I walked back to my room with a smile on my face. Edward had said that he liked me. I opened my door and was enveloped by a blur with spiky black hair. "Bella!" she squealed. "Jeez Alice" I complained teasingly "Can I at least get in the door first?" "Why?" complained Alice pouting. "Because I would like to" I teased. "Then no" said Alice defiantly. I walked over to my bed and sat down. "Is Rose coming?" I asked curiously. I wanted to know how many people were going to be torturing me. I didn't mind so much today though because I wanted to look as good as possible. "Yep" said Alice happily while starting to bounce. She flitted around the room getting everything that we needed together.

There was a knock on the door and Alice danced over to it. She opened it and there stood Rose. Neither of them was dressed for the dance yet. Alice was beaming like crazy. I was smiling too. "I am going to guess by your expressions that you and Edward worked things out" Rose guessed. "You guessed right" I stated happily. "Tell me everything that happened" gushed Rose "Even though Alice already knows, I don't." "Okay" I said laughing. Rose made a face at Alice and Alice stuck her tongue out at Rose.

I told them every little detail of what happened as they got me ready for the dance. Alice was literally bouncing up and down. I knew she was hyper but this was ridiculous. Rose did my hair while Alice got me dressed and got my jewelry on. They did my hair so that it was curled and up in a bun but there were parts of the hair hanging down all over the place. Then they placed the clip on the back to hold it up. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and fell in love with it.

I heard a click and saw a flash from behind me as I whipped around. "Got you" said Rose holding up a camera. "Hey" I said pouting "I wasn't ready for that." "That was the whole point" said Rose as if it were obvious. "We'll be getting lots of pictures at the dance of all of us" said Alice excitedly. She was so weird. "Speaking of which" hinted Rose "We have to go get ready ourselves." She headed for the door. "See you at the dance Bella" she said beaming. "Yeah" said Alice enthusiastically "See you and my brother at the dance." I rolled my eyes. She was getting really excited about Edward and I. Strange pixie.

I started thinking about the fact that Edward said he liked me. What about that weird relationship we had before of fighting? Why did it just stop so suddenly? It was so odd. I didn't really care though because I knew that I definitely liked him. Even if I had tried to deny it before but that was before so it didn't count. I started thinking about how he would look in a tux. I just couldn't imagine that much beauty all at once. I would have to wait and see.

There was a knock on my door and I rushed over to it. I opened the door and there he stood. The most perfect person or vampire in the whole world. He looked so surreal that I stopped breathing. I didn't need to breath but it was very uncomfortable. I didn't even notice though. The contrast of the black tuxedo against his pale skin was just wonderful. No one else could ever pull that off whether they were a vampire or not. His was smiling his heart melting crooked smile and I felt like I really was going to melt. He also had such an intense burning emotion in his eyes that I could not understand.

He watched me and chuckled. "Breath Bella" he reminded me. I took in a breath and I smiled meekly. He held out his hand. "Are you ready for the dance?" he asked. I nodded, not able to find my voice. I put my hand in his and he pulled me closer to him so that we were only a few inches away, side by side. I wanted him to wrap his arm around my waist like those few times that he had but didn't want to ask. "You look amazingly beautiful tonight" murmured Edward. "Thanks" I whispered. I knew if I could blush that I would be crimson right now. We continued to walk hand in hand to the gymnasium and everyone glared as we walked by. The guys were glaring at Edward and the girls were glaring at me.



We stepped into the gym and almost all eyes turned toward us. Edward let go of my hand and I resisted the urge to grab it back in mine. It was so satiny smooth. He wrapped his arm around my waist though and I was so blissfully happy. I looked around and found Mike glowering at Edward. When he noticed I was looking at him, he gave me a huge smile. Edward's grip tightened around my waist and he pulled us closer together. I became even happier at this little fact. I looked at Edward and noticed he was glaring at Mike.

"Let's go this way" said Edward through clenched teeth as he started pulling me across the gym while still glaring at Mike. "What was that about?" I asked curiously. "Mike" he hissed "Was having some thoughts about you that he really shouldn't have." "Oh" I said my eyes widening. The look in Edward's eyes was so menacing that it scared me. He looked at me and when he saw my widened eyes his face softened. "Sorry" he said softly "I didn't mean to frighten you. It's just; I can't stand it when he thinks about you like that." His eyes were so warm and sincere that I just couldn't think of any reason why I should ever be frightened of him. Sure frightened for other people but never myself. I didn't doubt at all that he liked me. "Its okay" I soothed. He smiled sadly.

