IMPORTANT! Please read below!

I've created some confusion and I'm sorry for this. It was never stated that Bella was an outcast or wasn't normal. In other stories, this seems to be the theme. Edward is popular and gorgeous, and Bella is the girl nobody knows. But this is not other stories. Bella isn't popular, but she's not an outcast or the 'weirdo' nobody will talk to. She's just average. She talks to people and has a small group of friends, who you will meet later, but Edward just didn't know her because she isn't one of the sluts he entertains himself with. Alice knew of her, so it's not like she was the freak nobody knew. Sorry if I created confusion or if you don't like the story now. If anything, I think it makes it more interesting because that just shows how horrible Edward was prior to meeting Bella. He really had to be completely self-absorbed to not notice her if she was just a normal girl. I think this will also make it harder on Edward because Bella doesn't need him to 'break her out of her shell'. Her self esteem is usual for her character, but she's not a hermit like she is normally portrayed. So, sorry! Thanks for reading guys :)

"She ran? Like jogged?"

I sighed and pushed my lower legs forward, raising the weights on the machine with my quads. I have really nice fucking quads. I don't even care. My life is over.

"No, not jogged, Jasper. I said she fucking ran, didn't I? Full out ran away from me."

She almost fell when she got up the steps to her front door. But I left that out. She's so beautiful when she stumbles. Is that right for me to think that? Well I do. But it doesn't matter. She hates me and my life is over. I hadn't slept at all. The dark circles that were usually under my eyes were impossibly dark and my hair was even more of a wreck. My hair doesn't like it when I don't get enough sleep. I always look like a bum, but it is especially messy when I don't sleep. I had stayed up the entire night playing the piano. I'm sure my parents were ready to shoot me. Alice understood, though.

Lucky bitch. She was going to Port Angeles with Bella today. Some weekend flee market thing. They sell a lot of shit that nobody needs but Alice is always up for shopping. They really hit it off, those two. Bella loves Alice. But me? Oh no. She fucking hates me with such a passion. Her voice when she spoke to me was so horrible sickening. She sounded upset and angry and conflicted and confused. And it was my fault. I hate myself for it and I'll never forgive myself either. I could never forgive myself for hurting her like I did. But she couldn't possibly feel the agony that I felt when she ran. I pushed out another rep and grunted as I did so. Emmett was standing next to the machine and he had added another ten pounds.

"I don't think you did anything wrong, Edwin. I mean, besides being a total fucking freak show and quoting Shakespeare like a bitch. You're just that much of a cocksucker that she doesn't like you. Drop it."

"I can't drop it. I still can't stop thinking about her. "

Like it would be that easy. Like I could just forget how beautiful she is. Or how her smell intoxicates me and makes me dizzy. Or how her laugh makes me lose my breath. If only it were that easy. I'm in too deep. It's not happening.

"No. Don't drop it. You still have a chance."

I fucking love Jasper. He's a really good guy.

"But I blew it. Completely. She won't talk to me now, not after everything that happened."

"Well then keep trying. You think Alice gave me a second thought the first time I hit on her?"

How the fuck should I know? I avoided the two of them together for a long time. It made me want to throw up to see the way my best friend was looking at my baby sister. I stood up from the machine. I knew Jasper was right. He's always fucking right. I sighed as I stepped onto the treadmill. I love running. I'm just good at it. I can run for miles and miles without breaking a sweat. It helps clear my head, though I don't think anything will get Bella's perfect face out. I set a furious pace and tried to run away from the hurt.

"I mean, maybe I should go to her house?"

"Mm...that's a little pushy, especially since you already threw your heart at her. Maybe something more subtle."

"Like what?"

"A letter."

"A letter."

"Yep. Give it to her in class."

"And what, pray tell, do you suggest I write in this letter? 'My Dearest Bella, We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Uni-'"

"No, you dunce. Tell her your feeling. Apologize for coming on too strong. Tell her you still want to be friends. Jesus, Edward. I'm trying to help."

I sighed and pushed the button to up the speed of the belt. I needed to run this off bad. My chest was aching. I couldn't breathe right. I wasn't sure if it was from the running or from the pain I was feeling since I had last seen Bella.

So now here I was, working out with Jasper and Emmett as I tried to solve my problems. It's not going to happen, but I can try, right?

"You should bring her a gift."

Emmett grunted out a coherent sentence as he did another bicep curl. My head almost fell off my shoulders. Fucking perfect.

"Emmett, you are a genius!"

"I've been telling everybody that for a while now. But nobody listens. I'm just unheard, nobody cares. Nobody loves me. I don't mat-"

"Shut up, Emmett. Jasper, when is Alice coming home?"

"A few hours."

Alice would be able to help me pick something out. I needed to show her that I can be the guy she wants me to be. I can be it for her. She needs to see how much I need her and how much I crave her. What do I do? Reciting Shakespeare doesn't work. She's too complex for that, she's too smart. I needed something classic, beautiful, like her. She's so beautiful. I need her too much.

