it was to write; I made Eric the most annoying character in human (or literary) history.

Normally, I keep myself ahead of the story, but, by posting this extra long chapter, I have nothing more written yet. I'm going to guess that the next chapter will be posted around this time tomorrow, but I'm not completely sure. I think I'll go back to my normal length, if that's okay.

"So he just walked away?"

"Yep." Alice was shocked when I told her of Edward's behaviour. I wasn't really all that surprised. I mean, he hated me. Normally people don't hang around people they feel nothing but contempt for.

Alice was even more shocked by my apparent nonchalance. "You seemed so flustered at the party. I don't get it. Bella, do you like him?"

"No," I said, a little too quickly. "It's just that… he irks me. For whatever reason, I let him get to me. I hate that I do."

Yes, part of me was perversely attracted to him. Yes, Alice could probably tell. But I wasn't ready to admit it just yet. Or ever. Hopefully the attraction would subside, and I wouldn't have to admit anything. It would be so much easier for me to hate him like he hates me.

Edward wasn't at school on Monday. I actually paid attention in English, for some reason. Mr. Graham decided it was necessary to read every single line of Hamlet aloud to the class, so it was taking forever. We were on the 'To be or not to be' soliloquy, which he totally butchered. It was like listening to a suicidal Kermit the Frog. I was relieved, at least, to know that Edward wasn't the only good reason to bring a book to class.

Chemistry was better. Angela and I were pretending like nothing ever happened, which was fine by me. After joking around for a few minutes, she turned serious.

"Eric is looking at you."

"What?" She nodded her head meaningfully in his direction, and I turned to confirm what Angela had said. He wasn't just looking at me. He was definitely staring. "Oh, crap!"

He didn't look away, like any reasonable person would do if they were caught staring. He didn't even smile. He just stared intensely. Angela shrugged, and we finished our lab. I was feeling too uncomfortable to speak. I felt my cheeks burn scarlet. What the hell was he doing?

The bell rang, and, this time, I rushed to the door. He caught me before I could escape. He grabbed my elbow and pulled me towards him, painfully.

"Ow! Shit, Eric!" I yelled, rubbing my elbow.

"Sorry, Bella." The apology seemed sincere, at least. "I just… I wanted to ask you something before you left… I… Sorry, I'm really nervous…" He was sweating like a pig. Ew.

Then his words sunk in. Ask me what, exactly? Oh, please no. No, no, no, no, no. He wouldn't.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

He would.

I was shocked. Why on earth would be even ask me that question? What kind of response did he think he was going to get?

"No," I said, more rudely than necessary. I couldn't keep the surprise and disgust from leaking into my voice. But he seemed oblivious to it. His face didn't crumble in disappointment, and he didn't turn away. In fact, his expression didn't even change.

"You need some time to think about it, of course. Don't worry, I wasn't expecting an answer right away or anything. I'll talk to you later, Bella." He grinned, and I couldn't move. Not to punch him in the face. Not to shake him. Not even to turn him around and set him straight when he walked away from me and down the hallway.

When I finally unfroze, I could feel my face turn red with anger, and I wanted to hit something. No, I wanted to hit Eric. How could he be so delusional? Did he think I was joking when I said no?!

I couldn't even think straight as I went to find Alice. I knew the rage was probably obvious in my expression and in how I stormed down the hall, but I didn't care. Must. Find. Alice.

It took me forever to calm down enough to give her all the details, but, when I finally did, she didn't seem as shocked as I was. Her tone was unreadable when she muttered, "I could totally see that coming."

"Breathe, Bella. Calm down. You can get this sorted out next time you see him. It'll be fine," said Jasper. That helped a little bit. Jasper was good at getting me settled down. I could think more clearly now, at least. I noticed that Jasper was holding on tightly to Alice's hand. Even in my rage, I took a second to appreciate how cute that was.

I was still a little bit out of it during Gym, but that was hardly noticeable; it's not really possible for me to get any worse at basketball. At least I got through the hour without any trips to the nurse. Luckily, by the time Physics rolled around, I was able to concentrate again.

The clock struck 3 o'clock, the bell rang, and I was on my way to meet Alice when I ran into Eric. Well, he ran into me.

He was bounding up to me from the side with so much enthusiasm that he almost knocked me over. It's okay, Bella. He's only a stupid boy. Not worth getting suspended over.

I started to speak, but he cut me off. "Have you made your decision yet?" That stupid grin again.

I tried to stay calm, but my teeth were clenched as I said, "As I told you before, Eric, I do not, nor will I ever, want to be your girlfriend."

"So, check with you again tomorrow?" he asked, stupidly.

I couldn't contain myself any longer. "Eric!" I screamed. "No! A thousand times no! And don't you even think about asking me again! GOT IT?!" Everyone around us was quiet; they had stopped what they were doing, and were now staring at me. I didn't care. I put all my anger into one glare which I gave Eric until his face crumbled as I had expected it to the first time I refused him.

"Oh. Alright," he said. All things considered, he wasn't as upset as I thought he would be. If anything, he seemed a little pissed about being rejected so loudly. Other than that, he seemed fairly indifferent as he turned and walked away.

Part of me wanted to yell at the people who were still staring at me, and part of me wanted to yell at Eric some more, but I couldn't. I was done. I was too relieved that it was over to care about the rest.

I found Alice and told her about my encounter with Eric. She responded with, "Yeah, we heard you. I think they heard you in Australia." She and Jasper were laughing hysterically at my expense, and I had to laugh with them. What a day.