"Edward!" called a hyper and very enthusiastic voice "Bella!" Alice came running over to us. She was wearing a light blue dress that came to her knees and it had black polka dots all over it. She had on really high powder blue pumps. "You two need to stay like that for a photo" demanded Alice. I realized that Edward still had his arm wrapped tightly around my waist. "Alice" I whined "Why do you need a picture?" "Because I know you'll thank me for it later" said Alice sweetly. "Says who?" I asked indignantly. Edward chuckled. "Trust me" he said smiling "She knows." I scowled at Alice. She smiled at me brightly. "Smile" she chirped holding up the camera. I smiled quickly. Then I was blinded by the flash. I would have fallen over if Edward's arm wasn't around me. "Are you alright?" he asked concerned. "I'm fine" I said smiling sheepishly. I heard another click and we both looked up to see Alice took another picture. I scowled. "Let's go dance" suggested Edward quickly leading me to the dance floor and away from Alice.

When we got on the dance floor he turned me so I was in front of him. Then he grabbed my arms and wrapped them around his neck. He did it so fast that even I was surprised. Then he placed his hands on my waist. He pulled me even closer so he could whisper in my ear. "There is no reason to be mad at Alice" he teased "She is just trying to be helpful. You'll thank her for that picture later too." "Yeah but later is not right now" I whispered back angrily. He sighed and pulled back so that we weren't as close. There was still some distance between us and I wanted to close it. I didn't though.

More people started to come onto the dance floor though and we did have to pull together more. I finally just decided that I would. I pulled myself tighter to him and rested my head against his shoulder. He seemed surprised bit then completely relaxed. I smiled to myself. We danced like that for the first few songs and I forgot everyone else was in the room. Not completely. I could still tell there were other couples dancing around us and that Alice was snapping pictures left and right but none of it mattered to me. As far as I was concerned, there was only me and Edward.

I felt Edward tense and I frowned as I looked up at his face. He was glaring in the direction behind me. "What's wrong?" I murmured curiously. "Mike" Edward spat quietly. I turned to see Mike coming toward us. What could he possibly want? "You promised him you'd save him a dance?" Edward asked surprised. I groaned. "I forgot about that" I moaned "I don't want to but I'd feel bad if I didn't." Edward's expression softened again and I looked away. "Bella" he murmured soothingly tilting my face up so I had to look at him "Dance with him one dance and then you won't feel bad. We'll dance together the rest of 

the time." "Okay" I grumbled. "Unless you don't want to dance with me" said Edward quickly disappointed. "No!" I whisper shouted. Edward looked at me confused. "I do want to dance with you" I whispered truthfully "I am just not looking forward to dancing with Mike at all. He's keeping me from you." He looked at me doubtfully and searched my face. Then he smiled and his topaz eyes were dancing again. "I'm glad" he said smiling my favorite crooked smile.

"May I interrupt?" came Mike's voice. Edward glared at him. "Edward" I said sternly "Its okay." He glanced at me quickly and then went back to glaring at Mike. He did start to back away though. "Thank you" said Mike smugly. I could hear Edward's low growl. I glared at him. He stepped back and Mike smiled at Edward smugly.

Mike placed his hands on my waist and I placed mine on his shoulders. He frowned but didn't say anything. Dancing with Edward had been effortless. Dancing with Mike on the other hand was a challenge. He wasn't very graceful either. I looked over at a wall and saw Jess and Lauren glaring at me. The phrase 'if looks could kill' popped into my head. "Have you danced with Jess at all?" I asked Mike. "Yeah we danced to a couple songs" he said unhappily. "What's wrong?" I asked curious. "Oh nothing" sighed Mike "It's just that I had wanted to come to the dance with you and instead I came with her. She is no where near as beautiful as you are." "Thanks" I said feeling extremely uncomfortable.

We continued to dance uncomfortably until the song was over. "I have to go find Edward now" I said pulling away from Mike. "If you wanted to dance with you he would interrupt" said Mike indignantly. I looked around but could not see Edward anywhere. This was terrible. Where was he? I didn't want to dance with Mike again. He made me feel so uncomfortable. Especially since Edward told me that he thinks things about me that he shouldn't. They were obviously nothing very good.