My heart pounded as I got dressed for school. Clean jeans without holes in them, check. Tee shirt that I bribed my sister to iron, check. Hair brushed and gelled, check. But it wasn't laying flat. It never would. I clenched my teeth as I tried to smooth it down. No cigar. It stood up all over the place like usual. Like a stuck my finger in a fucking electrical socket. After ten minutes of useless effort, I sighed and just gave up. I looked OK.

I had even shaved. I did a good job, too. I didn't miss anything. Sometimes I get a little lazy and let a little stubble stay around my jaw. Today I was clean as a whistle and I even used some aftershave. I was ready. I grabbed the letter I had written Bella and the bouquet of flowers I picked up for her. That's a gift, right? I got her purple hyacinths. You know those flowers with meanings, well these meant 'Please forgive me'. It's true. You can Google it. Now or fucking never.

I walked into class with my backpack on my shoulder and the flowers in my hand, the letter tucked into the bouquet. I immediately felt her. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and my heart rate increased tenfold. The electric current was there and very much alive. It made me shiver. My eyes darted to our lab table. I hate how nervous she makes me. Newton. Michael fucking Newton was sitting in her chair. No. I stormed over to the table, my footsteps furiously echoing throughout the room, not even remembering to look around for where my Bella was sitting now.

"What. The. Fuck."

"Yo, Edward! My man! What's goin' on? Flowers? Thanks. But you know I don't roll that way."

"This isn't your seat. Move."

"Oh, yeah, dude. Banner switched my seat. I sit here now and Bella sits with my old partner, Angela Webber. The two probably arranged it. They're always together anyway. But yeah, Edward, um..So Bella asked me to tell you something. She uh, she asked me to tell you to not talk to her or she'd just switch out of this class all together. And yeah so we're going on a date tomorrow night. Pretty sweet, huh? She asked me out! She's fucking hot. I can't wait to get some of that."

He looked down the blank page of notebook paper in front of him. No. I was seeing spots. How could this be? I couldn't breathe again.

"Did you do the homework last night? I fell asleep."

My chest contracted and I felt like somebody had a vice grip on my throat. Suffocating me. Of course. How could she stand being next to me every day after what I had done to her? My fists clamped down harder around the flowers in my hand and the stems snapped. I turned on my heel and tried to control my breathing, but it was coming out in shallow gasps. I had to leave, there was no way I'd be able to stay. The trash can was to my right as I walked through the door and I through the flowers in it with such a force that it looked like it was going to topple for a minute.

I went straight to my car and turned the engine over. I had to get away. I had to. The spots I had been seeing before were starting to change color so I leaned my forehead on the steering wheel and closed my eyes, breathing deeply through my nose. I wanted to cry. I wanted to fucking cry. Not only did she not want me, she couldn't even be next to me. And she asked out Newton? And then it happened. My vision got blurry and my eyelashes got wet. My eyes were leaking. A lot. I cried like a little bitch because it hurt me too much to think that Bella would go so far so stay away from me. What the fuck is wrong with me? I couldn't handle it. I threw my car into reverse and pulled out of the lot, heading north. I don't know where the fuck I'd end up, but I needed to get away. Fuck. My parents. I grabbed my phone and texted Alice. Not smart, since I was driving, but my judgement has always been questionable.

Al,

I'm going away. I'm safe. Just tell Mom and Dad I'm ok. I'll be home soon.

Edward

I'll be home soon. That was a lie. I went away for two weeks. What the fuck had I been doing? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I wallowed in self pity and stayed at a hotel. Where? British Columbia. Yep. I went to fucking Canada. My family called me non-stop. If it wasn't from the house phone, it was my mother's cell, then my dad's. I hated that they were worried about me. I knew I was hurting them beyond measure but I just couldn't be there, in the same town as her. It just hurt too fucking much.

I sent them a text every morning, telling them I was safe and that I would be home soon. My dad would always send me one back saying that he trusted me and he just loved me. I don't deserve my family. I run away for two weeks and they just put more money into my account and tell me to be safe. I don't fucking deserve them.

I stepped out of the shower on day fifteen and began to towel off my hair. Fuck. My chest still hurt when I took a deep breath. She knocked the wind out of my and I had yet to get it back. My cell phone vibrated on the night stand, just as it did every morning around this time. I walked over to see who it was. Jasper and Emmett called more than any of them, but that's to be expected. They were probably pissed off as hell. I looked at the caller-id. It was a number I didn't know, and it wasn't in my address book. What the hell? I answered it.

"Hello?"

"Edward Anthony Cullen! Where the hell do you get off running away?"

"Bella?"

"Do you know how worried everyone is about you? You just leave and don't think about how it would hurt your family and friends? You are sicker than I thought you were. What the hell is wrong with you? Get your sorry ass back home. NOW!" Click.

The line went dead. Oh shit.