"Thanks for inviting me Mike, I had fun," I waved goodbye to him as he slumped out of the suburban along with everyone else to go to his own car.

He mumbled something I couldn't hear, and though I understood why he was behaving like that, it still hurt my feelings that he wouldn't even look at me when he was talking. I was about to start the engine back up when I noticed someone still sitting in the middle of the back seat.

I felt my heart start pumping faster when I saw her in the mirror, scaring the life out of me.

"Gosh Bella you scared me half to death."

"Sorry about that, I just wanted to talk to you without the others."

"Sure, what's on your mind?"

"Just wanted to ask you if you wanted to come with me and Edward to Port Angeles tomorrow?"

"Um, sure, what's the occasion?"

"Well, Edward is insisting on attending the Homecoming dance, and we're going dress shopping, I thought you might like to as well."

"I would love to, but I don't think I'm going to go."

"I wouldn't if I had a choice, but Edward is just weird about school dances. Why don't you want to?"

"Well," I looked down kind of embarrassed, "I've never really been to a dance before." It was half the truth, the other half was having a date, which was something else I had never done before. I never really trusted many guys after my mom and I started moving.

"I'm not saying it's going to be fun, but it will be a new experience."

"Bella, even if I wanted to go, and I'm not saying that I do, I would be a third wheel, no one has asked me to the dance."

"I think Mike was going to ask you tonight."

"Why didn't he?"

"Andy are you blind?"

"What are you talking about?" I was seriously confused, no joke, and no playing around.

"He was put off by the way Jacob was looking at you, and how you paid more attention to a sophomore than him."

"Wait, Jacobs a sophomore?"

"Yes Andy, but you're missing the point."

"Sorry, he just doesn't look or act like he's a year younger than us."

"Jacob can be very mature for his age, physically, mentally and emotionally."

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, my heart both flew and sunk at the same time, causing a huge lump to form in my throat. "What are you saying Bella?"

"I'm saying, Jacob is my best friend, and I can see something there."

"He's barely known me two days."

"So have I."

"Yeah but,"

"No buts. I know him very well, probably better than most of his other friends. I'm not telling you what to do by any means, just that there could be something great there for you, so give him a chance."

"You want me to ask him to the dance don't you?" I cringed inwardly at the idea of setting myself up like that, ever getting close to a guy like that. Sure it was something I dreamed of, but I knew it was something I could never do. I learned over time that guys wanted one thing and one thing alone, and that was something I couldn't offer.

"No, I don't want you to do anything you don't want to but I see you as a friend, and he's a good friend, and I just want both of you to be happy." She seemed to have a hard time finding her words, like there was something she was hiding from me, but I let it go after promising to go look at dresses with her tomorrow.

On the way home I couldn't get the thought of my head about the possibility of Jacob feeling anything for me. I tried lying to myself, saying that it was the last thing I wanted to think about. But I was always curious about everything that came along with it.

It's not like I never had guys ask me out, or hit on me, it happened several times, I just never felt anything towards them. Even if I did feel the tiniest bit of attraction, I knew I could never give them anything. My heart was cold, even to myself. I always believed that I could never let anyone in, because I knew no guy could be that patient with me.

I was scared more than anything of the way I let my guard down around him, a guy I had barely known a few days. The way my heart just started to melt, and it wasn't just due to the physical attraction or the temperature of his skin.

For a while, I cried myself to sleep, believing and dreading that I would be alone for the rest of my life.