I intended to get this chapter up over Thanksgiving break... That obviously didn't happen. Anyways, here we have Bella being a terrible liar, Edward playing it safe, and Lauren getting her comeuppance. Also, some intense note passing and a very cliche truce. Enjoy. Thank you to jansails, muffinmom, and snowflakelover for your reviews, Lali-8, ffictionreader01, kiwihipp, , and vinie24 for your faves, and Lulu V, SARAH DB, kiwihipp, omfgsmittenkitten, and for your follows.

CHAPTER TEN

I DIDN'T SLEEP, or at least I didn't feel like I had the next morning. Upon waking I huddled under my covers in my darkened room for nearly a half hour, until I heard Dad's cruiser pull out of the driveway. I stared at the ceiling blankly, trying to convince myself last night had just been a nightmare. Just like all the other ones. None of it had happened.

Edward Cullen was not a vampire, he had not shown me his fangs, we had not both been hysterical messes speeding down the highway screaming at each other. A dead boy had not been thinking about murdering me since I arrived in town. My life was perfectly ordinary, always had been, always would be, and last night had not been real.

But when I closed my eyes I saw rows of sharp teeth and a voice whispered Singer in my head. I lurched out of bed. It was dark out, dark enough to still seem like night, and barely anything was visible due to the thick, heavy fog. It even looked like a bad dream. I wore a winter parka; I'd left my lighter jacket in Jess's car, I recalled. I focused on that one ordinary, mundane detail from last night while I nibbled at a granola bar and forced myself to drink some milk. I was running late for school and it was frigid outside; the kind of cold that pricked at your skin like tiny needles.

I shuffled my way down the driveway; it was not icy, but I couldn't see more than a foot in front of my face. I drove faster than I should have to school, not wanting to have to make up an excuse to procure a late pass, and blasted the radio so loud I could barely hear myself think.

Well, it's early in the morning, and my heart is feeling lonely, just thinking 'bout you, baby! Got me twisted in the head, and I don't know to take it, but it's driving me so crazy; I don't know if it's right, I'm tossing turning in my bed!

The song didn't do much to improve my mood as I struggled to find a spot in the parking lot. I killed the engine and jumped out when I finally did, and awkwardly ran up to the school. Luckily, I was not quite as late as I'd feared, and there were still plenty of people hanging around outside, who snickered at my rushing. I slowed to a walk, face flushed, and then saw Jess standing outside the cafeteria, holding my jacket. "Thanks," I said gratefully.

"I tried to call your house last night to tell you you'd forgot it, but your dad picked up and said you were in the shower." She was giving me a look I was too tired to try to interpret.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "I was… last night was weird."

"No kidding!" she exclaimed sarcastically. "Bella, come on, spill! What happened with Ed after you left?!"

I shrugged. "He drove me home."

She stared at me. "What's wrong with you? You sound super depressed. Did you guys fight or something?"

I couldn't even vocalize how much I did not want to have this conversation right now. "Something like that," I muttered, and was relieved when the warning bell sounded.

Jess pursed her lips, annoyed. "Whatever, we'll talk in Trig."

I nodded silently as she hurried off, and made my way to English with my head down. I had to think of a convincing lie to tell Jess, but my mind seemed to have shut down and started cowering in a corner. Thinking of a lie meant confronting last night head on, and I had no interest in doing that. But I knew Jess, and she knew me. I supposed by this point she was actually my best friend. It was an odd feeling, like a shirt I'd never worn before. I'd never had or been anyone's best friend. But she wasn't going to just let this go, and the more I held my tongue the more suspicious she'd get.

I wasn't sure why I wasn't desperate to tell anyone, anyone at all the truth, even if no one would ever believe me. Edward Cullen had a pulse. He breathed and ate and slept. His body was as alive as anyone else, dead though he might be. Unless I hunted him down and dragged him back to Forks ten years from now to prove he hadn't aged, the whole 'The Cullens are vampires!' claim was not going to hold much water, except with the Quileutes, and it wasn't like I could just move onto the reservation.

