A/N: Twilight is Meyer's. No copyright infringement intended.

Thanks for reading, and for reviewing.

BPOV

My cell phone rang a few minutes before my alarm was set to go off the next morning. I grunted and rolled over to grab it. When I read the caller ID, I smiled widely and fumbled it open. "Hey, Mom."

"Good morning, sweetheart," my mother's voice greeted me warmly. "Did I wake you?"

"Yeah, but it's okay." I ran a hand over my face to wake myself up. "I have to get up anyway. What's up?"

"I just wanted to check in." I could hear the smile in her voice, and I felt a twist in my stomach. She was so far away. I wanted to be with her. "How was work this weekend?"

I grinned a little. My mother was unnaturally interested in my job at the Renaissance Festival. But she had a reason. We had gone to one in Arizona once when I was seven, and she had loved it. We never had gotten a chance to go back. I wished we had. It bothered me every time I walked through the gate at work that I wasn't able to enjoy the fair with her. "It went okay," I told her.

"Oh," she said. I cringed at her tone. Sure enough, she demanded, "What happened?"

I had a hard time fooling her. But there was no way I was telling her about Edward Cullen. "Just, you know… James was around yesterday, and I hate seeing him. And I had a little accident with one of the arrows."

"Honey!" she exclaimed. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Physically, I mused. Mentally, I wasn't so sure, especially since I was picturing Edward's face and not hers. I tried not to groan. "It's not that bad."

"You need to be more careful."

"Mom," I said, trying not to laugh. "You know how I am."

"True," she agreed. She chuckled to herself. In the background, I heard someone calling, "Renee!" and her laugh faded into a sigh.

"Phil's home?" I asked.

"Yeah." She covered the phone for a second to call something back to him, then she came back on. "He's getting ready to leave for work. I have to go in a minute."

"Go ahead." I forced myself to smile so she would hear it in my voice, even though I wanted to keep talking to her and never let her go. "Tell him I said hello."

"I will." She hesitated. "Bella, are you sure—"

I cut her off. "I'm sure, Mom. I'm fine here. It's not long until graduation. And you need time with Phil." My smile turned genuine. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

"All right, sweetie. I love you."

"I love you, too." I hung up and closed my eyes again, picturing her in Florida with Phil, getting ready to step out into the sunshine. Then I opened my eyes and glanced toward the rain that was pelting my window.

Lovely.

Fifteen minutes later, Lauren and Jessica slid into their seats at the dining room table just as I slid plates of waffles in front of them. Lauren sneered as she plucked a blueberry off her plate. "Lucky timing," she commented.

"Not lucky enough, or you wouldn't be here," I muttered as I headed back into the kitchen. When I came back with their juice, Victoria had taken her seat, and the three of them were discussing their trip to Port Angeles that afternoon. My stepmother focused on me when I walked in.

"Remember, Bella, I expect you to get things done while we're gone today," she informed me. "Don't think you can slack off just because I won't be here."

"I remember," I said, setting her glass by her elbow.

Jessica took her opportunity to goad me. "We'd take you with us, Bella, but we know you're just not interested in being a girl." She raised her brows pointedly at my jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt as she smoothed her own skirt and frighteningly low V-neck top.

I gave her a dark look, and she smiled sweetly at me. Beside her, in a similar skirt-and-V-neck ensemble, Lauren rolled her eyes. "Even if a miracle happened and she suddenly wanted to be a girl, she still wouldn't need to go with us, because no guy would ever want to take her to prom."

I considered dumping the orange juice on her head. But then I decided that the shrieking wasn't worth it, so I set it on the table beside her and went back into the kitchen to eat. I was alone this morning because Jake had some kind of project he had to complete, so I didn't linger. Within twenty minutes, I had eaten, cleaned up, and made a run for it, leaving the harpies in the middle of their discussion of their plan of attack on Edward Cullen.

In my truck, I sat for a moment with my backpack in my lap, staring blindly at the rain that pounded against my windshield. I couldn't figure out why it bothered me so much to hear them say his name. It just must be because he'd been nice, I thought. I couldn't stand to hear the evil twins cackling over someone who didn't deserve it.

