A/N Hey guys, I hope all is going well! Just wanted to mention that my birthday is next week, and a review would be a perfect present...

BPOV

Chapter Nine: Shocked

To my everlasting surprise, I became Mike Newton's girlfriend the very next day.

It was very quick, and so subtle that I hadn't even realized the significance until after it happened. When I'd pulled up to school in my red Chevy, head buried in my trig notes for some final cramming, Mike had been waiting for me.

He walked me into school, and in the middle of the parking lot, he took my hand.

Later, I recognized the strategy in his move, as I recalled all the pairs of eyes that had been focused on different things, and then all moved in our direction with his action. In Forks, Mr. Popular-dates-New Girl was about as good as the gossip got, short of teacher relationships. Though after the alleged break up of Mrs. Cope and Mr. Varner, it was the general assumption that none of the other faculty were likely to try such a thing again soon.

The first two pairs of eyes to find our interlocking hands were the worst. Edward was standing with his family off to the side of the science building, but as soon as we were within twenty feet, he casually swiveled to face us. When he saw our hands, his eyes went very wide, wider than I'd seen them yet. In the second his eyes flashed to my face, I noticed that they were an even brighter gold than the day before. Brighter than any human's could be.

Jessica, who had been watching Edward, of course looked at us when he did. Her eyes also got to be about the size of dinner plates, but her surprise was a mix of incredulity and hurt. I sighed, wishing I could tug my hand out of Mike's, which was getting a little sweaty. I couldn't embarrass him in front of half the school like that, though.

Alice's post-girlfriend-aquisitionship analysis was half admiring as she explained his tactic to me. Completely inexperienced, I'd had no idea that relationships could so easily resemble warfare. Luckily, as soon as I set foot on the pavement, Alice had flitted to my side without a glance at Mike or our hands.

Mike dropped my hand out of his own surprise, presumably because he had never been in such close proximity with a Cullen before, excepting when he'd come to my lab bench yesterday. Being close to a Cullen, without practice, was a little like being tasered, but in a good way. I was very thankful that I had been conditioned through my time spent with Alice, so I wasn't a complete moron when Edward had returned, emphasis on the word complete.

She stole me away with a detailed yet simple explanation to Mike about a 'project' we had due that we really, really needed to work on.

"Okay, what is going on?" Alice pushed me gently inside the girl's bathroom for what was starting to look like the second Spanish Inquisition. She scanned the bottom of all the stalls to check for occupants, and when satisfied leaned against a sink and looked intently at me.

I backed up against the concrete wall. "I don't know," I mumbled.

Alice looked hurt. "Bella," she said, eyes widening with each syllable "you don't trust me? I thought we were friends." Her lip quivered – whether naturally or on purpose I couldn't tell, it was so convincingly done.

"Of course I trust you," I assured her quickly. "There's just nothing to tell."

"Then why are you suddenly Newton's girlfriend?" she demanded with narrowed eyes. I was taken aback – things were starting to feel very good cop/ bad cop.

"Hey, I was just as surprised as anyone else," I protested. "It's not like he told me, or anything. He just grabbed my hand in the parking lot, and apparently, that means we're going out!"

"He didn't even ask you to be his girlfriend?" she gasped.

I shook my head, feeling glad for once that there was someone I could vent to. I was usually the bottling type, but since I'd arrived in Forks, I'd needed much more than one bottle. "Not even close."

Alice had a thing or two to say about that. A fairly explicit thing or two. She paused in her vilification of Mike's unchivalrous behavior to volley off another question.

"Well, did he at least kiss you?"

I blushed. Horribly. My eyes ran over the stalls a second time to ensure that no one else was listening before I replied. "Yesterday. In the parking lot, by my truck."

"BY YOUR TRUCK? Oh, that's real romantic," she scoffed.

I know, I wanted to shout, and hug her for understanding. But Alice was the hugger, not me, and I was too worried that her little outburst had attracted attention. "Shhhh," I hissed.

"First kiss in the student parking lot of Forks High School. Well, there have been worse, I suppose," she muttered, shaking her head.

"Yeah." The thing was, a little part of me thought that I wouldn't even have minded the location or the timing if it was another person…

There was a discreet knock on the door that startled and puzzled me; the bathrooms were public. And then a voice that made my face burst into seven different shades of flame.

"Alice, you can't keep her in there forever. The second bell is about to ring. You'll make Bella late."

I wasn't sure whether to be touched or mortified by Edward's concern. Alice was certainly neither; looking livid, she stalked to the door and they exchanged hissed words. The only phrase I caught was, "of all the meddlesome brothers" before Alice noticed me watching.

"You can come out now, Bella." Alice's voice was even, but as I passed her, I could tell that our little chat was far from over. School was merely the halftime show.

Sadly, everything, including the floor, seemed to be conspiring against me today. My first step out of the bathroom landed in a puddle of melted snow, making the linoleum slick and dangerous. I felt the air whooshing past me as I fell, and nearly had the time to sigh. Of course I had to fall in front of Edward. It couldn't have been anyone else.

Something smooth, cold, and strong folded around my hand midway through my descent. His hand. Edward pulled me swiftly upright and I stumbled into him a little, my books cascading everywhere. Through my mortification and relief, my surprise was paramount. My heart was beating so hard, and I was touching his skin, and my head was so close to his chest that I should have been able to hear his heartbeat. There was nothing.

He moved quickly away, scooping up all of my scattered things with a single swoop. His expression was wary as he handed them to me, careful now that our hands didn't touch. I was afraid that my klutziness had scared him off, that we couldn't be friends, or whatever we were.

Then he smiled. "Be careful, Bella."

His grace and beauty as he passed through the hallway, his stunning reflexes, his cold pale skin that held no pulse all reminded me of Jacob Black's tale of the Cold Ones. And though I finally believed, I was not afraid.