Author's Note- Sorry for the wait, again! I'm getting really busy with school work. Hopefully I'll be able to get some writing done this weekend, so you'll have the next couple of updates faster. Thank you all for your reviews, I loved them all. Shout out to the reviewer who realized the Pride and Prejudice references, as well as the reviewer who caught the "chemistry" jab. I'm also very sad about the new Midnight Sun news. I read the draft on Stephenie's website, and I loved it. I guess we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed. Until then, here's chapter seven!

Disclaimer- I own nothing. It all belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

Soundtrack- "Don't Wake Me Up" by the Hush Sound

Chapter Seven

Precipice

I woke up the next morning early, before my alarm went off. I had an odd feeling in my stomach, not quite churning or upset but not settled either. I sighed and rolled over onto my side. Alice was still sound asleep in her bed, sprawled across her bed, all her blankets kicked off. I glanced at the clock, then turned back over.

Edward Masen's face appeared in my mind again, as it had all night. I couldn't remember much about my dreams, just his face, vivid and perfect.

I still didn't quite get him, but I knew that I had to seriously reevaluate him and how I thought about him. He may be seriously misguided when it came to literature, but rude and arrogant no longer applied to him. I also couldn't dismiss how I felt around him. I still felt immensely self-conscious around him, but I was much more comfortable. Some part of me had decided not to hate him, then.

So I could be nice, friendly. It seemed like the easiest solution. I had no reason to hate him, and I would be seeing a lot of him. Our friends were always throwing us together, and it would be easier if we could be friendly.

Yes, friendly sounded like a great answer. So I settled on friendly with my usual decisiveness.

I could introduce my new "friendly" approach in Biology.

I sucked in my breath and mentally cursed. It was Tuesday, which meant I had Biology. And while seeing Edward was no longer much of an issue, seeing Mike Newton was. Mike was a good enough guy, but I just wasn't interested. He didn't seem to understand that.

"Bella."

I rolled over to see that Alice's eyes were open and she was staring at me.

"Good morning, Alice," I said.

Alice just stared at me for a minute, then said, "Good morning, Bella."

I climbed out of bed, and started to get ready. When I turned around a few minutes later, Alice was still sitting in bed, watching me. I was finally able to see her expression, and she looked odd: confused, worried, and hopeful all at once.

"What is it?" I asked, immediately concerned.

She'd gotten back later than I had, after I was already asleep. Maybe she'd argued with Jasper, as unlikely as it seemed. They never argued, not like Rosalie and Emmett.

"Is it Jasper?" I asked.

She shook her head, then asked, "What did you dream about last night?"

I blushed, and looked away, confused and embarrassed all at once. What did my dreams have anything to do with what was upsetting her?

"Nothing," I said.

"Bella, you're a horrible liar," Alice reminded me.

I didn't answer her. She didn't need to know, and I wasn't sure I was able to admit it to her, or anyone outside of myself. I wasn't sure what to make of it myself. Alice waited for a minute, and when she realized that I wasn't going to answer she sighed.

"Fine, don't tell me," she grumbled, then called out, "No, Bella! Not those jeans with that shirt. Didn't I teach you anything?"

"Sorry, I must have tuned that part of the conversation out," I told her.

She rolled her eyes. For a second I was shocked. Alice rolled her eyes a lot, but I'd never noticed before now. Edward did the same thing. He'd never rolled his eyes at me, but I'd seen him do it with Emmett and Jasper a lot.

Uh-oh. Why did I know that?

"And wear these shoes," Alice said, holding me a pair of black heels.

I stared at them for a minute, then decided against arguing. It was pointless to argue with Alice most of the time, and I didn't feel like trying. Not when she knew something as going on that I wasn't telling her about. She'd only make my life miserable.

Alice started getting dressed herself. We got ready in silence, broken only by Alice occasionally singing to herself in a clear soprano. Only Alice could sing to herself and not look ridiculous.

"Jasper and I are going out to dinner on Friday night," Alice told me as we finished, "I can't wait."