I drew in a long, deep breath and let it out with a sigh. My truck smelled vaguely of tobacco and mint, a combination that had sunk into the leather throughout the years and had become as much a part of the vehicle as the engine itself. I found the scent oddly soothing; it was the scent of my sanctuary. I took another long breath before setting my backpack aside and sticking the key in the ignition. The truck roared to life, and I eased away from the curb before I had to see my stepsisters squeal their way out to their car in the rain.

Alice was waiting just inside the doors of the school with Jasper directly behind her. She pounced on me the second I walked in, backpedaling only when she realized that I was soaked by the downpour. "Bella!" she exclaimed, wrinkling her nose as I pulled back the hood of my jacket. She recovered immediately. "So, did you like, totally see him this weekend when he showed his totally awesome face?"

I laughed at her airhead impersonation. "I take it you saw the Bree-mail."

She fell into step beside me as I headed for my locker. "Of course," she said dismissively. She leaned against the locker beside mine as I put away my backpack. "Was it chaos when he walked in?"

Jasper grinned as his girlfriend pretended to check me for war wounds. His grin faded as quickly as hers when she discovered the gauze on my arm. I noticed his back straighten slightly as Alice demanded, "This is better first aid than normal. What happened?"

With a grimace, I glanced up and down the hall to make sure none of the Edward Cullen Fan Club was in hearing range. Then I relayed the story of the weekend as succinctly as I could. When I finished, Alice didn't hesitate. "Were you wearing the blue?"

"Alice," I groaned. She simply tapped her forehead, and I rolled my eyes in return. "Yes, I was wearing the blue on Saturday. But it doesn't matter, because it's not like that. He wasn't looking at me that way."

"Mm-hmm," Alice sang as we started toward class. "And he came back to the festival yesterday because it has such amazing food."

"Shut up," I complained, giving her a rough shove. She managed to duck away fast enough to receive only part of the push, and I stumbled a little instead. Jasper calmly grabbed my upper arm to balance me. The three of us kept walking as though nothing had happened, but another voice cut in.

"Miss Swan?"

I stopped in mid-stride and cringed slightly. Alice looked sympathetic when I glanced at her from the corner of my eye. Slowly, I turned. "Yes sir, Mr. Greene?"

Principal Greene beckoned to me from the door of his office. "I would like a word with you, if you don't mind."

Crap. He'd seen me shove Alice and was calling me out on it? Really? "Sure," I muttered.

Alice whispered "Good luck" as I started for the door. I gave her a cornered look as I followed the principal into his office.

Inside, Mrs. Anderson, the school counselor, was waiting for us. She stood when I came in and motioned toward the empty chair beside her. "Hello, Bella," she greeted me. "Have a seat."

So it wasn't about my pushing Alice. I sat as Mr. Greene rounded his desk and took his own seat. Mrs. Anderson resumed her place beside me. Mr. Greene didn't waste any time. "Bella, you are not in trouble. Please relax."

To humor him, I tried to sit a little more loosely in my chair. I don't think the effort worked. He smiled at me and continued, "Mrs. Anderson and I simply want to speak to you about your future."

I tried not to groan. I think I preferred being in trouble. "Mr. Greene, maybe you should speak to my stepmother."

"We wanted to speak with you," Mrs. Anderson replied with a brilliant smile.

"Bella, you are one of the brightest students we have had here at Forks High," Mr. Greene said seriously. I fought the urge to deny him by quoting my issue with math despite my high grade in the class, but I kept my mouth shut. He went on, "You also are one of the most talented. We have seen your artwork. It is impressive."

"Thank you," I mumbled, embarrassed.

Mrs. Anderson jumped in, "Your future is very promising. There are art programs throughout the country that would love to have a student like you."

I shifted my weight uncomfortably as Mr. Greene took over again. "Mrs. Anderson and I have noticed, however, that you have taken little interest in college."

"I've applied," I said quietly.

"To one school." Mr. Greene sounded almost angry. "Your sisters have applied to several. And to be quite frank, they have applied to better schools. Schools that would accept you if you would apply."

Schools I couldn't afford, I thought. Schools Victoria would weasel her daughters into but would never help me attend. I knew the reality of my future. Victoria wanted rid of me, but she would do anything to make sure Jessica and Lauren had more than I did. And that included getting them into Ivy League schools and making sure I went to state school. No matter what it took, they would have more and have better than I did. Even if their GPAs were each a full point lower than mine.

