Hey guys! How's everyone doing? Here's chapter 8 for you lovely people.

Just a quick shout out to the ever awesome Vicki (ohmyitsv) for betaing. You're ultratastic, sis.

Anyway, on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight


Previously on Identity:

"Well, well. Cullen, right?" He spoke.

"James," I spat.

"How's the family?"

A red haze settled over my eyes at that moment, blocking out everything else. I'm sure I looked down right murderous.

"Alice is looking rather delicious, if I do say so myself," chuckled James non-chalantly. "Of course, she does hang out with Rosalie."

"James," Tanya whispered.

"You're dead, McGreggory."

He disentangled himself from Tanya and took a daring step forward. "That's something you'd now about. Right, Edward?"

I didn't even think twice as my hand shot out from my side and made contact with his face. He went too far this time.


Chapter 8:

Bella's POV

I couldn't stop thinking about the short whisperings I overheard between Rosalie and Emmett; the hurt in her voice. It wasn't over any simple thing, I knew that much, and as much as I hated admitting this, I shouldn't be stumbling around into conversations. Turning into a secret keeper was a serious business and I grew horrified at the thought that I was already becoming one. I was putting myself in even more danger. Knowledge was not always a good thing. It gave people, bad people, an excuse to hurt you and manipulate you. My mom was already half way in and I had no intention on letting her stumble further in, nor Charlie. I just had to protect them.

No matter which way I turned, though, I kept leading people . . . friends . . . into danger. I try not to get close to anyone, due to my circumstances, but it's hard as hell. I can't keep friends at bay while keeping my identity a secret at the same time. It was inevitable; I would lose one way or another. That didn't mean I would stop trying. Not wanting to dwell in that depressing mood any longer, I got off my bed and looked around my room for something to do this early in the morning. Like a magnet, my eyes were drawn to the piece of technology still plugged into my laptop. When I got home yesterday, I couldn't stop staring at it, my curiosity was eating me up, but I had to respect Edward's things.

Edward.

As odd as it sounded, I dreamt of him last night. He was smiling, emerald eyes shining at me, and holding out his hand. We were in a beautiful meadow at night with the moon shining above and lighting up the world just for us it seemed. I had been so close to taking his hand, but something woke me from my sleep. Right before I did, Edward's mouth opened and a soft whisper fell from his lips; a whisper I failed to hear. I know it made my heart skip a beat and set a fire in my cheeks. Meeting Edward had been like Fate giving me a lifeline and, as much as that sounded like a silly schoolgirl saying or dramatic gesture, it felt right, which scared me too. Without a doubt, I was falling, and falling fast. I reasoned with myself that I could not like Edward since I didn't know him at all. He could be one of the bad guys for all I knew.

"Ugh," I groaned and rested my head between my hands, feeling terribly confused.

My emotions told me differently. I liked him. A lot. Damn.

I needed a distraction right now. Anything would do. I caught sight of my running shoes stuffed away in the corner near my closet and smiled. I could do with a run. I needed to get some exercise and keep in shape anyway. The thing was that I didn't want to go alone like I usually did. I wanted a friend to hang out with, and the perfect person for that was Rosalie. I bit my lip as I pondered whether I should really bother her. She had seemed very troubled yesterday because of that Jacob Black and his little gang. Then again, this was more reason to invite her. She might need a distraction as well, that is, if Emmett wasn't providing one already. I shuddered and pulled my phone from the small cupboard on my desk. It was only six in the morning so a phone call was out of the question, which left a text as the only option.

While I waited for Rose to answer back, I changed into some track pants and a simple white t-shirt. Nothing complicated or fancy. My phone began ringing about two minutes after I had finished changing with an excited answer. I laughed softly and concluded she was fine, as far as fine went that is. Rather uncharacteristically of me, I skipped out of my room and passed by a still sleeping Charlie. Torn between wanting to wake him up and letting him sleep, I opted to letting him sleep. Yesterday, after he got home from work, the bags under his eyes from lack of sleep were pronounced and it killed me that he was working so hard and not taking care of himself. Of course, that is Charlie's nature. Just like mine. I wrote a short note letting him know where I would be and grabbed a protein bar I had bought at the store a few days ago.