"May I cut in" came a familiar voice. It sent a shiver up my spine. "Fine" Mike pouted and stepped away. He glared at the new comer. "Thank you" the new comer said politely. I turned around and saw James standing in front of me. He was no better than Mike. This guy gave me the creeps. James stepped toward me. He looked at Mike with an eyebrow raised. "Are you going?" he demanded. "Yes" mumbled Mike scowling. He turned on his heel and walked away.

I looked back at James. "Thanks" I said nervously "I better go find my date now before he gets worried." "He'll be fine" replied James in a creepy voice "Why don't you come for a walk with me." He motioned with his hand toward the door. "Unless you really want to see your date" said James tauntingly "He seems a bit preoccupied to me." I glanced in the direction of his gaze and saw Tanya wrapped around Edward. I turned and started walking towards the door. I could hear James following me. I didn't care. I did not want to have to look at that.

I started walking in the direction of my room. "Where do you think your going?" James said menacingly. I turned to him surprised. He grabbed my arm. "You're coming with me" he growled. "No" I said fiercely pulling away. He grabbed my arm more forcefully and started dragging me over to his car. "Let go" I shouted trying to pull out of his grasp again. He held fast this time and I wasn't able to get away. "Edward!" I screamed "Alice! Somebody! Help!" "Shut up" James hissed. "Let go!" I shouted again beating on his arm. I kicked him between the legs and he let go.

I ran into the gym and started running around like crazy looking for Edward. He was walking around the gym. I started running over to him. "Ed--" I started to call but was stopped when a hand was clamped over my mouth and James started dragging me towards the door again. Edward heard me though and 

turned to see James dragging me outside. I bit down on James's hand. "Ouch!" he exclaimed. "Edward help" I pleaded. He started running towards us and James noticed. He picked me up and started running outside.

Edward ran faster and James veered into the woods. Edward disappeared from my sight. I was getting worried. James was obviously stronger than me and I didn't know what to do about that. All I could do was hope that Edward would be able to help me.

James was running deeper and deeper into the forest. Where was Edward? "You had to go and make this hard" growled James "Now I am going to have to kill your little boyfriend there. You should have just come willingly. It would have stopped me from killing anyone. Now I might even have to kill you." I gasped. He can't kill Edward. I liked Edward. I would not be able to stand it if he were not alive. Okay maybe I didn't just like Edward. Maybe I really, really liked Edward.

I saw a blur run past us and then I was on the ground. I saw Edward pick up James and throw him against a tree. "Don't you dare hurt her" Edward growled menacingly. "What are you going to do about it?" James mocked. Edward went at James but James grabbed Edward and went to bite his arm. I threw myself at James and knocked him down. "Leave Edward alone" I snarled fiercely. "It's your fault he's going to die anyway" accused James. "You're wrong" I said quietly. James laughed. He pushed me off and I landed in the branches of a tree. James jumped up to where I was. I tried to get up but the branch snapped and I was sprawled across the ground. James pounced at me but was hit by a blur. He crashed into a tree and lay there stunned for a minute.

Before I could even get up I was flying through the forest. I looked up surprised. I was getting ready to struggle when I saw Edward's angelic face. It had a really fierce look on it. "Edward" I sighed relieved. I relaxed a little. "Are you alright?" he asked tightly. "I'm fine" I answered "Thanks Edward." He looked down at me. His face was really tense and his jaw was locked. When he looked into my eyes his face relaxed a little. "I couldn't let anything happen to you" he replied sincerely. His eyes were so soft and kind. I reached up to touch his face and he leaned his face into my hand. "Are you okay?" I whispered. "Yes" he said smiling. He seemed to remember something and then frowned. "You shouldn't have hit James" he said unhappily "You could have gotten hurt." "I'm perfectly fine" I said exasperated "He was going to hurt you." "I would prefer him to hurt me than to hurt you" he said matter-of-factly. I just stared at him. "Why would you possibly want that?" I asked disgusted that he would risk himself for me. If he got hurt because of me, I would never be able to forgive myself.