But even if it had been believable… something held me back. Something said, no. No, you can't do that. It would be too cruel. Why should I care about ethics? He could kill me at any moment; any member of his 'family' could. Despite what he claimed, they had probably killed before. They were dangerous. If Edward could read minds (more or less), what could the rest of them do?

It just seemed… despite my sheer terror, my mental walls, my utter revulsion at the thought of what they were, I couldn't. It would be a betrayal, and though I felt as though Edward had betrayed me, leading me to believe he meant no harm, making me think we could be friends, I couldn't do that. Not to anyone, and not to him.

I sat down dismally in class, not even noticing Mike until he spoke up. "How was Port Angeles?" he asked brightly, and I forced myself to look up from the graffiti on my ancient desk at his sunny face. I floundered for words like a fish out of water.

"It was fine," I finally said, forcing myself to shrug. "Jess and Angie both got dresses for the dance. We shopped around and went out to eat. It's… it's a nice little city," I lied. I was never going to be able to go back there again, not without a nervous breakdown. That fact outraged me. Over a decade of living in Phoenix and one night in some dumpy Washington tourist trap and I was scared of ever walking by myself on city streets again.

Mike looked hopeful. "So uh… did Jess say anything about Monday night?" he asked with a slow smile.

For the life of me, I could barely remember a word Jess or Angie or anyone but Edward had said that night, so I just nodded. He looked like he was fishing for more than that, so I elaborated. "She's still into you, I wouldn't worry. She asked you to the dance, remember?"

He rolled his eyes a bit. "No, I forgot. Yes, I remember. I just- I've liked her for a long time, and I don't want to mess anything up."

I smiled, the first genuine smile of my day, if a thin and temporary one. "You're not going to mess anything up, Mike. Trust me."

"People, I want your papers on my desk!" Mr. Mason was calling, and we both hurried to the front, me tripping over a backpack on the floor on the way there. The rest of English was dedicated to our new reading, The Crucible, being handed out, and I daydreamed and read. Anything to be out of my own head, out of this situation.

By third period the fog was gone, but the sky had only lightened slightly. It looked like storm weather, but I didn't think the storm was coming anytime soon; by now I knew what it felt like just before a storm in Forks, and this wasn't it. This was the prelude. I felt nauseous and stopped looking at the sky, focusing on the ground until I got to Trig.

Jess was wide eyed and alert in the back row, and not in anticipation of the lesson. I briefly considered turning right around and leaving the classroom, but Mr. Varner was hovering near the door. No escape. I trudged over to my seat. Maybe if I looked withdrawn enough, she would leave me alone.

Not a chance.

"Sooooooo," she drew it out for so long that she burst into giggles herself, and I cracked a tiny smile. "Come on, out with it," she urged when she had regained her composure.

I looked at Jess, with her wild black curls gathered back in a bouncy ponytail and her sharp, inquisitive blue eyes and the grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. I thought of her and Mike holding hands in a diner booth and of her and Angie swaying under dim lights in their shiny new dresses and heels at the dance. And in that moment, I would have given anything to be her.

"I…." What could I say? What should I say? I was not a smooth talker or an experienced liar. I'd never had to really lie before. I'd never lied as much in my entire life as I had since arriving in Forks. This town was evil; that had to be it. The Cullens were just symptoms of the disease. I was trapped in my own personal hell and I didn't even know it. My own personal rainy hell.

"He drove me home."

"And?"

"And we… we talked."

"About?"

"Nothing, really-,"

"Bella!"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lauren sashaying towards us. Mr. Varner appeared to be in no rush to start class today. I felt as though I was careening down a tunnel which had no light at the end of it. Jess was practically out of her seat and in mine in anticipation.

So I panicked.

"He asked me out and now we're dating," I blurted out, latching onto the very first, and most horrific, excuse that came to mind.

