Hey everyone! :D

Thank you for reviewing; Animal8, LunarFairyPrincess1989, A. Good , AutumnOtts, Sprinter1, Britt, Gnomegirl13, LisaCA, Jm1708 and Porcelain-Shadow! :D You guys are the best!

To AutumOtts: Sea green, awesome! Thanks. xD

To Sprinter1: Lol, you'll have to wait to find out. ;)

To Britt: Your question will be answered in this chapter! Alice is going to explain it all. ;)

To Gnomegirl13: Aahw, it's your birthday! Happy Birthday! And a free, digital pony for you, since it was on your list! xD Who cares about the list anyway, sock monkeys rock! 8)

To LisaCA: Thanks for catching up, and for all the nice reviews! :D The story behind Bella and Edward will all be cleared up later, so just keep reading. ;) To answer one of your questions; No, Edward didn't fall in love with her right away after he saved her, seven years ago. Because that would be gross, like you said. xD

To Jm1708: Welcome back! :D Lol, I had a busy week at work, too, so I feel your pain. xD I can't tell you about any problems that are coming up, because it would give away too much of the story. xD But if it's any consolation, Alice will be in this chapter, and I'm sure you're going to like her. ;) You have a nice weekend, too!

Also, something else I would like to clear up; A lot of you seem to like Edward because he is genuinely nice in this story. So I can understand that some people might think that it makes him out of character. But you have to keep in mind, the circumstances in this story are rather different from the ones in Twilight. Edward doesn't have to hide his dark secret from Bella, because she already knows, and he already had seven years to get used to the idea. :p

Alright, new chapter, more Alice. :p

Friends

The next morning, I woke up with an unusual feeling. The feeling of actually being excited to go to school. I would be lying to myself if I tried to make myself believe that this was about anything other than Edward Cullen.

When I was done showering and eating breakfast, I left for school, officially giving up on my Spanish homework; I was out of time to finish it anyway.

I drove into the nearly empty parking lot, and I caught myself looking for him, even if the place was still deserted. I knew that it was sort of pathetic to act like this, but I couldn't help myself. In fact, I had spent most of the night lying awake, unable to sleep because I had discovered the horrible truth: That I was falling in love with a vampire. I was such an idiot… Honestly, falling in love with a vampire, who does that? Me of course, because I was stupid. Besides, said vampire probably never wanted to be more than friends, which made this whole situation even more miserable…

I was early, and so I got out of my truck and walked over to one of the small benches in front of the school building, hoping that I still had enough time left to at least finish a part of my homework. I sat down on the cold metal, and searched my bag for my books.

I was deeply concentrating on translating sentences, when I almost had a heart attack because a chipper voice echoed against the bricks of the building behind me.

"Hey! Bella, right?"

My head snapped up and for a second I felt utterly confused when I spotted a pale, pixie like girl walking up to me. Until I realized that I had seen her yesterday, during lunch break. She was one of Edward's 'siblings'.

"Ehm hi, yes, it's Bella." I replied, curiously gazing up at her, wondering what she wanted from me.

She gave me a reassuring grin, as if she noticed my confusion, and sat down next to me without a warning. "Edward has told me a lot about you." She blurted out immediately. "And of course I've seen some information myself." She added with a knowing smile.

"Oh… then I guess you're Alice, right?"

"Oh how rude, I didn't even introduce myself." She said, smacking her forehead. "But yes, I'm Alice, Edward's sister."

I nodded and returned her smile without thinking about it, her enthusiasm was almost contagious. "Edward has told me some things about you, too. It's nice to meet you."

She laughed lightly, a laugh that sounded like the echoing of bells. "He did, huh? Nothing bad I hope."

"Not really."

"Excellent! So, are you guys friends?" Alice asked bluntly. The word 'subtle' was obviously missing in her dictionary.

"I guess so…" I informed her.

She gave me a satisfied smile, which surprised me. For some reason, it didn't seem to bother her in the slightest that I knew about her family's secret…

"Alice! What are you doing?" My heart skipped a beat when I suddenly heard his voice, and I looked up to see that he was standing right in front of us.

Alice threw him an innocent look, and shrugged. "I'm making a new friend. I know you saw her first, but you don't mind sharing, right?"

Edward glared at her for a brief moment, but then his gaze turned to me and his eyes instantly grew softer. "Just… don't bother her with your disturbing visions." He was talking to his sister again, and the warning in his voice sounded serious.

Alice got up from the bench and rolled her eyes at him. "Alright, I'm leaving, stop worrying so much. I'll see you soon, Bella." She said, winking at me.

Edward looked irritated, but Alice cheerfully said a goodbye to him, ruffling his hair before she took off.

He sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry about that." He muttered as he tentatively sat down next to me.

"It's fine, Alice seems nice… But the two of you don't get along?" I asked.

"Actually we do get along, usually… It's just that lately, she's acting weird. Just now, she was translating the national anthem into Russian, and that is what worries me." He explained

"Keeping you out of her mind sure sounds like a fulltime job."