Soon, I was hearing the familiar hum of Rosalie's engine stopping in front of the house. I slipped out quietly to meet her when I caught a flash of black and hot pink jump at me. Unlike before, I didn't have the instinct to defend myself and simply stood there trying to figure out what was going on. I heard Rose starting to laugh a couple of feet away. I finally looked down and saw that it was a person hugging me.

"Rose has told me so much about you, Bella!" The person giggled. "I feel like I know you already!"

"Uhh, thanks?" I wasn't sure how to respond.

"Oh, I'm Alice by the way," she spoke, finally letting go of me.

I almost did a double take as I looked at her clearly. She was very pretty, beautiful just like Rose, but in a Fairy-like kind of way. Alice was a few inches shorter than me, but I could already tell her personality well made up for it. Her black hair came down to the top of her shoulders and was currently parted into two low ponytails. Her eyes, though, they caught my attention the most. They were a sparkling blue with specks of gray and green. I couldn't help but be reminded of Edward's beautiful emerald ones. Just thinking of those intense eyes set my heart beating wildly and made my skin break out in goose bumps.

"Bella," Rose stepped in, "This is Alice, Emmett's sister."

"Oh," I smiled breaking off my obvious staring. "Nice to meet you."

"I hope you don't mind, I invited Alice to join us?"

"Not at all," I smiled again at the two girls. "The more the better, I say."

"Yay!" Alice bounced excitedly. She looked like she was high off of Pixie Stixs. Usually this would have kept me cautious had it been some other person, but it felt perfectly natural to see Alice this way. "One question, though, are you really going out with those shoes?"

I rolled my eyes at her and muttered, "Just like Rose."

Both laughed at my comment.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Rose asked. "Let's get this mofo exercise party started." Alice and I stared at her trying to stifle our laughter. "And I can't believe I just used 'mofo' in a sentence. I've been hanging around Emmett way too much."

"No more details please," laughed Alice.

"As if," Rosalie grinned. "Okay, let's go."

Between the three of us, we talked and laughed as if we had been best friends since we were little. Talking to Alice was as easy as smiling; her personality shined so brightly I couldn't help but be drawn in. It was easy, just like with Rosalie. As I ran, I felt my frustrations fade away and leave me with the clear present, although the present wasn't too clear. At this moment, I was okay and that made me very happy. I barely even noticed my surroundings. Along the way, I learned that Alice was a force of nature to be reckoned with, but she had a sweet charisma surrounding her. She liked to shop as well, that last part made me a little nervous I'll admit. Nonetheless, I liked her a lot.

There was just one thing that made me hesitant around her. Just like Rose, she had a hidden secret. It was so clearly portrayed in her blue eyes and I found myself identifying with her too. Secrets were something I was familiar with. Besides that, I also found out about her boyfriend, Jasper Hale, who happened to be Rosalie's brother. The way she spoke his name in adoration, and talked about how amazing he was made me feel like I was intruding in another private moment. Exactly like with Rosalie and Emmett. I sighed, remembering Edward, and knowing I couldn't have that in the current situation I was in.

"And then, Emmett jumped on the chair!" Alice laughed. "Rosalie had to come down from our sleepover and kill the damn the spider."

"To be fair, it was a freaking huge spider," Rosalie laughed along.

"Emmett?" I asked snapping out of my thoughts. "Rosalie's boyfriend?"

"The one and only," Rosalie answered proudly.

"Oh man," I burst out laughing and immediately felt more of my tension slip away.

Soon we were all laughing too hard to keep running at the same time. We settled for a light walk and gradually fell into an easy silence. For the first time since we started, I looked around and noticed where we were. The sun was barely beginning to peak through the heavy clouds and fall over the evergreen trees above us. Random chirping birds filled the peaceful air. The path we were walking on, right next to the road, started to become familiar and as I looked up at the sign ahead, confirming my suspicions. I glanced at Rosalie nervously and got her attention. Our silence was then filled with a thick uneasiness. Alice caught my eye and was surprised to see the same cautiousness in her eyes.

