Sorry for the late update, but it's been a shitty week. Have no fear though, I'll be back on track come next Friday.

-Read through this exactly one time. As far as error goes and the quality of the chapter, may the odds be ever in my favor. Thanks for the love guys.


Chapter 12

BPOV

I had been smiling too much. I hadn't been able to stop ever since Edward had driven off Saturday evening. I blamed him entirely.

When we'd first pulled up to my house that night, I hesitated. He had been acting strange ever since I'd woken up to a screen filled with rolling credits and a spaced out Edward. He wasn't even watching the screen, he was staring at the ground, lost in his head.

"What's wrong?" I finally asked because I couldn't let him leave without knowing.

"Why do you think something's wrong?"

I sighed. There were few things more annoying than when a question was answered with a question. He was deflecting.

"You've been quiet," I pointed out to him. "And you haven't smirked in awhile—spill, Cullen."

He turned to me, forcing a lame smile on his face, but it wasn't the one I wanted. That smile wasn't him. I shook my head.

He reached over and picked up a lock of my hair, pulling gently and watching as it ran through both of his fingers. When he came to the end of its length, he let it fall and his eyes cut to mine.

While he was looking at me intensely, I was drawn to his lips. They began to curve in my favorite way.

"That's the one," I whispered.

He cupped my face and coaxed me into shifting closer. I closed my eyes and anticipated a kiss, which he gave me—on the cheek. It was mildly disappointing, but I couldn't complain. He had better sense than me. My father could come outside at any moment and once we started kissing it would be difficult to stop. We'd already been caught by one of our fathers. He was saving me from a double dose of mortification.

"Goodnight, Bella."

I wasn't sure how I made it inside by myself, or how I managed to keep myself from flinging open his passenger side door and putting his lips where I really wanted them most… but I did. He drove away.

The warmth of his lips lingered on my skin even after he was long gone.

As did the stupid smile on my face, something my father acknowledged on Sunday night during dinner. He had paused, mid-chew, to ask me what I was so happy about. Nothing came between that man and his food, once he'd picked up his fork, it was almost impossible to get more than a mumble from him. So when he slowly put his fork down and stared at me strangely, I knew I was being far too obvious.

My lame excuse —something about acing a test—seemed to work on him, but I had to make a conscious effort to tone it down from now on.

On Monday morning, I was met with more stares than I would have preferred… and by more, I mean all of them. I turned to my dad.

"Did you really have to drop me off in this car?"

I didn't mean to sound like a brat, but I was fully capable of driving a car and this was all ridiculously unnecessary. My memory had a few glitches. I didn't forget the laws of the road… he seemed to think otherwise.

He chuckled. "I remember when you used to love being driven to school in this thing."

He was right. There was a time when I thought my father's occupation was the coolest thing in the world, although, back then I was also missing two front teeth and obsessed with Disney Channel. My poor naive self had no idea arriving to school in a cop car drew attention—the unwanted kind.

When he saw my flat expression, he rolled his eyes.

"It's only today. Rose will be back tomorrow."

"I know she will, but we have a car in perfect working order," I reminded him. "A car I should be driving."

"Look, Bells, you have an appointment to get checked out Friday. I took the afternoon off. Just hold out for a few more days. If they give you a bill of perfect health… the keys are yours."

I squinted at him. "Promise?"

He tapped his badge twice, which was pinned directly over his heart. "I promise."

I was satisfied with that. Once my father gave you his word, it was pretty much a done deal. With a happy smile, I thanked him for the ride and stepped out of the car. After he pulled away, most of the attention had already been swept away from my direction. I noticed Edward at his usual spot and began walking over.

Rose had been convincing me to avoid the front entrance for the past week, but Rose wasn't here and she'd also promised to ease up a bit… so why shouldn't I use the usual entrance?

I'd get to my first period so much quicker. Common sense. Sure… common sense. Green eyed common sense.

