A/N: Please read! Due to the craziness of going between two laptops (since mine has decided it will only work if plugged in and sitting exactly the way it wants, which changes every minute) I accidentally posted chapter 11 last week instead of chapter 10! So, this is the REAL chapter 10 and I will post chapter 11 again tomorrow. I would post them both now, but I'm hoping to avoid anymore confusion by waiting a little while in between postings. I hope that makes sense. I was going to just leave this one out, but it's pretty important to the development in the story and the events are mentioned later, so I didn't think that was the best idea.

Chapter Ten

As Friday approached, I became more and more nervous about pretty boy and I hanging out alone together. I refused to call it a date.

Thursday night I made another elaborate dinner, hoping to keep my mind off the whole stupid thing. Charlie certainly appreciated my efforts. My homework for the next week was completed, and I was left with nothing to occupy my mind. The house was spotless. All the laundry was clean, except the clothes on our backs, and Charlie stopped me there.

"What's got you all wound up, kiddo?" he asked, wearing his cop face.

"Nothing, Dad. I'm just worried about a test tomorrow, that's all," I lied very unconvincingly.

"Right. Well, try to get some sleep, okay?"

At least he didn't tell me I looked tired. That would have just made things that much worse. Not that I cared what pretty boy thought about my looks, right? That led me to worrying about what I was going to wear. This was all way too much drama for me. I was a simple girl with simple tastes, and I was determined to stay that way. After picking out an outfit I felt I would wear on a normal day anyway, I climbed into bed at around one AM.

The dark circles under my eyes gave away my lack of sleep the last two nights. So, I took a few minutes to apply a little makeup. I justified it by telling myself I didn't want pretty boy to know I'd been losing sleep over him. He definitely would take that the wrong way. It wasn't because I wanted anything from him. I really didn't have a clue why I was reacting this way, and I hated it.

Friday night arrived, and I was a nervous wreck. I had no idea what to expect. To make matters worse, seven o'clock came and went with no sign of pretty boy. There was no way he had forgotten because he had mentioned our "date" only a few hours earlier during our Biology class. I was really starting to wonder if this was his idea of some kind of sick joke when the house phone rang. Taking my time to answer it, assuming it was pretty boy calling to gloat, I made my way over to the kitchen.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Bells?" my dad asked as if there would be anyone else there to answer the phone.

"Yes, Dad, it's me," I assured.

"Sorry, kiddo, but I'm stuck at work and won't be home until real late." I looked at the clock and noticed it was already after seven thirty. He was usually home by five thirty, so I thought it was a little late for him to be calling in order to prevent me from worrying. Of course, I felt horrible when I realized I hadn't even realized he wasn't home on time because I was too buys fretting over pretty boy.

"That's okay, Dad, I understand."

"Dr. Cullen told me you were supposed to meet up with Edward tonight, that true?" he asked, causing me to choke on my own saliva.

"Well, we were, but he's a no show." I didn't really see the point in sugarcoating it for him. He had already let me know he wanted Edward and me to be friends, so I wanted to prepare him for that not happening.

"Oh, well, try to have a good night, Bells." Typical Charlie not wanting to get too into anything.

We ended the call without saying much more, and I went upstairs to change into my jammies. My plan was to snuggle on the couch, watch a movie and pretend pretty boy didn't exist. I even made some microwave popcorn to enjoy since I was no longer going out for dinner. At least I had assumed dinner would have been involved. Just as I was getting nice and comfy cozy, the doorbell rang. It was eight fifteen.

Sure enough, I opened the door to find pretty boy pacing the front porch. He looked stressed out, but I was beyond caring at that point. When he finally looked up at me, he had the audacity to laugh at my pink flamingo flannel pajama pants. I really wished I had remembered to ask my dad how to throw a proper punch or something. I wanted to hurt pretty boy and knock that damn smirk right off his pretty face. Instead, I crossed my arms over my chest and gave him my best mean look. He stopped laughing immediately and actually managed to look a little contrite.

"Sorry, I'm late. Mind if I join you?" he asked as he gestured to the setup I had in the living room, offering no explanation.

I opened the door wider and gestured for him to enter. Surprisingly, pretty boy hardly said another word all evening. We watched two movies that I picked out, ate popcorn, and drank some hot chocolate. After the second movie was over, he got up, saying that he should head home and left. Just like that he was gone. I was beyond baffled.

A/N: OK, I hope I didn't complete confuse everyone with my mistake! Chapter 11 will be up in the morning - unless my little man has other plans, but it will be up sometime tomorrow, promise!

Disclaimer: I make no claims of ownership of the recognizable characters in this story. SM owns everything Twiverse related...