AN: Happy – Human – Birthday, Bella Cullen! Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters. I only own my OCs.

Chapter 11: Chemistry

There once was a time when the three Denali sisters were closer than ever. Now their sisterhood bond seemed irreparable.

And to think this morning all I was worried about was the fact that I was majorly attracted to Edward Cullen when I happened to be fake-dating my best friend, Jasper.

"I'm kind of surprised you actually made it all the way out of the cafeteria without getting hit by any of the oncoming food…"

Speaking of Edward Cullen and being majorly attracted to him…

"You know, especially considering how clumsy you are."

Ah… it seems I forgot how much he loves to tease me about how I can't 'walk properly'.

"If we're being honest, then yes, I was surprised too." I replied turning towards him. After a quick evaluation of his clothes I said: "It seems you made it out of there with no new accessories to your wardrobe."

Edward chuckled, "As soon as you left with the younger sister, the principal and a few teachers came running through. The food fight was stopped almost immediately. Well, only after Principal Greene got a face full of spaghetti…"

I couldn't help it, I laughed loudly.

"Are you serious? I missed that?" I managed to wheeze out. Edward nodded his head while looking at me in amusement. It was another couple of minutes before I was able to get my laughter in control.

"What happened after that?"

"Ah, well, everyone pretty much stopped what they were doing when they saw the principal's head covered in spaghetti sauce and noodles. Mr. Greene wanted to know who started the fight, why no one saw fit to call for help, and of course who threw the food at him." Edward answered. "No one fessed up to the last one, of course." He added in afterthought.

"And the first one?" I whispered, biting my lip.

Edward looked at me cautiously before replying.

"Everyone kind of just looked over at Tanya and Kate… Mr. Greene easily put it together and told them both to head down to his office. Kate left without a word but Tanya tried to protest. Mr. Greene didn't really like that and told her she was already in enough trouble."

"What happened with the rest of the students?"

"The teachers told everyone to stay where they were. Then they went around the room trying to find out who was involved and who had to be sent home to change. Anyone who wasn't involved in the food fight and their clothes were food free were sent off to their classes. The majority of the school is still in the cafeteria."

I sighed. "Well, it's not like you can say this wasn't an interesting first day at Forks High."

"Too true." Edward mused. "Girls ogling me while glaring at my sister and guys glaring at me while staring at my sister. Then to top it all off there's a food fight. Can't wait to tell mom and dad." His gaze fell on me and I could see the mischief in his eyes as his mouth quirked up in my favorite crooked smile. "Of course, I'll have to tell them my favorite part was when you grabbed the Gatorade bottles and upended the contents all over Tanya and Kate…"

My mouth dropped open in slight shock.

"You're not really going to tell Carlisle and Esme!" I exclaimed.

Edward burst out laughing.

"Are you?"

He continued laughing.

"Edward! You cannot tell them I did that! Edward!"

"Bella!" His laughter was barely subsiding. "Don't worry, I won't tell my parents. I was only teasing." Edward assured me.

My eyes narrowed as I took in his grinning face, "You were laughing because?"

"You should have seen the expression on your face when you thought I was going to tell my parents. Priceless!"

"Pr-pri-pr-priceless! Well, well, humph!" I spluttered turning away from him.

It was then that I realized that we were the only ones in the class. Not even Mr. Banner was in the room with us. Everyone must still be in the cafeteria… and just like that I was suddenly hyperaware of him sitting next to me. Sure I knew he was sitting next me in the first place but I had sort of pushed it out of my head when I was trying to find out about what had happened after Irina and I had escaped. Now, well, now it was like I could feel a current of electricity running between the two of us. If I didn't back up this second it was highly possible that I would do something very stupid—completely and utterly stupid.

Moreover, Edward wasn't helping things one bit.

He moved in slightly closer while resting his left arm on the back of my chair and he leaned his weight onto his right arm, using the tabletop for support.

"Aww… come on Bella. I was only teasing. I wouldn't have told mom or dad. Promise!" Edward said, trying to get me to look at him.

"Mm-hmm. Yeah, like I'll really believe that." I muttered while still looking away from him.

On the inside I was, unsurprisingly, giving myself a stern talking to…

…Okay it was more like a pathetic pep talk…

…Which, you know, just turned into an internal panic attack…

Just don't look at him Bella. Take a deep breath. That's it! Now all you have to do is turn around. You can have a normal conversation with the Edward. No big deal. What's the worst that could happen? Stupid question! I would probably end up doing something to jeopardize my 'relationship' with Jasper. Naturally I'd have to tell Jazz about anything that would have occurred and then in reaction he'd probably be on bad terms with Edward – all to keep up with this charade. Or… I could tell him about this being a fake relationship… Edward would think I'm absolutely crazy for doing something like this just to get out of going to Homecoming.

"Bella! Anybody in there?" Edward's voice broke through my thoughts.

"Huh?" I blinked a couple of times in succession noticing Edward's hand waving back and forth in front of my face.

"Spacing out again, Bella?"

"That was one time!" I exclaimed as he burst into laughter.