"That'll be fun," I said.

Alice nodded, thoughtful again. I again went back to my suspicions that something was wrong with her and Jasper.

"Alice, what is it?" I asked again.

Alice glanced over at me, then said, "You talk in your sleep, Bella."

I quickly looked away so she wouldn't see my reaction. I knew I talked in my sleep, and so did Alice. She'd known since freshman year, when I'd started listing off my grocery list at 3 am. There was only reason she'd bring it up this morning, and that was that I'd been talking in my sleep that night.

I had dreamt of Edward that night.

"We're going to be late for class," I murmured.

It didn't help matters that we had class with Edward. I wanted to disappear, but forced myself to walk out of our room and towards the elevators with Alice.

"I won't say anything," Alice promised me once we were in the elevator, alone.

I turned to look at her, but didn't say anything. Instead, I nodded, thanking her without words.

Alice sighed, then said, "But you have to tell me what's going on, Bella. And Rosalie, too." Then, almost as an afterthought, she murmured, "This changes things."

"What does it change?" I asked.

"Nothing," Alice replied, too quickly, "Nothing at all."

My friends were hiding something from me, and I knew it. But I was letting them, mostly because I wasn't sure I wanted to know. I trusted my friends enough to know that they would tell me if they thought I should know.

We were barely on time for Biology. Alice sat down gracefully in her seat. I tripped into mine. When I looked up everyone at the lab table was grinning at my entrance, but what caught me the most was that Edward was grinning. At me.

"Hey, Bella," Mike said.

"Hi, Mike," I replied, and then felt a wave of gratitude as the professor began the lesson. Since it wasn't a lab, I wouldn't have to face Mike's conversation until after class. I had a whole hour and a half to figure out some way to make him realize I wasn't interested.

I took diligent notes. I didn't want to fail the class and have to take it again in the spring so I could graduate. It also kept me distracted, because whenever there was a pause in the lecture my eyes would drift up. Alice kept giving me odd looks, and I kept thinking about my dream the night before. Of course, that would lead me to look at Edward, who also appeared to be taking very good notes. And next to Edward was Mike, staring at my back. It was all very awkward.

After class, Mike looked like he wanted to catch my attention, but Alice wrapped her around in mine and started chattering about meaningless things. I relaxed immediately and listened to Alice's chatter. As much as Alice might laugh at the "Mike Situation" (her name for it, not mine), she was a good enough friend to help me avoid him.

Oddly enough, Edward fell into step with us as we headed to the dining hall. We all went to lunch after Biology, but he'd never walked with us before. He walked on my other side, and I couldn't help noticing that he was grinning.

Once Mike was out of sight, Alice started to laugh.

"Bella, what are you going to do? He's getting obsessive! He kept staring at you and giving you these weird looks, like he was trying to get your attention," Alice said through her laughter.

I bit my lip and said, "I don't know. He's a nice guy, and I don't want to be mean… but he just doesn't get it."

I heard Edward chuckle on the other side of me, and I couldn't help but turn and glare at him.

"I'm glad my life is so amusing," I muttered.

He just chuckled again, and I looked away before I said anything I didn't want to. I had to remind myself that I was being friendly to him; it was hard with him being so infuriating.

We reached the dining hall. Alice skipped off to find Jasper while I grabbed a tray and got in line for pizza. Edward followed me, grabbing a tray and getting in line behind me, still smiling to himself. I was still a little annoyed with him for finding the Mike situation so amusing, so I said nothing.

Instead, it was Edward who started conversation.

"Have you finished Wuthering Heights yet?" he asked.

I looked up at him, feeling my eyebrows furrow a little in confusion. We'd only just started Wuthering Heights the day before.

"No," I admitted, finally, "I'm half way through."

"What else do you read in that class?" he asked.

"Um… well, we just finished Jane Austen. After the Brontes we're going to read poetry, I think," I said.

"Shakespeare?" he asked.

I shook my head, then said, "No, there's a course devoted to Shakespeare, though."

