A/N

I am so so sorry for the super long wait. I've had this chapter written for a couple days now, I just didn't know how to make it flow properly, if that makes any sense. Anyway, it's here now so enjoy and leave me a review about what you think :)

Chapter 11

After a few weeks of desperately trying to get over my almost-sorta feelings for Edward, I had given up. I, Bella Swan, had officially given up. I finally admitted it to myself and had stopped fighting it, officially reaching the fifth stage: acceptance. It was pathetic, really, just how under my skin he had gotten. But just because I liked him, there was no way in hell I'd tell him that.

Every time I saw a girl hanging around him I found myself getting irrationally jealous. It was absolutely ridiculous.

As I walked into chemistry, I passed Jake. He smiled at me and I smiled back. He and I had become good friends since we had a couple classes together.

When I sat down at my seat, I felt a cold chill. Well, a metaphorical one. Edward was sitting frigid next to me, a scowl on his face.

"That time of the month, again?" I asked. I was expecting some smartass remark, but he ignored me as the bell rang to signal the beginning of class.

Mr. Volturi immediately began class and I decided to ignore Edward's foul mood and pay attention.

Near the end of class, he told everyone to put away their notebooks and came around to the front of his desk carrying a stack of papers.

"Today, you will all be starting a project. This will be your big project for the semester. You will have to research a particular subject in chemistry and do an experiment as well as write a paper detailing everything you do and what you observe. I've written down the specifics of what you need on this rubric here," he waved a stack of papers in his hand and handed the pile to a guy at the very front. Taking one, he passed it down.

When I finally got a copy my eyes immediately flew to a bold 'five'. The paper had to be at least five pages long.

"Seriously?" I muttered.

"As you can see, the due date isn't until the end of the semester so you have all of November and December, as well as the first week in January to complete your project. Since I am giving you so much time, I expect you to put a lot of effort into this project. I don't care how you divide up the work, but I expect both people in each group to contribute to the project."

I groaned as I dropped my face into my hands. With Edward as my partner, I was sure to be doing all the work.

I looked up again just in time to see a girl in the front raised her hand.

"Can this project be on anything?"

"Good question, Kate, but no. You will be picking subjects out of a hat," He held up an old black top hat from behind him.

Since Edward and I sat in the back, we were one of the last to choose.

"Pick a good one, Princess," he said.

"Wow, he talks," I sarcastically muttered.

He rolled his eyes as I reached in and grabbed the first slip of paper my fingers came in contact with.

"The Effects of Temperature on Reaction Time," I read aloud.

"I thought I told you to pick a good one?" Edward muttered under his breath as Mr. Volturi walked over to the next group.

I was irritated already by this stupid project. He probably wouldn't be working on the project anyway so why the hell was he so pissed off?

I turned to him and put my hands over my heart in a sincere gesture. "Edward, I am so sorry that I failed you. But I promise, next time, I'll pick an amazing one to make you forget this failure of mine." I closed my eyes sadly for a moment before breaking character and throwing him a glare before turning back to the front of the class.

The corners of my mouth turn up when I heard his quiet laughter next to me.

My work here is done.

Mr. Volturi started to speak again.

"Well, I don't have anything else planned for today and since we have a little under ten minutes left of class, I'll give you the rest of the time to discuss your projects with your partners."

Thats what we were supposed to do, but no one actually did. People dispersed to talk with their friends about anything other than school.

As Edward went over to Emmett and James and a couple of girls, I decided to use the time to draw.

"Hey, Bella."

I looked up. "Hey, Jake," I smiled.

He looked around the room. "I have a feeling that even though we have all this time to do this project, more than half the people will be doing it the night before the due date."

I laughed. "I'll probably be one of those people." I said truthfully.

"I didn't think you were the procrastinating type."

I shrugged. "What can I say, I'm a girl with many talents."

"Yeah, about that. I, uh, wanted to ask you something." He put his hands in his front pockets, a nervous gesture. I looked at him curiously.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out on a date with me."

For some reason, my eyes drifted over his shoulder to where Edward was talking with some girl, Tanya Denali, the school whore, as she flipped her hair and gave him a fake laugh.

"Maybe Friday night?" he continued.

"Uh, I can't I'm busy." I actually was, I wasn't just trying to let him down easy. This Friday was Halloween and Alice, Edward and I always had a tradition of telling their parents we were passing out candy to little kids but really, we shut off all the lights and watched movies while we ate all the candy ourselves.

"Oh." Jake said. Then I looked at Edward and Tanya again.

"Saturday will work though," I suggested before I could stop myself.

"Okay. So let's say Saturday around seven?"

"Sure," I said.

He turns to make my way back to his desk and glance at the clock. Only a minute left until the bell rang. I started putting my stuff in my backpack.

"What did he want?" I jumped a little when I heard Edward's voice next to me.

I was surprised at his cold tone.

"Why do you care?" Curiosity made me ask just as the bell rang.

Everyone slowly emptied out of the classroom, Edward behind me.

"I don't." I heard him say as we walked out of the classroom and into the hallway.

"Hey guys!" I turned towards her to see Alice.

By the time I looked back towards Edward, he was walking away.

"Sooo what did I miss?" Alice asked when she noticed Edward's retreating form.

"I don't know what's with him but Jake asked me out," I said.

She squealed. Like literally squealed.

"Awww, you guys would be so cute!"

All of a sudden she sobered up.

"Wait, what about Edward?"

"What about Edward?" I asked. On the inside, I was panicking. Did she know about my feelings for her brother?

"Haven't you noticed the way he looks at you?"

I laughed at that. "Edward? At me? No way." Sure we'd made out a couple times like a month ago, but he had never showed any actual interest in me.

"When was the last time you saw him with a girl? Honestly?"

"Easy! That was five minutes ago, he was flirting with Tanya." I said triumphantly.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Edward flirts with everyone. I mean, when was the last time you actually saw him full on making out with a girl?"

I honestly thought about it. It had been a while. But it definitely wasn't because of me. Right?

"Oh! That must be why he's so pissed! Because Jake asked you out!" she laughed.

"Uh, no. He didn't even hear Jake ask me out. And even if he did, believe me, he doesn't care."

She opened her mouth to dispute it, but then she looked around and saw the almost-empty hallway.

"We should get going." She laughed and we split up to go to our lockers before heading home.

As I walked to my locker, I thought about what Alice had said. Did Edward really feel that way about me? He had never mentioned it. Then again, I had feelings for him and I didn't mention it either. Then I thought back to chemistry class and the way he had been acting with Tanya. So, no, he didn't have any feelings for me. Right?