Taking a moment to commit the sound of his laughter and compare it to the last time I heard it, I said, "Well if you must know, I was contemplating on whether or not I should speak with you, should you, you know, tell Carlisle and Esme about the Gatorade incident."

"Relax Bella! I won't tell mom and dad what you did."

"Good."

"I probably wouldn't even get the chance anyway. Alice somehow always gets the information to my parents faster than I do."

I groaned as I leaned forward and rested my head against the cool surface of the table.

How could I have honestly forgotten about Alice? It was because of her that Carlisle and Esme had even known about mine and Edwards's friendship before he could even introduce me to them. Heck, I hadn't even met Alice yet at that time. If her dream hadn't been to become a world-famous fashion designer then I would personally try to get her to be an international super spy.

And now he's laughing at me again.

"Edward! Stop laughing!" I commanded.

"I really can't help it Bella—you're quite hilarious."

"I'm so glad you've enjoyed the show." I muttered sarcastically. "Would you like an encore?" I asked rhetorically.

Edward smirked as he replied "Well, if you insist…"

We stared each other in the eye for all of a few seconds before we both burst into laughter.

After a couple of minutes he asked, "Why are we laughing?"

Regaining control of my giggles, I replied, "Honestly? I have not a clue. But it is your fault."

"My fault? My fault!" Edward exclaimed in mock outrage. "You, Isabella Marie Swan, who provides good entertainment causing all those to laugh themselves silly and me, Edward Anthony Cullen, an innocent member of the audience who greatly appreciates your sense of humor. And it's my fault! Well!" and with that he turned away from me but not before I saw the smile threatening to overtake his features.

"Edward?"

"Yes Bella?"

"I think Alice was right." I smirked as he started to turn back towards me. "You are such a Drama Queen!"

He spluttered for a few moments before he held his head high and said in his most dignified voice, "I'll have you know that's King to you, fair lady."

With that we had burst into laughter once more. This, you know, is actually how Mr. Banner had found us just a couple of minutes later.

A throat clearing in the doorway alerted us to the fact that we had company. Looking up we watched as Mr. Banner strode into the room.

"I'll be brief," he started without preamble, "It's good to see you two getting along as nicely as the two of you will now be lab partners. We won't have class today because of the catastrophe in the cafeteria. Edward, you and your sister as well as everyone at your table was not involved in the fight and are not being punished. Bella, Jasper informed me that you had already finished your lunch and went to get something from your locker before the fight had even started so you will not be punished. With that being said, Bella, if you could tell Edward where we are in the class and catch him up that would be great. I have to head back to the cafeteria now. When the bell rings just head to your next class. We should hopefully have everything under control by then." Mr. Banner finished.

"Umm, thanks sir. And don't worry I'll get Edward up to date on what we're learning." He nodded at the both of us, wished us a good day and quickly left the room.

"I wonder how I'm not going to be in trouble when one; Tanya or Kate will mention it was me who spilled a sports beverage all over them… it'll probably be Tanya and two; my bag isn't even here! I left it in the cafeteria…"

Edward turned towards me again with his left eyebrow raised.

"What?" I asked.

He then began to smirk that crooked smile of his, "Bella," he pointed downwards in the space between our lab stools. I looked down and felt myself start to blush. Resting there was not only his school bag but mine as well. "You really are oblivious."

"Yeah, well, yeah…" I trailed off.

Real smooth Swan.

"Huh, I'd forgotten how deeply you blush…"

"Thanks Edward. My day would not have been complete had you not told me I look like a bright red tomato."

"I never said you look like a tomato."

"Same thing."

"If you say so."

I sighed before turning serious, "Thank-you for bringing my bag along with you."

"No problem. Now, why don't you tell me exactly where the class is at and what labs you're currently working on?"

It really didn't take long to explain everything to Edward. He was really intelligent. After we went through it all we continued talking and soon resorted to playing twenty questions to help us catch up on all we missed in the last two years.

Edward shook his head at the memory. He turned towards me and asked, "So then, what's your favorite bird?"

I blinked once – then twice.

"Hummingbird." I stuttered out. "For no other reason than I like the way they fly around."

Edward raised his eyebrows, a light smile on his face.

"We can't all have meaningful stories to go with why we like or dislike something." I grumbled.

Edward looked like he was restraining his laughter at me once again. I sighed, "Go ahead and laugh."

He did.

Just then the bell rang signaling it was time for the next class.

I stooped down to pick up my bag from the floor when I noticed it was gone. I heard more chuckling from above me and when I looked, Edward had both his and my school bag in his hands.

"Bella, you really are oblivious aren't you? I was just teasing before but now..."

"I am not oblivious! You're just too fast and too sneaky! How do you do that?"

"It's a gift." He said while I grabbed my bag from him and slung it over my shoulder.

"We better get going, we have Gym next."

"Do you think the teachers have already gotten everything sorted?" Edward asked looking around. He sounded slightly doubtful and I could see why: There were maybe about twenty or so students milling about in the hall. When we got outside there seemed to be the same amount going around as well.