When I didn't reply, Mrs. Anderson stepped in again. "We think you are limiting your options, Bella. We know you can succeed at any of the nation's top schools. We know you would do well and they would be better for having you there. And we wanted to be sure you knew that we are here for you, to help you with anything in the process. Guidance, information, whatever you may need."

"We also are willing to help you find and apply for scholarships," Mr. Greene said shrewdly.

Smart man. He knew exactly why I wasn't applying to the schools I wanted to attend. "I appreciate your offer," I said sincerely. "But honestly, I'm not sure what I want to do." Or what I can do, I thought.

"We are willing to help you figure that out," Mrs. Anderson offered.

"Thank you." I had to get out of here. "Um, I'm sorry, but… I have a test first period."

I was sure Mr. Greene knew that I was lying, but he smiled. "I'm willing to write you an excuse, if you would like to speak with us further. But you may go now, if you would like."

I nodded vigorously. Mrs. Anderson looked disappointed, but Mr. Greene kept his smile. "All right, Bella. Keep in mind that we're here and we're willing to help." He extended his hand, and when I shook it, he gave my fingers a firm squeeze. "Have a good day."

"Thank you, sir. You, too." I shook Mrs. Anderson's hand and darted out of the office.

And ran directly into Mike Newton.

So much for the day I had been looking forward to.


EPOV

I was not looking forward to today.

I didn't want to go to school. It was such a waste of time. The teachers never came up with anything new or creative. I practically could teach the classes myself.

I just wanted to sit at the piano and play.

And okay, think of the girl who didn't want anything to do with me.

Emmett snapped me out of my funk. He slammed through the front door without bothering to knock and started toward the kitchen. Then he noticed me and turned to the living room to stare at me. "Dude, you're playing?" He was shocked enough to forget about the breakfast he had intended to swipe.

I sighed and struck the final chord of the girl's song. "Not anymore," I muttered.

He was still staring at me when I turned to face him. "You never play."

"I know." I glared. "Don't you have a waffle to steal?"

"Whoa, dude." He held up his hands, palms out, and took a step back. "Don't take whatever it is out on me, man." When I frowned, he narrowed his eyes at me. "Did you sleep at all? You look bad."

"Thanks, Em." I stood and moved past him into the kitchen. "Glad you came over."

"Sorry, Edward, but you do." He trailed behind me and grabbed a glass and the orange juice. "Carlisle around?"

"No." I sipped my own juice. My free hand was in my pocket. My fingers wrapped around the girl's bracelet.

God, I was sick.

"Well," Emmett began, finishing his juice quickly. "Ready?"

He didn't even want to eat. I was so out of it that I was bringing Emmett down. Perfect. "Maybe I'll skip today," I said.

That got him going. "No way," he said adamantly. "Game day, Edward. Get in the Jeep. We're going."

Baseball. Another thing I wasn't interested in today. "I don't want to deal with school today, Emmett. I just want to be left alone."

"No." He gave me a surprisingly firm look. "You can't play if you're not in class. Let's go."

I started to dig in, and he realized it. He glared a little. "Sheesh. I should have picked up Rose today. Get in the damn car, Edward."

Suddenly I froze. "Rosalie," I mused.

Emmett frowned. "Yeah, my girlfriend? She would give me less shit than you are."

"No, Emmett. Rosalie. Her cousin goes to Forks High." I felt stupid for not seeing it before. "He's a senior there, right? What's his name?"

"Yeah, he's a senior. Jasper." Emmett was looking at me like I'd lost my mind. And maybe I had. But I didn't care.

"Call him."

"What?"

"You know him, right? Call him. Ask if he knows whose bracelet this is." I pulled the girl's bracelet from my pocket and held it out.

Emmett's stare dropped to the jewelry. He didn't comment on my keeping it with me. Instead, he focused on my crazy scheme. "You want me to call my girlfriend's cousin to see if he knows what girl in his school is missing a bracelet?"

"Yes."

At my expression, Emmett sighed and pulled out his phone. And I smiled for the first time in two days.


BPOV

It had taken me all morning to get rid of Mike. The second he'd grabbed my arm to steady me outside Principal Greene's office, he'd become like a magnet. I'd been stuck with him walking me to class through the first three periods. He'd even been there when I'd passed Lauren and Jessica, which actually had been nice for one thing: it had kept Lauren from her daily ritual of slamming into me and knocking my books from my hands. It was bad, though, because Jessica had all but murdered me right there for being with "her man."