"Have you taken it?"

"Yes," I admitted.

"What's your favorite Shakespeare?" he asked.

I paused for a minute, thinking.

"Romeo and Juliet," I finally said.

"What about Jane Austen?" he asked.

I thought for a second more, moving forward as the line did, and then looked up at him, suddenly confused. I felt a smile pull on my lips.

"Why all the questions?" I asked.

He shrugged lightly and said, "I'm curious, that's all. You didn't answer my question."

The questions continued, my favorite books, then on to my favorite genres and books within those categories. I admitted to him that my book collection at school alone had Alice annoyed. She said that my shelves were too full of books, and that there could be more room for her shoes if I had less books. He laughed at that.

When we finally reached our usual table, everyone else was already there. Jasper, it seemed, had already got lunch for Alice because she was eating off of his tray. Emmett and Rosalie were, for once, not making out or staring at each other hopelessly. Instead, Rosalie was watching us carefully. I slid into my usual seat and started eating.

"What?" I asked Rosalie.

She shook her head once, wordlessly, then with a flip of her hair turned to talk to Emmett.

I looked down at Alice, but she was chattering happily to Jasper, who was listening as though it was the most interested thing in the world. I had to give him credit for that.

"Have you seen the film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet?" Edward asked, making me turn so that I could see him.

"Yes," I replied, and felt a slight blush, "A lot."

It was one of my favorites. The older one, though, of course. The new one just wasn't the same for me.

The questions continued all through lunch. After lunch Alice and Jasper disappeared together, and I went back to my room to work on homework.

It was almost a relief to go back to Wuthering Heights. My copy of the book had been read so much there were permanent bends in the spines at my favorite parts. There weren't any markings in the margins, though. As much as my professors encouraged me to "mark up" my books I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Cathy and Heathcliff's love story had completely absorbed me when my cell phone vibrated on my desk beside me. It shocked me away from my book, and I picked it up with a sigh.

When you're done with your homework come over to the guy's room. We're going to get some pizza for dinner. R

I sighed, then quickly typed a reply.

Okay. B

I glanced at the clock. It was almost four o'clock. I put aside Wuthering Heights and started working the homework I wanted to do less, and had put off until I absolutely had to do it. That included a lab write up for Biology.

Everyone else was already at the guys' suite by the time I arrived, having finished my lab write up. Alice and Rosalie were eagerly planning something. I could tell by the look on Alice's face, and I felt my stomach sink a little. That look rarely meant good things for me.

"Hey, Bella!" Emmett shouted, waving to me from across the room.

I waved in reply. Emmett and Edward were looking through the phone book for the pizza place. My eyes focused on Edward, who was facing me. But he just glanced up from the phone book to me, and looked back down without saying anything.

Something knotted up in my stomach.

Maybe he was just busy, I told myself.

Emmett swore, and Rosalie gave him a look. Rosalie liked the Patriots, for some strange reason. I always suspected it was because she likes the quarterback, but she just laughed when I told her that.

"Sorry," Emmett replied, and went back to his pizza searching.

I sat down on the floor next to Alice, and she immediately swooped down on me.

"Bella, guess what?" she asked.

"You're going to let me wear a sweatshirt tomorrow," I guessed.

Alice stuck out her tongue at my ludicrous suggestion.

"No, we're all going to go to the club on Friday. They've got a new DJ. Jasper and I saw the posters today, and we decided we should all go. It'll be fun," Alice said.

Dancing. Great.

"Please, please, please, Bella," Alice begged.

Even Rosalie looked excited. I sighed, then nodded.

"Fine," I said.

I glanced over again at Edward, when I was sure Alice and Rosalie wouldn't notice. His eyes were now fixed on the TV. He hadn't even acknowledged my presence.

"Bella?" Rosalie asked.

"Hmm?" I answered, quickly turning back to Rosalie and Alice.

Rosalie's eyes followed my gaze, then frowned just the slightest.

"Did you finish your lab write up?" Alice asked.

I nodded.

