Disclaimer - All characters, etc. belong to Stephenie Meyer. I do not own Twilight, or anything for that matter.

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Chapter 10 - Invitation

APOV

Mondays were usually awful and annoying. It's never fun to go back to school after the weekend. This Monday was a bit different though. I was actually excited for once, mostly because I could not wait to talk to Bella after our fun Saturday. I was also dying to know if Edward had made good on his word to at least make an attempt to be friendly towards her.

I greeted Bella warmly when I saw her for first period. Unfortunately, that was the gist of it. Our English papers needed to be turned in and then we had a test that took most of the class. Another test in Spanish took away any opportunity for chitchat as well. I had to hold off until lunch to see if anything changed.

Lunch went pretty much the same as usual. Bella seemed more sure of herself now and she was doing more talking. The conversation was all between her, Jasper, Emmett and I, with Rose throwing in her usual snide comments here and there. Edward just sat there, picking at his sub-par food not saying anything. I wanted to scream at him, but I didn't think that would go over too well. Lunch, which usually felt like it was over just as soon as it had started, crept by slower than slow. Finally when the bell rang, I shot Edward my meanest dirty look. I glared at him with all of my might, hoping he would get the picture. He just raised his eyebrows at me and walked away. Ugh!

After school I begged off riding home with Jasper, making an excuse that I was up late finishing my paper and I was hoping to grab a quick nap before dinner. I knew getting Edward cornered in the car was the only way I was going to be able to get an answer from him. I scowled at him as I buckled myself in.

"What's up with you, Alice? You've been shooting daggers at me with your eyes all day!" Edward complained.

"I'm mad at you, Edward," I said with my best pout.

"Care to tell me why?"

"You told me you'd be friendlier to Bella, and you didn't even make an effort. You just sat there at lunch staring off into space the entire time, Edward!"

Edward sighed. "I said I'd try, Alice, and it just so happens that Bella and I had a great conversation during biology. You're right, she is nice."

I was prepared to rake him over the coals but he stopped me in my tracks. "Really? You did?" I practically squealed.

"Yes, Alice, I did, so you can stop trying to perfect your death stare, okay?"

"Oh, Edward!!! You just made me SO happy! So, tell me, my wonderful brother, what did you guys talk about?" I gushed.

"Do I really have to relay the conversation, Alice?" Edward groaned.

"Yes, you do. Bella is my friend and I want to make sure I approve."

Edward sighed. "Okay. Well, basically, we cleared the air, kind of started over. I guess we had some kind of misunderstanding or something."

"A misunderstanding? How?"

"The first day she walked into biology, she tripped. The other jerks in the class laughed at her and I rolled my eyes - at them - not her. Anyway, she thought I was annoyed by her or something and I clarified."

"What else?"

"Really, Alice?"

My head bobbed up and down like one of those bobble head dolls. I pleaded with him to continue.

"And, she thought I was being sarcastic about something I said that first day. So, we got that all cleared up."

"And then?" I inquired.

"And then she kept looking at her watch and I asked her if I was boring her and she said it was because she was dreading gym. Do you realize what a bunch of idiots we go to school with, Alice?" Edward asked with an annoyed look on his face.

"Why do you say that?"

"They laugh at her in gym class, and she's always the last one picked. Poor girl, that's really gotta be rotten. She seemed miserable when it was time to go."

I felt bad. As much as Bella and I were talking these days, she'd never confided in me that she was having troubles in gym. I'd have to figure out a way to have some girl time with her, and get her to open up. I started thinking about ways to do this.

"Are you going to listen or not?" Edward's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Huh?"

"You've asked for pretty much a play by play of our whole talk, and here I am talking and you aren't even listening!"

"Sorry, I'm listening now. What did you say?"

"I said, I invited her over here sometime, you know, told her she should come over here so I could teach her how to serve and show her some volleyball moves."

"You DID? Omigosh, omigosh, Edward! You are brilliant!" I screamed.

By this time we were home and I ran up to my room eager to phone Bella and invite her over. I picked up the phone, and the number, which I had re-written, and called her. This time, she sounded more confident when she answered the phone.

"Hello?" Bella said.

"Hey, Bella, it's Alice!"

"Hi, Alice. What's up?"

"Well, I was thinking, tomorrow after school..."

"Yes," Bella said with a smile in her voice.

"Do you wanna come over? Please please please?" The begging thing had worked last time, so I tried it again. "We had so much fun at the library, I was hoping we could hang out more, you know, girl time. Plus, Edward will be here and he mentioned that he could help you with your volleyball problems. What do you say, Bella?"

"He mentioned that?" she asked. I couldn't tell if she sounded excited or mortified at the prospect of Edward talking about her.

"Yeah, he knows you're my friend and so he was just telling me that he offered to help you out." I know that was risky, me making it sound like it was no big deal. That alone would have turned any other girl off, but this was Bella and she was different. If she thought it was a big deal, she'd never come over. I waited with baited breath. 


"You know what, Alice? That sounds like a great plan. I'd love to spend some more time with you too. And honestly? I really need help with the whole volleyball thing. I don't know if I can take another gym class like today's."

"Great. We can ride to my house together in your truck then?" I asked her, hoping this wasn't pushing the envelope.

"Sure, Alice!"

We hung up, and I let out another squeal. This was absolutely perfect!! I went to my bedside table, dug out all of my fashion magazines and set out to do some heavy-duty research. Time to figure out how to liven up her looks and wardrobe!