He noticed my approach and maneuvered himself towards the outside of the group. His friends were all huddled around someone's phone, laughing at whatever was on the screen. Edward seemed to care less about the source of their laughter, his eyes were on me.

As I was about to pass him I felt his fingers brush against the back of my hand. The contact only lasted a split second, but it was enough to send my heart into a tizzy.

Heart into a tizzy? Oh god… I was beginning to sound like those romance novels I always found scattered across my mother's house.

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At lunch, while most people headed towards the cafeteria, I decided to head outside and sketch at one of the picnic tables. I knew what would happen if I was in the same room as Edward. Without Rose there to hold my attention, it would undoubtedly drift towards him and then we'd be sitting there like two obvious idiots. Well… I would. He was a lot better at playing it cool.

I felt a little envious about how effortless it was for him… and then I was thinking about him again. Cue stupid smile.

There wasn't really anyone around, so I left the smile in place and continued sketching. I had been lost in my artwork for a while when I heard footsteps behind me. At first I thought it might be Edward, but then I remembered where I was. He promised to keep this whole thing a secret until I told him otherwise and I knew he wouldn't risk doing anything out here where just about anyone could see. I turned around expecting someone else I knew to be standing there. Angela maybe?

Wrong.

Standing behind me was a pixie haired girl I didn't recognize.

It had been over a week since I had returned to school. I thought I had dealt with all of the people I couldn't remember. Guess not.

I hadn't seen her at all last week and I was sure to remember her if I had. She had one of those faces and if the clothing she was wearing now said anything about her usual attire, then she also had a fashion sense that commanded your attention.

She looked like she was about to speak, but I interrupted her before she could. It was best to avoid as much awkwardness as possible and just cut right to the chase. In a bored tone I said, "Alright, obviously you must have heard already so if you could just tell me your name and how we met then that would be great."

Her brown eyes were already large naturally, but they seemed to widen further as each word left my mouth. She was blinking a lot. Too straight forward? Maybe I was, but I knew I'd be saving us both a lot of time. The sooner I knew who she was; the sooner we could go back to being whatever it was that we were—friends I assumed. If we were friends before then surely we wouldn't have any trouble reconnecting. How far Edward and I had come in such a short amount of time could attest to that.

I was staring at her expectantly and she was simply… staring. She took a slow and cautious seat on the other side of the table. Maybe she's shy.

"I'm Alice." The name came out a little warily, but she managed to smile—in amusement? "And, uh we met…" Her gaze darted away briefly. "Just now."

I laughed because she had to be joking.

"You're kidding."

She shook her head. "Nope… this is my first day here."

I had been returning her smile with a patient one of my own, right up until she told me this was the first day she had ever stepped foot here. Now, it was my eyes that widened. Oh my god! She must have thought I was an absolute lunatic. I was surprised she didn't run away from me—I would have. To an outsider I could see how I was clearly giving off freak vibes.

I sat up straighter and gave her a desperate look.

"I swear I'm not normally this weird. I really thought you knew." She still wasn't running away... that was a good sign, right?

"Knew?"

I nodded and went on to recount a condensed version of what had happened, leaving out all of the useless details. She listened intently and finally nodded in understanding when I finished.

"Wow…" she said. "That sucks."

She didn't give me the sympathetic look I had grown accustomed to, the one I couldn't stand. She acknowledged the situation, but didn't fuss over it. I decided then—I liked this pixie haired girl.

"Yeah," I chuckled. "It's really inconvenient at times… like now for instance. I made a crap first impression." I extended my hand out to her because I'd always been brought up around my dad's old fashioned manners. "I'm Bella by the way. It's nice to meet you, Alice."

She shook my hand with a smile and bright eyes.

"So, Bella, what's there to do in a town like this?"

We spent the rest of lunch talking about how boring Forks was and getting to know each other. It felt normal, the most ordinary I'd felt in a while. I didn't feel like the girl with memory issues… I felt like an awkward and completely uninteresting person, the same person I had always been. It was a nice change, one I welcomed wholeheartedly.

