A/N: This is not my personal opinion of Phoenix High School students. It's for the purpose of the story and no implications are made about any entity. My aim is to address racism and colorism regardless of how far-fetched the situation might seem to some.

As always, SarcasticBimbo made this chapter presentable.

Since I forgot to include the score count during the previous chapter, I'll just place it here.

Bella: 1

Assward: 1

Chapter X: A Budding Friendship

Why that sneaky, conniving, slick, irritatingly handsome bastard!

He sure got you!

He did, didn't he?

Yeah… Wait! Are you actually commending him?

Yes, it was pretty impressive if you ask me. Why didn't I think of it before?! Damn it! He can't one-up me!

Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's with the sudden change in tune? I thought you hated his guts.

He irritates me. Besides, from one prankster to another, I respect what he did. Aside from that, he's still an annoying asshole who looks so sexy with that naughty glint in his eyes.

He also saved your life, don't forget that!

Ugh, I know. I'm grateful and all, but I don't like feeling that I owe him.

So, what are you going to do now? Stew in your anger and then pout all day? Ha!

Shut up, biatch. I'm not *really* mad. Just piqued that his prank was better than mine. However, I have the right prank to settle the score.

With that thought, I grin evilly to myself in Calculus, and plan.

I'm going to act as if nothing happened. My serenity will eat at him and I want that sexy jackass to be riled up by the end of the day. Besides, I can't have him be suspicious that I'm plotting the ultimate revenge. Edward needs to think that I am going to be the obedient daughter Charlie has deluded himself into thinking I am. I want to completely throw him off and then BAM. He won't know what hit him.

I bet he thinks my hands are tied since Charlie forbade me to prank. He thinks Charlie's warning will stop me, but what dad doesn't know, won't hurt him.

You still have to find out how he stopped that van.

I know, but my priority right now is to gain the upper hand. I can deal with that aspect later.

Uh-oh, girl. You don't want to be kicked out of school like last time, do you?

Don't worry, this is a fool-proof plan. I won't get pinned for it.

~E&I~

Classes were boring as fuck. I had already studied most of it back in Phoenix so I have all of the notes with me. Well, except for Math, that topic is my Achilles heel.

I enter the foul-smelling cafeteria, where, thankfully, not many students are present.

I sit at the table near the back, far away from the crowded tables; it's somewhat private. I can see why the Cullens prefer to sit in the back. It's also great to keep an eye out on the crowd.

My left arm begins to itch again and I know it's going to become worse until I can remove the bandage on Saturday.

I pull my sleeve up and peek under the bandage to see the beautiful black swirls. It's healing nicely, but the itch is annoying as hell.

My stomach then grumbles from hunger, but the smell of grease is too disgusting. Thanks to Assward's prank, I forgot to grab my lunch from the car, so now I have to endure this until I go home.

Just then, Charlie calls.

I walk outside from the back door into the cold. It's a bit loud in the cafeteria from students filling in.

"Hey, Bells, I thought I'd call to tell you that I just realized you forgot your lunch my car."

"Yeah, Dad. I know, I just realized that as well. Don't worry about me, I'll grab something from the cafeteria," I say to placate him, grimacing at the thought of ingesting cafeteria food.

"Are you sure? I thought you didn't like cafeteria food? I can come by and bring your lunch."

Charlie's perceptive. "Dad, really, it's fine. They have some good stuff cooked today so don't worry, I won't starve. You don't have to inconvenience yourself."

"It's not an inconvenience, Bells. I'm your father and it's my job to look after you. But if you're telling me that you're okay then that's good enough for me. Oh, before you leave, I'm picking you up after school. I was going to tell you about that but you took off running."

I still get caught off guard at Charlie's display of parental care.

"Well, duh! Poor Bob's been emasculated and stripped of his dignity! Of course I was shocked and pissed at that instant." I ramble, becoming mad at the cringe-worthy imagery of Bob and Assward's victorious smirk. Oh, I'll show him.

