Before I set my next prank in action, I let Edward have another chance, and I was waiting on edge for it.

In the meantime, however, I had other things to do.

Like buy Christmas presents.

I walked into the mall, tried to find something worth my money, and drove back home empty-handed three hours later.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Christmas passed uneventfully, except for Alice and Jasper's new relationship. Alice explained it as over-the-top romantic when he proposed the idea for them to be bf/gf. She had to pause almost every other sentence to laugh uproariously before resuming the story. Apparently, Jasper had taken her to an IMAX film then suddenly decided to (gasp!) visit the planetarium. He charmingly pointed up to a star he now deemed the "Alice star" and asked her in a soft, unassuming voice if she'd like to be with him as more than friends. When she'd purposefully asked in fake outrage if he meant friends with benefits, he was "appalled" and quickly pulled out a bracelet with the letter J hanging on it.

"'Please be my official lady love, Alice?'" Alice mimicked. "I swear to you, Bella, that is exactly what he said."

Rosalie had yet to sink her glittery claws into Emmett.

And, of course, the war was on hold for the holidays. Except for the adorable little trick Edward played at the Swan Family Christmas Party when he stuck mistletoe over every doorway of my house right before I'd walk underneath so I'd have to bear the cheek kisses of my pseudo stalker Eric Yorkie whose parents were conveniently good friends with mine. I wished multiple times that he wouldn't be quick enough getting away so he'd have to kiss me. Though I'd rather Edward kiss me out of willingness, not some sleazy holiday tradition.

Other than that, no prankage was happening there.

It wasn't until mid-January when it started back up again, close to Alice's birthday, and even closer to the All-American Rejects concert she'd invited me—not Jasper—to attend with her.

Edward scooped up his own tickets and tagged along, Alec in tow.

He made inappropriate comments at every turn and asked crude questions like "Will you wash my dog, Bella?" But that wasn't the end of it. His finale was to jump up on stage during the band's break pretending to be drunk and proposing marriage to me. Usually, I would be either super embarrassed or super hurt. But this time I was just so super not amused.

Alice—bless her—drove us home early and listened to me rant about her idiotic brother all night.

Edward found half of his left eyebrow shaved off the next morning.

&&&&&&&&&&&

I won't even tell you about my Valentine's Day.

&&&&&&&&&&&

Almost every night my family has a nice sit-down dinner together, my mom mentions a single man or a woman and another single woman or man that she thought would make a great match. It always irritated me.

Tonight, when she said, "I wish Tom Gerandy would find a nice girl to marry," I announced, annoyed, "Not everyone needs a significant other to be happy, Mom."

She looked at me, surprised.

"Well, they don't!" I said. "I mean, Dr. Gerandy is probably doing just fine at night with the copy of The Crucible he bought yesterday."

Jane started to laugh under her breath, and I glared at her.

"Honey, I know that," Mom said. "I just think they'd be happier."

I rolled my eyes and excused myself to my room.

Mom, later that night, came into my room.

"Sweetie, are you having boy troubles?" she asked.

"No."

"Are you sure? You're not usually so cynical about love."

"We weren't talking about love," I informed her. "We were talking about your forward and unnecessary matchmaking."

She only looked at me in that way only a mother can to get me to finally spill.

"Maybe I'm having boy troubles."

"Do you want to tell me about it?" she asked, sitting down next to me on my bed.

"Not really. No offense, but I don't even want to think about it myself."

She nodded understandingly, and stood to get up.

"You know, Bella, you can always talk to Jane if you're uncomfortable talking to me."

I pressed my lips together, thinking about that. Realistically, I knew that my relationship with my sister wasn't in a place where I could talk to her about boys. But that didn't mean I didn't want it.

& & & & & &

After enough provocation, enough hostility, and enough fatigue over empty pranks, anyone would try to reconcile with an enemy. So I decided to be the better person, and I sought a truce with Jane.

Knocking softly on her door, I called, "Jane! Can I come in?"

"Whatever," was her muffled reply.

"When I opened the door, I saw her lying on her stomach, her head at the foot of the bed reading a book. I suddenly felt a sense of kinship—the sisterly kind—welling up because that was my most familiar reading position, too.

"Jane, I'd like a truce," I said frankly. A person doesn't beat around the bush with Jane.

"Why?" she asked blandly, eyes still trained on the black lettering on the pages of her novel. It was My Antonia.

"BecauseI'm sick of us not getting along," I explained. "I want to be there for you and I want you to be there for me." I paused before resuming my speech. "I know we won't ever be best friends or anything, and I'm not naïve enough to think we'll be super close and never fight. But Janie. You're the only sister I have. And I'm the only sister you're ever going to get. So could we please act like it once in a while?"

Whoa, I thought. That actually sounded convincing.

Sometime during my talk, Jane looked up at me. She seemed to deliberate on it for a while before finally nodding her head in acquiescence.

"Fine, but don't think we'll be borrowing each other's clothes anytime soon," she warned.

I smiled in relief.

"Okay."

After a pause, I pursed my lips and decided to just go for it.