During our conversation, I learned a few things about Alice—or rather Mary Alice Brandon. For one, she never responded to her given first name. She wasn't destined to be a Mary, her words. When she told me her parents had relocated here from New York City, I was floored. My hometown was endearing with its quaint and tight-knit community. It would always be close to my heart, but most of us wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. Why would anyone leave a big city to come to a place like this?

"Why Forks? It's so…"

"Random?" she finished. I simply nodded and she laughed. "That's because it is! My dad's been a CEO for years and then one day he decides to hang up a U.S. map, cover his eyes and throw a dart at it—" She leaned across the table as if she had a secret to tell and whispered, "—Midlife crisis if you ask me."

She snickered as she plopped back into her seat. "And here we are!"

I chuckled and began to study her outfit. It suddenly began to make sense. She was wearing a long-sleeved scoop neck dress paired with lace tights. The combat boots gave it a touch of grunge, but on Alice, it looked nothing short of high fashion. This was definitely a city girl. I hoped she wouldn't end up losing her mind in a town as minuscule as ours.

"Are you checking me out, Swan?" I made a face. "Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm straight as can be and I don't want to get your hopes up."

Her sass instantly reminded me of my best friend. I shook my head. "I can't wait until you meet Rosalie. You guys are going to really hit it off." Either that or you'll both end up killing each other. I kept the comment to myself.

Rose had a strong personality and so did Alice. This could turn out amazingly well or… well, I didn't want to consider the other possibility. I'd do everything I could to make sure Rose and Alice had a smooth introduction. Maybe calling Rose later and giving her a heads up will be good. Yeah. That's what I'll do.

Alice smiled. "I look forward to meeting her." Her gaze swept over the page I had been sketching on and she pulled it over to her side of the table. "Hey, this is really good!"

"Thanks," I shrugged. I knew I was a decent artist, but I didn't find the need to make a big deal about it. It was just a hobby. When she swiped her finger and finished smudging a section I hadn't gotten to, I had to ask. "Do you sketch?"

As expected, she nodded.

"Yeah, but mostly clothing designs—nothing like this." She tapped her finger on the book. "These eyes look so realistic. Are they from someone you know?"

I peered down at the page and even upside down I'd recognize those striking eyes anywhere. They were drawn in black and white, the pencil lead failing to do them justice, but I still knew who they belonged to. They were his. I couldn't believe I had been sketching his eyes without even realizing it. You've got it bad…

Yes… I really did.

At least it was Alice who caught me drawing them. Had it been Rose, I would have been in a lot of trouble.

"Bella?"

"Huh?" I remembered what she had asked me. I did know them. I knew them very well. "Umm… they're..." Before I could finish my answer, the bell rang.

I took back my sketchbook and slid it into my bag. Alice's curiosity seemed to disappear as we both stood up. She pulled out a slip of paper from her much more fashionable messenger bag and looked it over.

"You don't by any chance have art as an elective, do you?" she asked. I told her that I did and asked to see her schedule. As I scanned it, I smiled. We had three out of six classes together, including art as our last period of the day.

When I handed her schedule back, her size caught my attention again. She was like one of those tiny dog breeds with a small bite and a ginormous bark—her confidence made you forget about the fact that she was barely five feet tall.

I walked with her to her history class and showed her where the art classroom was along the way. When I left her and started the walk to my own class, I had another stupid smile on my face. This one wasn't a lovesick smile. It was one of pure content.

Normal.

I could do that.

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EPOV

I already had my keys in the ignition, ready to leave, when I realized I'd left my phone inside the locker-room. Shit. My head fell back against the head rest and I sighed. What do you expect when your head's all over the place?

As the rest of the team emptied out of the parking lot, I headed back inside to retrieve my phone. When I reached the locker-room my phone was exactly where I'd left it after practice. I grabbed it from the bench and made to leave. A voice stopped me.

"So… you and Swan, huh?"