Author's Note: I have to say, the amount of reviews did improve, though slightly. So I thought I might update. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Chapter 21

Bella's Point of View

"Hi, Bella!" an enthusiastic voice greeted me at my locker during break.

After our fight over the weekend, I wasn't too thrilled to see Tanya Denali waiting for me.

It isn't fair, I told myself. She's done nothing wrong. I forced myself to smile back as convincingly as I could.

"Hi, Tanya," I said, twirling my lock. "How was your weekend?"

"Really good," she said, looking quite smug about something. "I had a great time at the dance on Friday, so it's natural that I should have a good time over the weekend."

I opened the lock silently and began looking through my materials.

"Oh, yeah," Tanya said. "I actually came to thank you."

I paused. "Thank me?"

"Well, I'm dating Edward," Tanya said happily. "And you're the one who introduced me to him, so of course I should thank you!"

Her words created a loud bang. Literally.

Startled, we both looked back to see Alice staring at us. Her Spanish book was on the floor. She looked livid.

"Hey, Alice," Tanya said casually. "You look rather…surprised." There was that smug look again.

I turned back to my locker, trying to hide my face. Tanya's words had shocked me as well. We had been fighting for less than seventy-two hours, and yet, he was already replacing me with a girlfriend.

He missed me? He cared about me? Big whoop. Lies.

"He is not dating you," Alice stressed. "Tell me it's a lie, Tanya Denali."

"Why should I tell you it's a lie when it's true?" Tanya asked smoothly. "We are going out."

"Not possible," Alice said faintly.

"Yeah?" Tanya raised her eyebrow. "Exactly three minutes ago, I caught up to him, and he confirmed that we're dating. We're going out on our first date after school today. He's taking me to Port Angeles to see a movie and eat dinner."

I felt a lump in my throat. I felt pathetic, like I'd lost an argument.

Swallowing hard, I closed the locker door a little harder than I'd meant to. "That's great, Tanya. Congratulations."

"Bella!" Alice looked horrified. "How can you even say that?"

Tanya smiled crookedly. Her eyes flashed, but I didn't register it. "Thanks, Bella. I hope you don't mind that I'll be monopolizing his time from now on."

"Of course not. I'll see you later." I walked past her, gripping my book tightly in my arms.

Alice caught up to me, looking furious. "You cannot be serious about this, Bella! How can you say that? She is such a liar. Edward would never date someone who intentionally broke off his friendship with you!"

"Intentionally?" I repeated in a low voice. "Isn't that too harsh, Alice? Tanya hasn't done anything wrong."

"If only you knew," she said darkly. "She wanted Edward, and you were in the way, so she got you out of the way. Don't you understand?"

I shook my head. "Tanya's my friend. I trust her. She'll be good for Edward." I stopped short when I saw a tall figure with bronze hair in front of me.

"Bella, you can't…" Alice stopped when she saw her brother. "Edward."

Edward didn't speak for a long time. He just stared at me, and it occurred to me that he had overheard everything. My gaze lowered when the lump in my throat rose again. My eyes began to sting.

"Alice," he finally greeted her. "Jasper was looking for you."

Alice still looked angry from her argument with him earlier. On top of that, she'd just been told that he was apparently dating someone she didn't particularly like. Her lips were pursed, and she didn't speak.

Edward's gaze flickered back to me. The intensity of it made me uncomfortable. I began walking again, fully intent on passing him without another unwelcome incident.

But, of course, Alice had to interfere, the little pixie.

She grabbed my arm and yanked me back. "Tanya just told us that you've agreed to date her, Edward. Isn't that interesting?" Her tone was dripping with sarcasm.

He looked unsurprised. "Interesting," he repeated, to humor her.

"What I want to know is…" Her eyes flashed dangerously. "How did that happen? Weren't you the one telling us that she wasn't your type? And after what happened last Friday, I should think that you would have the sense to refuse her, even if she did ask you out personally."

"I saw no reason to turn her down," he said tiredly.

My eyes jumped to his face. Out of habit, he immediately looked concerned when he read the hurt on my face. And then, he looked rather confused.

"No reason to…" Alice looked ready to explode. "What do you mean? What about Bella? You've admitted that she's everything to you, and-" She stopped talking when I clasped my hand on her mouth.

"I think you need to calm down," I informed her icily. I turned back to her brother. "You guys can continue your argument later, when I'm not around."

I released my best friend and walked away. As I walked past Edward, he made an involuntary move, as though he was reaching out to touch me. At the last second, he stopped himself, and he didn't turn to watch me as I walked out of sight.

