hey guys. sorry it's been so long. real life kinda came up and bit me in the ass. but it's all settled now, so that's good.

as always, this story is for my lovely faithful reviewer cullenisabella. go check out her story 'My eternal love'!

now, on with the show!

BPOV

Hey, Edward?

I held my note up to the window. We'd begun to make it a habit of doing our work or reading or whatever next to our windows so that we could easily converse.

Yeah?

What's school like here?

Well, it's okay…

Tell me the truth, neighbor boy.

I made a face when I held this one up, because he was obviously trying to sugar-coat it for me, and I hate sugar-coating.

Honestly? It's the most boring place on the planet. I can't think of a place that makes me want to claw my own eyes out any more.

It's that bad?

It's that boring. But that's probably just me. I already know most of the stuff they teach in there because when I can't sleep, I study.

I guess you can't sleep a lot, then…

Ehh. Not really, no. But I'm not too concerned.

Why don't you just home-school, then?

Because my parents want me and my siblings to have a 'normal social and educational experience' or some bullshit like that.

…You have siblings?

Yeah, Alice and Emmett.

…Are they there? Why have I never seen or heard of them before?

Well , Emmett's in college, so that one's easy.

And Alice?

She's… A character. She usually keeps to herself. I only see her at dinner every night. During the school year, I never even pass her in the halls or anything. It's almost like she disappears or something. It's weird.

Oh… So I guess I won't know any girls in school when it starts…

The disappointment was pretty evident in my eyes, and I guess Edward noticed it too.

Oh no, you'll know her. I'll make sure of it. I'll have my parents have you and your dad over for dinner soon.

Really! You'd do that just so that I'd know a girl in school?

Of course I would, Bella. Haven't you noticed by now? I'm not going to let you down.

EPOV

I don't know where all of these cheesy lines come from, but it's like they're attacking in full force ever since I met Bella. She just brings out the romantic in me, I guess. And she seems to love it, so I'm not complaining.

I think I really, really like her. Like, I think that I want to try to "woo" her or whatever that romantic shit is. I'll have to get a hold of Alice, she can help me. I hope…

But even if she can't, I'll find some way to get Bella. For her. Because she deserves it. She deserves to be treated well. Well, at least better than she is right now. I mean, her dad doesn't seem that bad, but her mom… Even from far away her mom makes her cry almost every day. She thinks I don't notice, but I do. I see her every night, curling up into a ball with her head on her knees and just sobbing. It's heartbreaking.

And I'm determined to put an end to it.

I left my room and walked down the hallway and downstairs to the living room where my dad was watching the news.

He seemed too absorbed in the story about heart transplant of a twelve year old girl, so I went to the kitchen to find my mom. She was right where I thought she'd be, stirring something over the stove.

"Hey, mom? I have something to ask you."

"Go ahead, sweetie. What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering if we could have the new neighbors over for dinner soon. You know, introduce them to someone in the neighborhood. And the girl could meet Alice, so she'd have a friend to do girl things with…"

I trailed off towards the end, as I was beginning to just ramble.

"Well, honey, I have a surprise for you. They're actually coming over for dinner tonight!" She beamed at me like she was the proudest person in the world for doing it before I asked, almost as if she knew I would. "I talked to the chief this morning, and it's all set up. They'll be here in 45 minutes. You didn't think that I was cooking all of this food for just the five of us, did you? Silly boy…"

"Five? Five of us? Wait – what's today's date?"

"It's August 21st, and jeez Edward. Did you forget that Emmett was coming home today? He'll be here for a week. And you're supposed to go-"

I just plain cut her off. I'm usually not that rude to my mom, but I didn't want her to get worked up and go on a full out rant.

"Mom, calm down. I know what I'm supposed to do with Emmett tomorrow. And I know that he gets in on the 21st. I just wasn't aware of the date yet. Relax. Do you need me to pick him up from the airport?"

"No, he's renting a car. His flight got in about half an hour ago, so he'll be here just in time for dinner."

I looked at the clock, it was already 4:00. Where does the time go?

By the time the clock hit 6:30, I was so nervous that I wouldn't lift up my hand for fear of knocking something over with shakes. Emmet walked in the door at quarter of seven, and mom sent both of us upstairs to change before the Swans got here.

After changing, I came downstairs and the doorbell rang just as I got to the bottom of the stairs, making me closest to the door.

Well, here goes nothing…

'kay everybody, that's chapter seven.

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