"La Push," Rosalie whispered, but neither halted in their walk.

"Stop," I spoke firmly. "Let's go another way, shall we?"

"No, Bella, it's ok-"

"No," I interrupted Alice. "Really, let's walk on another path. Besides, weren't you guys going to show me the school field or something?"

My words had an instant affect on Alice with the way her eyes lit up. She squished her way between Rosalie and I, and pulled us in the direction we had just come from. Her chit chatter broke the ugly spell that had descended over us a few seconds ago. Eventually, Rosalie piped up and explained to me a little bit more about the school. The topic somehow led to Emmett in his soccer uniform and that's where we lost Rose. A look I could only guess as lust filled her expression and had me giggling. It was inevitable, really, that the conversation should lead to Jasper in a soccer uniform. This was too funny to stop, though.

"So, Bella," Alice begin slyly. "Any lucky man in your life?"

I shut down quickly and focused on the road ahead. What could I tell them that wouldn't draw attention? Edward's boyish grin appeared in my head. My body just had to betray me as a bright blush appeared on my cheeks. I cursed my ability to blush. My thoughts ran a mile a minute for some sort of explanation I could give them, but nothing came up except for my encounter with him. I opened up my mouth several times to try and answer, yet it was impossible. My stomach began fluttering with thousands of tiny butterflies and I was sure my eyes were sparkling.

"Umm," I stammered. "No?"

Alice raised an eyebrow in my direction while a knowing smile made its way onto Rosalie face. They looked at me then to each other and back to me. It also didn't help that girls communicated and understood so easily with just one glance. Crap! I thought to myself. What the hell do I say?

"Come on, Bella," Rose nudged me playfully. "You didn't give me an answer either when I asked and that stunning blush on your face says differently."

"Well," I bit my lip shyly.

"Ah ha!" Alice suddenly cried out, making me jump on my spot and randomly trip over my shoes. It was a good thing Alice had been holding onto me or else I would have surely fallen.

"Damn, Alice," laughed Rosalie, rubbing her ear. "Say it louder next time, why don't you?"

"Shh!" Alice said. "Like you were saying, Bella. Mystery guy, huh?"

"Topic change, please," I begged.

"I'm a girl on a mission," sang Alice.

"You're always on a mission," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"Well yeah, I'm Alice," she laughed. "Anyway, Bella. I'll let this go, just this once because you look like you're gonna stay permanently red if I don't."

"Thanks," I mumbled.

Like Alice said, she left it alone and talked about everything else besides that, for which I was thankful. We began to run again as soon as the road to the school became clearer. Oddly enough, the school looked more intimidating without any students littering around; it looked so empty now. We stopped right outside the gates leading towards the field and caught our breaths, not that we needed to. I took note of how in shape Alice and Rosalie seemed to be; they were hardly breathless, like me. Alice started to go off about the school and the usual activities around here. The conversation, though, turned back towards me. I was expecting it anyway.

"Do you play any sports, Bella?" Alice asked. If it hadn't been for the mysterious twinkle in her eyes, I would have thought nothing of her question. But she was going somewhere with this.

"Well," I answered a little hesitantly, unsure of how much to reveal about myself.

"Don't say you're a cheerleader," Rosalie cut in suddenly with a small hint of disgust in her expression. "Please."

I gave out a short laugh and shook my head. "I'm not."

"Oh thank God," Alice breathed out loudly, completely taking me by surprise.

"That was rather unexpected," I laughed.

"Not that we have anything against them, mind you," Rosalie added in.

"Speak for yourself," muttered Alice. "Anyway, any sports?"

"I play soccer, occasionally," I replied. "I dance too."

A moment of silence passed by before Alice started clapping excitedly and Rosalie let out a rather Alice-like squeal. I think I actually grew a little afraid of them. They were acting very girly and that is an area where I had very limited experience with. Fortunately, for me, they snapped out of it quickly enough and launched into an explanation of how Alice was on the girl's soccer team and Rosalie was a dancer. They rotated every semester or so. I couldn't deny the information made me happy because it did. I could relate to them even more and while it did make me even more cautious, I liked the closeness it brought. That was something I didn't get too often.