I couldn't imagine what she would do to me if she knew that I'd spoken to Edward Cullen.

After Mike had tried to convince me to go to prom with him – another thing that would guarantee my death if Jessica or Lauren ever found out – and I had told him no as politely as I could, he still kept right by my side. His washed-out blue eyes kept roaming to places I would rather they didn't, and he kept messing with his hair, which grossed me out considering the amount of gel he'd used. I finally had ducked into the girls' room and waited until class had started to come back out just so I could get away from him. I managed to avoid him for the rest of the day, but I had to use the girls' room as a hideout more than once.

By the time the final bell rang, it was an extreme relief to go to Alice's house for a little while before I had to go home and get some work done. I knew that the only guy around would be Jasper, and I had nothing to fear from him.

When we walked in, Alice headed for the kitchen, and Jasper wandered into the living room. He dropped into the armchair there, which essentially was his armchair, and grabbed his cell phone off the end table beside it. "Right where you left it?" Alice shouted from the kitchen.

"Yeah," he called back with a grin. He'd been looking for his phone all day, and Alice had promised him with her "psychic" ability that she knew that it was on the end table. I couldn't decide whether it was annoying or freaky that she was right about as many things as she was.

Jasper started messing with his phone, muttering about missed calls, as I sank onto the couch. A second later his phone rang in his hand. He glanced at the caller ID and frowned. "Hello?" His frown changed to surprise. "Oh. Hey, Emmett. Rose give you my number?"

My eyes felt huge. "Emmett?" I whispered frantically. "Edward's best friend Emmett? The Emmett he came to the festival with? That Emmett?"

Jasper ignored me. "Yeah, I know he was at my school."

"Shit," I moaned. My day was completely going to hell. "Oh, shit. Jasper—"

He held up a hand to stop me. "Nah, man, I skipped that day. Wasn't there." He paused. "Is he really." Green eyes lifted to my face. Jasper looked entirely too amused, considering the circumstances. I motioned for him to cut the call off, but he simply grinned. "Sorry, man. I can't help you…. Yeah. Tell Rose hi."

When he hung up, I fell back onto the couch cushions in relief. "Thanks, Jasper." I ran my hands tiredly over my face. "I'm sorry you have to lie for me."

"I didn't lie." He shrugged. "I didn't say anything about you. Just told him I couldn't help him." He threw his voice toward the kitchen. "Ali, did you hear me say anything about not knowing Bella?"

Her voice floated back with an amused edge. "No, I didn't hear that."

"See?" Jasper's eyes glinted impishly.

"Jasper, I love you," I told him wholeheartedly.

"I know, Bella. And I'm sorry, but I'm taken."

I turned my head to yell into the kitchen. "Alice, can I borrow Jasper?"

There was laughter in her voice this time when she called back, "Sure. What are best friends for?"

With a mischievous look, I turned back to Jasper. He grinned at me. Smiling, I leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Thank you, Jasper."

"Sure." He sat back and took the soda Alice handed him when she walked in. "Thanks."

"Welcome." She handed another can to me as she sat beside me. "So. Bella." She turned to me expectantly. "Edward has Emmett calling about you, but it's not like that at all, hm?"

"He probably wants to give my bracelet back," I said, focusing on my can. I glanced up to see Jasper and Alice gazing at me knowingly. I shot Jasper an exasperated look, and he turned his attention to the television. "Alice, you know why I can't talk to him. Even this," I held out my bandaged arm, "would be enough for them to kill me." I shrugged and focused on my can again. "Besides. Edward Cullen wouldn't be interested in someone like me, anyway."

"Someone smart, beautiful, talented, generous, and caring?" Alice wrinkled her nose. "Oh, no. He never would fall for that."

Jasper snorted from his armchair, but he dutifully kept his eyes on the TV. I gave him a glare anyway before turning back to Alice. "Please, Alice. He wouldn't be interested. Not in me."

"Bella, you don't see yourself—"

Alice was cut off by my cell phone. It was Victoria's ringtone. I winced and pulled it out of my backpack. "Hello?"

"Jessica forgot her cell phone. Bring it to the baseball field."

Before I could reply, Victoria hung up. I closed my phone and stared at it for a moment in dismay.

Day from hell.