"Jane. Now that we have this great agreement and all… would you mind giving me some advice? I mean, Alice and Rose are no help and no way am I going to Mom…"

"What is it?" she asked.

"Have you ever really, really liked someone who doesn't like you back? And by really, really like I mean kinda sorta love. And did that person ever pretend like you didn't exist unless he was antagonizing you?"

"...No..."

"Well, can you… understand?"

"I'll try," Jane said, looking hesitant.

"Okay, well, how would a person get over being… in… love with someone that they know in their head could never return that affection but their stupid heart wouldn't let it go? I mean, not that my heart really feels anything because it's really the brain that tells the heart to beat, so really love is a mental thing—"

"Maybe it'll help if I know who it is, Bella," Jane offered.

I bit my lip, thinking of Jay Jenks.

"I hesitate, Jane. Remember JJ?"
"Oh, Bella, come on. We have a truce now."

"As of two minuets ago."

"I promise it won't happen again," she said. She looked sincere…

"Edward Anthony Cullen," I admitted.

Jane gasped. "Nuh uh!"

"Uh huh," I squeaked, burying my face in my hands.

Jane pulled me into a sitting position on the bed.

"You're not kidding," she realized, looking at my flushed face.

"Isn't it dreadful?"

"Well, it isn't… as bad as it seems," she tried to console. "But Bella…"

"I know! I do, I know. He's a popular, gorgeous, college-bound track star. What am I thinking? But I'm not! I don't tell my brain how to feel or who to feel for!"

"Bella, calm down."

"Right. Sorry."

"How long have you felt this way about the neighbor?" she asked.

"A while. It hit me like a tranq bullet to the forehead when I opened that towel on my birthday, but I've had a crush on him since, like, third grade."

"Edward had braces when you were in third grade."

"He picked red and yellow for the colors, Jane. But it was clear that he wished the yellow was gold. He's a true—"

"Don't say Gryffindor."

"Okay, I won't. But it's still a redeeming quality," I added.

"Speaking of, my next question was what you like about him."

"Not a whole lot," I confessed.

"There must be something besides Harry Potter."

"Well, it always frustrates and angers me, but it is a great skill. He never, ever gets caught, you know? Like Ferris Bueller."

Jane nodded.

"He's untouchable!" I said ardently, throwing my hands up.

She nodded again.

"Anything else?"

"Well, I'd like him better if he wasn't such a douche. Pardon my French."

"Nothing else?"

"Well, he's clever, I guess. No, I take that back. All the cleverness was coming from you."

"I thank you."

"I suppose I like him because he's good with family stuff. I was getting all choked up when he helped me watch the kids on Thanksgiving."

"Okay, now, you think you can get over him?"

"No, that's what you're here for."

She rolled her eyes.

"I can't tell your brain how to feel anymore than you can."

"Jane!" I whined.

"Listen, Bella, I think you should tell him."

I stiffened. "Jump back!" I exclaimed.

"No, I'm serious. Maybe it would help if you find out how he feels. What's to lose?"

"Uh… my pride, self-esteem, and dignity?"

"Honestly, Bella, don't be so dramatic."

"I can't tell him. I am under enough stress as it is with Alice/Jasper/Emmett/Rosalie business."

"My advice is to tell him," Jane persisted.

I groaned.

"See you tomorrow!" Jane said as I slammed the door behind me.

&&&&&

Edward started a rumor that I was a hermaphrodite; that's why I didn't ever date anybody. I mean, come on.

So I enlisted the help of my loyal friend Jay Jenks. He still felt guilty, so he accepted quickly. I told him exactly what to say, where to say it, who to say it to… Jay Jenks was a great actor, too. I got to watch the whole thing.

"Cullen, man," Jay Jenks laughed. "I know that to be false," he said, overhearing Edward telling someone else of my secret male reproductive organs.

This was believable because Edward knew I dated Jay Jenks.

Edward visibly tensed. "And how would you know that?"

"Let's just say Bella Swan and I are… very intimately acquainted."

The expression on Edward's face became blank. I snickered.

"What did you say?" Edward asked Jay Jenks.

"Bella is definitely not a hermaphrodite. I've seen firsthand." Jay Jenks laughed crudely, high-fiving one of his buddies standing beside me.

Edward stormed away in a flurry, passing right beside me without even noticing me. I laughed as I watched him walk all the way outside, his fists clenching at his sides.

Ha, I thought. Your prank this time backfired.

& & & & &

When Edward Cullen started banging on my bedroom door at seven o'clock that night, I was admittedly afraid.

Oh my gosh, he's going to kill me.

Even though I made sure his prank didn't work, I did one of my own after school.

"Unlock. The. Door."

I did, and then ran back to the bed.

"I'm sorry!" I cried. "I'll buy you a new pair, I promise."

"What?" he asked, his fury toning down a little in his confusion.

"Your lucky track shoes. I tied the shoelaces together and threw them up… in a tree?" I realized he hadn't seen them. "And you didn't know that…" I trailed.