We burst through the trees and out into a crowd of people. I was still looking at Edward questioningly. We were attacked by a distraught Alice and Rose. "You're okay" cheered Alice hugging us both. Edward was still holding me so it was kind of awkward. Rose wrapped her arms around us too. "I told you guys that they would be fine" said an exasperated booming voice "But you wouldn't listen to me." I turned to see Emmett with his arms crossed over his chest. He was rolling his eyes.

"Guys!" I said feeling squished. "Sorry" said Rose backing away. Alice backed away too. Then Edward put me down and Alice engulfed me in a hug again. "Stupid James" she said sounding really upset. I saw Edward watching me out of the corner of his eye. Emmett and Jasper walked over to Edward and started talking to him. Rose and Alice surrounded me. Everyone from the dance seemed to have heard that I had almost been kidnapped. Angela came over and started talking to me too. I wondered where Mike, Eric, and Tyler were.



I saw Tanya rush over to Edward. She threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She crushed her lips to his. She was holding onto him really tight but he wasn't holding onto her. I frowned. Edward looked over at me. He seemed nervous and even pleading. Apparently Tanya was bothering him. I started walking over and I smiled at Edward reassuringly. I stepped behind Tanya and grabbed a fistful of her hair. I forcefully yanked her head back. "Ouch!" she shrieked "What are you doing you bitch?!" I pulled her head back even farther and smiled at her sweetly. "I was just helping Edward" I stated innocently. "What?!" asked Tanya "How are you helping me by making me stop kissing him?" My face darkened. "News flash Tanya" I said even darker "Edward doesn't like you." "That's not true is it Edward" Tanya asked him. "I'm afraid so" said Edward not sounding sorry in the least "I like someone else." "Who could possibly be better than me?" she asked shocked. She glanced over at me. "You can not still have a crush on Bella" she said still shocked "Especially after kissing me. I mean I am prettier, I am smarter, I am faster, I am a better dresser, I am a better dancer, and I am probably a better kisser too."

"Are you done?" I asked annoyed. She was about to say something but Edward interrupted her. "Tanya, of course I still like Bella" he said sincerely "Your wrong about Bella. She is the most beautiful person in the world. She is one of the smartest people I know. She is unpredictable and kind and I love that about her. She looks good in whatever she wears so it doesn't matter what clothes she is wearing. When she dances she moves in the most graceful and wonderful way. I also bet that she is a better kisser than you though I don't know for sure."

I was shocked. Apparently so was Tanya because her mouth was hanging wide open and she was staring at Edward like she was insane. I secretly wished a bug would fly into her mouth. I stared at Edward too. He looked at me and he looked so sweet and sincere. Before I knew I was doing it, I flew over and wrapped my arms around Edward's waist and buried my face in his chest. He smelled so good. It was intoxicating. He seemed surprised by my sudden reaction too but he wrapped his arms around me tightly.

Jasper and Emmett suddenly came out of the woods carrying James between them. James glared at me. Edward pulled me even closer to his body upon seeing James. The headmaster of the school came out and told James that he was going to be expelled and arrested. Like that would stop him. Another person from the office came out. It was obvious they were a vampire and he asked if he could talk with James privately the headmaster said they could and they were off.

Edward's breath was suddenly on my ear. "I want to show you something" he whispered in a seductive voice. I looked up at him surprised. He chuckled and his breath moved across my face. It was even more sickeningly sweet than the smell of his body. It was mouthwatering. I just kept staring at him. "Well" he asked smiling his crooked smile. "What is it?" I asked dumbfounded. He was so irresistible. "Come with me and I'll show you" he said smiling still. He moved away and grabbed my hand. Then he started leading me towards the school's garden. Where could he possibly be taking me? And why? I guess I was just going to have to wait and find out.

A/N Sorry that it took me so long to update. First I was banned from the computer. Then whenever I managed to sneak on someone would say that we were going somewhere. I have been dragged everywhere. We went shopping, the beach, to parties, to cookouts, to everything. Then now school started and I have a ton of homework that I am not doing at the moment because I felt like writing this instead and I even have a project. Then today I went swimming at my cousin's house and my three little cousins wanted me to carry them everywhere and fought over who got to sit on my lap 

and all sorts of things. My mom even just had me help her make cookies. If this keeps up then I won't be able to update very fast. Just warning you. I have been trying but it has not been succeeding. Anyway, just wanted to say sorry. I will get the next chapter up as soon as I am able. I love you all that reviewed. Please keep it up.