Alice groaned, then said, "Will you help me with mine? I have no idea what I'm doing, I don't remember the lab."

"That's because you were too busy texting Jasper under the desk," I told her.

Alice rolled her eyes.

"Rosie!" Emmett shouted from across the room, "Do you want to share a pizza with me? No one else wants sausage."

"You could eat the whole pizza yourself, Em," Jasper said.

Rosalie was distracted from me, for which I was grateful. She went over to talk to Emmett, and I started explaining the lab to Alice.

"Why don't we ask Edward?" Alice suggested, "He might know."

Part of me wanted to stop her, remembering the way he'd reacted to me in the past few minutes. But the larger part of me didn't stop her, and sat there, waiting to see what would happen.

"Edward!" Alice called, "Come here!"

Edward looked up from the TV, and I watched his eyes turn to Alice, who had called him. They moved almost immediately from her to me, resting on me for a moment.

Then he stood up in one fluid movement and came over to where we were sitting. Alice flashed him a brilliant smile, her "persuasive" smile.

"Edward," she said, "I need help with my biology lab. Have you finished yours yet?"

Edward nodded.

I grinned, and whispered to Alice, "I guess you're the only slacker."

"Shh, Bella," Alice said, then turned back to Edward, "I don't remember much of the procedure, and Bella thinks it's justice and won't let me look at her notes. Can I borrow yours?"

Edward smiled just a little, and I felt the knot in my stomach tighten.

"Weren't you paying attention?" he asked.

I realized that was the first time I'd heard him talk tonight.

"No," Alice admitted.

Edward smiled wryly, then said, "I'll let you borrow my notes."

"Thank you, Edward. You're a good friend," Alice said, then shot me a pointed look suggesting that I wasn't a good friend.

I had to smile just a little, knowing that Alice was pouting but that she'd get over it soon enough.

When I looked back at Edward he was watching me again. I smiled wider, trying to be friendly, to bring him in on the joke. But he quickly looked away, and I saw his lips turn down in a frown.

The night went on like that. Edward said all of two words to me, and they were "thank you" when I'd passed him some napkins. I couldn't reconcile this Edward with the other Edward's I'd been forming in my mind. There was mean Edward, and then friendly Edward. Friendly Edward, who hadn't been able to ask enough questions just this morning at lunch. Now he was neither. He was perfectly polite when he had to be, but otherwise he kept away from from me completely. At one point we were all watching the end of the football game, and the only open seat was next to me. Edward sat on the floor instead, and Alice had quickly got up to take that open seat.

I didn't understand it, and it was driving me insane. As soon as I could, I made an excuse to leave. I felt Edward's eyes following me all the way out, but I refused to meet them. I was getting angry again, and I didn't want to meet his eyes.

He was driving me insane! First he was all friendliness, and now he was ignoring me. Why couldn't he just pick one of them and stick with it?

But even as I asked myself the question, I wanted to take it back. Because what if he chose to ignore me. I had to force myself to realize that part of me would wish that if he was ignoring me, he'd break his silence every now and then to talk to me.

I liked to talk to him. He was easy to talk to, once I'd gotten past the initial discomfort I'd felt in his presence.

Rosalie's words came back to haunt me, yet again. Sexual tension.

Oh, God. Had she been right? Was that why I was so upset when he ignored me, because I was so insanely attracted to him that I couldn't ignore him?

But how was that possible. I'd been so sure that I was beyond feeling that way, beyond attraction, at least for a while. This whole summer I'd ignored just about every member of the male sex that I could. It had been unconscious, my mind building a wall to protect itself. So how was this happening?

And why was he suddenly ignoring me?

My cell phone went off on the table beside me.

I groaned, and buried my head in my pillow, ignoring it. After a few tries, it finally fell silent. But I could still hear everything in the building. Someone was blasting their music a few doors down, and I could hear every word that the people next door were saying. I pulled another pillow over my head, determined to shut it all out so I could just think, or, if couldn't think, sleep.

