Twilight, Stephenie Meyers, you know the drill.

A/N:

I'm officially back in the swing of things. :o) So, honestly, how many of you thought it would be like another month before you saw the next update? lol.

Quick shout-out to pookietn without whom my favorite part of this chapter might not have come about. I can't say which part without giving it away, but you'll know it when you get to it. It involves my favorite bitch who we all love to hate.

Everyone else...thanks again if you're still reading this! You've come a long way with me, just a little bit more to go. ;o)

Now let's get on with the show, shall we?

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Bella

"Are you ready?" Emmett asked as I got out of my truck.

We had all decided to meet up before school this morning to once again present a united front. It seemed like were having to do this more and more lately. I was hoping we were coming to the end of all of this drama so that we could finally just show up at school without having to strategize – I would like to think that wasn't too much to ask.

"Yeah, I think so," I answered as I joined Em and the others.

We all said our good mornings and started heading towards the school.

"Anything we need to cover before we go in?" Alice asked

We slowed down as everyone considered. I was drawing a blank in terms of what to do about any gossip we encountered.

Jasper spoke up. "I don't think so. We really can't come up with any kind of plan until we know what we're facing. For right now, I think it's going to have to be enough to go in as a unit. At least that way they'll see that there hasn't been a break with Edward and Bella - or not enough of one to divide her from the rest of us, anyway. Hopefully that will take care of some of the worst rumors."

"Bella, just keep in mind that we're all around if you get overwhelmed. We'll all do whatever we can to help you out, but you need to tell us if it gets too much for you," Rose said.

"Thanks Rose. I think I'll be fine, though. I mean, really, how bad can it be?" I asked.

Famous last words, right?

*****

You know those dreams you have where you show up naked at school and everyone is staring at you? This was worse. This was like showing up naked and knowing everyone was staring at you while trying to picture you having sex…with two guys at once.

Yeah - that bad.

As soon as we walked through the front door I could feel that I had grossly underestimated the situation. The air around me sparked with an energy that I could only describe as manic. Though I couldn't make out any words, I could feel the buzz of conversations swirl around me, and I knew without having to ask that I was the focus of those conversations. I could feel the eyes of everyone around us zoom in on my still purple face, taking in the bruises that covered half of my face. The noise level quickly rose to a feverish pitch.

For a full minute I was frozen where I stood; embarrassed by all the eyes on me, knowing that everyone was making up their own scenarios to explain what had happened between me, James and Edward. I wanted to climb under a rock until this all blew over.

I cursed James in my head for bringing this all down upon me. My life had been so much simpler before he had entered it. Then, it occurred to me that I might not have Edward right now, if it wasn't for James.

As I sat there trying to get control of my emotions, especially my embarrassment, I decided that, in the end, it was a fair trade – Edward for all of this.

Finally, when I was composed again, I did the only thing I could think of to do – I started to laugh. I knew that I could get through this. The only people at this school whose opinions I cared about were the ones standing by my side, or the one stuck at home worrying about me.

These people, the ones speculating on my possibly sordid love triangle, they didn't matter. They could imagine whatever they wanted to; it wouldn't bother me – not as long as I had the Cullen's on my side.

Em stared at me like I had gone off the deep end and maybe I had, but what else was I supposed to do. "Bells? You all right?" he asked nervously.

"I'm fine, Em. Come on, let's get to our lockers," I answered.

I was still using Em's locker, so we all headed in that direction. When I got the chance I was going to have to relocate all of my stuff back to my own locker – but, for the moment, I knew that could wait.

For once, I lead the way. I knew that today was going to be my show. I was going to have to be the one to stand down the rumors. I was going to have to be the one holding my head high. So it was going to be me calling the shots.

When we got to Emmett and Rose's lockers we all huddled up. I knew the others were curious as to what I was thinking. Not for the first time, I thought about how lucky I was to have such loyal friends. Unlike the other students sharing the hallway with us, I knew that I could count on these guys to back me up, no matter what. And I would gladly do the same for any of them.

"So, what's up?" Jasper asked.