"He what?!" Jess yelped and Lauren pulled up short.

"You're dating Ed Cullen?" she asked in such a condescending tone of disbelief that I wanted to slap the shit out of her with my graphing calculator.

This momentary surge of anger gave me the oomph to back up my blatant lie. "Yes," I snapped far more loudly than I intended. "I am. He asked me out, last night. Sorry again you couldn't come, by the way. We really missed you."

She stared, Jess made a squeaking noise, and I wanted to crawl under my desk and die. Half the class was staring at us.

"Burnedddd," someone hooted, and another voice snickered, "How you like them apples, Laur?"

'Laur' scoffed, "Whatever," and sat down abruptly in her seat as Mr. Varner finally approached the board. Jess was still staring at me, open mouthed. I hid behind my hair, and for once in my life did math with no reluctance whatsoever.

Five minutes into the lecture the first note appeared.

are you really dating him?

yes.

omg bella! this is insane! so he just asked you on the drive home? he's got balls!

i guess.

look at lauren she's so mad she's shaking! i never knew you were such a bitch! ha! this is great!

no it's not.

ed will protect you, don't worry! true loveeeeee~

stop.

aw come on! why are you so glum? were you embarrassed to tell me?

i don't want everyone to know.

too late for that girl! but who cares! you're dating a cullen! that's insane! they DON'T date.

they're dating each other.

not eddie! what'd he say when you said yes.

we were both kind of freaking out.

you guys are adorable. you have to go to the dance together now!

i don't think so.

YES BELLA. YOU HAVE TO.

varner is coming around to check work stop.

After that she relented, but continued to stare at me out of the corner of her eye with glee. I felt like I was going to be sick. What had I just done? By lunch the entire school would be convinced Edward and I were dating. What had I just done? The plan had been to pretend he didn't exist from here on out, not get myself stuck with him!

I only had one other option, which was to admit I had lied. Which would be social suicide. Who lied about dating someone? Middle schoolers, maybe. Really stupid middle schoolers. My friends would abandon me. I would have no one and nothing. I couldn't get through a year and half of that.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. As soon as the bell rang, and before Jess cold even open her mouth, I deployed the ultimate distraction: I told her Mike had asked me about her. She obviously knew what I was doing, but it worked. The entire walk to Spanish was spent discussing Mike. What exactly Mike had said, his tone as he said it, what I said in response, what he'd looked like…. I frantically drew it out for as long as possible, and in Spanish we were separated into groups for mock conversations. To my guilty relief, Jess was not in my group, nor was anyone I really knew.

When the bell rang for lunch, I was sick with dread. Jess caught up with me as I reached the door, but as she started to interrogate me again she saw something that made her freeze.

Crap, crap, crap.

I turned like a caught criminal to face Edward. His face was entirely neutral, but he had to know. He had to know so very much, if he was really tuned into everyone's stations. Still, he said nothing beyond an amicable, "Hi, Jessica," and she silently nudged me towards him with a nervous titter and darted off.

I felt like a lamb left alone with a lion. We looked at each other for few seconds, and beyond the carefully composed mask I saw fear and regret and paranoia glinting in his eyes. And he must have seen the terror and guilt and desperation engraved in mine. Right then and there we came to some immediate, silent understanding, because we wound our way together out the door and to the cafeteria, neither of us saying a word, shielding one another from every stare thrown our way.

We got into the lunch line. I couldn't look at anything by the zipper of my jacket, which I anxiously fiddled with. I didn't need to see what everyone in that cafeteria was looking at. Still, it wasn't as if the room had gone silent. It was as noisy as ever, and I glanced up at Edward hesitantly. "I can explain," I mouthed, and he just shook his head.

"I think we should sit together today," he said with forced levity, and I stiffly nodded, before busying myself filling my tray with food. The more time I spent eating, the less time I spent talking. He did similarly, and we sat at a lonely table in the corner, next to one another. Across was too much, and we both knew it. We'd be forced to face each other then.