"Wanna practice?" I heard myself asking.

"Hell yeah!" They shouted at the same time.

"Jinx!" I called out without thinking. "You guys owe me a soda."

"Aww." Both girls pouted.

"You're a quick one, Swan," Rosalie said. "Better watch out for this one, Alice."

I grinned at them and added, "Thank you."

"Emmett seems to have rubbed off on you," said Rosalie.

"Let's get practicing," I smiled.

"Yeah, the guys are coming in an hour or so for their practice," Alice said.

"Oh wait," I backed up. "We don't have any balls to practice with."

Rosalie grinned mysteriously. "No problem. Leave that to me."

"Come on, Bella," Alice pulled me towards the field. "We'll meet Rosalie down on the field."

Rose headed in one direction while Alice pulled me in another. For a tiny looking thing, she was sure strong, but then again she was an athlete so I shouldn't be surprised. We walked down some steps and took in the large empty field. It was well kept and green, which had me itching to play on it. I may have my clumsy moments once in a while, but it's like I turned into a different person once I was on the field and the exhilaration of it was unlike anything else. I wondered if Alice would give me the weird eye if I rolled around on the grass. Funny enough, I think she'd actually join me.

"So your brother and boyfriend are on the team, right?" I asked not wanting to make assumptions.

"Yeah, Jasper is the goalie for the team, but he rotates as a defense player too when needed," Alice replied. "Emmett was barely made the assistant coach yesterday, he used to play defense as well when he played, and Ed-"

"Got 'em!" Rosalie's happy voice cut through Alice's sentence.

Sure enough, she was carrying a small red bag with a couple of soccer balls rolling around inside. On the bag, in perfect handwriting, was Rosalie's name. She reached inside and threw each of us a ball. I caught mines easily with a bounce of my knee and let it fall before catching it with my foot, balancing it there. I hadn't played in a while, but the move felt so natural to me still. I looked up satisfied and caught their surprised expressions. I burst out in a blush and let the ball roll down to the ground.

"Looks like you play soccer much more than 'occasionally'," Alice giggled.

"It's nothing," I responded shyly.

"Sure, sure," Rosalie smiled.

For the next fifteen minutes, the girls and I simply played around. It wasn't until Alice and Rosalie got a little competitive that the playing around got serious. I tried to stay out of it, but like it always turns out, I got sucked into it. Thankfully, I wasn't forced to pick sides. I had no idea why, but they decided to see who could kick the farthest. Both kicked the ball rather far. They looked at me expectantly until it was my turn. I watched in wonder as the ball flew through the air at rapid speed and disappeared behind the bleachers. Not a second later, a piercing high-pitched scream blasted through the air making me flinch at the awful sound. It stopped shortly after.

"What the hell was that?" Rosalie spoke up first.

"Sounded like a dying animal to me," Alice answered.

Before any of us decided to investigate any further, a group of people walked out from behind the bleachers. They were all pretty girls and, if I had to guess, I'd say they were the cheerleaders. The uniform they had on was proof enough. As they walked forward, they appeared to be surrounding one girl in particular; a tall and beautiful strawberry blonde. What didn't look right were the sour expressions on their faces or the blonde in the middle throwing hard glances at me. The group stopped a couple of feet away from us and the leader of the group spoke.

"Who kicked that ball?" She asked in what I guess was supposed to be a dangerous tone, but simply turned out as weak.

I had to stop myself from telling her so. One of the girls standing next to her dropped the ball I had kicked in front of us. Rosalie and Alice stepped closer to me and a few inches in front, as if protecting me. I smiled lightly at their action and took the same couple of inches forward too.

"I kicked it," I owned up.

I caught the problem easily before the girl even said anything. From experience, I noticed the red patch of skin around her left eye and knew it would turn blue soon. Had it not been for the stuck up tone of her voice and the manipulative vibes around her, I might have felt a little sorry. This girl was trouble, though, and I could see it in her eyes. The girl placed a hand on her hip and leaned to the side.

"Aren't you going to say something?" She asked rather petulantly.