"If anyone asks you any rumors today, tell them to come to me about them," I answered.

"What do you mean? Why would we do that?" Alice asked confusion evident in her voice.

Before I could answer, Rose cut me off, saying, "Bella, you don't need to take this on yourself. That's what we're here for. There's no reason for you to try to deal with this on your own."

"Yes, I think there is, actually. Rose, you were just there, you saw how crazy everyone got when they saw at my face. The only way to deal with this is to either wait it out or let me stand up to them. If I show embarrassment or try to hide from any of this, they're going to see that as confirmation of the rumors. But, if I laugh at the rumors, if I'm confident in denying them, we might be able to kill this before it takes hold," I explained.

The others were silent as they processed my idea. I could see that Alice and Emmett in particular, didn't like it, but they also couldn't seem to come up with something better.

"So what's our role in this, then?" Jasper asked.

"Do as you said, present a united front. That will go a long way towards helping me get past this," I answered.

"Bella, I am not going to just sit idly by while everyone makes up horrible rumors about my best friend. You can't ask that of me – you can't ask that of any of us," Alice said.

"And I don't expect you to, Alice. You can deny the rumors you hear; but try to do so calmly. Don't get upset at any of them, no matter what you hear. We know they're not true, and that's all I care about. I don't care if the whole school is talking about me; I care about you guys and Edward. So just laugh off anything that comes your way. It's not worth getting upset over and doing so will only add fuel to the fire. Plus, we might as well enjoy some of the craziness they come up with," I explained.

"You know, this might actually work," Rose said.

"She's right," said Jasper. "It's probably the best hope we have of calming the rumors down. They want us to react. They want us to get mad and lose our tempers, giving everyone more to talk about. If we don't react, they have nothing to work with."

"So, it's decided, everyone in agreement?" I asked.

Everyone shook their heads, if somewhat hesitantly. I knew they might not like it, but it was our best option.

"Good. That's done, then. Now, I want you all to promise you won't tell Edward anything you hear today," I said.

"I'm not lying to my brother," Alice said, automatically.

"No, no lying," I answered. "But we don't have to actually tell him any of the particular rumors we hear. He'll only get mad and when he comes back he'll have it in for everyone. It's better to just not tell him anything specific. And what good would it do him, anyway? He'll just get angry that he wasn't here today to help deal with this."

"Fine," Alice answered. "He'd probably just get himself expelled for trying to come back and fight everyone over your honor, anyway."

Leave it to Alice to put a romantic twist on all of this.

I looked at the others to get their promises. Jasper and Rose both nodded their agreements without any hesitation. Emmett, however, was avoiding my eye.

"Em," I asked.

"Hmm?" he returned.

"Do you promise?"

He let out a long breath before he answered. "Look, Bells, if it were me, I'd want to know what was being said about Rose. I don't think its right keeping him in the dark."

"And, hearing the rumors, what would you then do when you came back to school?" I asked.

"Kick some ass, of course," he explained.

"And do you think Edward can kick some ass right after being suspended for fighting and not get expelled?" I asked.

He was silent for a long time before he finally answered. "Okay, I see your point, but I still think he deserves to know. This involves him as well, you know."

"How about we compromise? We'll wait to see how the day goes and then we'll talk about it after school, before we head back to your house," I said.

"All right, that sounds fair."

And so we had come up with our game plan for the day.

I was feeling confident when we all headed off for our first classes. After dealing with the stress of trying to stay one step ahead of James, I figured this would be a walk in the park.

*****

I started off towards English by myself. I made it to my classroom without incident, which increased my confidence in my ability to handle the gossip. I took my seat and looked around the room and waited. I figured, eventually, someone would approach me.

I was right.

Tyler came over and leaned back on the desk next to mine and stared at me. I stared back; I wasn't about to make this any easier by opening the conversation for him.

After a few seconds he seemed to get up whatever nerve he had been waiting for and placed his cards on the table. "So, heard you and James were involved in some kind of drug cartel gone wrong and Edward was working towards busting you out when James found out."