I was definitely ready to go home and lie down for a while. I ran into Mike Newton on my way out of the school, and he joked with me about Eric. I got the impression that he was flirting with me, but at least he understood the concept of subtlety.

As Alice and I walked to the parking lot, Jessica and Lauren rushed by, in full gossip mode. They were talking loudly, so I couldn't help but overhear them.

"Didn't you hear? Eric Yorkie asked Angela to be his girlfriend. And she said yes!"

That was just too much for my head to take. The second I got home, I ran to my room and turned my music up to the maximum volume. My parents were out of town for a long weekend, so it stayed at that volume until I felt myself get sleepy. The last thing I remember before I drifted off was reaching over and pressing the stop button on my CD player.

Edward was back in school the next day, and I was feeling more awkward than ever. I was so horrible to him at the party, and he had made it clearer than ever that he had absolutely no interest in me.

So when Mr. Graham told us to partner up with the person sitting next to us, I wanted to die.

"With your partner, you must write either a poem, a song, or a 1000 word essay describing a certain aspect of Hamlet. It can go into detail about a character, a relationship, a major soliloquy, or one of the major themes. I'm giving you a lot of freedom, so be creative. It's due on Monday, so get to work."

I glanced over at Edward, and I saw that he was looking at me. We both turned away awkwardly. We didn't talk for the rest of the class, and I tried to make it look like I was working independently; I was actually drawing wilted flowers on my binder. English class was horrible.

Chemistry was not much better.

"What the hell were you thinking, Angela?"

"I'm not a romantic, Bella. I never was. Eric asked me, so I said yes. I just did it, okay, it's no big deal." She spoke without emotion, which only made me question her choice even more. It would be weird if she had a secret crush on him or something… but this was worse.

"Ang, I'm not exaggerating when I say you could do so much better. Like, so much better." Angela had never had a boyfriend before, but I never pegged her as the type that minded being single. I guess I was wrong.

She leaned in and whispered harshly, "Look, I don't want to wait forever to find a boyfriend. And Eric's not that bad. I could like him. I could be happy with him. So just because he's not good enough for you, Bella, does not mean he is completely worthless." By the end of her little speech, I felt as though she was singling me out, threatening me, attacking me. I was shocked. Sweet Angela never spoke in that tone. I didn't know how to respond, so I didn't.

Mike met me outside the classroom when the bell rang. I was actually kind of glad to see him. He was nice enough, and he actually talked to me like a human being. It was a pleasant change, especially since Alice and Jasper were getting more serious, and things with Angela had changed. I was feeling alone a lot of the time. I thought of Edward, and how Jasper, his only good friend, was never around. Poor Edward. He's even worse off than I am Ugh. Why can't I just hate him like I'm supposed to?

At lunch, Alice and Jasper were talking quietly, like they were sharing secrets. I couldn't believe they weren't official yet. Soon. They were basically together, even if they weren't. They were the cutest non-couple I'd ever seen.

I was completely alone. The guys who normally sat at the other end our table were missing. Some football thing. So that meant no Mike. Alice and Jasper were preoccupied. Angela was ignoring me. I was forced to listen to Jessica and Lauren's annoying chatter, for lack of something better to do.

"I dumped Tyler. He's been a total ass ever since I danced with Ryan at my party. I told him nothing happened, I don't know why he freaked out about it."

"Did something happen?" Katie asked, innocently.

"It doesn't matter. He can't prove anything."

I sighed. How much of this high school bullshit can a person take before their head explodes?

Lauren turned to Jessica and asked, "So how are things with you and Mike?"

Jessica smirked. "Nothing has happened… yet. But he likes me. For sure. And there's a dance this Friday, so who knows." The girls giggled mischievously. I wanted to laugh out loud, but I wouldn't be laughing with them.

How blind could Jessica be? Mike so obviously did not like her. It was wishful thinking.

Just then, Alice leaned over and asked me about our Calculus homework. I was grateful for the inclusion. I had gotten my fill of gossip for the week.

The next day in English, we were given the whole class to work on our projects. For a split second, I wondered if Edward and I were going to sit in silence as we had yesterday, but, before I could seriously contemplate my options, he was talking to me.

"Do you play any instruments?"

His question surprised me; I stared at him for a second before I was able to respond. "Yeah, piano."

He smiled crookedly at me, and I almost fainted. "Me too."

"Oh," was all I could say. I was blushing really badly. I couldn't decide between looking straight at him and looking in the other direction, so I just looked like an idiot moving my head back and forth. Nice, Bella.

He pressed on. "So do you want to play with me?" My mind jumped to the dirtiest possible implication; my face turned ever redder, if that was possible. I was unbelievably grateful that Edward could not read minds. He was talking about the piano, Bella.

"Uh, sure," I stuttered. "What are we going to play?"

"I'm not sure. Do you have any suggestions?"

I did. I had thought about this project last night, when the possibility of having to work on it solo was still there. So my face was beginning to return to its natural colour and I was reasonably confident when I said, "I'd like to write a lullaby that represents Hamlet's feelings during the grave scene when he finds out that Ophelia is dead."

He smiled again, and I felt like I was going to faint. "That's a brilliant idea. I love it."

I tried to smile back, but I probably just looked like I was about to be sick. I felt like I was about to be sick.

But my idea was good. We would do this project, we would get an A, and then we would hate each other again. That's just how things were supposed to go. If I believed in destiny, I'd say that Edward and I were destined to be enemies.

Even though I couldn't stop thinking about him.

Next chapter will be in EPOV.

Love this? Hate it? Review!