"Calm down Bells, It's going to be fine. I promise that Bob will be home by tomorrow morning."

He better be, I think to myself.

"Okay, fine. Thanks for calling, dad. I'm going to have lunch now. Enjoy your lunch."

"Will do, kiddo. Take care, and behave. Bye."

"Bye."

I step inside and notice the Cullens are sitting at their table, which is next to mine.

They're completely isolated from the rest of the world and my guess still is that it's of their doing. Besides, there's something off about them that keeps people away. I would bet my CD collection that it has to do with Edward's display of supernatural qualities.

Are you sure it was supernatural?

How else would you explain it?

You know, sometimes the brain tricks us into seeing things.

We both saw the indent of his hand on the side of Tyler's van. And he has yet to explain what happened.

We should ask him again, even though he'll undoubtedly spew some bullshit response. I think this requires further research.

Agreed.

They look fairly normal now though; talking amongst themselves. Unlike last Thursday when they were all sitting still as statues and immersed in their personal bubbles.

They are still in a bubble, but now it's a group bubble that's fascinating to look at.

Just then, Alice stops talking with the blond one - Jasper, if I remember correctly - sees me, then smiles and waves.

I stand there for a second, shocked, before my brain tells me to act like a normal, sociable person and wave back.

I give her a small smile and wave at her in recognition.

At that instant, Edward looks at me quizzically with that ever-present, frustrated gaze, before smirking at me.

I won't allow his goading to get to me.

I roll my eyes at him and walk away, leaving him confused and more frustrated than before, if the scowl I saw briefly take over his features is an indicator.

Phase one: Complete.

I walk to the food line still feeling his gaze on me, burning my back and breaking goosebumps all over my skin. I pick an apple, milkshake, and a wrapped ham and cheese sandwich. Out of nowhere, I hear Angela's soft voice from behind me.

"Hi, Bella," she greets me with a smile.

I smile back at her. "Hi, Angela, how are you?"

"I'm good, I've been doing well in most of my classes. The only exception is History, but it's only a matter of memorizing for that, really," she tells me.

"Girl, same here, except Calculus is what's giving me problems. I swear, it's the bane of my existence. I just can't seem to grasp it."

Okay, this is your chance at a potential friendship. Don't screw it up!

"Hey, I'm fairly good at History, I can help you out with it if you want." I offer sincerely.

"Oh, wow, thanks, Bella. That's very nice of you. I wish I was good at Calculus, but I'm not. I'm barely making a C in that class as it is, so I can't help you out," she explains apologetically.

"That's not a problem because I would help you out, regardless. You're welcome to sit with me for lunch, and if you want, we can go over my notes from today's History class."

"Sure, I'd like to," Angela says with a smile.

For the next 15 minutes we go over my notes and I explain the key ideas and dates in order for her to have a structure with which to work.

Our discussion about History turns into a discussion about favorite classes, then she takes a deep breath and asks, "So what's the deal between you and Edward Cullen?"

"What do you mean? I gave him banana-face, and he emasculated my poor Bob. I've seen better pranks than that. However, putting Bob on the roof of the school was a nice touch. I have to give credit where credit is due. What else could there be?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know, there seems to be something else. He's so intense and protective around you and looks at you as if you're an enigma. You gravitate towards each other and every time you come into contact it's fiery, explosive and, to be honest with you, Bella, it looks like both of you would like to tear each others' clothes off and screw right then and there," she says with an intense blush.

I'm sure I have a deep blush-which isn't easy for a brown-skinned woman to do- of my own because my face feels hot.

When I first spoke with Angela a week ago, I knew I liked her because she seemed genuinely interested to know me. Now I know that she's honest and doesn't have a hidden agenda, unlike Jessica and Lauren.

I contemplate my options for a few seconds. I've never had close friends before and I know that for this to work, I would have to be honest. And for the first time in my life, the thought of opening up to someone doesn't fill me with dread.