"What? No. Where did you hear that one? Drugs?" I asked, confused that the rumors had taken on such an illicit bent.

"Dude, everyone's saying it – I heard it from multiple sources," he answered.

"No, there was no illegal activity taking place of any kind," I emphasized.

I felt someone off to the side and I looked up to see Angela standing in the aisle, rolling her eyes at Tyler.

"Tyler, get off my desk. And no one but you has said anything about drugs. Stop making up rumors; especially rumors that could get people in trouble with the police," she said.

"Whatever. I'm not the only one saying it," Tyler moped as he went off to find his seat.

I smiled my thanks at Angela. Despite my confidence in my ability to handle the gossip today, I had been caught off guard by the very first rumor.

"Don't mind him," Angela began to explain. "I heard his pot source got himself arrested and now he's got drugs on the brain. He's really the only one saying that, as far as I know."

"Thanks for your help, Angela."

"So, are you in a lot of pain?" she asked as she pointed to my face.

"No, it definitely looks a lot worse than it feels. I barely even notice it anymore," I answered.

I could tell she was about to ask me more when Mrs. Williet walked in, putting an end to our conversation for the moment.

I used the time during class to try to prepare myself for what was to come. I wondered how the others were making out and hoped they would be able to remain calm.

When class ended, Angela and I stood up and headed to Trig together.

"Is everything okay? I've been worried about you since the other day. I can't believe James actually hit you. Do you know what set him off?" she asked.

Had it been anyone but Angela, I probably would've just brushed them off - but Angela had always been nice to me and tried to help make my transition to Forks High as smooth as possible. I felt that if anyone deserved some kind of explanation, it was Angela – the problem was what explanation to give her.

"Everything is fine. James is gone now so I'm okay about the whole thing. I don't know what set him off. We were having a little argument, but nothing that should have made him lose it like that. Honestly, I think it had less to do with me and more to do with Edward. I think he was trying to use me as some kind of revenge," I answered. It was the quickest version I could come up with without lying to her.

"So, are you and Edward like a couple now, or something?" she asked shyly.

I froze for a second, trying to decide how I should answer. Edward and I hadn't talked about whether or not we were going to go public. After a quick pause I realized that while he wasn't here it was just going to have to be up to me, and I wasn't up to pretending we weren't involved with each other when we were. That was too much trouble without any real benefit that I could see.

I hoped he wouldn't mind me outing us.

"We're a couple," I answered simply.

"Wow, really? You and Edward Cullen are dating. Wow, I can't believe it," she said.

I laughed at her amazement. "What can't you believe? He's just another guy, after all. It's not like he's a vampire pretending to be a high school kid or something weird like that," I joked.

"No, I know. It's just, well, he never dates anyone. In all the time I've known him, I don't think he's ever had a girlfriend. And you can believe that a lot of girls here have tried to interest him – he just never pays attention to them." She paused and smiled at me before continuing, "I'm glad he chose you, though. I think you two will make a great couple."

"Thanks Angela. We've certainly had an interesting start to our relationship," I said as we entered Trig.

I had a hard time concentrating on Trig with Edward's seat sitting empty, distracting me. I wished he hadn't been suspended because I wanted to see him but, at the same time, I was glad he wasn't here. I'm not sure how calmly he would have been able to handle the gossip.

And I wasn't kidding myself into thinking that my one encounter with Tyler would be the end of it. I knew that was just my warm-up.

*****

My first actual bad encounter came from a surprising source – Jessica Stanley.

We hadn't had the chance to become close friends, but I had thought that we were at least friendly. I had thought wrong, apparently.

After Trig, Angela headed in one direction and I headed off to my History class. I was one of the first ones in the room so I took my seat and enjoyed the rare moment of quiet. I should have known it wouldn't last long.

Jessica filed in and headed right towards me. She sat down in the chair next to me and I knew from the look on her face that something was coming; something bad. Her eyes were little slits and her whole face seemed tense. I wondered briefly if she was angry at me but, for the life of me, I couldn't think of anything I had done to her.