Edward's Point of View

I walked in on Alice and Bella speaking to each other. Behind them, Tanya caught my eye, grinned smugly, and flounced away.

"If only you knew," Alice was saying. "She wanted Edward, and you were in the way, so she got you out of the way. Don't you understand?"

It was obvious they were talking about Tanya. She must have told them.

Just now, Tanya had just caught up to me and asked me out. At first, my instincts had told me to say no. But then, I began to wonder. And I decided that I wanted to test it out. I was curious to see if Bella would feel jealous if I was with another girl.

Not that she had before. But the girls I'd dated before were girls she didn't like. So it hadn't bothered her, naturally. But since she considered Tanya as her friend, it would bring out more reaction from her.

"Tanya's my friend," Bella answered in a low voice, though she didn't look particularly happy. Was that jealousy? "I trust her. She'll be good for Edward."

I resisted the urge to scoff and roll my eyes. Luckily, Bella provided the distraction I needed, and spotted me. She tensed immediately, and her expression darkened.

I couldn't believe we were having this fight. Honestly, it was about the strangest subject to have a fight on: the fact that I'd confessed, and the fact that she might have been jealous. The easiest thing to do was to talk to her and work it out. But I had a feeling this was going to go on for a while.

"Bella, you can't…" Alice, too, spotted me. "Edward," she greeted me curtly.

She was obviously very unhappy with me. But I wasn't planning on telling her my real motive for agreeing to go out with Tanya. I wasn't going to tell Rosalie, Emmett, or Jasper either. They were bound to tell Bella, and I didn't want that.

I stared at her for a long moment. It had only been two days since I'd last seen her, but it felt like it's been years. Her beautiful face…

"Alice," I said finally. "Jasper was looking for you."

I turned back to Bella. She looked uncomfortable by my attention, and she tried to continue walking. But my sister held her back.

Lecture time.

"Tanya just told us that you've agreed to date her, Edward," Alice said, seemingly struggling to keep her tone light and sarcastic instead of shouting. "Isn't that interesting?"

I decided I'd better humor the enraged pixie for now. "Interesting."

"What I want to know is…" Her eyes flashed, and I resisted the urge to take a step back. "How did that happen? Weren't you the one telling us that she wasn't your type? And after what happened last Friday, I should think that you would have the sense to refuse her, even if she did ask you out personally."

Of course she would point that out.

"I saw no reason to turn her down," I said wearily.

Of course I had. There were tons of reasons to turn Tanya down. First, I didn't like her. Second, I didn't like her. And third, I didn't like her.

Bella met my gaze, and I was surprised and concerned to see hurt evident on her face. I almost asked her what was wrong before I remembered about our fight. Why was she hurt?

"No reason to…" Alice repeated incredulously. "What do you mean?" Now, she was on the edge of exploding. I was thankful that we weren't at home. She wouldn't have hesitated to yell and scream at me. "What about Bella? You've admitted that she's everything to you, and-"

Bella clamped her mouth and said acidly, "I think you need to calm down." She glanced back at me and added, "You guys can continue your argument later, when I'm not around."

She let go of her and walked forward, past me. As she passed, my hand reached out involuntarily to touch her. I stopped myself at the last minute. As much as I loved her, and wanted her in my arms and feel her presence, now was not the time.

Besides, my angry sister was practically growling at me. She wasn't just a pixie at the moment. She was a very dangerous pixie, with magical powers.

As if. More like magical voice that could destroy my eardrums.

"Edward Cullen," Alice snarled. "You'll pay for this."

I gave her a small smile. "Are you going to sit on me again?"

"This isn't a joke!" she said. "Are you insane? Of all the girls at this school, even if it wasn't Bella, did you have to pick a girl who's…" She struggled to find the right word.

"Psychotic?" I suggested.

"Yes! Why, Edward? Do you want to see me die?"

I sighed, rather impatient now. "I had my reasons. So suck it up, sis. Jasper's waiting for you in front of the library." I brushed past her and continued on my way.

"Okay!" Alice called after me angrily, attracting tons of stares. "Now it's official! I hate you!" She turned and stormed away.

I ignored the surprised looks of the students as I passed. Everyone knew that the Cullen siblings got along very well with each other. And we never said that we hated each other. Ever. A bit surprising that she'd said that, I admit.

But I wasn't surprised at the fact that she did hate me. I deserved it.

AN: Don't worry! You'll hate Tanya even more from now on! Isn't that wonderful news? Keep the reviews coming, please! Or I might not update for a very long time!