Well, I'm back! I'm sure all of you are really, really angry at me. And I'm sorry for not updating. I can't assure you when the next update will be either, but I will try to update as soon as possible.

Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

I met Alice at school the next day. She wanted to hear every single detail about my date.

"Tell me everything!" She gushed. "Was he romantic? Did he kiss you good night? Did he say you were pretty? Did he-"

"Alice!" I laughed. "Relax. Take a breath." I waited for a couple of minutes, just to annoy her. "Yes, he said I was pretty. In fact the exact word he used was 'gorgeous', he wasn't very romantic- it wasn't really an official date, we were just going out as friends, and he didn't kiss me, I kissed him. There, happy?"

"Who kissed whom?" Emmett asked, standing behind me.

"Bella had a date-" Alice began.

"It wasn't a date!" I interrupted.

"Sure, sure. Okay, so Bella had dinner with her friend Jake last night."

"Oh, I didn't know people went around kissing their friends…" Emmett commented.

I groaned. "It was just a good night kiss on the cheek, for God's sake! Jeez!"

"Sure, Bella," Alice said innocently. "Whatever you say."

I just shook my head and walked ahead of them to get to homeroom. On the way, I saw Tanya and Edward together, near Edward's locker. Next to them stood Jasper and Rosalie, chatting about something.

"Hey, Bella," Jasper called. "How was your date with-"

"It was not a date!" I huffed. "It was just dinner with a friend."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Right."

"What is wrong with you guys? Jacob and I are just friends- just as we always have been."

I noticed Edward listening to our conversation. "Well are you free tonight to hang out? Or are you too busy with your friend?" He sneered the last word.

"As a matter of fact, I do have plans," I lied frostily. I had no intention of hanging out with an angry Edward, who would no doubt irritate me before the night was over.

"Date on a school night?" He asked. "I didn't think Charlie would let you do that."

"Well Charlie happens to trust Jacob to bring me back on time. Unlike some people," I said that just to spite Edward, since he knew Charlie didn't particularly trust him after he brought me home late one night.

Edward glared at me, and then turned to Tanya. "Come on, Tanya. I can see where we're not wanted."

Both of them walked away, Tanya narrowing her eyes at me as they walked past me. What's up with her? I wondered.

5 pairs of expectant eyes turned to look at me. "What?" I asked.

Alice just shook her head. "What's wrong with you, Bella?" She asked sadly. "You and Edward used to be best friends."

"Well that was before he got Tanya," I retorted angrily. Was Alice seriously blaming me? Then I realized that I sounded like a jealous girlfriend. "I mean, ever since he started going out with Tanya, he's just been acting weird."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Well from what I've noticed, both of you seem to be getting on each other's nerves."

"It's not my fault he's become so irritating these days!"

"Whatever," Jasper said. "This is your problem, not ours. You guys have to sort it out between yourselves. We'll do whatever we can to help, but until you realize how childish you're acting, there's nothing we can do."

The others nodded in agreement. One by one, they left to their respective homerooms, leaving me standing in the hallway, staring at their retreating backs.

The whole day passed in a daze. While my friends were not being unfriendly, they weren't acting normal. I guessed that this would continue until either Edward or I caved in and apologized to each other.

I didn't wait up for my friends after school as I usually did, but instead left as soon as the bell rang and drove home slowly. Truth was, I had no plans for the night, and I didn't want to call Jacob. He probably had other friends from the Rez to hang out with; I couldn't expect him to spend time only with me.

I spent the rest of the day reading books and cooking dinner. When Charlie asked me when I was in for the night, as I was usually out with the gang, I replied that I was tired, and didn't feel like going out. He didn't say anything, but I could see that he didn't believe me completely.

At around 8, Jacob called.

"Hey," He said. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," I answered. "Just had a totally boring day."

"Really? You should have called me! I spent all day hanging around doing nothing!"

I groaned. "I considered it," I admitted. "But then I thought you might be busy with other friends."

"Right," He scoffed. "If I had other friends."

I smiled grimly. "Welcome to my life." Then, suddenly, it dawned on me. I sniffed as I realized that none of my best friends were talking to me. I was all alone.

"Bella?" Jake asked worriedly, hearing me sniff. "Bells? Are you okay?"

"No," I cried.

"Do you want me to come over?" He asked softly. "Wait…" I heard him rummaging around for something. "Got it!" I heard the jingling of car keys in the background, and realized he was going to drive over now.

"Jake, its fine. Seriously. It's too late to come over now."

"Your dad won't mind. See you." The line suddenly went dead, and I groaned. Now, because I couldn't control my tears, Jake was coming over at this time of night.

"Dad," I called out, walking into the living room where he was settled in front of the TV. "Jacob's coming over."

His eyes remained glued to the game. "Sure, sure. But not too late, okay? You have school tomorrow."

"Sure, Dad."

I decided to wait outside on the porch steps for Jacob to come. Within 10 minutes, he was pulling up to the curb in front of our house and walking towards me.

He sat down beside me. We were both quiet for a while, till he finally glanced at me and said, "So, are you going to tell me what happened, or not?"

That set me off. I started crying again, and I told him in broken sentences what had happened in school today, and how my friends didn't want to talk to me much until Edward and I patched things up.

"So become friends with Edward again. No big deal," He shrugged at the end of my outburst.

"It is a big deal," I insisted. "Ever since Edward started going out with Tanya, his whole world revolves around her. Plus, whenever we hang out, as a gang, I'm always the odd one out. The one without a boyfriend. Well, that I guess I can handle, but it's the way Edward treats me after he started going out with Tanya that bugs me. It's like we're not even friends anymore."

"Well, Bella, you can either fix things with Edward, or you can just wait for Edward's and Tanya's relationship to fizzle out, and then go back to being friends."

I frowned. "They just got together. That could take a while. I can't go without talking to any of my friends for that long. I'd be all alone."

"Of course you won't. You'll have me, won't you?" He grinned.

I smiled back at him. "True. Anyway, thanks for coming over. I guess I really needed someone to talk to. I feel a lot better now."

"Anything for you, Bells."

"Bye. Good night!"

"See you tomorrow."

I smiled as I watched him drive away into the darkness. Then my smile slowly faded away and I sighed as I realized that I still hadn't worked out a solution to my current predicament.

The next morning at school I was still undecided. None of my friends were talking to anymore, although Alice looked like she was wondering whether she should come over and talk to me, since I was sitting all alone the whole day, even at lunch. But she didn't, at although I felt hurt, I understood her decision. I placed myself in her shoes, imagining what it would be like to have two of her best friends fighting and getting on her nerves all the time.

While I was driving over to Jake's house after school I made up my mind. I would wait for Edward- wait for him to become friends with me again. After all, it wasn't my fault, was it? I still acted like friends after he started dating her; he was the one who started growing more distant.

Thus, setting my mind, I continued to Jake's house, my only friend in the midst of this confusion.

For all the people reading my other stories We'll Face It Together and Finding True Love, I will try to update those too, soon.

Please, review! I need some feedback for this chapter, and your reviews will motivate me to write and upload the next chapter more quickly!