"So," she began, "I heard you were fucking James and giving Dr. Cullen blow-jobs after school all the while trying to seduce Edward into your bed. I had no idea you were such a little slut, Bella. I would never have invited you into my group of friends if I had known you were spreading your legs for anyone who even showed half an interest in you, and in Edward's case, none at all."

I was so shocked about hearing the bit about Dr. Cullen that for a full thirty seconds I could do nothing but stare at Jessica, open mouthed. I mean, Carlisle? Really?

My inability to get my brain into gear again had left Jessica with an opening to continue her little diatribe.

"And, for your information, you little tramp, Edward has absolutely no interest in you. Everyone knows he's been chasing after me for years. If you think for one second he'll even look twice at you, yet alone sleep with you, you're kidding yourself. He might as well wrap himself up in a little ribbon and bow for me, he's that infatuated with me. I might just unwrap that little bow now and let him finally have what he's always wanted – me," she finished.

And that was exactly what I needed to jumpstart both my brain and my mouth.

I leaned in real close to her and let myself smile. It wasn't a particularly nice smile.

"I'm sorry, Jessica. I had no idea you were stupid enough to fall for any little rumor that floats on by you. But, now that I know you are, let me just set you to right. I wouldn't touch James with a thirty-nine and a half foot pole - he's a disgusting waste of space. Dr. Cullen, Carlisle, would never do anything that is even remotely close to cheating on Esme – which anyone who spent more than five minutes with them would know. I would never try to give him a blow-job or any other kind of sexual favor. I have too much respect for Esme and myself for something like that," I said.

I paused to take a breath. I was just coming up to the best part.

"And Edward? If he's so infatuated with you, he has a funny way of showing it, what with asking me to be his girlfriend and all. You are in some serious self-denial if you think he's pined away for you for years. And you obviously don't know him, at all, if you think that he would spend years thinking about you without acting on it – that is just not Edward. I'm not a slut, not even close. Unlike some people, I won't mention, I have enough respect for myself to not have to sleep around to feel good about myself."

"I'm not going to bother warning you away from my boyfriend, because I know I don't need to. I absolutely know how he feels about me and I know I don't have to worry about the Jessica Stanley's of the world. And maybe next time you feel like throwing rocks around at people you should look around at your little glass house to see how sturdy it is. Now, pick up your shit and move to a different seat, this one is taken. And Jessica? Do be a doll and let any of your little friends know that they should think long and hard before coming up to me with ridiculous stories – I might be tempted to share some of the ones I've heard, after all," and with that I turned away from her, dismissing her.

The class sat staring at us, completely shocked. I had meant to keep our little exchange between ourselves, but my voice must have risen as I got into it, grabbing the attention of those around us. I looked around to see a couple of people with smiles on their faces, and a few brave ones even clapped, but for the most part everyone was trying to avoid catching Jessica's eye.

Jessica stood up and stormed over to a seat in the corner of the classroom. I didn't kid myself into thinking that this was over, but whatever drama came from this little incident, it was worth it to give Jessica a piece of my mind. I can't believe I had once thought of her as a friend. At least I had the chance to find out early that she wasn't worth the effort.

I was still seeing red when class started and I spent most of the time just trying to reign in my temper. For all that I told the others about staying calm, I lost my cool with only the second person to approach me with a rumor. I wouldn't have taken it back even if I could have, though.

*****

Lunch couldn't come fast enough. Though Jessica Stanley was definitely the worst of my encounters, she was not the last of them. By the time I stepped into the cafeteria I was emotionally drained, physically exhausted and disgusted by the absolute crap my classmates were willing to believe. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't known I had lunch with the Cullen's to look forward to.

I went and sat down at the Cullen's usual table, which I guess has become my usual table now, and waited for the others to join me. They showed up one by one – Alice first, followed by Rose then Jasper and finally, Em.

They all looked as harassed as I felt.

I was just about to ask how their days were going when I was interrupted by the approach of Angela and Ben Cheney, who was trailing along behind her with what I could only describe as a look of determination on his face.

"Hey guys, sorry to bother you but do you mind if we sit with you today?" Angela asked quietly.