He snorted. "Yes, consider yourself lucky."

"I do. No offence, but things would be awkward if you were able to read my every thought." I mumbled, blushing again.

"I suppose you aren't going to tell me why?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow at me.

"Not a chance."

The bell rang and I groaned in frustration, causing him to laugh. "That disappointed that you have to end your conversation with me?" He asked with a smirk.

"No, just frustrated because I still didn't manage to finish my homework for Spanish class." I retorted smugly.

"Oh…" Was his defeated reply.

Edward Cullen who wasn't coming up with a clever remark, that certainly was something new… I was the one laughing now and I lightly patted his left hand, which was lying on the bench. "But in case you want to know, I definitely enjoy talking to you."

The right corner of his mouth lifted up slightly and I smiled back at him.

We both got up and he told me that we would talk 'later'. Knowing Edward, that could mean absolutely anything… Even around midnight, climbing through my window… Remembering last night involuntarily made me smile again.

xxx

I didn't get a chance to talk to Edward for the rest of the day. Mr. Banner was absent for the day, which meant that I didn't see him in Biology. During lunch I did notice that Edward seemed to be in an argument with his blonde sister. They were scowling at each other, and it looked as if they were silently communicating. One time I swore that she was glaring at me again, so I assumed that this was about me.

To my annoyance, it didn't escape the attention of my nosy friends that I was staring at him again, and they bothered me with more tiresome questions. I subtly tried to dodge them, one at a time, but when Edward also started to stare back at me, it was getting sort of impossible to keep denying that something was going on between the two of us. We had to make up some sort of story, sooner or later.

After I got home I went through my usual routine of cooking and doing some chores, and nothing unusual happened, until after dinner…

I was upstairs in my room, this time determined to catch up on my Spanish homework, when Charlie suddenly called from downstairs.

"Bells! You have a visitor."

I hadn't expected anyone, so I was curious who wanted to see me. No need to say that a small part of me had been hoping for Edward to visit me again, but surely he wouldn't have used the front door like a normal person…

"Right, I'll be down in a sec." I yelled my reply.

I sprinted down the stairs, and was highly surprised when I saw that Alice Cullen was standing in our kitchen, animatedly talking to my dad, who was even cracking a smile.

"Oh, hello Alice." I said, doing my best to hide my surprise and sound casual, most likely failing miserably.

She turned away from Charlie and grinned at me. "Hey Bella! You didn't forget that I was coming over tonight, did you?" She said, feigning hurt.

I raised my eyebrows at her when my dad wasn't looking and she made a face at me, mouthing the words "Play along".

Charlie gave me a wary look. "Did you? Forget, I mean?" He asked

"Oh... No, of course not… Alice is going to help me…" And my inspiration ended right there, I was such a worthless liar.

"With that impossible English project." Alice finished my sentence.

"Yes!" I squeaked out in a too high voice.

"Ah, right. Well, good luck with that, kids. It was nice to meet you, Alice." Charlie said, smiling at her before departing, making his way back to his beloved television.

"So… let's go upstairs, that project isn't going to finish itself." I suggested in a mock cheerful tone, giving Alice another confused glance.

She snorted and nodded, and I led her up the stairs and to my room.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" I asked as soon as the door was safely closed behind us.

"Nothing special." She assured me. "I just wanted to have a little talk to you, about my brother."

"Oh… then why the play?" I demanded.

"Because you looked like you were seeing a ghost when you spotted me, I didn't want your father to get suspicious."

"Right… but next time, remember that it's not a very smart plan to ask the most pathetic liar in the world to perform a play in front of her dad." I informed her.

She laughed out loud. "Hmm yeah… thanks for the tip. Surprisingly, I hadn't seen that one coming."

Alice turned out to be a lot more carefree than her brother, for without hesitating, she sat down on my bed and I followed her example. I felt a little nervous, since I had no idea what to expect. Maybe she was going to tell me to stay away from her brother… Perhaps she did think that I was a threat to the vampire world, despite her friendly attitude towards me.

"Okay, since you're here to talk, let's talk." I broke the silence, wanting to get it over with.

Alice must have sensed my uneasiness, because she flashed me an encouraging smile, her eyes, the same color as Edward's, still sincerely friendly. "It's nothing bad, don't worry."

I let out a small breath of relief and relaxed a little. "That's a good thing… So let's hear it."

"Let me ask you a question first." She started. "What do your feminine instincts tell you about what's going on between you and Edward?"

That threw me off for a second. Was this her subtle way of asking me how I felt about Edward? "I-I'm not sure. We're… friends." I stuttered.

"Friends?" Alice repeated in a skeptical tone, staring intently at me.

Note to self: Lying to Alice is not an option. "Fine! So maybe I like him as more than a friend… Not like it matters, Edward doesn't see me in that way..."

"The hell he doesn't!" Alice exclaimed.