I rubbed an apple in between my hands. He took a forced bite of pizza and slowly chewed. After he swallowed he said, "I'm sorry, again."

I couldn't bring myself to say anything in response, and picked at the label on the apple with my nail.

"We shouldn't have talked about it then. You were upset- understandably, I mean, and I was… I wasn't in the best state of mind either."

I gave a barely noticeable nod and flicked the peeled off label off my nails.

"I know you don't trust me anymore," he muttered. "And I get it. What I don't get is why everyone seems to think we're dating."

I finally glanced up at him. He didn't look angry, but confused.

"I… I panicked. Jess was prying for information and I didn't know what to say, and I obviously couldn't say what we really talked about…" I trailed off and took a hurried bite out of my apple.

"You… you're not going to tell anyone?" There was that painfully hopeful tone again.

"Well, I don't want to die," I retorted, taking another bite and ignoring the roiling in my stomach.

"Bella," Now he sounded offended. "I'm not going to- no one is going to hurt you. I swear."

"On what?" I muttered. "Your life?"

He said nothing and I hated myself for feeling bad.

"Look. Your secret is safe with me," I forced out less sarcastically than usual. "No one would believe me, anyways. So your family can stop panicking and planning a bloodbath."

"We're not monsters," he said after a moment.

I was sullen and silent.

"If we are, we're trying to be good ones. Can you believe that?"

I looked up at him again and to my despair saw no lie in his eyes. "We messed everything up," I finally admitted. "I messed everything up. I should have just- we were almost friends. I should have just stopped. Stopped trying to solve you."

"It's not your fault. We…," he paused and took another reluctant bite of pizza. "We just have to deal with it. Let's look at the facts, okay? So everyone thinks we're dating. That's fine. We just have to act normal and spend a bit more time around each other."

He read the look on my face, which said that spending a 'a bit more time' around him was not something I was delighted at the prospect of doing.

"Or we can stage a mock breakup complete with screaming and throwing things tomorrow," he suggested dryly, and I found myself smiling a brittle smile in spite of everything.

"You're…. you're odd," he said after a moment of almost companionable silence. I wondered why he had to ruin it.

"Thanks."

"No, I mean… you're very calm. Very composed. I don't know anyone else who reacts to things the way you do. My family was sure you wouldn't be in school today, or your dad would be pulling up in front of our house."

I laughed a little at that, and his wary expression seemed to soften.

"I broke all the rules. Telling you. I shouldn't have done that."

"We both keep doing things we shouldn't do," I mumbled. "It's a shared trait."

Now he chuckled. "So we're both going to hell, then?"

"Do we have to pretend to date there, too?"

He smirked a little and then cautiously asked, "What about Seattle?"

Seattle. I had almost forgotten about Seattle. I shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know anymore."

"Well, if you want to go somewhere else…," he shrugged.

"With you?" I stiffened.

"Jessica is determined to make us go to the dance," he warned.

I groaned softly. "Fine, we'll- we'll go somewhere. I don't know."

"I know a place."

I gave him a suspicious look.

"It's not creepy or anything," he defended. "You'd like it." He hesitated. "You can drive."

I snorted. "Are you sure?"

"I trust you."

My apple was now just a core. I nibbled on my pizza. "So what's your favorite, then?

"My favorite what?" he asked puzzled.

"Thing to hunt."

He stared at me, I looked at him sideways.

"Mountain lion," he finally said wearily.

"Is it a fair fight?" I took a bigger bite of my pizza and chewed, hard, puffing out my cheeks.

He sounded slightly exasperated. "Most of the time."

The bell rang and the cafeteria was suddenly one united blur of motion as people stood up, grabbing their coats and bags and dumping their trays. I slowly got to my feet and he to his. We exchanged another silent look, and headed to Bio.

Interrogation, all I judge... I have become an interrogation of my own, let the records show...

- James, 'Interrogation'