I could see that the others were a little startled; I knew it had been a while since anyone other than me had willingly sat with them at lunch. They all turned to me as if I would supply them with the magical answer.

Well, I didn't know what they wanted me to say – but I did know it had cost Angela and Ben a lot to approach us like this, today of all days, and I wasn't willing to leave them hanging.

"Sure," I answered. "There's plenty of room for you guys. Here, sit, Em will move over some for you. Em, pick your chin up off the ground and make some room."

It didn't take us long to get resettled, after which, we all looked expectantly at Angela and Ben. I wasn't going to demand an explanation or anything, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to give them the opportunity to provide one, if they were inclined to do so.

Sure enough, Angela stepped up.

"Thanks guys. We talked it over and decided that after everything that's been going on, we'd just rather sit here than with anyone else," she explained.

I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face. I was learning all about who my real friends were today, and I was happy to see that Angela was among them.

"Thanks Angela. Thanks Ben. This means a lot to me," I answered.

"Where was this little showing of solidarity when the rest of us were at the center of a storm of gossip?" Emmett mumbled under his breath, just loud enough for them to hear him.

Both Angela and Ben turned bright red, obviously embarrassed by the fact that the last time the Cullen's' were ostracized by the school, no one, not even them, had bothered standing up for them.

I was sure that now wasn't the time or place to upbraid them for their behavior of something that had happened more than a year ago, but as I hadn't been one of the ones left hanging the last time, it wasn't my place to say so.

Luckily, Alice seemed to agree with me as she kicked Emmett under the table.

"Ow! What the hell was that for, Alice?" he yelled.

"That's water under the bridge, Em. They're here now, that's all that matters," Alice said.

"No, it's all right, Alice. He's right; you guys have a right to ask. Emmett, I'm sorry I wasn't brave enough last time to stand up for you guys. But, honestly, you guys pretty much ruled the school and I was just a nobody. I couldn't see how I'd be any help when nobody really even knew who I was. That's no excuse, though, and I'm sorry," she explained.

"It was the same for me, as well," Ben finally chimed in.

Emmett got a little red in the face and I knew he was feeling a little embarrassed that he had asked. But it seemed to help Ben and Angela become a part of our little group faster. I could see everyone's faces clear a little – even Rose's, who I knew would be the hardest for them to win over.

"Apology unneeded, but accepted. Thank you," Alice said.

I finally took a bite of my sandwich as I looked around the cafeteria, trying to gauge how Angela and Ben's sitting with us was going over. I noticed right away that there were more than a few dirty looks coming from Jessica's table.

I hoped that they hadn't brought trouble down on themselves by sitting with us, but knew I couldn't do anything about that now. They made their choice and I had to give them credit enough to assume that they had known what they were doing when they had done so.

"So, Bells," Em cut into my thoughts, "heard you and Stanley had a real throw-down-knock-em-out today."

I rolled my eyes at him. Before I could formulate an answer, he went on.

"I heard, in fact, that you kicked Stanley's ass – or at least verbally, anyway," he said.

"I wouldn't put it like that, but I did have a few choice words with her," I answered.

"Oh, do tell," Alice jumped in, excitedly.

When I was done explaining my little encounter with Jessica I could see that everyone was having mixed emotions. They didn't seem to know whether to be really angry at Jessica or to laugh at my little encounter. It seemed as though they were opting for a little of both.

"It's about time someone knocked her off of her little pedestal. I hate that fake bitch. I can't believe how many people fall for her little Miss Perfect act," Rose finally said.

"I had for a while, but she's shown her true colors today. I'm just glad she did so before I wasted any more time on her," I said.

"You sound like you're okay with it, though. I thought you'd be more upset, especially since you thought she was a friend," this from Alice.

"I would have, if I didn't have you guys. I can handle any of this easily if I know I have true friends around me to help me through it," I explained to her.

Her answering smile lit up her face. I knew I wasn't the only one grateful for our friendship. I was as important to the Cullen's as they were to me.