"Sure… because someone as perfect as Edward would definitely fall for a plain, boring human like me." I retorted sarcastically.

For a moment Alice was silent, and when she spoke her expression was completely serious. "Whether you believe it or not… yes he does."

It felt like my heart stopped beating for a second. "What? Why? He's a vampire for crying out loud! I'm a human! This doesn't make any sense at all." I rambled, practically feeling the same dismay that I had felt the day my mother had told me that Santa Claus wasn't real, when I was six years old.

Alice sighed but wasn't discouraged by my small rant. "Love doesn't always make sense, Bella…"

"But…" I mumbled, still speechless. "But, Edward…"

"Cares for you… more than he has ever cared for anything in his… existence." Alice filled me in. "I've known him for a long time, but I've never seen him like this... That's why I came here to find out how you felt… I want things to work out between the two of you."

I gave her an incredulous look, a little shocked by how supportive she was. "You don't care that I'm… a human?"

She shrugged. "No, you're nice, and you're what Edward wants, so why would I care about that one insignificant, little detail?"

I couldn't believe my ears… I was what Edward wanted? "Wow… this is, difficult for me to grasp." I admitted.

Alice smirked at me. "Yeah, it's not every day you hear that a vampire is in love with you, I can imagine that you're a little flabbergasted."

I couldn't help but smile widely. "It sure is something else, I'll give you that." I said jokingly. "But… what do I do now?" I added after a short silence, immediately serious again.

"Nothing." She answered confidently. "Just give him some time, this is all new to him. I don't think he has ever felt anything like this before, just have some patience with him."

"I can do patience… He's worth the wait." I said, which earned me a small squeal from Alice.

"Perfect, that's what I wanted to hear! Oh this is going to be so much fun! You're going to be my new sister!" Alice blurted out excitedly.

I snorted at her enthusiasm. "I'm sure it will be fun… Oh and Alice…" I hesitated for a moment, deliberating how to bring up this subject. I had to do it, this was one particular thing that I wanted to get straight.

"Yes?" She encouraged me.

"I'm pretty sure that you know why I was trying to find vampires in the first place… but I want you to know that I truly like Edward… It's not like I want…" I trailed off.

Again, Alice smiled that knowing smile. "Yes, I know that you were interested in eternal life… But I also know that it's not that high on your list of priorities anymore."

"Good… You have to believe me when I tell you that this is about Edward, not about… wanting to become a vampire."

"Oh I believe you… otherwise, I wouldn't have supported this relationship in the first place." She assured me with a wink.

It felt like a huge weight was falling off of me, and I was suddenly thankful that Alice came over to have a talk."Thank you, Alice." I said sincerely. "For everything."

"You're more than welcome… Give my brother some time to get used to the idea, it will work out fine."

All of the sudden I realized something else, and my curiosity made me bold enough to ask. "Wait, was this what your vision was about?"

Alice burst out into laughter and nodded. "Yeah I saw it coming for a while, and I thought it would be best to hide this from him, before he would find out what was going on between the two of you and make a run for it… He can be such a coward sometimes. That's why he is very irritated with me lately, but I don't mind, he is going to thank me in the end." She stated.

"Hopefully."

"Trust me, Bella, I have a fairly good idea about the future."

"I bet you do…" I mused, already having another question in mind that I wanted to ask her. "So… can I ask you… You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, of course… Can I ask you why your family is suddenly coming out of hiding? Edward said it also had something to do with a vision you had." I asked hesitantly.

"Oh sure, although I think you can guess why…" She said, but she continued anyway. "I saw the future… I knew that Edward wasn't going to be able to stay away from you. Just like you wouldn't be able to stay away from Edward in the end. What's going on between you guys is already complicated enough without the two of you getting difficult questions from your father… and the rest of Forks for that matter. It would be weird if you showed up with a guy who was your age but didn't attend high school, or even live in Forks, as far as the people of this town are concerned. This will make it a lot easier to keep up a believable charade."

"Wow, you're right… I hadn't even thought about that... This might come in handy, a sister who is a psychic." I joked, slightly awed by how well she had prepared this.

"I know right!"

I grinned at her. "If I ever need any help with making plans for the future, I know who to turn to."

"You can ask my help anytime you want… Which reminds me… do you want any help with that Spanish homework? I mean since I'm already here." She offered.

"That would be very helpful." I admitted.

She clapped her hands and jumped up from the bed. "Great! This is going to be our first sister-bonding-time!"

xxx

I was in a state of pure bliss while Alice helped me to translate some complicated sentences. I loved the grumpy, annoying vampire, and according to his psychic sister, there was a good chance that he loved me back. And I could already tell that Alice and I were going to get along, which was also a plus.

There was only one thing that had been nagging at me for the last week or so…

Because at this point it was time to tell my best friend what was going on. I wanted to take my time to gather up some courage first, but I couldn't put this off much longer. And it was needless to say that Jacob was going to be everything but happy when I told him that I was in love with a vampire…

That's it for today, see you guys tomorrow. :)