"No," he said in a clipped tone. "I did not."

"Then why are you so mad?"

"Did you really have sex with Jenks?"

I grinned. Edward did not.

"Did you?" he persisted.

"Nah."

"Then why did he tell me that you did?!"

"Because I told him to," I said.

"Why?"

"You told everyone I was a hermaphrodite!" I yelled.

"You threw my lucky track shoes up in a tree!" he yelled louder.

"Because you told everyone I was a hermaphrodite!"

"Well, you shaved my eyebrow off!"
"Because you mortally embarrassed me at the All-American Rejects concert! And I only shaved off half," I pointed out.

"Well, I only embarrassed you at the concert because you—"

"I know what I did. I know what you did. We do not have to go over everything," I said reasonably, putting my hands up, palms facing Edward.

"You really didn't sleep with Jenks?" he asked.

I shook my head in the negative. "No, Jay Jenks didn't touch me."

Edward kissed me then.

I'm not even lying; he did! He pulled me toward him and touched his lips to mine and held them there. It wasn't an accident, and it wasn't a mistake. But it was shocking so I didn't respond for half a second before kissing him back with everything I felt for him. I didn't wonder why he kissed me, especially after we'd just had an argument. I was too wrapped up in the feeling of his lips moving on mine, and then the tip of his tongue touching my lower lip.

I don't know how long we kissed, but I knew that I felt my insides warming up delightfully and melting into each other when he wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed me closer.

When it ended, I felt out of breath, even though I'd been taking in oxygen through my nose.

"Isabella Swan," he said, just as out of breath as I was. "You are a good kisser."

I blushed and stammered, "What are—"

"Well, I forgive you for stealing my shoes if you forgive me for… everything else," he joked.

"Okay," I whispered.

"Well, I told my Mom I'd only be gone for fifteen minutes."

I nodded, and a smile that tightened my cheeks until it hurt graced my face after he left my room, looking back at me before closing the door behind him.

I guess I didn't have to tell him how I felt after all.

& & & & &

The pranking stopped for a long time. But it wasn't because Edward kissed me. I had time to tell Alice and Rosalie, who were very proud of me, about the kiss, but no time to tell anyone else of my happiness before the next event was occurring.

Two and a half days after Edward kissed me (Yes, I'm aware that's how I was keeping track of the days), I was still pretty elated. I mean, it wasn't anything close to a commitment or anything, but it still made me tremble inside when I reflected.

I was also, two days after Edward kissed me, craving Italian food. I figured I'd just pick up a to-go order so I wouldn't have to actually talk to anyone. Jane liked Italian, too, so I went to ask her if she wanted anything.

"Jane?" I said after rapping on the door. "Jane?"

I twisted the knob and quietly opened the door, not wanting to disturb her If she was sleeping or reading or something.

However, what I saw inside didn't have anything to do with sleeping or reading.

Jane and Edward were kissing.

It wasn't sloppy or gross or anything, but it was still happening right in front of me and I felt sick to my stomach which just moments before was all aflutter with happy.

At the sound of my intrusion, the couple broke away to look at me.

And simultaneously, I realized my own disgusting stupidity.

Jane and Edward had probably been together all along. I mean, they'd been plotting against me during the prank war. How did I not recognize that?

And my truce with Jane… The advice I'd asked! And she'd promised that the Jay Jenks incident wouldn't be repeated! She must have been so disappointed that I'd refused to tell her boyfriend—fuck buddy, whatever— how I felt about him to save myself humiliation.

And Edward. He kissed me! It was probably Jane's idea. She knew I'd be so happy about it, only to be crushed later. Oh, I could just… just… cry.

"Bella," Jane said, looking shocked, panicked, remorseful.

"You promised," I whispered, looking anywhere but at the two of them. I tried to regain my balance, rein in my emotions.

"I just… I was going to get… Italian. Did you, um, want anything?"

My tiny voice cracked on almost every word.

"Bella, it isn't what you think, I swear!" Jane cried passionately. "No, no, please, Bella, believe me!"

"How can you—" I broke off. "Your sister."

"Bella, I wasn't—it wasn't. Oh…"

I turned and left the room, trying to rid my mind of their embrace, seeing Edward's lips on my own sister when so short a time ago they were on mine. It was heartbreaking.

I locked myself in my room, breathing harshly. It reminded me so much of all those months ago, after the first Jane/Edward towel encounter. Due to Jane, I had exposed so much of myself to Edward. Again.

This was worse, though. Because now my heart was involved.

& & & & &

"Bella?" It was my mom. "Can you let me in?"

I unlocked the door and stepped away.

"Hi," I greeted blandly.

"I don't know what happened, but both my daughters are very upset and Edward just left the house looking distraught."

"Don't care," I muttered darkly.

"I'm not going to ask what happened…" she trailed, expecting me to tell her.

"Good, that's great," I said.

Mom rolled her eyes.

"I can't help you if you don't ell me what's wrong," she rationalized.

"Yeah, we could move states. And leave Jane in Washington."

Needless to say, Mom disagreed.