"Okay, enough sappy stuff, we have more interesting things to do. Let's compare notes. Who heard what, today?" Rose asked, a wicked grin crossing her face. I could see that she was going to enjoy this.

Everyone else looked at me uncomfortably, embarrassed to tell me what they had heard about me.

"It's all right, guys. I mean, nothing could be worse than what I, myself, heard from Jessica. Let's hear it," I reassured them.

"Let's see," Emmett began. "I heard that you were going to run off with James and at the last minute, backed out to be with Edward. I heard all the ones from yesterday, again. But my favorite one so far, today, has you as James' future step-mother after you planned to run off and elope with his father – Edward just happened to be the poor sap you caught in your trap before you snared the very rich Mr. Black."

"Eww. Why? Why is everyone insisting on having me hooked up with people's fathers! What about me says I sleep with older men? Huh? Geeze, that's gross," I ranted as Em neglected to hold back his laughter.

"Oh, Bells," Em teased. "Just face it; you're our little femme fatale."

I gave him the dirtiest look I could drum up and knew that one day I would get him back for enjoying this so much, if it was the last thing I ever did.

The rest of lunch was spent comparing ridiculous rumors we had heard – my favorite had me as a Russian spy sent to steal secrets from Mr. Black's company with James as my pawn to do so – and trying to fortify ourselves for the afternoon.

I knew that today had to be the worst, so if we survived this it would only get easier; and I figured we weren't doing half bad, so far.

I was glad to see Angela and Ben fit in with our little group with ease. Angela seemed to be coming out of her shell and I wondered if Ben had something to do with that. I caught them holding hands under the table, at least once. I didn't know if they would ever be as close to the rest of us as we were to each other – after all, the Cullen's had some secrets they had to protect – but I knew today had gone a long way towards starting new friendships.

As the bell rang and we gathered our stuff to head to our next classes, my mind once again went to Edward. I had to admit to myself that I desperately missed him and couldn't wait till the end of the day when I'd get to see him again. I wondered if he had missed me at all. I was definitely hoping he had.

I still wasn't sure whether or not my feelings for him were love, but I figured when the time was right, I'd know.

I headed out the cafeteria door, turning to wave bye to everyone, when I remembered that Edward and I would most likely have another piano lesson today. Before I could stop myself, I found myself doing a little skip of excitement, as if I were a six year old.

I rolled my eyes at my ridiculous behavior, but couldn't stop the slow smile from spreading across my face.

As I turned into my next class and took my seat, I found myself hoping whole heartedly that today's piano lesson would prove as interesting as yesterday's. With the smile still on my face, I decided that if I had any say in the matter, it would be even more so. I couldn't wait.

I hoped Edward had an idea of what to expect, and then at the last minute I changed my mind. Let him be caught off guard – after all, I'd have a better chance of success that way.

Poor boy – he had no idea yet what he was in for.

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A/N:

hmmm, I wonder what the next chapter will focus on? Anyone have any ideas? lol

Big thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! Thanks for keeping me motivated.

And, as usual, I'd appreciate any reviews you might send my way this go around, as well. I love to hear from my readers. ;o)

Once again, go check out Growing Pains by Delia53. It's a lot of fun and isn't getting the attention it deserves. So be kind, review.

oh, okay. So, a lot of you haven't actually noticed this, but there are little tiny movie references scattered all throughout this story. It's usually just about a line or so, but they're there. There's one in today's chapter and if you love Christmas as much as I do, or at least Christmas related cartoons, you should pick up on it pretty easily. I'm not giving any hints about the previous ones besides saying there's at least one from Clueless, Troop Beverly Hills (lol), The Big Lebowski, High Fidelity, The Sandlot, and more than a few others that I can't think of right now lol...maybe one from The Princess Bride, as well, but I can't remember if that one made it past the cutting room floor or not. lol. Don't bother trying to find any of them, if they didn't jump out at you they probably won't, but keep your eyes open for future ones.

Anyway, that's it for now. Thanks again to all!

Next chapter will be out soon-ish. ;o)

P.S. - Hi to my HT Ladies reading this! ;op