When Alice came in an hour or two later, I had buried my torso beneath her pillows and mine.

The next day was Wednesday, which was almost a blessing. I had my classic English lit class, but, more importantly, I didn't have Biology. If I avoided the dining hall at lunch I wouldn't even have to see Edward at all. But I wanted to see him, which upset me just a little more. Even if he was ignoring me, I had to try.

But Edward wasn't at lunch. So I walked to my English class in a worse mood.

Angela noticed, but said nothing. She was great to be around when you were upset, I was quickly realizing. She'd let you stew, and wouldn't ask until you brought it up.

We walked back towards the dorms in silence. Angela, I noticed, was carrying Modern Bride with her notebooks.

"Are you looking for a wedding dress?" I asked.

Angela looked up, surprised that I'd spoke, probably.

"A little," she said, "Mostly just at ideas for decorations and stuff. My mom wants me to wait to get my wedding dress until she can help me."

"That's nice," I said.

I immediately imagined Renee taking me wedding dress shopping. I'd gone with her a few years ago when she'd married Phil, so I had a good idea what to picture. I couldn't help it, I grinned.

"My mom has all these ideas," Angela told me. "She wants a big wedding. She says I have to invite my whole family. And she wants me to get married in the church she was married in."

"What do you and Ben want?" I asked.

Angela smiled a little, then said, "I wouldn't mind getting married in the church, but I don't want that many people there. I've never even met half of them. They all live out east. Ben said it doesn't really matter to him, as long as we have chocolate wedding cake."

"That'll be delicious," I replied.

Angela nodded, eagerly, then stopped in front of her building.

"I'll see you later, okay, Bella?"

"See you, Ang," I replied.

I took the elevator up to my floor, searching in my bag for my cell phone. After talking to Angela about her mother, I wanted to call Renee and see how she was.

I stopped outside my door, so distracted in my look for my cell phone that I didn't have my keys ready. I could hear voices coming from inside the room, but I didn't stop, dismissing it.

I had just wrapped my fingers around the keys, cold from being in my bag, when I heard my name from inside.

"Emmett told me," Jasper's voice said from inside my room.

"Rosalie told him," Alice replied, "We thought that Edward should know."

"Was it really hard for her?" Jasper asked.

"Yes. I've never seen her so hurt before," Alice said, "Rose and I hated seeing her like that, but you know Bella, she'll never really admit how much she's hurting. So we wanted her to start dating again, at least try to make her see that not all guys are like that. In some ways, she still holds on to Jacob though. She made us promise not to push her into it, so we backed off. And then Edward started acting like that…"

My fingers lost their hold on my keys the same time I lost hold of my mind. I wasn't an idiot, I could put two and two together.

Rosalie had told Emmett what had happened, and had told him to tell Edward.

I expected to feel embarrassed, having my personal life broadcasted like that. But instead I couldn't place my emotions. I was relieved, hopeful, and entirely crushed.

Maybe Edward was only being distant now because of what Emmett had told him. But what did that mean?

I wasn't prepared to travel that road yet, much less examine how I felt about that. Instead, the crushing pain came down on me. I was seeing it all over again: Jacob telling me that he was sorry, but it wasn't fair to either of us, me or her. I could hear Alice's voice again, like an echo, "She still holds on to Jacob". It was true, I was grasping onto it like it was a precipice that was keeping me from falling. I wasn't prepared to let go, because I was afraid of where I landed. I lived in an excuse, a reason to not try again.

Slowly, I sunk to the floor beside my door, leaning back against the wall. My bag fell to the ground beside me, and my books fell out, spreading all over the floor. A pen rolled to the side and down the hallway, before hitting a wall and stopping. But I didn't move to clean up my mess. Instead I stared at the off-white wall in front of me, seeing nothing but the dark unknown beneath that precipice.

Author's Note- There you go. Enjoy your speculation. Remember to review. I love your reviews! They also make me write faster! Chapter eight is not finished yet, but it's a good one. I'm laughing just thinking about what I have to write. Haha!