"I'm sorry," I said sincerely. I hadn't meant to hurt anyone and what kind of person would I be if I didn't at least apologize.

"You should be," the girl smirked.

"Wait a damn second," Rosalie piped up. "Tanya, she doesn't need to apologize for crap."

"She kicked me," Tanya argued. "I'm sure it was on purpose!"

"She didn't even know you were there," Alice rolled her eyes. "Don't make a big deal out of this, okay? You'll just make yourself look stupid."

Tanya's mouth dropped open and a loud 'Hmph' escaped her before she strode past me, bumping into my shoulder purposely. Her little group of cheerleaders walked around Rosalie and Alice and rejoined behind us. I stared at their retreating forms in confusion and surprise. I really didn't know how high school worked regarding the typical hierarchy, seeing as I never paid much attention to it back in my other school, but I was sure those girls would be trouble. It didn't help that I had just pissed one of them off. As that last thought resonated in my head, I snorted silently at myself. I had no reason to be afraid of these high school kids; besides, there were more important things I had to worry about.

"Sorry about Tanya," Rosalie said. "She can be such a cow sometimes."

"At least we don't have to put up with her anymore, Rose," laughed Alice. Her eyes flashed dangerously and I had to admit that scared me just a little.

"Why don't we head on to Bella's house and go out for breakfast?" suggested Rose.

"I'm in," Alice and I said at the same time. Instead of calling out jinx like I did before, all three of us settled for laughing.

We gave Rosalie her soccer balls back and ran back to my house. It didn't take much time to get there seeing as we were all excited and energetic, pushing the Tanya incident away from us. A couple of minutes before we reached my house, we stopped running. I noticed Charlie's cruiser was gone from the driveway and hoped he had seen the note I left for him. I had scribbled my new phone number on a sticky note and posted it on the fridge should he need to call me. Rosalie's car was sitting in front of the house keeping mine company in the driveway, both cars making the other shine. Not a very good way to stay inconspicuous.

I invited the girls inside to cool off after our run. Alice excused herself for a bit and surprised me by coming back inside with a bag full of clothes. She explained, once noticing my expression, that she wasn't going to go the whole day wearing sweaty clothes. Rosalie spoke up in agreement and that being said, I let them use the bathroom upstairs while I did a couple of chores downstairs now that I was here. I practically finished cleaning the whole downstairs before Rosalie came down looking as fresh as a super model. She then practically pushed me up the stairs and told me to get ready.

I found Alice sitting on my bed adjusting her shoes. As I walked into the room, she smiled at me so brightly I thought I'd go blind. There were words waiting to be spoken, I could tell, but she was holding back. Alice jumped off the bed and skipped over to me. I didn't know whether to ask her if something was wrong or if she'd won the lottery.

"Hey Bella," she started happily. "Have I told you yet how awesome it is to have met you?"

"Uhh," I stared at her unsure of how to answer.

"I hope we can be really good friends because I already consider you as such," smiled Alice. "We'll wait for you downstairs while you get ready."

Her answer threw me off a bit. Little energetic Alice already considered me her friend and we had only spent a couple of hours together. I reveled in the fact that I had made friends with her so fast and easily, like with Rosalie, while in the past I didn't let myself get too attached. For reasons, besides my mother's job and my advanced classes, I always stopped from making many friends. I guess being alone was something I was good at. At least that way, less people got hurt. I stopped myself from thinking any farther and grabbed a change of clothes then headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. After I finished changing and grabbing my cell phone from my desk, the sight of Edward's iPod unplugged from my laptop caught my attention for some reason. Something about it was bugging me, yet I couldn't decipher why.

Rosalie called me from downstairs so I shrugged it off as nothing and headed down the stairs. In seeming Alice form, I was pulled out the front door and into Rosalie's car with Rose laughing behind me. The Pixie settled me in the backseat and sat down gracefully in the passenger seat. The car purred to life and we were off with music blasting through the speakers. Alice was bouncing in her seat like the energizer bunny and singing along almost perfectly to every song that came on. I let myself enjoy the happy moment and in no time at all, Rose was pulling in front of a diner.