"Edward! Bella!"

We turned around to see Alice practically dancing towards us with Jasper walking at a slower pace just behind her.

Well, doesn't he just look amused…

"Hey! How are you?" she directed at me.

I could see the concern in her eyes and immediately my thoughts went to what had happened at lunch. Shaking my head to focus, I smiled and reassured her that I was fine.

Alice smiled but I could tell she didn't believe me. She then turned and started to talk Edward's ear off about how she had US History with Jazz and was telling him about how he was getting her all caught up in the finer aspects of certain dates and events when Jasper put his arm around my shoulders.

Leaning in and closely, to ensure that the Cullens wouldn't overhear, he whispered, "How is she?"

I sighed.

"Well, after her burst of rage at her sisters, she had a subsequent breakdown. After that, I asked her if she was going to stay at school or if she wanted to go home. She chose to go to the nurse's office instead and she's going catch a ride home with us. Irina said there was no way she was going to be stuck in a car with her sisters after what happened. So yeah, I offered her a ride."

Inwardly cringing because I was basically telling him what to do, I quickly glanced at Jazz's face. Instead of being irritated or anything like that he looked to be distracted by his thoughts and just nodded his head in agreement.

"How was working with Edward today?"

It was after school. Gym had gone okay – only because more than half of our class had been sent home early. Really, there was no point coming back to school with only one period left. When school was finished we said goodbye to our friends including Edward and Alice and then we quickly found Irina and gave her a ride home.

Looking up from the essay I was working on, I saw Jane staring at me with her head tilted to the side. She had called and asked to come over to get help with her essay but mainly she just wanted to get away from Felix. Alec had escaped – I mean had to work on a project with his Chem partner and chose to do that at the town library. Quickly looking down at my work I muttered, "Fine."

In truth, I had known that the smaller brunette had been giving me that contemplative look for the past twenty minutes or so but I was hoping that she would not ask anything and let me work on my essay… that was due tomorrow.

"Hmmm…" Jane trailed off. She sighed and I ignored her for the next couple of minutes before she sighed again.

Pushing my essay away from me, I turned towards her again and arched my eyebrow.

"Yes, Jane, Is there something I could help you with?"

"Oh it's nothing really. I just, you know, wanted to know why you're so… keen… on not discussing Edward with me." Jane stated more than questioned.

"Well what do you expect me to say? We spent the whole of Chem class just talking and catching up. Nothing worth mentioning… happened…" I trailed off. My mind instantly went back to Edward going over our conversations and that unexplainable feeling that I got when we were close. That strange magnetic current I felt between our bodies.

Jane snorted, "Yeah, nothing happened."

"Nothing did happen! We just talked! Did you forget that I'm dating Jasper? He happens to be my boyfriend so I would appreciate you not insinuating that there is more going on between Edward and me than just friendship!"

Jane looked at me for a long minute her face closing off from all emotion.

Fantastic! What did I just do now?

"I didn't say that there was anything going on with you and Edward. I know you're dating Jasper. I also know you would never do anything to hurt Jasper. I was merely asking how everything went today because of what we talked about on Saturday afternoon. You know about Edward possibly having a crush on you. I wasn't the one, Bella, who said anything more than friendship happened between you and him. I wasn't the one who brought any of that up. I was going to ask if my guess was wrong – if I was just overanalyzing things.

"Maybe Edward doesn't like you as more than a friend. You, on the other hand, probably feel more than you should for Edward. Considering how defensive you got when I asked about how it was working with him today."

With that Jane stood up and started gathering her things. Before I could ask where she was going she had already walked out of my room, she was about to shut my door behind her when –

"You're right."

"What?" She looked back at me quizzically.

I sighed. What the hell am I doing? I can't just say I like Edward when I am dating Jasper.

You can if you want to keep Jane from leaving and being mad at you.

I got up and walked over to Jane pulling on her arm to bring her back into my room. Taking a glance around the hall, I noted that neither of my sisters was around. I quickly closed my door and locked it. I then went and slumped dejectedly on one of my bean bags, while Jane had set down her stuff and took a seat on one of the other two across from me.

"I don't know if Edward likes me as more than a friend or not. You were right, I feel way more than I should for him. I've always liked him. But this is different, stronger than before. It's not a simple crush. It's more than just attraction. I might possibly…"

Near me there was a gasp that came from Jane as she no doubt figured out what I had been trying not to think about since the Cullens came back into my life.

Holy Crow! I think I'm in love with Edward Cullen!

To be honest I hadn't really planned on bringing Jane into this chapter because it was mainly about Edward and Bella reconnecting. But I needed Bella to come to terms with her growing feelings and this is how it ended up happening.

Thank-you to those who have read, reviewed, followed and favorited this story. You are all amazing. I've got to say, though, I'm a little disappointed that last chapter only got two reviews. Please tell me what you think about this story. Do you like it or dislike it? And please tell me why. I would like to improve my writing and the only way I can do that is if somebody tells me how I am doing.

~Acacia Rose Masen