"You're right, he's extremely intense and cocky, which greatly annoys me. It all began on my first day in Biology when he glared at me as if I'd killed his puppy. It escalated from there because every time we spoke, it would turn into a fight. We have this weird ability to take even something as innocuous as 'Hi, how are you?' and turn it into a battle. I swear, he has to be bi-polar because one day it seems as if he's mad at me for no reason, the next he's friendly and charming. To be honest, I don't know whether I want to junk-punch him or kiss him."

"I think he's just confused, Bella," Angela replies.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I think he's nervous when it comes to you. Bella, he's never shown any interest in the girls here, then you come and the usually calm and collected Edward Cullen is frazzled. Think about this, he came here a little over two years ago. That would have made him right around fifteen. Maybe he never showed interest in any girl before you?"

Hey, that's something to think about, right?

"That still doesn't explain why he behaved rudely the first day." I counter.

"Bella, have you considered that his behavior that day might not have had anything to do with you at all? Maybe he was just in a bad mood and took it out on you without meaning to?"

Angela's explanation sounds logical and completely valid, but my instincts scream that is not the case. He really was angry at me that day, for what precisely, I have yet to find out.

Why are you so interested to find out? I thought you said you don't care about that.

Well, I changed my mind. It still befuddles me and I want to know what I did.

Oh, you do care about his perception of you.

I decide to open up even further. "You might be right, he apologized the next day, and I was horrible to him. He deserved better, but what's done is done. And now we're in this crazy prank war that my dad has forbidden me to continue. I don't know, the whole situation is electrifying and explosive, but confusing at the same time. I've never met anyone who infuriates me as easily as he does."

"I mean, the guy gave me a water bottle with a funny quote on it after we practically shouted at each other. Who does that?" I continued.

"A guy who clearly is smitten by you and is trying to go out of his way to impress you. You're beautiful, Bella, haven't you had guys fawning over you before at your previous high school?"

At the mention of my school, I tense up.

"No, not really. I was never interested in anyone and didn't mingle with the crowd." I give the simplest explanation I could.

No, I wasn't interested in anyone romantically. Besides, no one actually gave me a chance enough to befriend me. I was the only biracial kid and the target of everyone's racist jokes and bullying, from both white and black people alike. Even the hispanic kids got in on it. My mom, being in her own little Renee-world, pretended that everything was fine and downplayed the situation whenever I tried to broach the subject with her. The previous semester got much worse, so I had to leave, but not before giving them a taste of their own medicine.

Bitches deserved that shit.

They were truly horrible and rude. I'm glad we left that place.

"Oh, that's surprising to hear because you draw people to you. By now, I've seen your sharp wit and even sharper tongue in action, but you only dish it out to those who are rude, so I don't see why you wouldn't be able to mingle with any crowd."

I didn't want to go into my whole sob story, so I gave the only bullshit explanation I can conjure up at the moment.

"You know how it is in high schools with the cliche groups. I just didn't want to become another label, hence my reason for not meshing. I refused to be part of the system so I rebelled."

"You're braver than most people I know. Not many would do that," she praises.

No, Angela, I'm not brave. I just acclimated to the situation I was provided with. There's nothing brave about that.

I shrug my shoulders. "It's one way to look at it."

Time flew while we were immersed in our conversation because we weren't expecting it when the bell rang.

"I had a great time with you, Bella,"

"Likewise. I liked our conversation, you're great company. We should exchange numbers," I suggest.

"Sure," she smiles excitedly, giving me her phone to install my number.

After exchanging numbers, we walk together to Biology since both of us are in that class.

Before we enter class, Angela touches my shoulder and says. "Um, Bella, just remember what I said about Edward, okay? Everyone deserves a chance, don't you think?"

She leaves me hanging with that thought as I enter class.

Please read the A/N if you didn't. It's very important that readers know that the story will delve into instances of racism and colorism far more frequently.