The fact that it was pretty much empty made me feel less anxious for some reason. I was just paranoid like that. Since the girls let me chose a booth, I picked a private one all the way in the corner. A pretty young woman came over to our table and took our orders, making light conversation with us in the process. I liked the waitress, but I couldn't help being a little cautious as well. Once we were eating, Alice decided to get chatty again.

"Where did you move from, Bella?" she asked curiously.

I tried to decide how much I wanted to be honest with them. The innocent looking expression of her face didn't help much either.

"Arizona," I answered through sips of my lemonade.

"Really?" Alice smiled. "That's cool."

"I guess," I shrugged. "I was born here in Forks, but lived in Italy for most of my childhood with my mother, then moved to Arizona about three years ago. I decided to spend some time with Charlie before I graduate and go to college."

"Wow," Rosalie breathed out. "Sounds like you're a traveler."

"Not really," I laughed softly and added. "I really missed my dad."

"Did you learn any Italian?" asked Alice.

"Naturalmente," I answered. For some reason, my response made them squeal in excitement. "It's no big deal."

"Are you kidding me?" Alice giggled. "That's awesome."

I smiled at them both and while they talked amongst themselves over how cool it was, I sighed quietly in sadness. Every summer, the one person I truly trusted, visited me in Italy, and now with all this talk I was missing them. My cousin, the only one I had. He understood my situation with my mom's company, to a certain extent, and he supported me. I hadn't seen him in a while, though, and therefore had no idea if he knew what had happened recently. I'm sure he'd be making a joke out of the situation to make me feel better. I snapped out of my thoughts or I'd be in a sad mood for the rest of the day, which would bring questions from Alice and Rose.

"What about you guys?" I asked. "Born and raised here in Forks?"

"Just Rose," Alice replied. "I wasn't born here, but I've been here since I was 3 or so."

I wanted to ask her where she lived before, but the question died in my throat as a flicker of sadness passed through her blue eyes. The little warning bells went off in my head; I shouldn't push this topic. As if Rosalie read my mind, she changed the topic gently and expertly. She started going off about some spring designs from her favorite fashion designer and revived Alice instantly. By now, it was natural to see Alice so hyper-like and, in a way, it actually calmed me. Soon, our breakfast lay forgotten on the table and we were laughing again like best friends. The thing was we were talking about nothing in particular. Halfway through our random conversation, Rosalie changed our topic rapidly.

"Oh!" She said. "Alice, we have to take Bella to Mike's party next Saturday!"

"That's right, Mike's party!" Alice squealed, clapping her hands excitedly. She then turned to me, a puppy dog-eyed look on her face. "Please, say you'll come."

"I don't even know anyone there," I said.

"What are we?" Rosalie motioned to herself and Alice. "A couple of beautiful looking trees?"

"Besides you two," I corrected myself. And Edward.

"Come on, Bella," begged Alice. "Say you'll come, please? You won't regret it, I promise."

I found it quite difficult to say no with the look she was giving me, and Rosalie wasn't helping either. They looked so persuasive, I just couldn't argue. I tried thinking of all the pros of going to this party and, surprisingly, thought of quite a few. The main one being that I would get the chance to get a feel for the kids in Forks; scope out the territory, so to speak. After considering my options, I smiled at Alice and Rosalie. Without even having to say anything, they understood and let out a couple of high pitched squeals on either side of me. That sound could leave a man deaf.

"We're going to have so much fun, Bella," Alice started. "Ooh and I know the perfect outfit for the party!"

"Slow down there, Aliceonista," I spoke up quickly. "Let's not get carried away here. There's still two weeks left."

"Gasp!" Alice covered her mouth with her hands dramatically. "Bella, have you learned nothing from me?"

"Hey, Bella," Rosalie whispered as Alice went off on a rampage. I glanced at her cooking up a storm, spewing words like dresses and stilettos, and then turned back to Rosalie wiggling her eyebrows playfully at me. "Think she'll notice if we sneak out?"


So, what'd you guys think? Any theories, comments, suggestions, send them over. I'd love to hear them.

Thank you for all the reviews, story and favorite alerts. Y'all are awesome!

Until next chapter,

~*~Mimi-Love-4Ever