A/N

Thanks, as always, to Jemster23 for pre-reading, and you guys for continuing to read.

A lot of you feel like Bella should just ignore Edward, forget him and move on.

Okay, yeah ... and then what's the story? LOL.

—-

I'm getting really annoyed with the way people watch me as I walk. Like I'm about to explode or break down; they're all so hungry, so desperate for gossip and it's pissing me off.

"This time yesterday they were all witnessing your fall from grace, they're starving for more." Rose reads my thoughts as I sit heavily in one of the vacant seats at the table. Jasper is with us today, I look between him and Alice, glad of the distraction.

"Hi Jasper." I smile, genuinely. He's a nice guy -uncomplicated. What you see is what you get, I appreciate the simplicity.

"Hi, Bella," he responds, returning my smile, saying nothing more. It's like he's always sat with us.

Alice is blushing. Blushing. I want to tease her, but she doesn't deserve that. Good for her, finding a nice guy like Jasper. I'm jealous. Why can't Edward be nice? Why can't I be?

"Anything to report?" Alice asks, looking at me briefly before taking a bite of her sandwich.

Opening my water, I take a long drink before answering her. "He spoke to me in bio." Rose raises an eyebrow, Alice puts her sandwich down, and even Jasper looks up from his fries. "Don't worry, I didn't cry or beg him. I didn't break down. I stayed strong and got out before him."

"Good girl," Rose reaches over to high-five me. I laugh, humouring her.

"I don't know though, I feel like I've ... rocked the boat, but only the surface has been disturbed."

Shrugging, Alice reaches over and steals a fry from Jasper. "So? We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Just ... don't let him touch you."

I nod, agreeing.

"He's watching you," Jasper whispers, looking down at his can of Coke, picking at the ring pull. Oh, he's stealthy. He can stick around.

"Yeah, he does that," I shrug, trying to act unaffected whilst my skin prickles and my pulse races.

"You got any more classes with him today?" Rose asks as Angela takes a seat beside me.

"Nope. Thank fuck."

"You've got half the football team in math, right?" Angela asks, knowing exactly what we're talking about. I nod, raising an eyebrow in question. "I'm sure they'll talk to you, appreciate some flirting."

My smile is wide. She's right. I mean, the Snow Ball is soon ... I'm going to need a date.

Everyone at the table understands Angela's cryptic words -except Jasper, who looks at each of us individually, brows furrowed in confusion.

"Oh, Al ... you've got so much to teach Jasper," Rose sniggers, nudging Alice before reaching over to ruffle Jasper's golden locks. He dodges her hand as we all laugh. They're like brother and sister already. All of us decide quickly —for us— that we approve of Alice's latest romance.

Being surrounded by friends makes it easy to forget about Edward.

A/N

Thanks for reading!